116 THE CAMEL 



circumstance, a strict adherence to which cannot fail 

 to bear most fruitful results. 



other Another but later sign, and a very bad one too, is 



that an animal when overtired refuses its food. If 

 allowed to get to this stage he ought at once to be 

 placed in a sick dep6t, put on diet, and all work 

 stopped. If this is not done the immediate consequence 

 is that he grows weaker and weaker ; insufficient 

 nourishment brings on ansemia and unfitness, listless- 

 ness increases to torpidity, vital activity diminishes, 

 muscular elasticity decreases, his energy entirely deserts 

 him, and he is quite incapable of an effort. In a few 

 words, his condition is one of utter helplessness. 

 Besides, we must not lose sight of the very important 

 fact that one of the immediate after-effects of exhaus- 

 tion in an organism is exhaustion of the digestive 

 organs, which in this state are unable to digest food, 

 especially if it is coarse and heavy, and which, if forced, 

 soon become incapable of performing their functions. 

 Here, again, rest and diet are the only resource. The 

 digestive organs must be allowed to recruit, and every 

 means taken to restore their vitality, and they must be 

 coaxed and tempted by the lightest and most appetising 

 food. 



Evils of The sooner we recognise the common-sense fact, or, I 



overwork g^^fl sav? fa e q u i c k e r we put it into practice, that by 

 overworking an animal we devitalise him (i.e. deprive 

 him of vitality), the better. ' Overwork,' says Mrs. 

 Wood hull Martin, ' produces unfitness by not allowing 

 sufficient rest for recuperation and elimination of waste 

 products. These products are poisonous to the organism, 

 and it is to the advantage of the organism to get rid of 



