VICES PROPERLY SO CALLED. 885 



become tumefied ; the vaginal membrane is congested ; there is a copi- 

 ous discharge of a mucous, tenacious, whitish fluid from the vulva ; the 

 animal frequently stretches out to urinate; the temperature of the 

 perineal region is raised, the neighing becomes more frequent than 

 usual, the eyes are more expressive, the physiognomy more animated. 

 When she is in the stable, she is more restless ; she trembles _at the 

 slightest noise, and her uneasiness ceases when she is taken out. The 

 saddle-mare, when she is mounted, no longer responds to the spurs. 

 Far from considering their effect a punishment, as in other seasons of 

 the year, their pressure upon the flanks no longer quickens her step ; 

 she stops, on the contrary, and stretches out, separating the abdominal 

 members. Sometimes she resents the correction inflicted upon her ; 

 she kicks, and in the act of raising her hind-quarters discharges 

 several jets of urine. If she is then vigorously spurred, she defends 

 herself to the utmost. . . . However, the most irascible disposition 

 and the greatest ill temper yield sometimes to the powerful influence 

 which dominates them. I have seen the most savage mares allow 

 themselves to be led with the greatest docility at the time of rutting, 

 because they were in hopes of being taken to the stallion, but such an 

 occurrence is very rare." 



After parturition, many mares which until then had been very 

 gentle, suddenly become aggressive and vicious. Always watchful that 

 nobody should touch their foal, they then display extreme irritability 

 and must be approached with great caution. 



An abnormal conformation of the eye, considered as a dioptric 

 apparatus, results especially from an aberration in its spherical shape 

 or in the curvature of the cornea. From this there results, as we 

 have already shown on page 71, a defective vision which gives rise to 

 presbyopia and myopia. It is a matter of common observation that 

 myopic animals are more timid and more liable to shy than others, and, 

 on this very account, dangerous to those who have charge of them or 

 who employ them. 



Insanity has been admitted by J.-B. Rodet 1 and Pierquin 2 to be 

 a possible cause of ill temper. And, truth to say, we are, in spite of 

 ourselves, apt to find, in several vicious manifestations in the horse, 

 something analogous to, if not identical with, the fits of unreasoning 

 passion observed in man. How can we explain, for example, the sin- 

 gular condition of horses which kick at night when in the stable with- 



1 J.-B. Rodet, Inc. cit., p. 254. 



2 Pierquin, De la folie chez les animaux. 



