THE LIPS. '134 



latter, made into a ball with linseed meal, should be given, and g-reen meat 

 or carrots, when circumstances will permit. * 



In the species of farcy attended with enormous swelling, it will be pru- 

 dent to bleed moderately as well as to physic. The iron will not be neces- 

 sary, but the same alterative medicine will be useful, and the leg should 

 be frequently fomented with warm water. In both cases, although the air 

 should be fresh and cool, the horse should be warmly clothed. 



The Water Farcy, confounded byname with the common farcy, and by 

 which much confusion has been caused and a great deal of mischief done, 

 is a dropsical affection of the skin, either of the chest or of the limbs gene- 

 rally, and belongs to another part of our subject. 



A tumour termed a Polypus sometimes occupies one of the nostrils. 

 It will grow to a very large size, obstructing the breathing, and sadly an- 

 noying the horse. As this can only be removed by an operation, which a 

 veterinary surgeon alone is competent to perform, we do not describe it 

 particularly. 



THE LIPS. 



The lips of the horse are far more important organs than many suppose. 

 They are, in a manner, the hands of the horse ; and if any one will take the 

 trouble to observe the manner in which he gathers up his corn with them, 

 and collects together the grass before he divides it with his nippers, he will 

 be satisfied tliat the horse would be no more able to convey the food to his 

 mouth without them, than the human being could without his hands. 

 This has even been put to the test of experiment. The nerves which sup- 

 ply the lips were divided in a poor ass, to illustrate some point of physio- 

 logy. The sensibility of the lips w^as lost, and he knew not when he 

 touched his food w ith them ; the motion of the lips was lost, and he 

 could not get the oats betv/een his teeth, although the manger was full 

 of them ; at length, driven by hunger, he contrived to lick up a few of 

 them with his tongue, but when they were on his tongue, the greater part 

 of them w ere rubbed off before he could get them into his mouth. It is on 

 account of this use of the lips, that the faces of all quadrupeds are so 

 lengthened that the lips may be brought into contact with the food, without 

 inconvenience or injury to other parts of the face. Several muscles go to 

 the lips from different parts of the jaw and face. Some of them are shewn 

 in the cut, p. 119. The orbicularis or circular muscle, j9, employed in 

 pushing out the lips, and closing thf m, and enabling the horse to seize and 

 hold his food, is particularly evident ; and in our explanation of the cut, the 

 action of other muscles, z. A:, 777, and 0, was described. The nerves hke- 

 wise, y, taking their course alohg the cheek, and principally supplying the 

 lips with the power of motion, and those, z, proceeding from the foramen 

 or hole in the upper jaw, deserve attention. 



The lips are composed of muscles for the sake of strength, and of a mul- 

 titude of small glands, which secrete a fluid that covers the inside of the hps 

 and the gums, in order to prevent friction, and hkewise furnishes a por- 

 tion of the moisture so necessary for the proper chewing of the food. The 

 skin covering the lips is very thin, because, if these are the hands of the 

 horse, they should possess considerable feeling ; and for the same purpose 



* The old farriers had a strange and barbarous way of attempting to cure the farcy 

 They mixed together a variety of stimulating drugs, and sewed them in the horse's ear, 

 a nd set him to hard work on straw and water, 



K2 



