170 HORSES. 



SUDDEN DEATHS. 



Fatalities like that of the sudden death of Majol- 

 ica Maid on Sunday, Dec. l6th, are of frequent 

 occurrence. '' She had eaten a good supper on Sat- 

 urday," sa/s the account, ^' and breakfasted well on 

 Sunday, and appeared to be in good health. One of 

 Mr. Murphy's men was going to give her a spin, and 

 looking into her stall saw her lying on her side with 

 her legs in the air. She was dead in a few minutes." 

 Thus Mr. Strauss, her owner, pays a penalty of 

 $20,000 for giving his mare '' enough to eat " ! This 

 young, fine-blooded and perfectly healthy mare is 

 said to have died of '' heart disease " ! The post- 

 mortem examination on the body of Majolica Maid 

 proved, that the mare '^ had ruptured a blood-vessel 

 near the heart, and had died almost instantly." It 

 remains to be said, however, that a well-conditioned 

 and well-fed animal could no more sustain a rupture 

 of that sort, than an iceberg could be demolished by 

 spontaneous combustion. 



Had Mr. Strauss, at any time within 48 hours be- 

 fore the death of Majolica Maid, learned the lesson 

 which the writer of the following note obtained from 

 reading a certain book, that magnificent animal's 

 career would not have ended thus prematurely. 



A prominent citizen of Calais, Me., writes as follows : 



"Calais, Me., December 12, 1883. 

 "C. E. Page, M.D., 130 West 44th Street, New York. 



" Dear Sir : I have just read your book, ' Horses, their Feed 

 and their Feet,' and I have derived so much useful knowl- 

 edge from it that I am prompted to send you my thanks. 



