No. 4.] DISEASE IN HORSES. 257 



lar direction we must so treat our animals that perfect health 

 shall be maintained. This is where knowledge obtained by 

 practical experience applies, and in this part of the subject 

 we are particularly interested. The study of the scientific 

 investigations of questions relating to feeds and feeding is 

 interesting and profitable. The reader is referred to various 

 books and agricultural experiment station bulletins for infor- 

 mation concerning it. Unfortunately, there is a scarcity of 

 literature upon the subject of the hygiene of feeding. What 

 information we possess has been gained largely through the 

 channels of practical experience, and frequently we have 

 paid dearly for it. 



One of the most important factors to be taken into account 

 in the feedino; and waterins: of horses is the anatomical ar- 

 rangement of the digestive organs. The relative size of the 

 stomach of the horse, as compared Avith that of the other 

 domestic animals, is small. When distended, it has a 

 capacity of twenty-five or thirty pints. In case normal 

 digestion is taking place, it rarely contains more than seven- 

 teen or eighteen pints. The arrangement of the mucous 

 membrane is peculiar, in that it is sharply divided into two 

 parts, the cuticular portion being continuous with the mu- 

 cous lining of the oesophagus. The villous membrane lines 

 the right half of the stomach, extending to the pyloric open- 

 ing ; the left portion is preparatory in its function. The 

 membrane of the right half contains the glands which secrete 

 the digestive juices ; the right half is the digestive portion. 

 Stomach digestion in the horse goes on very rapidly. The 

 length of time required to digest a food varies with its chem- 

 ical composition, mechanical condition, bulk, etc. As a 

 rule, it may be stated that the more nitrogenous a food the 

 longer it remains in the stomach. It may happen that the 

 nitrogenous food may remain in the stomach but a short 

 time, being forced into the intestines by the ingestion of 

 large quantities of non-nitrogenous material ; for example, 

 corn, oats or other nitrogenous grains ordinarily remain in 

 the stomach longer than hay, but by feeding grains first and 

 hay in large quantities afterwards the grains may be forced 

 into the intestines undigested. 



Colin's and Smith's experiments with reference to stomach 



