436 THE HORSE. 



are respectively condensed, so to speak, the greater the amount 

 of power will there exist in a given bulk. Every descrijDtion 

 of food which is said to contain nutritive properties, abounds 

 more or less, and in various proportions, with elements calcu- 

 lated for the construction of the different substances of which 

 the animal frame is composed. It is therefore important to se- 

 lect those kinds of food which contain the most of these parti- 

 cles convertible into substances which render the animal of the 

 highest value. The growth of animals, the development of 

 their muscles, the texture of their bones, and sinews, depend 

 greatly upon the quality of the food with which they are sup- 

 plied. That which is conducive to the production of fat must 

 be rejected; for, although there is not any kind of food which 

 is convertible into muscle which will not at the same time pro- 

 duce fat, there are many circumstances which render different 

 kinds more abundant with the elements of either substance. 

 This is a wise ordination of nature, for, to a certain extent, fat is 

 essential to the health and the motive powers of the animal, 

 but in excess it is detrimental. On this point circumspection 

 and experience .are valuable acquirements to regulate the con- 

 dition. When a horse is in a manifest state of plethora, it is a 

 certain indication that the food M^hich he receives abounds too 

 copiously with elements conducive to the production of the 

 adipose substance. It will sometimes happen that a horse does 

 not generate a sufficiency of fat ; this may arise from indisposi- 

 tion, the bad quality of the food, or its not being given in suffi- 

 cient quantities. 



There are certain laws of nature indispensable to animal 

 life, certain functions which must be supported. Phj^siologists 

 inform us that the nourishment of the body is derived from the 

 ingredients of the blood, two of the principal of which are 

 serum and iibrine. The serum, when condensed or coagulated, 

 forms albumen, the restorative element of fat and muscular 

 fibre ; the fibrine contained in the blood contributes largely to 

 the formation of muscle or flesh. Animal and vegetable fibrine 

 and albumen are precisely similar, and unless they form compo- 

 nent parts of the food the animal will waste away. Fat, mus- 

 cular fibre, and certain other substances, composing the animal 

 frame, are constantly undergoing the process of exhaustion, 



