HEALTHY EXERCISE. 57 



In mankind, salicylic acid and also salicylate of sodium act 

 well in removing the depression caused by fatigue, and in 

 reducing the temperature in fever. Haig, Latham and others 

 attribute their good effects in such cases to their power of 

 removing uric acid from the blood by converting it into a 

 soluble form. Whitla (Pharmacy, Materia Medica and 

 Therapeutics] has obtained equally good results in the horse 

 from j oz. doses dissolved in water and given from three to 

 six times during the twenty-four hours. Salicylate of sodium, 

 which is the best form of the drug, would certainly be 

 preferable to the time-honoured ball of physic that is often 

 given to horses out of condition, before putting them into 

 work. Haig recommends that during four or five days before 

 the commencement of violent work in the case of a man, uric 

 acid should be cleared out of the system by salicylate of 

 sodium, so as to obviate the ill results of fatigue. The 

 administration of this drug should be stopped for at least a 

 day before the work begins. The comparatively high price of 

 salicylate of sodium is an objection against its employment in 

 a stable, except, of course, in the case of valuable horses. 



The poisonous influence of fatigue injuriously affects all the 

 functions of the body. Hence we find that when a horse is 

 tired, his powers of digestion are more or less impaired. 

 Consequently he should get less food than usual, and the food 

 should be of an easily digestible nature. 



NATURE AND DURATION OF HEALTHY EXERCISE. 



A stabled horse keeps his health and strength best when 

 the duration of his exercise is about equal to that which his 

 ancestors experienced in the open, and when the degree of the 

 exercise is proportionate to the amount of energy received 

 from the food. We should here bear in mind that corn given 

 to horses which are at grass, acts on them as a stimulant to 

 take exercise. In fact, the assimilation of potential energy 



