OBJECTS OF CLOTHING. 287 



employed when sending horses by train, and is very useful 

 during wet weather. We have seen (p. 35) that the satu- 

 ration of the coat with water greatly diminishes its power of 

 keeping the animal warm. When he is out at work, protec- 

 tion against atmospheric damp by clothing should not be 

 obtained at the expense of checking the evaporation of 

 perspiration from the skin ; for if that occurs, the coat will 

 become more or less wet from sweat, and the horse will be 

 liable to suffer from chill when the waterproof covering is 

 removed. Hence, such a covering should be permeable to air 

 and vapour. Notter and Firth tell us that " a well prepared 

 waterproof material will permit of a candle being extinguished, 

 when blown through a i-inch pipe at a distance of 6 in." 

 The following method for waterproofing cloth is given in 

 Cooley's Encyclopedia of Practical Receipts : " Rub the wrong 

 side of the cloth with a lump of beeswax, perfectly pure and 

 free from grease, until it presents a light, but even, white 

 or greyish appearance ; a hot iron is then to be passed over 

 it, and the cloth being brushed whilst warm, the process is 

 complete." 



Clothing is sometimes useful for drying a horse which is 

 brought in out of the wet or which has been washed all over, 

 and when it is not convenient to have him rubbed dry. The 

 process is similar to, though on a larger scale than, the familiar 

 one of leaving an ordinary saddle on the back of a sweating 

 horse for twenty minutes or half an hour, by the end of which 

 time the sweat which was in the hair immediately under 

 the saddle, will have passed into the absorbent panel, and the 

 part in question will be dry. A similar effect would be pro- 

 duced with a felt numnah ; but not with a leather saddle cloth, 

 or with a panel covered with leather. We see the same thing 

 occur when a horse's legs which are wet, have woollen ban- 

 dages put on them. In all these cases, the absorbent material, 

 whether rug, panel, or bandage, should be removed as soon as 



