CAUSES OF INDIGESTION 111 



is a sign that too much bulky food is being con- 

 sumed. Too much bulky food is also a cause of 

 that very serious trouble, called heaves, especially 

 if the food happens to be of defective quality, and 

 consequently difficult of digestion. One often 

 hears it said that clover hay is apt to cause heaves. 

 The reason is that horses are very fond of it, 

 and if they are allowed all they want, will eat an 

 excessive quantity of it. If the quality of clover 

 hay is good, and only a proper ration of it is 

 fed, it is no more likely to cause heaves than any 

 other kind of hay. 



Fully one-half the horses one sees in country 

 districts are pot-bellied, especially in the winter. 

 In many farm stables you see racks kept full of 

 hay constantly in front of the horses, and the less 

 work they do the more hay they eat, most of them 

 eating certainly twice as much as is good for 

 them. In cities it is different. Hay being high- 

 priced, the quantity fed is usually limited, with 

 the result that digestive troubles are very much 

 rarer than in country districts. It is directly the 

 opposite with regard to the diseases of the breath- 

 ing organs. In the large, crowded stables of the 

 cities, with breathing space limited, the air be- 

 comes charged with impurities, with the result 

 that diseases of the breathing organs are very 

 prevalent, while in the country they are compara- 

 tively rare. The relative prevalence of digestive 



