DIARRHCEA. 427 



horses, by their beinp: taken to a racecourse. Such animals are 

 often liable to diarrhoea from trifling changes of food or of tem- 

 perature. The practice of working horses soon after they are 

 wateired or fed, especially after long abstinence from water or food, 

 is very apt to cause them to purge ; because the exertion interferes 

 with the function of digestion by drawing blood to the muscles of 

 the limbs away from the stomach, intestines, and other organs of 

 digestion. It is evident that unduly long abstinence weakens the 

 power of digestion. Diarrhoea may be simply an effort of nature 

 to expel some irritating matter from the bowels or from the blood ; 

 in whioh case, it should on no account be prematurely ohecked. It 

 may also be due to worms. 



In India, horses frequently get diarrhoea from being fed on an 

 excess of gram, which is a grain almost identical in composition 

 with peas, and which has a very "heating" effect on the system, 

 owing to the large proportion of albumin it contains. A cure may 

 be rapidly accomplished by giving a few bran mashes, followed by 

 a considerably decreased supply of gram, which had best be mixed 

 with diy bran. 



Three or four pounds of dry bran, divided between the four or 

 five feeds which a horse gets daily, will have a binding effect. 

 Mashes made of linseed and bran will aid in allaying irritation. In 

 all cases it is judicious to allow horses a constant supply of water 

 in their stalls. As work tends to stop the process of digestion in 

 proportion to the shortness of time between it and feeding; horses 

 which are inclined to scour should have a long interval of rest after 

 eating their corn. Even a drink of water given shortly before exer- 

 cise, will cause some "washy" animals to purge. A feed early in 

 the morning, quickly followed by work, is particularly liable to 

 bring about this condition. Such horses should always have 

 chopped hay mixed through their corn, or have hay in the stall at 

 the same time as they are consuming their allowance of corn, in 

 order that their food may have a sufficiently large proportion of 

 woody fibre. A small proportion of beans may be used with ad' 

 vantage. 



If a horse be a greedy feeder, he should have some hay before 

 each feed. 



The oats given should always be bruised; for, in that state, they 

 will require to be more thoroughly masticated than when whole. 

 Besides, the hard husk, which might have an irritating effect on 

 the intt^stines, will become broken up. 



The corn may be given from a trough or sheet placed on the 

 ground, so that the animal will be obliged to take a considerable 

 time over its consumption. 



In cases where the diarrhoea is brought on by improper food, give 



