CHAP. III.] OWING TO DEBILITY. 389 



young horses will promote humours of the hind 

 legs in particular, where grease is mostly situate, 

 and in the right hind foot oftener than in the left. 

 That is to say, at the part of the animal that is re- 

 motest from the heart is the effect of a slow circu- 

 lation most frequently recurring, and to heavy fleshy 

 cart horses oftener than to those that are lighter 

 and freer from meat about the heels. Defective 

 secretion of aqueous particles by the lymphatics, 

 and by the kidneys, occasions the blood to be over- 

 charged therewith, whereupon it remains in the 

 most dependant parts of the system ; so much so, 

 that the diuretic powders, or the Alterative Ball, 

 mentioned six pages farther down, commonly re- 

 moves slight attacks of grease. 



Trimming the heels of the hair, which was in- 

 tended to keep them warm in winter, is a very pro- 

 lific source of grease. Thus, thorough-bred horses 

 do not incur this disorder, and the chances in fa- 

 vour of those escaping which are produced by crosses 

 from blood stock, is in proportion to the amount of 

 their breeding. 



A cold in the heels is caught by walking the 

 horses through water whilst they are hot; or being 

 put into the stable with wet feet at nights ; or lying 

 in a stable that imperfectly keeps out the Wind — all 

 conduce to that stagnation of the blood, or tardy 

 performance of its function, that causes the animal 

 to generate this disease. They term it debility, 

 but we had better say " want of ability," or of 

 vigour to drive on the circulation of the blood ; so 



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