ARTICLES USED AS FOOD. 193 



would finish the bone of a leg of mutton in a few minutes, 

 and that roasted meat was his favorite dish."* The wealthy 

 people of Medjid frequently give flesh to their horses, raw as 

 well as boiled, together with all the offals of the table. " I 

 knew a man at Hamah, in Syria, who assured me that he 

 had often given his horses washed meat after a journey, to 

 make them endure it with greater facility. The same person 

 related to me, that, apprehensive of the governor of the town 

 taking a liking to his favorite horse, he fed it for a fortnight 

 entirely on roasted pork, which raised its mettle to such a 

 height that it became absolutely unmanageable, and could no 

 longer be an object of desire to the governor. "f 



Fish. — " In Iceland, it is stated by Buffon, that dried fish 

 is made the food of horses ; and my friend William Bul- 

 lock, senior, lately informed me that he saw them in the same 

 practice in Norway. "| 



Eggs are sometimes given to stallions in the travelling sea- 

 son, for exciting desire, and to other horses for producing a 

 smooth coat. They are quite useless for either purpose, at 

 least as they are given, only one or two at a time. If they 

 are to do any good the horse would need a dozen of them, or 

 thereabouts, I should think. One or two, however, can have 

 no good effect. The egg is chipped, starred, as they call it, 

 all round, and given raw, like a ball. 



Several, many horses have been lost by the egg sticking in 

 the throat, and producing suffocation. If eggs must be given, 

 let them be broken and mixed with a mash, or boiled hard 

 and added to the grain. But I see no need for them in any 

 shape. 



Milk. — In this country, milk is not used as an article of 

 food for grown-up horses. Occasionally it is given to stallions 

 in the covering season. A mash is made of milk, bran, and 

 oil-cake, ground ; and in Ayrshire, whey is frequently given 

 to stallions as a drink. It is supposed to be " amatory food." 

 The Arabs, in traversing the desert are said to give their 

 horses camel's milk when forage fails. Major Denham, 

 speaking of some horses he met with among the Tiboos, says : 

 " Two of them were very handsome, though small ; and on 

 remarking their extreme fatness, I was not a little surprised 

 to learn that they were fed entirely on camel's milk, grain be- 



* The Veterinian, vol. v., p. 25. Letter from Mr. Garland, V. S. Wake- 

 field, 

 t Past and Present State of the English Racer. 1836- 

 J B. Clarke, Pharm. Eq. 



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