ARTICLES USED AS FOOD. 183 



cept when sick. Boiled to jelly, it is good for a hard dry 

 cough, when there is no fever. 



Barley Mask. — Barley steeped or boiled. 



Malted Barley is that which has been germinated. It is 

 steeped or moistened, and spread in a layer till it sprout. In 

 that state it is given, though not very often. Horses are 

 very fond of it, and they will take a little of this when they 

 refuse almost everything else. But I do not know how they 

 would do upon it for constant use. 



Malt is used a good deal on the continent, and is supposed 

 to be highly nutritious, more so than the raw barley. But in 

 this country the heavy duty upon malt forbids its use for 

 horses ; and it is not certain that the process of malting im- 

 proves the grain so much as to pay its cost. [Malting and 

 cooking are valuable where it is required to lay on flesh ; but 

 for working condition the food should be dry.] 



Malt Dust, in some places termed cumins, is that portion of 

 barley which sprouts in germination. It is generally given 

 to cattle, but horses sometimes get it mixed with the boiled 

 food. They seem to like it very well. I do not know any 

 more about it. 



Grains, the refuse of breweries, are sometimes given to 

 horses, and are eaten greedily ; but it is alleged that, when 

 given constantly, and so as to form the bulk of the grain, they 

 produce general rottenness, which I suspect in this case means 

 disease of the liver. They are also blamed for producing 

 staggers and founder. 



[The cart-horses of the breweries of London are fed on 

 grains. But they are horses largely disposed to fat, and have 

 small lungs and livers. The well-bred horse when in quick 

 work does not take on fat readily ; his lungs and liver are 

 large. Grains consist of carbon and fecal matter. In the 

 cart-horse, a part of the carbon of the grains is consumed in 

 breathing, and the balance is deposited in the cellular tissue 

 as fat. In the horse of quick work, the lungs and liver take 

 up all the carbon, which being in excess acts to produce large 

 quantities of bile ; this bile is passed off by the bowels, occa- 

 sioning purging, and by reaction, costiveness. The bowels 

 and the liver sympathize until the liver becomes diseased : 

 and this disease usually is imflammatory in its early stages, 

 ending in death by inflammation immediately or by ulceration 

 ultimately. In the southern country, well-bred horses in quick 

 work, fed on Indian corn (which abounds largely in the fat- 

 forming principle), suffer in the same manner. The well-bred 



