220 STABLE ECONOMY. 



that horses do not thrive so well when fed entirely upon boiled 

 food. The illustration seems to be well established. Horses 

 do not appear to possess lasting vigor and great energy when 

 fed exclusively upon soft food ; but whether this proves that 

 insalivation is animalization may be doubted. There is no 

 proof of a positive kind, whether it is or is not. It would be 

 easy to argue on either side, but it would be fruitless. 



Deglutition is the act of swallowing. The food, after 

 being ground and moistened, is rolled into a ball by the tongue, 

 and placed at the back of the mouth, where a compressing ap- 

 paratus forces it into the gullet. The gullet, exerting a con- 

 tractile power, forces the ball into the stomach. Deglutition 

 may become difficult, or it maybe partially suspended by sore- 

 ness of the throat. When the throat in much inflamed, the 

 horse may be anxious to eat, yet unable to swallow. When 

 great pain attends the effort he forbears further trial ; he 

 chews the food and then throws it out of his mouth, being 

 able perhaps to swallow only the juice. In less severe cases, 

 he makes a peculiar motion of the head every time he swal- 

 lows ; and in drinking, he drinks very slowly, and art of the 

 water returns by the nostrils. In this state the horse should 

 be put under medical treatment. 



Maceration. — Many of the articles upon which horses 

 feed are hard and dry. They require to be softened before 

 they can be dissolved, or before they will part with their nutri- 

 tive matter. One end of the horse's stomach seems designed 

 for macerating these substances. It is lined by a membrane 

 void of sensibility. All the food is first lodged in this macera- 

 ting corner, from which, when sufficiently softened, it passes 

 into the other extremity. Refractory matters are either de- 

 tained or returned till they are ready to undergo the digestive 

 process. 



Digestion consists in the extraction of the nutritious from 

 the inert portion of the food. It is not a simple process, nor 

 is it all conducted in the same place. It begins in the stomach 

 and terminates in the bowels, probably at a considerable dis- 

 tance from the point at which the residue is evacuated. The 

 stomach of the horse is very small. There must be some 

 reason why it is so, but none has ever been discovered.* [In 

 the horse's stomach digestion is very rapid. Hence a small 



* Inquiry seldom acknowledges defeat. A large stomach, it is said 

 would interfere with the horse's speed. Perhaps it might. But it does not 

 appear that the stomach was made small that he might be swift. ]>oolv at 

 the pace of a camel and the size of his paunch. 



