INFLUENCE OF AN ARTIFICIAL STATE OF LIFE 67 



Appetite. — Appetite serves two purposes — (1) When 

 the system requires new elements for repair, it prompts 

 the animal to eat, so as to obtain them from his food. 

 But, in order to avoid excess, the process of feeding should 

 be carried on slowly. On this subject. Dr. Carpenter 

 remarks : — " To eat when we are hungry, is an evidently 

 natural disposition ; but to eat as long as we are hungry, 

 may not always be prudent. Since the feeling of hunger 

 does not depend so much upon the state of fulness or 

 emptiness of the stomach, as upon the condition of the 

 general system, it appears evident that the ingestion of 

 food cannot at once produce the effect of dissipating it, 

 though it will do so after a short time ; so that, if we eat 

 with undue rapidity, we may continue swallowing food 

 long after we have taken as much as will really be 

 required for the wants of the system ; and every superfluous 

 particle is not merely useless, but injurious." These 

 observations apply equally well to horses as they do to 

 ourselves. (2) Appetite guides the animal in the selection 

 of food suitable for the repair of the waste that is going 

 on at the time. As a general rule, when a horse's powers 

 are fully taxed, he should be allowed as much corn and 

 hay as he chooses to eat, provided always, they are both 

 of a suitable nature. The instinctive selection of food is 

 well seen in the case of men who have to work hard, such 

 as navvies and sailors ; for they will eat, with benefit, a 

 quantity of animal food and fat, from which a sedentary 

 person will turn with loathing. 



Influence of an Artificial State of Life. — The horse 

 is intended by nature to travel considerable distances 

 when grazing ; and his natural food is one of large bulk. 



