158 ' TRAINING IN INDIA 



the blood must contain a certain proportion of water, 

 which varies, under special conditions, such as violent 

 exercise, purging, deprivation of water, excessive perspira- 

 tion, etc., from 700 to 800 parts in a thousand. If, in case 

 of loss, the normal proportion of water be not speedily 

 restored, the animal's health will suffer. Thus we may 

 see that the proper object of sweating a horse is to reduce 

 the amount of fat, and not the amount of water there is 

 in his system ; and that as soon as we fail to find that oily 

 matter is given off, to any appreciable extent, with his 

 perspiration, so soon should we stop giving him any more 

 sweats. I need hardly point out how opposed to common 

 sense and to physiological teaching, is the practice of 

 stinting a horse of water after sweating him. In fact, 

 want of a due supply of water interferes with the whole 

 process of nutrition. " The activity of absorption by the 

 blood-vessels depends upon the due fluidity of the materials 

 to be absorbed, for it is well known that no fluids quickly 

 penetrate the vessels, but such as are of lesser density 

 than the blood." ( Williams) 



From the foregoing remarks we may draw the practical 

 conclusion, that we may take, during training, the state 

 of the perspiration as a guide by which to judge of the 

 amount of fat in the horse's system, and that we should 

 regulate his work so that the sweat, after his gallops, may 

 not completely lose its greasy feel, until within a few 

 days of the race for which he is being trained. This is, 

 of course, supposing that he is one of the sort that will 

 stand being " drawn fine." 



Artificial Sweating. — By this term I mean any process 

 of sweating which is accomplished without the aid of 



