240 SKIN, HAIR, AND COLOUR. 



CHAPTER XX. 



SKIN, HAIR, AND COLOUR. 



Skin — Colour — Colour in relation to Heat and Cold— Hair — Hair on the 

 Legs of Cart-horses — Markings. 



Skin. — The chief functions of the horse's skin, as far as 

 we are at present concerned, are : (i) to regulate the tem- 

 perature of the system ; (2) to aid in removing waste matters 

 from the blood ; and (3) to protect the body. As the first 

 and second duties are intimately connected with each other, 

 we may consider them conjointly. 



The internal temperature being maintained by the 

 changes which take place in the tissues ; exercise, by 

 promoting these changes, increases the production of heat. 

 But as it also determines blood to the surface of the body, 

 and thereby stimulates the sweat glands ; the surplus heat is 

 removed by an increased amount of evaporation from the 

 skin, which performs this work, and also that of radiating 

 heat, best when it is thin. Although the subject of health is 

 outside the scope of this book, I may remark in passing, that 

 a soft and pliable condition of the skin is due to the fact of 

 the oil glands which are imbedded in it, being in good order. 

 Granting the employment of clothing when necessary, we 

 may assume that the skin of hard-worked horses, especially 



