286 COMPENDIUM OF THE VETERINARY ART, 



on purchasing a horse, to discover in what man- 

 ner he has been kept, and whether he have been 

 accustomed to any particular management; for 

 instance, the custom of o-ivins: cordials to 

 liorses, after a hard da3''s hunt, is often ren- 

 dered necessary by the practice of keeping 

 them without food or water on the morning 

 they are so employed. In describing the pe- 

 culiarities in the structure and economy of the 

 horse's stomach, we have observed, that this 

 organ is remarkabl}- small, requiring to be 

 supplied frequently with food. When a 

 hunter then goes out with an empty stomach, 

 and is perhaps kept out eight or ten hours 

 without feeding, generall}^ galloping great 

 part of the time, the stomach is so exhausted 

 on his return, that he has scarcely any appe- 

 tite, and refuses his food, until the stomach 

 is roused by a strong cordial: a habit is thus 

 induced, and cordials, after a time, become 

 as necessary to a horse accustomed to it, as 

 spirit to a dram-drinker. 



Yet there surely can be no danger in giving 

 a moderate quantity of oats and water very 

 early in the morning, previous to hunting. If 

 he have to walk four or five miles to cover, 

 there can be no dans^er of his stomach beinir 



