406 THE SKIN AND ITS DISEASES. 



equally to fit, whether the horse is in the plumpest condition oj 

 reduced to a skeleton ; but, when a portion of it is distended to an 

 extraordinary degree, in the most powerful action ol' the muscles, 

 it, in a moment, again contracts to its usual dimensions. 



It is principally indebted for this elasticity to almost innumer- 

 able minute glands which pour out an oily fluid that softens and 

 supplies it. When the horse is in health, and every organ dis- 

 charges its proper functions, a certain quantity of this unctuous 

 matter is spread over the surface of the skin, and is contained in 

 all the pores that penetrate its substance ; and the skin becomes 

 pliable, easily raised from the texture beneath, and presenting 

 that pecuhar yielding softness and elasticity which experience 

 has proved to be the best proofs of the condition, or in other words, 

 the general health of the animal. Then, too, from the oilness and 

 softness of the skin, the hair lies in its natural and proper direc- 

 tion, and is smooth and glossy. When the system is deranged, 

 and especially the digestive system, and the vessels concerned in 

 the nourishment of the animal feebly act, those of the skin evi- 

 dently sympathize. This oily secretion is no more thrown out ; 

 the skin loses its pliancy ; it seems to cling to the animal, and we 

 have that peculiar appearance which we call hide-bound. This, 

 however, requires attentive consideration. 



We observe a horse in the summer. We find him with a thin, 

 smooth, glossy coat, and his extremities clean and free almost 

 from a single rough and misplaced hair. We meet with him 

 again towards the winter, when the thermometer has fallen al- 

 most or quite to the freezing point, and we scarcely recognize him 

 in his thick, rough, coarse, colorless coat, and his legs enveloped 

 in long, shaggy hair. The health of the horse is, to a certain de- 

 gree, deranged. He is dull, languid, easily fatigued. He will 

 break into a sweat with the slightest exertion, and it is almost 

 imposssble thoroughly to dry him. He may perhaps feed as well 

 as usual, although that will not generally be the case, but he is 

 not equal to the demands which we are compelled to make upon 

 him. 



This process goes on for an uncertain time, depending on the 

 constitution of the animal, until nature has efiected a change, and 

 then he once more rallies ; but a great alteration has taken place 

 in him — the hair has lost its soft and glossy character, and is be- 

 come dry and staring. The skin ceases to secrete that peculiar 

 unctuous matter which kept it soft and fl.exible, and becomes dry 

 and scaly ; and the exhalents on the surface, having become re- 

 laxed, are frequently pouring out a profuse perspiration, without 

 any apparent adequate cause for it. 



So passes the approach to winter, and the owner complains 

 sadly of the appearance of his steed, and, according to the old 



