56 HORSES: 



in less than three weeks all the weight he had lost in 

 his forty days' fast. His added weight, however, put 

 on so rapidly, was not the sort of stuff to give him 

 staying power for hard muscular exertion. His de- 

 cline in weight being attended by complete rest of 

 the digestive apparatus, these organs could make up 

 for lost time ; but, had he declined by reason of dys- 

 pepsia, as is the fact with a great proportion of horses 

 and men who decline, then, in that case, his meals 

 should have been light, few, and far between, or his 

 work brought up to balance the account, to insure a 

 return to health and normal weight. 



When sores come readily and heal with difficulty, 

 or do not " stay healed," the creature, whether man or 

 beast, is " scrofulous." Indigestion and foul air are 



f 

 THE CAUSES OF SCROFULA; 



the blood (and consequently the tissues) being formed 

 second by second, or indeed constantly, from impure 

 material. * 



Pure air is as essential as food — more so, in fact, 

 if we are to distinguish between the two, since either 

 horses or men can live for weeks without food or 

 days without drink, but if deprived of air for as 

 many minutes death is certain. If the air breathed 

 habitually is very impure, a scrofulous condition is 

 the inevitable result. An excess of food or a defi- 

 ciency of air will produce this disease ; and, since one 

 or both of these causes are operative in some degree 

 in most, if not all — fearfully so in many — stables, we 

 have not to search for " malaria," " disease waves," 



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