150 CHRONIC GASTRITIS. 
And now, whence is derived the source of this evil? It springs from 
the ignorance of the age. Is it not, at the present day, a common 
saying, that “intelligence goes begging, while handicraft finds employ- 
ment?” Goodness, education, and industry cannot, at this time, insure 
the bread which will support existence. The cunning and the knowing- 
ness of the uninformed is much preferred. There is no mystery in the 
groom’s office which might not be acquired in a week. The horse would 
fare better and be more safe in the custody of a person who possibly 
might sympathize with its solitude and appreciate its disposition. <A 
higher class of servants would involve a higher rate of wages. Burt 
these might be paid, and notwithstanding, the horse proprietor be, in 
the long run, an evident gainer. To put the wounds inflicted on the 
sensibility of a feeling man out of the question, it is a heavy misfortune 
to look upon three or four valuable horses stretched out in death. Add 
to this, there are other accidents that ignorance, without malice, com- 
mits, and all of which must be paid for by the master. Then there are 
the petty frauds and understandings in which cunning delights, and all 
of which are indulged at the master’s cost. On the other hand, there is 
the certainty, or all but certainty, that intelligence would perform its 
duty. The horses would thrive better and last longer when confided 
to proper custody. The losses, attendant upon ignorance, would be 
avoided,—not to mention the ease of mind secured by confidence in the 
probity of the person to whom authority is intrusted. What a mockery 
it is, to cry up education and then to shun the educated! A stimulus 
would be given to the ignorant, when it is recognized that the informed 
will be alone engaged to fill offices of trust. 
CHRONIC GASTRITIS. 
This affection is more general than is commonly understood. The 
horse being unable to vomit, of course the first positive proof of dis- 
ordered stomach cannot be exhibited. Thus, little attention is generally 
paid to its digestion, when primarily diseased. 
Chronic gastritis is usually said to be provoked by rearing upon sour 
or soft land; but well-bred animals are very often subject to the malady. 
The ailment is frequently first displayed at the period when the services 
are esteemed most valuable, or between the fifth and sixth years, long 
after the mode of rearing must have ceased to operate. The symptoms 
are various, and hardly ever alike. The stomach may affect the nervous 
symptom; then, its complications become difficult to disentangle. The 
affection is mostly declared by an irregularity of bowels and a capricious- 
ness of appetite. The animal starts off violently purging. The loose- 
ness stops as suddenly as it commenced. Obstinate costiveness then 
