CRIB-BITING. 163 
food, is apparently shown by the colt, while at grass, never displaying 
the symptom. That it will be witnessed in the old horse, when turned 
out for a month’s run at grass, establishes nothing. The temporary 
visitor to the field may often be seen galloping toward some gate, which, 
having reached, the horse there commences a long game at crib-biting. 
This circumstance can settle nothing, except that the digestion is chron- 
ically deranged—the stomach, when thus affected, being peculiarly reten- 
tive of its morbid condition. 
Crib-biting consists in resting the upper incisor teeth against any 
solid or firm substance; a fixed point is thus 
gained, and, after much effort, a small por- 
tion of gas is eructated. The perpetual 
emissions of heated air is, in man, one of 
the symptoms attendant on indigestion ; and 
the act, in the horse, appears to be impelled 
by something stronger than habit; since the 
animal will leave the most tempting proven- 
der for its indulgence. 
The premonitory symptoms, moreover, 
seem to declare heartburn to be the cause 
of this much-dreaded indulgence. The cus- x gorse iw rae act or cRIBBITING. 
tom is always preceded by licking of the 
manger. If on that there should be iron, or should any part be cooler than 
the rest, to that particular spot attention will be paid. The licking of 
cold substances is a symptom of disordered stomach with other dumb 
creatures. It is prominently displayed by the dog when the viscus is in- 
flamed. But crib-biting may be prevented, if attacked during the pre- 
monitory stage. Any substance, which acts as a stimulant to the stomach, 
is said to be beneficial. Salt is known as an almost necessary condi- 
ment, aiding the healthfulness of human food. The deprivation of salt 
was an old criminal punishment among the Dutch; and a lump of rock- 
salt placed in the manger will often enable the horse’s digestion to 
recover its lost tone. 
Crib-biting has, in submission to general opinion, been alluded to as a 
habit, learned within the stable. But may not that which man designates 
a habit in a dumb creature, be no more than the influence of one atmo- 
sphere acting similiarly on two bodies, both caged in the same stable ? 
The air is much more than inhaled. A large quantity is swallowed with 
the saliva. No slight amount is deglutated with the masticated food. 
The water is generally kept in the stable some hours before the horses 
are permitted to imbibe it. Water has a large affinity for atmosphere. 
Air, therefore, enters largely into the body, besides being continually 
