166 ENTERITIS. 
exertion; labor, on the other hand, may constipate the fellow occupant 
of the same stable. When the same effect has produced such opposite 
causes, all the bodies cannot be alike; an old proverb asserts ‘that 
which is one man’s food is another man’s poison.” The diet which sup- 
ports one animal in health may loosen or constringe its companion; yet 
we are too ignorant to practically use such distinctions. 
Again, there is no practice more general than to load the rack and 
pile the manger after any uncommon toil has been endured. The prac- 
tice may originate in the best intentions; but no intention can convert 
that which is evil into a positive good. The wretched animal is tempted 
to cram the stomach when excessive iabor has weakened the vital func- 
tions. Horses which are brought home late at night do not usually 
receive much notice; the grooms are sleepy and eager for their beds. 
The dressing of the animal, however much such attention might conduce 
to health, is consequently left to the following morning. Rapid motion 
quickens the circulation; the blood is sent to the skin, and copious per- 
spiration is the result. However warm the stable may be, warmth only 
promotes evaporation; cold of the lowest degree results from evapora- 
tion; the consequence is, the body of the quadruped speedily shivers ; 
the blood is repelled to the internal organs, the bowels are prepared for 
inflammation, and thus enteritis often follows upon the midnight return 
from a long journey. 
Moreover, when the frame is exhausted, rest is far more essential than 
food; the nourishment then should be very light, and such as can be 
quickly swallowed. A quart of thick flour or of oatmeal gruel should 
be first offered after the return. When the cleansing of the animal’s 
body is finished, another quart should be given; these will occupy little 
time in being put out of sight, and the administration need not interfere 
with the repose which is desired. The gruel being swallowed, a feed of 
crushed and scalded oats may be placed in the manger; no hay should 
be allowed ; the wish is to sustain a debilitated body, not to blow out 
an idle stomach. Then the creature should, after being fully clothed, be 
left to itself, and no more nourishment be provided for that night. The 
danger of introducing substances into a stomach dead to its functions 
would thus be avoided ; nothing likely to irritate or to operate as foreign 
bodies upon the bowels would be set before the debilitated horse. 
Besides, the groom would be obliged to remain up for some space, and, 
as a good servant always finds time hang heavy when without occu- 
pation, the animal is more likely to be dressed before the man retires. 
Moreover, the clothes would prevent the cold which ensues upon 
unchecked evaporation. 
Constipation, if permitted to exist for any period, is always danger- 
