999 MANGE. 
leisure is left from the cravings of appetite for rest or for repose. No 
comfortable bed is placed beneath the jaded limbs. There may be an 
open shed under which all the inhabitants of the field are free to shelter 
themselves from the storms of autumn and from the colds of early morn- 
ing. That building is, however, generally taken possession of by horned 
cattle, or by the victor of the steeds, and none but favorites are allowed 
to share the comfort of the tyrant. 
It is assuredly true that the horse, in its primitive state, must have 
galloped over the plains free from human care and without a roof to 
harbor it. In a similar state man also must once have existed. The 
early Britons are described as walking about in painted costume, and as 
living on acorns and wild berries. Which of her Britannic Majesty’s 
present subjects would like for six weeks in every year to return to the 
habits of our ancestors? The horse is even more artificial than man 
himself. It proves nothing, therefore, that the creature has existed 
upon the plain; any more than the possibility of rearing human beings 
apart from civilization can establish that the latter mode is beneficial to 
the body’s development. Man has lost the desire for a wild existence. 
Then, why is the horse expected to be benefited by a return to the so- 
called natural state, although securely fenced from that freedom and 
extent of choice which primitive nature would have afforded ? 
Horses, when huddled together, often commit fearful injuries upon 
their companions. The creatures are unused to the society into which 
they are forced, and awkwardness is apt to be rude. Any want of man- 
ners in the heels of a horse is a serious business. But, to put upon one 
side so weighty an argument against the grass field, as foreign to the 
present subject,—all sorts of animals are there congregated. Some are 
turned out “to regain condition ;” some to become “fresh upon the legs;” 
and some to live cheaply till their services are required. Others are 
allowed “a run,” after some virulent disorder; and others merely to 
afford time for the eradication of obstinate disease. The pony, the cart- 
horse, the thorough-bred, and the roadster,—all are crowded together. 
All sizes and conditions meet as at a common table. Is it very wonder- 
ful, or much out of the scope of ordinary probability, if one of the creat- 
ures so exposed, so fed, and so tended, should engender mange? A few 
years back, the children kept at Yorkshire schools were much exposed 
to a similar affection. Those babes, however, had not been more accus- 
tomed to cleanliness than the horse, nor were they exposed to half the 
neglect which the animal at grass is obliged to endure. Is it then sur- 
prising that the lower creature should breed a disease like to that which 
afflicts the human being? Let mange appear in one, and the rest are 
prepared by exposure and unwholesome food to imbibe the disorder; 
