±0 CLINICAL DIAGNOSTICS. 



leathery, dry skin, are languid and present varied disease 

 symptoms. 



III. Conformation. It is advisable to classify horses 

 according' to their use into heavy and light draft, carriage and 

 saddle horses. The classification is based upon the animal's 

 conformation. To judge of the conformation correctly we 

 should take into consideration the depth of the body, breadth, 

 depth of chest, curvature of the ribs, length of back, depth 

 of flank, breadth of pelvis, strength and angulation of the 

 joints, and the attitude of the limbs when standing naturally. 



Accordingly, we distinguish between a strong and weak, 

 heavy and light boned, well muscled and poorly muscled con- 

 formation. 



Horses with flat, small chests possess poor staying quali- 

 ties, the lungs correlatively being small. Horses with flat, not 

 well sprung ribs, tucked up abdomens and long legs, are as 

 a rule poor feeders. As such animals show continually po^ 

 appetite tor food, the bowels are not kept well filled, hence 

 the body appears deficient in depth. Hearty horses, good 

 feeders, show on the other hand, better developed abdomens, 

 the bowels being distended by the large quantities of food 

 they contain. The more voluminous the food, the greater the 

 circumference of the belly. [The abdominal circumference is 

 further increased in pregnancy and in diseases causing exu- 

 dates to accumulate in the abdominal cavity, ascites]. 



Animals with curvature of the spine, abnormal bending 

 of the leg bones or diffuse enlargements of joints suffer or 

 have suffered from constitutional bone diseases in youth 

 (rachitis). Calves with broad, beefy hind parts and wide 

 loins suffer from pelvic distortion, grow slowly and should 

 not be used for breeding ("Doppellender"). 



IV. Temperament. By temperament we mean the 

 mental attitude the animal assumes toward impressions per- 

 ceived through the medium of the organs of sense. An ani- 

 mal's knowledge of what is going on about it is obtained 



