DIGESTIVE APPARATUS. 141 



way in which the animal takes its food, masticates and 



swallows it. 



a. Appetite for Food. The appetite that an animal manifests 

 for., certain food depends in part on its palatability and in part on 

 the degree to which the animal has become accustomed to it. 

 This must always be borne in mind when probing for 

 the cause of poor appetite, and hence an inspection of the 

 food must not be neglected. Individual appetites vary widely. 

 One horse may be a good feeder, another a poor feeder, both 

 ,niaj»--enjoy perfect health. High strung horses often refuse their 

 food after active exercise, but their appetite returns after a short 

 refer. A change of stable or unaccustomed loneliness has a marked 

 effect on, the appetite of some sensitive horses. Of the various 

 grains horses prefer oats and indian corn and of the grasses 

 sweet timothy or meadow hay. Oats is by far the most suitable 

 grain to feed a horse. 



In all serious cases of disease the appetite is more or 

 less affected, hay or straw are usually the last part of the 

 ration refused. Defective appetite alone is 

 neveranindicationofany particular dis- 

 ease. As a rule, complete loss of appetite is an unfavor- 

 able symptom ; on the other hand, a good appetite in the 

 course of a severe disease may be regarded as a favorable 

 symptom. 



By the term perverted or depraved appetite we mean the 

 craving of unnatural food by otherwise healthy [ ?] animals. 

 As a rule this is a very important symptom. Of course this 

 condition must not be confounded with playfulness of young 

 animals which gnaw at, bite and even swallow almost any- 

 thing of convenient consistency and size. Thus cattle will 

 lick at one's clothes, dogs eat blades of grass. 



A craving for alkalies is pathological: e. g. straw soiled 

 with urine and feces, whitewash, etc., on walls, wood; acids 

 in dyspepsia. 



Swallowing indigestible substances, like cloth, leather, 

 wood, stones, and similar objects is observed in lick disease 

 of cattle, and wool eating of sheep; in rabies the same is 

 observed. 



