150 VETEEINAEY HYGIENE 



DISEASES CONNECTED WITH FOOD. 



There is a large and important class of disease recognised 

 as being due directly or indirectly to dietetic errors. It is 

 one of the branches of preventive medicine where the 

 profession has been able to practically demonstrate its 

 usefulness to the public. There is much valuable work done 

 which passes wholly unrecognised, for the reason that it 

 does not appeal to the layman, but in the matter of feeding 

 animals on a rational basis and preventing disease, the 

 pocket is directly touched and a hearing and recognition at 

 once obtained. 



The late Mr. Hunting of Durham worked out years ago 

 the problem of feeding large bodies of horses on a rational 

 basis. His principles were based on common sense, a 

 knowledge of digestive requirements, of the chemistry of 

 food, and the market price of produce. Following on his 

 lines, nearly all large bodies of horses employed in 

 commercial undertakings throughout the kingdom are 

 now fed. 



To successfully feed horses it is necessary to understand 

 their physiological requirements and their anatomical 

 peculiarities ; to have a knowledge of the chemistry of 

 food, to understand the processes of digestion and assimila- 

 tion ; to be able, as only the trained eye can, to recognise 

 at the earliest moment deterioration or improvement in 

 condition ; to recognise the influence of work on condition, 

 and the influence of food on work ; to understand the class 

 of food best suited to the class of work, and the amount 

 required by individual animals ; in a word, someone is 

 required to express for the horse what it cannot express 

 for itself, and that person is the veterinary surgeon. 



Some of the largest firms in the kingdom are now 

 leaving the entire feeding and management of their horses 

 in the hands of the veterinary profession, the results have 

 appealed to the pockets of shareholders and ratepayers, 

 and obtained that recognition which is so hard to get unless 

 they can be expressed in pounds, shillings, and pence. 



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