MILITAEY HYGIENE 957 



them invariably do when feeding. It does not allow 

 sufficient air to enter at the top. These defects are easily 

 remedied, but we would like to see a nose-bag capable of 

 taking hay as well as corn ; one in the shape of a long 

 bag secured around the neck, and passing to the head 

 (introduced some time ago into civil life) would appear to 

 be on the lines required, though we have no practical 

 acquaintance with it. 



Forage biscuits for use in time of war have been fre- 

 quently made, but they are a failure, as might easily be 

 predicted from a knowledge of the physiology of ' feeding.' 

 The horse is not constructed to live on concentrated food ; 

 he must have bulk. If whole oats and crushed beans could 

 be compressed into a cake and sewn up in canvas it would 

 make a useful emergency ration and reduce the bulk 

 carried ; but there is no such thing as concentrating the 

 food in the sense in which this term is generally employed. 

 If the above cake weighs one pound then at the least ten 

 of them a day will be required to keep a horse going, with 

 such grazing as can be got. 



It will be observed there is nothing of the nature of 

 concentration about this cake, there is no reduction in 

 weight ; it is simply a useful means of carrying compressed 

 food, and would save considerable waste, sufficient, in fact, 

 to pay for the compressing and canvas cover. 



Bales of compressed forage are admirable, they usually 

 contain chaffed hay, oats, and straw. Crushed oats in 

 compressed cake frequently turn sour, so that only whole 

 oats should be employed. 



In speaking of the transport of horses by sea we laid 

 especial stress on the use of hay nets in preventing waste. 

 The same holds good for horses in open camp or bivouac, 

 only a hundred times more so. It is perfectly impossible 

 if any wind is blowing, to give hay in the open in any other 

 way than by means of a net, without incurring a loss of at 

 least half the material. The hay net is tied to the picket 

 line, and no waste can possibly occur. A good large nose- 

 bag, well protected from injury, and a couple of good close- 



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