VETERINARY MEDICAL ASSOCIATION. 
959 
and he adds, “Let me give assurance that there is that newness of truths, 
art, and approved experience, which unto this day hath not been discovered 
in any other author. It is a true maisterpiece indeed, and so exact in every 
part which time and my own industry hath brought to light ; and because 
old age groweth upon me, and that the grave will never be a whit the better, 
I thought therefore to divulge them to the world, rather than to have hid 
them in oblivion, desiring to give God the glory, and me but only thanks and 
good wishes !” One might have expected, in reading such a preface, that 
the writer was to make disclosures which would revolutionise the medical 
art. On the contrary, however, nowhere could we find a better specimen 
of the dogmas of the old school, and the essence of quackery. But we shall 
let Gervase speak for himself ; and, first, as to his knowledge of anatomy and 
physiology. Modern science has not thrown much light on the use of the 
spleen ; but Markham found no difficulty in the matter. He says, “’Tis the 
reception of melancholie, and the dregs of the blood, and is as liable to 
infirmity as any inward member whatever. ’Tis through its spongyness apt 
to draw in all manner of filth, and to dilate and spread it quite over the 
whole body, and which swelling gives much grief to the midriff, and makes 
the heart faint.” Mr. Markham favours us with a dissertation on tired 
horses. Bor such a “ disease,” as it was then reckoned, which we attri- 
bute to overworking, we find the best cure to be rest. But let us have a 
specimen of the “ wisdom of our forefathers.” “ For,” says Markham, “ to 
tell you the truth in plainness what tiring is, ’tis when a horse by successant 
labour hath all his inward and vital powers, which should accompany and 
rejoice the heart, expelled and driven out to the outward parts and less de- 
serving members, leaving the heart forlorn and sick.” Now for the cure : — 
“ This is my most general advice : if at any time you tire the horse, take of 
old wine a quart, saltpetre three ounces, boil them well together, and bathe 
all the horse’s legs with them, and pour oil and vinegar into his nostrils, and 
give him the drink of sheep’s heads. If the tireness proceeds from dulness, 
fearfulness, and unwillingness, take of ordinary window-glass, beat it into 
fine powder, then take up the skin on each side of the spur vein betwixt 
your finger and thumb, and with a fine awl or bodkin make divers holes 
through the skin, so rub the glass powder very hard into these small holes, 
which done, mount his back, and do but offer to touch his side with your 
heel, and be sure if he has any spirit in him he will go forward, the greatest 
fear that he will go too fast. There are others who thrust a burning brand 
or iron in his buttocks, or bring bottles of blazing straw about his ears. 
There’s neither of these cures but is exceeding good.” As prevention, how- 
ever, is better than cure, our author advises “ to take a slice of fresh beef ; 
having steeped it iu vinegar, lay it about the bit or snaffle, and having made 
it fast with a thread, ride your horse therewith, and he will hardly tire.” 
For the disease of “founder,” viz. inflammation of the laminae of the hoof, 
which he calls “ foot sleep ” and “ a stoppage of the blood,” he recommends 
that “ a garter should be tied tightly above the knees and above the hinder 
hoofs ; and that done, cause him to be walked upon the hardest ground you 
can find for the space of two or three hours. If he be loathe to go, as 
commonly he will be, let one follow and beat him with a stick or wand to 
force him on. Then, after his walking, let him be set up and tied to the 
rack, that he lie not down, and afterwards let him be again walked two or 
three hours.” One would think after that, the most humane way would 
have been to have walked the poor animal into the knacker’s yard. Gervase 
Markham having eclipsed all his contemporaries in our department, had re- 
solved to occupy the “entire field,” as he affirms, “of all knowledge that 
pertaineth to the horse.” Accordingly, about the year 1600, he favoured 
the Queen’s subjects with a volume of 500 or 600 pages, entitled e Cavalirice ; 
