422 
CURSORY REMARKS. 
plished his end, and he always voided some water. The prac- 
tice, however, had no bad effect on his constitution, which may 
be said to have been “ as hard as nails.” 
With respect to food, and its influence on the health and con- 
dition of horses, I consider that to be best which affords most 
nourishment in proportion to its bulk ; and this for every descrip- 
tion of horse. A view to economy, how r ever, leads farmers to 
blow their horses out with any thing that will fill their bellies, 
and hence their disposition to colic, staggers, and other often- 
times fatal disorders. I have had no experience of turning 
horses into a straw-yard, but there is something awful in the 
term ; and I do not wonder at Mr. Smith (p. 118) assuring us 
of its being prolific of broken wind, notwithstanding my belief 
that, from what I have seen in France, a certain daily portion of 
well harvested, and clean, wheaten straw is favourable to the 
health of horses doing a certain description of work. 
The discussion in this number on Mineral Poisons is a most 
interesting one, and I wish the results could be more generally 
known than they are. An enterprising groom or coachman is 
bad enough. I remember a sister of the late Earl Courtenay 
telling me that one of the latter fraternity destroyed an entire 
set of coach-horses for her father : but an enterprizing carter, 
ambitious of sleek coats, is more dangerous in a farm-yard than 
the murrain. I have, however, a word to say of arsenic. During 
the two last years of my residence in England, I had a mare 
which 1 rode as a hack, and she had but one fault. She was a 
very delicate feeder, and consequently I had difficulty in keep- 
ing her up to the mark, as my work was rather severe. On 
mentioning the circumstance of her shy feeding to a gentleman 
of your profession, on the Winchester race-course, and residing 
at Winchester, he assured me he thought he could remedy that 
failing by medicine, observing, at the same time, that it would 
contain arsenic. The offer being a gratuitous one, I could not 
ask for the recipe ; but to cut my story short, the medicine suc- 
ceeded to the full extent of my wishes. The mare ate all the 
food that was given to her ; she filled out in consequence ; and 
I appeal to Mr. Ben, opposite to the Angel at Hayes, on the 
Uxbridge road, who sold her for me to Mr. Wombwell, of 
George Street, Hanover Square, for £50, after I left England, 
whether she was not in excellent condition, and feeding as well 
as any horse in his possession. But the name of my bene- 
factor ! — why, for the soul of me I cannot recollect it; although, 
as a small return for his kindness, I lent him a volume of 
Mr. William Percivall’s “Lectures on the Veterinary Art,” 
