40 
LACERATION OF THE TONGUE OF A HORSE. 
seized a portion of it between his lips, and then seemed astonished 
that he could do no more with it. I therefore renounced for a 
while this mode of feeding him, and contented myself with ren- 
dering his barley-water more nourishing, by increasing the quan- 
tity of the meal, and stirring the mass well while he was drinking 
it. In this manner he was fed during three or four days ; at the 
expiration of which period the wound in the mouth was healed. 
I now presented him afresh with the kind of mash which I had- 
before made, and I remarked that he set himself to work more 
gently in order to eat it. I observed that he kept his head con- 
stantly in the manger, and, having gathered between his lips a 
small portion of the food, he pressed it against the bottom of the 
manger so as to force a part of it into his mouth. He then 
gathered another portion, and, subjecting that to the same kind 
of pressure, the first pellet was forced somewhat further back- 
wards ; and so he continued until, bit by bit, it was pushed on to 
the back part of the mouth, and swallowed. This was the work 
of a long time, and proceeded very slowly, but by degrees he was 
able to dispose of the whole of his feed. During the time of 
his repast he was in a profuse perspiration, shewing sufficiently 
plainly the difficulty which he found in satisfying his appetite. 
This continued during three months, when it occurred to me to 
mingle a few grains of oats with his barley-meal and bran. At 
first the oats were swallowed without being masticated ; but, by 
degrees, mastication returned. At length he began to eat with 
less difficulty, and the profuse sweat with which he used to be 
covered disappeared. 
This kind of food, convenient enough for a horse that does no 
w r ork, did not accomplish our purpose : we wished to restore him 
again to the ranks, and to fit him for that it was necessary that 
he should have more substantial food. I gave him some hay, 
at first in small quantities at a time, and selected the best. He 
took it in the same manner that he had been accustomed to ma- 
nage his mash ; he gathered it together with his lips, and formed 
it into a kind of pellet with his lips, and then pressing it against 
the bottom of his manger, he gradually forced it sufficiently far 
into his mouth to be enabled to seize it with his grinders, a new 
pellet constantly pushing on those that were before. 
It was fifteen or twenty days before he could manage this 
cleverly ; and then, being kept apart from the other horses, he 
was able to manage the whole of his ration. Oats were, as be- 
fore, mingled with his mash, and their quantity was gradually 
increased, while the hay was proportionably diminished, until he 
w 7 as fed at the same time and in the same manner as the other 
horses belonging to the regiment. As to chaff, he could not 
