THE INFLUENCE OF TONICS, AND THE IN-DOOR 
SYSTEM, IN PROMOTING THE CONDITION 
OF THE HORSE. 
By Nimrod. 
To the Editors of u The Veterinarian .” 
Gentlemen, 
Presuming on the interest I take in every thing relating to 
horses, I send you the following statement, which I much wish 
may be inserted in your valuable publication. 
Two years back I purchased a thorough-bred, five-year-old 
mare, for £60, from Messrs. Elmore, Duke-street, Manchester- 
square. Soon after she came into my stable, I became alarmed 
at appearances, and begun to suspect that I had purchased any 
thing but what I wanted, namely, “a good poor man’s horse .” 
The mare would not eat more than two feeds of oats a-day, and 
those not without beans; and she wasted much in work. On 
making known these circumstances to Messrs. Elmore, they, 
w r ith the liberality which characterizes their dealings, wrote to 
inform me, they would take the mare again, on my sending her 
to their stables free of expence. 
It may be asked, why did I not accept their offer? In the 
first place—the action of this animal, with her fine, lengthy 
shoulders, was just what I delighted in; and, secondly, I consi¬ 
dered her a fair object for experiment in the stable. 
Treatment the first year :—With the hope of improving her 
appetite, I gave her two drachms of aloes, three mornings in suc¬ 
cession, with no visible effect. Shortly after, a dose of physic 
containing seven drachms : no effect! Ditto repeated : no effect! 
Mr. Biggs, V.S. of Basingstoke, then gave her a dose (a common 
aloetic purge): no effect. He next gave her a liquid, purging 
dose: effect only just visible. Suspecting a torpid liver*, he 
gave her a mercurial bolus over night, and an aloetic purge in 
the morning: not the smallest visible effect; but she appeared 
more lively, and fed somewhat better. Under these circum¬ 
stances she struggled through the first winter, a disgrace to any 
man’s stable. 
First summer :—Soiled occasionally ; with hay at night, and 
three feeds of old oats a-day. Threw out some muscle, and ap¬ 
peared less languid. When put to work again, however, her coat 
* There was no appearance of worms, neither had she any. 
