630 
ON THE TREATMENT OF 
and “ Richard is himself again,” with the trifling difference of 
having on a Flushing jacket instead of a silk one. Three very per¬ 
ceptible changes are evident during this process;—the hair loses its 
glossy soft character, and is dry and staring—the skin ceases to 
secrete that peculiar unctuous matter which keeps it soft and flexi¬ 
ble, becoming dry and scaly, more, in fact, like the skin of an 
elephant; and the exhalants on the surface become relaxed, pour¬ 
ing out profuse perspiration without any adequate cause for it. 
This process of preparatiop for the endurance of cold is going on 
throughout the whole animal kingdom;—in the wild as well as the 
domestic tribes, in birds and reptiles as well as animals; and the 
moulting of the one, and the shedding the skin of the other, is pre¬ 
cisely analogous to the changing the coat, whether of wool or 
hair, of animals. Is it a mistake of Nature’s to include the horse in 
this arrangement ] Would he be better with his thin silky coat in a 
cold frosty night than in a rough one 1 Certainly not:—she works 
on general principles, not for specific purposes, and her arrange¬ 
ments are made for animals in a natural state, and are equal to all 
the demands likely to be made on that state; but when we keep 
them in an artificial state, and make extraordinary demands on 
their powers and constitutions, we must have recourse to art to 
assist nature in the keeping up the supply of the necessary 
stamina. And this leads us to the main point of consideration,—the 
remedy. 
In considering cases of this description, it must be borne in mind 
that two objects may be had in view, requiring very different 
modes of treatment; one being merely to assist Nature in the pro¬ 
cess she has commenced; the other to get rid of the result of that 
process when completed. 
The first object will be best obtained by attention to diet, allow¬ 
ing more liberal feeds, and those of the most nutritious quality: if 
beans, cracked or ground, have usually been given, an increased 
proportion should be allowed; if not, they should be added to the 
general feeds. Old sweet hay, sound dry oats, and a liberal pro¬ 
portion of cracked beans, will in very many cases supersede the 
necessity for medicine. Should this, however, not be the case, a 
course of tonic or alterative medicines will be found highly effica¬ 
cious, or a judicious combination of the two will effect all we could 
wish. 
Were it not high treason, and that too of the most dreadful de¬ 
scription, in this age of the march of intellect, to quote an old 
author on veterinary matters, I would declare that I know of 
nothing more desirable of the first class than the far-famed Doctor 
Bracken’s far-famed cordial balls. Who that has the slightest 
pretensions to the slightest knowledge of horses, has not the name 
