76 
ON FARCY. 
elegant stables, perfectly ventilated ; nevertheless, at the moment 
when they appear to be otherwise in perfect health, farcy buttons 
appear all over the body—they suppurate, and the ulcers spread, 
and the animals are without hesitation condemned, and judged 
to be incurable. 
We are far from condemning the measures recommended as pre¬ 
servatives against farcy; but what we think is this, that, first of 
all, it is indispensable thoroughly to understand what is meant 
by good food, and pure and dry air, &c.; and we shall probably 
then see, that the best food which we are accustomed to give to 
our horses is not, perhaps, that which we ought to prescribe as a 
preservative against farcy. At present, liowever, that malady 
having been studied in a very small part of the world, it is impos¬ 
sible to assign the proper prophylactic treatment. 
Having thus rapidly glanced at the practice of Europe, let us 
see what is done in a foreign country. 
In Egypt, a flat country, we know not of any mode of treat¬ 
ment proper to preserve horses from the farcy. In Arabia, in 
the coffee country at Chignigues (Hedjaz), of which we have 
already spoken, farcy is never seen on the mountains. It will 
follow from this, that keeping them on the mountains, with 
good food, will prevent an attack of farcy. This is what the 
Wahabites do, and with perfect success. In Europe warmth is 
recommended; in Arabia they search for cold situations; and 
we have seen that farcy does not appear in the winter, and it is 
also at this period that the animals feed on luxuriant and succu¬ 
lent grass. 
A mixed food, composed of animal and vegetable substances, 
can it produce such advantageous changes in the general eco¬ 
nomy, as to exempt the horse from the attack of farcy ? This 
had occupied our attention before we had any documents to prove 
that the Arabs had been accustomed to resort to such a kind of 
food. It is also to Dr. Gand that we are indebted for the de¬ 
tails we are about to lay before our readers. 
In the same province of Chignigues, already referred to, a 
sheriff, named Ali, mi mhahitard of the plain, had many horses 
very handsome, and for which he asked a great price. He was 
rich, and fed them with dried raisins, camel’s milk, meat cut 
into small pieces and dried in the sun, and dates; sometimes he 
gave them grass, which was brought from the mountains. These 
horses never had farcy, although they lived constantly in the plain. 
This is a striking proof of the influence of vegeto-anirnal food. 
One of us had the opportunity of seeing, for a long time, that 
the Wahabites w^ere accustomed to feed their horses with beef, 
camel’s milk, butter, &c. We beg the attention of medical men 
