REMARKS ON THE CONDITION OF HUNTERS. 655 
pearance in the morning of straw in his manger, as if he had 
been eating it, the setting muzzle should be put on at ten 
o’clock at night, and remain on all night; but his groom should 
be with him by five in the morning to relieve him. He should 
then have two feeds at the interval of an hour, and proceed to 
the covert at a gentle pace.” 
Among the errors established by custom, and confirmed by pre¬ 
judice and ignorance, we have always looked upon the depriva¬ 
tion of water, to the extent it is carried by grooms, as a very pro¬ 
minent one. Even so enlightened a stable-man as our author al- 
lows his hunters but a single pail-full of water on the day before 
he hunts; and none afterwards, until he returns from hunting. 
It would be throwing all physiological reasoning away to put any 
such question to a Newmarket groom or jockey as we are going 
to put to our friend Nimrod ; but we should like to ask him, 
what he supposes to be the use of the water an animal drinks ? 
What becomes of the fluid after it is drunk? and how much of 
a given quantity he imagines remains in the bowels half-a-dozen 
hours after it has been drunk? By the time he is enabled to 
solve these queries, he will (but not before) feel disposed to be 
more liberal to his thirst-stricken hunter. Although animals, in 
a state of nature, pasturing on the green herb, drink, and require 
but little water, yet, living in a heated stable, and feeding on 
dried and stimulating provender, the case is widely different. In 
such an artificial and forced state, they require a great deal of 
water, to make up for the deficiency of sap or fluid in their food; 
and, unless they are supplied with it, they can neither enjoy 
health or condition, nor can they exert their powers with the same 
degree of vigour and effect. Theory and fact, in sufficient abun¬ 
dance, might be brought to bear upon this important point; but 
here we have not the space (even were this a proper time) to dis¬ 
cuss the question. 
The treatment proper to be pursued, after hunting, is not less 
important to be considered than the preparation of a hunter for 
the chase. A tired horse requires every care and indulgence. A 
loose box ; a little, a very little choice, and easily digestible pro- 
vender; and abundance of water-gruel, or, if lie will not take 
that, plain water, with the chill taken off'. From the effects of 
mere fatigue, rest and quietude will, in time, restore him ; but 
should he return what is called over-marked, “ his groom must 
be on the alert.” 
“ There are twoor three directing symptoms which cannot easily 
be mistaken. In the first place, his appetite fails him, and he is 
very greedy for water; his respiration is not so smooth as it 
should be; there is considerable relaxation in the muscles in 
