EDITORIAL OBSERVATIONS. 
593 
And what were these sophisms, alleged as “ proofs V 9 
One was, that the animal to be elevated suffered itself to be 
ridden quietly up to the balloon. Do horses, then, that have 
been flogged in riding-schools refuse to re-enter the schools 
to be flogged again ? Or, do horses that have been vilely 
treated in butchers’ and bakers’ carts, and cabs and ’busses, 
refuse to be put into the same harness again ? When acts 
of this description come to be repeatedly practised for any 
length of time—and particularly when surgical operations 
come to be frequently performed—we know that some horses 
will manifest their dislike or unwillingness to be so treated. 
But then, are we quite sure that M. Poitevin’s ponies suffered 
themselves to be put into their slings, to be hoisted up into 
the air, without reluctance? Were they not, like the poor ox, 
clandestinely, pushed, and urged, and goaded on to their trial ? 
The other “ proof” adduced to make people unacquainted with 
such matters believe they experienced no suffering, was, that 
the ponies fed as usual after being relanded upon terra firma , 
and released from their shackles. And would not a horse 
that had been flogged, or spurred, or whipped, or ill-treated 
in harness, or that had undergone some painful operation, such 
as being cut for the stone, or castrated, or docked or nicked, 
feed as usual, the moment the source of pain was removed ? 
We even knew an ass to have been subjected to the cruel 
experiment of excision of the spleen, who, the moment the 
w r ound made in his abdomen, through which the spleen had 
been extracted, was sewn up, set to and ate for the remainder 
of the day, with an appetite as though nothing had happened 
to him; notwithstanding his hours, even then, were numbered. 
It was stated at the inquiry before the magistrate, by the 
professional evidence on both sides, that horses had been 
known to be kept for years in slings or suspending ap¬ 
paratus; a fact from which it might be inferred, that no 
harm accrued from slinging or suspending animals. To 
undertand this, however, it is necessary to be informed, 
that a horse, placed in slings, is either hauled up off the 
ground and suspended within them, as when the design is 
to embark him on board of ship; or else, is merely raised 
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