m* iu- 
VOL. XXXII. No. 8. 
WHOLE No. 1331. 
PRICK SIX CENTS, 
*a.H5 PER YEAR. 
[Entered nccordlna to Act ot Congress, in the year 1S75, hy the Rural Publishing Company, In the office of the Librarian of Congress at Washington.) 
“ whips” in England back him up. The faca 
is, bearing-reins—especially what are called 
gag bearing-reins—would never have come 
into such common use if it hadn’t boon for 
ignorant grooms and coachmen. Those, as 
is well known, take as a rule more pride 
M in their masters’ and mistress' 
t*s’ horses than the masters 
JL tf and mistresses themselves. 
— (dill They like them to paw and 
IT \\ rear before starting; and so, 
ly£. I for that matter, do the nursery 
fm maids. “Oh, la!” exclaim 
/ytess) those latter, “isn’t that a 
of the tight bearing-rein. It does not keep 
the horse from stumbling—rather does it 
cause him to stumble ami prevent his re¬ 
covering himself ; then, again, as Mr. Flower 
remarks, a horse with its head stuck up in 
the air does not, after all, look half so grace¬ 
ful as “a well-fed, not over-worked horse in 
its free and natural attitudes.” Thanks 
mainly to that gentleman, this inhuman ap¬ 
paratus would seem to be doomed. The 
Koyal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty 
to Animals has taken up ( he matter. There 
was a meeting last week at the rooms of 
that Institution “to discountenance tho use” 
of these reins, when the Rigid Hoti. Cowpor 
Temple, M. P., presided, and when many in¬ 
fluential gentlemen, as well as some coach¬ 
men, showed the cruelty that their use en¬ 
tails. In the name of humanity, let us do 
away with them. 
BITS AND BEARING REINS, 
Most people like to see a horse hold up its 
head, as it indicates life, spirit and intelli¬ 
gence. Out of this liking has grown the fash¬ 
ion of making horses wear such cruel and 
unnatural bits and bearing-reins as are illus¬ 
trated in the accompanying engravings. 
Who cannot see that the horse which is in 
such evident, agony is neither so beautiful 
nor in any way us pleasing as the one in the 
companion picture i The arch of the neck 
does not show spirit but pain, and it must be 
evident that, an animal working in BUch con¬ 
strained position cannot, accomplish so much 
as when left to pull naturally. The final test, 
of beauty is in its adaptibility to use and 
comfort. (This is not said with reference to 
fashions in ladies hats and dresses, but we 
have a very private and heterodox opinion 
that the ride will apply even there.) At all 
events wo aro ware it is a good rule for horses. 
The following, from the London Pictorial 
World, forms a fit accompaniment to the 
engravings: 
“I never allow a bearing-rein to boused 
in my establishment, nor did my father be¬ 
fore me; I am sure they are both useless 
and cruel so wrote Lord Portsmouth, a 
little time ago, and so, in elfeet, have wTitten 
Sir Arthur Helps and other high authorities. 
We ourselves have more than once depre¬ 
cated their use ; and, if anything, are more 
convinced than ever that the only effect they 
have on horses is to pain and irritate them. 
A correspondent of the Western Rural 
gives this curator ring bone :—“Pulverized 
cautharides, oil of spike, oil of origanum, oil 
Of amber, oil cedar, Barbadoes tar, British 
oil, each two ounces ; oil of wormwood, one 
ounce ; spirits of turpentine, four ounces ; 
common potash, one-half oz. ; nitric acid, 
six ounces ; oil of vitrol, four ounces ; lard 
three ounces. Melt the lard and slowly add 
the acids ; stir well and add tho other ingre¬ 
dients, stirring until cold. Clip oil tho hair 
and apply by rubbing and heating into the 
parts affected. In about three days, or when 
the part is done running, wash off with suds 
made with white Castile soap and apply 
again. In old cases it may take three or 
four weeks, and in recent cases two or three 
applications have cured. 
.''w?\v8 
COMFORT 
TORTURE 
