256 
A. v/dERK. 
a 
beautiful piece of mechanism do we see in the formation of the 
horse; and what a number of systems do we find in the construc¬ 
tion of one great system, all working in perfect harmony with 
eacli other to maintain health. But if one of these becomes af¬ 
fected through negligence or ignorance of hygienic treatment, 
how soon we observe one or more of them affected through sym¬ 
pathy ; and this is where so many of the writers observe symp¬ 
toms that give rise to their theories as to the pathology of this 
disease. 
As we stand and gaze at a horse in health, what do we be¬ 
hold ? I know of nothing more befitting to call it than a chem¬ 
ical laboratory, with all the conveniences that are required to 
operate it; and to learn all the chemical changes that take place, 
I am afraid, will never be known to the profession. But let us 
take a physiological view, and note a few of the chemical changes 
that take place within this laboratory. 
The most noted one is the reparative change, or in other 
words, the building up of the system; for we see if the horse did 
not receive food or water, it would be only a short period of time 
till he, as a then constituent entity, would disappear and the 
change would be marked and absolute; and this would appear 
more plainly while the horse is at labor. So that we learn that 
to maintain this body we have to give the horse food to replace 
the waste which the system undergoes in life. Let us now exam¬ 
ine into this “ wasting.” 
To maintain life within this body there must be a certain tem¬ 
perature, termed animal heat, and we see this brought about by 
the burning up of its own tissues. This loss must be replaced by 
the food the horse partakes of. And here is a phenomenon that 
is very complicated and hard to understand. The combustion is 
produced by the oxygen and carbon coming in contact witli each 
other. 
Now let us look to the composition of the blood for a mo¬ 
ment and note two of the elements it contains and their action. 
One is hematine, and the other paroglobuline, which has the 
affinity of drawing oxygen from the inspired air and circulating 
it through the circulatory system to meet the carbon that is given 
