For all fast work the horse will be utterly useless; but for farm work, and breeding purposes, his services may be of as much value as before the occurrence of the accident. Some poor wretches that have broken down, are sold by their hard-hearted masters to be butchered in hansom cabs over hard pavement, from morning till night, so long as their vital powers are in existence, who, but for this accident, might still be enjoying all the comforts and attention of the racing stables.

CURB.

It is commonly asserted that horses with 'sickle hocks' are more liable to this strain than others differently formed. And so no doubt they are; but not to the extent generally supposed.

A curb consists in a strain or extension of the ligaments at the head of the splint bone of the shank, or about six inches below the point of the hock. It results from jumping into a bog or ditch, rearing or galloping up a steep hill, &c., and usually occurs between the second and fifth year, and most frequently while the process of breaking is going on. If the strain be severe, the horse will limp soon after the extension of the ligaments has taken place, and on the next morning considerable swelling and tumefaction will take place with or without much lameness.

A high-heeled shoe should be immediately fitted on the foot of the injured limb, and cold lotions applied

until the swelling subsides; a dose of physic should be administered with proper preparation, and immediately after its action, the blister composed of biniodide of mercury should be rubbed in: or what is still betterif applied by a competent person-corrosive sublimate dissolved in spirits of wine, applied with a sponge, after having wetted the adjacent parts with pure water to prevent an extended action of the blister. This admirable remedy must, however, be most cautiously used, or a blemish will be the result.

As soon as the action of the blister has subsided, gentle work should be given on level ground, which will materially promote absorption, and strengthen the ligaments.

EPIDEMIC FEVER.

In the present year (1865), in the month of January, the large towns have been peculiarly afflicted with this disease amongst horses of all denominations, whether in high or low condition.

The stages of the disease were very rapid and the symptoms very marked.

The first symptoms are general dulness, entire loss of appetite, great prostration of strength, rapid respiration, and very short and evidently painful cough about three or four times in the twenty-four hours, a greatly accelerated pulse of about 100, with entire absence of running at the nose, and cold and chilly ears and limbs, which are the usual accompaniments of all fevers.

It seems to be a severe form of low fever, in which the lungs are chiefly involved. I had three very severe cases to deal with, in which the pulse continued at 100 for no less than four days, with great prostration of strength and confined bowels. I administered two ounces of nitrous ether, with two drachms of camphor, in a pint of warm water or ale every four hours-putting two drachms of emetic tartar and an ounce of peruvian bark in a small feed of steamed bran and oats every evening -allowing as much hay as they would eat. There was no change up to the fifth day, after which the horses began to throw off the fever, recovered their appetites in some degree, and no further treatment was necessary.

The languor lasted about a week afterwards, during which an ounce of bark and aniseed was mixed with the feed every night, the emetic tartar discontinued, and in four weeks from the disease showing itself the horses were at work again.

The course of the disease, however, was extremely rapid in many cases, and several healthy horses in fine condition fell victims to its ravages in three or four days; and in all the cases with which I was acquainted unless resolution occurred within five or six days the case proved fatal.

Bleeding did not answer in one single case that came to my knowledge; and in two cases where it was resorted to, dropsy of the chest intervened in a few days. Blistering, also, seemed to set up undue inflammation, and to be productive of more harm than good, in accelerating both the pulse and the breathing in an

inordinate degree; and moreover, it prevented the horses from lying down as much as they otherwise would have done, and consequently their strength failed them more rapidly.

It matters little where the horse be placed—whether in a stall or loose box, so long as the air be pure and dry; since he evinces no desire to take any kind of exercise when labouring under this disease.

CHAPTER XI.

ADVICE TO GROOMS.

The great failing of all grooms borders on something nearly akin to extravagance, and extreme carelessness as to the limits of their masters' pockets.

I am well aware that in nine cases out of ten, the urgent touting for orders by saddlers, and dealers in oats, beans, hay, straw, &c., are too much for the nerves of most grooms to withstand, if they have not their masters' interests at heart.

If any advice, any argument of mine can succeed in partially putting an end to this wanton combination of servants and tradesmen against their employers, it is my duty as an honest man to urge upon grooms in general the necessity of forsaking the continuance of a system of dishonest pilfering, that is more heartless and unjustifiable than robbery on the highway.

I am well aware—and I have repeatedly heard stud grooms boast that their masters' consent to orders for fodder, saddlery, &c., never once entered their heads; and that they were not going to admit of being interfered with in the requirements of the stable; or in