The Sporting Dictionary, and Rural Repository, Volume 1 (of 2) / Of General Information upon Every Subject Appertaining to the Sports of the Field

Authors

,—who have dedicated much time and labour to the infinity of subjects which these Volumes will contain, have been both numerous and respectable; and to those who are accustomed to see things through a single medium, it will seem matter of surprise, that any thing NEW, INSTRUCTIVE, or ENTERTAINING, should be still left worthy of public attention; but when the unceasing influence, and decisive dictates of fashion; the abolition of old sports, and introduction of new; the various regulations in, and increase of, the penal laws for the preservation of GAME, and the privileges of killing; in addition to the great and unprecedented national exertion in the reformation of FARRIERY, since the publication of the present Author's Stable Directory, are taken into the aggregate; it will be found, by the judicious and enlightened part of the SPORTING WORLD, that a more modern, comprehensive, and explanatory work, has not been too soon obtruded upon PUBLIC PATRONAGE. To enumerate individually here, those Authors, of the greatest celebrity, whose endeavours or productions have stood the highest in general estimation, would prove not only unnecessary, but superfluous, as they will of course be occasionally adverted to, and remarked upon, under different heads in the progress of the Work.

ARTISTS

—are gentlemen, the aid of whose pencils, in the decorative department of sporting publications, is considered so immediately necessary (particularly with the younger branches) in all matters of minutiÆ requiring accurate representation, that the success is frequently considered doubtful and uncertain without the attractive influence of their professional exertions. It has been observed, and must be freely admitted, that, till within the last third of the last century, HORSES, DOGS, and GAME, have appeared less upon canvas (in proportion to the progress of the art) than any subjects whatever: whether they were thought less worthy the study and pencil of the master, or productive of less emolument, it may not be possible, nor is it much to the purpose, to ascertain. Certain it is, they have never, at any former period, so nearly approached the summit of perfection as at the present moment; never were artists known more emulous; never were finer pictures produced by the foreign pencils of fertility, than are now exhibited by the natives of our own island; nor ever were artists of this description so largely patronized, or so well rewarded.

Elmer, whose paintings of GAME excited the astonishment and admiration of every beholder for forty years past, has lately paid his last debt, with one of the best and most unsullied characters that ever accompanied man to the grave: but what is equally to be regretted, is the total destruction and loss of his very valuable collection (soon after his death) by an accidental fire near the Haymarket, where they had been but lately deposited and arranged for exhibition; constituting an irreparable misfortune to those whose property they were become by his decease, and no small disappointment to CONNOISSEURS, amongst whom they would most probably have been divided at some future period by public sale.

The PROFESSIONAL ARTISTS, or, as they are now more familiarly termed, animal painters, who derive present advantage from public protection and personal popularity, are not numerous, but truly respectable; each enjoying the happy effect of his own peculiar excellence, in the gradations of favour, a discriminating and indulgent public is always so truly ready to bestow. Of these, the names of Stubbs, Gilpin, Marshall, Garrard, and Sartorius, appear the most prominent. Others there are, but of much inferior note, who do not at present promise (by the specimens they have displayed) to soar above the planetary influence of mediocrity. Various productions of the rest of those just mentioned, have for years in succession graced the exhibition of the Royal Academy at Somerset House, where they have been as repeatedly honoured with ROYAL as with general approbation: but whether it is owing to a superiority of good fortune, or to a superiority of his genius, Marshall is the only instance of an artist's having so early in life, and with so much rapidity, reached the summit of princely patronage, as well as the very zenith of professional celebrity, without having once submitted a single production of his pencil to the caprice of public opinion at the shrine of fashion, hitherto considered the only possible and direct road to Fame and Fortune.

ABSCESS

.—An abscess (in either man or beast) is an inflammatory tumour, constituting a progressive formation of matter from some serious injury previously received by blow, bruise, or accident. It may also proceed from plethora, or gross humours originating in a too viscid (or acrimonious) state of the blood; as well as a morbid disposition of the fluids; and many degrees of latent ill usage, to which HORSES are incessantly subject, from the too well-known and irremediable inhumanity of the lower classes, to whose superintendence and management they are unavoidably, and must inevitably, continue to be entrusted. From whatever cause an abscess may proceed, judicious discrimination should be expected and enjoined from the practitioners employed; many of whom (particularly of the old school) possess, and indulge in, the unhappy fatality of endeavouring to counteract Nature, and to set all her powerful efforts at defiance. Under this mistaken notion of scientific practice, in such and similar cases, great difficulties frequently arise; not more in respect to the very evident ill effect of erroneous treatment, but in the disappointment occasioned by a procrastination of cure.

The very basis and foundation of an abscess being a cavity continually enlarging internally by the propulsive force of matter collecting within, will sufficiently demonstrate the inconsiderate folly, and extreme obstinacy, of endeavouring to repel, by the interposing and improper power of spirituous repellents, or saturnine astringents, what Nature is making her most strenuous efforts to discharge. In all slight and superficial appearances of tumefaction, where there are no immediate or strong signs of suppuration, the use of moderate repellents may be adopted with judgment, and in most cases with success; but when the predominant, and almost invariable, symptoms of increased swelling, great heat, with pricking and darting sensations, (in the human frame,) or visible increase of the enlargement, and palpable pain upon pressure, in the HORSE, denote the formation of matter to be going on, all attempts at repulsion must be instantly laid aside; not only as nugatory, but as tending to mischief in the extreme. Such treatment persevered in, would evidently not only retard, but positively destroy, every chance of ultimately effecting a purpose, for which alone the experiment could have been made. The consequence would soon prove decisive, by a termination in either an indurated tumour, a fixed schirrus, a partial and imperfect suppuration, a fistulous wound, or an inveterate and ill-conditioned ulcer. As, however, it is not intended to extend the Work to a complete system of ANATOMY, SURGERY, PHYSIC, or FARRIERY, but to render its utility more general and diffusive, reference must be occasionally and necessarily made to the professors of either, or to the books particularly appropriated to the subject of each.

ACADEMY

,—which for time immemorial has been in use to signify a seminary for youth only, has at length acquired, by the refinement of fashion, the honour of giving more dignity to what has hitherto passed under the denomination of A RIDING SCHOOL; now transformed, by the sublimity of the superior classes, into an "EQUESTRIAN ACADEMY;" of which more will be found under the proper and distinct heads of Manege and Riding School.

ACCLOYED

—is almost obsolete, and will be buried in oblivion with the last FARRIER of the old school. It has been formerly used to signify an injury sustained in the foot by shoeing; as when a nail had swerved from its proper direction, and punctured (or pressed too close upon) the membranous mass so as to occasion lameness, the horse was then said to be "accloyed:" but no well-founded derivation is to be discovered for a term of so much ambiguity.

ACHE

;—pain arising from different causes, originating in blows, wounds, inflammations, and colds; as for instance, the CHRONIC RHEUMATISM, which may be termed a CONTINUAL ACHE.

ACRIMONY

—is a state of the blood disposed to only certain degrees of disease, by the quantity of serum becoming too great for the proportion of crassamentum, with which, in its state of active fluidity, it is combined for the purpose of regular circulation, so invariably necessary to the standard of health. Blood thus divested of its adhesive property, soon displays in HORSES a tendency to what are termed acrimonious diseases, originating in, and dependent upon, the impoverished state to which it is reduced. Hence arises a train of trouble and disquietude more vexatious than alarming, more troublesome than expensive; as cracked heels; cutaneous eruptions of the dry and scurfy kind; a dingy, variegated, unhealthy hue of the coat; and frequently a seemingly half starved contraction of the CREST. These palpable effects of acrimony in the blood, are produced much more by the penury and indifference of the master, (or the neglect of his servant,) than any disposition to disease in the horse. Experience has sufficiently proved, that a sufficient quantity of proper and healthy food is so indispensably requisite for the support of the frame, and every office of the animal oeconomy, that a want of such due supply must be productive of acrimony in a greater or a less degree; to obtund which, and counteract its effects, recourse must be had to alimentary invigorants and antimonial alteratives, as will be found more medically explained in "The Gentleman's Stable Directory;" or, "Taplin's Compendium of Farriery."

ACTION

—is a word in constant use with the SPORTING world, and horse-dealing fraternity, to express the peculiar property of a horse by his good or bad action: speaking of him as a subject possessing superior powers, he is called "a horse of exceeding fine action;" meaning it to be understood, he is not to be found fault with; that he is calculated to make a very valuable roadster, "as he trots within himself (that is, with ease to himself) fourteen or fifteen miles an hour;" implying an unequivocal proof of his speed in that pace: that he goes in high style, "well above his ground;" meaning, that he lifts his legs light, quick, and freely, without dwelling or tripping, so as to be entitled to the degrading appellation of "a daisy cutter," by going too near, and of course always liable to fall.

ADDER STUNG

,—a term indiscriminately applied to the bites or stings of venomous animals and insects without distinction; and this probably arose from the frequent discovery of such accidents, without being able to ascertain the cause, or from what enemy the injury was sustained. HORSES, as well as DOGS, are sometimes bit by the VIPER, (called an adder,) slow-worm, or eft; but much more frequently stung by hornets, wasps; a large gold-coloured, long-bodied, glittering fly, called, "a horse-stinger;" or other poisonous insects, with which, in the summer months, the sunny banks of pastures so infinitely abound. In all injuries of this kind, bleeding (pretty freely in respect to quantity) should precede every other consideration; as instantly unloading the vessels must greatly contribute to the intent of reducing present and preventing farther inflammation. For some generations, unctuous and oily applications have been in general use, without any well-founded reason, or established proof, of their being either infallible or efficacious; but in the present and enlightened state of much-improved practice, frequent fomentations of warm vinegar, an aqueous solution of sal. armoniac, or the vegeto mineral water of a pretty strong consistence, may be safely and advantageously preferred; assisting the general effort with small doses of nitre and gum arabic, to allay inflammation, and attenuate the blood.

ADULTERATION

—is the too prevalent custom of lowering the strength of spirits by the profitable addition of water, thereby reducing the quality by increasing the quantity; or, in words of less paradoxical import, by a most deceptive prostitution of integrity on one side, and an equally shameful imposition upon friendly confidence on the other. This species of lawless tergiversation, bad as it is, cannot be considered so truly unprincipled, so strictly iniquitous, or so cruelly destructive, as the adulteration of medicine: this has been for a long time past the purest privilege of the profession, and may be candidly concluded the most predominant and best-founded reason that can be assigned for the unprecedented increase of CHEMISTS and DRUGGISTS in every part of the kingdom. The superior art of adulteration consists (with the adept) in so securely incorporating the cheap and inferior substitute with the genuine and higher priced article of the Materia Medica, as to insure the additional profit, and (secundum artem) escape detection. To this purity of principle, this species of professional privilege, it is, that individuals of opulence and liberality stand indebted for the disappointments they have experienced in the expected efficacy of "prescriptions faithfully prepared."

AGE

.—The age is generally a leading question respecting any horse offered for sale; and this is at all times to be ascertained with more certainty by the state of the TEETH than any other means whatever; unless he has undergone the secret operation of a DEALER, known by the appellation of "bishoping," which will be found described under that head.

When a horse is more than six years old, he is then termed an aged horse; from which time till seven, the cavities in his teeth fill up; and from seven to eight years old, (varying a little in different subjects,) the mark is entirely obliterated, by which his age can no longer be perfectly known. Deprived of this criterion, general observations must be resorted to, upon which only a tolerable (though sometimes an uncertain) opinion may be formed. If the teeth are very long and discoloured, ragged at the edges, with either the upper or lower projecting beyond the other; the fleshy ridges (called bars) of the upper jaw become smooth and contracted; the tongue lean and wrinkled at the sides; the eyes receding from their former prominence, and a hollow and ghastly indentation above the orb; the knees projecting beyond the shank-bone, and overhanging the fetlock, as well as a knuckling or bending forward of the lower joints behind; little time need be lost in looking for farther proofs; old age is approaching very fast. For age by the teeth, see Colt.

AGUE

,—a fever of the intermittent kind, which was for many years a matter of doubt and controversy, whether fevers of this description existed in the horse, or merely in the brain of the FARRIER; when, after long investigation, strict attention, and steady observation, by practitioners of the first eminence, the point is at length acceded to; and it is admitted that HORSES are subject to, and attacked with, INTERMITTENTS, bearing an affinity to the quotidians, tertians, and quartans, of the human species.

ÆGYPTIACUM

—is a well known and long established external application in veterinary practice, and is thus prepared.

Take of verdigrease, finely powdered, five ounces; honey, fourteen ounces; the best white wine vinegar, seven ounces; mix and boil them over a gentle fire to the consistence of treacle or honey.

This article, which has so long passed under the denomination of an ointment, and was so called in the London Dispensatory of the College of Physicians, produces, without any additional process, (but merely by standing, and depositing its sediment,) another name for a part of the same preparation in this way: the grosser parts subsiding, constitute a more substantial consistence at the bottom, which is the article termed ÆGYPTIACUM: the fluid or thinner part, floating upon the surface, is the mildest in its effect, and called, by medicinal practitioners, MEL ÆGYPTIACUM. The property of both (one being a degree stronger than the other, and may be used separately, or shaken together, according to the effect required) is to assist in cleansing inveterate and long-standing ulcers; to keep down fungous flesh; and to promote the sloughing off of such foul and unhealthy parts of the surface, as prevent new granulations from arising to constitute the incarnation necessary to a sound and permanent restoration of parts. They are articles of acknowledged utility in the hands of judicious and experienced practitioners; but the furor of folly has sometimes rendered them medicines of mischief with those who have never heard, or do not condescend to recollect, the trite but expressive adage, that "the shoemaker should never go beyond his last." This is the case when the lower classes of farriers, smiths, coachmen, and grooms, attempt to cure the grease, cracked heels, &c. with the articles described, constituting to a certainty, "the remedy worse than the disease."

AIR

—is the element in which we breathe; a floating (or fluctuating) fluid, with which we are imperceptibly surrounded, and by whose elastic property we are enabled to exist. A philosophic enquiry into, or definition of, the very air itself, is not to the purpose here; nor, indeed, without a demonstrative and practical apparatus, can its wonderful properties be perfectly understood.

Its various effects upon both the body and the mind of man, as well in sickness as in health, cannot be lost even upon the least sensible and least ruminative observer; who is in the constant enjoyment of those great blessings, air, health, and exercise; for he finds himself affected (and frequently like Pope's rustic hero, who "whistled as he went for want of thought") in different ways, and by every breeze, without knowing why: he meltingly submits one day to the SUN; he shrinks another from the cold: he is depressed, even to melancholy, with the heavy gloom and dense atmosphere to day; and elated, almost beyond the power of expression, by the exhilarating, temperate, clear and lucid sky of to-morrow. If then the spirits are thus not only fairly considered, but fully proved, the thermometer of mental sensations, upon which the air (or rather its change) is found to operate with so much palpable effect; who shall presume to doubt its physical influence upon the human frame, so far as is applicable to the introduction of disease, or the re-establishment of health?

Thus much it has been unavoidably necessary to introduce by way of proof, that the human frame being so affected by the extremes of heat and cold, damps or dryness, such proportional effects (though not probably in directly the same way) may be produced by the same means upon the ANIMAL world, who possessing no power of communication, we cannot derive information but by means of observation upon the original cause and relative effect. As for instance; if the air is too much impregnated with cold, moist, damp particles between the chilling showers of hazy weather, the body (particularly of invalids and valetudinarians) is much more disposed to, and susceptible of, morbidity, than in a more temperate and settled state of the atmosphere. This, proceeding from a collapsion of the porous system, occasions slight indisposition with thousands, who are sensibly affected by lassitude and disquietude, not reaching disease; whilst in others more irritable, it is soon productive of coughs, sore throats, fevers, inflammations of the lungs, and various other disorders. North winds are considered bracing, healthy, and invigorating, to good, sound constitutions; though they are always complained of by those of delicate and tender habits; and there can be no difference of opinion upon the fact, that dry seasons are more conducive to health and spirits than those of a contrary description.

AIR

,—a technical term in the MANEGE, which can be but little explained in theory; a perfect knowledge of these terms can only be acquired in the practice of the schools.

AIRING

;—the taking of horses from the stable to the enjoyment of AIR and EXERCISE.

ALE

,—the good old healthy English beverage, brewed from malt, hops and water, alone, with no intoxicating or deleterious articles of adulteration. It is an excellent extemporaneous substitute for gruel, in cases of emergency with horses, where it is required as a vehicle in which to dissolve and administer medicine to prevent delay, as in cholic, strangury, &c.

ALOES

—is a resinous gum, extracted from the tree whose name it bears, and is brought to us chiefly from the island of Barbadoes. The shops produce two sorts, called Succotrine and Barbadoes; the former of which is the mildest; but the latter most in use, to insure the certainty of operation. It is the principal ingredient in purging balls for horses.

ALTERATIVES

.—Medicines are so called which constitute an effect upon the system, or an alteration in the property of the blood, without any sensible internal or visible external operation. Upon their introduction to the stomach, they become incorporated with its contents; and their medical properties being taken up by the chyle, is conveyed through the lymphatics to the blood-vessels, where it becomes a part of the blood itself, which being fully impregnated with the neutralizing property of the article administered as an alterative, possesses the power of obtunding acrimony, and restraining tendency to disease.

Of all the classes of medicines, none can be more proper or applicable than alteratives, to those who cannot make it convenient to let their horses undergo a regular routine of purgation at the accustomed seasons; as during the administration of alteratives (mercurials excepted) a horse may go through the same occasional work, and diurnal discipline, as if he was under no course of medicine whatever. The alteratives most deservedly esteemed, are antimony, sulphur, nitre, (in small quantities,) cream of tartar, Æthiops mineral, and the antimonial alterative powders of the Author, to be found in the list of his medicines at the conclusion of the Work.

ALUM

—is an article too well known in the shops, to require farther description, than its medical utility, when, upon any emergency, it may be advantageously brought into use. Reduced to fine powder, and applied as a styptic to the mouths of divided vessels, to stop the effusion of blood, it will be found very efficacious. Dissolved in water, the proportion of one ounce to a pint, it is an infallible cure for the foul white specks, or little watery pustules, so frequently seen in the mouths of horses, (and supposed to arise from internal heat,) the parts being twice or thrice touched with a piece of fine sponge, properly moistened with the solution. Burnt alum, finely powdered, and sprinkled, very lightly, upon the fungous flesh of old or foul wounds, will speedily reduce it, and promote the cure.

ALIMENT

—has, in general acceptation, been received as a word strictly synonimous with food; and, like that term, been intended to imply support of any kind, in either a solid or a liquid form. One of the publications with which the press so frequently teems, from the fertile pens of juvenile veterinarians, says, "By ALIMENT, some understand only the nutricious part of the food; but this is a nice and useless distinction. Mr. Taplin uses the word aliment in both senses."

To set this upon better ground, for the comprehension of all matters relative to bodily sustenance, the animal oeconomy, its natural secretions and evacuations, it is necessary a criterion should be fixed, by which its intentional meaning should be generally understood. It has been hitherto used in the previous Works of the present Author, not as synonimous with either FOOD or NUTRIMENT, but in a sense directly between both, and for this reason. Food may feed a frame, and prolong existence; though, from its weak, improper, or impoverished quality, it may not possess the essential property requisite to generate blood, create flesh, or promote strength.

The word ALIMENT seems intended to convey an idea somewhat superior to the meaning expressed in the term food, and yet not extend so far as the mind may lead us, in the comprehensive view of the word NUTRIMENT; for, although mouldy hay, or musty straw, may be taken by an animal, in a state of hunger and necessity, to support life, it does not follow that from such food a proper portion of nutriment can be conveyed to the frame. Aliment, therefore, upon every occasion, in which it will be found necessary to introduce it during the course of this Work, must be considered as a term intended to convey an idea of support (in any way whatever) adequate to health, and a state of useful service; in the direct line of mediocrity between the starving existence of a "winter straw yard," near the metropolis, and the nutritious and invigorating system necessary for the invalid recovering from a state of emaciation, or the severity of disease.

AMBLE

,—the pace in a horse, almost peculiar to country people, with poneys and galloways bred upon commons: its ease renders it convenient to women, and pleasing to children; but it is in very little use with any other part of the world.

AMBURY, or Anbury

,—is a complicated excrescence, bearing the appearance of a warty wen. Various have been the modes of cure; to prevent an unnecessary enumeration of which, will be to observe, that they may be safely extirpated, and completely cured, by carefully moistening the surface, once in every three or four days, with the butter of antimony, till they are obliterated; and this will certainly be effected, whatever may be their size or magnitude.

AMPHIBIOUS

—animals, are those capable of living both upon land and in the water, as the otter, the water rat, the eft, &c.

AMPHITHEATRE

—is an elegant and commodious structure, either circular or oblong, for the display of feats of horsemanship, poney races, fox hunts, and the exhibition of pantomimes. Mr. Astley's, near Westminster Bridge, has for many years been a favourite resort with the public; but he now finds a powerful rival in the Circus. Mr. Astley's skill in the military art of attack and defence, as well as his superior style of teaching in the MANEGE, have jointly increased his reputation, and encouraged him to transmit to posterity, "A System of Equestrian Education."

ANATOMY

,—the study and knowledge of the structure of the human frame in all its component parts; an accurate knowledge of which can only lead the practitioner in surgery to the most distant hope of eminence in his profession, or celebrity in his practice. A proficiency in the anatomical formation of the horse, is every way as necessary to the success of the veterinarian, as the utmost efforts of skill to the surgeon.

ANGLING

—is the art of catching fish by rods and lines, of different construction, with baits, natural and artificial, according to the season of the year, and the fish intended to be caught. As this sport (if it may with consistency be termed one) is not very eagerly sought, and enjoyed but by few, it will not be much enlarged on here; more particularly as those who enter into the minutiÆ of enquiry, and spirit of the practice, will find whole volumes appropriate to this particular purpose. A writer of no small celebrity, in alluding to this subject, says, "FISHING is but a dull diversion, and, in my opinion, calculated only to teach patience to a PHILOSOPHER;" and this most likely is the echoed opinion of every fox-hunter in the kingdom; for it should seem that the simple sameness of angling, and the more noble, healthy and exhilarating sports of HUNTING and SHOOTING, were, in a certain degree, heterogeneous, as it has been but very rarely or ever known, that the enthusiastic admirers of one were ever warm or anxious followers of the other.

The kinds of fish which mostly attract the attention of anglers in the principal fresh water rivers and trout streams of the kingdom, (whether for the sport of killing, or the supply of the table,) are salmon, trout, pike, barbel, chub, perch, roach, dace, and gudgeon: CARP and TENCH may also be taken into the aggregate, upon the score of attraction; but instances are few where any great quantity has been taken in this way, as they are, in general, particularly in ponds, motes, and still waters, too shy and cautious to become the hasty victims of human invention.

Upon the subject of ANGLING, it may not be inapplicable to term it a most unfortunate attachment with those classes of society who have no property but their trades, and to whom time alone must be considered a kind of freehold estate: such time lost by a river side, in the frivolous and uncertain pursuit of a paltry plate of fish, instead of being employed in business, has reduced more men to want, and their families to a workhouse, than any species of sport whatever. Racing, hunting, shooting, coursing, and cocking, (destructive as the latter has been,) have never produced so long a list of beggars as the sublime art of angling; in confirmation of which fact, the eye of observation need only turn to any of those small country towns near which there happens to run a fishing stream, when the profitable part of the pleasure may be instantly perceived by the poverty of the inhabitants.

—are the produce of a plant cultivated much more in France, Spain, and Germany, than in any part of England. Those from Spain are preferred; they have a fragrant smell, a warm pleasant taste, with some degree of sweetness. When reduced to powder, they form a principal and efficacious ingredient in the preparation of the pectoral cordial balls for horses, where their virtues are fully admitted. They yield, by expression, an aromatic essential oil, containing all the medical property of the seeds, and is mostly imported to us from other parts ready prepared. Being an article of some expence, it is very much adulterated with sperma-cÆti, and other articles, for the profitable purposes of retail, by the secundum artem abilities of the parties concerned. Those who expect any efficacious effects from the aniseed powder, should grind (or see ground) the seeds themselves; for the article sold in the shops under that name, is neither more or less, than the aniseed cakes reduced to powder in the common stock mill of the druggist, from whence the essential oil has been previously extracted.

ANTIMONY

—is, in its original state, a mineral, extracted and separated from different ores by a peculiar process of eliquation; the various medical preparations from which, in the present state of hourly increasing improvement, absolutely excite both surprise and admiration. This article, now known and proved of such general utility, was alternately received into, and rejected from, a respectable rank in medicine, by both the ancients and moderns, till the more judicious and persevering speculatists established its estimation upon a basis too firm ever to be again shaken by the attack of whatever new opinions may be introduced for its degradation.

The crude antimony, when reduced to a fine and impalpable powder, is in many disorders full as efficacious as its more subtle and elaborate preparations; this observation appertaining to its effects upon the human frame, to which it is administered in all forms, by the most learned and eminent physicians in every part of the enlightened world. In respect to its corresponding effect upon one of our most useful animals, the HORSE, experience has proved it to be a safe and certain medicine to obtund acrimony, promote the secretions, open the pores, refine the coat, and finally ensure condition; hence it stands the principal ingredient in the well known advertised "Alterative Powders" of the Author.

ANTLERS

,—used under different significations to explain the various branches of what is called the head (but divested of technical terms, the horns) of a deer. Except with the huntsmen of stag hounds, the keepers of parks, and out keepers of forests and chaces, the infinity of old terms and distinctions are become nearly obsolete; and ANTLERS amongst sportsmen, as well as sporting rhymesters, are now conceived to imply the whole head (alias the horns) of the deer.

APERIENTS

—are medicines which mildly soften the contents of the intestines, and gently promote moderate evacuation, without producing the strong and repeated effects of physic, given with an intent to purge.

APERTURE

;—a term in farriery, applied to the orifice or opening of a tumour or abscess, whether made by Nature, or by perforation with the instrument of the operator: in either case the principal consideration must be, to have it sufficiently large for the transpiration of the offending matter for which the effort was made; if in that respect it is deficient, relief must be obtained from the hand of the VETERINARIAN.

APOPLEXY

,—in horses, a paralytic affection of the brain, from too great or sudden flux of blood to the part, too powerful exertions of strength in drawing substances over heavy, or some pre-disposing tendency to inflammation.

APPUI

—is a term used in equestrian education; a perfect knowledge of which, Mr. Astley is of opinion, "can only be acquired in the MANEGE, by great practice, under judicious, experienced and able professors."

APPETITE

,—if good, in either man or beast, ought to be, and in most cases is, a clear criterion and proof of health. However, instances are not wanting, where a rule so seemingly just is sometimes subject to exceptions. The quantity of good and healthy food taken into the frame, is by no means an infallible proof of strength, or of what work the subject is, or ought to be, equal to: some horses are the greatest slugs in nature, though always feeding; while others, who undergo thrice their labour, do not consume even a moderate share of what is placed before them. This is probably one of the latent operations of Nature, upon which it should seem human penetration is not permitted to define, at least to a degree of certainty, in respect to both origin and effect. Scientific aid, and industrious investigation, may do much; but when done, the enquiry will rest upon no better grounds than undefined hypothesis, and unconfirmed conjecture.

Here, then, appears most forcibly, the inutility of going into an enquiry where no certainty of information can be obtained: the labyrinth of perplexity is better unentered, than to explore its most difficult passages in the dark, without even a chance of extrication. We have, indeed, been informed by a publication of late years, that "Appetite is a painful sensation of the stomach, always accompanied with a desire to eat." It might, perhaps, have been less "caviar to the multitude," and much nearer the truth, if appetite had been defined, a pleasing sensation, and hunger a painful one; particularly if (for the sake of a paradox or an iricism) "accompanied with nothing to eat." Waiving, therefore, for the foregoing reasons of uncertainty, any intent of going into a farther disquisition of why the appetite is good or bad, it becomes necessary to proceed to the facts which are known, and to point out the proper remedies to insure relief.

When the appetite of a horse is seemingly never satisfied; when he displays an immoderate and impatient desire for food at all times; when, in failure of repeated supplies of hay and corn, he is constantly consuming his litter, (although it is none of the cleanest;) such a horse is generally, and with strict justice, denominated a coarse and foul feeder; the result of which frequently is, that he soon becomes as foul in his blood, his coat, and condition, as he has previously proved himself in his inclination. The ready road to relief in a case of this kind, is to unload the frame of its accumulated rubbish by a course of physic; the rack rein and the muzzle are then such easy alternatives, that those who do not chuse, or are too indolent, to adopt them, must sit down easy under the defect.

Some there are who attribute the voracious dispositions, and strong digestive powers, of such horses to their being affected with worms. Such reasoning may, with more propriety, be attributed to the fertile imagination of those advocates, than to any effect (of the kind mentioned) in the worms themselves. That (worms being there) disquieting or painful sensations, from some remote or internal cause, may occasion a horse to pull out and disperse his hay, to pick, scrape, and disorder his litter, in proof of disorder or discontent, may readily be conceived; but that absolute pain from the corroding misery of living insects, preying upon the very vitals of an animal, shall give him an increased appetite to eat, is a doctrine that cannot be so readily believed.

Horses of a contrary description, who labour occasionally under a loss of appetite, is no such matter of ambiguity as what has been just described; but may with certainty be ascribed to its proper cause, by minutely attending to such signs, and predominant symptoms, as present themselves to the eye, and to the touch of the diligent enquirer. A loss of appetite in horses whose constitutions are generally good, and who have not been remarked for refusing their corn, or being off their feed, sufficiently indicate some tendency to either slight and temporary indisposition, or impending disease; as cold, cough, febrile heat from the fatigue of a long journey on the road, or exertion in the field; intestinal disquietude, from flatulent affection, or pain in the kidnies; as well as a stricture upon the neck of the bladder, proceeding from a preternatural retention of urine, in having travelled too far "without drawing bit." This is the exulting practice of too many unthinking masters, and indiscreet servants; it, however, holds forth no proof of the goodness of the head or the heart in either one or the other. This defect, proceeding from whatever cause, cannot be too soon properly attended to: early and attentive investigation should be made as the first and most necessary step to the acquisition of relief. Admitting it to have originated in any of those causes already described, there is very little doubt to be entertained, but a moderate bleeding, a cordial ball, a mash of ground malt and bran, equal parts, with warm soft water, and a little nursing, if expeditiously proceeded upon, will soon set all to rights again.

Not so with those whose defect is constitutional, proceeding from an inexplicable degree of irritability, so generally and palpably evident in both attitude and action; in the stable, or out, they never appear perfectly at ease; the eye, the ear, seeming alarmed with every sound, as if in perpetual search of new causes to keep up the unceasing spirit of discontent and eternal disquietude. Upon the road in company, or in the field with hounds, they invariably and impatiently court competition, making the most violent exertions to prove their great, passionate, and ill-tempered desire for superiority; so that horses of this description, after a journey of some length, or a chase of severe duration, are not only off their appetites for two or three days, but hardly fit to be seen again for a week. They are mostly light, and what is termed fluey in the carcase; carry no flesh, with or without work; and for that reason, do no credit in appearance to their master. Yet, strange as it may appear to those unacquainted with the fact, horses or mares of this restless, unsettled disposition, are almost so invariably good and persevering in nature, that they will continue to exert themselves, till, becoming totally exhausted, they must sink under fatigue, rather than permit themselves to be restrained; a palpable contrast in spirit to those voracious, gummy-legged gluttons, who, after an insatiate series of gormandizing and rest, absolutely tire (or "knock up") in the second stage, or first twenty miles, of a journey.

This defect, (or more properly deficiency in appetite and disinclination of food,) whether proceeding from the fiery volatility of temper impatient of restraint, or a peculiar laxity of the parts necessary to strong digestion, is so clearly inherent, so truly constitutional, that a well-founded expectation of permanent relief, or total eradication, is not to be formed upon any change that can be made in food, or improvement in attention. Such horses, however, if their paces are good, and they are desirable in other respects, should not be too hastily disposed of; instances having been very frequent, where horses of such irritable habit, and fretful disposition, when young, have, when accustomed to the same stable, gentle usage, and to one rider only, become as settled feeders, good goers, round carcased and firm fleshed horses as any in the kingdom. Some inducement to feed after the fatigues (or frettings) just recited, may be attempted by the means before described; few occasions will occur where the malt mashes will be refused; the novel fragrancy attracts attention, and when once taken, its invigorating property soon appears. In cases where the stomach continues weak, the carcase thin, and appetite not restored, an occasional use of the pectoral cordial balls, once or even twice a day, is the proper substitute for aliment, and will seldom or ever fail to produce the desired effect.

AQUATIC

,—appertaining to water. Fish are an aquatic production. Aquatic herbs take root in the soil beneath, and vegetate as well below as upon the surface of the water. An aquatic excursion is a party of pleasure upon the water.

ARABIC GUM

,—is a most useful article to dissolve with water or gruel in the sickness of horses. Nitre should never be given without half its quantity of Gum Arabic.

ARSENIC

,—is a most certain and destructive poison, mentioned here only to demonstrate its utility in clearing premises of rats, which it will infallibly do, if made use of in the following manner. Take (in the season when they are to be obtained) a dozen large apples; let them be pared, and the cores extracted; then chop them exceedingly fine, till they are almost a paste; to which add half an ounce of arsenic, reduced to powder, and two ounces of coarse sugar; mix well, and let this be distributed in their usual haunts, remembering to let earthen pans be set with plenty of water within their reach; and the sudden thirst they are seized with, after eating the smallest quantity of the composition, is so violent, that they drink till unable to move from the spot; and if the preparation is made over night, and the rats are plenty, they will be found in the morning swelled to the utmost extent, and lying dead in different parts, as if they had fallen victims to a fashionable dropsy.

ARM

—of a horse, is so called (though it is properly the fore-thigh) from the elbow immediately under the chest, downwards to the junction at the knee: this should be uniformly strong and muscular, being wide at top, and narrowing proportionally to the bottom: if it is not so, but mostly of a size, it is an evident proof of weakness.

ART VETERINARY

—is the present improved state of FARRIERY, as taught at a newly established institution, called the Veterinary College at Camden Town, in the parish of Saint Pancras; where the pupils attend LECTURES upon anatomy, physiology, and medicine, under a PROFESSOR of the first eminence, as well as the practical part of the business at the forge and in farriery, till, being properly qualified, they pass the necessary examination before a committee of surgeons, when they receive their diploma, and embark for themselves as VETERINARY SURGEONS in the service of the public; or possess the privilege of an immediate appointment in his Majesty's service, under the patronage of his Royal Highness the Commander in Chief, at a stipend which does honor to the institution, as will be found more fully explained under its proper head, Veterinary College.

ASCARIDES

—are a species of worms, to which horses are frequently subject, from two to three inches long: they are not larger in circumference than a common knitting needle, have a flat head, and in some degree not unlike the millepedes, at least in respect to their number of legs. They are in general voided with the dung, where they may be seen twirling and twisting about with wonderful rapidity, not unlike a grig, or small eel, when thrown out of his own element upon the grass. Horses persecuted with these painful and troublesome companions, are generally relaxed in the intestines, and throw off their dung in a loose state, affording, by that circumstance alone, sufficient proof how much they irritate internally, as well as why horses affected with worms, are not only low in flesh, but rough in coat, and almost every way out of condition.

ASTHMATIC

.—Horses are considered asthmatic, or thick-winded, who have acquired a difficulty of respiration, and a short husky cough, from blood originally dense and sizey having been permitted to become proportionally viscid, from a want of evacuants and attenuants in time to have prevented the obstructions which lay the foundation of this troublesome defect. The viscidity of the blood constituting obstructions in the finer vessels, produce tubercles in the lungs, which, rendering their action partial and imperfect, occasions the difficulty of breathing, and repetition of cough, so constantly observed during the increased circulation of the blood, when the horse is brought into use. Frequent bleedings, and a course of the Author's Pectoral Detergent Balls, are the best means of alleviation and cure.

ASTRINGENTS

—is rather a medical than either a general or sporting term, and implies any article in food or medicine, possessing the property of restraining a too great flux of excrement after physic, or a too lax state of body, (denominated looseness,) proceeding from a previous fulness, or from intestinal acrimony, where the discharges have been a mere effort of Nature to relieve herself from the load, and not in consequence of any purgative whatever. In such flaccidity of the intestines, proceeding from whatever cause, a cordial ball occasionally, small quantities of liquid laudanum in gruel, and an ounce of gum arabic dissolved, and given night and morning in the water, will soon restore them to their proper state.

ATTACHMENTS

—Court of, a ceremony or court peculiar to the laws of a forest, and necessary to be known only by those who reside therein. The officers of this court do no more than receive the attachments of the foresters, and enrol them in the VERDERERS' rolls, that they may be ready for the court of swainmote when held. This court of attachments having no power to determine upon cases of offence or trespass beyond the value of fourpence, all above that sum must appear in the verderers' rolls, and be sent by them to the court of swainmote, there to be tried according to the forest laws, which are replete with peculiar privileges, immunities, and what are termed royalties, appertaining to the Crown itself.

ATTAINT

—has been used, by members of the old school in farriery, for blows, bruises, cuts, and wounds, sustained in any one leg by injuries from the other. As it is, however, nearly obsolete, and may probably never be heard again, farther exposition becomes unnecessary.

ATTRACTION

—is positively, in some respects, the best property (if it can be so termed) a horse can possibly possess, at least so far as it is admitted to exceed every other qualification in its effect upon the mind of the owner during the time he is in possession; as well as no inconsiderable gratification of pecuniary expectation when the horse comes to be sold. The great advantage arising from attraction in a horse is, that, however vexatious his defects in respect to temper and action may be, he will never hang upon hand, or the owner be long in want of a customer, if external figure and good colour do but afford attraction in any tolerable degree. There are always those in pursuit of horses for purchase, who more know what constitutes figure at first sight, than what constitutes good points after a week's examination. Two good ends (as the dealers term them) well set on, and both up, go a great way in the fashionable work of attraction; without one or both of which, a horse can never become a commanding figure, either before or behind; and, strange as it may be thought by the young or inexperienced, there are numerous instances of horses bearing, in their general appearance, a kind of attracting uniformity, that, upon critical investigation, are found not to have any distinguishing point of excellence about them. Those, however, who have the prudence to bear in memory the effect of attraction, and to secure it when they buy, will never be at much loss when they sell: it will be also by no means inapplicable to have it equally "in the mind's eye," that many horses without attraction are too dear at nothing.

ATTIRE

—of a deer. See Antlers.

AVIARY

—a receptacle for singing birds of different denominations, more adapted to the pleasures of the ladies, than any systematic pursuit or enquiry of the sportsman.

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