Horseflesh

“ I am sure that if I had not found any horseflesh myself, I could have turned cannibal. To understand the situation, one must have felt the madness of hunger; failing a man to eat, one could have demolished the devil himself, if he were only cooked.
Since we left Moscow, a pretty Russian carriage drawn by four horses had followed the Guards' column. For the last two days, however, we only saw two; the others had either been killed and eaten, or had died of the cold and fatigue. ”

“ His drink was the water from the stream full of the dead bodies of his comrades. I heard that he was saved—and no doubt for the time it was true—but afterwards he would be left behind, like so many others. That evening many whose store of provisions had come to an end began to feel hunger. Up till then everyone contributed his share of flour for the soup; but now, seeing that some did not contribute, men began to hide what they had to keep it for themselves. The soup made out of horseflesh—which we had eaten for the last few days—was all we had to eat in common. ”

“ When the horse raises his foot the coffin-bone is lifted upward by the action of the flexor tendon; when his foot touches the earth the weight of the animal is thrown [Pg 22] upon the same bone, and, if unsupported by the natural cushion of the foot, the action of the bone pressing the sensitive sole upon iron causes the bruise which, for lack of another name, is called a corn. ”

“ In the fore limb, which is chiefly concerned in sustaining weight, the crust or wall of the hoof is formed of fibres running continuously from above, where they are secreted, to below, where they are worn, and following the same direction as the wall itself. As we examine them from within to without—from the surface where they are in contact with the living tissues, we find that they are at first loose and soft in texture, and easily penetrated, while they can be readily dispossessed of their moisture, and then shrivel up into thin, brittle fragments. ”

“ If the leg is flexed under the body so that the hoof or shoe is directly in contact with the elbow, which may occur in horses having an extremely long cannon bone or excessive length in the shoes, the greater part of the weight of the chest is concentrated at this point and the pressure may cause a bruise or an inflammation. ”

“ The fore-legs, but oftener the hind ones, and especially in coarse horses, are sometimes subject to considerable enlargement. Occasionally, when the horse does not seem to labor under any other disease, and sometimes from an apparent shifting of disease from other parts, the hind legs suddenly swell to an enormous degree from the hock, and almost from the stifle to the fetlock, attended by a greater or less degree of heat, and tenderness of the skin, and sometimes excessive and very peculiar lameness. ”

“ The external skin, or hide, covers the entire body; in the feet it covers the bones, tendons, and ligaments, even passing in under the hoof and directly covering the os pedis. This portion of the skin, enclosed by the hoof and therefore invisible, is called the pododerm or foot-skin. In Germany it is called the hoof-skin (huflederhaut) , because it is a continuation of the outer visible skin, and because it secretes the hoof,—that is, the hoof is produced by it. That part of the skin which is covered with hair is known as the external or hair-skin. ”

“ When dealing with suppurating corn, then, a considerable paring away of the horn of the sole becomes a matter of necessity. The freest possible exit should be given to the pus, and this even when an opening has already occurred at the coronet. Unless this is done, and done promptly, the putrescent matter still contained within the hoof will make further inroads upon the soft structures therein, and later upon the ligaments, and even bone itself. ”

“ The alleviation of pain alone, commendable as it is from a humanitarian standpoint, is of no interest to the average owner of horse-flesh, unless with it he sees his animal capable of justifying his existence by the amount of labour performed. ”

“ When he rolls in the dust and does not get up again, that is a sign that his bones ache; if on rising he does not shake off the dust, there is something the matter with his skin; if he shakes it off, but fails to snort through his nostrils, his chest is out of order. The maladies to which the horse is most subject are those of the heart, the liver, the stomach, the lungs, and the kidneys. When his heart is wrong the tongue becomes bright red; when his stomach is wrong his lips become discoloured, and have an appearance of laughing ”

“ Lower Thigh.—See “Gaskin” (23) . Mane.—When thick and coarse, indicates inferior blood. Muzzle (4) .—Should be small, but with large nostril. A coarse muzzle indicates low breeding. Nostril.—Open and prominent. Pastern (13) .—The short oblique bone between the fetlock and hoof. Should not be straighter than sixty, nor lower than forty-five degrees to the ground. Pastern-joint (12) .—Same as fetlock-joint. Pisiform-bone (16) .—At the back of the knee. Point of the Hock (26) . Point of the Shoulder (29) .—The lower end of the shoulder-blade, to which is jointed the true arm. ”

“ Sallenders.—Scurvy patch in front of hock-joint. Sand Crack.—Occurs on the inside of fore-foot and on the toe of the hind-foot. Scratches.—See “Chapped Heels.” Scouring.—Looseness of the bowels. Seedy Toe.—A separation of the crust of the hoof from the laminæ, the result of laminitis. Scarcely curable. Side-bone.—A bony growth just above the coronet, causing lameness. Incurable. Spavin.—See “Bone, Blood, and Bog Spavin.” Speedy Cut.—A cut of the knee from the foot of opposite leg. Dangerous, because the pain often causes the horse to fall. ”

“ Marshall, who touches very slightly on the subject, says, "The flesh of sheep when slaughtered is well known to be of various qualities: some is composed of large coarse grains, interspersed with wide empty pores, like a sponge; others of large grains, with wide pores filled with fat; others of fine close grains with smaller pores filled with fat; and a fourth of close grains without any mixture of fatness. The flesh of sheep when dressed is equally well known to possess a variety of qualities: some mutton is coarse, dry, and insipid,—a dry sponge affording little or no gravy of any colour. ”

“ A fine wire or cord tied around the pastern soon causes symptoms simulating those of founder; or the horse limps painfully after a horse-hair has by means of a needle been passed through a certain part of his leg, or when a small nail has been driven into the foot or a gravel or bean put under the shoe. A horse will stop eating and so appear sick when tallow has been smeared upon the roof of the mouth and inner side of the upper incisor teeth ”

“ The feet, in such a situation, are not only not subject to a proper degree of friction to wear down the hoofs, but the growth of the hoofs is materially increased by the soft and moist state in which they are kept. And this state renders the feet the more liable to the disease, as it opens up the pores of the horn, and allows the earth or sand to penetrate, and wound the quick, in the manner I have already stated. On soft sandy ground, of a dry nature, the same circumstances may occur. The soft sand gives way by the weight of the animal, and the crust of the hoof is not worn down. ”

“ If however too much blood will have flown out, with a small soft cloth having been plucked with oil and vinegar and small salt and with its own shit of the horse on the joints with hooves you will tie. After the third day you will make warming. If flesh will have accumulated, you will use either contracting or vulnary things and more often with a scalpel the horn of the hoof you will purge and destroy, in order that it should grow equally. ”

“ Other minute, muscular filaments are extended from the surface of the dermis to the hair follicle on the side to which the hair is inclined, and under the same stimulating influences produce that erection of the hair which is familiarly known as "staring coat." Besides these, the horse's skin is furnished with an expansion of red, voluntary muscle, firmly attached to the fibrous bundles, and by which the animal can not only dislodge insects and other irritants, but even shake off the harness. ”

“ Symptoms. In the milder forms there may appear a redness, with heat, tenderness and swelling in the hollow of the pastern, the hairs stand stiffly erect, and the surface may be perfectly dry. The affected limb has the pastern more upright than the others and the fetlock starts slightly forward. In a nervous, sensitive horse the skin is so tender and rigid, that the animal can hardly be persuaded to use the limb, and goes dead lame for a considerable distance until it has become more pliant. ”

“ In some little measure the suffering animal may afford himself relief by partly removing pressure from the fore-parts of the hoof. When placing the body-weight behind, the pressure, instead of falling upon the highly sensitive laminæ, is directed to the follicular and fatty tissues of the plantar cushion: from there, with only a small portion of the sensitive sole intervening, to the horny frog, and from thence to the ground. ”

“ Blemishes must be nothing more than splints; the horse may be slightly puffed and a little rounding on the curb joint, but he must not have a bad-looking curb, and must not have a brand. He may be a little cut in the knees, but he must not stand over on the knees or ankles. He may have a little puff on the outside of the hock, but he must not have thoroughpin, or boggy-hock, ringbone, or jack, although he may naturally be a little coarse jointed ”

“ Contact of the skin with oil of turpentine or other essential oils, with irritant liquids, vegetable or mineral, with rancid fats, with the acrid secretions of certain animals, like the irritating toad, with pus, sweat, tears, urine, or liquid feces, will produce congestion or even inflammation. Chafing is a common cause, and is especially liable to affect the fat horse between the thighs, by the side of the sheath or scrotum, on the inner side of the elbow, or where the harness chafes on the poll, shoulder, back, breastbone, and under the tail. ”

“ The ground surface of the foot is now smaller than the coronary circumference; the frog is pinched between the inclosing heels, is much shrunken, and at times is affected with thrush. The sole is more concave than natural, the heels are higher, and the bars are long and nearly perpendicular. The whole hoof is dry and so hard that it can scarcely be cut; the parts toward the heels are scaly and often ridged like the horns of a ram, while fissures, more or less deep, may be seen at the quarters and heels following the direction of the horn fibers. ”

“ Etiology and Occurrence.—In horses, because of a tendency toward contraction of the heel in some subjects, together with work on hard roads and pavements, where the feet become dry and brittle, and because of neglect of the matter of shoeing, this affection is of frequent occurrence. Unshod horses are rarely affected. If conformation is faulty and too much weight is borne on the inner or the outer quarter, and the hoof wall at the quarter tends to turn inward, corns are usually present. ”

“ The horny hoof is divided into a wall or crust consisting of the front and sides, the flattened or concave sole, and the frog, a triangular median prominence, notched posteriorly, with the apex turned forwards, situated in the hinder part of the sole. It is formed of pavement epithelial cells, mainly grouped in a concentric manner around the vascular papillae of the subcorneous integument, so that a section near the base of the hoof, cut transversely to the long axis of these papillae, shows a number of small circular or oval orifices, with cells arranged concentrically round them. ”

“ Surface of the Body.—When a horse is in a good condition and well cared for, the coat is short, fine, glossy and smooth and the skin pliable and elastic. Healthy cattle have a smooth, glossy coat and the skin feels mellow and elastic. The fleece of sheep should appear smooth and have plenty of yolk, the skin pliable and light pink in color. When the coat loses its lustre and gloss and the skin becomes hard, rigid, thickened and dirty, it indicates a lack of nutrition and an unhealthy condition of the body. ”

“ Some parts grow out of their natural and proper proportions; the crust of the hoof (c.c.) grows too long; and the overgrown parts either break off in irregular rents and unnatural forms, or, by over-shooting the sole (s.) , allow small particles of sand or earth to enter into the pores of the hoof. These particles reach the quick, and set up an inflammation, which is followed by the destructive effects which are too well known to require description. ”

“ Wounds of the skin may be of importance in the diagnosis of internal disease. Wounds over the bony prominence, as the point of the hip, the point of the shoulder, and the greatest convexity of the ribs, occur when a horse is unable to stand for a long time and, through continually lying upon his side, has shut off the circulation to the portion of the skin that covers parts of the body that carry the greatest weight, and in this way has caused them to mortify. ”

“ THE MODE OF SLAUGHTERING SHEEP is perhaps as humane and expeditious a process as could be adopted to attain the objects sought: the animal being laid on its side in a sort of concave stool, the butcher, while pressing the body with his knee, transfixes the throat near the angle of the jaw, passing his knife between the windpipe and bones of the neck; thus dividing the jugulars, carotids, and large vessels, the death being very rapid from such a hemorrhage. ”

“ Theomnestus, a Greek veterinarian of the Byzantine empire, of whom extremely little is known, save what is to be casually gleaned from his vivacious writings, but who is supposed to have lived in the 6th century, speaks about excessive abrasion of the hoofs, and the application of this rush or wicker slipper. ‘If a horse is much worn in the hoofs by travelling, and is then neglected, he becomes feverish, and is soon destroyed by the fever if not attended to. ”