The parfait mareschal, or Compleat farrier. Which teacheth, I. To know the shapes and goodness, as well as faults and imperfections of horses. II. The signs and causes of their diseases, the means to prevent them, their cure, and the good or bad use of purging and bleeding. III. The way to order and preserve them, when upon travel, to feed, and to dress them. IV. The art of shoeing, according to a new design of shoes, which will recover bad feet, and preserve the good. Together with a treatise, how to raise and bring up a true and beautiful race of horses: as also instructions, whereby to fit all kinds of horses with proper bits, whereof the chief draughts are represented in copper-plates. / Written originally in French by the Sieur de Solleysel Escuyer, sometime one of the overseers of the French Kings Royal Academy of Riding, near to the Hostel de Conde in Paris. And translated from the last Paris impression, by Sir William Hope of Kirkliston Kt. Lieutenat Governour of the Castle of Edinburgh. By whom is also added as a supplement to the first part, a most compendious and excellent collection of horsemanship, taken from the best and most modern writers upon that subject, such as Mr. De la Brow, Pluvinel, and the Great Duke of Newcastle. Part I.

CHAP. XLIX Of the necessity there is, for dressing and Currying horses.

HAving discoursed of the ordering of horses while at home,* 1.1 I must now show you the necessity there is to have them drest and Curryed, as also how it is to be done, for this part of ordering is almost as necessary for their preservation and health as the preceeding, which is what few people can be persuaded of, that there is such a necessity and great advantage in Rubbing and Combing horses, for they fancy, that provided they feed them well and liberally, it is sufficient, with∣out so regulary restricting themselves to Curry and dress them every day; the reason for it is however abundantly evident, and if people take the paines to examine it attentively, I am persuaded they will be of my sentiment, which is, that a horse which is well Curryed and carefully drest, will be maintained more fat, beautiful, and more agreeable, with a less proportion of food methodically distributed, than with a greater quantity, were he not carefully Curryed and drest.

Van Helmont, who rendered himself famous, by his methodical way of treating dis∣eases, recomends preferable to feeding, the careful rubbing and currying those she-Asses, whose milk he appointed for such persons as had any trouble in their breasts, or lungs, affirming that people might know by the tast of the Milk, if the Ass had been Curryed or not that morning; if this be true, then dressing and combing must of ne∣cessity make a considerable change and alteration in the humours; here are is words: Asina pectenda est instar equorum, quia ex lactis gustu dignosci potest, an Asina pexa fuerat isto mane, an non.

To explain exactly the usefulness of Currying, and how necessar it is to rub and dress horses carefully, I shall begin at a little distance, and I fancy people will not be dissatisfied, to find here an abridgement of the natural Oeconomie which passes in a horse's body. A horse, as all other living Creatures, partakes of the nature of Fire, ha∣bet enim a••idum innatum, which standeth in need of a certain food for its nourishment, and for lack of that nourishment it is dispersed and weakned by a continual draining, so that at last it is quite extinguished and perishes; the nourishment of a horse consists in his eating and drinking, for after having strongly grind and chawed his solid food, and knedded or mixed it by the help of his saliva or spittle, which is sent from two small passages, that arise betwixt the parotide glands below the eares, and are insert betwixt the nether Jawes, and below the Crotaphite or Temporal Muscle, by the motion of which the Saliva or spittle is sent by degrees into the mouth, and mixing with the food are both by the assistance of the Tongue swallowed down, whereby that which the horse taketh in at his mouth is sent down to the stomack, which is as the boyling or stew-pot of the body, where, by the heat of the intrals, particularly that of the Liver, and by the help of ane acid, penetrating, and dissolving humour, the

first coction is made which digests the aliments, and converts them into a whi•••• matter like to milk, which by the physicians is called Chyle.

That this acid juice, is the principle cause of the concoction of the food, is manife••; For we see that those persons in which it abounds most, have a quicker digestion, an•• are greater eaters then others; this example is plain in men of a Melancholick Te••∣per or constitution, in that they are generally observed to be greater eaters than o∣thers, and even in some this acid juice or humour doth so abound, that it qui•••••• the stomack, and then it becometh prejudicial, because it is out of its natural place, and so troubles the other digestions, by hindering them to perform their functio••••, and so to fatten; the like is also observed in Birds and Wild-fowl, in whom this ••∣cid juice is so penetrating, and so quickly dissolves the grain which they swallow that it is in a very short time digested, which would be a thing impossible for the•• natural heat to perform alone, and without the assistance of this Acid: This is al•••• confirmed, in that we see that Wild-Foul, (by a natural instinct which the Author 〈◊〉〈◊〉 all things hath imprinted in them,) do most frequently swallow gravel and 〈◊〉〈◊〉 little stones, when they do not find a sufficient quantity of food wherewithal to 〈◊〉〈◊〉 their stomacks, that so they may blunt and weaken the sharpness of that humour by the•• hard substances, and thereby keep it from quitting their stomacks, for lack of mat•••••• whereupon to work, and which would impede the other digestions, and make the•••• become lean.

According to the quantity and quality of the Food, the disposition of the stomack, and abundance or scarcity of this acid humour, the abovementioned concoction is sooner or latter finished; when it is fully perfected, the lower part of the stomack open∣eth, and this white digested matter passeth by degrees all along the gutts, which are full of plyes and folds, that so they may give time to certain small passages that are in a great number joyned to them, and which are called Milky Veins, to suck in th•••• part of it which is most subtile and best prepared; these Veins because of their whi••••∣ness are called Lacteal, and are dispersed through the whole Mesentery, carrying in them this white liquor into two receptacles, which are about the bigness of a small Egg, situate in the middle of the same Mesentery, betwixt the two productions of the Diaphragm or Midriff, and couched upon the Vertebraes of the Loyns; from these Reservoirs or receptacles do proceed two small Canals or Conduits, which are calied Thoracick because of their situation, and Chy••••ducts because of their use; the one 〈◊〉〈◊〉 upon the right side and the other upon the left, they are about the bigness of•• large Swans quill, and are lodged upon the body of the Vertebraes of the back, 〈◊〉〈◊〉 along the Great Artery, and ascending to the Subclavian-vein, do there let the Ch•••• mix with the Blood, which according to the ordinary course of Circulation, is 〈◊〉〈◊〉 ried into the right ventricle of the heart, to be there converted into Blood: Th•• white matter is, I say, carried by passages which are called Lacteal Veins, until th•• meet with a Channel called the Aorta, which is more large, and which extends it s•• from the Reins all along the back-bone, until it come to the upper part of the bre•••• and there it discharges it self into several passages, or Branches of the great or holl•• Vein, at which part this Vein forks and divides it self, to distribute the Blood 〈◊〉〈◊〉 the Neck and Shoulders.

These Conduits or passages were luckily discovered, near a hundred and twe•••• years agoe, by one Bartholomew Eustache a Venetian, as he was Anatomizing a ho••••••, it is not a small advantage to horses, that they should have first contributed to the discovery of a part unknown to the Ancients, and which is so necessary and useful for our understanding the true and just dispensation of those humours, which pass in or Bodies: Amongst the moderns, Thomas Bartholin was the first who discovered these Ca∣nals in men; Olaus Rudbek the first who found them out in Dogs; and John Pequet the first who writ of them: But there are none of these who ascribe the Glory of th•• discovery to its true inventor, which nevertheless upon this consideration deserve very well, that these Ducts be called Eustachien, although in men they are at prese•• called Thoracick or Chyliducts, but in horses, I think they should carry the name of th•• Famous Horse-Anatomist.

The Chyle, or this white liquor, ascending by these Eustachien Canals, discharge it self into the veins, and by degrees mixes with the Blood, which according to the o•• der of Circulation, discovered in this Age by Dr. Harvy ane English-man, desce•••• and is carried to the right Auricle of the heart, to be there converted with the 〈◊〉〈◊〉 into Blood, from whence it is again driven or forced by the the Systole, or compre∣sing motion of the heart, to go into the Lungs by help of the Pulmonary Artery; from

the Lungs it is carried back again to the left Ventricle, by the Pulmonary Vein which hath Anastomoses, that is, Communications with the Pulmonary Artery, there it is rectified and perfected, and from thence sent to the great Artery, from which it runs and is Communicate to all the parts of the Body for their Nourishment, where it at last by Anastomoses reenters the veins, which through diverse passages bring it again to the heart, and by a continual and reiterated circulation performed by many Towrs and Windings, it is at last made absolutely perfect with the rest of the Blood; so you see that the Blood purifies it self from many useless and Superflu∣ous parts, which nature separates and rejects, and being thus purified and subtiliz∣ed, furnishes those Spirits, which are the first Administrators of Life, and the chief and principal instruments of all our Actions.

There is no probability, that this white juice passes all of it through the veins, and is wholly converted into Blood which is red; because horses are composed of several white parts, which require the nutriment of a humour which doth somewhat re∣semble them; so that in that case, it would be but labour in vain to turn white mat∣ter to red, that behoved afterwards to become white; for Nature is not accustomed to give her self such unnec••ssary difficulties; for example, in the production of Milk in Mares, which proceeds directly and immediatly from Chyle, without having been first Blood, as the Ancients believ'd, who thought it to be only Blood blanch∣ed by vertue of the breasts or Teats, and which people have certainly found since, that it is not, but that milk is immediatly formed of Chyle: However whether this be so or not, the change of it into Blood, and the the perfecting of this conversion, passes for the Second concoction.

The Third concoction, which we are to consider, is performed in each particular part of the Body, which converts the humour that is most conform to it into its proper substance, that so it may repair what it loseth every moment, and this con∣coction or digestion is termed Assimilation, which is properly what we call Nourishment.

Each of these Concoctions have their particular excrements, these of the first are the Ordour or dung, those of the second is the Urine, which passeth through the Reins, and is carried and conveyed by the Ureters into the Bladder; to these People some∣times add the Bile or Gall, which is separate from the rest in the Liver, and degorges it self into the intestines: People doubt to what concoction Pituite or flegm (which sometimes floateth in the stomack, and alwayes in the Gutts) doth belong; neither are they more certain of Melancholy, which is said to be thrown back into the Spleen: In effect, people perceive, in sound and wholesome Bodies, no sensible and conside∣rable excretions or voydings, of these three last humours.

The excrements of the third concoction, upon whose account I have made this dis∣course, too prolix I am afraid for some, but too short for the Curious, are of two sorts; the one subtile which exhale and evaporate by insensible transpiration, and the other more gross or thick, which cleave to and remain upon the horse's skin, and as they are naturally saltish, so they acquire a new acrimony by the stay they make upon it, which makes horses of vigour unquiet and dull, if People take not care to remove it daily, in the dust which they take away with the Curry-comb, and wipe off with a Cloath from their skins; this excrement of the third Concoction, although inperceptible, doth abound extremely in all Creatures, but particularly in horses.

And it was this that obliged the Ancients, who had not the use of Linnen Cloath, to make daily use of a Bath; and also to cleanse themselves, they made use of a kind of scouring instrument, which the Romans called Strigil, from whence the French word Etrille, which signifieth a Currie-comb is derived: Indeed, if we consider how many humours evacuate through the pores of the skin, we shall find a prodigious quan∣tity of them, whereof the computation is abundantly easie, as followeth.

Weight the Hay, Oats, and Water, in fine all that a horse swalloweth during the space of twenty four hours, weight likewise his Excrements and Urine which he voids in the sa••••e space, and you will find that there cometh insensibly from him more than twenty five pownd weight a day, of which one part is sent forth by breathing, and another by transpiration through the skin: the calculation is easie, and yet few People reflect upon it; also Nature hath been very provident, to make the skins of horses a great deal more open and porous, than these of other four footed creatures, to the end it might facilitate the transpiration of these exhalations, and so drive them out of the Body.

Those, who prepare or dress horses skins, find them so porous and tender, that the are of no use at all, for making either Saddle-furniture, or Coach-harnesses.

When the abovementioned dust remains too long upon the skin, it obstructs 〈◊〉〈◊〉 pores, and hinders the other sharp vapours to exhale, so that these superfluities wh•••• remain amongst the Blood, do alter and corrupt it, and being once corrupted, it i•• very unfit to nourish well a horse, which in such a case will without doubt become le•••• or at least not fatte••, and there needs no other reason be enquired into for it, but th•••• which inconveniency may be prevented, by the care and paines which people sho•••• take to have them well Curryed and drest. If these reasons are not of force to perswa•• some People, of the necessity and use of the Curry-comb, who think upon noth•••••• else but to Cram and burst their horses, through the excessive quantity of hay, I with all 〈◊〉〈◊〉 heart consent, that they continue in their Errour.

Without the practice of this, you cannot possibly have any pleasure or service from horse. I have therefore resolved to explain here the least things, belonging to th•• particular, so that those who understand it already, won't I expect take it ill, that instruct those, who have not the least rincture or knowledge of it.

I have already explained the coction of the Aliments, and their conversion i•••• Blood according to the Modern Opinion, which I assure you is the most probable, a•• best confirmed and supported by reason and experience; but if any one be so much ••••∣ed to the Ancients, that he rejects every thing that is new, I shall for his satisfacti•••• propose the opinion of Galen, which till of late hath passed alwayes for the most pro∣bable, because people had not in his time that knowledge in Anatomy, which they have at present, and the ancient Anatomists did regulate themselves according to the experiments which they made upon Apes and Swine, as having their inward pa•••• very nearly just so disposed as in Men; the Moderns again finding the path a little beaten, have penetrate and advanced further, as may be seen by the daily exper••∣ments they make.

Galen upon Hippocrates hath said, that the Ventricle or Stomack performeth the first concoction it self, by the assistance of the natural heat, and by that 〈◊〉〈◊〉 which it hath to boyl the aliments that are contained in it, that natural heat being as it were in its proper place; for every where else where that great heat is 〈◊〉〈◊〉, it is the origin of diseases, because being out of the Stomack, it is the principle 〈◊〉〈◊〉 Corruption, and of strange and unnatural heat: This concocting faculty, being a••••••••∣ed by the natural heat, boyls the aliments and reduces them to Chyle, and after th•• it hath satisfied the animal appetite, the Pylorus or inferior orifice of the Stom•• opens, and throws it into the intestines, by which it is suckt, and carryed by t•••• Mesaraick veins to the Liver, which converts it into blood, and after having nou•••••• ed its self with it, sends the rest into the Vena cava or hollow vein, from whence it•• distribute to the other parts of the body for their nourishment: Now you may rema•••• here three concoctions, the First in the ventricle or Stomack, the excrements where•••• the Dung; the Second in the Liver, where the blood receives its form and col•••• its excrements are Bile, which is received into the receptacle of the Gall; and 〈◊〉〈◊〉 Third concoction, is performed in each part of the Body for it's own particular nour••∣ment, which hath also it's excrements, that are certain smokes or vapours, wh•• should exhale through the pores of the skin by insensible transpiration, and as the are some of them more gross than the rest, so these stop and cleave to the 〈◊〉〈◊〉 obstruct the pores, and impede the transpiration of the said vapours, which being 〈◊〉〈◊〉 and saltish alter the blood, and hinders it to nourish the parts, yea even destro•••• and over heats them, so that if people do not by the use of the Curry-comb 〈◊〉〈◊〉 open and unstop the pores, it is not possible for a horse to fatten, let his food be ne•••• so good, but upon the contrary, when a horse is well Curryed, and cleaned from•• his dust, he will with a less quantity of food be more fat and plump, because t•• blood being well seperate from it's excrements, which are the above mentione smokes and vapours, will be in a condition, although in less quantity, better to nou•••• the particular parts.

Perhaps, those who are Curious will be also very glad to find here a new opini•••• which, if not probable, yet at least seems to me very pretty, although I do really b•• lieve, that it is more subtile then solid: We have heretofore discoursed of the 〈◊〉〈◊〉 munctories or Glands, which are situate in several parts of a horse, and whi•••• serve in place of Spounges, to attract and suck up the superfluous humidities of the adjacent parts.

A while ago one named Wharton an English man, sayeth that these Glands are com∣posed of Veins, Nerves, Arteryes, and Lymphatick vessels, and that they have also a particular correspondence with the Nerves, about whose service they are particu∣larly employed; he moreover adds, that people may easily judge by their rare and spongious substance, that they serve to filtrate and refine some kind of Matter, which their white colour discovers, that that matter is not Blood, furnished by the veins and Arterys, and seing the Nerves join to them, it would appear that their Nourishment cometh from thence, and that this nourishment proceeds immediatly from the Chyle, which out of its most pure and subtile parts, furnishes a refined and exquisite juice for the nourishment of the Nerves, and that this juice is purified in these glands, by passing through their spongious flesh as through a filter or strainer, where it leaves behind it what is most impure and gross, and least proper for the nourishment of the Nervous parts.

The same Author sayes, that this nervous juice is employed in the most exquisite functi∣of the Body; this opinion which is at this day generally received among the English, who were the inventors of it, is revolved all upon this most true Principle, that as there are in human bodies, two sorts of parts which are of different colours, so they must have also two kinds of nourishment, to wit Blood for the red parts, and this Nervous juice for the white.

I shall not trouble the Reader any longer with this matter; if he have the curiofity to see at full length this opinion, let him enquire for a Book iutituled, Andenographia, seuglandularum humani corporis descriptio, Authore Thomâ Warton••, Novtemagi.

Notes

• * 1.1

  CHAP. XLIX Of the neces∣sity there is for Currying horses.