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brown* are two distinct species. In Kattewar, soon after the rains fall, the floriken come in and scatter themselves over the vast plains of grass in that province, and these birds are decidedly mostly black-say, five out of six; in fact, if I recollect right, when they first come in they are all black; and I noticed the same thing in Cutch. It is astonishing the number that are sometimes put up in a day, when beating for hog. They are particularly numerous between Rajcote and Ballacherry. I have frequently seen them run across the road, and two acquaintances of mine put up ten brace in cantering along the road between Dhurrole and Purduree, a distance of about fifteen miles. The circumstance, therefore, of so very large a proportion being black is decidedly unfavourable to the supposition that the black are the males, as it is extremely improbable that the males would arrive by themselves; and yet I have heard a very capital and experienced shot say that there were repeated dissections made by a medical officer at Kaira in 1824, and the result was that the black were males and the brown females. This is puzzling; but I have something more to say. In the month of October last a friend of mine, myself, and dog bagged five birds; two were brown (one much larger than the other), one black, and the other two neither black nor brown, but a mixture of both -different from the other three, and each of the two different from the other; this is not a solitary instance, for before and afterwards

So called by some for the same reason, I suppose, that partridges are distinguished by similar appellations, the black and grey, or perhaps for the same reason that the Red Sea is so called,

because it is not red.

I shot others of a similar plumage. If, therefore, the black are males and the brown females, what the deuce were these two?-Hermaphrodites?

It is also well known that the brown floriken is larger than the black. Now, what bird is there where the female is larger than the male? Another thing-to the best of my recollection I never saw a black floriken at the end of the cold or during the hot season. I have, however, heard of their being shot; but let me ask any one this question, During the above time, for one black one, how many brown ones have you found? I am much mistaken if the answer is not "At least, four or five." From all, therefore, that I have been able to collect, my little experience does not go to support the first theory.

I now proceed to the secondviz., that the black and brown are a distinct species. If I knew little of the first theory, I candidly confess that I know less of this. I have mentioned above that of the two brown floriken one was much larger than the other. I afterwards shot two within one hundred yards of each other with the same difference in their size, and on both these occasions the difference was certainly not on account of the smaller ones being young birds. I should imagine that those who are of opinion that the two are a different species can only have seen really black, or really brown ones; but I have seen them of all the different grades of plumage between black and brown, and on the occasion of shooting the five I have mentioned, I particularly pointed this out to two friends who were with Did these two queer ones, then, belong to the black or brown species, or to a third?

me.

I wish much to know if any of

your readers have ever imagined that the floriken comes in black and afterwards changes its plumage ?

were

There are some circumstances that will favour the supposition. First, the great proportion of blacks that are at first seen; next, the plumage of several I shot in October and November being so different from each other, and having the appearance of molting birds rather than of those whose plumage was fixed; again, I have seen several floriken lately, and the whole of them brown; and lastly, what I have mentioned above, of having never (to the best of my recollection) seen a black floriken in hot weather. These things would in some degree induce one to suppose that they do change their plumage or that the black and brown are a distinct species. There is one thing, however, considerably against the former supposition, and which I have already mentioned, viz. that the brown floriken are generally larger than the black; it is therefore unnatural to suppose that with a change of plumage the bird should also increase in size.

My present station is not at all

SIR,

At

a good one for floriken, and I am sure I have seen as many in one day near Rajcote as I have seen in the whole of the four years I have been here; this season, however, they were much more numerous than in any former one. Belgaum I have heard the floriken shooting is very fine, as it being a place where the rains never fail, they have always a good supply of grass. If some one there, and also at Rajcote, Cutch, and Poonasome of your Bengal and Madras correspondents also lending a hand-would describe the birds as found there during the several months they are in, I think we might obtain something satisfactory regarding this fine bird. My sole object in writing this is to obtain from others what I have been unable to discover myself; and as I have advanced no opinion, except a slight one against the first theory, must protest against any "Stephen" giving my words a construction that was never intended by

Yours, &c.,

LINCOLN. Somewhere in the Deccan, Feb. 6, 1833.

ON CONTRACTION.

If you consider the following rough observations on the cause of, and remedy for, contracted hoofs worth inserting in your far-famed Magazine, I hope it may be the means of saving some valuable horses. I am confident, were the principles carried into execution, that few, if any, of those splendid creatures would be subject to so many diseases of the hoof as are now to be found.

Few persons like the trouble

(as it is called) of attending to a lame horse, especially one that is lame from this cause, and still fewer take measures to prevent this formidable disease. Many horses are parted with for a trifle on this account, which, had they but been shod with a little trouble, would never have been injured.

The common nalbund and rough country blacksmith are, in respect to their ideas of veterinary pharmacy and shoeing, much on a level with each other, though the latter

of late years has certainly gained upon his more sable aspirant in some respects. The former, howover, still has some advantages over the other; at least, I have discovered one-it may be from ignorance, or it may not be consistent with his ideas. I allude to the system of applying hot shoes to the hoofs, which, pernicious as the effects are in England, I conceive to be worse here. I most sincerely hope that the nalbund will never get this system into his head. Though I saw in one of your Magazines a letter showing the advantages (I think it was) of applying hot shoes, I certainly can't agree with the writer.

The grand cause of contraction, at least in my opinion, is not allowing the hoof to perform its functions, by destroying the frog (the most useful part of the hoof) and depriving it of that elasticity which nature originally intended to keep it in health.

The very first thing a nalbund of the common description does when on the point of commencing operations is, to pull off the shoe with a large pair of pincers, without thinking of taking each nail separately out. If it is a brittle hoof, which is no uncommon thing, sundry pieces of the crust come off with the shoe. The soomturrah then comes into play, begining in real earnest at the heels. He cuts out the bars, and as much of the frog as he can. The shoe is then brought out, which, after undergoing divers thumps and having the heels beat up, is pronounced fit to nail on. remonstrate on the mischief he is likely to occasion in nailing it on, he tells you to stop till it is nailed on,' or as a man told me one day, "it would be flat enough in a few days, when it came to be worn."

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It is evident that a horse's hoofs under such treatment must sooner or later suffer; and although the simple nailing on of the shoe and cutting the hoof does not lame the badly shod horse, yet a continuation of it gradually contracts the heels, and brings about a load of disease. What is the cause of post-horses, and often coach-horses, being constantly crippled? Why, nine out of ten are lame from contracted hoofs -and what is the cause of their having contracted hoofs? Why, for much the same reason that they are lame, except that in England the blacksmith burns on the shoe, thereby destroying the hoof sooner there than is done here. At page 52, Goodwin says, "When we consider that the hoofs are elastic and yielding, and that iron. is an unyielding body, we may readily conceive when an elastic body is bound on or nailed to an inelastic one, if there be much action or much weight to support, the yielding body will give way, and consequently that the horn of the foot must be continually undergoing a change in its form, which is occasioned by the English shoe now in common use in the cavalry, at the Vet. College, and by contractors for shoeing post and coachhorses. I do not mean to say that none others but these get it."

So great is the evil of this discase, that when it has advanced far the whole system is shaken; the horn loses its firmness, and becomes brittle, and so hot that when dipped in water it is dry again as soon almost as taken out. Not only does the foot externally exhibit symptoms of disease, but inwardly also. The coffin bone partakes of the same shape as the hoof, and the very substance is changed by the great pressure of the contracted heels, at the same time that the very great heat and absorption which it occasions ren

ders the coffin bone a dry spongy substance. The very walk betrays the animal's pain.

What I quoted from Goodwin would lead some to ask the natural question-if shoeing is the cause of so much mischief, why shoe at all? There would be no occasion for it in soft sandy countries, or, I think, for horses used in agriculture, but when with the addition to his own weight a horse has a heavy rider to carry, and has his hoofs battered about on hard road, stones, &c., the foot calls for some unnatural defence. Now, it is evident that a defence can be afforded without any extra trouble, and without being the cause of disease, by acting up to the principle that the hoof is elastic. In such a case no such thing as contraction would be known. In the first place, I would recommend the hoof, after the shoe had been taken off by drawing each nail separately out, to be pared perfectly flat-the frogs left alone (without they project beyond the shoe), the bars distinctly cut, and the sole pared according to circumstances.

If it be a strong heeled foot and has never been shod, instead of cutting the heels or frog, I would cut away the toe and go about or a little more round on the cutting plane, and having got the shoe as flat as a piece of plate glass, nail it on, taking good care if the hoof were not perfectly flat to rasp it flat. It will be, I think, by all acknowledged easier, safer, and not liable to be attended by those dangers which the heated shoe would most likely occasion. I have heard the system of shoes run down because it would be at the risk of the back sinews; now, I would never touch that part, as I before said. To this description of shoe fewer nails can be used,

and to stronger hoofed horses I would always adopt this system.

To a horse that had contracted hoofs, but was not lame with tender heels, and could not be spared from work, giving him & shoes would most likely do more harm than good. I would recomment the shoe well levelled down in addition, and would see if I could not put one nail less (i.e. two in the inside and three in the outside one) with safety, and tar the hoofs well. Frequent stopping of tar and cow-dung would do great things. The frogs I would get down as quick as I could, but would not give them pressure at once, for fear of stones, &c., bruising them.

After all, contracted hoofs, even in the best hands, after having been turned out, tarred, soaked, &c., can never be called sound, though a great deal of the natural shape of the hoof may be restored by judicious treatment; yet, as soon as the cause is again given for contraction, so soon will the hoof diminish in size and shape. It is miserable to see a horse labouring under this disease, trying to throw the weight off the most painful part, staggering in his walk, sweating soon, and so on to the end of the chapter.

I have trespassed a good deal on the patience of your readers, and also on the space in your valuable work; but I hope my remarks may be the means of doing some good. It is only fair, I think, for us to alleviate the sufferings of such a noble creature as the horse by every means in our power; and if bad shoeing were out of existence, I am confident an important step would be gained in improving his condition.

I am, Mr. Editor,

A TRUE LOVER OF THE HORSE.

THE HUNTER'S CALL.

Come to the picnic, come with me;
Beneath yon spreading peepul tree,
Whose boughs afford a kindly shade,
Our tent is pitched, our home is made.

Yon hills are rude and steep, but there
'Tis known the wild hog makes his lair,
And couched against their stony side,
In safety scans the Mohidan wide.

Hark to the beater's signal-hush!
Beside that low and stunted bush,
With bristling back and glaring eye,
Behold the grisly monster lie.

Again they shout-he's off, by Heaven!
Swift as the sand by whirlwind driven;
He flees the hill, and seeks to gain
The sheltering rows of sugar-cane.

In vain he flies his utmost speed,
Against thee, my fleet, my gallant steed:
Ere half the level plain be past
Our furious foe shall grunt his last.

That spear hath sped, with staggering pace

He still attempts a feeble race,

While the life-blood in gushing tide

With crimson dies his panting side.

What transient gleams of earthly bliss
Can match a glorious chase like this?
The eager haste the hog to near,
The joy of a contested spear.

The deep excitement felt by all

Who boldly ride and fear no fall,

Whose gallant course, whose headlong speed,
No nullahs daunt, no rocks impede.

At night to drain the genial bowl,
Free from all care and all control,
Then lightly dream the hours away,
Till dawns another hunting day.

Though woman's glance may love inspire,
May raise the pulse, the blood may fire,
The joys of passion soon decay,
By their own madness worn away.

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