custom of their ancestors, do not use stirrups, and most of them are unfurnished with saddles even. The Paraguayrian bridles, also, differ from those of our country in size and shape. The Indians make use of a bridle composed of transverse spikes of cow's horn, like a hurdle, which fills the whole mouth of the horse. The spurs of the Spaniards are very large, and furnished with pegs, with which they rather bruise, than prick, the sides of the horse. They abhor the small sharp European spurs, with which they think that horses are easily wounded and infuriated. This is the whole furniture used for horses, in Paraguay. I will now give you some account of their diseases, and the remedies for them. It frequently happens that the friction of a rough horsecloth, or the hardness or compression of the saddle galls the back of the horse; and if, after long fatigue, his horsecloth be taken off, whilst he is still smoking with sweat, it is swelled by the sudden admission of the cold air, or of rain, till the tumour by degrees grows into a wound. The ulcerated and bloody flesh is quickly infested by swarms of flies, the eggs and filth of which ingender white worms. Delay is dangerous; for the worms increase rapidly every hour, and creep to the interior parts of the animal. If you wish to save your horse, you must immediately dig the worms out of his flesh with a small stick, and stop up the cavities where those insects lay with chewed tobacco leaves, the bitterness of which kills the worms, drives away the flies which breed them, and prevents the progress of corruption. The scar must be anointed with tallow every day, that fresh hair may grow there. The Indians smear their horses' backs either with the root _guaycuru_, well masticated with their teeth, or with melted tiger's fat, or with the shell of the _armadillo_ burnt to ashes; but these remedies seldom effect a complete cure. From a book of Father Martin Szentivan, a Hungarian, on the treatment of animals, I learnt a remedy much superior to any of those American ones, and which has been successfully adopted by many Paraguayrians. Salt, well ground, and mixed with vinegar and yolk of egg, is applied to the horse's back once a day, as it cleans away the blood, keeps off worms, and in a few days removes the swelling, and renews the skin and hair. The same author advises the application of a white onion, pretty well roasted. We ourselves have seen many horses preserved by both remedies. Certain large birds, of various colours, carnivorous, and of the vulture kind, may aptly be called horses' physicians; for they perch upon their ulcerated backs, and are deterred by no kicking from taking away the blood and the worms; though with their sharp beaks they very often enlarge the wound. Bats, also, greatly exceeding those of Europe in number and size, not only molest, but even injure the horses. Vast numbers of them fly up and down the plain. They