air, that when far away from any dwelling, we threw aside even our sheets, to enjoy the morning breeze at daybreak. You need not then fear exposure to the air, after the bath; it is not so much for the sake of _cooling_ that this process is necessary, as to keep up the action of the bath by exposing the skin to air; it is to compel the skin to _breathe_." The importance of _ventilating the skin_ is illustrated in the process of clipping and singeing, as applied to the horse. The thickening and lengthening of the coat of the horse in the autumn season is a change obviously adapted to prepare the animal for the coming severity of the winter; and however natural in his wild state, is ill suited to his condition as a useful and obedient servant of man. As autumn advances, and after a few cold days, the coat of the horse appears as if "broken up" into plots, and the individual hairs stand out roughly, or, in technical language, the coat "stares." Accompanying this change in the appearance of the skin, the animal becomes weak and languid, loses his spirit, breaks out into sudden and abundant perspirations upon slight exercise, and shows himself unequal to his work. Now, the ready remedy for this state of things is the removal of the excess of hair, and the exposure of the skin to the action of the atmosphere. If the coat be clipped close to the skin or singed, or, better still, be shaven, the animal preserves his strength and vigour, and is equal to all the labour that may reasonably be imposed upon him. Of the three processes, shaving is the best, then clipping, and lastly singeing. As to the latter, it is not quite clear whether its inferior position in rank to the others is due to the less complete exposure of the skin to the action of the air, or to the sealing of the ends of the hairs by the act of burning. It is not improbable that the cut ends of the hair in shaving and clipping may serve as breathing pores for the inhalation of air, an advantage to the oxygenization of the circulation in the skin that is lost in the contraction and obliteration of the cells of the hair which ensues after singeing. Another curious concomitant of clipping is the change in the colour of the coat, a change which seems to indicate that the colour of the hair produced in the winter time is different from that of the summer.