It is assuredly true that the horse, in its primitive state, must have galloped over the plains free from human care and without a roof to harbor it. In a similar state man also must once have existed. The early Britons are described as walking about in painted costume, and as living on acorns and wild berries. Which of her Britannic Majesty's present subjects would like for six weeks in every year to return to the habits of our ancestors? The horse is even more artificial than man himself. It proves nothing, therefore, that the creature has existed upon the plain; any more than the possibility of rearing human beings apart from civilization can establish that the latter mode is beneficial to the body's development. Man has lost the desire for a wild existence. Then, why is the horse expected to be benefited by a return to the so-called natural state, although securely fenced from that freedom and extent of choice which primitive nature would have afforded? Horses, when huddled together, often commit fearful injuries upon their companions. The creatures are unused to the society into which they are forced, and awkwardness is apt to be rude. Any want of manners in the heels of a horse is a serious business. But, to put upon one side so weighty an argument against the grass field, as foreign to the present subject,--all sorts of animals are there congregated. Some are turned out "to regain condition;" some to become "fresh upon the legs;" and some to live cheaply till their services are required. Others are allowed "a run," after some virulent disorder; and others merely to afford time for the eradication of obstinate disease. The pony, the cart-horse, the thorough-bred, and the roadster,--all are crowded together. All sizes and conditions meet as at a common table. Is it very wonderful, or much out of the scope of ordinary probability, if one of the creatures so exposed, so fed, and so tended, should engender mange? A few years back, the children kept at Yorkshire schools were much exposed to a similar affection. Those babes, however, had not been more accustomed to cleanliness than the horse, nor were they exposed to half the neglect which the animal at grass is obliged to endure. Is it then surprising that the lower creature should breed a disease like to that which afflicts the human being? Let mange appear in one, and the rest are prepared by exposure and unwholesome food to imbibe the disorder; the contagion rapidly spreads; posts and rails are loosened or overthrown by horses rubbing against them; or, should such things be wanting, constant irritation instructs instinct, and the miserable animals scrub one against the other in the open space.