RANGER.—This is an office of trust, appertaining to the LAWS of a FOREST, where there are generally two, as principal and deputy ranger; to the latter of whom the executive department more materially extends: it is his peculiar province to take occasional cognizance of all matters within the limits (or what are termed _purlieus_) of the forest, and to make presentation of all offences and offenders at the proper courts when held. This is also an office of honor, greatly superior to KEEPERS, BAILIFFS, and other subordinates. RATTLING in the HEAD.—When a horse is heard to rattle in the head, it denotes obstructions, and affords ample proof that a cold has been recently caught, or the glandular secretions impeded. Such rattlings being loud and frequent, (or rather incessant,) with large indurated tumefactions underneath the jaw, accompanied by a slimy, viscid, fœtid, discoloured discharge from the nostrils, danger should be instantly guarded against, as FARCY or GLANDERS will most probably ensue. RAT-TAIL.—A horse having a long dock, and little or no hair upon it, is said to be rat-tailed. There are not wanting a certain description of sporting speculators, who go a little farther in their definition, adding, most _sapiently_, that "a rat-tail horse is always a good one." RAT-TAILS—is a disgusting kind of defect, or disease, which is seldom known to affect any horses, but those of a coarse and gummy constitution: to this internal grossness, and omission in not properly cleansing within, as well as the effect of filth and nastiness without, may be attributed the origin and progress of this very unsightly and vexatious disorder. Rat-tails are parallel lines, running longitudinally from just below the hock, on the outside, to the pastern joint, bearing no dissimilar appearance to the tail of the animal just mentioned, from whence the name is derived. From the acrimonious ichor by which they are fed, the parts become excoriated, and bear a different complexion, according to their recent and more advanced state. Various and variegated are the remedies prescribed for their obliteration, of which numbers are without judgment, and probably as many without thought. The expeditious cure depends in no small degree upon the virulence it has acquired by the length of its duration. Frequent fomentations of warm gelatinous gruel, with a soft sponge, to soften the regidity of the scabby surface, seems the most rational mode that can possibly be adopted: this ceremony may be followed when the parts are completely dry, with a plentiful impregnation of strong mercurial ointment, repeated as often as the mild or inveterate state of the case may render necessary: gently detergent repellants, or slightly corroding stimulants, may be required, if the disorder is of long standing; at any rate, internal correctors should go hand in hand with external applications.