Page:Leaves from my Chinese Scrapbook - Balfour, 1887.djvu/93

 it be used almost exclusively in cold climates. These two conditions being complied with, it forms the principal provision of armies when engaged on distant campaigns, or in forced marches through hostile or unproductive territories. It is then of inestimable value, for it renders the soldier entirely independent of harvests, and enables him to maintain his corporeal vigour upon the smallest possible cubic measurement of food. The Tartar's meat, however, is the Chinaman's poison. All books upon the subject condemn the use of horseflesh as unhealthy to the last degree, especially that portion of the back which is covered by the saddle. The liver is said to be so impure as to cause death in all who eat it; while the blood and the sweat are so impregnated with venom as to turn all wounds with which they may come in contact into bad gangrenes. But though not to be used as food, the tissues of a horse enter freely into the Chinese pharmacopoeia. Horse-broth is an excellent remedy for pleurisy and all sorts of malignant fevers, on account of its cooling properties; while well-cooked horse-nerves act as a general tonic to the system, and impart no small amount of strength to a man who has become weak through illness. Young mothers whose children are cutting their teeth will be glad to hear that by burning the tooth of a horse, grinding it to ashes, mixing it with the infant's saliva, and then rubbing it on the gums, the pain may be greatly moderated and the process of teething materially assisted. The milk of a white mare is useful in cases of phthisis and pulmonary complaints in general; while the hoof, if burnt to ashes, is an excellent preservative against pestilence. Many other parts and products of the animal are of great value in other cases F