The Irish horse is generally smaller than the English. He is stinted in his growth, for the poverty and custom of the country have imposed upon him much hard work, at a time when he is unfit for labour of any kind. For this reason, too, the Irish horse is deficient in speed. There is, however, another explanation of this. The Irish thorough-bred horse is not equal to the English. He is comparatively a weedy, leggy, worthless animal, and very little of him enters into the composition of the hunter or the hackney.
For leaping, the Irish horse is unrivalled. It is not, however, the leaping of the English horse, striding as it were over a low fence, and stretched at his full length over a higher one; it is the proper jump of the deer, beautiful to look at, difficult to sit, and, both in height and extent, unequalled by the English horse.
Iron, s. A hard, fusile, malleable metal.
Iron is found in every part of the globe, in the soil, in the water, and as a constituent of vegetable and animal bodies. The preparations of iron, used in medicine, are, 1st, sulphate of iron, or salt of steel; 2d, muriate of iron; 3d, subcarbonate of iron; 4th, tartarised iron; 5th, red oxide of iron, or colcothar of vitriol; 6th, rust of iron; and, 7th, scales of iron. They are all powerful tonics in the human body, but not often given to horses. The dose of No. 1, is from 1 drachm to 3. No. 2, 1 drachm to 2 or 3. No. 3, 2 drachms to 4. No. 4, 3 drachms to 5. No. 5, 4 drachms to 6. No. 6, 2 drachms to 4. No. 7, 2 drachms to 4, finely powdered. Preparations of iron are generally mixed with aromatics, and sometimes with soda. Metallic preparations should be used with great caution. Iron is the most innocent, and possessed of considerable tonic power; but, before it is employed, wholesome food, moderate exercise, and good grooming, should have a fair trial.
Iron, a. Made of iron; resembling iron in colour; hard, impenetrable.
Ironwood, s. A kind of wood extremely hard, and so ponderous as to sink in water.
Isinglass, s. A fine kind of glue made from the intestines of a large fish resembling a sturgeon. It is chiefly made from dried sounds of codfish.
Island, s. A tract of land surrounded by water.
Issue, s. The act of passing out; termination; a vent made in a muscle for the discharge of humours; evacuation; progeny, offspring.
Itch, s. A cutaneous disease extremely contagious; the sensation of uneasiness in the skin which is eased by rubbing; a constant teasing desire. Itch is supposed to be caused by a small insect of the acarus tribe. On microscopic examination it appears to be white with red legs, and will be found in the small pellucid vesicles which are observable on the parts infected.