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and requests for advice, by strangers as well as acquaintances, 

 were pretty frequently made to me. One that gave some 

 amusement afterwards, when I came to know the "ins 

 and outs," may be related. The Surgeon-General, who 

 stood very high in his profession, but who had only lately 

 come to Gibraltar, and whom I had not then met, one day 

 sent a polite little note saying that his horse was so ill he was 

 afraid it must die ; but as it was a favourite, he would be 

 very much obliged if I could suggest any treatment. As I 

 had little doubt in my mind as to what the nature of the 

 illness was likely to be, I put a small bottle of aconite into 

 my pocket, and proceeded in quest of the sick animal. On 

 arriving at the stables the owner was present with one or 

 two friends, anxiously awaiting my arrival, and I at once 

 proceeded to examine the patient, who appeared to have got 

 over the worst, and in this opinion I was confirmed by 

 the groom, who was indeed rather unwilling for me to 

 intervene, as he wished to prove that his own remedies were 

 fully sufficient. However, the pulse was still high, and my 

 favourite remedy would at any rate expedite matters, so 

 I turned to the Surgeon-General and requested permission 

 to give a dose to the horse. He at once acquiesced, 

 though it struck me he did so rather unwillingly, and I 

 could see by the covert smiles on the faces of the bystanders 

 that some mystery was behind the scenes of which I was 

 ignorant. Now, for convenience chiefly, I generally used 

 the homoeopathic tincture, so taking the little bottle out 

 of my waistcoat pocket I stepped up to the horse, opened 

 his lips, and poured ten drops on to his tongue out of a tiny 

 minim measuring-glass. After keeping my finger almost 

 constantly on the animal's pulse for the next ten minutes I 

 gave it a second dose, and soon noted the beats were 

 becoming nearly normal. " He is better," I then remarked, 

 leaving the patient, and going up to the group who were 

 watching the proceedings, "and will soon be all right." 

 " How do you know that? " exclaimed his owner in a tone 

 of great surprise. In reply I stated I had noticed the 

 symptoms were improving ; that a mash should be given to 

 the horse as soon as he would take it, which would probably 



