.' 



14 MODERN FARRIEH. 



excite the organs to some unusual exertions, or we 

 check those exertions which are natural and healthy, 

 and in either case we must do harm. Besides, the 

 habitual use of medicines renders them less effica-' 

 eious when necessary ; wliile the use of some reme- 

 dies may be attended with dangerous consequences. 

 Frequent bleeding tends to produce fatness ; and 

 the too frequent use of cordials and astringent sti- 

 mulants lays the foundation of apoplexy, palsy, and 

 other dangerous disorders. It cannot be too often 

 repeated, that medicine should never be given to 

 prevent disease, and that health is best preserved by 

 the proper regulation of diet, exercise, and clean- 

 liness. 



6. Forms of Medicine. 



The most usual forms in w^hich medicine is exhi- 

 bited to horses and cattle are those of ball, powder, 

 drench, clyster, ointment, poultice, and fomentation. 



7. Balls. 



One of the most common and convenient forms 

 in which internal medicines are administered in far- 

 riery is by ball, or bolus. They should be prepared 

 shortly before they are to be used, as exposure to the 

 air renders them hard and dangerous. When the 

 horse's jaws are too narrow to admit the hand, the 

 ball may be fixed on the end of a stick or cane 

 moderately pointed, or, what is better, placed loosely 

 in a kind of small cup at the end of the cane, and 

 thus thrust to the back of the throat. 



The administering the ball requires considerable 

 care and dexterity. The animal's mouth is usually 

 kept open by a hailing iron., which is formed like a 

 ring, covered with a cloth, and having an opening 

 sufficient for admitting the operator's hand. The 

 ball being shaped like an ^gg^ the operator should 



