Oil the Use and Abuse of Purgatives. 7 



III most cases it is certain, tliat one or two mild doses will be suffir 

 cient for any purpose of practical good. 



Nevertheless there may undoubtedly be cases, where three or four 

 may not only be admissable but really necessary, especially in those 

 of inordinate fatness, or where symptoms of Hide-bound have been 

 decidedly relieved, though not cured by one or two doses. 

 * In all cases of periodical Physicking, it will be proper to give a 

 clear week between each dose ; that is to say, from the period of 

 one dose ceasing to operate to the time of giving another. Foi" 

 though the ultimate effect of Physicking, if it be judiciously con- 

 ducted, is to promote the appetite,. spirits and condition of the Horse, 

 yet it is impossible that these important ends can be answered, unless 

 sufficient time be allowed between the doses, for the animal to recover 

 from the temporary debility in the constitution, with which smart 

 purging is always more or less attended. 



The necessity of properly preparing Horses for Physic is a point 

 of the utmost consequence, and is too frequently overlooked by those, 

 who have the management of them. 



For it is commonly considei'ed, if a Horse ^^i one, or at most 

 two or three Bran Mashes, that he is sufficiently prepared for the 

 Physic. But it is impossible to decide upon this important point with- 

 out noticing accurately the state of the Foeces, which alone can decide 

 the question. Horses ought therefore to be rode frequently and gently 

 during the time of preparation, and two hours walking exercise is 

 proper on the day they get the physic. For they are frequently 

 mashed without being moved out of the stable, and in this way it 

 is supposed, that they are duly prepared for the exhibition of the 

 physic; the consequence of which absurd treatment is (more espe- 



