DESICCANT, STIMULANT, AND ANTIPARASITIC 297 



opium to delay excretion, while constitutional effects may be 

 hastened by in-rubbing of the ointment. In muco-enteritis, 

 whether in horses or cattle, Barlow sometimes used half a 

 drachm of calomel with an ounce of laudanum, repeated at 

 intervals of one or two hours, until three or four doses were 

 taken. Calomel, chalk, and opium are frequently prescribed 

 in dysentery. 



Calomel has diuretic effects ; it notably increases the 

 diuresis caused by resinous or saline drugs. 



Externally, calomel destroys the acari of scab and mange, 

 kills lice, abates the itching of those eczematous eruptions 

 of the limbs of underbred cart horses, and of eczema in 

 dogs. Although of small benefit in soothing -the itching 

 of urticaria, it relieves the irritation of prurigo, removes the 

 scales and heals the cracks of psoriasis, hastens removal of 

 warts, and is one of the best remedies for thrush in the 

 horses' frog. It must be used discreetly, for if freely applied 

 it may be absorbed, and cause untoward constitutional 

 effects. 



DOSES, etc. As an alterative and febrifuge, horses and 

 cattle take grs. x. to 3i- ; sheep and pigs, grs. v. to grs. xxx. ; 

 dogs, gr. i. to grs. iij., usually given two or three times a day, 

 frequently with an equal weight of opium, to prevent too 

 rapid removal by the bowels. As a cathartic, calomel is 

 not used alone, and the dose is consequently regulated by 

 that of the drug with which it is combined. For the horse 

 a full purgative consists of calomel 3i-> with aloes ^iv. ; 

 for cattle, 3*- to 39 > with Epsom or common salt, Ib. 1, or 

 oil, Oj. ; for dogs, grs. ij. to grs. iv., with jalap, grs. xx. to 

 grs. xl. As a vermifuge for the horse, the following com- 

 bination is given before feeding for three or four consecutive 

 mornings : One drachm each of calomel, extract of male 

 fern, and aloes, with four drachms of ginger, made into 

 bolus with linseed meal and treacle. As an emetic for dogs 

 or pigs, two or three grains are given, with an equal quantity 

 of tartar emetic, or with grs. xv. to grs. xx. of ipecacuanha. 

 To allay irritation, and promote healthy cutaneous action, 

 or to destroy skin parasites, calomel is used in powder, or 

 in ointment, 1 in 10 of vaseline, conjoined sometimes with 

 iodine, boric acid, or wood-tar oils. 



