MNTS TO SPORTSMEX. 29 



diuretic, sal-volatile, salve, court-plaster, sweet-oil, a bottle 

 of ginger, and the fluid extract of haniamelis to allay the 

 irritation of fly -bites, and to bathe contusions or slight 

 wounds with. Should such a calamity occur to a person 

 as to be bitten by a rattlesnake, a generous dosing of whis- 

 key until he is drunk is the only effective remedy against 

 the poison, and that is thoroughly effective ; hence the ex- 

 tract of rye, wheat, or corn is no unimportant part of a 

 campaigner's pharmacopoeia. Hot lemonade is an excel- 

 lent preventive of fever and ague — a fact which I have 

 thoroughly proved in several cases ; and if it is mixed with 

 a strong dose of good Holland gin, it may banish the dis- 

 ease within a few hours. A wine-glass of this mixture 

 taken twice a day acts both as a tonic and as an opponent 

 of that most disagreeable malady; and I am free to say 

 that few persons who try it will find it ineffective. 



Fly-bites may be prevented by applying a light coating 

 of tar and sweet-oil to the face and hands ; and if disturbed 

 by flies around the camp-fire, one should move to the smoky 

 side ; but if he uses tobacco, he might light his pipe on any 

 side and enjoy the pleasure of hearing their song, while he 

 knows they dare not come near him. 



To avoid fleas, boughs of trees should be used for a bed 

 on the ground instead of hay or straw, and all dogs should 

 be banished the tent and forced to keep in their own domi- 

 ciles, if they have one ; if not, to lie around the fire, or in 

 some extemporized shelter. 



In taking care of horses, it is necessary that they should 

 be hobbled with side lines, or picketed, while grazing, to 

 prevent them from straying away or being stampeded by 

 any cause. The picket -ropes for each animal should be 

 thirty or forty feet long, and be attached to an iron ring in 

 a stout leathern headstall, and to a swivel-ring in an iron 

 pin which is driven almost to the head in the ground, and 

 so firmly planted that a horse, in its wildest terror, could 

 not withdraw it. 



A strict watch should always be kept over the animals ; 

 for there are thieves, both white and red, in some portions 



