458 APPENDIX. 



following recijie, •which I got from a very experienced elephant 

 doctor, is as good as any : — 



Croton seed ....... 1 ounce. 



Calomel ........ lA drachms. 



Aloes ........ 6 drachms. 



made into a ball with rice flour and " goor " (crude sugar). Most 

 elephants take physic without any trouble. In a bad case the 

 swellings will have to be tapped. jNIany mahouts know how to 

 perform this operation. The skin should be pierced about the middle 

 of the abdomen where the greatest quantity of liquid is usually col- 

 lected, and a fleam of 11 inch blade will be required. The fluid 

 which comes out is said to be infectious to other elephants if they are 

 allowed to stand near it. The root of the Mudar plant (Calotropis 

 gigantea) is often given by the mahouts in this disease in doses of 

 one drachm twice a day, apparently with good eff'ect. This is also 

 their great remedy in the more advanced stage of the disease called 

 Sulcha Zerbdd. It should be accompanied, however, by abundance 

 of food, including green fodder and sugar-cane, plenty of bathing, 

 and regular exercise. 



For Kdndi in the foot, the horny sole must be pared down till 

 the sinuses can be got at, and Avell washed out with warm water. 

 The holes should then be flUed with an ingredient composed of 



Tar 1 part. 



Leaves of the Nim tree (Melia Azidiraclita) . . .1 part. 

 Gum of the Salei tree (Boswellia thurifera) . . .2 parts. 



A piece of stout leather should then be fastened over the open parts- 

 with small tacks driven into the adjoining homy sole, or tied on if 

 there is no place for the tacks. 



Sdjhan, or cracked heels, cannot be remedied unless the feet are 

 kept dry. This alone wull suffice to cure moderate cases. The 

 following lotion was recommended me by the experienced friend 

 above alluded to ; but I never had occasion to use it myself. Take 

 h lb. of dry tobacco and boil it down in a quart of Avater till it 

 becomes a pint. Then mix with it 2 lbs. of quicklime, with 4 ounces 

 of bluestone, and apply at intervals to the cracks. 



For dimness in the cornea of the eye caused by heating food, 

 change the diet, particularly avoiding peepul leaves. Give the- 

 elephant grass if in season. In the earlier stage of the disease this 

 treatment, and bathing the eye with a weak solution of nitrate of 

 silver (5 grains to the ounce of water), will usually effect a cure. If 

 a film has been formed it may generally be removed by blowing a 

 pinch of very finely powdered glass into the eye once or twice a day. 



Sore backs are the most troublesome of all elephant affections to 

 cure effectually. They must not on any account be allowed to heal 

 ujt superficially ; and should sinuses or a sac have formed, they must 



