TO HORSE OWNERS. 63 



Our Experience with Bone Spavin. 



The proprietor having a horse which he prized, for her goodness and 

 gentleness, and which in some way became spavined, was under the 

 necessity of resorting to the popular remedies in use at that time, for 

 the treatment of the spavin ; after a few weeks' treatment the outlook 

 seemed to be rather discouraging ; but as we had had experience as a 

 practising physician, and also the benefits of all the receipts which were 

 said to be cures — having been in the drug business for several years, and 

 filled the receipts from the various horsemen in our vicinity — we felt 

 that our experience had been such that we were certainly equal to the 

 task, if any one was, and so we continued, first with this liniment, and 

 then with the other, until we had gone through with the whole cata- 

 logue of the (so called) '* sure cures.'''' We took counsel of the various 

 horsemen who were quite sure their receipts would be just the thing, 

 but when informed that all this and more too had been used we received 

 but little consolation. As the horse was no better, and several weeks 

 had elapsed since we began the treatment, our faith in the power of any 

 remedy to even stop the lameness (say nothing of removing the enlarge- 

 ment) was very weak ; but still we were finally persuaded that a thorough 

 use of blisters might cure and it was our only hope, and we therefore 

 proceeded to torment the poor animal "by applying blisters about every 

 two weeks and giving the horse rest until six blisters had been applied, 

 during which time the horse was allowed to remain (nearly all summer) 

 in the barn, and as the horse was no better, that we could perceive, it 

 will be easy for any one to imagine our feelings in regard to the power 

 of any remedy to cure bone spavin, and then we, like many others were 

 very positive in our opinion that there was nothing which would cure a 

 bone spavin, and finally stopped all treatment. 



About SIX weeks after we had stopped all treatment, we decided to give 

 the case another trial, for it seemed to us that there was something that 

 would effect a cure if we could only get the right thing. Instead of 

 using the remedies which every body said were sure cures, we began to 

 reason about the matter, and it occurred to us that if we had been treat- 

 ing a human being we should have treated him in a more humane 

 manner, and therefore we compounded a mixture which was entirely 

 different from anything we had ever heard of being used, and again be- 

 gan to treat the horse, and, to our great surprise, in a short time, (about 

 two weeks), the lameness all subsided; and, by continuing the treat- 

 ment a while after the lameness had subsided, the enlargement was en- 

 tirely removed. I could hardly realize what a wonderful cure had 

 finally been accomplished, but, after preparing the same mixture for a 

 great many cases, without hearing of its failing to cure in a single 



