THE EMIGRANT'S HAND-BOOK. 203 



diseases. Where there is considerable fever, or the at- 

 tack of fever is apprehended, there is no purgative so 

 beneficial as the epsom salts. In bad cases, twenty-four 

 ounces may be given at a dose, and eight ounces of sul- 

 phur every six hours afterward, until the full purgative 

 effect is produced. Linseed oil is rapidly superseding 

 the more expensive and more uncertain castor oil ; the 

 dose is from a pint to a pint and a half. As a mild ape- 

 rient, and in cases where there is no great degree of 

 fever, and a violent purge is not required, there are few 

 better things than sulphur. Where nothing else is at 

 hand, and the case is urgent, common salt is no contempt- 

 ible medicine : a pound of it dissolved in water, will 

 produce a fair purgative effect, but it should not be given 

 if the animal labors under a fever. The following are 

 the cases in which purgative medicines are found 

 useful : 



1. We have known some old graziers who, when feed- 

 ing old cows, (during summer) have given them a purging 

 drink about every six weeks, by way of keeping off the 

 downfall, which in general has the desired effect, and has 

 even caused them to fatten more rapidly. 



2. A purging drink is very properly given to cows 

 soon after calving, in order to prevent the milk-fever. 



3. Neat cattle are naturally of a greedy and ravenous 

 disposition, and their appetite is hardly ever satisfied. 

 Milch cows in particular, if feeding on herbage, or other 

 food agreeable to their palate, will often continue to graze 

 until they are in danger of suffocation. Thus the powers 

 of digestion become over-burdened, and the animal ap- 

 pears dull and heavy, and feverish symptoms are induced. 

 Purgatives will give the most effectual relief in these 

 cases, and if the appetite 4yes not return soon after the 

 physic, a cordial ball will be useful in restoring it. 



