MEDICAL TREATMENT OF DOMESTIC ANIMALS. 447 



" ration on the kidneys is irritating and exhausting in the extreme, 

 " and that the only way in which it cools the animal's system is 

 ''that it reduces his strength, and acts as a serious drain on his 

 " constitution. These, lastly, are the fellows who are constantly 

 *' applying hot o'tls^ fiery irritants and stimulants to wounds, strains, 

 " bruises, or contusions, which, in themselves, produce violent 

 " inflammation ; and to which, requiring, as they do, the exhibition 

 " of mild and soothing remedies, cold lotions, or warm fomenta- 

 " tions, the application of these stimulating volatile essences is 

 " much what it would be to administer brandy and cayenne to a 

 " man with a brain fever. 



" It should, therefore, be a positive rule in every stable, whether 

 " for pleasure or farm purposes, that not a dram of medicine is 

 " ever to be administered without the express orders of the 

 '' master. Even if a horsekeeper be so fortunate as to possess a 

 '' really intelligent, superior servant, who has served his apprentice- 

 *' ship in a good stable, and has learned a good deal about horses, 

 " he should still insist on being invariably consulted before medi- 

 " cine is administered." 



In all serious cases, of course, the best medical aid that it is 

 possible to procure should be at once called in ; but in all cases 

 the owner should, as far as possible, exercise his own judgment as 

 to the extent to which the directions given are to be followed, 

 unless the practitioner is a regularly educated veterinary surgeon. 

 Concerning purgatives, Herbert writes as follows : — 



" We are very decided opponents of purgatives in general, and 

 " have been gratified by observing that the recent cause of veteri- 

 " nary practice, both in France and England, is tending to the 

 " entire abandonment of the old system ; according to which, 

 " every horse, whether any thing ailed him or not, was put through 

 " tjvo annual courses of purgation, each of three doses, in the 

 " spring and fall, besides having to bolt a diuretic ball fortnightly 

 " or oftener, according to the whim of the groom, when his kidneys 

 " no more required stimulation than his hocks did blistering. 



" A horse of ordinary size contains, on an average, from twenty 

 " to twenty-four quarts of blood, and the loss to him of four quarts 



