MEDICAL TREATMENT OF DOMESTIC ANIMALS. 455 



" In giving medicine, if balls be used, they should never 

 " weigh above an ounce and a half, or be above an inch in 

 " diameter, and three in length. The horse should be lashed in 

 " the stall, the tongue should be drawn gently out with the left 

 *' hand on the ofF side of the mouth, and fixed there, not by con- 

 " tinuing to pull at it, but by pressing the fingers against the side 

 " of the lower jaw. The ball is then taken between the tips of 

 " the fingers of the right hand, the arm being bared and passed 

 " rapidly up the mouth, as near the palate as possible, until it 

 " reaches the root of the tongue, when it is delivered with a 

 " slight jerk, the hand is withdrawn, and the tongue being re- 

 *' leased, the ball is forced down into the oesophagus. Its passage 

 " should be watched down the left side of the throat, and if it do 

 *' not pass immediately, a slight tap under the chin will easily 

 " cause the horse to swallow it. The only safe purgative for a 

 " horse is Barbadoes aloes ; or the flour of the Croton bean, for 

 " some peculiar purposes, but its drastic nature renders it unde- 

 " sirable as a general aperient. When aloes are used, care should 

 '' be taken to have them new, as they speedily lose their power, 

 " and they should be freshly mixed. Very mild doses only should 

 '' be used ; four or five drams are amply sufficient, if the horse 

 " has been prepared, as he should be, by being fed, for two days at 

 " least, entirely on mashes, which will cause a small dose to have 

 *'a beneficial effect, equal to double the quantity administered to a 

 " horse not duly prepared for it. The immense doses of eight, 

 " nine, ten, and even twelve drams, which were formerly in vogue, 

 "and which are still favored by grooms, hostlers, and carters, are 

 " utterly exploded ; and it is well known that eight or nine good 

 " fluid evacuations are all that can be desired, and far safer than 

 "twice the number. 



" Four and a half drams of Barbadoes aloes, with olive or lin- 

 " seed oil and molasses, sufficient to form a mass in the proportion 

 " of eight of the aloes to one of the oil and three of the molasses, 

 " is the best general ball, though often four drams ^iven after a 

 " sufficiency of mashes or green food, will accomplish all that is 

 " needed or desirable. Castor oil is a most dangerous and uncer- 



