DOMESTIC ANIMALS: 



MEDICINES FOR. 



HORSE, Alteratives. — This term is not 

 very scientific, but it is very general 

 use, and easily explains its own mean- 

 ing, though the modus operandi of 

 the drugs employed to carry it out is not 

 so clear. The object is to replace un- 

 healthy action by a healthy one, without 

 resorting to any of the distinctly defined 

 remedies, such as tonics, stomachics, etc. 

 As a general rule, this class of remedies 

 produce their effect by acting slowly but 

 steadily on the depuratory organs, as the 

 liver, kidneys and skin. The following 

 may be found useful : 



1. Disordered States of the Skin — 



Emetic Tartar .5 ounces. 



Powdered Ginger 3 " 



Opium i " 



Syrup enough to form sixteen balls : one to be 

 given every night. 



2. Simply Cooling — 



Barbadoes Aloes I ounce. 



Castile Soap! - 1^ " 



Ginger -• -/^ ** 



Syrup enough to form six balls : one to be given 

 every morning. 



3. Barbadoes Aloes i}i drachm. 



Emetic Tartar ... . 2 " 



Castile Soap 2 •* 



Mix. 



4. Alterative Ball for General- Use — 



Black Sulphuret of Antimony. . 2 to 4 drachms 



Sulphur 2 " 



Nitre 2 " 



Linseed meal and water enough to form a ball. 



5. For Generally Defective Secretions — 



Flowers of Sulphur 6 ounces. 



Emetic Tartar 5 to 8drachms. 



Corrosive Sublimate 10 grains. 



Linseed meal mixed with hot water, enough to 

 form six balls, one of which may be given two or 

 three times a week. 



6. In Debility of Stomach — 



Calomel I scruple. 



Aloes - ...I drachm. 



Cascarilla Bark, in powder I " 



Gentian Root, " I " 



Ginger, " I " 



Castile Soap 3 " 



Syrup enough to make a ball, which may be 

 given twice a week, or every other night. 



HORSE, Anaesthetics. — Anaesthetics 

 produce insensibility to all external im- 



pressions, and therefore to pain. They 

 resemble narcotics in their action, and, 

 when taken into the stomach, may be 

 considered purely as such. The most 

 certain and safe way of administering 

 them is by inhalation, and chloroform is 

 the drug now universally employed. The 

 modus operandi of the various kinds has 

 never yet been satisfactorily explained; 

 and when the comparison is made, as it 

 often is, to the action of intoxicating 

 fluids, we are no nearer to it than before. 

 With alcoholic fluids, however, the disor- 

 der of the mental functions is greater in 

 proportion to the insensibility to pain;, 

 and if they are taken in sufficient quanti- 

 ties to produce the latter effect, they 

 are dangerous to life itself. The ac- 

 tion of anaesthetics on the horse is very 

 similar to that on man. 



HORSE/ Anodynes — Sometimes called 

 narcotics, when taken into the stomach, 

 pass at once into the blood, and there 

 act in a special manner on the nervous 

 centres. At first they exalt the nervous 

 force ; but they soon depress it, the sec- 

 ond stage coming on sooner according to 

 the increase of the dose. They are given 

 either to soothe the general nervous sys- 

 tem, or to stop diarrhoea; or sometimes 

 to relieve spasm, as in colic or tetanus. 

 Opium is the chief anodyne used in veter- 

 rinary medicine, and it may be employed 

 in very large doses: 



1. Anodyne Drench for Colic — 



Linseed oil I pint. 



Oil of Turpentince 1 to 2 ounces. 



Laudanum I to 2 ounces. 



Mix, and give every hour till relief is afforded. 



2. Anodyne Ball for Colic — (Only Useful in 

 Mild Cases. ) 



Powdered Opium j£ to 2 drachms. 



Castile Soap 2 ." 



Camphor 2 " 



Ginger \]/ z " 



Make into a ball with Liquorice powder and 



Trecale, and give every hour while the pain lasts. 



It should be kept in a bottle or bladder. 



(240) 



