540 SHOE BOIL AND DRENCHING HORSES. 



stance, the plan of treatment is to give twice daily, for three or four days, 

 a drench composed of turpentine one ounce, and linseed oil two or three 

 ounces, to be followed on the fourth day by a physic of Barbadoes aloes 

 one ounce. If the pinworms are present (the ones that infest the large 

 bowels), injections into the rectum of infusions of tobacco, infusions of 

 quassia chips, one half pound to a gallon of water, once or twice daily for 

 a few days, and followed by a physic, are most beneficial. It should be 

 borne in mind that intestinal worms are mostly seen in horses that are in 

 poor condition ; and an essential part of our treatment then is to improve 

 the appetite and powers of digestion. This is best done by giving the 

 vegetable tonics. One half ounce of Peruvian bark, gentian, ginger, quassi , 

 etc., is to be given twice a day in the feed or as a drench. Unless some 

 such medicines and good food and pure water are given to tone up the di- 

 gestive organs the worms will rapidly accumulate again, even though they 

 may have all been expelled by the worm medicines proper." Ch. B. 

 Michener, V. 6 1 ., in " Special Report on the Diseases of Horses," U. S. Depart- 

 ment of Agriculture. 



SHOE BOIL, 



The boils which occur on the elbow are usually due 

 to the pressure of the shoe when the horse is lying down. 

 The boil should be opened and after the matter has been 

 drained out, a three per cent solution of zinc sulphate should 

 be injected daily, and any further irritation prevented by the 

 use of a shoe boil boot. (See Fig. 190, p. 308.) 



DRENCHING HORSES. 



" Some horses are difficult to drench, and serious accidents have oc- 

 curred during the operation, although, fortunately, such cases are rare. 

 One of these, however, was recently brought to the notice of a correspond- 

 ent. In this case the neck and shoulder the latter broken and jagged 

 of the bottle by which a horse was being drenched had stuck in the larynx, 

 with, of course, immediately fatal results. The bottle had evidently got 

 under his molar teeth, and was thus broken. An accident, of course ; for the 

 proper place to insert the neck of the bottle, as every stableman knows, is 



