THE HOG. 227 



the occurrence of the disease ; let them, at all events, desist from that 

 rank and nasty mode of feedinc^, and turn to such as has been indicated. 



4. Lot your .patient fast for five or six hours, and then give, to a hoo- 

 of average size — Epsom salts, two ounces, in a warm bran wash. This 

 quantity is to be increased or diminished as the size may require. 

 The above would suffice for a hog of 160 lbs. It should be previously 

 mixed with a pint of warm water. This should be added to about half 

 a gallon of warm bran wash. It will act as a gentle purgative. 



5. Give in every meal afterward — of flour of sulphur, one table- 

 spoonful ; of nitre, as much as will cover a sixpence, for from three days 

 to a week, according to the state of the disease. AVhen you perceive 

 the scabs begin to heal, the pustules to retreat, and the fiery sores to 

 fade, you may pronounce your patient cured. But before that pleasing 

 result will make its appearance, you will perceive an apparent increase of 

 violence in all the symptoms-^-the last effort of the expiring malady, as 

 it were, ere it finally yields to your care and skill. 



6. There are, however, some very obstinate cases of mange occasion- 

 ally to be met with, which will nor so readily be subdued. When the 

 above mode of treatment has been put in practice for fourteen days, 

 without eff'ecting a cure, prepare the following: train oil, one pint; oil 

 of tar, two drachms; spirits of turpentine, two drachms; naphtha, one 

 drachm ; with flour of sulphur, as much as will form tlie above into the 

 consistency of a thick paste. Rub the animal, previously washed, with 

 this mixture — let no portion of the hide escape you. Keep the hog dry 

 and warm after this application, and suflE'er it to remain on his skin three 

 entire days. On the fourth day, wash him once more with soft soap, 

 adding a small quantity of soda to the water. Dry the animal well 

 afterward, and suff'er him to remain as he is, having again changed his 

 bedding, for a day or so : continue the sulphur and nitre as before. I 

 have never known any case of mange, however obstinate, that would 

 not, sooner or later, give way before this mode of treatment. 



7. Your patient being convalescent, whitewash the sty ; fumigate it, 

 by placing a little chloride of lime in a cup, or other vessel, and pouring 

 a little vitriol upon it. In the absence of vitriol, however, boiling water 

 will answer nearly as well. 



Finally, all mercurial applications are, as much as possible, to be 

 avoided; but, above every thing, avoid the use of ointments composed 

 of hellebore, corrosive sublimate, or tobacco-water, or, in short, any 

 'poisonous ingredient whatever ; very few cures have ever been effected 

 by the use of these so-called remedies, but very many deaths have re- 

 sulted fi-om their adoption. 



Staggers, caused by excess of blood to the head ; bleed freely from 

 behind the ears, and purge. 



Crackings will sometimes appear on the skin of a hog, especially 

 about the root of the ears and tail, and at the flanks. These are not 

 at all to be confounded with mange, never resulting from any thing but 

 exposure to extremes of temperature, without the suflfering animal being 

 able to avail himself of such^protections as, in a state of nature, instinct 

 would have induced him to adopt. They are peculiarly troublesome in 

 the heats of summer, if the hog be exposed to a hot sun for any length 



