54 THOUGHTS ON HUNTING 



If the disorder should be bad enough to resist that, three mild purging 

 balls (one every other day) should be given, and the dog laid up for a little 

 while afterwards. For the red mange, you may use the following : 



Four ounces of quicksilver, 



Two ounces of Venice turpentine, 



One pound of hog's-lard. 



The quicksilver and turpentine are to be rubbed together till the globules 

 all disappear. When you apply it, you must rub an ounce (once a day) 

 upon the part affected, for three days successively. This is to be used 

 when the hair comes off, or any redness appears. 



How wonderful is the fatigue which a fox-hound undergoes ! Could 

 you count the miles that he runs, the number would appear almost incredible. 

 This he undergoes cheerfully, and perhaps three times a week through a long 

 season : his health, therefore, well deserves your care ; nor should you suffer 

 the least taint to injure it. Huntsmen are frequently too negligent in this 

 point. I know one in particular, a famous one too, whose kennel was never 

 free from the mange ; and the smell of brimstone was oftentimes stronger, I 

 believe, in the noses of his hounds than the scent of the fox. If you choose 

 to try a curious prescription for the cure of the mange, in the Phil. Trans. 

 No. 25, p. 451, you will find the following : 



' Mr. Cox procured an old mongrel cur, all over mangy, of a middle 

 size, and having some hours before fed him plentifully with cheese-parings 

 and milk, he prepared his jugular vein ; then he made a strong ligature on 

 his neck, that the venal blood might be emitted with the greater impetus ; 

 after this, he took a young land spaniel, about the same bigness, and prepared 

 his jugular vein likewise, that the descendant part might receive the mangy 

 dog's blood, and the ascendant discharge his own into a dish : he transfused 

 about fourteen or sixteen ounces of the blood of the infected into the veins of 

 the sound dog. By this experiment there appeared no alteration in the 

 sound one, but the mangy dog was, in about ten days or a fortnight's time, 

 perfectly cured ; and possibly this is the quickest and surest remedy for that 

 disease, either in man or beast.' 



Hounds sometimes are bitten by vipers. Sweet-oil has been long 

 deemed a certain antidote : some should be applied to the part, and some 

 taken inwardly ; though a friend of mine informs me, that the common 

 cheese-rennet, externally applied, is a more efficacious remedy than oil, for 

 the bite of a viper. They are also liable to wounds and cuts : Friar's 

 balsam is very good, if applied immediately ; yet, as it is apt to shut up a 

 bad wound too soon, the following tincture, in such cases, may perhaps be 

 preferable, at least after the first dressing or two : 



Of Barbadoes aloes, two ounces ; 

 Of myrrh, pounded, three ounces ; 

 Mixed up with a quart of brandy. 



