UPLAND SHOOTING. 



MS 



merous. Epsom salts — suljihate of magnesia — dose one drachm 

 to two ; castor oil, two drachms to four ; syrup of buckthorn, 

 the same quantity, will either of them answer this end, the 

 quantities bcin^ increased if those mentioned are not found suf- 

 ficii'iit : hut as these directions are intended to meet the tender 

 pet of the drawing-room, as well as the strong inhabitant of the 

 kennrl, so it is prudent to specify the minor dose : more may 

 be addi'd, but it is too late to subtract when too much has been 

 given. 



"Purgat/res may be made by increasing the doses of any of the 

 laxatives. Jalap is not a bad purgative to dogs, but it is uncer- 

 tain, some being little affected by it ; rhubarb is equally so ; 

 senna I have no experience of; gamboge is very drastic; calo- 

 mel is an excellent auxiliary to other purgatives on some occa- 

 sions ; but given alone it is apt to deceive, by proving more 

 emetic than purgative ; neither will the stomach or bowels bear 

 a sufficient quantity without producing much derangement in 

 the system, as violent vomiting, tenesmus, and sometimes sud- 

 den sahvation. Aloes foiTn the safest general purge to dogs ; 

 and such are the peculiarities of the canine bowels, that while a 

 man can take with impunity as much calomel as would kill two 

 large dogs, a moderate-sized dog will take a quantity of aloes 

 sufficient to destroy two stout men. The smallest dog can take 

 fifteen or twenty grains; half a drachm is seldom too much, but 

 the smaller dose had better be tried first : medium-sized dogs 

 usually require a drachm, and some large dogs have taken 

 more than two drachms : I have given three to a strong New- 

 foundland dog without extreme catharsis; but as before ob- 

 sei-s'ed, dogs differ much in their different habits, and it is there- 

 fore most prudent to begin \\'ith a dose too small than too 

 laro^e : hundreds of dogs are every year destroyed by temerity 

 in this particular. Wlienever a purgative is administered, let 

 the dog have some vegetable food, if possible, a day or two pre- 

 viously ; an active cathartic, given soon after a full meal of 

 flesh or bones, might destroy by hurrj'ing the undigested food 

 into the intestines, where it might form such an impacted and 



