A DICTIONARY. 



221 



plete and incomplete. In the former, the 

 joint has grown together so as to be immov- 

 able ; in the latter, some motion remains, 

 and the rigidity is owing to the contraction 

 and thickening of the ligaments. Anchy- 

 losis in the horse is not unfrequently a con- 

 sequence of wounds or bruises ; the latter, 

 causing an absorption of the fluids that 

 nourish the joint, anchylosis is the result. 

 In bad spavins and ringbones, there is fre- 

 quently anchylosis of the hock and pastern 

 joints. The author's attention has lately 

 been called to a case of ringbone that had 

 been operated upon by some person totally 

 unacquainted with the nature of the disease. 

 The operation was performed in the most 

 cruel and barbarous manner. The operator 

 having never studied the anatomy of the 

 parts, it could not be otherwise expected. 

 On an examination of the animal, ossific 

 or bony deposits were found inside the hind 

 legs, in the form of a spavin ; deposits also 

 existed on the canon bones, and on the 

 pasterns, thus proving that the disease was 

 incurable ; the general health was impaired, 

 the knees sprung, and the animal was pro- 

 nounced by the owner to be worthless ; yet 

 this specimen of inhumanity, the self-styled 

 " doctor," had the audacity to state that he 

 could perform a cure for the trifling sum of 

 five dollars; The fact of his attempting to 

 cure a constitutional disease by local means, 

 under such unfavorable circumstances, 

 shows that he was an ignoramus ; and the 

 barbarous manner in which he performed 

 the operation, shows that he was destitute 

 of every particle of humanity. The author 

 has digressed merely for the purpose of 

 warning owners of domestic animals 

 against trusting them, when diseased, in 

 the hands of those who are unacquainted 

 with their mechanism. 



Aneurism. — A tumor filled with blood, 

 communicating with an artery. It usually 

 occurs from rupture of one of the coats of 

 the artery, and dilitation of the cellular coat: 

 it is then denominated true aneurism. 

 When an artery is wounded, and the blood 

 escapes into the surrounding tissues, it is 

 called false aneurism. 



The general mode of curing aneurism is 

 by tying a ligature around the artery ; the 

 coats of the ^artery become united, and part 

 of the artery obliterated ; the circulation is 

 carried on by anastomosing vessels. (See 

 Anastomosis.) Some aneurisms have been 

 known to undergo certain natural changes, 

 by which they have been spontaneously 

 cured, thus proving that the vital power is 

 more efficient " than an evil system of med- 

 ication." 



Anise Seed. — A mild carminative. It 

 is much used in veterinary practice, and is 

 one of the ingredients in cordial balls. 



Anodynes. — Medicines that relieve pain, 

 procure sleep, and lessen the irritability of 

 the nervous system. 



antacids. 



ALKALIES. 



Anthelmintics. — Medicines that are said 

 to destroy worms, and are supposed to cause 

 their expulsion from the animal. Many of 

 the remedies recommended by some writers 

 would be more likely to kill the horse, in- 

 stead of the former. The proper method 

 of preventing the generation of worms in 

 the alimentary canal, is to pay attention to 

 feeding, watering, etc., and give cathartics. 



Antimony. — A mineral poison. It has 

 been extensively used in veterinary practice. 

 There are numerous preparations of anti- 

 mony, but they are all more or less objec- 

 tionable. Large quantities of this mineral 

 have been used on horses ; yet, in some 

 cases, where there is vital power enough in 

 the animal to dispossess it from the system, 

 no immediately unfavorable results were 

 observed. Yet it is an agent of such diver- 

 sified therapeutical powers, that the wisest 

 of the faculty have never ventured to pre- 

 scribe and fix limits to its action. (See 



TOXICOLOGICAL ChaRT.) 



Mr. Finlay Dun, of the Edinburgh college, 

 has lately made a series of experiments 

 with tartar emetic, on horses, and he speaks 

 very highly of it as antiphlogistic. The 

 dose for a horse is from one to four drachms, 

 either in bolus or solution, repeated as oc- 

 casion may require. 



Antidotes. — See Toxicological Chart. 



