242 



A DICTIONARY. 



sary to prevent the mixture from flowing 

 over the sound parts, as it would not only 

 take off the hair, but cause ulceration of the 

 skin." If this mixture will produce diseased 

 action in the sound parts, we need not ask 

 what will be the result when applied to 

 parts aheady diseased. The author has 

 cured many cases of fistula, by treating 

 them as common abscesses, with the appli- 

 cation of stimulating antiseptic and tonic 

 poultices (see Poultices), and by a puri- 

 fying course of treatment, with proper 

 attention to diet, etc. 



Fleam. — An instrument with which 

 horses and cattle are bled. 



Flesh. — A common name for the mus- 

 cles of the body. 



Flexor. — The flexors are those that 

 bend one bone upon another. The tendons 

 that serve to bend the leg, for example, are 

 named flexors. 



Foaling. — The bringing forth young in 

 mares is not so often attended with difliculty 

 as in cows, and they have seldom occasion 

 for assistance. They should be placed in a 

 situation where they may have shelter, and 

 where they are free from danger. 



Fomentations. — Fomentations are gen- 

 erally made by pouring boihng water on 

 camomiles, burdock, poplar bark, etc. For 

 an emollient fomentation, ground slippery 

 elm is preferred. In inflammation of the 

 bowels, for example, the parts may be 

 fomented with flannels wrung out in a thin 

 mixture of sHppery elm. 



Foot. — (See part first.) 



Foot Rot. — This name is applied to a 

 disease in the feet of sheep. This disease 

 often happens to such as are fed in low 

 meadows, or where the grass holds the frost 

 or cold dews for a considerable time. Prob- 

 ably a foul habit of body may be a predis- 

 posing cause. In the treatment of foot rot, 

 we should endeavor to find out the cause, 

 or causes, of the disorder, and change the 

 food or location of the sheep. If the disease 

 has spread under the horny covering, all the 

 superfluous horn should be carefully pared 

 away, so that the dressing may be applied 

 to the whole of the affected parts. The 



dressing is composed of powdered lobelia, 

 formed to the consistence of paste, with 

 honey. 



Foul Feeders. — Horses are so named 

 that have depraved or vitiated appetites, 

 eating foul litter and earth from the ground. 



Founder. — A term expressive of the dif- 

 ferent forms of rheumatism and ruin in the 

 horse. Veterinary writers describe three dif- 

 ferent forms of this disease, viz., founder of 

 the body, chest, and feet. This is one and the 

 same disease, only located in different parts, 

 and may arise from the same general causes; 

 which consist in chiUing the animal when 

 exhausted, by which means the perspiration 

 is obstructed, by much fatigue, and by vio- 

 lent and long-continued exertion : exposing 

 the animal to cold wind or rain, or washing 

 his legs and thighs, and sometimes his body, 

 is often the cause of founder. Dr. White 

 calls " founder, a term expressive of the 

 ruined state of the horse." And well he 

 might call it " ruined." How many thou- 

 sand animals have been ruined, not by the 

 disease, but by the treatment I Here is a 

 specimen of it. Dr. White says: "The 

 horse was bled before I saw him : five quarts 

 of blood were taken off. I desired he might 

 be bled again, when half a pailful more was 

 abstracted. In less than an hour I saw him 

 again, and, finding that he was not relieved, 

 took another half-pailful, amounting in all 

 to four gallons ! The horse was sent home, 

 and seemed to be doing well in a straw yard, 

 though very weak and thin. [ No wonder, 

 after such a loss sustained by the vital 

 powers. ] At the end of three or four months 

 he began to lose his fore hoofs, and, after de- 

 clining some time longer, he died" — a 

 victim to science. It is evident, from expe- 

 rience and facts, that the above treatment 

 renders the disease incurable, and is the true 

 cause of death ; therefore, not suitable to 

 the true ends to be accomplished. What, 

 then, are the true ends to be accomplished ? 

 To relax muscular structure, determine 

 action to the surface, improve the secretions, 

 and remove obstructions which disturb or 

 repel vital action. This will equalize the 

 circulation of the blood, when it will be 



