GIVING BALLS, DEBILITY 189 



way a ball is given. Hold the nose pliably, yet 

 firmly, not rigidly and pugnaciously, as if making 

 the horse fight against the man who tries to 

 slip it down, then the patient ought to take his 

 medicine without any great difficulty. 



Avoid leavinof a ball sticking on one of the 

 grinders. The horse immediately tastes the 

 physic mass, gentian, or whatever ingredients 

 the ball is composed of, and he becomes trouble- 

 some next time you want to give him physic. 



But what kinds of balls ought to be given 

 under certain circumstances ? Having mastered 

 the art of giving even difficult horses six drachms 

 physic or diuretic balls, it is indeed necessary 

 to prescribe the right medicine for the right 

 disease. 



It is very common to give two balls con- 

 secutively — a diuretic and a physic. And, in 

 consequence, many people who have watched 

 this done might conclude that they " could not 

 go far wrong " — to use a common expression — if 

 they usually gave such doses for nearly any 

 disease. In the case of constipation, it would 

 work out all right, especially with the aid of a 

 glyster. But what would happen in a disease 

 such as influenza ? A horse mig'ht be in the 

 early stage of that insidious disease, and then the 

 result of the physic ball so injudiciously given 

 might easily be death. 



In the case of these two just mentioned dis- 

 eases it is worth while to sketch the treatment 

 and the prevention so far as lies in human power. 

 Extreme debility, shivering, and every appearance 



