278 DISEASES OF THE SKIN. 



Lefli pint of tar be mixed with three pints of common oil ; and let the 

 mixture be simmered until incorporated. Those who may seek a cleaner 

 formula, may use the oil of tar and hogs' lard, in the same proportions. 

 Pure oil of tar proves a blister to the skin. It certainly will cure the 

 disease in less time than any other remedy I am acquainted with, and 

 renders the skin supple to the feel, disposing it for a covering of hair, 

 whose growth I have thought it promoted. When required for use, a 

 sufficient quantity of ointment is to be heated in an iron ladle, and, at a 

 temperature comfortably warm, to be thoroughly scrubbed into the skin 

 with a soft brush. In about a week afterwards, let the animaPs skin be 

 washed ; after which it may be examined. Though a second dressing is 

 not requisite, the common practice is to administer one. Should the case, 

 however, be inveterate, it is advisable to stir a drachm of powdered 

 corrosive sublimate into a pint of the melted ointment ; and a third or 

 even a fourth dressing may be necessary. 



Constitutional Treatment. — -Supposing the disease to 

 break out among horses low in condition^ their diet should 

 be ordered on a more liberal scale, and be as varied as pos- 

 sible. If in a cold situation, they should be removed to a 

 warm one. In the case of a horse already well fed, in which 

 the digestive organs appear to be faulty in their operation, 

 we ought to give a laxative, with alterative medicines ; also 

 bruise or scald the corn, or allow carrots or turnips instead 

 of oats. 



Incurable Mange. — I know a horse at this moment 

 (Sir Henry Wyatt^s carriage-horse) who regularly every 

 spring, and in some years every autumn experiences an 

 acute attack of mange. It generally affects his head, 

 his neck, and shoulders. There is also a scurfy affection 

 to which troop-horses seem to be especially subject : it com- 

 monly affects those parts of the head which are rubbed by 

 the head-collar. It resembles mange more than any other 

 affection, only when it becomes once established, so long as 

 the cause continues, there is no getting rid of it. William 

 Goodwin told me that, after trying every remedial plan 

 upon the horses of Her Majesty's establishment, he has 

 sometimes been compelled to have them slaughtered as 

 incurable. 



