152 THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 



views, and we give them for the benefit of man and horse. 

 "Experience is the only true guide." 



We select the following case as an example of treatment. The 

 subject was a gray mare, seven years old, remarkable for her 

 capacious belly. The attack was ushered in with the usual ap- 

 pearance of uneasiness. We found her lying down, her legs 

 gathered up, groaning, and looking anxiously round at the flanks. 

 She would occasionally roll on her back, but the abdomen was so 

 enormously distended with flatus, that it was with much difficulty 

 she could get on her side again. We commenced the treatment 

 with the following : — 



Powdered grains of paradise, ...... 1 tea-spoonful. 



" caraway, £ tea-spoonful. 



Oil of peppermint, . 20 drops. 



Powdered slippery elm, 1 table-spoonful. 



Hot water, 1 pint. 



These were mixed together and given from a bottle. An injec- 

 tion of common soap suds was then thrown into the rectum. In 

 a few minutes the mare voided a mass of excrement, accompanied 

 with slime and wind. She now appeared to grow easier, and in 

 a few minutes was free from pain. Very simple treatment, the 

 reader may observe, yet we will venture to say very efficient. 

 We have frequently cured alarming cases with a little pepper- 

 mint tea alone ; whereas, had the subject been treated after the 

 fashion of some, the malady might, as it often does, have run on 

 to a fatal issue. Those who prefer to use powerful remedies, as 

 they are called, may ask, What good can peppermint tea accom- 

 plish ? We answer, nature delights in simples ; the mother finds 

 it good for infants, and men almost invariably take peppermint, in 

 some form, for the relief of colic ; and we have tried it, and found 

 it good for horses. 



Inflammation of the bowels is very apt to set in during an 

 attack of colic from the use of spirits or oil of turpentine, and 

 other popular nostrums ; and it is much to be deplored that so 

 noble an animal as the horse should be made to undergo such 

 torture as he is known to do from the administration of turpen- 

 tine. If any of our readers wish to satisfy themselves of the 

 irritating properties of turpentine, let them just apply a small 

 quantity to the skin of a horse, and they will perceive that it is 



