THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 199 



in the footsteps of human practitioners, whose aim and view of 

 cure, Hooper tells us, is, — 



"1. To remove the local cause or irritation, which may appear 

 to have excited the disease. 



u 2. To lessen the general irritability and spasmodic tendency. 



" 3. To restore the tone of the system. 



" If a thorn or other extraneous substance be lodged in any part, 

 it must be extracted ; any spicula of bone, which may have brought 

 on the disease after amputation, should be removed ; a punctured 

 wound ought to be dilated, &c. Some have proposed dividing the 

 nerve going to the part, or even amputating this, to cut off the irri- 

 tation ; others paralyzing the nerves by powerful sedatives, or de- 

 stroying them by caustics ; others, again, exciting a new action in 

 the parts by active stimulants ; but the efficacy, and even propriety 

 of such measures are doubtful. To fulfil the second indication, 

 various means have been proposed. The abstraction of blood, 

 recommended by Dr. Rush, might perhaps appear advisable in 

 a vigorous plethoric habit, in the beginning of the disease ; but it 

 has generally proved of little utility, or even hurtful, and is rather 

 contra-indicated by the state of the blood. [Mark that, ye who 

 advocate bloodletting.] Purging is a less questionable measure, 

 as costiveness generally attends the disease ; and in many cases 

 it has appeared very beneficial, especially when calomel was 

 employed. It has been found, also, that a salivation, induced by 

 mercury, has sometimes greatly relieved the disorder, but in 

 other instances it has failed altogether. 



" The remedy which has been oftenest employed, and with the 

 most decided advantage, is opium ; and sometimes prodigious 

 quantities of it have been exhibited: indeed, small doses of it are 

 useless, and even large ones have only a temporary effect, so 

 that they must be repeated as the violence of the symptoms is 

 removed ; and where the patient cannot swallow, it may be tried 

 in clyster, or rubbed freely into the skin. Other sedative and 

 antispasmodic* remedies have been occasionally resorted to, as 

 hemlock, tobacco, musk, camphor, &c, but, for the most part, 

 with less satisfactory results. The warm bath has sometimes 

 proved a useful auxiliary in cold climates ; but the cold bath is 

 much more relied on in the West Indies, usually in conjunction 



