THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 393 



Mix ; and divide into twenty-four powders ; one to be given, 



night and morning, in thin gruel. 



3. Stimulant. — To arouse vital action, the chief are capsicum 



and ginger. The author has used the following preparation with 



considerable success : — 



Iodine, (reduced to powder,) . '. . . 4 scruples, 



Proof spirit, 4 ounces, 



Tincture of capsicum or ginger, ... 6 ounces. 



Dose, one ounce, twice a day, in thin gruel. 

 Another. 



Hydriodate of potassium, 20 grains. 



Dissolve in a pint of water ; then add one ounce of tincture of 

 ginger. To be repeated daily. 



Such are the remedies on which our hopes of cure are to be 

 founded ; they are not to be given conjointly, but separately, as 

 the various stages of the disease indicate. 



Should the horse's hind limbs be enormously swollen, so that 



he cannot move about without inconvenience and pain, then the 



following drench must be administered : — 



Powdered Socotrine aloes, 4 drachms, 



Tincture of gentian, 4 drachms, 



Sweet spirits of nitre, 3 drachms, 



Sirup of garlic, 1 ounce, 



Flour gruel, 1 pint. 



Mix. 



It will probably not be necessary to repeat this dose ; in fact, 

 we should not recommend the aloes, were it not that the horse is 

 now unable to seek an equivalent in the pasture, and the grave 

 nature of the case calls for some agent capable of producing a 

 change in the system diverting the fluid (which is now accumu- 

 lating in the cellular tissues of the limbs) from the parts to the 

 central membranes. Lest we may not be understood by the 

 reader, (non-professional,) we remark, that aloes act as a me- 

 chanical irritant on the alimentary surfaces, and a copious secre- 

 tion of fluid from those surfaces always follows the exhibition of 

 drastic medicine. 



The swollen, hot, and tense state of the limb calls for some 

 local application. We therefore first wash the parts with a 

 weak ley of saleratus, and afterwards apply astringents, com- 

 posed of a strong infusion of one of the following articles : bay- 



