400 THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 



the discharge of morbid accumulations. It is our general prac- 

 tice, when treating horses for acute diseases, to prescribe an oc- 

 casional mess of the above ; and we invariably observe some 

 benefit derived. In acute diseases of the alimentary canal, — in- 

 flammation of the bowels for example, — the practice is open to 

 some objection, on account of the irritation which the article 

 might produce on the mucous surfaces. During the active stage 

 of such disease, food of this description is inadmissible, and such 

 articles as are mucilaginous, lubricating, are indicated. The best 

 we know of are flaxseed, marshmallows, and slippery elm. It is 

 customary in England, in large stables, to set a boiler in which 

 hot water is continually kept for the purposes of the stable, and 

 more particularly for making bran mashes, and at night, if any 

 of the horses look dumpish, (fatigued,) a bran mash and a good 

 warm bed of straw generally restore them. Let a man, who has 

 performed a hard day's work, arriving at home late at night, — 

 his clothes drenched with rain, his feet icy cold, and his frame 

 shaking like an aspen leaf, — now partake of a bowl of warm 

 gruel, and tumble into a good feather bed, he can afterwards un- 

 derstand how' a poor horse, under similar circumstances, might 

 be benefited. "White recommends bran mashes " in fever and all 

 inflammatory complaints ; they are useful, also, as a preparative 

 to physic, serving to remove any indurated fceces there may be in 

 the bowels, whereby the operation of the medicine is rendered 

 more safe and effectual. When a horse has been fed high for 

 some time, a change to a diet of mashes for two or three days 

 will often do a great deal of good." 



METHOD OF ADMINISTERING MEDICINES TO HORSES. 



The author almost invariably administers medicine in the form 

 of drench, using a common champagne bottle. Some persons, 

 however, assert that " there is great danger in drenching horses 

 from a bottle ; also, that it is very difficult to make them swallow 

 fluid." ^Ye never knew of any accident following the use of the 

 bottle, where ordinary caution was observed. There is a space 

 between the canine teeth and grinders where the bottle can be 

 introduced, and if kept in that position while " drenching the 



