ADMINISTERING MEDICINE, 195 



only losing their strength, but also becoming so hard as to be 

 almost insoluble in the stomach, and frequently passing 

 through the bowels nearly as they went into the mouth. 

 When hard they are also liable to stick in the horse's gullet. 

 If ammonia, or any other strong stimulant, is given in this 

 way, the horse should not have his stomach quite empty, but 

 should have a little gruel or water just previously ; for if this 

 is put off till afterward, the nauseous taste of the ball almost 

 always prevents his drinking. When arsenic forms an ingre- 

 dient of the ball, it should be given soon after a feed of corn ; 

 OP a quart or two of gruel should be given instead, just before 

 the ball. 



The administration of a drench is a much more trouble- 

 some affair than the giving of a ball ; and in almost all cases 

 more or less of the dose is wasted. Sometimes, however, a 

 liquid medicine is to be preferred, as in colic or gripes, when 

 the urgent nature of the symptoms demands a rapidly acting 

 remedy, which a ball is not, as it requires time to dissolve ; 

 and, besides this, a ball cannot contain any of the spirituous 

 cordials. The best instrument for giving a drench is the 

 horn of the ox, cut obliquely, so as to form a spout. Bottles 

 are sometimes used in an emergency, but their fragile nature 

 always renders them dangerous. In giving a drench, the 

 tongue is held in the same way as for the delivery of a ball, 

 but the head must be more elevated ; the drench is then care- 

 fully poured into the throat, after which the tongue is let go, 

 but the head still kept up till it is all swallowed. Allowance 

 should always be made for some waste in giving a drench. 



In managing horses while in physic, the horse should in 

 all cases, if possible, be prepared by bran mashes, given for 



