226 THE ABDOMEN AND ITS CONTENTS. 



a case of violent suspicion of the poisoning of an ass and a mare in the saroe way-* 

 On the other hand, Professor Sewell says, that on the farm on which he resided in 

 his early years, the horses and cattle had every opportimity of eatinir yew. They 

 pastured and slept under the shelter of yew-trees, and were often observed to browse 

 on the branches. I He thinks that these supposed cases of poisonintj have taken place 

 only when enonnous quantities of the \ew had been eaten, and that it was more acute 

 indigestion than poisoning. There are, however, too many cases of horses dying after 

 feeding on the yew, to render it safe to cultivate it in the neighbourhood of a farm, 

 either in the form of tree or hedge. 



The Hydrocyanic, nr Prussic 3cid, belongs to the class of vegetable poisons, but it 

 is scarcely possible for the horse to be accidentally injured or destroyed by it. Ten 

 grains of the farina of the croton nut should be given as soon as the poison is sus- 

 pected, and the patient should be drenched largely with equal parts of vinegar and 

 thin gruel, and the croton repeated after the lapse of six hours, if it has not previously 

 operated. 



The Water Drupwort {(Enanthe fistulnsa'), common in ditches and marshy places, is 

 generally refused by horses ; but brood mares, with appetite somewhat vitiated by 

 their being in foal, have been destroyed by it. The antidote would be vinegar and 

 gruel, and bleeding, if there is inflammation. 



The Water Pamky, {JElhusa Cynapixun) deserves not all the bad reputation it has 

 acquired ; although, when eaten in too great quantities, it has produced palsy in the 

 horse, which has been strangely attributed to a harmless beetle that inhabits the stem. 



Of the Common Hemlock (^Coniiitn muculutiim), and the Water Hemlock {(Enanthe 

 crocata), the author knows no harm, so far as the horse is concerned. He has 

 repeatedly seen him eat the latter without any bad effect ; but cows have been poi- 

 soned by it. 



The Eupkorbtum, or Spurge, so common and infamous an ingredient in the Farrier's 

 Blister, has destroyed many a horse from the irritation which it has set up, and the 

 torture it has occasioned, and should never find a place in the Veterinary Pliarma- 

 copceia, 



Colocynth and Elaterium fairl)^ rank among the substances that are poisonous to the 

 horse; and so does the Bryony Root {Bryonia dioica), notwithstanding that it is fre- 

 quently given to horses, in many parts of the country, as a great promoter of condi- 

 tion. Many a young horse has been brouglit into a state of artificial condition and 

 excitement by the use of the Bryony. It is one of the abominable secrets of the horse- 

 breaker. This state of excitation, however, soon passes away, and is succeeded by 

 temporary or permanent diminution of vital power. We have occasionally traced 

 much mischief to this infamous practice. 



Not less injurious is the Savin {Juniperus Sobina). It is well known as a vermifuge 

 in the human subject, and it is occasionally given to the horse for the same purpose ; 

 but it is a favourite with the carter and the groom as a promoter of condition, A 

 very great proportion of farmers' servants regard it as a drug etTecting some good 

 purpose, although they can scarcely define what that purpose is ; and there is scarcely 

 a cotmtry stable in which it is not occasionally found, and in which the horse is not 

 endanq^ered, or perhaps destroyed, by its use. It is high time that the horse-master 

 looked more carefully to this, iind suffered no drug to be administered to his horses 

 and cattle, except by his direction or that of the medical attendant. The farmer and 

 the gentleman can scarcely conceive to what an abominable extent this vile practice 

 prevails. The presence of savine will be best detected in the stomach of a horso 

 that has died under suspicious circumstances, by the black-currant-leaf smell of the 

 contents, when boiled in a little water, or beaten in a mortar. 



The Common Brake {Ptcris aquilina'), and tlie Slone Fern {Pterin crispa), are violent 

 and dangerous diuretics, and, on account of thoir possessing this property, are pro- 

 bably favourites with the horse-keeper and the groom. The diuretic influence is 

 usually evident enough, but not the injurious effect which it has on the lining mem- 

 brane of the bladder, and the predisposition to inflammation which it excites in the 

 urinary organs. This has been tno much underrated, even liy those who have 

 inquired into tne subject. If the cuticular coat of the stomach is found not merely in 



* Veterinarian, vol. x. p. 685. 



t Abstract of the Vet. Med. Association, vol. i. p. 62. 



