MEDICINE. 407 



machs left too long empty ; or mixed with diuretic medicine, to fine the legs of the 

 over-worked and debilitated animal ; but in no other case should they obtain a place 

 in the stable, or be used at the discretion of the carter or the groom. 



Corrosive Sublimate. — See Mercury. 



Creasote has very lately been introduced into veterinary practice, and is much 

 valued on account of its antiseptic properties. It is obtained by the destructive dis- 

 tillation of various substances, as pyroligneous acid, tar, wood, smoke, &c. Pure 

 creasote is colourless and transparent; its odour is that of smoked meat, and its taste 

 is caustic and burning. It coagulates the albumen of the blood, and hence has been 

 lately employed in stopping haemorrhages. It acts very powerfully on the general 

 system, and quickly destroys small animals. Professor Morton gives a very inte- 

 resting and faithful account of it. It is, according to him, both a stimulant and a 

 tonic. In an undiluted state it acts as a caustic. When diluted it is a general ex- 

 citant and an antiseptic. In the form of a lotion, a liniment, or an ointment, it has 

 been useful in farcy and glanders, also in foot-rot, canker, and thrush, — mange, caries, 

 excessive suppuration, and the repression of fungous granulations. As a caustic it 

 acts as a powerful stimulant, and it is an antiseptic. 



Croton TiGLii Semina, Croton Seeds. — The croton-nut has not been long intro- 

 duced into veterinary practice, although it has been used from time immemorial b)'^ 

 the inhabitants of India as a powerful purgative. An oil has been extracted from it, 

 and used by the surgeon ; the meal is adopted by the veterinarian. It is given in 

 doses from a scruple to half a drachm, and, from its acrid nature, in the form of a ball, 

 with an ounce of linseed meal. When it does operate the effect is generally observed 

 in six or eight hours, the stools being profuse and watery, and the patient frequently 

 griped. On account of its speedy operation, it may be given in locked-jaw and stag- 

 gers : and also in dropsy of the chest or belly, from the watery and profuse stools 

 "which it prod\ices ; but it is often uncertain in its operation, and its griping, and the 

 debility which it occasions, are serioiis objections to it as common physic. When 

 placed on the tongue of the horse in quantities varying from twenty to forty drops, it 

 produces purging, but the membrane of the mouth frequently becomes violently inflamed. 

 This likewise happens, but not to so great a degree, when it is given in the form of a 

 drink, or in a mash. 



Demulcents are substances that have the power of diminishing the effect of acri- 

 monious or stimulating substances. The first, by some oily or mucilaginous sub- 

 stance, sheaths the sensible parts. The other dilutes the stimulus, and diminishes its 

 power. It will rarely be difficult to determine which effect should be produced, and 

 the means by w.iich it is to be effected. 



Diaphoretics are medicines that increase the sensible and insensible perspiration 

 of the animal. As it regards the horse, they are neither many nor powerful. Anti- 

 mony in its various forms, and sulphur, have some effect in opening the pores of the 

 skin, and exciting its vessels to action, and especially when assisted by warmth of 

 stable or clothing, and therefore is useful in those diseases in which it is desirable 

 that some portion of the blood should be diverted from the overloaded, and inflamed, 

 and vital organs of the chest, to the skin or the extremities. The only diaphoretics, 

 however, on which much confidence can be placed, and especially to produce condi- 

 tion, are warm clothing and good grooming. 



Digestives are applications to recent or old wounds, as mild stimulants, in order 

 to produce a healthy appearance and action in them, and to cause them more speedily 

 to heal. A weak solution of blue vitriol is an excellent digestive; so is the tincture 

 of aloes, and the tincture of myrrh. The best digestive ointment is one composed of 

 three parts of calamine ointment (Turner's cerate) and one of common turpentine. 



Digitalis. — The leaves of the common foxglove, gathered about the flowering time, 

 dried carefully in a dark place, and powdered, and kept in a close black bottle, form 

 one of the most valuable medicines in veterinary practice. It is a direct and powerful 

 sedative, diminishing the frequency of the pulse, and the general irritability of the 

 system, and acting also as a mild diuretic : it is therefore useful in every inflamma- 

 tory and febrile complaint, and particularly in inflammation of the chest. It is usually 

 given in combination with emetic tartar and nitre. The average dose is one drachm 

 of digitalis, one and a half of emetic tartar, and three of nitre, repeated twice or thrice 

 in the day. 



Digitalis seems to have an immediate effect on the heart, lessening the number of 



