POISOXS. 499 



nary College that had been bitten in tlie liind-leg wliile hunting. There 

 was considerable swelHng, and the place of the bite was evident enough. 

 Mr. Armstrong mentions a case in which a horse, bitten by a viper, sunk 

 into a kmd of coma, from which he could not be roused. The antidote, 

 which seldom or never fails, is an alkaline solution of almost any kind, 

 taken internally and applied externally. There is no chemical effect on 

 the circulation, but the alkah acts as a powerful counter-irritant. In very 

 bad cases opium may be added to the alkaHne solution. 



Hornets, Wasps, &c. — These are spoken of, because there are records 

 of horses being attacked by a swarm of them, and destroyed. The olive 

 oil is the best external application. 



Cantharides constitute a useful drug in some cases. It is the chief 

 constituent of most applications used in order to excite the process of 

 blistering. It is occasionally employed as a medicine in small quantities, 

 and, combined with vegetable tonics, it has been given in small doses, for 

 the cure of glanders, farcy, and nasal gleet. It is valuable in cases of 

 general and extreme debility. It is a useful general stimulant when 

 judiciously applied : but it must be given in small doses, and never except 

 under the direction of a skilful practitioner. A drachm of the powdered 

 fly would destroy almost any horse. In the breeding season it is too often 

 shamefully given as an excitant to the horse and the mare, and many a 

 valuable animal has been destroyed by this abominable practice. It is 

 usually given in the form of ball, in which case it may be detected by the 

 appearance of small ghttering portions of the fly, which are separated on 

 the inner side of the dung-ball in hot water. If the accidental or too 

 powerful administration of it is suspected, recourse should be had to 

 bleeding, purging, and plentiful drenching with oily and demulcent fluids. 



The leaves of the Yetv (Taxus Baccata) are dangerous to the horse, as 

 well as to many other animals. ' Two horses that had been employed in 

 carrying fodder, were thoughtlessly placed under a large yew-tree, which 

 they cropped with eagerness. In three hours they began to stagger — both 

 of them dropped, and, before the harness could be taken off, they were 

 dead. A great quantity of yew leaves Avere found in the stomachs, which 

 were contracted and inflamed.' Mr. "W. C. Spooner mentions a case of 

 violent suspicion of the poisoning of an ass and a mare in the same w^ay. 

 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 opportunity of 

 eating yew. They pastured and slept under the shelter of yew-trees, and 

 were often observed to browse on the branches. He thinks that these 

 supposed cases of poisoning have taken place only when enormous qiian- 

 tities of the yew 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 neighbour- 

 hood of a farm, either in the form of tree or hedge. 



The treatment should consist in the administration of large doses of 

 oleaginous purgatives, and diffusible stimulants, such as the spirit of nitric 

 ether or aromatic spirit of ammonia largely diluted w4th water. 



The Water Drojncort (CEnanthe crocata), conmion in ditches and marshy 

 places, is generally refused by horses ; but brood mares, vnth 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 Eupliorhmm, 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 Pharmacopoeia. 



Colocynth and Elaterium fairly rank among the substances that are 



K K. 2 



