THE NOBLE SCIENCE. 99 



means so simple.* They should be removed at night, 

 or they will become dry and hot, thereby destro)4ng their 

 effect, if kept on, too many hours without being renewed. 

 I have said salt and water, because it is within immediate 

 reach of every one, and may be prepared, ad lihitum, 

 by the boys who apply it. Vinegar and saltpetre are 

 more active in their effect ; but without touching upon 

 the goulards or washes of the famer, I have wished to 

 mention only those plain precepts within the practice 

 of every master of a horse. More may be done by the 

 proper use of hot and cold water, than by any other 

 two prescriptions to be found in the book of knowledge. 

 If, at the close of the season, you think a horse's legs, 

 without calling for the iron, or for the punishment of 

 blister, might still be better for something more than 

 rest, nothing is more likely to renovate him thoroughly 

 than mercurial charges. A common charge, made of 

 pitch and a variety of compounds, was a favourite summer 

 appendage to the hunter of the old school, and was not 

 without its uses ; but there is, I believe, no known ab- 

 sorbent equal to mercury, and wonders have been per- 

 formed upon horses' legs by charges in which the potent 

 quicksilver is the main ingredient. Something of the 

 kind is prepared by most veterinary surgeons, but I 

 imagine that the best recipe, (because the most miracu- 



* Two ounces of sugar of lead, mixed with half a pint of vinegar, form a 

 lotion which has proved an admirable specific. 



