THE NOBLE SCIENCE. 71 



last ten years, constantly used his alterative balls. I do 

 not think it right here to print a copy of the prescription 

 which was laid before the public, and thus pirate the 

 means of giving a value to the page which it cannot 

 otherwise possess. Two of the chief ingredients arc 

 cinnabar of antimony, famous for its sudorific, and cam- 

 phor, equally efficacious for its sedative properties. One 

 in ten days, or three in the course of a month, may be 

 given with advantage, and, after hunting, are as much to 

 be preferred to cordial balls, as a cup of tea is to a glass 

 of brandy for a tired man. It is very seldom indeed that 

 a cordial is required, excepting for gripes, wind, colic, 

 and such affections ; a bucket of good boiled oatmeal or 

 linseed gruel, given at twice, is the best restorative, and 

 should be given as soon as possible upon a horse's re- 

 turn to his stable. This will satisfy him for the time, and 

 he will undergo, with more composure and patience, the 

 tedious process of dressing, washing of feet and legs, &c. 

 to which he must be subjected before he is done up, and 

 left to the quiet enjoyment of food and rest. If you have 

 any distance home after hunting, never neglect to take 

 the first opportunity of procuring a pint of oatmeal, — or 

 flour, when oatmeal is not to be had, — and a little warm 

 water. When the gruel is not boiled, the meal must be 

 first mixed in cold water : the tea-kettle is generally on 

 the fire, at that time of day, in the meanest cottages ; and 

 as instances have been cited in Dorsetshire, of flannel 

 petticoats having been devoted to the covering of horses' 

 loins upon such occasions, there is no doubt that the 



