punoiNo.] 



MODERN VETERINARY PRACTICE. 



[pUttOINQ. 



be not all tlmt is noeesaary to ensure the con- 

 dition of sadillo and carriage horses. It is an 

 unfortunate prejudice, engendered by igno- 

 rance, and kept alive by obstinacy, " tliat to do 

 jiinch good with physic, it must be very ntrong." 

 "We have many times been told by grooms, 

 that the dose of physic given could not bo 

 strong enough, for it had not purged the 

 animal more than fiftoen or sixtoon times. In 

 many cases, those knowing gentlemen are not 

 satisfied unless a horse have from twenty to 

 thirtv evacuations. Super-purgation has de- 

 stroyed hundreds of animals, and it has irre- 

 parably injured thousands. Extra purging 

 debilitates the horso more than the human 

 subject, probably from a lax state of bowels 

 being more common in man, owing to the 

 presence of both cystic and hepatic bile, as well 

 as a dependent situation. It is hardly pos- 

 sible to conceive a more deplorable object 

 than a horse under the action of a too 

 strong purgative ; the liquid aliments escaping 

 almost involuntarily from his anus, excoriated 

 with the violence and frequency of the ejec- 

 tions ; the belly drawn to the flank, cold sweats 

 bedewing the frame, appetite totally lost, and 

 the strength so decreased as to leave tlie 

 animal hardly the power of tottering from one 

 stall to another: and yet to this state does the 

 brutality and ignorance of a number of the 

 old farriers doom the horses of their employers. 

 The number and strength of the physicking 

 doses are not the only evils to which the 

 horse is liable, from improper purgation ; the 

 articles used are likewise of an injurious 

 nature. Frequently, with the coarsest aloes, 

 the groom's prescription directs gamboge, 

 which greatly increases its drastic qualities. 

 Keither, indeed, are these persons, or indeed 

 some practitioners, so attentive to previous 

 preparation as they should be. 



A powerful dose of physic, given to a horse 

 at hard work, and on full keep, without previ- 

 ous mashing, hurries the hardened faeces for- 

 wards, until they are formed into an impene- 

 trable mass. Inflammation ensues, and on the 

 third day the horse is found dead, and swollen 

 immensely. In hot -weather, inflammation 

 supervenes on physic, when at all too active, 

 and dysentery is a very common consequence of 

 summer purging. "Wlien good physic has been 

 properly given, it has been often rendered in- 



jurioua, and even dcRtructive, owing to the 

 carelessness of the persona nttcnding tlie 

 animal. Cold water, at such times, muHt not 

 bo given ; the door nuist not bo l.jft opcu, or A 

 sudden cliill nuiy bring on iiillammation of tho 

 bowels ; also immoderate exercise nujHt bo 

 carefully avoided, and only such given as will 

 make tho horso comfortably warm, and tlien 

 he should bo brought immediately into tho 

 stable. 



Of the proper articles to be used in purging, 

 a great discrepancy of opinion [)revails ; but if 

 the distinction between laxative and purga- 

 tive be maintained, it would tend to reconcilt 

 these difterences. There are numerous articles 

 which simply relax the bowels, i. e., slightly 

 increase their peristaltic motion ; but very few 

 which produce active purgation. Of the for- 

 mer, bran, calomel, neutral salts, castor, lin- 

 seed, and olive oils are the most usual ; but it 

 must be confessed, that with the exception of 

 bran, all the others occasionally fail. There 

 are some other medicines which act on the 

 bowels, but they are not to be depended on as 

 purgative medicines. The most proper we 

 shall place at the end of this section. 



The purgative for horses is, almost in every 

 instance, aloes. Much difference of opinion 

 exists on the preference due to the various 

 kinds of aloes ; nor can we ever arrive at a 

 just conclusion on this subject, until we unite 

 a conclave of lionest druggists, both wholesale 

 and retail, from whom alone something like a 

 knowledge of the various sorts can only be 

 expected. For all large horses, however, we 

 should decidedly use the Barbadoes aloes for 

 purging; and for small, thin animals, the Cape 

 aloes. But neither large nor small horses 

 should ever be attempted to be purged without 

 first relaxing the bowels with bran mashes. 



The quantity of aloes requisite for purgation 

 is also very various, and must depend on the 

 animal's customary food and constitution. This 

 is a matter not to be wondered at, but, never- 

 theless, is a strong reason against leaving the 

 management of purging to ignorant hands. 

 Some horses are exceedingly difllcult to purge, 

 whilst others are easily affected. Old, gene- 

 rally require more than young animals, to 

 purge them ; and if at hard meat, it makes 

 much difference in tliis respect. These facta 

 serve to show the extreme necessity of pre- 



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