154 THE SUMMERING OF HUNTERS. 



of anxiety. The excitement of the bowels is a^'^a^ 

 and lorolonged, and we cannot afford to overlook the 

 fact because we cannot keep any organ in great 

 activity for a length of time without risk. Sickness 

 and loss of appetite v^re must always look for, but 

 should signs of griping set in, we have to stop the 

 purging if it has gone on over twenty or twenty-four 

 hours, sometimes much less. 



We can sometimes stop the purging, and with it 

 the griping, by warm clothing and giving a pint of 

 raw linseed oil and two ounces each of laudanum 

 and sweet spirits of nitre. The hunting man can- 

 not be too careful in procuring his purging balls. 

 Usually he has the advantage of a professional 

 surgery to send to. When he has no such advantage, 

 then he has to resort to the chemist. He ought 

 never to allow a groom to get ready-made physic 

 from the chemist, nor indeed ready-made cattle or 

 horse medicines of any description from this source. 

 We do not wish to be understood to say that any 

 respectable chemist may not keep most excellent 

 horse and cattle medicines — it is quite possible for 

 them to do so, but we never knew one who did. 

 Certainly they all desire to keep good useful medi- 

 cines, but the sources from which they get the pre- 

 scriptions are often questionable. The purging 

 ball ought to be very specially prepared of Bar- 

 badoes aloes melted in a water bath, and cayenne 

 pepper added to it to prevent griping. A little 

 tartarated antimonv also increases the waterv cha- 



