>.^ 



386 AMERICAN FARMER'S HORSE BOOK. 



poison in solution ; then set to work to bring about an evacua 

 tion of the bowels as soon as possible. Use the clyster 

 freely — a quart of warm, strong soap-suds — and this re- 

 peated every half hour until a discharge is secured. Fol- 

 low the original dose of oil, in two hours, by a drench of 

 strong salt and water, as hot as the horse can bear it. In 

 this way the horse may usually be saved, even when the 

 symptoms of poisioning were decided ; but the owner will be 

 exceedingly fortunate if he does not afterward find the ani- 

 mal's vigor noticeably impaired, or his future history show 

 a strong tendency to colic. 



In 1851 we had under treatment a very bad case of fis- 

 tula — that of a horse belonging to a gentleman named Fow- 

 ler, living in Gibson County, Tennessee. The condition of 

 the animal was low, and the blood in a very impure state. 

 During our absence, and, of course, without our knowledge, 

 the owner was prevailed upon to administer nux vomica for 

 the purpose of cleansing the blood. Half a button per day 

 was the dose, and of these nine had been given, when, upon 

 the tenth day, the poor creature died — poisoned to death. 



Cantharides, or Spanish Flies. — This is a dreadful poison, 

 of the strongest diuretic properties. It is unsafe given in 

 how small quantities soever; and for this reason, notwith- 

 standing that nearly all veterinary writers prescribe it, with 

 more or less strenuous cautions, we must condemn it alto- 

 gether. Given internally, it very often produces strangury 

 and death ; and if these sad results do not follow, there will 

 generally be found a permanently-diseased condition of the 

 urinary organs, extending not unfrequently to the stomach 

 and bowels also. Whether administered in large or small 

 doses, it is hurtful in the extreme. Perhaps the large dose 

 is really least objectionable, as it soon puts the victim out 

 of his misery, while the small dose operates in the way of a 

 slow and lingering torture. One drachm given the horse 

 will kill him in a very short time. 



"In the breeding season/' says Youatt, "it is shamefully 



