890 AMERICAN FARMER'S HORSE BOOK 



violence of its action, that it often does material injury before 

 the bowels relax, having a strong tendency to produce -rup- 

 ture and death. The dose is from eight to ten drops, in 

 sonae warm water ; but the instances are rare in which milder 

 remedies will not serve a better purpose. 



As an external application, however, in all cases where an 

 active liniment is needed, croton oil is quite valuable. It 

 should be mixed with sweet oil, in the proportion of ten 

 drops of croton oil to forty drops of the latter. Applied with 

 a cloth or brush, and well rubbed jn, this is a very efficient 

 adjunct in the treatment of colic, inflammation of the lungs 

 or bowels, sprains, cramps, nervous affections, etc. 



The antidote for an excessive dose of croton oil consists 

 of a full dose — from one to two ounces — of laudanum, fol- 

 lowed, in four hours, by half a pound of Epsom salts. 



Of the large number of vegetable poisons, there are very 

 few which appear to be very injurious to the horse. It is a 

 matter of extreme doubt, in fact, whether any vegetation 

 grows in our country from which there can arise any danger 

 of his being poisoned to death. We have often known him 

 eat with impunity the leaves and buds of the " jimson" weed, 

 and the ground and fence ivy of the meadows. Externally, 

 these are poisons; but taken into the stomach they do not 

 harm the horse. We know of but two plants growing in 

 America that he will ever eat which act as a poison to him. 

 These are the poison-oak that grows upon dead trees and 

 stumps, and the laurel growing upon the bluffs of creeks and 

 rocky chasms. 



For these the following is the antidote : A pint of lard 

 and half a pound of salts, to evacuate the bowels as soon as 

 possible, followed, in two hours, by some lime or chalk water. 



Belladonna, or Deadly Nightshade. — This is a deadly poison 

 in its prepared form; but the horse will not eat it when 

 growing wild, as it does in the United States only in certain 

 sections. It is a powerful narcotic and sedative, and, in 



