198 LOOSENESS, OR PURGING. 



table-spoonful every four, six, or eight hours. In very ob- 

 stinate cases try the following: — 



No.4.— Powdered ipecacuanha 1 dram 



Powdered opium 4grains 



Powdered starch 2 drams 



Conserve of roses 



sufficient to form into four, six, or eight balls, according to 

 the size of the dog, of which give one every two or three 

 hours. In such cases, also, powdered resin has now and 

 then done good, giving half a dram every three or four hours 

 in broth. 



It is necessary to be aware that the action of astringents 

 is varied and uncertain. In one case one remedy only will 

 prove successful, and in another a very different one will 

 alone do good. But in the looseness that accompanies dis- 

 temper, it may be observed as a general rule, that absorbent 

 astringents succeed best. In some very desperate cases of 

 diarrhoea, when all other means have failed, I have derived 

 great benefit from astringent clysters ; and this so frequently, 

 that 1 would, in all such cases, strongly recommend their 

 adoption. From the benefit that is frequently experienced 

 from their use ; and from the tenesmus, and appearance of 

 the stools, in which a drop or two of blood is squeezed out 

 at last, I am strongly inclined to think that the rectum, 

 or sometimes the colon, is, in many cases, the principal 

 seat of the complaint. 



Astringent clysters may be composed of alum whey, which 

 is nothing more than milk curdled with alum. Suet, boiled 

 in milk, is also an excellent clyster for the purpose. Boiled 

 starch is likewise a valuable astringent clyster, and, perhaps, 

 is the very best that can be used, if the powder No. 1 be 

 added to it. In diarrhoea, it is of the greatest consequence 

 that the strength should be supported by liberal but judicious 

 feeding ; and it must not be forgotten that, when the appe- 

 tite ceases, starch, with gravy, should be forced down in 

 small quantities, but often. The animals affected with this 

 complaint should be kept very quiet and warm, both which 



