OF PURGATIVES, AND PHYSICKING OF HORSES. GO I 



is totally lost, and the strength so lessened as to leave 

 the animal hardly power of tottering from one stall to 

 another ; and yet to this state does obstinacy and igno- 

 rance condemn horses to be reduced. The number and 

 strength of the purgative doses are not the only evils also 

 to which the horse is liable, from improper purgation ; the 

 articles used are likewise often of an injurious nature. 

 Frequently the coarsest aloes are a component part of 

 the favourite prescription, and other drastics are added to 

 increase the strength. No horse should have a strong dose 

 of physic put into him without two or three days previous 

 mashing ; and if this be done, a mild dose will be sufficient. 

 When good physic has been properly given, still it is often 

 rendered injurious, and even destructive, by carelessness 

 or ignorance. Even cold water at these times will injure ; 

 a sudden chill from a door left carelessly open may bring on 

 enteritis ; and active exercise, to promote a ' stirring up of 

 the humours,' has destroyed many a valuable animal. 



Of the articles used in purging horses. — There are nume- 

 rous articles which simply relax the bowels, i.e. shghtly 

 increase their peristaltic motion ; but very few which pro- 

 duce active purgation. Of the former, bran, calomel, and 

 neutral salts, are the common instances ; but it must be 

 confessed that, with the exception of bran, all the others 

 occasionally fail. Rhubarb, jalap, colocynth, and elaterium, 

 are inert ; except in such doses as derange the bowels dan- 

 gerously, and, therefore, it is evident how uselessly these 

 enter into the purgative physic for horses. Gamboge, 

 which is occasionally added to a horse purge, is a still more 

 dangerous addition ; for it sometimes proves a most drastic 

 purgative. The purgative of the horse, therefore, in almost 

 every instance, is aloes blended with gentian. Opinions 

 differ with regard to the various kinds of aloes imported ; nor 

 can W3 ever arrive at a just conclusion on this head, until 

 we unite a conclave of honest druggists, both wholesale and 

 retail, from whom alone might be procured something like 

 a knowledge of the various sorts in an unadulterated state ; 

 for they are all said to be mixed and remixed to suit the 

 convenience of the dealer ; and are named and renamed, to 

 supply the wants of the purchaser ; to which circumstances 

 we are indebted for the contradictory accounts we read rela- 



