614 VETERINARY MATERIA MEDICA. 



not pulverise readily except in frosty weather ; at which 

 time a sufficient quantity should be powdered to last the 

 year through ; and as they are apt again to unite into 

 a solid mass, so, soon as powdered, they should he 

 mingled with half their weight of lard or palm oil : mixed 

 in this manner they keep well, and form a uniform mass 

 of a proper consistence to make balls ; which dissolve 

 readily in the stomach, never harden, and are less apt to 

 gripe than any other form ; particularly if half drachms 

 of powdered ginger be added. — Aloes are now boiled by 

 some practitioners, to render them more mild. The 

 great difficulty of keeping aloes in an equal state of con- 

 sistence, as a purging mass, induced Mr. B. Clark to 

 adopt the following method, by which, he informs us, 

 these inconveniences are obviated. He places one vessel 

 within another, exactly as carpenters melt glue, having 

 water in the outer vessel, and aloes with one-fifth of 

 their weight of treacle in the inner one, which is carefully 

 covered with a lid. The apparatus being put on the fire, 

 is suffered to remain, the aloes and treacle being now 

 and then, but not too often, stirred to combine them, for 

 an hour or more, or until perfectly melted. The inner 

 vessel being now taken from the outer, the contents are 

 expeditiously cast in paper moulds or tubes, of the usual 

 diameter of a horse ball. When cold, Mr. C. finds these 

 balls flexible, yet solid, and says they remain so. He 

 gives an ounce to a saddle or carriage horse, and six 

 drachms to a cart horse : but there is reason to fear that 

 they do not prove so soluble in the stomach as when 

 their particles are divided by oil, lard, or even syrup ; but 

 the last is a more objectionable ingredient than either of 

 the others. 



A watery solution of aloes should be kept by every 

 veterinarian, and which will be found, in many instances, 

 a very convenient form, on account of its quicker 

 action. 



A spirituous tincture of aloes, made by digesting four 

 ounces of the powder in a quart of proof spirit, forms a 

 common stimulating application to recent wounds, &c. 

 Half an ounce of powdered myrrh is a good addition to 

 this vulnerary. 



