254 DICTIONARY OF THE VETERINARY ART. 



resort to physic. Here, again, that physic is best which is 

 speediest in its operation ; the Crotoh nut has no rival in this 

 respect ; the first dose should be half a drachm, and the med- 

 icine repeated every six hours, in doses of ten grains, until it 

 operates.* The bowels, in all these nervous affections, are 

 very torpid. 



" Then, as it is a diseased action of the nerves, proceeding 

 from the spinal marrow, the whole of the spine should be 

 blistered three or four inches .wide. (See Cantharides.) 

 Having bled largely, and physicked, and blistered, we seek for 

 other means to lull the irritation ; and we have one at hand, 

 small in bulk and potent in energy, — opium (!)f Give at 

 once a quarter of an ounce, and an additional drachm every 

 six hours." 



The best method we know of in the treatment of lockjaw, 

 is, first, to apply a poultice to the foot, (if it has been wound- 

 ed,) consisting of about six ounces of lobelia, four ounces of 

 skunk cabbage, two ounces of capsicum, powdered ; mix them 

 with a suitable quantity of meal sufficient for two poultices, 

 which should be renewed every twelve hours. After the 

 second application, examine the foot, and if suppuration has 

 taken place, and the matter can be felt, or seen, a small punc- 

 ture may be made, taking care not to let the instrument pene- 

 trate beyond the bony part of the hoof. Next stimulate the 

 surface to action, by warmth and moisture, as follows : take 



* In the first part of this paragraph, Mr. Youatt observes, " the most power- 

 ful agent to tranquillize the system is bleeding." So say the butchers when 

 they bleed the ox, and conduct the process till no blood remains. 



f This is a narcotic vegetable poison, and although large quantities have 

 been occasionally given to the horse without apparent injury, experience teach- 

 es us that poisons in general — notwithstanding the various modes of their 

 action, and the difference in their symptoms — all agree in the abstraction 

 of vitality from the system. Dr. Eberle says, " Opiates never fail to operate 

 perniciously on the whole organization." Dr. Gallup says, " The practice of 

 using opiates to mitigate pain is greatly to be deprecated. It is probable 

 that opium and its preparations have done seven times the injury that they 

 have rendered benefit on the great scale of the civilized world. Opium is the 

 most destructive of all narcotics." 



