554 MATERIA IMEDICA 



a remedy for the farcy ; but I have never seen It do any good 

 in that complaint, though I have several times given it a trial. 

 It has been fairly tried in the glanders ; half an ounce was 

 given daily for a considerable time, but it had no effect on the 

 disease, nor did it occasion any inconvenience to the animal. 

 This is rather remarkable, as verdigris is considered as a poison 

 in the human body, and is the substance which causes the dele- 

 terious effects which copper vessels, when employed for culinary 

 purposes, have sometimes occasioned. 



VESICATOKIES. A term synonymous with blisters. 



VINEGAR. — Acetum. Though medical practitioners prefer 

 distilled vinegar, yet for veterinary purposes the best undistilled 

 vinegar is just as proper. It makes an useful embrocation, with 

 about a tenth part of sal ammoniac or muriate of ammonia, for 

 inflamed swellings; and, when neutralized Avith prepared am- 

 monia, or salt of hartshorn, forms a preparation, sometimes em- 

 ployed in fevers, and termed Mindererus's spirit. 



Vinegar is sometimes used alone as an embrocation for strains, 

 bruises, or inflamed sweUings of any kind, and often with suc- 

 cess ; it may be made more effectual, however, by the addition 

 of sal ammoniac and proof spirit, or by being mixed with a small 

 quantity of sugar of lead and water, according to the circum- 

 stances of the case. A solution of honey in vinegar is termed 

 an oxymel, and is sometimes used as a remedy for coughs : this 

 is said to be nearly the same preparation as Godbold's vegetable 

 syrup, which has been sometimes recommended by farriers to 

 cure bi-oken wind, an incurable disease ! See Acetates and 

 Embrocations. 



VINUM. See Wine. 



VITRIOL, BLUE and WHITE. See Sulphate of Cop- 

 per, and Sulphate of Zinc. 



N\TVJ.O\AQ k.^YD.—Acidum Snlpliuvicum. This, which 

 is more commonly named oil of vitriol, is now in all modern dis- 

 pensatories named sulphuric acid, and its combinations are 

 therefore named sulphates. 



WATER. — Aqua. Much has been written respecting the 

 different qualities of water, some having been considered as very 

 Injurious to horses, while others have been said to promote 

 health and condition. Dr. Bracken thought hard or pump 

 water liable to produce the gravel or stone ; and other authors 

 have had still more whimsical notions on this subject. It 

 appears probable that transparent and sweet water, that is, such 

 as is most grateful to man, Is most wholesome for horses, whether 

 it be taken from a well or from any other situation. The ill 

 effects that have sometimes resulted from drinking certain kinds 

 of water may depend upon its being drank too largely, or at too 

 cold a temperature, at a time when the stomach was not in a 

 condition for receiving so much, or upon its being so ill-tasted 



