30 THE COMPLETE FARRIER. 



Make the whole into a ball with a little oil of amber, and a suffic- 

 ient quantity of syrup of buckthorn. This ball operates so gently 

 that there is no need for confinement, except a little the day following 

 that on which it is given. The horse must have warm mashes and 

 warm water, and the utmost care must be taken to prevent his catch- 

 ing cold. 



A CONSUMPTION. 



It is hard to lay down proper rules on this head, or to give the 

 owner or farrier such an explanation of the disease as may lead him 

 to a proper knowledge of it. It has been above a match for many ; 

 but having, in my long experience, hact many under my care in this 

 dangerous disorder, I hope to be able to explain it as well as most 

 people. 



Symptoms. — A Consumption is a want of nourishment, and a waste 

 of flesh. The horse's eyes look dull, his ears and feet are commonly 

 hot, he coughs violently by fits, sneezes often, and groans at the same 

 lime; he gleets at the nose, and sometimes throws a yellowish matter, 

 rather curdled, from his nose ; his flanks have a quick motion, and he 

 has little appetite to hay, though he will eat corn, but he grows hot 

 after it. ■ 



Causes. — Damp stables are most likely to bring on this disorder, 

 though it may be brought on by many other things. In my time I 

 have known many horses suffer much by damp stables. I knew a 

 gentleman who had two valuable horses, and he built a new stable for 

 them, without any air-holes above their heads. He put the horses in 

 as soon as the stable appeared dry, and their heat soon caused the 

 walls of the place to sweat, and to run down with water, by which 

 means both the horses were thrown into a Consumption and died. I 

 mention this to caution others. 



Cure. — The first, and indeed one of the principal things to be done, 

 is to bleed in small quantities. A pint, or at most a pint and a half, 

 is sufficient at once, and the operation is to be repeated whenever the 

 breath is more than commonly oppressed. We are assured, by dis- 

 section, that in a Consumption both the glands of the lungs and the 

 mesentery are swelled, and often indurated. The only medicines 

 that can be depended upon, are mercurial purges and ponderous .al- 

 teratives. I have already given you examples of the former, and the 

 bllowing is a formula of the latter. Mix 



4 oz. of Crocus Metalorum. 



1 do. Calomel pp. 



1 lb. of Gum Guaiacum, finely powdered. 



Give about an ounce every day in a mash of bran and linseed. 

 Iceland liverwort, a handful boiled in a gallon of water, is much 

 better to make mashes up with than water ; for it is a great helper of 

 the. blood. But it is to be observed that nothing will answer so good 

 an end as spring grass ; so that if the horse be afflicted with this dis- 

 ease in spring time, turn him out to grass as soon as you can ; and if 

 the nights be cold, turn him out in the day-time, and take him in at 



