248 THE COMPLETE FARMER 



It operates merely as an astringent. It has no anodyne 

 effect, as it has upon man. It will not mitigate pain. It is 

 unfortunate that most writers on the veterinary art have 

 copied from each other, and have recommended medicines 

 for the horse which are known to be useful to men. Thus 

 calomel, rhubarb, and colocynth, have been recommended as 

 purgatives for horses, whereas they are now known to have 

 no such effect on that animal. 



Bark produces no sensible effect upon the horse. 



There are no medicines that operate on the horse as ipe- 

 cacuanha and tartar emetic do upon the human subject. 



Tartar emetic, in doses of four ounces, will sometimes oc- 

 casion a little nausea and purging, but in smaller doses it 

 has no sensible effect. No preparation of mercury will pro- 

 duce salivation in the horse. His gums may be made sore 

 by mercury, but ptyalism cannot be produced by it. 



Sugar of lead, which is known to be a most deadly poison 

 to man, the horse can take without injury. Tobacco has no 

 deleterious effect upon the horse. 



Hellebore, in doses of half a drachm, produces a tendency 

 to nausea in the horse. Hemlock is good food for goats, but 

 a deadly poison to man; and wheat, the natural food for 

 man, is poison to the horse. Spirit of turpentine, which an 

 infant may handle without injury, operates as caustic when 

 applied to the skin of a horse, although it may be applied to 

 sores and fungous flesh on that animal without producing 

 pain. — N. E. Journal of Medicine and Surgery. 



The following judicious remarks on the management and 

 diseases of horses, &c., are taken from an English publi- 

 cation. 



The Stable. As the preservation of health ought to be 

 considered as an object of equal, if not superior, importance 

 to that of curing or alleviating disease, and as it can only 

 be accomplished by a proper management of the horse with 

 respect to fee<iing, exercise, and the general economy of the 

 stable, I think it proper to begin with this subject. 



In the construction of a stable there is, perhaps, no cir- 

 cumstance more deserving attention than that of ventilation, 

 or of having contrivances for the ready admission of fresh 

 air, and for the escape of that which has been rendered im- 

 pure by breathing ; and it is really extraordinary that so 

 little attention should have been paid to so important a cir- 

 cumstance. Grooms in general make a point of closing eve- 

 ry aperture they can find ; and if, at any time, they are pre- 



