THE MALIGNANT EI IDEMIC— MURRAIN. 255 



170 grains ; bole armenian, 20 grains. Dissolve in a pint of water* 

 and give, to be repeated as often as required. — Am. Ed.'^ 



Homoeopathic treatment. — With respect to treatment, arsenicum is 

 a certain means of cure and preservation. On the first symp- 

 toms of the disease being perceived, such as loss of appetite, suspen- 

 sion of rumination, trembling of the hind legs, staggering when walk- 

 ing, hair dull and rough, eyes swimming in water, alternations of 

 heat and cold in the horns and ears, disappearance of milk, (fee, a 

 dose of arsenicum should be administered, which is to be repeated 

 every five to fifteen minutes, until there is marked improvement ; 

 in slight cases one hour or an hour and a half interval may be al- 

 lowed between the doses. The curative effect becomes perceptible 

 after a very little time, and so much the sooner, in proportion as the 

 attack was more violent ; so that in the most acute cases the amend- 

 ment often becomes perceptible in a quarter or in half an hour, 

 which is recognized by the following characters : the animal shakes 

 off the stupor, looks around it, and notices the person taking care of 

 it ; the trembling diminishes or ceases altogether, the horns and ears 

 are less cold, or less burning ; there is a little appetite, the hair lies 

 down, the eye loses its fixedness, and the animal has an alvine dis- 

 charge ; the evacuations vary much, being sometimes natural, some- 

 ciraes bloody or mucous ; at length a general warm sweat sets in, or 

 tumors, abscesses, or eruptions ; in the case of cows the milk returns. 

 When these signs of improvement are observed to take place, we 

 must wait for some time before repeating the dose, being always 

 regulated by the degree of severity with which the disease com- 

 menced ; if the aggression be violent, and the first dose produces no 

 perceptible effect, after a quarter of an hour, or, at most, half an 

 hour, the a.rsenicum must be repeated, and then continued at the 

 same intervals ; if, on the contrary, the disease be but moderate, it 

 is better to allow the first dose to act for an hour ; and if an improve- 

 ment take place, a second is not given until the amendment ceases to 

 progress. Often a single dose suffices to remove the disease, whilst 

 in other cases, from two to four, even from twenty to thirty, are 

 required, before we obtain a complete cui«. It is unnecessary to 

 say that during the Avhole course of treatment, we should not lose 

 sight of the patient for a moment. 



Should an amendment or cure be obtained, all is not yet over ; 

 two cases may still occur, 



1. A relapse of the disease. This may take place after the lapse 

 of from four to sixteen hours. It is important then to watch the 

 animal during twenty-four hours, and still to make it take a few 

 doses, at intervals of about four hours. If the relapse had ali-eady 

 taken place, Ave should proceed as on the former occasion ; but the 

 danger would be still greater. 



