MEDICINES USED IN THE TREATMENT OF CATTLE. 453 



to the urgency of the case. The practitioner must not be alarmed 

 at the intermittent pulse -which is produced. It is by means of cer- 

 tain pauses and intermissions in the action of the heart, that the 

 rapidity of the circulation is diminished when this drug is exhibited. 

 The intermittent pulse is that which the practitioner will be anxious 

 to obtain, and which he will generally regard as the harbinger of re- 

 turning health. 



Diuretics. — They are allowable and beneficial in swelled legs, 

 foul in the foot, and all dropsical affections, while they advantageous- 

 ly alternate wiih other medicines in the treatment of mange, and all 

 cutaneous affections, and in cases of mild or chronic fever. Nitre 

 and liquid turpentine are the best diuretics ; and almost the only 

 ones on which dependence can be placed. The doses have been 

 already pointed out. 



D KINKS. — It is needless again to explain the reason why all medi- 

 cines that cannot be concealed in the food must be administered to 

 cattle in the form of drinks. If they are exhibited in a solid form, 

 they will break through the floor of the oesophagean canal, and enter 

 the rumen. Farriers and cow-leeches, however, often give to their 

 drinks the force and momentum of a ball, by the large vessels from 

 which they are poured all at once down the throat. There are few 

 things of more consequence than attention to the manner in which a 

 drink is administered. 



Elder. — The leaf of this tree is used boiled in lard. It forms one 

 of the most soothing and suppling ointments that can be applied. 

 The practitioner should make his own elder ointment, for he will 

 often receive from the druggist an irrit^!ting unguent formed of lard 

 colored with verdigris, instead of the emollient one furnished by the 

 elder. 



Epsom Salts. — See Magnesia. 



Fomentations. — If, owing to the greater thickness of the skin, 

 these are not quite so effectual in cattle as in the horse, yet, as open- 

 ing the pores of the skin and promoting per>piration in the part, and 

 thus abating local swellings, and relieving pain, and lessening inflam- 

 mation, they are often exceedingly serviceable. The practitioner may 

 use the decoction of what herbs he pleases, but the chief virtue of 

 the fomentation depends on the warmth of the water. 



Gentian. — An excellent stomachic and tonic, whether at the close 

 of illness, or as a remedy for chronic debility. Its dose varies from 

 one to four drachms, and should be almost invariably combined with 

 ginger. 



Ginger. — The very best aromatic in the list of cordials for cattle, 

 and, with the exception of carraways, superseding all the rest. The 

 dose will vary from half a drachm to four drachms. 



Goulard's Extract. — See Lead. 



Hellebore, Black. — The root of it forms an excellent seton when 



