METHODS OF CURE. 



He who takes care of the sick hoi'se not only enhances the vahie 

 of liis property, but does an essential service to the welfare of his 

 country. Physicking, alone, as many people believe, will not, however, 

 l)e sufficient. It will be necessary, first, to find out the cause of the 

 sickness ; this removed, nature will frequently ])erform the cure with- 

 out help from medicine. (For instance, wdien the horse has a pebble 

 l)etween the shoe and the hoof, remove this, and the lameness Avill 

 disap2)ear. If " diabetes " is caused by musty food, give him good, 

 healthy food, instead, and he will be Avell. Many other examples 

 coiild be given, but these will be sufficient.) Cases occur, however, 

 when, after the removal of the cause, nature will no longer be strong 

 enough to perform the cure alone ; then nature must be assisted by 

 one of the various methods of curing diseases. We give here only 

 two — the most generally acknowledged ones— ^ the homceopathic 

 and the allopathic. 



The first deserves preference, in most cases, because the inexj)eri- 

 enced person here runs less risk of doing harm than if he has recourse 

 to allopathic medicines. The best means of administering the former 

 to the horse is, to put from one to three drops, or from eight to twelve 

 pellets or pills, on a wafer of flour-paste or a small piece of bread, to 

 raise the horse's head a little, pull the tongue out, and ])lace the 

 wafer as far back as possible; after which, the mouth is held closed 

 with the hand, in order to compel the animal to swallow. Care must 

 be taken, however, to give the medicine either one hour before, or one 

 hour after he is fed. The liquid form of allopathic medicines deserves 

 the preference in dangerous diseases, which run a rapid course, be- 

 cause it will operate soonest. In some cases, however, this form can- 

 not be used ; as, for instance, in inflammations of the throat, where 

 the horse cannot swallow. Also, with aninuds suftering Avith cough, 



