TREATMEXT OF HORSES'* LEGS. 209 



consists of the common mercurial plaster (not oint- 

 ment) of the shops, made up according to the Lon- 

 don Pharmacopceia ; and, in the proportion of half 

 a pound to a leg, applied in a warm and conse- 

 quently liquefied state, and when covered by deer's 

 hair, bound to the limb by means of a linen roller. 

 At the end of a fortnight, the stitches of the band- 

 age being decayed, the charge will slough oft', when 

 another, if necessary, is put on. It is to the highly 

 absorbent property of mercury that the benefit here 

 derived is to be ascribed ; and it is no small recom- 

 mendation to it, that, in addition to the general 

 restoration of the limb, the painful operation of the 

 actual cautery, as also the blemish occasioned by it, 

 are avoided. 



It is, however, a well-known fact, that hunters 

 will work and stand sound, for many successive 

 seasons, with legs apparently much out of form. 

 Enlargements take place in the sheath of tendons 

 after strains ; also from blows, where the parts 

 become lined by a thick coat of lymph ; and some- 

 times the body of the bone itself is found thickened, 

 from a depositation of bony lamina over the original 

 bone. When all this has been in progress, we 

 question the propriety of any active measures, un- 

 less, as is generally the case, a feeling of soreness 

 is expressed after work, by a shifting, or favouring 

 of the limb, or limbs, in the stall; or by a " feeling" 

 manner of going on first quitting the stable. When 

 legs are really callous, little impression can be made 

 upon them, unless by active measures ; but physic, 

 rest, and good grooming are the best preservatives 



