CHAPTER X 



PHARMACOPOEIA AND USES OF MEDICINES 



490. THE USE OF MEDICINE. In the treatment of 

 diseases it must always be remembered that 

 all we can do is to assist Nature to repair the 

 diseased structure, in whatever form the disease 

 may be. We cannot cure the disease, but we 

 can, however, by means of suitable nursing, 

 drugs, and antiseptic precautions, place the 

 patient under the most favourable conditions. In 

 short, what we can do is to fight for Nature 

 against the enemies that are hindering her work. 

 The abuse of drugs, even in this enlightened 

 age, is very great. The horse is subjected to a 

 great deal of cruelty by owners and grooms 

 administering all kinds of quack and useless 

 medicines because they think their horses are ill. 

 The old story, that if anyone looks up the symp- 

 toms of a score of diseases in a book he will come 

 to the conclusion that he has got all these diseases, 

 applies in the case of horses. A well-meaning 

 owner often imagines, on account of his limited 

 knowledge, that his horse has some disease, 

 whereupon he at once goes to his shelf of ancient 

 drugs, many of which are useless, and in some 

 cases harmful, and administers a dose. 



491. As in all medicinal science, faith is half 

 the battle. This does not apply to the horse in 

 the same way that it does to man ; but, gener- 

 ally, if the owner has faith in his treatment, the 

 horse has a better chance of recovering. 



It is always wise when in doubt to call in a 

 professional. "A little learning is a dangerous 

 thing," and many a horse has died, or has been 

 hindered in recovery, by inexperienced people 

 meddling with drugs. It is not necessary to be 

 continually giving drugs. The finest cure is 

 Nature's fresh air, plenty of good exercise, and 

 healthy surroundings. The commonest of harm- 

 ful drugs that are given to the horse are nitre, 

 spirits of nitre, opium and black antimony. Nitre 

 is a salt of potassium, and all potassium salts 

 have a bad effect on the heart if their use is con- 

 tinued. Opium is used in all patent medicines 

 for colic ; but this drug should never be used 

 except in one case of colic, i.e. when there is 

 diarrhoea. Antimony forms the largest propor- 

 tion of many stock medicines ; it is a useless 

 drug, and in many cases does much harm. 



492. The belief in old-fashioned recipes is 

 also most amazing. Books printed over half a 



century ago are kept on the shelf and are re- 

 ferred to whenever medicine is required. I 

 strongly advise that such books be burnt, be- 

 cause, if they lie about, people are sure to take 

 hold of them and read them. A recipe in print 

 is held by some as almost sacred, however old it 

 may be. 



Owners of horses should keep a strict watch 

 over their grooms to see that drugs are not 

 given whenever the latter think fit. Cruelty is 

 not limited to the abuse of drugs, for it is prac- 

 tised in the use of the knife ; some old-fashioned 

 surgical practices are continued to-day, and in 

 many cases gross cruelty is perpetrated, such as 

 blowing powdered chalk into the eye to rid it 

 of a piece of chaff, and other even more foolish 

 notions. Then, again, a common practice is to 

 soak a horse's coat with coal oil or creolin when 

 it is suffering from mange. Others cover a horse 

 with coal oil to keep flies off, and in many cases 

 seriously impair the horse's health by stopping 

 up the pores of the skin with a mineral oil. 



493. METHODS OF INTRODUCING DRUGS. 



1. Intravenous consists in injecting a solution 

 of the drug into a vein, generally the jugular (see 

 P. 137), by means of a hypodermic syringe. The 

 disadvantages are that it is difficult to make the 

 point of incision aseptic, that a slight over-dose 

 would reach the heart, and the danger of inject- 

 ing a bubble of air. 



2. Subcutaneous consists in injecting a solu- 

 tion with a hypodermic syringe under the skin, 

 usually on the neck. Certain drugs, as barium 

 chloride, which cause irritation to the tissue 

 under the skin, must not be introduced in this 

 manner. 



3. Intratracheal consists in injecting the solu- 

 tion into the trachea or windpipe by inserting a 

 needle in between two of the cartilage rings. 

 This is the best way of introducing eserine and 

 other drugs that are required to act in a hurry. 

 Chloral hydrate must not be introduced in this 

 manner, as it may cause pneumonia. 



4. Inhalation. Volatile drugs, as ammonia, 

 ether, chloroform, amyl nitrite, eucalyptus, etc., 

 are introduced in this way for diseases of the 

 respiratory tract. 



5. Oral. This is the usual way of introducing 

 drugs, either as a drench, or in a gelatine capsule, 



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