136 PALSY. 



of inflammation of the bowels — severe purging — ex- 

 posure to cold, excessive exertion, and poisons ; but it 

 is oftener the result of injuries of the spine, caused by 

 accident or brutality. Falls in rapid action, and 

 more particularly in leaping; awkward casting, or 

 violent struggles after casting ; blows on the back or 

 loins ; a heavy rider urging a small or weak horse too 

 far or too fast; — all these may be causes of palsy: 

 yet most frequently when the affection appears it can 

 be traced to no well-marked source. 



If palsy is the result of previous disease, it will 

 sometimes disappear when its cause is removed. 

 Should it not, warm clothing, and the application of 

 stimulating liniments, as the mustard poultice, or the 

 common liquid blister (Recipe No. 24, p. 78), must 

 be resorted to. 



RECIPE (No. 36). 

 The Mustard Poultice. 



Take — Of mustard flower and linseed meal equal parts, and mix 

 them together with a sufficient quantity of warm, not hot, vinegar. 



This is a powerfully-external stimulant, and per- 

 fectly safe. 



When palsy is the result of accident, the horse 

 should be examined ; and if there is occasion for it, 

 the back or loins may be well fomented several times 

 in the day, for two or three days ; at the end of which 

 period should the palsy be present the mustard poul- 

 tice or liquid blister should be applied. Slight con- 

 tusions or sprain of the spine may be thus relieved : 

 and then a charge should be placed over the back 

 and loins, and the horse having a fair allowance of 



