286 CANKER. 



times be successful ; but on other occasions every one 

 will fail. Solutions of the various caustics; the dif- 

 ferent acids, either diluted or of the full strength; 

 powders in which the sulphates or chlorides are min- 

 gled with chalk, bark, or charcoal; and compounds 

 of all kinds of things have their advocates. Nitric 

 acid and tar is in great favour with some parties. 

 Others employ verdigris, mixed with tar and treacle, 

 or honey, to which is often added a portion of sugar 

 of lead. In fact, the recipes are too numerous to be 

 repeated; but they all have one and the same inten- 

 tion, namely, to act as a caustic and astringent; 

 reducing the fungus, and stimulating the part to take 

 on a healthy secretion. No recipe can or should be 

 given in a case of this kind. The strength of the 

 agent should be suited to the state of the disease, and 

 in this particular no two cases will be alike. Let, 

 therefore, the judgment be exercised; and at the 

 same time let it be remembered that it is better to 

 change the application than to continue its use when 

 it appears to produce no marked or beneficial effect. 

 A rapid succession of different agents employed in 

 different forms will often do that which a pertinacious 

 adherence to a favourite nostrum will too frequently 

 fail to accomplish ; but, as in inexperienced hands the 

 butyr of antimony is perhaps the safest caustic for 

 general use, that compound will be alone recom- 

 mended in the present treatise. When not judiciously 

 employed, the more potent remedies for canker not 

 only destroy the surface to which they are applied, 

 but deeply and injuriously eat into the foot. The 

 butyr of antimony acts where we want it ; and mixing 



