CATHARTICS. 213 



Strength and constitution we are not ac- 

 quainted with. I have often met with horses 

 that were effectually purged by half an 

 ounce of aloes, while to others I have given 

 an ounce, without any effect. On the other 

 hand, again, I have frequently seen the same 

 dose do much injury ; in one case, a horse 

 was nearly destroyed by taking half an ounce 

 of aloes, and half a dram of calomel. I 

 lately met with an instance of a horse being 

 evidently killed by taking one ounce. Some, 

 nay several, have been destroyed by the 

 doses recommended in books of farriery, in 

 which aloes have been prescribed in the dose 

 of one ounce and a half. At the same time, 

 it must be acknowledged, that these acci- 

 dents are not 'oery frequent, and that hun- 

 dreds of horses take those strong doses ap- 

 parently with impunity. Still there is one 

 bad effect which must result from violent 

 purgation, of which few people are aware. 

 The debility thus produced lays a founda- 

 tion for many diseases ; and I have known 

 even blindness produced by it : the whole 

 system is rendered mere irritable, and con- 

 sequently more susceptible of disease. 



