Materia Medica. 117 
The following are examples of each class of remedies 
suitable for the dog, and to render the plan of admixture 
as well as administration intelligible, reliable formule are 
given, from which the reader may suitably make choice. 
The Dispensing of Medicines.—Canine pharmacy 
is a department of no little importance. Next to the 
selection of suitable remedies ranks the judicious com- 
pounding and admixture, an art which can only be ac- 
quired by great experience of the nature and properties 
of drugs. 
Medicines are prescribed in several forms—viz., the 
bolus, or pill, electuary and draught. These are adminis- 
tered by the mouth. In some cases it is advisable to 
administer remedies in the form of enemas, or by sud- 
cutaneous injections (see p. 132). 
The dolus, or pill, isa compound of two or more reme- 
dies, which, after being reduced to fine powder, are 
worked into a plastic mass by means of honey, treacle, 
&c., to the requisite size, and subsequently covered with 
fine paper. The latter is often indispensable in order to 
prevent nausea, which may cause rejection of the dose. 
The form of the pill may be cylindrical, or spherical. In 
the first the paper is rolled on to the mass and tucked in 
atthe ends. A spherical pill is placed in the middle of 
a small square of thin or tissue paper, when the circum- 
ferent edges are drawn together and twisted to a point. 
To administer a pill the dog is taken on the knee, 
supported by the left arm placed across the shoulder, 
while the left hand seizes the lower jaw, the thumb and 
fingers being pressed on each side of the mouth. This 
has the effect in most cases of separating the jaws, when 
the lower is quickly and firmly grasped, and simulta- 
neortsly the pill, held between the thumb and forefinger of 
the right hand, is passed to the back of the tongue. At 
the same moment the grasp of the lower jaw is removed, 
and the fingers and thumb secure both upper and lower 
jaws with firmness, yet without absolute punishment. 
The result as a rule is that the dog swallows almost im- 
mediately the jaws are approximated. If he fails to do 
so a few gentle passes of the forefinger over the front of 
