626 MEDICINES. 



liinseed. 



Cold drawn linseed oil is a safe and valuable laxative, in doses 

 of from 1 to 2 pints. It forms an excellent vehicle for the 

 administration of turpentine or carbolic acid. In small doses, it 

 allays irritation of the mucous membranes, and appears to be 

 particularly beneficial in diseases of the urinary organs. Its good 

 effects on the skin are well marked. It may be given in doses of 

 2 oz. mixed through the food three times a day. See page 604. 



As linseed oil is subject to much adulteration, special precautions 

 should be taken to obtain it pure. The linseed oil sold by oil and 

 colour merchants, usually has been boiled and freely mixed with 

 litharge (oxide of lead), which is a poison, or black oxide of 

 manganese, so as to increase the drying property of the oil for 

 the benefit of painters. 



Magnesia, Sulphate of. 



-See "Epsom Salts" (p. 621). 



Mallein. 



DESCRIPTION.— Mallein was first manufactured in 1891. It 

 is a filtered liquid made from a pure culture of the bacilli of 

 glanders, which has been exposed, during its preparation, to a 

 degree of heat that is amply sufficient to destroy them. It contains 

 products formed by these microbes; but as it is entirely free from 

 the presence of these organisms, it is incapable of causing this 

 disease. It is prepared in bacteriological laboratories (for instance, 

 that of the Koyal Veterinary College, London), and can be obtained 

 from them and from wholesale chemists, with directions as to its 

 use. Mallein should be kept in a cool place, and protected from 

 light. Should it lose its transparency or become cloudy, it must 

 not be used. 



THE USE OF MALLEIN depends on the fact that a properly 

 performed injection of a certain quantity of it under the skin 

 of a glandered horse whose temperature is normal, almost always 

 produces reactions which, in the vast majority of cases, may be 

 accepted as a proof that the animal is suffering from glanders. 

 Also, the absence of these reactions may, under certain narrowly 

 limited restrictions, be regarded as unquestionable evidence that 



