374 
MEMOIRS OE A VETERINARY SURGEON. 
tactics. Instead of employing the vapour of hot mashes, 
which is so beneficial in a recent attack of catarrh, we must 
now not only cease to encourage the discharge, but adopt 
means calculated prudently to check it. My plan to effect 
this is as follows : I cease giving mashes of every de- 
scription, and allow a liberal diet, consisting of corn, beans, 
and sweet hay, withholding green meat and carrots. I 
blister underneath the throat, whether this part has been 
previously blistered or not; stimulate the ears; see that the 
skin and extremities are kept warm ; and administer tonic 
medicines. I have great faith both in iron and copper, com- 
bining their sulphates with gentian and ginger, made into a 
ball; and to this I add the all-important item of cool fresh air 
and light. Possibly a word of caution may be here per- 
mitted. Some persons employ soft soap as a material to 
make up their masses. Here it should not be used, as it 
would decompose the metallic salts, and render the compound 
nearly inert. I would give the above agents twice a day, for 
a day or two, and if no improvement is effected, give them 
three times a day ; if then the discharge still continued to 
increase, I would not hesitate to give as much as four 
drachms of the .sulphate of iron, with two of the sulphate of 
copper, two and three times a day. I keep up inflammation 
in the skin of the throat by repeated blisters ; and should the 
case prove obstinate, I now clip off the hair over the frontal 
and nasal sinuses, and blister severely and repeatedly. I have 
great faith in powerful counter-irritation immediately over 
the affected membrane. I know some scientific practitioners 
pooh pooh this, but my experience has afforded me abun- 
dant evidence of its very great utility. It appears to arouse, 
and in some degree to divert, the energies of the circulatory 
system, which is too much engrossed in the diseased action. 
I am also of opinion that it has a bracing effect upon the 
system generally, and improves the quality of the blood. Nine- 
teen out of every twenty cases may be restored by these means. 
I have employed every agent recommended, and have 
had abundant opportunities of satisfying myself of their 
different degrees of efficacy, and am come to the conclusion 
that the above plan of treatment is without exception the 
most successful. It is surprising the large quantities of the 
above medicines that may with impunity be administered, 
provided the horse eats moderately well. I have given as 
much as two ounces of sulphate of iron, and one ounce of sul- 
phate of copper, daily, for three weeks, before the disease has 
yielded ; when the membranes have assumed a perfectly 
healthy character, and have continued so for the remainder 
