THE VETERINARY ART IN INDIA. 
265 
exposes the above, is a disease pretended to ensue from eating 
fowls' dung. It is, I believe, a well-known fact, that fowls are 
kept in England with the horses, and it is very common to see 
them picking the oats while the animal is feeding, and must, of 
course, frequently dung upon his corn and hay, yet no unpleasant 
effects have been produced. Verdigris, blue vitriol, and the 
most violent medicine, scarcely affect' the horse ; yet here is a dis- 
ease fabricated in consequence of the animal's eating a small 
quantity of fowls’ dung. This preposterous account, I imagine, 
must originate with the Salistry, whose absurd superstition and 
prejudices ignorance can alone excuse. We are told that “ it is a 
kind of poison, making his flanks heave, and his dung variegated 
with an unusual kind of matter." The food of a fowl is innocent 
farinaceous vegetables, and the intestines are frequently eaten by 
dogs — an animal much more susceptible of poison than the horse — 
yet no ill effects are produced. The dung of a fowl can be little 
else but the pulp of the grain, with the nutritious parts extracted. 
Then, by what process can this substance produce such 
variegated matter from the large, strong intestines of the horse ? 
To render this absurdity still more conspicuous, this very poison, 
which is said to produce, if neglected, all the symptoms of broken 
wind for life, is recommended in bowel complaints — for the in- 
testines when administered as a remedy are full of dung. In this 
case the “poison” accommodates itself to the animal's state, and 
removes disease. Such accounts may be expected from a Salistry, 
but are scarcely excuseable from a man who aims to be thought 
possessed of sense. Hospitality should, no doubt, bestow ex- 
tensive privileges and encouragement on an unfortunate stranger, 
and as such he is entitled to the most public and liberal support, 
and which, I have no doubt, he very highly merits; yet it is a 
matter of regret that he was not so happy in the choice of the 
subject on which he writes as in his other pursuits, by which 
he would have prevented the present very unpleasant part of my 
duty, which I owe both to the public and the science which I 
profess. 
I have dwelt particularly on this subject, as I conceive it of 
consequence to our reputation that such absurdities should be 
removed. It is not, however, the above remarks alone which 
provoke such unpleasant reflections, but the continued chain of 
pretended remedies, and erroneous description of diseases, gene- 
rally mistaking symptoms for diseases, or effects for causes. 
vol xv. 
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