CORRESPONDENCE. 
141 
Alcohol, 1 oz. ii., with powd. gentian, 1 oz. ss. is given to him three 
times a day; wound dressed with carbolized solution. 
15th—No change. 
17th—Animal is better; appetite improved; pulse stronger; wound 
less swollen. Same treatment. 
18th—A portion of the skin in the centre of the wound has a ten¬ 
dency to slough off; offensive smell from the wounds. Same treat¬ 
ment. 
19.th—Portion of the skin has sloughed. Dressing with chloride 
of zinc. 
21st—Better appearance of the parts; and from that day rapid 
healing took place. At the time of writing, the wound is about the size 
of the palm of the hand, and is rapidly closing. 
CORRESPONDENCE. 
-» ■ ♦- 
♦ 
THE THERAPEUTICS OF ACONITE. 
Mr. Editor : 
That aconite is an almost indispensable agent in the therapeutics 
of Veterinary Medicine will hardly be denied by any one acquainted 
with its value; but that it enjoys the extensive remedial properties at¬ 
tributed to it by Mr. John Dowling Allman, in the May number of the 
Veterinary Journal, or that its use should be as general as recommended 
by this author, is more than doubtful. That it is an excellent sedative, 
and unrivalled as a remedy in the treatment of some inflammations is 
well known by most practitioners of medicine; but the sweeping asser¬ 
tion, that it can and should be used in all inflammations and fevers, 
where there is a high elevation of temperature, is as erroneous in prin¬ 
ciple as it is pregnant with the elements of non-success to one who 
would accept the statement as true, and practice in accordance therewith. 
The value of thermometrical observation in the treatment, as well 
as in the diagnosis of disease, is fully appreciated by many American 
Veterinarians ; but that the thermometer, in registering the animal tem¬ 
perature at the same time, indicates those conditions in which sedatives 
are, or are not to be used, is beyond the comprehension of the writer’s 
knowledge of therapeutics, 
