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A
PHILOSOPHICAL AND PRACTICAL
TREATISE ON HORSES,
AND ON THE
MORAL DUTIES OF MAN
TOWARDS
THE BRUTE CREATION:
COMPREHENDING
THE CHOICE, MANAGEMENT, PURCHASE, AND SALE
OF EVERY DESCRIPTION OF THE HORSE ; THE IMPROVED METHOD OF SHOEING:
MEDICAL PRESCRIPTIONS AND SURGICAL TREATMENT IN ALL KNOWN
DISEASES. |
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BY JOHN LAWRENCE.
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For that which befalleth the sons of men, befalleth beasts ; even one
thing befalleth them : as the one dieth, so dieth the other; yea, they have all one breath ;—.------ All go unto one place ; all are of the dust, and all turn to dust again.
EcCLESIASTES.
Sunt enim animaiia post hominem, ita ars veterinaria post medicinam
secunda est. Vegetius. Neque omnia, neque nihil.
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THIRD EDITION, WITH LARGE ADDITIONS,
In wluch the Nature and Tendency of Lord Erskine's late Bill for the legal Protection of
BectstSt are fully considered. |
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VOL. II.
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LONDON:
PRINTED FOR SHERWOOD, NEELY, AND JONES,
No. 20, PATERNOSTER ROW;
AND B. CROSBY AND CO. STATIONERS' COURT.
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1810.
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CONTENTS.
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VOLUME II.
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CHAPTER I.
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VETERINARY Medicine and Surgery..........^1
CHAPTER II,
Purgation and Alterants—Bleeding—Rowelling—Se-
tons—Glysters, S;c........................... 39 CHAPTER III.
Catarrh—Epidemic Cold or Distemper—Rheumatism
Glanders—Broken Wind.....,............,,,. 02 CHAPTER IV.
Fever—Pleurisy—Peripneumony—Superficial or Ex-
ternal Pleurisy — Inflammation of Diaphragms Anticor—Yellows—Strangles .................. 158 CHAPTER V.
Vertigo—Staggers—Apoplexy—Epilepsy, or Falling
Evil—Convulsions — Stag Evil—Locked Jaw -» Night-Mare................................201 CHAPTER VI.
Loss of Appetite—Bulimia, or Craving Appetite-*
Costiveness—Lax or Scouring—Molten Grease — Hidebound and Surfeit—Warbles—Mange—Farcy —Plica Polonica—Dropsy—Worms............216 CHAPTER VII.
The Diseases of the Kidneys, Reins, and Bladder—
Cholic —Butstenness—Falling of the Fundament — |
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it CONTENTS.
Page
Gonorrhoea, and Mattering of the Penis —Falling of the Penis — Venomous Bites — Swallowing of Leaches, Hen's Dung, §c..................... 261 CHAPTER VIII.
The Diseases of the Eyes and Mouth ............299
CHAPTER IX.
The Diseases of the Legs and Feet, Grease, Lame-
, ness from Relaxed or Contracted Sinews ........ 333
CHAPTER X.
Tumours—Wounds—Ulcers; with the proper External
Applications. Miscellanea.................... 414 CHAPTER XI.
The Diseases of Homed Cattle, and the proper Treat-
ment of Cows and Calves, *.........,.....,.,, , 43? |
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INDEX.
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Clark on the feet, &c. 26,
80. Cows, pest in, 444. In-
fected hide, ibid. Milch cows and calves, 445 to 449. Suckling, and re- medies for calves, 452 to 453. College Veterinary, 7- Vul-
gar prejudice against it,13. Cattle, horned, 437- Cud
lost, 441. Coleman, Professor, 152,
329, 3.50, 429. Cline, Mr. 425.
Charles I, anecdote of, 27.
Catarrh, 92. Various ways
of catching cold, to 108. Cure, 111. Epidemic, 122. Various forms in colds, 123. Chantilly Stables, 106.
Consumption, H)6.
Costiveness, 55.
Crawford, Dr. 246.
Corday, Charlotte, 273.
Colic, 273. Masgal's easy
cure, and the radical one of Citizen Marat. Canker in foot, 430.
Coronet, hurts on, 358.
Corns, 359.
Collin, strains in, 401.
Chafing with collar, &c. 427.
Darwin, Dr. 43,81,99, 113,
145, 151, 172, 183, 256, 301, 310, 323, 334, 379. 383, 386, 444. |
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Agriculture, Board of, S.
Afterpieces, of various wri-
ters, 9. Anatomy, 26
Alterants, 4.5. Forms, 62.
Antfcor, 188.
Appetite lost, 216. Crav-
ing, 218. Austin, Dr. 264
Applications, drawing, 434.
Bel, Saint, 40, 130, 276,
328, 333, 339, 373, 402. Bracken, 28, 262, 299, 377,
430, 434. Brisson of the French Na-
tional Institute, 376. Balls, Cordial, 76.
--------Strengthening, 245.
Blame, 67, 110, 147, 152,
225, 247, 255, 268, 289, 324, 421, 673. Bleeding, 39, 46, 83, 89,
165. A ppearances of the Blood, 435. Bartlet, 9, 4.5, 109, 161.
Beddoes, Dr. 92 to 99.
Blind lady, anecdote of, 106.
Beer, chalybeate, 146,251
Bladder, diseases, 261.
Beer, London, 265.
Burstenness or rupture, 287.
Bites, venomous,'293.
Bewitching, 314
Bones, distortions of, 355, '
40J to 411. Baynton, Mr. Surgeon, 419.
Bruises, 427.
Brown, John, 97.
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INDEX.
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VI
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Drugs, cautions concerning,
33,38. Cattle-doctors, 2. Anec-
dote of a Dacian, 5, 18. Downing, cattle-doctor, 20,
23, 446, 449, 452, 453. Diuretics, 47, 62, 336.
Drink to sweeten the blood,
243. Drink and ball,anodyne,280.
Diabetes, or staling too
much, 272. Dislocations, $06.
Dropsy, 250.
Embrocation, various, 412.
Eclipse, anecdote of, 153.
Epilepsy, 208. Crib-biting,
217. Economists, stable, 238.
Eyes, diseases of, 299. The
author's case, 301. Col- lyrkim for the human eye, 302. For horses, 304. Case of a brown mare, 306. Liniments, 309. Frog bruised, 13, 407-
Fomentation, emollient and
discutient, &c. 303, 412, 434. La Fosse, 346, 415.
Foster's farriery, 150.
Fever, 158. Contagious,
272. Epidemic, 173. In horned cattle, 444. Va- rious prescriptions, 474. Farcy, 241.
Fundament, falling of, 288.
Founder-foot, 369. See 402.
Firing, 398.
Fractured bones, 406.
Fistula, 430.
Flesh, in wounds, to promote
the growth of, 433. |
Fumigation in contagion,435
Foul of the foot in cows,440. Gibson, 28,48,66,73, 131,
161, 211, 247,257, 301,
318, 354.
Gout curable, and how, 42. Glysters, 71 to 76, 256. Glanders, 130. Infallible cure for, 144.
Gall, its virtues, 197. Grease, Molten, 224, Gaspari, Dr. 253 Generation, equivocal, 253. Goulard's Extract, abuse of, 30O, 398.
Gonorrhaea, or Gleet, 290. Grease, 333. Gravelling, 360. Grogginess, 369. Gelding, with the humbug in that matter, &c. 423.
Gorged or hoven cows, 442. Home, Everard, 387.
Hoofs, remedies for, 358. Loss of, 375.
Horses, coach, 27- Hay, 436. Hamilton, Dr. 98. Harvey,William, anatomist, 246.
Heart, palpitation of, 169. Head-ache, 203. Hide-bound, 233. Health, Society of, at Paris^ 246.
Heels, narrow, 368. Hip, 504. Hock, strains in, 405.
Hunter, John, 393. John the dipper, and his re-
ligious cold bath, anec- dote of, 107. |
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E X. vii
Obstetrics, veterinary, 449
to 452.
Ontyd.Dr. 394. Purgatives, 42, 49, 55, 6X
Forms, &c. to 97. Purgation, 39, 45. Super,
71. Case of a 8ia*e, 64, 819. Powder, sneezing, 113.—
Escharotic, 347. Pleurisy, 182.
Pym, his disease, other in-
stances of, 188. Palsy, 214.
Plica Polomca, 249.
Pricking and stubbing, 502.
Pasterns, strained, 401.
Poultices, various, 420.
Poll-evil, 430. Cleansing
mixture, &c. 432. Qu'rttor and false- quarter^
364. Raymond, Capfc. 375.
Ruini, 26.
Rowelling, 78.
Russians, a dangerous indul-
gence amongst, 1-06. Rheumatism, 127, 130.
Reins or loins, diseases o£
261. Ringbone, 325.
Rigby, 419-
Rush", the late Mr. 328-
--------Dr. 393.
Solleysel, 40, 218.
Stallions, training, 291. Soiling and turning to grass, . Winter's run, Caution, 411,436.
Sheets, damp, 120. Shoeing of common smiths, methods to improve, 11.
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IND
Infusion, tobacco, 239, 342.
Pectoral, 117. Antiseptic, 179. Stomachic, 224. Ischury, or suppression of
urine, 271. _ Jaw-set, 118,186, 211, 295. Inflammation, theory of, 415.
Kidneys, diseases of, 261.
l Knee-broken, 343. Guard, 345. Legs, swelled, bath for,
Emollient and discutient, ibid. Diseases of, 333. Layard,Dr. 101,438.
Liniments in cramp, 212.
Lethargy, 214.
Lay ton, an eminent farrier
at Walham-green, 307. Lampas, 320.
Loins or couplings, strains
in, 404. Medicine, veterinary, 1. Ho-
nourable, 6, 13. Medicines, ready made, con-
cerning, 32. Quack, 34. Malt mash, 78.
Mead, Dr. 171, 295.
Mange, 237.
Madness, canine, 294.
Mouth, diseases of, 320.
Mallenders and sallenders,
343. Mortification, or gangrene,
419, 433. Munro, Professor, 443.
Nightmare, 215.
Neck, swelled, from bleed- ing, 406. Opodeldoc, 412.
Osmer, 161, 179, 377, 404.
Ointments, 338.
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viii INDEX.
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T eth, Tooth-powder, Asia-
tic, 324. Tendons, the dispute con-
cerning their elasticity, 387. Ruptured, 406. Tumours, 414.
Vegetius, 147-
Veterinarian and jockey, 31.
Vives, 189, 193.
Urine, bioody, 267- In
Cows, &c. 442. Ulcers, 418,434.
Unguents, or ointments, va-
rious, 421. For ulcers, 43l. Caution, 436. Vinegar, horse killed bv it,
443. Udder swelled. Chafing,
teats chapped, 446. Wall is, 434.
Wind, broken, 149. Roar-
er, ibid- Warbles, 236.
Wood, 232, 237.
Water, sublimate, 239. Dry-
ing, 338. Phagenic, for the foul in cows' feet, &c. 431. Westley, John, 252.
Worms, 253.
Walker, Dr. Sayer, 272.
Warts, 343.
Windgalls, 345. Experi-
mental case, 346. Woodthorp, Surgeon, 34S.
Wounds, 414.
Wens, ibid.
Whytt, Dr. 443.
Yellows, 194.
Yard, full of, 288. |
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Snape, 28, 139.
Stubbs, anecdote of, 28.
Salts strongly recommend-
ed, 50, 54, 62. Setons, 81.
Snape, Edward, farrier to
George, 133,139. Strangles, 189.
Smith, Dr. E. 196.
Staggers, 201. Anecdote,
205. Stag evil, 211. Scouring, 219. In cows,
440. " Surfeit, 233.
Steel, method of giving it,
259- To preserve from rust, 435. Swallowing leaches, dung,
&c. 297. Sense, common, 313.
Spavins, bog, 349. Spa-
vins, splents, &c. 352. Spider, the trotter, his death,
356. Stringhalt, 357-
Sandcrack, 359-
Sinews, relaxed or contract-
ed, 376. Case of the au- thor, 396. Mixture, ibid. Contractions, 400. Shoulders strained, 402.
Stifle, 505.
Shoe, patten, with cautions,
388. Styptics to stop blood, 423.
Sitfast, 427.
Smyth, Dr. Carmichael, 435.
Sea, passage of horses, 430.
Thrushes, running, 362.
Taplin, Mr. S, 24, 30, 58, 73, 77,190.
Taylor, Chevalier, 111,299- |
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ADDITIONS
TO THE THIRD EDITION,
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Page
Improvement of the breeds of horses, 454—Present state ...................................... 457
Common defects in form, 462—Grounds of im-
provement.................................. 463 Exceptions. Examples, 465—Crossing forms .... 472
Shake too much neglected on the turf. Osmer. Chifney.................................... 473
Crookedness of the joints. Crossing the racing breeds 475
Plan of improvement. Attempts in France, 477 to 480 Outline. Present prices. Smithfield Market, 481, 482 Reasons for the removal of Smithfield Market, 483 to 490 Stage coaches. Accidents, 490 to 499—By fire, &c. 503 Shoeing, 503—Incendiaries, 504—Reminiscences. ... 506 Pugilism, 507—Broughton, Hugh Wright, Johnson, Pearce, &c to.............................. 510
Public theatre for boxing proposed, 511—Dreadful
combats with knives ........................ 512
Rights of beasts, 512—Reference to Monthly Ma-
gazine .................................... 513 Extract from another Magazine. Newcastle corres-
pondent.................................... 516 The old and new morality, 517—Dul. # dec. to live
for our country..............................52j |
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x Additions to the Third Editioh.
Page
aanists and anti-humanists, 522—Lord Erskine 524 its of Lord Erskine's bill, 525—Lettsom and Neale. Earl Stanhope......................528
Misrepresentations of the views of Lord Erskine's bill, 529
Sir Samuel Romilly, 534—Elucidations, to. .,.....537
Sir Charles Bunbury, his practical humanity ...... ibid.
Dreadful examples of cruelty, 538—Necessity of ex- ,
position.................................... 539
A Jeremiad of the author, owned by no party. His
confession.................................. 540
His system, 541:—A final blow -to Sunday shaving
and baking,boxing, horse-racing, cock-fighting, and
weacliing. Steele, Addison, Hannah More. ..... 544
Humanity retarded by the want of discrimination.. .. ibid.
All animals to be included, 546—System of nature.
The torture .............................,..548
Various examples of cruelty, 549—Witchcraft, 553
■ —Pious fraud.....................•........553
Animals' friend society. Sir Richard Hill. General
Toussaint.................................. 554
Absurd sayings in the nursery. Fit objects of legis-
lation. Cruelties..........,. *...............555 Whipping on the turf; of coach-horses at routs, &c. 55?
Easiest method of killing animals, 558 — Pithing the ox ................%....................559
Eagerness to behold slaughter and executions. Mr.
Fox...................................... 560
Examples of cruelty. Loss of stage-horses in July
1808................U....................56»
Canine madnesa, strange doctrine on..............569
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Additions to the Third Edition. xi
Page
Scalds and burns. Purging system.............. 564
Mr. Sandiver. Common dose at Newmarket......565
Reply to Mr. White, 566—Aloes. Molten grease 567, 8
Late assumptions ill supported.................. 569
Dangerous tendency of the common catchpenny puffs
on furriery, with an example ..................570
Hughes's horsemanship said to be pilfered from
Thompson..................................571
Frampton, 572—Occasional danger of laudanum in
gripes ...................,................572
— - ____k-
ERRATA.
Page 513, line 7 f'om bottom, for mercy, read misery.
534, 13 from do. dele a. |
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A
TREATISE
ON
HORSES.
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CHAP. I.
VETERINARY MEDICINE AND SURGERY.
A MONGST the improvements of these
latter times, the extention of a regularly cultivated system of veterinary practice, and the attempts to rescue the superior classes of do- mestic animals from the torturing hand of pre- sumptuous ignorance, are not the least consider- able, either in the view of humanity or use : it is true, that during the various ages whiqh have passed since the days of Columella, the number of writers treating on the veterinary science, according to the best medical light which their times afforded, has been considerable ; but their "Works had never any very extensive circulation, Competent practitioners were wanted to put vol. n. B |
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2 VETERINARY MED1CIN2.
their precepts in force, and diseased animals
were either totally neglected, or confided to the unmeaning and capricious efforts of the illi- terate vulgar: entirely to wipe away this op- probrium of humanity and common sense, would infinitely redound to the credit of the present times ; and it is consoling to be able to an- nounce, that attempts are daily making towards that beneficient end, by considerate and philan- thropise characters, in various parts of our own, and a neighbouring country. The endeavour to promote veterinary prac-
tice amongst enlightened men, must necessarily be a first object in a treatise professing the prin- ciples of humanity: it is our business then to enquire, what causes have hitherto operated, or now subsist, to prevent or retard its progress ; to demonstrate how little they consist with right reason, and to propose such practicable mea- sures, as may effect, by easy and gradual steps, the desired reformation. Ancient prescription and a false pride amongst
the faculty, compose the two-fold cause which has hitherto generally deprived our domestic animals of the benefits and comforts of regular medical and surgical assistance. Cattle have al- ways been doctored in every country, either by their attendants, or by men pretty nearly upon a level with those in point of education, who |
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AND SURGERY. 3
on the strength of having learned to perform
the most simple and common operations, and from the want of abler proficients, have under- taken the arduous task of prescribing medicine. We will not wonder, that in former times, such professors were held duly qualified, since men impartially committed their own persons to the hands of ignorant barber-surgeons, and since so many other absurdities of equal magnitude sub* sisted, which like spectres and ghosts have va- nished at the approach of modern light; but it may well be thought surprising, that in this dis- cerning age, when a liberal education is uni- versally acknowledged to be absolutely necessary to the acquisition of medical science, that an illiterate farrier should be entrusted in the cure ofdiseases. Precisely the same studies, physiolo- gical, anatomical, and medical, are requisite for the veterinarian, as the human practitioner. The animal osconomy in its manifold relations is generally and fundamentally the same, in men and beasts, and governed by the same laws of nature and natural mechanics ; the same materia medica is universally applicable to both, but the greatest skill is requisite to form a judgment on the diseases of brutes, from their inability to describe their feelings, and the consequent un- certainty of their pathology. Can there be a greater burlesque, than the supposition of a b 2
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4 VETERINARY MEDICINE
man's ability to prescribe physic for a horse,
merely because he understands how to groom or shoe him ? or might not we also with equal reason, employ our own shoemakers, in taking measure of our health ? The plea of experience is futile, from the utter inability, prima facie, of illiterate and uninformed men to investigate the principles of science, and their total want of opportunity to acquire, even by rote, a rational system of practice. The whole stock of me- dical knowledge of these practitioners, usually consists in a certain number of receipts derived from their masters or fathers, and with which they continually ring the changes in all cases, right or wrong, hit or miss; and so fiercely are they bigotted to their particular nostrums, that they are totally incapable of all advice or im- provement, the common and unavoidable fate of confirmed ignorance, since it is the highest point of knowledge, to know that Ave still need information. They sometimes cure by luck, seldom by wit, but often kill by regularly adapted process. How often has the miserable patient's shoulder been pegged, and blown, and bored, by way of punishment for the folly of - getting himself strained in .the back sinews of the leg, or coffin joint! How many pleuritic horses have been killed outright by ardent and spicy drenches, which might probably have |
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AND SURGERY. 5
cured the cholic, had they been afflicted with it f
How many have been rendered incurably lame, from the patten-shoe being affixed to the wrong foot; the doctor unfortunately not being aware of the difference between constriction and re- laxation, as the patient in Gil Bias died because his physician did not understand Greek ! Let not the reader suppose these to be mere flourishes; applied to the generality of farriers within my knowledge, I aver them, on the experience of many years, to be literal truths ; and by the tenor of them, he may judge of the majority of that faculty throughout Europe. Into such hands do we commit distempered animals which have it not in their power to reproach us with their accumulated sufferings; mankind from prejudice, indolence, and want of feeling, neg- lecting those creatures which they can purchase with their money. Dr. Hacket, in his late travels through Dacia
and Sarmatia, relates the following wonderful • feat of a farrier at Roman, in Moldavia. " It " was a hot day, and we having travelled far, " one of our best horses fell, and we gave him "up for lost. The farrier, who in Moldavia is ** always a gipsey, comforted usby undertaking " to set the horse upon his legs, and recover him " perfectly in a quarter of mi hour, which en- '" gygement he really performed. He did no- |
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6 VETERINARY MEDICINE
" thing but scoop out from each upper eye-lid
" of the beast, a gland the size of a hazle-nut, " without bleeding him, or using any other " means whatever, which might occasion a " doubt as to the efficacy of his operation." Who can be so sceptical as to doubt of the close affinity between cause and effect in this cure ? liut the pride of medical gentlemen will not
suffer them to incur the fancied degradation of becoming horse and cow-doctors; thence the major part of the public is necessitated to com- mit the care of their beasts to unlearned and empyrical hands; nevertheless were there a cor- dial and general encouragement, I am convinc- ed tkere would be no want of able veterinary- practitioners. What possible shame can or ought to be annexed to the practice of veterinary me- dicine, since it is an act of humanity, of import- ant public service, since it has engaged the at- tention and the labours of some of the most eminent men both of ancient and modern times, and since the uncontroulable nature of things has placed the just administration of it out of the power of all but the enlightened ? It must then be pronounced an honourable office, and altogether fit and becoming the homo generosus, or gentleman. It hath been related, that veterinary writers
venot been wanting ; which has been more |
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AND SURGERY. 7
particularly the cafe during the present century,
and subsequent to the great modern improve- ments in medicine. Various able practitioners have also occasionally arisen among us, and in a neighbouring county; but the number of such has been so small, that the benefits derived from their efforts have been of course confined to a very narrow sphsfe; It was many years ago discovered in France, that the best remedy for this defect, and the only adequate method for the general propagation of veterinary know- ledge, and the rearing of a sufficient number of persons properly qualified in that line, would be to erect public seminaries expressly dedicated to the purpose. We of this country came (somewhat late indeed) into the same salutary measure ; and a Veterinary College, or Hospi- tal for Cattle, has been established at London ; another near Birmingham, and I believe one or two more are under consideration, in different parts of the kingdom. The propriety of these steps, and the benefits derived therefrom, are matter of proof, in the obvious extension of veterinary knowledge, and the increase of prac- titioners within these few years. Public institu- tions, provided they are not unduly*favoured with exclusive privileges, or armed with coer- cive and restrictive powers, are ever most effi- cacious and contributory to the advancement |
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8 VETERINARY MEDICINE
of science ; a prominent instance of the truth
of which we are at this moment witnessing, in the late establishment of a board of agriculture, which in its infancy has already conferred be- nefits of the most important nature on the country, and in a much larger proportion than could possibly have been experienced from mere private exertions, or those of societies however favourably constituted, during a great length of time. To make use of a homely proverb, that which is every body's business js usually held to be no man's business, and therefore de- mands the fostering hand of the community: the scattered rays of knowledge are by joint and public means best collected into a common focus or centre, whence they are with more ease and expedition diffused and circulated throughout the whole body of the common- wealth. J am here induced to retouch the subject of
shoeing, from various motives. To begin with the late Mr. Taplin's famous plates of pattern shoes, il which were to improve the *c art to the unerring standard of ease and ff safety," they were no other, neither better •nor worse? than the common shoes of the supe- rior kind of farriers, of which I made mention jn the Chapter on Shoeing; they are inclining to the convex externally, and so strong at heel. |
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AND SURGERY. 9
that the horse can have no bearing on his
frogs; in fine, precisely the shoe of Snape and Be van thirty years ago. But enough has been already said of this gentleman's boasted originality. As to the length of the shoe in use at the College, about which Mr. Taplin descants so knowingly, it is in truth, (and ordinarily has been, I believe) governed by the same standard as his own, the length of the foot. Can any one in his right senses doubt the advantages, in point of security, both to rider and horse, of the latter treading upon a flat surface, and resting upon an addi- tional point of support in the frog ? Could a horse read, it would make him
laugh to peruse Taplin's dapper description of his pattern shoes, celebrated as it is with words of high-sounding termination, and elucidated with geometrical lines, and scientific a's and b's. There is certainly a particular light in which this author's works are well entitled to notice; and after such a professional fuss, who would be so rash as to suspect, the man knew nothing at all about the matter ? It has been the fashion with our veterinary
writers, to treat the public with after-pieces. Gibson gave his works to the world, repeated in a variety of forms. Bartlet, af)er his Gen- tleman's Farriery, published a wqrk intituled., |
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10 VETERINARY MEDICINE
Pharmacopoeia Hippiairica, or the Gentleman
Farrier's Repository; to this work I alluded in my First Volume, under the name of a Compendium. Wood's Book of Farriery was followed by a Supplement; and Taplin, in conformity* must have his Compendium, and his Mult urn in Parvo. In the Compendium, are a few good observations, which had there been public need, a threepenny pamphlet would have contained; as to the Multum w Parvo, modesty and truth, had they enjoyed the honour to be of Mr. Taplin's council, would have whispered to him " to take down his " MULTUM, and let his paevo stand." Mr. White, of late, has also treated us with an after- piece in his Materia Medicaand Pharmacopoeia. The Veterinary College adopted a very judicious method of disseminating the true principles of shoeing, by erecting forges in different quarters of the Metropolis, where all persons may at any tune have their horse? shod, at the common price charged to sub- scribers. To obtain a participation of this benefit for the country, persons of consequence ought to supply their smiths with proper pat- tern shoes. Certain of my own particular friends having complained, that they oould not by any means, induce their blacksmiths to change their old erroneous method, I advised 5
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AND SURGERY. 11
them to send with their horses the following
written notice: " Mr. A. B. desires his horses may be al«
" ways shod, and their feet treated as follows : " Nothing to be cut from the soal, binders, or " frog, but loose rotten scales. No more open- " ing of heels on any pretence. No shoes to «' be fitted on red hot. Shoes to be made of *' good iron, with a flat surface for the horsa tl to stand on, web not so wide as formerly, **■ nor so strong at heel, that the foot may stand " level, and the frog be not prevented from " touching the ground." Rather than lose a good customer, this lias
always been complied with, and the happy consequence has been, that man}r horses which before had never a heel to stand upon, with scarcely a sound place in the crust in which to drive a nail, have now the' enjoyment of their feet, in a full, strong, sound natural state; and my friends, who were at first staggered by the prejudice and pertinacious impudence of th« stable gentry, have at length learned to despise it as it merits, and to judge for themselves. By the experiment of weakening, or lower-
ing the shoe heels, in order to bring a deficient frog into contract with the ground, however gradually I proceeded, I have lamed several horses. St. Bel also did the same, on the first establishment of the Veterinary College, |
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12 VETERINARY MEDICINE
It is sufficiently obvious, that, by such
means, the back-sinews, as they are commonly styled, must be exposed to unusual extension. Such a plan is perhaps scarcely ever eligible, excepting indeed, when necessary to reduce the feet to their proper level, in the fortunate case of a natural luxuriance of growth in the frog, which it is the epidemic madness of farriers and smiths to cut away, in order to the miserable and useless substitute of a thick-heeled shoe. The friction of our hard roads, indeed of any roads, will always keep within bounds, the most luxuriant frogs. In the first shoeing a colt, it is of the utmost importance, that his frogs, if he have a sufficient growth of them, (which is not always the case) be brought to touch the earth, not, however, by the use of any measures of force, or setting the foot in an unnatural and uneven position : the paring around, or mode- rately lowering the crust of the foot, when so deep as to compress and injure the growth of the frog, is yet, not only perfectly safe, but highly necessary. It will soon appear, whether the horses' frogs and heels be of that nature to endure the concussion of the hard roads, which most assuredly, notwithstanding much confident assertion, too many never can endure ; and if a bruised frog be not very common, all practi- cal horsemen are enough convinced, "how ex- |
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AXD SURGERY. 13
tremely liable the heels of horses are to contu-
sion and inflammation. In bad cases of this kind, the only, and too much neglected remedy of the bar-shoe has been already appreci- ated ; in general, to set such feet upon their natural level, all which ought to be at- tempted, will require shoe-heels of considerable strength. It is matter of curious speculation, how many
of the affairs of this world are managed, not merely erroneously, but in diametric opposition to reason and common sense. Discoursing the other day with a friend concerning a horse, he observed, " so much had the horse's feet been " neglected, that his very frogs were suffei'ed to " grow large enough to touch the ground ;" and this sagacious person had just sent to have the defect remedied, which, to my observation, was so effectually performed, that there was nearly room for a man's fist between the horse's frogs and the earth he trod upon. Nothing can be more groundless, irrational,
and vulgar, than that prejudice against vete- rinary improvements which actually subsists, at this time, in too many quarters. Prejudice, I know, on more important subjects, has often been trumpeted forth, as not only harmless but beneficial amongst men ; which indeed would be just, were there any general utility in the |
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14 Veterinary medicine
continuance of ancient abuses. It is the grand
business of philosophy to provide a counter- blast for these interested or ignorant trumpeters- It has already been asked of the advocates for our shoeing and sow gelding doctors, how they came to suppose, that less medical knowledge would suffice to prescribe for the brute, than for the human animal, who can orally depict his feel- ings, and verbally assist the physician in forming" a correct judgment of his disease. They seem to act upon the strange supposition, that it is- much easier for an illiterate man to penetrate at once, as it were by intuition, into the areana of the sciences, than for a learned, or well-in- formed, to render himself skilful in the nature and management of horses. Can a man be the worse farrier for having learned the necessity of making constant observations of his own instead of acting by rote, and being guided by a few arbitrary receipts; for knowing the nature of the medicines he prescribes, the anatomy and animal functions of the horse, and for the making all such knowledge his peculiar study ? Now that witches, and ghosts of all kinds, are flitting apace off the scene, it is full time for men-to lay aside the expectation of all other uncaused effects. It ought never to be forgotten, that all im-
provements in the treatment of beasts have been |
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AND-SURG.lUtY. . 15
made by gentlemen and men of science ; and
to the lessons of such, received at first with aversion, and inculcated by slow degrees, the present race of grooms and farriers owe their superiority over their predecessors. Precisely the same remark was formerly applicable to farmers, and if we except Ellis of Gaddesden, Bakewell, Ducket, and a few other individuals, men of genius and of an inquisitive mind, it would be difficult to find one who had ever been emulous of disengaging himself from the trammels of custom. Yet far be from me the arrogance of passing sentence of condemnation upon the whole body of farriers, in the aggre- gate, or of asserting their total inutility. There must necessarily exist, in such a numerous body, men of talents, and of very extensive practice ; but would not these men be rendered still more capable in their profession by the aids of edu- cation I The force of authority and prescription is yet generally an over-match for the reasoning faculty. Your horse is sick—you apply, in course, to a regular farrier—it is a common case, the doctor hits it, and succeeds ; or nature, rest, and the untaxed bill of costs, do the busi- ness. |f a complicated and dangerous case, I say it is simply' impossible, even for a man of genius, upon the strength of his own single experience, and without the benefit of regular |
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16 *ETERiKAltY METJICINB
medical knowledge, which is the experience of
ages, to judge otherwise than at random. Well, our empirical methodic now commences with some one favourite nostrum, which failing, he proceeds through his whole circular' routine— and should the animal possess stamina sufficient- ly strong to enable him to survive the rude shock of this double disease, of nature and me- dicine, he must needs make a brave nag all his life after, for surely a trifle cannot hurt him. Should he chance to die, which sometimes may happen, it is plainly his own fault, not the far- rier's who has doubtless done his best for the patient. As to the owner, no one can blame him, since, like a good subject, he has been guided by the custom of his ancestors, respect- ing "the wisdom of past ages"—nothing remains but for him to pay his bill, and to send for the farrier again whenever he may want him. But it is quite another thing, should a horse fail in the hands of a regular veterinary surgeon : the owner shakes his head, with a kind of seri- ous look of self-approbation, which almost makes him amends for the loss of his horse; the tale goes round the circle of his friends —" Ah ! no, no, it will never do/'—-It is precisely thus at present. As Osmer says, " now I will tell you a
storv :" |
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AND StJRGERY. 17
About sixteen or seventeen years since, an in-
fectious disorder crept in among my hogs. Many died, and the survivors were in a very unthrifty state. The weather was hot, and the styes full. According to my custom, in all cases of diseased animals, I consulted my surgeon. He very readily and liberally gave me his advice,and we tried the effects of some powerful medicines up- on individuals, but without the smallest success : however I am at this day convinced, Hippo- crates himself could not have given me a better general prescription than this gentleman, which was, " fresh air, and aperient and alterative " medicines mixed with the food." 13ut my over-looker had heard of a famous cow-leach, or farrier, at; the distance of about forty miles, a man of such sovereign skill, that no disease could baffle him, and who my adviser shrewdly observed, must surely know better how to treat pigs than the surgeon, who only knew how to doctor christians. Of all mankind, I was one of the least likely to have faith in the possibility of miracles ; however I acquiesced, the man of practice was sent for, and after making a bargain for his fee, he sat out with ample promise ot setting all to rights in a short time. I had al- ready repented more than once, and the first conversation I had with the doctor, evidently shewed that I had just cause. He talked much C
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18 VETERINARY MEDICINE
the same as other doctors generally do, who are
totally ignorant of the nature and properties of medicine, who are not apprised of the necessary relation between causes and effects, and who never fatigue their brains with studying the doctrine of analogies: yet he could bleed, row- el, or glyster, scald for the poll-evil, peg and bore, give a pissing, or a-------g drink; and
(or else he lied) cure cows of the murrain, and
sheep of the red water, young women of the ague and yellows, and old women of the trumps and rheumatism ; nay, for any thing I can tell, might be equal to the celebrated Dr. K-------ofStanmore, the rival of the sage Dr,
G, This skilful leach went into my styes,
and cut off about half the tail from a consider- able number of the fattest of the hogs; and, about an hour afterwards, I was sent for in great haste to bind them up, that the patients might not bleed to death, and there the matter ended;. for I have never set eyes on the Doctor, or heard tale or tiding of him, from that hour to this. By the discourse and publications of the su-
periors of this class, a man .with a very mo- derate stock of information will readily appre- ciate .their abilities ; as to their publications, the common mode is, the farrier or leach empties his budget, or rather rehearses his twenty, forty ^ or fifty years experience, before some apothe^ |
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AND SURGERY. 19
cary or other person of his connection, who
expunges, adds, or amends, as he sees neces- sary, and then arranges the " New and origir " nal Practical Treatise," and puts it into in- telligible English. To make things square, we will grant the Doctor an African memory, which had served him some scores of years by way of common-place-book ; for farriers, I be- lieve, seldom make notes, unless it be under their customers names in the ledger; yet I have known one, who could never write six lines of English in his life, publish a very ele- gantly written pamphlet! I have this instant before me a verv small,
but high priced book, to wit 130 thin pages, price half-a-guinea, under the name of Down- ing, a Country Cattle-doctor of note ; the au- thor seems to set great store by his receipts, ■and in truth they are in some respects tolera- bly judicious; but at the same time such as an ordinary stock of medical knowledge must have suggested. The observations are few in- deed, considered as the professed result of many years practice, and the description and appro- priation of symptoms so vague and confused, as to afford little light; but the Doctor deals in fine words, which will doubtless help to sell his book. Nevertheless I freely acknowledge the receipts, and the praxis recommended, much c 2
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20 VETERINARY MEDICINE
superior to any ever published before in our
'language by a practitioner of that class, which is a pleasing evidence of their improvement; at the same time I am convinced there is many a journeyman apothecary, or mere tyro from the College, who, without ever previously having had a beast by the horns in his life, would in two years practice, produce a much more comprehensive and useful treatise. But the medical reader, or indeed any reader
of common information, shall judge for himself of Doctor Downing'* medical knowledge and ability, by the following extracts : The black water. "The cause of this
" disease may be any thing that constringes the " external habit, either constipating or lubri- " eating the fluids beyond their due tone, " forcing an insurrection upon the vessels, so as " to rupture them, &c. &c." A drink is then ordered of dragon's blood, nitre, roch allum, bole, rhubarb, and red sanders—next a glys- ter—afterwards "nitre, prepared steel, red San- ders and bole ; and lastly, the following open- ing drink, viz. Epsom salts, nitre, and cremor tartar, to be repeated. Upon the virtues of the opening drink, the Doctor holds forth in the following extraordinary terms—"■ This me- dicine moderates the acrid, incrassates the thin, and cooK- the hot boiling blood; it |
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A*TD SURGERY. 21
" strengthens and corrugates the fibres, and
" closes up the mouth of the ruptured vessels ; " it allays extreme thirst, and obtunds the " acrimony of humours, thickens the too thin " serum ; and is a well suited medicine in hot " constitutions; it opens obstructions, and pro- " motes a regular discharge ; puts an effectual " stop to disorders arising from relaxed diseased vessels, allays their irritation, and restores " their due tone." Cedite KomaniJ After the opening drink, the following is re-
commended with an—' or this'—" Bole, red *•' sanders, wood-foot, with 2 oz. spirits of tur- " pen tine."—Then, as an infallible, and one which generally gives a turn to the disorder in twenty-four hours, a medicine composed of dragon's blood and bole, in a pint of the best French brandy ; two hours afterwards 1 oz. sweet nitre. At last, an enumeration is made of various choice specifics, the first upon the ca- talogue of which, are hog's dung, turpentine and butter-milk : but the Doctor informs us, that if any benefit can arise from them, it must be in the beginning of the disease, " by check- " ing the stomach; and that they can do no ' service when the relaxed state of the beast' *' is arrived to an astringent one." In Bracken's days nothing would go down
with readers of a certain class, but " downright |
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•22 VETERINARY MEDICINE
*s Dunstable;" how amazingly the taste of such
is improved, since nothing pleases now, unless it accord with the above elegant and highly finished specimens. This will bring in the half guineas rapidly, whilst the learned Layard lies neglected upon the stalls, scarcely worth poor eighteen-pence ! Enjoying a public institution in the metropo-
lis, where veterinary science in all its branches is regularly taught and practised ; it remains for those who interest themselves in the safety and well-being of our domestic animals, to de- vise and recommend the most proper and ex- peditious methods of a general diffusion of the benefit throughout the country. I am about to offer my mite, which will at least have the merit of sincerity and good intent. Farriers in London ought to be advised by persons of in- fluence, to allow their sons and apprentices the advantage of attending the college lectures, which are given, I believe, three times a week, and which is indeed already practised by seve- ral of good repute. There is little fear, that men of this stamp will be much influenced by- useless and nonsensical theories, but they can- not avoid having their small stock of ideas consi- derably and usefully enlarged. Those gentlemen of the medical profession, attending the London hospitals, whose destination is for country prao 6
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AND SURGERY. 23
lice, will surely preceive great probable advan-
tage in the acquisition of veterinary knowledge, even if they have no present intention to pro- fess that branch of medicine. Business, as is sometimes the case with young practitioners, may run short at the onset, and the leisure time might be both honourably and profitably employed in veterinary practice. Such meri- torious and humane occupation could not pos- sibly injure the medical character of a gentle- man in these enlightened times; on the con- trary, it would be more probable to procure him connections of the most valuable sort; might be his passport and introduction to the tamilies of sportsmen, and afford him the op- portunity enjoyed by Swift's happy Parson, to * Drink with the Squire
Surgeons already settled, desirous of attempt-
ing veterinary practice, but from their situation not enjoying an opportunity of regular colle- giate initiation, need not on that account be discouraged ; they have before their eyes the examples of gentlemen both of former and the present times, deservedly of the highest repute as horse-physicians and surgeons, and who have owed their veterinary knowledge to their own meritorious and diligent exertions. The emo- luments of a certain veterinary practitioner have |
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24 VETERINARY MEDICINE
been said in print, to amount to more than
two thousand pounds in one year. I have al- ready pointed out the original authors, to which recourse nrdy, and indeed ought to be had, for information upon the subject; and have endeavoured to ascertain their peculiar and characteristic merits, by which I have saved others the disgusting and unprofitable labour of wading through the mass, both of unsatisfac- tory and imperfect compilation, and original impertinence. Let me not be here censured as too assuming, since I have frequently heard sur- geons express themselves at a loss what method to take, in order to qualify themselves for vete- rinary practice, and even deliberate on the pro- priety of having recourse to farriers for that end; others, I have known, commencing their veterinary career with scarcely having ever turned over a. single page of the veterinary classics, or even knowing their names ; and when, in some difficult case, which surpassed their slender experience, they have been ad- vised to refer to proper authority, they have, in my hearing, expressed their wonder, " that " men, who lived so long ago, should know so f* much/ That these authors have been too generally neglected of late, and their deserts ungratefully forgotten, witness the successfpd humbug of the Stable Directory, |
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AXD SURGERY. 2o
The enquirer will not only find the analogy
between brute and human bodies sufficiently close; the variations of material consequence i'ew, and easily distinguishable, and, indeed, al- ready distinguished to his hand, but also the powers and specific effects of medicine upon brute bodies, (horses are chiefly to be under- stood) very accurately ascertained. The horse, torn from the privileged state of nature, and domesticated with man, hath become, unfortu- nately, liable to nearly the whole of that black catalogue of diseases, whether of the " strictum " or the laxum," of the solids or the humours, which torment and abridge the days of his ty- rant. Apoplexy, consumption, jaundice, ca- tarrh, rheumatism, stone, schirrous and cance- rous affections, are common to both species, besides several diseases which are peculiar to the horse ; the chief of these last are the grease and glanders, but not the farcy, as has been supposed ; for I have seen a real farcy, or a succession of buds or phlegmons, running along the corded veins, from under the left breast to the abdomen, and around to the loins, upon a human subject; which I cured, but not under the space of ten weeks (the patient being of a weak cachectic habit) with the external appli- cation of a camphorated ointment, and the in- ternal use of sulphur and eremor tartar. There |
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26 VETERINARY MEDICINE
are peculiarities in the structure and organiza-
tion of the body of the horse ; thus it is gene- rally held at present, that he is incapable of vo- miting from the oblique insertion of the cesopha* gus, the sphincter which compresses it, and the duplicature around the cardia ; although, for- merly, it was asserted by farriers, and writers of that stamp, that both polypody of the oak, and human ordure, would occasion a horse to vo- mit ; which last, Bracken justly observes, is a puke for the devil. The horse is said by Clarke, not to possess the power of expelling wind, by eructation or belching; which, however, I know by repeated experience, to be a mistake. Pur- gative medicines lie an unusual length of time in the body of a horse, from the great length and considerable volume of his intestines ; Bracken found the alimentary canal from the oesophagus, or gullet, to the fundament, to be thirty-five yards in a horse of middling size. Salivation is said, by the last-mentioned author, and by St. Bel, not to succeed with the horse, for which they assign their reasons. On the head of anatomy, the practitioner
need not want ample instructions. Our Snape, as has been observed, made a fair chart of the body of the horse, from the designs of the Ita- lian Ruini, upon whom he improved. Ruini was cotemporary with that grand constellation |
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AND SURGERY. 27
of anatomists, from Vesalius and Fallopius, to
William Harvey, who in the sixteenth and se- venteenth centuries, revived that wonderful and useful science, and brought it nearly to the same state of perfection in which it is at present found. It was at this period, the immortal Harvey discovered the circulation of the blood; unless the honour of the discovery be more just- ly attributable, as the Italians assert, to their countryman, Era. Paolo ; however that be, we know that Harvey was a most sedulous and laborious experimenter, and that the tender- hearted and humane Charles, his feelings stifled by custom, a far more mighty tyrant than him- self, furnished the operator with deer, in diffe- rent stages of pregnancy, to be cut open alive, for the purposes of comparative anatomy. A more prudent man than myself would stifle such a sentiment; but I say, in the face of the world, that if the knowledge, even of the circulation of the blood, could not have been obtained other- wise, than by such barbarous and unjust means, I wish from my soul it had for ever remained a secret; and that the discoverer himself, and the king who ministered to his professional cruel- ties, (favourably, or rather fondly and partial- ly, as I was ever disposed to judge of that mo- narch's character) had never existed. |
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28 VETERINARY MEDICINE
Gibson copied Snape's anatomical plates,
and our latter horse-anatomists have, generally!, taken Snape for their guide. Bracken in his translation of La Fosse,
complaining of Gibson's plates, promised anew edition of those of Snape, with annotations, to be published by Osborne, which I know not whether he lived to execute. Several persons, during the present reign, have published the anatomy of the horse, amongst whom Stubbs, the justly celebrated horse-painter, and Blaine, the dog-surgeon , are the most eminent: the plates of the latter are beautifully and skilfully coloured. I cannot help stopping by the way a moment, to relate a little anecdote which bears relation to Stubbs, whose great merit as an artist I highly respect, although I know not the man. A few years since, this famous pain- ter presented, at the annual exhibition, a pic- ture of bulls fighting; this the critics con-* demned as tame and spiritless, because the ani- mals were not represented with all the fiery and active ferocity of tygers or stallions; the truth is, the picture is the justestand most natural re- presentation of a combat between those sedate and heavy animals, the bulls, which is any where to be found on canvass, and which the painter had often seen in nature—his critics never. |
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AND SURGERY. 29
There are many cases in which it might be
advantageous to all parties, for a farrier to act under the directions of a medical gentleman; farther, a medical man, either of town or coun- try, desirous, but unable, from various causes to pay a strict personal attention to veterinary practice, might, with advantage, retain, a farrier of experience for that purpose. I have often thought that a horse-surgeon, situated within ten or twelve miles of London, where good pastures and convenient straw-yards were to be had, and whither, greased, worn-down, and foul draught-horses, might be sent at a moderate expence, for cure and recovery, would render great and much required services to the metro- polis. Last year, a thill-horse, which had lately cost forty guineas, fell under a heavy load, and received considerable damage, in particular a deep wound in one of his knees. With the as- sistance of the farrier's infernal specifics, a most violent inflammation ensued, in which state the horse ramained weeks, or for ought I know, months, in a close confined stable; until, be- sides his original malady, he became greased all-fours. I saw him towards the close of the year, just turned out of the hot stable into a held, in a cold north wind and rain; he laid unable to rise, his knee in the above-mentioned state; his heels graped, greased up to his hocks, |
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SO VETERINARY MEDICIKB
and the horse not worth thirty shillings ! Had
this fine, young, and valuable horse, been at first sent to such a situation as I have described, there is no reason to doubt, but that in six weeks his cure might have been complete. On en- quiry, I found the owner had been extremely solicitous about the horses recovery; and yet had I known, and advised him honestly, I am convinced he would not have acted otherwise than he did. So charming a thing it is for a man to have his own wav, whatever it may cost him !—Where I so inclined, I could easily fill a thick octavo, with well-attested cases of simi- lar description. A practitioner settled in the country, and
ambitious of extending the knowledge of hip- piatric physiology, beside the theoretic aids above described, need not be at a loss for sub- jects for dissection ; his habits of life also, will necessarily • bring him practically acquainted with the horse, in which, to say the truth, some of our veterinarians are very defective ; and herein it was, that Mr. Taplin, an experi- enced horseman, and a first-rate judge of the statistics of the stable, had an indubitable advan- tage over most of his brethren. There is, per- haps, no branch of veterinary practice of so material import, as that which relates to indis- positions in the feet, tendoas,,and ligaments of |
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AND SURGERY. 31
horses, and, in that respect, mere theory,or even
mere surgical practice, will always be, to a cer- tain degree, defective. To have thorough skill in this matter, to judge correctly of the seat of defects, and to detect incipient lameness, in horses, requires, I had almost said a fellow feel- ing, with an experimental knowledge of the motions and habitudes of those animals; it is in truth necessary, that a considerable spice of the jockey be blended with the veterinarian. To those proprietors whose inclinations lead
them to doctor their own horses, my advice is, that they previously lay in a stock of good sound theory, from the original authors whom I have already particularized : and that they consult, as often as possible, and always in difficult cases, with the medical men of their acquaintance: in truth, they may at least assure themselves, that they are not incurring a greater risk, than trust- ing their cattle in the hands of common farriers, which in nine cases out of ten, is but to rival' the practice of the ancient Babylonians, who, having no medical men, exposed their sick on the highways, to the mercy, good fortune, or the skill of the first itinerant prescribes In case of the incorrigible stupidity, or bigotted obsti-. nacy of a blacksmith (which last is by no means uncommon) it may well answer the purpose of a gentleman who keeps a considerable num.- |
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32 VETERINARY MEDICINE
ber of horses, and has, on other accounts, much
iron work to do upon his premises, to set up a forge. The first expence is trifling, and one regular smith, assisted bv a common labourer, would be sufficient. This plan is successfully practised by several gentlemen. Many sportsmen, liberally disregarding the
extraordinary expence, purchase all their drugs at Apothecaries Hall, that they may be at a certainty respecting the quality; yet surely,there are druggists of reputation in London, on whom ample dependence might be placed. It must immediately and forcibly strike every man's apprehension, how much depends, both, upon the genuineness and good preservation of the medicines made use of; and of the little effect, and probable danger of the most judicious pre- scriptions, where the ingredients are defective, or not to be depended upon. There are vari- rious medical articles in which impositions are commonly practised, and for which, insignifi- cant or hurtful succedanea are in use : of these, I hope I shall not forget to caution the reader as they occur. The advantages of ready-made medicines are
obvious enough, in regard to immediate con- venience, and the saving of trouble; it were to be wished there were less to counterbalance these; but, it must be acknowledged, the |
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AN1> SURGERY. S3
teraptalion ot'putting off bad and unmarket*
able drugs in these compositions is great, the hazard of their being stale, considerable: and the uncertainty not a little, in point of accu- racy, where it may be reasonably supposed such large masses are compounded. Instances enough are not wanting, where the distribu- tion of the cathartic bases has been so irregular, that one ball has acted as a mere alterant, and another as nearly purged a horse to death. Nor would I encourage any man Nto expect, whatever may be promised, succotrine aloes* or J'urkey rhubarb, in these ready-made medi- cines. As to quack medicines, never-failing nos-
trums, drinks* and cordials, that always suc- ceed where every thing else fails* and specifics for incurable diseases—* " Doubtless the pleasure is" as great,,
" In being cheated as to cheat." else how are we to account for the never-fail-*
Jng cullibility of man ? Does it never occur to, the purchasers of these articles* that a regular medical man must surely have as extensive an. acquaintance with the family of drugs, chemi- cal or galenical* and that he is, at least, as hkely to make a fortunate conjunction between V0L. II. J>
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34 VETERINARY MEDICINE
them, as the conjurer who advertises his nos-
trum ? Do they consider the blunders they themselves are likely to make in the applica- tion ? But the quack does his business by the average, or rather by wholesale; he fires at a flock, and the buyer, or his horse, may chance to be of the number. The philosophy of quack medicines lies upon the surface ; any man may understand it, and any man may make them ; the only difficulty is to get money to advertise them. As to the pharmaceutical part of the business, chuse your disease, then fix upon the most powerful acknowledged specific, clap in an auxiliary or two, ad libitum, disguise them adroitly, and be sure make the composi- tion elegant, prob. est. The devil is in it, if specifics wont hit sometimes, and remember, there is no charge for attendance. But after all, the lucky hits, or the merits of certain quacks, cannot be denied, nor are they, even by the faculty. I have been assured, by a surgeon of the fi rst eminence, that Welsh's Female Fills are of the utmost efficacy and safety ; a political writer of fascinating eloquence, whose shallow and baneful sophistries, a fasti- dious world, inappetent of all wholesome truths, has admired so much to its cost, has been the eulogist of De Velno's Vegetable Syrup ; and I Can, myself, speak in high terms of Story's |
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A,ND SURGEEY. S3
Worm -Cakes, both as an alterative and ver-3
rmfuge for children, from repeated experi- ence. Notwithstanding all which has been repeat-
edly said upon the subject, and by men much better qualified for the task than myself, it is still necessary to continue giving cautions against the general fondness for medical re- ceipts. Many of these formulae (particularly those of ancient date) are composed with SO little proof of medical knowledge, or ration- ality, that they appear to be the mere result of knavery or caprice; but granting them ever so well adapted to the curative intention, they must be of extreme uncertain use at best* in in- experienced hands, on account of the profes- sional skill required to form a true judgment of the disease, and the anomalies in the animal system. I remember to have heard a country gentleman congratulate himself, that he could, at last, set the gripes in horses at defiance, since he was in possession of an infallible receipt; but on getting some intimation of the ingre- ients, I was ful}y convinced the medicine ou d> indeed, prove an everlasting cure in some species of that disease. I have heard of many score pounds being offered to a cow- each, for a single recipe, for which I would not aye given the fortunate proprietor, the value d %
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36 VETERINARY MEDICINE
of the horn, with which he administered the
drench. in a little book published under the auspices
of that Duke of Devonshire wliOWftg' the pro- prietor of flying Childers, there are certain cau- tions applicable to our present purpose, which appear so rational and necessary, that I shall copy them in the author's own words, with very little alteration or addition. I must pre- mise, that this author complains much of the badness of the drugs purchased by the country apothecaries in his days, which he asserts were the worthless refuse of the London shops: and that he had a horse killed by a farrier's drench ; the doctor, it seems, had prepared and boiled another of the same kind,but finding his patient dead, he took home the specific for the next occasion. " First, Chemical preparations should
" be had from the most eminent dealers in " London, which, if kept well stopped in white " flint glasses, will preserve their goodness " many years. " AVoods amd Gums. Woods shouldever
" be purchased in the piece : in chips they will " not last good above a year ; in powder only " a few months. Preserve these in boxes of " tin or oak, in.a dry place. |
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AND SURGERY. 37
*' Seeds, ought to be fresh every year.
" Roots and Herbs, if native, it is highly *' convenient to cultivate at home. Herbs *-' must be dried annually, roots preserved as " woods and gums. " Be eh, prescribed in horse medicine, ought
" to be clear : if not, prepare by setting it " upon the fire, and dispuming it, or taking off " the scum as it rises. *' Wl.CE prescribed, must not be sharp or
" pricked, or adulterated ; if pure, but only " pricked, boil it awhile. The admixture of *' cyder, honey and spirits, is a bad substitute, *' and quite contrary to the intention of a cor- ts dial restorative; the home-made wines of " this country are much in the same predica- " ment. Good sound beer is always to be " preferred." I now proceed to treat particularly of dis-
eases and the art of healing, on which head I must beg leave to recal the reader's attention to my professions in the Introductory Chapter to this work, that more may not be expected from me, than I stand engaged to perform. The res angusta domi lirst made me physician la ordinary to my own family, both within doors and without. Should any one be in-- dined to seek in the moral of the old proverb, ihe cause of that reasonable share of success 8 |
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38 VETERINARY MEDICINE, &C.
which has ever attended my endeavours, I am
content: nay, should the medical men, through motives of either ridicule or professional iiidig- nation, think proper to apply to me the cele- brated lines of our Epigrammatist, I am pre- pared to laugh with, or at them, as they them- selves shall chuse. f Fingunt se cuncti medicos, Idiota, prophanus ,
* ^Fudseus, Monacbns,, IJistrio, Razor, Anus. OWEN IVIC-
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[ 39 ]
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CHAP. II.
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PURGATION AND ALTERANTS, BLEEDING,
ROWELLING, SETONS, GLYSTERS, &C. ON the subject of cathartics, and the
rationale of their exhibition, I shall differ in a considerable degree from all authority, an- cient or modern, without however being so un- reasonable or presumptuous, as to expect acqui- escence in my opinions any farther than I can support them by just and satisfactory reasoning • but I may premise with the utmost truth that no part of the art veterinary, has had a greater share of my attention and practice. The ancients purged their cattle very sel-
dom, although the cathartic virtues of those «rugs, now in common use, were then well known. Their favourite purge for horses, was the pulp of the bitter apple, or the roots of the ™14 cucumber. The early modern Italian and ench w"ters were bewitched by the old con- ceit of elementary humours, and elective purga- jon ; but they Were ignorant of the use of ca- ofT? ^ a mean °f P~moting the condition
the horse> which seems to have, been a dis- |
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40 PURGATION.
covery appertaining to the system of horse-
coursing, and to have received its first general sanction from the authority of the best English writers of the present century. Paracelsus, and several of the writers of his time, atlirmed all cathartics to be of a poisonous nature; nay, Van Helmont supposed he had proved the pro- position, by remarking that an increased dose of them occasioned death : by which species of logic the catalogue of poisons would be won- derfully swelled. The authors of the last cen- tury were very cautious in their recommenda- tion of purges, particularly the Sieur de Solley- sel, who supposed they could never be received into the body pi; a horse without considerable danger; and according to whose experience, they had proved so pernicious, that he wished their use entirely discontinued for a substitution of powerful diaphoretics. In the present times, the practice is very rare upon the continent. In Germany, they are much attached to antir monials, and the alterative plan for horses ; in the more Northern parts of Europe, they give warm aromatic powders, with a portion of common salt: I do not find that in France they have ever been much in the habit of purging, (excepting in their racing stables, whep subject to the English regime) and even St. J3ei could make the strange assertion, that the question. |
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FURGATlOlf. 41
was not yet determined whether purgatives
ought to be at all used in veterinary medicine ; and that we were entirely ignorant of their re- lation to the organization of the horse ! In declaiming against the violent and inordi-
nate purgatives, made use of by farriers and grooms, our best writers, nowise inimical to purging in general, have overshot their mark, by adopting the following sophistry ; " the sim- " plicity of the horse's food, consisting chiefly " of grain and herbage, secures him from those " complicated disorders suffered, and the ne- il cessity of those artificial evacuations required *' by man." St. Bel has unwarily echoed these sentiments, not recollecting that Jong bead-roll q{' acute and chronic diseases, which he had in another part of his work ascribed to the horse. In fact, those observations apply solely to the 'animal in his natural state; domesticated with man, the horse becomes an unfortunate partici- pator in nearly all the diseases incident to his master, and with respect to cathartic aid, the most rational and solid experience has proved its peculiar need, and vast benefit to this animal, whilst breathing the impure air,drooping under the confinement, and fattening upon the lux- uries of the stable. I hold that neither man nor horse, living in
a state of luxury (and such is the usual state of |
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42 PURGATION.
the upper classes of both) can subsist, without
imminent danger of the most fatal diseases, un- less occasionally and frequently assisted by arti- ficial evacuations. We may as rationally ex- pect a common sewer to remain free and per- vious, which is never cleansed. The ancient Egyptians so much favoured this opinion, that they purged themselves weekly, and the Ro- mans even out-did those; but without being misled by its excess, we may derive infinite ad- vantages from rationally pursuing the principle upon which they acted: we may thence be en- abled, in great measure to ward off the myriads of evil consequences accruing from obstruction, the diseases proper to which, according to the divine Hippocrates, are of all others, the most fatal to the human body. By regular, timely, and sufficient evacuations, with a very mode- rate attention to regimen of diet, which how- ever irksome at first, would from habitude be- come even delightful, I have the fullest convic- tion, that most of those troublesome and ultir mately dangerous diseases generally held incu- rable, might be subdued. I will without hesi- tation instance the gout, which most patients hug as their dear delight, and keep by choice; wisely succumbing under present pains, from the apprehension that still worse might ensue upon a change; a most unnatural dialectic^, |
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PURGATION. 43
the early general adherence to which would
have eternized the savage state. It is precisely thus, that men act with an antiquated, corrupt, and crazy body-politic, and with the ultimate success merited by such genuine idiophathic insanity. I refer gouty patients to the Zoo- nomia; sensible however that most of them will be better satisfied with the sage advice of that forensic orator, who lately pronounced, that God and Nature had decreed the gout should never be cured: it ought to be remem- bered, that it is the profession, and invariable habit of those gentlemen, to think, act, and speak, in all things, and all cases, by prece_ dent. According to the constant tenor of my ob-
servation, it is safe and good practice occasion- ally to purge horses of all descriptions, confined to the diet of the stable, not only for the pur- pose of promoting their condition of wind and speed, but also with the intent of obviating those mischiefs, which never fail to succeed overladen intestines and obstructed humours. Whether it be from peculiar conformation of the intestines, °r his horizontal posture, the horse is universally liable to retain accumulated excrement; and many instances of the sudden death of horses have happened from no visible cause, until upon dissection, balls of very large size, and of nearly |
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44 purgatiojst.
the hardness of marble, .have been found in,
their bodies. Dried and hardened balls of dung will be often seen to fall from a horse, notwith- standing he may have had a diarrhoea upon him for some time, nor will the spontaneous loose- ness always clear him from the indurated and obstructed excrement without artificial helps. This invariable tendency to accumulation on horses at hard meat, together with the inspis- sating nature of the aliment itself, form the pre- remote cause of blindness, staggers, pursive- ness, grease, jaundice, cholic, and various other kindred maladies, which make such con- stant havock in our stables, and from which they can by no other means be freed, but by timely prevention.
The intentions of purging for condition, or
to enable the body to undergo extraordinary exertion, are first to unload the intestines of impurities, and to free the stomach of any ob- struction which might impede the digestive fa- culty ; to lessen the quantity of blood, and at- tenuate its quality, that it may be able to per- vade easily the fine emunctories of the body with that increased velocity, which must be the natural consequence of violent exercise ; and lastly, to increase the ratio and capacity of fibrou's extension, by relaxing in a certain de- cree the whole system. Hence the necessity |
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PURGATION. 45
Ot physic for every saddle horse, which is ex-
pected to be always ready with his best per- formance, and the still greaterneed of it for the race-horse, whose blood and humours, without previous evacuation, would be in too copious and dense a state, to endure, without danger of inflammation and obstruction, that seventy of exercise which is necessary for his perfection. It is possible, no doubt, to train horses without physic ; but we always find their legs and sinews complain first, and the best grounded experi- ence is on the side of the purging system; from which, moreover, when judiciously conducted, no sinister effects are ever known to result. I have heard of colts put into training without being previously purged, which, after the first sweat, lost their appetites, and in a short time became covered with eruption : they were im- mediately got through a course of physic, and afterwards resumed their exercise without far- ther difficulty or danger. Alteratives, or those medicines which
relax and attenuate by slow degrees, and which must be continued for a considerable length of time, are by no means to be preferred in the present intention, but ought rather to be con* fined to cases of a depraved or morbid slate of the humours. I vveU know that Bartlet was a vvarm advocate for the alterative plan ; but how |
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46 PURGATION
high soever that author may deservedly rank
as a veterinary writer, it must be observed that his knowledge was confined merely to the me- dical and surgical branches, and that in the equestrian, or that which relates to the exercise and management of horses, for sport or expedi- tious service, he appears to have had little or no experience; a remark which I have already made of certain writers beside, in other respects 'very able, for the benefit of the discriminating reader. There is something in the operation of a brisk, and well-adapted purge, which, by suddenly easing the horse's body of an oppress sive load, gives that cheerfulness to his spirits, energy and vigour to his muscular functions, and glossy burnish to his skin, which are pre- cisely what we want, and can obtain in perfection by no other means; it finishes the English horse—the paragon of the species—the con- queror of the world ! Many have been theadvocates for the bleed-
ing system, with the view either of the pre- vention of diseases, or of promoting the con- dition of the horse: nothing can be more un- availing and fallacious. Bleeding can have no effect in cleansing the bowels, the grand object; and its efficacy in attenuating the humours is very small and temporary ; in fact, its evanes- 9 |
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PURGATION. 47
cent and specious good effects, have often the
ill consequence of preventing measures of a more salutary and radical tendency. Phle- botomy is often induced as a habit upon a horse, which it becomes afterwards dangerous to discontinue; an usage sufficiently improper on the score of its want of necessity; it ought to be reserved, whether in horse or a man, for those occasions in the preternatural or mor- bid state, where it may be specifically re- quired. Diuretics stands so nearly in the same same predicament, that it is unnecessary to enlarge. They cannot have the beneficial effects of a purge, but the latter will, in gene- ral, perform all the benefits of diuretics. The danger of purging horses, subsists only
in the imaginations of the inexperienced, in the ill choice of drugs, or in their injudicious ad- ministration. The drastic, or rough and violent purges, and such, on account of their cheap- ness, are generally in use for horses, of course make them sick, irritate and convulse their bow- els, and occasion frequent violent strainings, after voiding the mower of excrement; strong mercurials have ever these effects. Such ap- pearances lead to .the erroneous conclusion, that a horse cannot be purged with safety; but the mild or eccoprotic purges have no such ill ef- fects, on the contrary, they give 3 horse the |
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4S purgation.
least possible disturbance, his only punishmerif
beino- the mere swallowing the ball or drink* and the temporary deprivation ot solid meat * and yet these confer much more lasting benefit than the former; an opinion of Gibson, which in scares of instances 1 have seen verified. The chief of these innocent, and at the same time efficacious cathartics, equally adapted to the salutary purpose of cleansing, exhilarating and invigorating the human and brute body, are, ALOES SUCCOTRINE, TURKEY RHUBARB,
and the neutral salts ; medicines so exquisi-
tely fitted by nature to the intention, as to leave us nothing to desire. I cannot avoid mentioning here, that I have repeatedly seen very rough drastic effects from senna, particularly if the patient be very costive, which is reckoned iimono- the milder purgatives. The last in- stance I knew was of a pregnant woman, to whom an old nurse prescribed senna, which* although the dose was moderate, had so un- favourable an effect, that a miscarriage was ap- prehended in consequence. I have been since1 informed of similar instances. Since writing my first Volume, where, in
conformity to the opinions of my respected masters, Gibson and Braken* and from the results of my own experience, I entered my protest againft the use of Barbadoes aloes, £ |
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PURGATION"; ; 49
have conversed on the subject with several ve-
terinary practitioners ; they agree with me as to the superior virtue and mildness of the fine alcfes, but complain of its backwardness of operation upon the horse, and of the largeness of the quantity required > for such reasons they * have been induced to continue the use of the common; but to obviate its drastic effects, it has become the custom to exhibit it a few drachms at a time, which method it seems hat succeeded. I have not however seen any rea- son to depart from my former opinion; and whatever pecuniary advantage may result to tnose who vend medicines, by purchasing an inferior kind, such reason neither can, or ought to have any weight with those, who physic their own cattle. For my own part, I have expe- rienced no difficulty hitherto, in purging even dray-horses, either with succotrine aloes or Glauber's salts, As to the. latter, or the purg- ing salts, I know of none of our veterinarians who have made use of them, they advert to the difficulty of administering them; nor do I re- collect any author who recommends them alone as a purge. But I have been many years in the constant habit of purging horses with salts, and with never failing success. The saline purges appear to me to debilitate the animal body by their operation less than any others, and to re- vol. ii, E |
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50 PtTRGATIOTST.
frigerate the humours more, they are specific m
certain cases* and in fact the idea of elective purgation must be allowed to a certain degree ;. for instance, in the case of the 'absorbent mag- nesia, which invariably attracts acids, and from the combination results a neutral purging li- quor. Many horses require no other purge* whatever than salts, and by the use of them may be kept ia the first style of condition. They are also excellent alteratives, as one might fairly presume previously to experience, by the analogy of the salt marshes, where horses re- ceive so much benefit from the peculiar saline quality of the water. Salts usually prove a powerful diuretic to s
horse, and are specifically calculated for such>- as from high-feeding, and standing much in the stable,, are oppressed with a redundancy and su- per-agglutination of the fluids, causing inflamed eyes, swelled legs, turbid urine, which, if long neglected, seldom fail to terminate in the most fatal diseases. This purgative is superior to alb for producing a fine glossy coat and high spirits. The salts seem to act upon the contents of the- intestines, and the animal humours, by a cer- tain peculiar power of dissolution, rather than by the accustomed stimulus of other purga- tives ; and if they do not always produce those liquid ejections from the horse, which result from, |
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flTRGATIOlC. Si
tile more powerful cathartics, they bring away
an equal quantity of dung in a softened state. Horses, which have had their regular aloetic purges, but which, from hardiness of constitu- tion, or defect of exercise, have become gross and pursive, and at a time, perhaps, when brisk services may be required of them, are speedily and safely put in order, by a short course of sa- lined water. But I will make the eulogium. of this cheap and valuable article of the materia medkcti which deserves the utmost attention of all sportsmen and keepers of horses, in iew words^ lest I should be tempted by my enthu- siasm, to write a Currus triumphalis of Glau- ber's Salts ; or lest my reader should begin to suspect) that in imitation of the cow-doctor mentioned in the former chapter, I should, at last, recommend salts even as a bracer. The discerning reader will smile here, at his sup- posed discovery of my share of the common Weakness. AW doctors, it is well known have their hobby-horsical remedies, and methods of treatment, and even peculiar phraseology. It would be indeed hard upon a writer on horses, not to be permitted to ride his own proper hobby. We have all had them. Thus, Mark- ham's favourites were oil of oats, and pilgrim's salve; Burdon's, a turnip poultice; Dr. bracken's, cordial balls; Bartlet's nitre ; Pro- 'S 2 |
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52 PURGATION.
fessor Taplin's high sounding words, stock
phrases, and treble refined sense ; and those of Dr. Lawrence, the last, and least of the cata- logue, a loose stable, and Sal mirabilis Glaii- beri—Glauber's wonderful Salt! God rest the, soul of Daddy Glauber! I am sure all the druggists, at least, will answer and say— Amen ! It hath been hitherto the general custom to
exclude I)bought cattle from the benefits of cleansing and evacuation, by cathartic medi- cines, but, in my opinion, even without the ap- pearance of reason ; for, from the general gross and surfeiting nature of their food, and the slowness of their motions, encouraging a gluti- nous, sluggish, and viscid state of the blood, none of the species are more in need of artifi- cial helps ; in a defect of which, with the intent of prevention, originate those frequent fits of the gripes, Staggers, blindness, pursiveness and grease, to which stuffed and pampered cart and coach-horses are so notoriously subject. Salts are particularly useful with this sort of horses, and the load of dung and urine which I have seen discharged by them from the body of a dray-horse,, has been so great, that I have won- dered , how the intestines of the animal could possibly contain it. |
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PURGATION". 53
I have often heard the complaints of private
families in the country, who keep a pair of horses, that they are a perpetual source of trouble and uneasiness ; they are either foot- foundered, heavy-eyed, greasy, or so pursive and unwieldy, as to be covered with sweat upon the least extraordinary exercise. Much standing within, and strong nourishment, must, of necessity, produce all this in the gentleman- horse, even as his master and mistress acquire the gout upon the same principle. Such horses should have, at least, four or five doses of physic in a year, with alterants in the interim, if required. It is to no purpose to talk of bringing on the habit of physic; make your election, the habit of physic, or the habit of sickness ? Their feet should be well-soaked in water twice a day ; they should stand loose in their stalls, and*, if it would not give Mr. John too much trouble, or interfere with his atten- tions to Molly, his horses should have a daily walk of some hours. Enough has been already said on the regu-
lar cleansing of sporting horses, farther, it will be sufficient to add, in general, that every de- scription will be benefited, and their worth enhanced, by a purging course twice a year; and the old periods of spring and autumn are certainly as proper for the purpose as any |
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34> PURGATION.
other. Each course may consist of three re-
gular doses of aloetic physic, or two, or of one only, preceded or succeeded by salts; or of salts alone, according to the constitution and present condition of the horse. The signs of a want of purging physic, from,
the common cause, over repletion, are so ob- vious, that it is needless to repeat them; but occasionally} although rarely, a lean and hide- bound appearance may indicate the same want; the digestion may have been injured, and the appetite depraved, by unwholesome food ; the intestines may be choaked up with slime and filth, the proper nidus of worms ; horses in such a state acquire strength, and thrive much after physic. But it is necessary to be very cautious in purging weak and delicate horses; in fact, it had always better be referred to men of pro* fessional knowledge, An inflammatory state pfthe blood always forbids purging; it is ab- solutely necessary to wait until the fever shall have ceased, In case of much flesh, excessive fulness, heat and costiveness, begin to reduce the subject two or three days previous to the exhibition of a dose of physic; warm bran mashes, salined wafer, and walking exercise, will in general, be found fully effectual with- out bleeding, which ever ought to be reserved for cases of absolute necessity. There are horses |
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PURGATION* 55
»f habits so naturally costive, that a double
close will scarcely have any material effect upon themi no rash attempts should ever be made upon these with drastic purges, which may be suddenly attended with fatal effects. They are best treated with a course of salts, or alteratives, which have a gradual operation; or laxative glysters may be exhibited two or three days previous to a dose of physic. The old maxim ought not to be forgotten, to forbear purging in extremes of heat or cold, or in wet weather, Purges are seldom given in a liquid form, but
in balls, to hide the ill taste ; these are of an oblong shape, and the size of a puUets's egg. It may be of dangerous consequence to attempt to deliver them too large, particularly those balls which are-rosined, and neatly made up secun- . dum artem ; with respect to my own old fashi- oned method, there is less danger as well as less neatness. I always form a purge into two balls, frequently into three, merely rolling the composition up in a piece of old newspaper, twisted at each end, and smearing it with sweet oil. Very numerous have been the accidents,
from the too large size and hardness of horse- balls: Hephestion, the race-horse, according t® my remembrance, was choaked with one, and very nearly killed. Some years since, a |
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56 PURGATION.
horse was ehoaked by a stale ball, at the infir-
mary of a celebrated veterinary surgeon, who performed on him the ancient operation of bronchotomy, but without being able to save the patient. Another surgeon, in Berkshire, [I think a Mr. Deane) had belter success; saving the life of a horse by the same means, which had been ehoaked by the accidental slip- ping down into the gullet, of a small apple, given him by a boy. The horse being prepared the day before,
by a bran mash or two, should have his physic in the morning, fasting, between five and eight ss the season may suit. Should the animal be very gross,-foul, and full of blood, and any danger be apprehended from his state of body, a pretty large mash of bran, without corn, may be given him in the middle of the preceding day, only a small lock of hay at night, a small bran mash early in the morn- ing, and his physic in two hours after. Mashes also are of great service in the following case ; A horse in a very unfit state for a journey, from having been kept high without exercise, may yet be wanted in a few days, a time too short to attempt to prepare him by-physic ; give a large bran or pollard mash at night, instead of com, with little or no hay, and two hours walk- ing exerciee in the- morning fasting, for four |
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PURGATION. -57
days, and white water if the horse will take it;
this will make him empty himself very much, amend his appetite and wind, and increase his powers of performance. Such a course occasi- onally will benefit horses of this description. In the delivery of a ball, an iron instrument
should seldom be made use of,since it is a rough and terrifying practice of which an adroit and skilful person has no sort of need. The tongue of the horse being drawn, and held out of his mouth on the off-side, the operator receiving the ball or roll from a by-stander, places it lengthwise between his fingers and thumb, which being stretched out, he delivers it with a moderate jerk over the root of the tongue; when letting go the tongue, and placing his hand under the jaw, he gently and moderately elevates the head, in order to watch the passage of the ball down the gullet. If it has b: s 1 plainly distinguished passing down, another b; 1 may be immediately given, should one remain. But some horses will retain.them obstinately a considerable time, in which case a little water may be given, or even poured down with the horn, the swallowing which ascertains the situa- tion of the ball. In giving a drink, the horse's head should be held up with a forked stick with blunt points, kept for that purpose, but by no means with an iron fork, for fear of accident; a |
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53 PURGATION.
noose to receive the fork being placed in the
mouth over the tushes. Mr. Taplin recom- mends to draw up the horse's head with a pul- ley, according to ancient fashion, which I think hardly so safe as the common method, since if a stupid fellow hold the pulley, and an accidental regurgitation should happen, it is probable the horse may be held fast until he is choaked. I have however the utmost pleasure in declaring that I esteem the account of adminstering phy- sic in Mr. Taplin's Compendium, as one of the most rational and useful which is any where to be found, and which bears the indubitable marks of sound judgment and practical experi- ence. I have sometimes known, even in stables
where one would not have expected such an omission, that no drenching-horn has been at hand, in lieu of which, a glass bottle is always the dangerous substitute. Every groom should be provided with a good horn, narrow in the spout, and wide in the belly, which will hold full half a pint; and much care should be taken that too large a quantity be not discharged into the horse's gullet at once, or too suddenly, or that one go-down do not follow the other too hastily, to alarm and ex- cite him to cough, more especially if he be short breathed and faint from indisposition; but |
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PURGATION. 59
sick or well, he ought in the case of giving
medicine, to be turned about with the greatest, care, and treated with the utmost tenderness and patience. In all -veterinary management, our grand dependance is in patience. Immediately after the horse shall have swal*
lowed the dose, you may allow him to take two or three go-downs of soft water, blood warm, and to eat a lock of hay. Small quantities at a time of clean picked hay may be given him throughout the day, and two or three mashes of sweet bran and ground oats, which is the proper diet whilst the physic is in operation. Should it be a laxative drench of the neutral salts, and other articles of quick operation, his purging may begin in less than twelve hours; but an aloetie purge, the slowest of all others, will lie in his body double the time: beginning to operate the following morning, its effects may continue twelve, twenty-four, thirty hours or upwards, according to the power and qua- lity of the medicine, and tbe existing state of the horse's body. Much has been said and written about horses being sick, griped, and off their appetite, during the operation of a purge, and of their refusal of warm water, and of the necessity of substituting cold, and vari- ous other infelicities, none of which, I have hitherto been ap fortunate, as to experience. |
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60 rURCATION.
Good aloes, rhubarb, or salts, the quantities
being judiciously apportioned, and the body of the patient in a fit state for their reception, never gripe or nauseate. As to the unwilling- ness to drink, noted by authors, I know no- thing about it, having always found that the medicine has rather made the horse thirsty, and that far from refusing, he would drink warm water sooner than at other times; but in case of refusal, I see no sort of difficulty, and should instantly order half a gallon to be poured down in horns, and repeated every hour, until a sufficient quantity should have been delivered. Cold water should never be allowed. Instances maybe produced of horses "which had taken coarse Barbadnes aloes, made np with a large quantity of common rosin, and I know not what cheap horse-doctoring or sale articles, being killed outright by a plentiful drink of cold water, the body swelling enor= mously, and appearing as if the animal had been destroyed by poison. With regard to ap- petite upon these occasions, I have been fre- quently obliged to check the liberality of the groom in dispensing his mashes; but more particularly after the physic has been set, when I have found the appetite of the horse so keen as to require restraint, lest the quantity should exceed his digestive powers. It is a property |
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PURGATION". 6l
of good aloes to increase the appetite and pro-
mote digestion; the aloe is also an excellent diuretic, and, as I have more than once ex- perienced, scents and colours the urine, a dis- charge of which is sometimes promoted in a very short time after taking the medicine. My method of taking aloes is to enclose it in pel- lets of chewed bread, by which method the pill has no taste of the aloetic bitter; a single pill or two will perhaps serve for common oc- casions. A horse which usually stands unclothed,
should have a sheet thrown over him during physic. The habitual temperature of air in the stable may be preserved, with the caution of obviating all partial currents, more particularly should the weather turn out cold or wet. In case of wet, the horse should not stir into the open air, or where rain may be blown upon him. For want of better convenience, turn him about, and walk him up and down the stable, if necessary, to quicken the purge. If the weather permit, put on his hood, and take him out, two or three times in the day, half an hour each time. The purge operating freely, only walk him; if otherwise, let him trot' a little,, but gently, and at his ease, the rider by no means hurrying, but allowing him his ami time to stop during his ejections, In case |
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I -
62 PUilGATfOK. of a cold northerly wind, the less he be kept
out the better; and additional clothing will then be needful. The ceremony ends upon the physic being set, namely, when the excrement shall have reassumed its habitual or natural consistence. After the setting, from a week to a fortnight of walking, or very gentle exer- cise, ought to precede labour. No horse will bear more than one regular dose in seven days. Prescriptions for accidents, during purgation, from cold, bad drugs, or other causes, will be found among the succeeding formulae. No. 1. The REGULAR COURSE OF SALTS,
for a hack or hunter, is from twenty to twenty-
four ounces the dose, the three doses taking up .somewhat more than the usual time. Should the weather be fine, and no danger of wet, the horse may be moderately ridden, during this physic, but no risks of taking cold ought to be incurred, nor any cold water allowed. My method of giving salts, is to prepare the horse with two or three warm bran and corn mashes, and to keep him without water, until he become thoroughly in need of it; then take a pail-full blood vyarm, and infuse four ounces of salts, pre* viously and thoroughly dissolved, in half a pint of boiling water; should the horse refuse, have patience, and drouth wili in no great lengtii of timt ensure his compliance. Repeat this «» 6 "' |
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FURCATION. 63.
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convenience may serve, until the dose shall be
complete, which may be in two days at farthest* It is necessary to observe, that the salts should be kept carefully corked up in wide mouthed bottles; for although every one knows, that upon exposure to the air, they gradually pre- cipitate into a powder, yet all are not aware that thereby about half their efficacy is lost: again, if instead of properly dissolving the salts, as directed, they are carelessly thrown into the pail of water, to melt at leisure (which nine, grooms out of ten to save trouble would do) they will, great part of them remain undissolved. at the bottom of the pail, or again shoot into crystals from the coldness of the water, and be thrown away. Not only salts, but aloes, jalap, vhubajb, and other drugs, ought to be carefully preserved from exposure to the air. But U> these minulue the owner of a horse must look himself, or at least be very precise and peremp- tory in his directions, unless he should think it the least evil, to incur the risk of perpetual dis- appointment. For very large, or very gross horses, the dose of salts must consequently be increased, and the quantity will be best regu- lated by the experienced operation. I must remark, that in this, as well a« every other me- dical article for veterinary use, I find myself amply compensated, by purchasing the best |
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64
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PURGATION.
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kind; and therefore recommend that the best
Glauber's salts be used, in preference to any Lymington, or other cheap substitute, to be had at the druggists. Yery frequently, a single dose will put a hackney into excellent condition; an example of which I have now at hand in a trotting mare, the property of a worthy and respectable friend: this mare was purchased from the straw yard, as rough as a bear, and rather low and out of spirits; a single dose of about twenty ounces, gave her a skin like a racer, set her instantly to thriving, and put her into a condition to go through her work in the best style. No. 2. A COOLING PURGATIVE DRENCH,
of quick operation. Take the infusion of four
ounces of cremor tartar, in one pint or more of. boiling water, which has stood three hours or longer, and been frequently stirred ; strain it line, and mix therewith, or dissolve therein, upon the fire, six ounces Glauber's salts; add from four drachms to one ounce jalap, or half an ounce succotrine aloes, according to the strength required; a gill of strong peppermint water, and a sufficient quantity of warm gruel, or ale, well sweetened with honey, or treacle. Lenitive electuary and syrup of buckthorn, may occasionally be joined. |
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PURGATION. 65
No. 3. The aloetic purge, for a hack,
hunter, or race-horse, commonly used by my- self. The finest succotrine aloes, well pow- dered, from twelve to fourteen drachms, ere- raor tai'tar an ounce or two; ginger, fresh and finely grated, a tea spoonful; fine sallad oil a table spoonful; make the mass with treacle or syrup of buckthorn, and sifted oat flour, into two or three balls. I formerly, on the credit of some old writers, used jalap by way of quickening the operation of aloes; but it has lately been averred, that no quantity of jalap will purge a horse. It is my duty, however, to observe, that I was cautioned by an eye- witness, against placing too great a dependance on the accuracy of certain experiments. Lono- experience has convinced me that the fewness of the ingredients by no means detracts either from the efficacy or safety of this purge. No. 4. The aloetic purge, from Gib-
son. Succotrine aloes ten drachms ; jalap and salt of tartar, of each two drachms; grated ginger one drachm; chemical oil of aniseeds thirty drops; syrup of buckthorn enough to form the ball, which roll in liquorice powder or flour, No. 5. I have really forgotten the precise
quantity which I was accustomed to give as a purge, to cart-horses of the largest size; but vol. ii. F
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66 PURGATION.
with such, an essay might be first made with
No. 3, the strength of it being increased, in a future dose, should it appear necessary, to two ounces aloes, but beyond that degree of strength I have no experience; nor should I think an addition to it safe for any horse, un- less indeed the case should require a drachm or two of calomel; that quantity not purging suf- ficiently, recourse had better he made to salts as an alterant. In dropsical or other cases, where drastics may be absolutely necessary, I believe nothing is more safe and effectual than a small addition of seammony, in its pure and natural state, to succotrine aloes, with a suffi- cient guard of salts, soap, or oil; but such po- tent articles require medical knowledge and judgment in the prescriber. No. 6. The rhubarb purge, from Gib-
son. Finest succotrine aloes one ounce; Tur- key rhubarb, in powder, half an ounce ; gin- ger, grated, one drachm; make the bail with syrup of roses. This is highly recommended for delicate constitutions and poor feeders; OR,
No. 7- Fine aloes one ounce and two
drachms; myrrh, fine powder, half an ounce; Turkey rhuharb two drachms; saffron one drachm; make a stiff ball with syrup of roses or marsh-mallows; add a small tea-spoon fuli |
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PURGATION. 6/
of rectified oil of amber, roll the ball in liquor-
ice powder. After looking over all our other authors, I
find Gibson the original authority for cathartic forms. No. 8. Purge or scouring, for a gross
and foul coach or cart-horse. Succotrine aloes one ounce; jalap one ounce; myrrh, finely powdered,; half an Ounce; cremor tartar one or two ounces; Castile soap half an ounce; ginger, finely grated^ two tea-spoons full; best salad oil one large spoon full; make three balls for one dose, with syrup of buckthorn arid li- quorice powder, or flour. No. 9- Mkrccjhiac Jurce for ditto.
Add to the above two drachms calomel, or if the constitution and habit should require Ify half an ounce. No. 10. MlXD MERCURIAL PURGE. Add
two drachms calomel to No. -4.
■ Notwithstanding the variety of articles of- fered as above^ fine aloes may be given by it- self, with all manner of safety. The following is a most efficacious and cooling purge: suc- cotrine aloes, from ten to fourteen drachms, prepared nitre in powder, five or six drachms to one ounce; ball with sweet oiL Nitre and oil are the best correctives of Barbadoes aloes. 'The observations of Mr. Blaine On the me-* F 2 |
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6§ r'JUGATION.
thods of purging horses, and the quantities of
drugs required, seem rather to indicate his de- ference to some favourite authority, than his own practical acquaintance with the subject. They may perhaps have one, not uncommon effect, which is to excite the smiles of the expe- rienced groom, and veterinarian. M r. Blaine, very rationally, but unfashionably, decides in favour of succoirine aloes, and yet with these, far the most mild, makes the absurd assertion, that " the strongest horse should never have " more than eight drachms; few require more " than six; many are purged with four." The real state of the fact is, that the most delicate horse remains frequently unmoved by an ounce of succotrine aloes; and it is probable that such an one was never injured in the slightest de- gree, by taking twelve drachm.1?. A veterina- rian of eminence, and of the new school, lately testified in Court, " that an ounce and half, " to three ounces of the best aloes, might " be given with safety to a horse/' The fatal mischiefs of too strong cathartic doses are full as frequent, as Mr. Blaine has stated, but he has erred widely, and reasoned without judg- ment or discrimination on the matter. To sub- stitute harassing exercise for due quantity of purging physic, or to worry a horse about, with physic In his belly, will seldom be found a sa» |
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PURGATION.
lutary or efficacious practice. There is more-
over an inconvenience and loss of time in the exhibition of too small doses, which, even on repetition, according to the kite fashionable adoption of Bartlet's proposed plan, frequently fail, or operate only to the ineffectual teazing and disquiet of the horse, and disappointment ■of his owner. A physician of eminence has taught that the variety of articles, increases the cathartic effect; this, of which I have no ex- perience, being granted, jalap, and certain other lately supposed inefficacious medicines, may yet have their specific use. With respect to the beneficial effects of rhubarb on horses and cattle, I have observed them too long, and too attentively, to be for one moment at a loss on the subject. Should a purge not operate at a proper time,
either from badness of the drags, or cold taken, the horse will hang down his head and refuse food, appear swelled, heave in his flanks, and frequently throw up his tail without ability to evacuate. In a slight case of this kind, give the size of a pullet's egg of cordial ball, in three pints warm gruel, and repeat it at night and the following morning; in the interim give sa- lined water, blood warm, made as before di- rected, i. e. the solution of four ounces Glai - ber's salts, to a pail, or three gallons of soft |
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70 PURGATION.'
water. Walking exercise, if fine weather, well
clothed, the horse not being ridden. Or, should the case be more serious, and the horse much swelled or griped, take balsam of Peru and capivi, of each half an ounce, incorporate them with the yolk of a, new laid egg; cam- phor one drachm, diffolved in a small quantity ■of Holland's gin, or other spirit, juniper berries and aniseed, powdered, half an ounce each; ■unrectified oil of amber two drachms; make a ball with dyrujp of marsh-mallows, and roll in liquorice powder. Give plenty of warm gruel and water. This last I have taken on authori- ty, but I should be more inclined, in the case, to exhibit a few ounces of tinctura sacra, or elixir proprietatis, in warm gruel, every six or eight hours. If the additional aid of a glyster should be needed, use the following; thin wa- ter gruel three quarts, sweetened with six ounces coarse sugar, and well mixed with six ounces salad, or linseed oil; if easily to be pro- cured, instead of water gruel, make use of a decoction of mallows, pellitory, mercury, cha- momile, or such as can be obtained, each a large handful, with bay-berries and sweet fen- nel-rseeds, each qne ounce, in a gallon of water, boiled to three quarts. As the horse recovers, give a few malt mashes. . In case of supER-PJ/RQATiosr, or excessive
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PURGATION. 71
working of the physic, the very common con-
sequence of the use of plantation aloes, or a too powerful mercurial dose, give the following, a quart at a time, with the horn, in the course of the day: simmer gum Arabic and Traga- canth, each four ounces; juniper berries and carraway seeds, bruised, three ounces; ginger half an ounce, in five quarts of water, until the gum shall be dissolved. Gruel made of boiled rice is excellent in this intention, given either with the horn or in the horse's drink, and the rice by way of mash. Or, cordial ball in warm ale. Or, prepare a decoction of chamomile, worm-wood, fresh aniseeds, and saffron; to three quarters of a pint of this, warm, add a pint of fine old Port wine, in which has been -- dissolved one ounce diascordium, to be given every three or four hours. The horse continu- ing to purge, and to eject even the very mucus and lining of his bowels (an extremity which I have witnessed sufficiently often) the foregoing remedies must be persevered in, with the addi- tional help of restringent and nutritive glys- ters. The restrixgeistt glyster. Either
pomegranate or oak bark two ounces; red; roses, green or dry, a handful or two; balus- tines half an ounce; boil in two quarts of water to one, pour off clear, and dissolve in the de- |
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72 PURGATION1.
coction four ounces diascordium. To be re-
peated. Or, The Starch Glyster, from Mr. Clarke. Starch jelly, or infusion of I'm- .seed, one pint] liquid laudanum one ounce, or two table-spoonfuls; if inflammation be ap- prehended, substitute for the laudanum, twenty or thirty grains opium, well rubbed and dis- solved: I think the quantity (one pint) rather too small. Broths are used in this case, and flour or rice milk, strained, but oils are too re- laxing; yet, the coats of the intestines being abraded, Bartlet recommends mutton suet boiled in milk, both as a glyster and drench, one pint every three hours. Suet, four pounds to one quart milk. Should the case have been so dangerous that the horse remain weak, and a restorative course be required; persevere in the following a few weeks. Loose stable, use of a field or yard by day, where he may be kept from water. Make a strong decoction or infusion of oak-bark, gentian, carduus bene- dictus, or the male sow-thistle, and Roman 'wormwood, and keep it bottled for use; give half a pint to a pint in every pail of water cold. Frequent rice and malt-masbes, cordial ball in ale. Ox or sheep's gall, half a pint in ale, milk warm, twice a day. The following observations on glysters, I
learned from the respectable authorities of |
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PURGATION. , 73
Gibson and Clarke, previously to my experi-
ence of their truth. A syringe should never be used, as the discharge alarms the horse. The proper apparatus is a pipe and bag. To a large ox-bladder fasten a pipe of the length of fourteen or fifteen inches, made of box, or any wood susceptible of a smooth polish ; in size, about an inch and half diameter next the bag, and of a gradual taper to the extremity, where the thickness ought suddenly to increase, and be rounded at the point; let the perfora- tion of the pipe be large enough to admit the end of a common funnel, for the purpose of pouring the liquor into the bag ; certain ivory pipes in use, are apt to wound the gut. Place the horse, if convenient, with his hinder quar- ters upon the highest ground. In case of har- dened balls of excrement, always back-rake, with the smallest hand to be procured, well oiled and nails pared, previously to the admini- stration of a glys-cer. Mr. Taplin, although apparently of greut skill in all matters of medi- cal administration, has, I think, very much failed in decrying the advantages of thus ex- tracting the excrement, frequently a matter of the utmost necessity in both brute and human bodies; in the latter, it is usually performed with a silver instrument, formed like a marrow epoon. It must surely be a great point gained, |
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74 PURGATION.
where we can make direct application to the
seat of the complaint; as for instance, to the blood vessels by phlebotomy, in a state of plethora and inflammation. In a laxative o-lyster, the quantity may be as much as three quarts; but in those of a restringent, anodyne, or nutritious kind, which are to be retained, from a pint to a quart is fully sufficient. I have already, in Volume I. page 6'0, entered Gib- son's excellent caveat against the too liberal use of purgative articles, particularly coarse aloes in glysters, and have only to recommend, in general, in this intent, oils, salts, lenitive electuary, and other mild laxatives. Let your liquid, in respect of warmth, be as nearly as possible of the common temperature of blood, which being discharged with all due caution against alarm, hold down the tail a few mi* nutes. Glysters thus carefully given, create so little uneasiness to a horse, that they may be repeated very often, if necessary, without much trouble. I cannot avoid repeating a practi- cal remark of Mr. Clarke, so much I feel its force. It will happen in colics, that horses drop, frequently, dribblets of excrement, ap- parently loose; at the same time the colon may be loaded with sfybala, or hardened dung- balls. The grooms and farriers, like trou- blesome and conceited nurses, judging merely |
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PURGATION, 75
from appearances, and habitually sparing of
labour, and jealous of novelty, decry the use ofglystersas superfluous, but on their repeti- tion, are surprised at the quantity and state of the discharge. The veterinarian and jockey, in all cases, may hear the groom, but must con- suit the reason of the thing, I repeat it after St, Bel, stable-people, in general, cannot be trusted even with a relation of facts; "their obsti- nacy and conceit ever hold an exact pace with their ignorance. Glysters are of immense ser- vice, equally in the intent of relaxing, astring- ing, and comforting the intestines; and the animal body may be preserved alive, and nou- rished by these alone, for a considerable period, ivhere it may be impracticable to receive any sustenance in the regular way. The common clyster. Two or three
quarts thin gruel, salad oil half a pint, coarse sugar, or common salt, six ounces. To render it more emollient, a decoction of marsh-mal- lows, ground ivy, chamomile, and fennel seeds, may be substituted to the gruel. Laxative glister, add to the above
eight ounces Glauber's salts. Or, an infusion of two ounces senna in boiling water, and four ounces of syrup of buckthorn. Or, Bitter ap- ple half an ounce, bayberries and aniseeds bruised, one handful each; salt of tartar half |
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76 PURGATIOST.
an ounce, syrup of buckthorn four ounces.
The bitter apple, berries and seed, should be boiled a quarter of an hour. Ok, instead of the bitter apple, an ounce or two tincture of jalap. Nutritive Clyster. Thick water gruel.
Or, broths made of sheep's head, trotters, or the like, but not too fat. Milk-pottage. Rice- milk strained, with warm aromatic seeds if necessary. Diuretic Glysters. Soap four ounces
dissolved in two quarts of warm water, salt oue handful. Or, one ounce Castile soap, two quarts water, Venice turpentine two ounces, well beat with the yolks of two eggs. Or, in a strangury, to be repeated: Venice turpen- tine from two to four ounces, beat up with eggs, add by degrees, two quarts decoction of marsh mallows, parsley and ground ivy, or either, in which from two to four ounces nitre has been dissolved: oil half-a-pint to one pint, and occasionally one ounce Bates's anodyne balsam. The cordial ball was first introduced
by Markham, who stiles it the "mirror and ff master of all medicines," and pretends it will cure all inward diseases. Every writer, almost, has made some variation from the original, af- fecting to have his own cordial .ball. Mr, |
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PURGATION. 77
Taplin, I think, has not been fortunate in his
attempted improvement of Dr. Bracken's ball. I will match Bracken's turmeric, against Tap- lin's Turkey Jigs, over the course, for the price of both articles. There is moreover something tautologous (if I may be allowed the expression in medicals) in heaping anisated balsam upon aniseed, and oil of aniseed ; beside introducing anisated balsam of sulphur, after oorrecting Bracken for the use of" brimstone. But hce sunt nugce. Bracken's ball. Aniseeds, carraway-
seeds, and greater cardamons, fine powder, of each an ounce ; flower of brimstone two ounces; turmeric in fine powder, one ounce and a half; saffron in powder two drachms ; sugar candy four ounces: Spanish juice dissolved in hyssop water two ounces; oil of aniseed half an ounce; liquorice powder one ounce and a half, wheat flower a sufficient quantity to make it into a stiff paste, by heating all the ingredients well in a marble, not a brass mortar. This is the common cordial ball, and I believe deservedly most in repute. I refer my reader to what I have said on
the abuse of these balls, in VTol. I. Stable Economy, and besides have several little useful items in my memory, very much at his service. In the first place, care ought to be taken that |
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78 PURGATTOtt.
the seeds be fresh and good, and by no means
old shopkeepers, and that the oil of aniseed be genuine, instead of one half oil of almonds; farther, that the mass be kept in a bladder, or a gallipot well secured from air, or damp; and lastly, out of the reach of two-leo-ged depredators. I have known stable-lads, and their sweethearts, as fond of cordial-ball, as Turks are of opium : restorative, I suppose. The ljalt-masii from Markham. Upon
a peck of ground malt, pour a gallon and half boiling water, stir frequently; in about half an hour, the liquor will be sweet, and may be given to a horse milk warm; this is very- nourishing, either by itself, or mixed with gruel of rice or oatmeal. Rowels, or as the French call them Fonta-
nels, are intended to answer the same end as issues in the human body, namely, to evacuate superabundant juices, or to cause revulsion, or derivation from any particular part, by makino- a general drain or draught. Rowels have a gradual, yet effectual operation, and are of ex- cellent use in allcas.es of stagnated or impeded humours, in recent lamenesses and stains, at- tended with inflammation ; in sudden swellings from blows, where extravasation, or bursting of the fluids from their vessels, has taken place. Bracken h<|s questioned their good effects oh |
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PURGATION. 79
lean and hide-bound horses, and in the grease;
but experience is surely against him in the lat- ter case, since rowels have usually the effect -of stopping, at least diminishing, the greasy dis- charge in the legs; and hide-bound and un- thrifty horses are often suddenly amended by the use of this drain, for which, considering their emaciated appearance, it seems difficult to assign a reason. It is scarcely worth while to describe the operation of making a rowel, it is a thing of such common use; and every farrier who has made one, in course, supposes he has opened a door for the exit of foul humours exclusively, reasoning in that straight forward way, that it is a pity should ever deceive a man, to wit, that a discharge of such ill savour, must needs be of a malignant nature. Considering the laws of circulation, I can
scarcely make up my mind, as to the utility of placing rowels in proximity to the part affect- ed, or whether they can possibly have the effect of emptying the circumjacent vessels, any otherwise than by the gradual and cir- cuitous mode of revulsion ; nevertheless I think a near situation ought ever to be preferred where practicable. The parts proper for their insertion, are the chest, shoulders, belly, hips* inside or outside of the thighs ; but Mr. Clarke objects to their being ms.de between the jaw* %
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80 PURGATION'.
bones, on account of the constant motion of
the jaws. A horse will bear the discharge of a considerable number of them at once, which* indeed, in urgent cases, is absolutely necessary, in order, to derive any considerable or speedy benefit from the practice. Gibson gives a very necessary caution against rowelling horses of a dropsical habit, with poor and watery blood, and when the swellings appear upon their legs, belly and sheath ; in such case the issues never come to a good digestion, instead of which a large flux of serous humours will ensue, and it may be difficult to prevent a mortification. Schirrus and cancer also may be produced, from inserting rowels near glandulous parts, or when the muscular flesh may have been wounded in the operation, or bruised by the continual pressure of the hard leather. Should a rowel have been injudiciously exhibited in a disease and fail to discharge, except a little thin bloody ichor, there is danger that instead of suppurating properly, it may soon turn gan- grenous ; in this case Mr. Clarke advises to take out the leather instantly, and foment the parts with a strong infusion of chamomile, and to poultice repeatedly, if the situation will admit it, also to bathe with spirits of wine and turpentine, defending the wound from the ex-* ternal air; if needfuls two °r three ounces |
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ROWELS. 81
Peruvian bark, per day* may be given either by
drink or ball. The incision for a rowel, should be about three-eighths of an inch long, and in separating the skin from the flesh, the latter ought not to be wounded or bruised, the leather must be very thin, not stiff or hard, nor so large as formerly in use; the shape and size of a crown piece is most proper, having a large round hole in the middle : cover the rowel with lint or tow, dipped in digestive ointment, and after its introduction, close the orifice with a pledget of tow dipped in the same. If the operation succeed, the sur- rounding parts soon swell, and a plentiful dis- charge of simple humour ensues; which, in two or three days, will be changed into a thick ■white pus of matter. The time is indefinite for the continuance of the discharge, but the memory of the operator, if he be of the Vul- canian kind, ought to be by all means re- freshed, that he may extract the leather in time, or he will be obliged to cut it out, and a very unsightly induration or lump may re- main, Setons. The utility of these", in the opi-
nion of Dr. Darwin, is very great, from the consideration that they facilitate the discharge of matter from abscesses, without the necessity of admitting much air, the influence of which vol. ii. G
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82 S.ETOHS,
upon an ulcer, is the cause of hectic fever. In
respect to setons for horses, I shall follow Mr. Clarke, in preference to any other authority, although I can by no means join him in the sanguine expectation, that they may entirely supersede the necessity of more harsh measures, in long neglected and inveterate cases: in truth, I know by experience, such hope to be fallacious. When tumours are taken in time,, whether on the poll, withers or back, and have not been previously bungled by common far- xiers, whose management in this case is often the worst part of the disease, they may be carried off', and brought to heai by the dis- charge from setons, without any of the usual butcherly, and cauterizing work, or the least blemish or loss of substance. Farriers are very apt to proceed with the knife, before the mat- ter of the tumour is fully concocted, by which error they treble the difficulty, and period of the cure, and most probably leave an indurated lump which is never effaced. The seton-needle is a long, thin, sharp in-
strument, pointed like a dart, with which the practitioner ought to be furnished, of various sizes, from six to fifteen inches long, bended a little on the under side. The seton-cord, dip- ped in digestive ointment, being suited to the size of the tumour to be discussed, and the |
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BLEEDING, 83
matter fluctuating from being ripe, the needle
may be introduced at the upper end of the swelling, and the point conducted through the whole length, and brought out at bottom ; if necessary, and for the sake, of procuring a depending orifice, the instrument may be forced throuah the sound muscular flesh. The setoh being properly fixed, let it be tied together at both ends, or if the length will not admit of that, affix a button of wood at each end, by which it may be drawn upwards and down- wards, as when tied, it may be turned in a circle. When there shall be no farther dis- charge, and the swelling shall have subsided, withdraw the seton, and heal the orifices with, any spirituous application. Bleeding. The well-known use of bleed-
ing, is in all cases of inflammation, or with the intent of prevention, in cholic, suppression of urine, strains, blows, or other accidents. Phlej botomy, in small quantities, is sometimes re- curred to in weak and impoverished habits, in order to remove the lenlor of the blood, and invigorate the circulation ; but in inflammatory fever, it is the sheet anchor, without the help of which, it would be totally impossible for nature, human or brute, to outride the storm. I had lately a remarkable instance of this be- fore my eyes ; the patient was an infant of o 2
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84 BLEEDING.
eighteen months old, of a full hahit, and re"
cently weaned, under the inoculated small- pox : the fever ran so high, that it was obvious death must ensue in a few hours, unless the distended and throbbing blood-vessels could be- soon relieved. No blood could be obtained with the lancet, nor would the leaches readily take hold ; however, by patience and attention, and changing their place, they at length did their business, and the child instantly revived, and was soon out of danger—Many patients, I believe, are lost, for want of timely or suffi- cient bleeding in inflammatory cases. The quantity even of four or five quarts, may be safely taken, at one time, from a large, robust, and plethoric horse, should the exigence of the case demand a very considerable evacuation. Upon ordinary occasions, the portion is be- tween one and two quarts, by measure; I repeat, by measure, because notwithstanding, scarcely a veterinary writer since the days of Solleysel, has failed to declaim against the beastly and dangerous practice of drawing off a horse's blood at random, and by guess upon a dunghill, like water from a water-butt, yet the same race of hard-headed idiots, into whose care we still wisely commit the health of our horses, continue the enormity. The pulse of a horse in full health, and not under the in- |
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BLEEDING. 85
fluence of alarm, makes from thirty-six (Dr.
Hale's statement) to perhaps forty-five strokes in a minute ; a late writer on the strangles, says a horse with a pulse as high as fifty, may be well, and free from fever; but I have reason either to suppose him in an error, as that the pulse in horses is an uncertain criterion. The. strokes may be felt by gently pressing the tem- poral artery, or the ear, or the carotid arteries on each side the neck, or those near the heart, or within the legs, and they have been found during the highest degree of inflammation, and great pain, to amount to one hundred and twenty in a minute. The old writers, who were unacquainted
with the circulation, and of course expected peculiar benefits from local bleedings, named thirty-one veins in the horse's body, at which he might be bled ; to wit, the two temple- veins ; the eye-veins, beneath the eyes j the palate-veins, in the mouth ; the neck-veins ; the plate-veins, in the breast; the fore-arm- veins ; the shackle-veins, before ; the toe-veins before ; the side, or flank-veins ; the tail-vein ; the haunch-veins ; the hough-veins; the shackle- veins behind ; and the toe-veins behind. But as from the incessant rotatory motion of the. blood, bleeding cannot have a partial, but only the general effect of diminishing quantity, |
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S6 , BLEEDING.
and of making more space in the vessels, it
matters but little, from what vein blood be taken, any farther than that the neck veins are most convenient for the purpose, and there- fore had always better be used. It were to be wished, that the old, rude,
Patagonian method, of forcibly driving a sharp instrument into the body of a horse, with a club, or blood stick, could be totally abolished; but there certainly is some difficulty in the case, at least, with common operators. With veterinary surgeons in general, I believe the practice has ceased, but the use of the spring- fleam is, I understand, still attended with in- convenience ; and I have been told by a gentle- man in the habit of bleeding horses, that he can perform the operation easiest and best, with a common small lancet, I can readily believe such to be the best method, after a little practice shall have made a steady and skilful hand. Every one acquainted with horses, knows enough of the inconvenience and dangers of the ancient method : sometimes a horse is stricken ineffectually half a dozen times, slipping his head aside at every stroke, until the seventh, when the business is done, too effectually, and the vein divided, an artery or perhaps a tendon wounded; should the operation be upon the plate, or thigh-veins, 9
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BLEEDING, 8?
such an accident might be fatal. I chanced to
be at the college awhiie ago, where I saw a horse, which had been treated in this manner by a blacksmith and was sent thither to be cured. The vein was divided, and a conside- rable wound made in the neck, which had just come to suppuration ; the horse, in the mean time, being affected in so singular a manner by the accident, as entirely to lose his appetite, and the grooms were actually drenching him with gruel. The most proper part of the neck to which
to apply the lancet, is about a hand's breadth from the head, and one inch below the branch- ing, or joining of the vein, which runs from the lower jaw, and which will appear full by pressing the main branch ; the integuments also are thinnest thereabout. In case, from the folly of frequent blood-letting, the neck of the horse should be covered with scars, it is then better to have recourse elsewhere, and an operator should accustom himself to bleed on either side indifferently. I have the authority of Mr. Clarke, for advising that a ligature be never made until (supposing the horse upon his legs) the orifice be opened; and even then it will frequently be needless, and as the pres- sure of the finger will in general occasion the blood to flow sufficiently free. I have s^en |
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88 BLEEDING.
ligatures made so excessive hard by ignorant
smiths, that the patients have been nearly suf- focated, and there are instances enough of horses absolutely falling down in an apor plectic fit, from the bandage being long con- tinued upon such, which from ill usuage were shy at the operation of bleeding. When a horse's head may be tied up to the rack, pin- ning the orifice is seldom necessary, but if it must needs be pinned, jcare ought to be taken that the skin be not drawn too far from the vein, so as to admit the blood between the skin and flesh, which frequently happens, producing suppuration, and a swelled neck i another pre- caution of equal consequence with any of the foregoing, is, that in case of accident in bleed- ing, the patient be immediately put into proper hands, if within the reach of such, from a rational apprehension of the cures of ignorant bunglers, which, their tediousness and danger out of question, too often leave an indelible designation of the doctor upon the body of the horse. I have lately conferred with a common far-
rier, formerly attached to a troop of horse, who constantly bleeds with the lancet. He says the sole objections to the practice subsist in preju- dice and the aukwardness of stupid and bungling smiths. Consulting a coachman on the subject, |
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ALTERANTS. SQ
I had another proof of that vulgar sophistry
which so painfully and incessantly exerts itself in the counteraction of every improvement. It seems the lancet might penetrate too deep, but the shoulder of the fleam prevents such consequence ; as though the body of the horse did not yield to pressure from too heavy a stroke ; that the frequency of accidents is notorious, and that it is equally obvious how much easier it must be to guide a lancet than to direct accu- rately a forceful stroke with a blood-stick. In a late publication, in which are introduced a number of cases of swelled necks, I was much surprised to find no recommendation, or even mention of the lancet. The cures were gene- rally effected by Bracken's favourite method, the old Arabian practice of the cautery. I have sometimes seen ill effects, and cures protracted from the premature or immoderate use of the actual cautery, particularly when in common hands. Alterative forms. The intent of alte-
rants is gradually to remove chronic, or ob- structions of long standing, which would not so readily give way to the brisk and transient effects of a purge ; by thinning, purifying, and accelerating the motion of the animal fluids. The chief considerations in the exhibition of this class of medicines, are, that the more powerful |
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90 ALTERANTS.
species be not resorted to, unless the humours
of the animal be in a corrupted or depraved state, that the doses be very moderate and continued a considerable time, and that the powders be reduced as fine as possible; to a pinch of snuff. Large doses purge, and the medicine passes too quickly; their frequency debilitates the stomach, and depresses the spi- rits ; if the powdor be gross, instead of entering the lacteals and passing thence into the blood, it is carried through the intestines unchanged. I have seen rhubarb ejected from the bowels of an infant, the second or third day, in the same erode state as when given. No. 1. Mild Alterative. Flower of
Drimstone, and cremor tartar, equal quantities; with these mix canella alba, a drachm of the latter to an ounce. The dose half an ounce to one ounce twice a day, either given in a ball with treacle, on an empty stomach (the most effectual way) or mixed with the corn, being first of all well stirred into a little wetted bran. No. 2. Add gum guiacum, finely powdered, and turmeric, equal quantities with the above. Mix well. This succeeds well with delicate constitutions. No. 3. Pound the finest antimony, that is,
large, clear, and shining, like polished steel, to an impalpable powder, mix with equal quantity |
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ALTERANTS. 91
©f powdered guiacum. Six drachms to one
ounce per day. No. 4. A^timonial iETinoPs, fourtosix
drachms every night, for a fortnight, then omit a week, afterwards repeat for another fortnight. It is made as follows: the best antimony as before, twelve ounces; crude mercury, sixteen ounces; brimstone eight ounces: grind them together to an impalpable powder. This me- dicine has great effect in farcy, inveterate mange, or obstinate dry coughs. 4.
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[ 92 ]
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CHAP. III.
CATARRH—EPIDEMIC COLD OR DIS-
TEMPER—RHEUMATISM—GLANDERS ----BROKEN WIND. Catarrh is either local or universal in
the body, and in its nature and effects, either cold and chilling, or hot and febrile: colds are sometimes epidemic, or general, amongst men and animals, from a malignant disposition of the atmotphere: this influenza amongst horses, and the varieties of the horse, is vulgarly styled the distemper ; a catarrhal discharge, or running at the nose, of long standing, is denominated the glanders. The occasion of that accident, which is term-
ed catching cold, seems to be an unsuitable too sudden, or too long continued exposure of the body, or any part thereof, to the bracing influence of the external air, by which the emunctories, outlets or pores of the skin, serv- ing to eliminate the invisible perspiration, or steam, are astringed and closed, and the perspi- rable matter repelled into the habit. A trans- |
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CATARRH. 9&
lation of the obstructed matter to Sneider's
membrane, usually happens sooner or latter, if that be not primarily affected ; at least the nos- trils are the common channel for the discharge of catarrh. Sneider, the cotemporary of Har- vey, first described the pituitary membrane, or web, which lines the nose, palate, and oesopha- gus, and is.filled with small glands, secreting a slimy liquor, whence, and not from the brain, proceeds the running at the nose in a cold. In a local cold, some particular part of the body only, which may have been accidentally ex- posed, is affected, and the tension, inflamma- tion, and pain, are confined to that part; should a portion of the morbid matter remain unab- sorbed, or strictures be brought upon the ves- sels by repeated cold-strokes, the disease, in process of time, becomes chronic, and then as- sumes the appellation of rheumatism. The new medical school has, it seems, re-
jected the ancient theory of the origin of catarrh, from obstructed perspiration. I can scarcely comprehend the scope of Dr. Beddoes' inten- tion, when he informs us, that he has repeatedly turned a horse out by night, in the winter season, from the warm stable into the fields, and taken him up again the next, or following day, without any preceptible change in his state of body ; nor withhold my wonder when he as- |
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94 CATARRH*
serts, we want experiments of the effects-, of
such treatment; these, God knows, have ever been in such plenty, from the indolence and stupidity of mankind, that the most diligent observer of symptoms need not be at a loss. The doctor's horse tailing to catch cold, goes no farther in contravention of the general principle, than does the circumstance of some person's escaping the infection of the plague and small-pox, in proving those not to be con- tagious diseases. I have been much more lucky at cold-catching than Dr. Beddoes, and have witnessed a multitude of experiments with horses similar to his, which have been attended with all possible success; producing defluxions from the eyes and nose, inflamed and swelled glands, staring coat, fever and loss of appetite. The common methochts medendi, adopted by the country people in this case is " to let them run it off," and sometimes it runs into the true glanders, an instance of which was related to me a short time past. Dr. Beddoes has also adopted the notion,
that sudden transition 'from heat to cold is less productive of catarrhal affections than the change from cold to heat; a notion which from diligent observation (and if personal experience ought to claim any attention, few have a right to boast of greater than myself in the course of |
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CATARRH. 95
twenty or thirty years) appears to me totally
paradoxical and groundless. Not that I mean to deny the consequence in any case, but I be- lieve it to be generally where the heat is too soon succeeded by cold, and there I apprehend lies the deception. When cold is succeeded by a sudden warmth of temperature which is steady and permanent, no particular tendency to rheums is ever observable. Colds, it is evi- dent, are most generally caught in cold and changeable seasons ; and inflammations of the head, throat, or chest, and in general, croupy affections, which obstinately defy all remedies with the wind in a cold and nipping quarter, will be instantly mitigated, and most probably cease, on a change of the wind, and a succes- sion of warm weather. Can as much be pre- dicated of the converse of the proposition ? In No. 5 of the Hygeia, or Essays on Health,
by Dr. Beddoes, a work abounding in useful and practical observation, are to be found cer- tain opinions and assertions, which the Doctor will find it no very easy task to support. He observes, " the opinion prevalent among the " faculty and the public was not only erroneous " concerning the production of these diseases, " but directly led to the most dangerous ma- ** nagement. Within these few years the mys- "' tery, so long hidden, was unveiled by the |
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Qd catarrh,
" sagacity of Dr. John Brown, of Edinburgh*
" an author of powerful genius*—The discovery " deserves to be regarded as one of the most " ingenious and happy combinations ever " formed by the human mind, and in relation " to these islands, perhaps, eventually the most " useful recorded in the annals of medicine \" This wonderful discovery, it seems, is, that the complaints in the membranes of the head* wind-pipe, and chest, which properly deserve the name of hot or inflammatory catarrh, are not owing simply to cold, but to the concur- rent action of cold and heat, or stimuli equiva- lent to heat. Persons in the habit of medical reading, and familiarized, in consequence, with the ever-varying phrases of medical hypothesis, and the slippery nature of opinion, absolutely lose the faculty of wondering, which else must be excited in a powerful degree by assertions like these. Allowing the genius of Brown* (whether it tended to the verum and the utile is another question) where are we to find even the semblance of novelty in the doctrine above stated? Who, that ever heard, read, or has been personally sensible of the effects of ca- tarrh, could possibly remain ignorant of the usual, and frequently necessary association of heat and cold in that disease ? What wonder, that heat, a necessary consequence of obstruc- |
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CATARRH. 97
tion, should be found among the sy-rhptoms of
a disease, itself originating in obstruction ? Per- haps it will be found, that Brown, prone to generalizing, was not equally well grounded in the philosophy of exception ; and I submit to the learned, whether the new terms he coined convey any other than old and well- known ideas, and whether such ideas are not expressed with a far superior correctness and power of discrimination in the usual and esta- blished medical phraseology ? I desire infor- mation—Was John Brown any thing more than an ingenious sophist, who set up with a stock of new phrases* not a whit too precise, on the ground of which he reared a new praxis, equally deficient in precision, and productive of the most temerarious and dangerous er- rors ? At any rate, there can be no pretence of
Brunonian novelty in the treatment of frozen limbs, by the previous washing them with snow and cold water; but surely Dr. Beddoes was rather off his guard, in recommending, that in catarrh " the analogy of frozen limbs should " be strictly followed." Would the Doctor in this case advise ice-creams, against which he had already declaimed so violently, or large potations of snow-water? Had he so soon for- gotten his own maxim, a page or two backwards vol. ii, H |
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$S C ATA RRile
" that no person already chilled is fit to eri-
" counter a more chilling medium ?"—that " the chill requires liquids (as wine and water) " above the temperature of the human body, " and indeed as warm as can be conveniently ** swallowed. In case of a chilly seizure, from " the unwary use and application of cold wa- " ter, very hot liquids, taken till the contrary *' sensation arises, would probably prevent all " injurious consequences." There is a strict analogy between this " chill" of Dr. Beddoes and the cold species of catarrh, and by his al- lowance, or rather absolute recommendation of, warm and even hot remedies, he has obviously given up all for which he was contending. On the treatment of the frozen limb, I might have remarked, that the analogy between external and internal remedies is bv no means strict; that even in the case quoted, heat is the desi- deratum, but can only be admitted with safety by degrees, for the most obvious reasons. The case of Dr. Hamilton's boy, cured of an inci- pient catarrh, by lying abroad all night, and that of the beggar, prove nothing but the ma- nifest truth, that there are exceptions to gene- ral rules. The fact is notorious, that many keepers of post-horses have been in the habit of washing them whilst in the most ardent and intense perspiration, all over with cold water,.. |
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CATARRH. 99
and that they have persisted in such practice,
many years together, with impunity; I demand of Drs. Beddoes and Hamilton, whether in consequence of those instances, they would re- commend such practice? Dr. Darwin says " the uses of the perspirable
" matter are to keep the skin soft and pliant, *' &c—yet has this cutaneous mucus been be- ** lieved by many to be an excrement; and I *' know not how many fanciful theories have " been built upon its supposed obstruction. " Such as the origin of catarrhs, coughs, in* M flammations," &c. He observes farther, " that the. ancient Grecians oiled themselves M all over, that some nations have painted *' themselves all over, that the Hottentots smear " themselves all over with grease, that many " of our own heads are at this day covered with " flour and fat, according to the tyranny of a * filthy and wasteful fashion, without this in- " convenience, and that there is a strict analo- " gy between the uses of the perspirable matter " and the mucous fluids, which are poured, for "{ several purposes, upon all the internal mem- ■*' branes of the body." In answer to all this, it may. be said that it
is by no means material to the purpose, whe- ther the perspirable fluid be excrementitious or *iot, since it is evinced by the constant experi- H 2
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100 CATARRH.
ence of the senses, that under certain circum-
stances, and in certain degrees, cold will have the invariable effect of closing the cuticular pores, and of obstructing or preventing the emission of fluid, which obstruction always produces morbid sensations in the body, and usually a discharge from the nostrils: and it is to be presumed whenever the mucous fluids are obstructed internally (the bile for example) such obstruction also produces morbid effects. That a.fair analogy of the subject does not subsist with those instances, which the doctor has ad- duced by way of illustration, since nobody pre- tends that oleous, warming, and consequently relaxing applications, will have the effect of closing the pores, on the contrary, it is rather to be expected that all such, by their warmth or suppling quality, will have an effect directly opposite; and it will be found by experience, that to powder and dress the hair is a remedy of considerable efficacy in a fresh contracted cold. A lady of my acquaintance, just got up from her lying-in, imprudently exposed her head by combing out all the tangles of her hair. She had scarcely finished before she was seized with a tightness of the skin all over her head and throat, a sharp sense of cold in those parts, and great pain; these symptoms were |
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soon accompanied with considerable dischar
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CATARRH. 101
at the nose, and inflammation of the parotid
glands. Fortunately, a doctor was at hand, in the person of the hair-dresser, who prescribed, as he pretended from frequent experience, a large quantity of powder and pomatum, to be applied instantly. This was accordingly exe- cuted, and the patient assured me she felt the stricture taken off the skin, and the obstruc- tion immediately removed by the comfortable warmth and relaxent effect ensuing the appli- cation. I am as little disposed to agree with Dr,
Darwin in the sentiment, that the use of pow- der and pomatum upon the head, is " a filthy " and wasteful fashion." I entertain a totally contrary opinion, in favour of which I think I have sufficient reasons to.urge, but they would be out of place here; I will only remark, that it appears to me, most of our popular writers have failed upon the subject of luxury, in the same manner, and for similar reasons, as upon the question of monopoly. Let not the Reader accuse me of arrogance,
in presuming to question so great and respect- able professional authorities as Darwin and JJeddoes, since no man, or set of men are, or ever were infallible; since 1 follow other autho- rities equally great, and since the matter is fairly within the province of common sense. |
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302 CATARRH.
With regard, to catching cold, horses domes*
ticated, and men, are much upon an equality, that it is very easy to judge from sympathy in what circumstances, and upon what occasions* the animals are liable. Some of the most com" mon, and truly the most proper causes of ca- tarrh are the following: New, - unaired stables8 change of stable from warm to cold, doors or windows suddenly thrown open, continued so at unseasonable times, and currents of air im- properly admitted; exposure to the night air; being suffered to stand still in the cold air im- mediately from a hot stable, or when in a state of perspiration] the unnatural practice of washing horses in such a state, with cold wa- ter, at any season; sudden turning out to grass from warm keeping; damp body .cloths, or saddie pads. It is to the interest of every proprietor, how-
ever poor, to be provided with some kind of covering to throw over his horse's loins, on any sudden transition from heat to cold; it must also be remembered, that a horse which works and runs at grass, in cold seasons more particularly, ought never to he curried, which renders his body too susceptible of impression from the air; such should only be rubbed with wisps. Should a horse take cold at grass, it is infinitely better to house him :by night in a |
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CATARRH. 103
state of moderate warmth, and allow a few
mashes and warm water, from which treatment he will most probably be ready t» brave the weather again, in a sound and healthy state, in the course of a few days, rather than suffer him to languish amid the damps of the soil, with a running at the nose which may continue for months. The usual objection to this prac- tice is, that it induces a tender habit, which argument is also much used against clothing horses in colds; but I have always observed, that the animal body, under the influence of obstructed perspiration, is still more liable to an accession or increase of catarrh from that very account, and by no means so much so, ajter the disease has subsided, and the vessels are less dis- tended, which is an answer to the objection in both cases. Horses which are exposed to all weathers,
but which have still caught cold, and yet can- not be spared from their constant duty, ought, on the first appearance of the disease, to have clothing allowed during their labour, to lose some blood, to have nitre in their water every night, and a cordial ball drink. This is the unfortunate description of horses which is des- tined to undergo all the dreadful evils of ne- glected and accummulated catarrh—cough, |
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I
104 . , CATARRH.
pleurisy, asthma, yellows, rheumatism, glan-»
ders, consumption. On the confirmed appearance of cold, lame-
ness, wound, or indeed any malady of conse- quence, the chances are infinitely in favour of withdrawing a horse instantly, and putting him in the way of a speedy cure. I can set down and calculate on this head, to my sorrow, from experience, I have too long known the vanity of reason-
ing in opposition to prejudice, supposed interest, and present convenience, to hope even for a hearing against the practice of washing post- horses, when in a high state of perspiration, with cold water. I shall be immediately stop- ped short with the old argument of experience. Thus the statesman, who upholds a fictitious and unnatural order of society, by the help of the gibbet and the sword, tells you with the utmost gravity, that although possibly, such a system may not be justifiable upon the princi- ples of abstract right and theoretic truth; yet that it is practically right and true, he is ready to prove from experience. But human expe- rience is equivocal and fallacious, whilst truth and principle never change. It is truth, that all sudden and violent extremes are against na- ture, and the universal reason of things, and therefore of improper use, and ultimate ill sue, |
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CATARRH. 105
cess; but the few exceptions are laid hold of
by present interest or whim, and upon these is erected a deceitful experience. A man tells me, he has been in the constant habit for many years of washing bis horses with cold water, or even of plunging them into a river, when in the highest degree of heat from labour, and that such practice has with him been successful. I answer, he is much more liable to commit an error than nature. The animal body may be compelled by force to endure the most improT per and ultimately injurious treatment; the horse has not the power of describing his pain, his signals of complaintand distress are answered by the whip; his increasing maladies are un- heeded, he is driven onward, until outraged and overburdened nature sinks outright. No conclusions worthy ot dependance can be drawn from a few apparently successful instances, and it accords with general and rational experience, that the eommon and destructive maladies of post-horses are known to arise from alternate extremes of heat and cold; and that colds with them do not -always find a vent at the nostrils, but their effects remain latent for a considerable time, in different parts of the body. It is an jll-judged speculation to double the common risks of hackney horses for the sake of support- ing a lame hypothesis, or of saving a little la- |
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I B$ 6ATARRH.
hour. Examples of ih.e fatal effects of exposing
the animal body, whether human or brute, in this way, are innumerable. It is well known to cost the lives of a vast number of Russians annually, and to debilitate and gradually con- sume most of those who are addicted to it. At the famous stables of Chantilly, before the revolution, some of the finest English horses were annually sacrificed by this cold immersion; and it has been reported of the horses which were killed in the flight of Louis to Varetmes, that their death was rather occa- sioned by improper treatment afterwards, than by the sudden effects of fast driving. I have reason to believe, that the ablution of new born infants in cold water, has caused the death of many. I know not in what degree this insane practice may obtain, but that such practice does exist, I have sufficient information. A child of my own was killed by it, shewing the most evident indication of the cause of that obstruc- tion, which induced convulsions and death. A similar accident happened in a French family in my neighbourhood, as I was lately informed by the nurse; there is also a certain lady now living, who has been blind from the day of her birth, having lost her sight from the same treat- ment. |
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CATARRH. 107
I had nearly forgotten to describe a new
method of cold-catching in the human animal, of which the public in general may not be aware. It is from the religious cold-bath. It was that aquatic sect among us, who, according to Butler, " Dive like wild-fowl for salvation,
" And fish to catch regeneration." who first rnade the valuable and important dig*
covery, that John ought not to be called the baptist, but the dipper and the sprinkler; ac* cordingly, the doctors among them hold it pros- per to brace up the religious zeal of their pa- .tients, with a good catholic souse of the naked, body in cold water. Now, whether for want of faith, as the holy ones never fail to plead, in case ot ill-hap, or fponi what other cause it may proceed, this cold-bathing the soul for it£ health, has sometimes proved fatal to its partner the body. Not long since, a woman whom I personally knew, died from the ill-consequence^ of this religious freak. Instantly on her return home from John the dipper's soul-sprinkling cold-bath, she complained of an oppression ajt her stomach and breast; she became gradually consumptive, and held out about a year and half. 1 &3V§ since hear.d pf a .similar acci- |
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108 CATARRH.
dent, but the patient is in a convalescent
state. The common symptoms of a cold in a horse,
in its first stage, are well known—cough, dis- charge of lymph, or water from the eyes and nostrils, and occasionally hanging down the head. If attended to at first, as it ever ought in this land of rheums, at any rate in cold sea- sons, the disease will immediately submit; a few days, or even a single day's warm treat- ment in the stable, a little additional clothing, warm water and mashes generally do the busi- ness; the vessels being relieved from a super- fluous load, will contract, and the horse will not be liable to relapse, on exposure to the air. Spirit, or salt of hartshorn, in warm ale, sweetened with syrup of poppies, given twice a day, is an excellent medicine on the first attack of cold catarrh ; but great eare ought to be had that the dose of hartshorn be not too large, lest it excoriate the throat of the horse and choke him. Two or three table spoonfuls of the spirit may be given for a dose, in a quart or three pints of beer: a proper judgment may be made by the taste of the drench. Or fresh ground ginger, two to four drachms, is a good substitute for the hartshorn. See Index for an excellent R. of this class, |
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CATARRH. 109
Should the disease, either from neglect, the
common cause, or sudden accident, be of a more confirmed and serious nature; should there be a considerable discharge from the nos- trils, an inflammation of the glands under the jaws, attended with loss of appetite; medical aid must be called in, or the business may be very tedious, beside the risk of leaving in the constitution, the seeds of certain of the most dangerous chronic diseases. In catarrh, the first and grand consideration
is, whether the patient be chilly or feverish, in the language of the ancients, whether the dis- ease arise from a hot or a cold cause; a dis- tinction which Bartlet has not made, who in- veighed so much against the hot method of practice in colds"; for these cases require a di- rectly opposite treatment: in the first, you can scarcely load on too much clothing, or prescribe medicines of too warm and volatile a nature, since it is your intent to create a temporary fever, in order to fuse or dissolve the coagulated lymph, and bring the disease to a crisis: but in the latter case, when the symptomatic fever already exists, and perhaps in a considerable degrc \ such practice would be very hazardous, and cooling diuretic medicines with venesection are clearly indicated, I shall begin with the |
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110 CAfAARE.
cure of this latter case, or cold attended with
fever. Mr. Blaine's objection's to my pathology in
this disease appear to arise from two causes; a inistatement of my ideas, and his want of prac- tical observation on catarrh. He ought to have said, the same disease with opposite symptoms, instead of, " the same disease with the same " symptoms," That catarrh is sometimes at- tended with chills, rigours, and a low pulse, and at others with fever and inflammation, re- quiring an opposite treatment in each, and that the animal body, under the influence of ob- structed perspiration, is still more liable to an accession or increase of catarrh, from that very account, I had conceived to be too open to every one's observation to suppose them any discovery of mine: that such, however, are the facts, I cannot hesitate to aver without giving tip the constant evidence of my senses. As to the hot cause of catarrh, according to the an- cient pathology, Mr. Blaine should at no rate have objected, considering his apparent in^ clination to the new theory of Dr. Beddoes and others already adverted to; besides, why not a variety of types in catarrh as well- as in fever? Mr. Blaine, in the character of Pro- fessor, says a We therefore give now no cor- ** dials." I would wish to say modestly, where- 2
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CATARRH. Ill
fore tee, on the contrary, do still occasional!/
give cordials—because nature herself has esta- blished their use, and practice continues to sanction it. Even the old-fashioned cordial- hall is still found a convenient stimulant and deobstruent. But enough may be found in my books against the frequent abuses of medicines of this class by grooms and farriers. That cordials should have the particular ef-
fect of throwing coagulable lymph into the trachea, seems rather a fanciful notion; nor is is it probable that such common effect consti- tutes what is styled a roarer', since, in that case, roarers would be much more frequent. Of the nose-bag in a cold, one of our late im- provements, as I have never experienced its use, I can only say, speculatively, that I take it to be a very convenient vehicle, from which the horse may swallow the largest possible quan- tity of discharge, or stand the best chance to be suffocated in a lit of coughing. The pre- tended danger of a recourse to sneezing pow- ders, granting them to be moderately used, I believe to be groundless, and I can speak from sufficiently frequent trials of their efficacy in certain cases. But to return- It is generally good practice to bleed at the commencement, which ought to be repeated in a few days, if fever and fullness of the vfessels |
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11$ CATARRH.
indicate the necessity. Give the following, in
one or two balls, twice or thrice a day, allow- ing plenty of warm gruel or white water, which should be poured down with the horn, if the horse refuse it: Nitre and cremor tartar, of each one ounce; juniper berries fresh and good, powdered, one ounce; Spanish liquorice melted, half an ounce, or enough to sweeten with; work them up with liquorice powder or flour. This medicine may be given in gruel or ale, if a drink be preferred, and an addition made to the quantities if requireYl. In either of these methods you are certain the horse has his me» dicine; which is by no means the case when you trust to infusions in his water, or to ingre- dients thrown upon, or mixed with his mashes, which are frequently rejected and lost. Some horses also with delicate stomachs will not touch a mash, in which any medicine has been mixed. There is, however, great inconvenience, and even danger, in forcing any medicine down a horse's throat, when he is much troubled with a cough; and the utmost tenderness and pre* caution ought to be used. Observe that the cloths be not damp, or bard with dirt and sweat; in regular stables, clean washed cloths should be reserved for these occasions, or new made use of, well aired. Woollen cloth is a specific for opening the pores; the stimulus of |
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CATARRH. 113
the points of wool, according to Dr. Darwin,
acting upon the skim Should the throat be much swelled and inflamed, it will be necessary to keep the hood on in the stable; and the > glands may be bathed well two or three times in the day with camphorated spirits, or spirit of hartshorn with a small quantity of oil. Ail possible attention should be paid to cleanliness, and straw kept in the manger to receive the discharge from the horse's nose. No hay, or other food, should be suffered to remain and become tainted with his breath. In case of damp weather, or cold searching wind, the horse ought not to stir out of the stable; but if fine, he may be walked out an hour, in the middle of the day, well clothed, and with his hood. Dr. Bracken relates his success in run- ning a horse a four mile sweat, in order to bring the cold to a crisis, but I never tried it; and should think it a hazardous experiment. The Doctor's prescription for increasing the dis- charge, when the horse may be heavy headed, from the matter being locked up, and not find- ing a free course, is half an ounce of the dried leaves of the herb asara bacca, white hellebore one drachm; powder fine, and keep it corked up. Blow a small quantity of this snufFthrough. a quill, up the nostrils, two or three times a day. The universal concussion occasioned by vol. ii, J |
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114 CATARRH,
the act of sneezing, has considerable effect in
opening obstructions, and is usually succeeded by a favourable glow. The above method I have always found suc-
cessful, in cases of no higher consequence than those described; and the medicines recom- mended of equal efficacy with those of greater expence, or consisting of more numerous arti- cles. It is necessary to give a caution against impatience, and against the hazard of a relapse, from putting the horse to work before the run- ning at the nose has ceased, and his appetite is re-established; a part of the morbid matter be- ing left in the vessels may be translated to some bowel, whence it may be impossible afterwards to dislodge it. If the discharge has been con- siderable, the horse must have swallowed much of it with his meat; on that account, and for the sake of cleansing the habit of any relic of the disease, give, a lew days after he shall have recovered of. the catarrh, an aloetic purge; or a mercurial one, if a grossness and foulness of body should require it. The fever running high» with violent heaving
of the flanks, indicating great commotion of the blood, rattling in the throat, with loud strong cough; all cordial drenches, or balls compounded of faot seeds, ought to be avoided, as tkey occasion a dangerous increase of the 5 |
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CAfARfiH. 115
fever. Cooling, aperient, and diuretic drinks,
similar to those already recommended, must be the dependance here ; nor must the horse be overburdened with cloths. The giving hot spicy drenches, in this case, is a usual error of the farriers, who, judging in a right line, that cold and heat are opposites; and the horse having a cold, think they cannot do better than to ply him with heat. On the contrary, should the horse's blood
seem chilled, with cold breath, cold extremi- ties, and little discharge from the nose, it will be necessary to allow plenty of clothing, and to exhibit warm cordial and stimulating medicines; perhaps in this case, bleeding may be omitted. The common cordial ball, I have generally found of equal efficacy with the other forms recommended; variety of which however will be found in this Chapter. Comfortable malt mashes will be required. Should the cold have been contracted from the horse b ing long ex- posed to the weather, when heated with violent exercise, or from passing deep waters in that state, and the limbs become swelled, stiff, nnd inactive; an addition of two drachms of camphor to the cordial drink; will render it more penetrating. After this class of medi- cines shall have had a successful operation, the cure .may be completed with cooling diuretics I 2
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1X6 CATARRH.
as above, or they may be used alternately ac-
cording to symptoms. It behoves me to state, that I have frequently seen errors committed on both sides the question : in cold catarrh, by the too early exhibition of saline and refrigerating medicines, merely from the affectation of a new and more refined method of practice, by which the disease has been prolonged, and the patient (human or brute) needlessly kept in a weak and aguish state many days. I have more than once made the blunder myself. In the above case, whether of common cold
or influenza, and even supposing some degree of fever, the following form has perhaps had as great success as any, at least in my hands. G ive the horse, in a quart of warm ale, two or three table spoons full of volatile aromatic spirit, nearly the same quantity of laudanum, or two scruples of opium, with two drachms of puri- fied nitre : sweeten with honey or sugar. Re- peat this morning and evening, for several days, as there may be occasion. It is a good medi- cine in weak cases. The symptomatic cough generally ceases
with the original disease, indeed always, in case of a perfect cure; but should the cough be very frequent and troublesome, from violent irritation of the humours about the root of the tongue, and along the windpipe; the following |
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CATARRH. 117
lubricating drink will be of use, and may be
given a pint or two at a time, blood-warm, at discretion. The pectoral infusion to ease the
cough. Raisins stoned, half a pound; liquor- ice root, split, or bruised, three ounces; white liore-houhd, three ounces; linseed, two ounces:, nitre, two ounces; infuse in four or five quarts boiling water, and let the whole stand covered up two or three hours ; strain off, without pres- sing, for use. It is evident that balls, in this case, can be of
very small topical use, but that a drink has a more lasting contact with, and acts more power- fully upon the seat of the complaint; the above is free from the old objection of being too oily and clogging, and I can recommend it from, experience. Lemon juice, or solution of cre- mor tartar, may be added, if thought necessary. This infusion, proportionally reduced in quan- tity, is a most excellent remedy for hoarseness in human patients. To allay the tickling cough in horses, and
heal inward soreness, Solution of gum Arabic, or tragacanth, with honey are used : also infu- sion of linseed, tar, oxymel of squills, &c. Catarrh is of proportionate strength to the
degree of cold taken, and its astrictive force «pon the cuticular absorbents. Thus some- |
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113 CATARRH.
times so violent a shock, or cold-stroke is re-
ceived, as fo cause a spasmodic contraction of the muscles, in the parts immediately affected, the spasm by sympathy extending to various ether parts. I can best illustrate this, by the description of a case from my memorandums, which came under my notice in September 1794. A large black cart gelding, of an irri- table and choleric habit, being too much ex- posed to the wet and cold, particularly the night air, in a hard job of scavenger's work, was seized very suddenly with illness, on being taken out of the shafts. His jaw became fixed, his tail set out, and his hinder legs extended very wide. He had a universal rigour and shiver- ing; with a considerable motion in his flanks. It soon appeared that the cramp or contraction extended from his jaws, along the vertebrae of the neck and back, and also along the muscles of the belly on each side from bis elbow to his sheath, which were considerably enlarged. He recovered the use of his jaws, 1 believe, the next day, probably from the mere warmth of the stable. The eighth day all the remaining symptoms continued, with frequent attempts to stale, the urine coming in drops, with much pain, the kidr>eys and bladder having been pri- marilv affi.cted, or since by translation. An intermittent puhc, never high. Much slaver |
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CATARRH. 119
from the jaws, the passages of the head being
intirely obstructed. Staring coat, tolerable appetite, neither costive nor otherwise. Th,e horse was fit to go to work again, in about eight weeks; he was under the care of a farrier, and the bill, I was informed, amounted to about fifty shillings. I conversed much with the doctor, but his discourse was so wild, that I could not possibly discover from it any certain rule of judging or prescribing in the case, but he assured me generally, that he had made cures in many similar cases, although his skill was as nothing to that of his father, who could cure all diseases whatever, either of cows, horses, or christians. With very vague ideas of the nature and cause of the disease, this man treated the horse in some respects judiciously enough, according to that random intuitive kind of practice by which all these empirics are dis- tinguished. He rowelled the horse, and bits- tered his flanks, to which I think the cure is to be attributed; for according to the best ob- servation I could make, and to enquiries of the horse-keeper, the internal medicines exhibited had very small effect, unless perhaps in retard- ing the cure. Sometimes it was reported in the stable, that
the horse was about to have the farcy, .at others, that his disorder had arisen from a |
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120 CATARRH.
strain in the loins; but all agreed that many
horses had been lost, or fallen into incurable complaints, in a similar case. My own opinion at the instant was, that in the first place, the horse would have been infinitely more safe in the hands of a skilful surgeon, and also that the cure might so have been performed in much less time, and with less injury to the condition of the animal. This hint I hope will not be thrown away. About two years previous, I had persona]
experience of this kind of malady. At a cer- tain Inn at Hounslow, they put me into damp sheets. In about an hour, I awaked from a most frightful dream, in which was represented to my troubled imagination, a scene like the fabled hell of poets and poetical writers. I found myself in a burning fever, and instantly guessing the cause, I jumped out of bed, tore .-away: the sheets, and then wound myself up, head and all, so completely in the blankets, as to leave only a small aperture to breathe from. In that comfortable situation I did not forget the landlady und her maids, to whom I most piously wished a real estate, in just such a country as I had lately viewed in imagination. IW several weeks I had a constant chilliness upon me, and an extreme susceptibility of fresh cold; then a tumour in the armrpit, with |
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CATARRH. 121
a contraction of the muscles of the breast and
arm, the sinews being corded to the elbow- Tried mercurial unction, which induced inflam- mation without any benefit, an effect I have often observed. New flannel, and camphor- ated spirits, made a cure in about three weeks, and I thought myself extremely fortunate to escape so cheaply. As to the curative intentions of this acute
rheumatism in the horse, they consist first, in embrocating the parts affected, proper pre- scriptions for which will be found amongst the following forms : in bleeding, if the state of the body will permit, in giving warm and stimu- lating medicines, with nitrous and acidulated, drinks, and in rowels and topical blisters. Where such convenience can be had, the warm bath for twenty minutes should precede every other means, the horse being rubbed bone dry, and well clothed; this may be re- peated once or twice a day; it must be a so- vereign remedy in all colds, but requires much beyond ordinary care. Even a warm bath for the legs, as high as possible, the fore legs first, then the hinder, whilst the fore ones are rub- bing dry, the water being kept constantly in a good steaming heat, without annoying the horse., will bave great effect. The water may |
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122 EPIDEMIC COLDS.
be medicated, with decoctions of herbs of a
softening and relaxing nature. THE EPIDEMIC COLD, OR INFLUENZA,
Arising from atmospheric contagion, is too well
known, both in its cause, and diagnostic symp- toms, to need a very particular description. It is generally supposed infectious, or communi- cable from one horse to another, and although I entertain some doubts on that head, I should certainly recommend to separate the infected horses from those as yet untouched by the dis- ease. The general treatment already described, must be persevered in, but with still greater attention to warmth about the head and throat, and to cleanliness in respect to the discharge, which may be very copious. Care must be taken, in case of syringing the nostrils, that the membrane be not abraded with sharp and stimulating injections, which may induce puru- lent ulcerations, of worse consequence than the original disease. Should the fever be con- siderable, with little or no discharge from the nose, or with retention of urine, and nature seem much oppressed, and unable to throw off the load at any outlet, antimonials and power- ful diaphoretics are indicated. When the dis- |
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EPIDEMIC €0£DS. 125
ease has taken this turn, the fever will some-
times run so high, that the flesh of the horse will feel burning hot, and he will refuse all sustenance, nor attempt to lie down until a critical discharge shall happen somewhere: this crisis may come in the form of hot watery eruptions or blisters, in tumours under the elbow or hock, or collections of water along the belly, near the inguinal glands, which the farriers, who shake up cause and effect, disease and symptoms, in the bag together, denominate the water farcy. Nature having proceeded thus far in her work, nothing remains for the practitioner but to assist her gently with cool- ing diuretics, and as occasion may require, re- laxent glysters. VARIOUS FORMS.
No. 1, Infusion fob a feesh cor.D>
and cough, from Gibson. Take hyssop, colt-foot, penny-royal, and horehound, of each, a handful; six cloves of fresh garlic, peeled and cut small, linseed, and fresh aniseed powdered, each one ounce; liquorice half an ounce ; saf- fron one drachm; infuse in two quarts boiling water close covered; warm a quart ot this in- fusion, and dissolve in it four ounces of honey, to be given fasting, letting the horse stand two hours before he has meat or water. Scabious, |
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• ■ ' ■ ' the canrun: ' - -nS
cuminin^ coriander, fennel, &c. are used
in this intention. No. 2. A COMMON INFUSION OR COOL-
ING drink. Take groundsel, ground-ivy, rue, rosemary, mallows, balm, sage, parsley, or as many of them, or of similar qualities, as are at hand, of each a double handful, corn poppies one handful, boil in five quarts of soft water to three—strain and sweeten with honey or treacle. The chief use of infusions and de- coctions of the medicinal herbs, is as vehicles and auxiliaries. Taplin had surely some reason hi styling the favourite herbs of our good old grandmothers, botanical deceptives. No. 3. The Cordial Powder. Ani-
seeds, elicampane, liquorice, bay-berries, grains of paradise, juniper-berries, stone-brimstone, equal quantities finely powdered. Mix well and keep close corked for use. The dose from one to three ounces, in warm ale sweetened with honey, or balls made with honey or treacle. This medicine is of great use, when a horse is first seized with a shivering fit, refusing his food, and breaking out in clammy cold sweats; it may be repeated several times, at six or eight hours interval. Or, cummin-seeds, half a pound; bay-berries, and Jamaica pepper, each four ounces; myrrh, two ounces; cloves, one |
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EPIDEMIC COLDS. 125
ounce; powder fine and mix, stop close. Said
to have succeeded often in cases of cold water being drank, when the horse was in a state of perspiration. Perhaps the same quantity of fresh powdered ginger, may be an advan- tageous substitute for both the pepper and cloves, and whenever brimstone is ordered, I give it merely on old authority, having no expe- rience of it, being more efficacious in any intent than sulphur. Garlic is still held a power- ful specific, by some country horse doctors. No. 4. The Pectoral Ball from Brac-
ken. Take half a pound of No. 3, or of the common cordial ball, two ounces fresh hoglice or millipedes, (or salt of amber, or of tartar, or of hartshorn, four drachms) one ounce milk sulphur; half an ounce of cold species of gum tragacanth; balsam of Tolu in fine powder, one ounce; chio turpentine half an ounce; syrup of balsam enough to form the balls. Give half an ounce to three quarters twice a day, before going out to exercise. This ball is much re- commended by the doctor, and is well calcu- lated for a horse which has contracted a fresh cOid and cough, but is sufficiently in spirits and vigour, to be able to work it off in bis ex- ercise. It is very proper for a horse in train- ing; Or, A geod defensive or cleansing ball «*ay be made, by adding to any form of cordial |
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J£6 EPIDEMIC COlDS*
ball, squill?* Barbadoes tar, and Castile soap,
each about a quarter of the quantity of the cardial mixture. No 5. Liniment for spasms, or con-
tractions prom cold. Mix goose-grease, or any penetrating oil, with spirits doubly camphorated, rub thoroughly the muscles af- fected three times a day. a quarter of an hour each time. Oil of turpentine would be most proper, but unless previously boiled, it will fetch off the hair. Or, Nerve ointment and oil of bays, of each two ounces ; camphor rub- bed fine one ounce; rectified oil of amber three ounces. Mix. No. 6. Perspirative Powder from
Bartlet. Purified opium, ipecacuhan root, and liquorice, in powder, one ounce each; nitre and tartar of vitriol, of each four ounces. Mix well and stop close. Join from three to four drachms of this powder, with a drachm of camphor, and give it in a ball made up with treacle, night and morning, clothing very care- fully. No. 7. Or, Nitre and stone-brimstone half
an ounce^each; camphor one drachm; tartar emetic one drachm. Ball with treacle. No. 8. The Antimonial Beer. Glass
of antimony finely powdered, eight ounces, strong beer one gallon, infuse in a stone bottle |
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RHEUMATISM, lit
a fortnight, shaking well every da}'. Give one
pint of this in a little warm ale and -treacle, twice a day as long as needful. It has a most powerful effect upon the whole vascular system, promoting all the animal secretions, and should be kept ready for use. Or, for a hasty occa- sion, two or three drachms of antimonial pow- der, as in No. S, in a drink of strong beer, or ale, sweetened with treacle, twice or thrice a day. For other antimonial medicines, proper in colds attended with much fever, see Fever. |
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RHEUMATISM
Has been already defined a chronic local
cold. Its seat is among the integuments of the muscles, and according to Dr. Darwin, it con- sists of inspissated mucus left upon then fascia*, paining them when they move, and rub against it, like any extraneous material. It is proba- ble, the sciatica, or hip-gout in horses, is merely a rheumatism, at least there is no danger m confounding them, since their cure will be the same. J)r. Bracken says, the rheumatism is properly a disorder of the strong and robust, by which, I suppose, he meant, that the vigo- rous muscular contractions of such are most retentive of the morbid humour; but as similar |
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128 rheumatism.
effects sometimes happen from opposite eauses^
the disease may remain fixed in a weak habit; from deficient irritability, and insufficient ener- gy in the fibrous actions to cast it off In truth, I have seen chronic rheumatism suffi- ciently often in lax habits. As to the curative intentions, every one will be aware of the ne- cessary discrimination; bold measures may succeed with the former; with the constitutions of the latter class, the practitioner will not allow himself to make so free. The grand difficulty lies in ascertaining the
disease, which is sometimes vagous in different parts of the body; the shoulders are often af- fected; but that confirmed species particularly designed here, is usually seated in and about the hip-joint and membranes adjacent. The horse goes lame, from no visible cause, but from a long continuance of the disease a wast- ing of the parts may ensue. The sight and touch must determine the case, distinguishing it from lameness in the foot, the tendon, the hock or stifle, or from the pains occasioned by initient spavins, or curbs. Could certainty be produced, no method would be attended with so probable a chance of a radical cure, as the actual cautery; holes being bored with a small iron, very deep into the muscular parts near the nervus sciaticus, and the issues close covered, |
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RHEUMATISM. 129
&* blistered, left to discharge a considerable
time. Bracken, who was equally a bold and judicious practitioner, recommends this to hu- man patients, and records the cure of an inve- terate sciatica by this method, upon a jolly hostess of Yorkshire, The cure. Bleed. Rub the parts affected
with spirits well camphorated, and oil, or ox- gall mixed, twice a day, keeping on, if possible a thick woolly bandage, well soaked in the mixture. A mercurial purge. A week after, the antimonial beer, to be continued three weeks or longer, the horse kept constantly well clothed, with walking exercise twice a day, the weather permitting. Warm bath, with much friction of the parts, afterwards swimming in a river occasionally. But the only cure to be depended upon, in
my opinion, is a month's run at salt marshes in the Spring, and being continued abroad in some shady place till Autumn; afterwards mercurial physic, and the best stable care. Embrocation" from Bracken. Nerve oint-
ment, and soldiers ointment, two ounces; cam- phor, two drachms; oil of turpentine, and oil of Peter, each three drachms; spirit of sal am- moniac, two drachms. Mix well and keep in a Pot stopped close with a bladder. Shave off |
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130 GRANDER 3.
the hair, lather with soap, and when dryy anoinS
twice a day. Turpentine prink, from the same.
Take tetherial oil of turpentine from Apother caries Hall, half an ounce; three yolks of eggs,, three ounces treacle, mix. Give this cold in half a pint of white wine, and repeat it every third day for three turns. Cover with thick blankets. Moderate walking exercise. Balls of guiacum, powdered, half an ounce;
cinnabar of antimony one ounce, mixed with cordial ball, half a pound, and worked up with syrup of the fine opening roots, are also re- commended. Blistering the part will some- times succeed. iEther, both externally and internally. Do not the inhabitants of Bath and Buxton extend the use of their warm hatha to their rheumatic horses ? |
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GLANDERS.
This disease in horses, and the venereal dis-
ease in the human race, bear much about the same date in medical annals; that they origi- nated at so late a period as that usually assigned, appears to me totally irrational to suppose, and in direct opposition to the general oeconomy of nature. It is to suppose the ancients and |
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GLANDERS. 131
their horses exempt from uncleanness and ob-
struction* and their consequences, to assert that they had neither syphilis nor glanders among them. Nature has ever been intrinsi- cally the same, but obscured or neglected, va- riously described, or misunderstood, at differ- ent periods. The glanders, so fatal to horses, was called
by the Italians, ciamorro, and is described very correctly as to its symptoms, and its origin by the old veterinary writers, both Italian, French, and English, Blundevil, and after him Mark- ham, gave the following short description of its rise, progress, and completion : " Of cold, first " cometh the pose (that is stoppage in the head) *' and the cough; then the glanders, and last " of all, the mourning of the chine." Of the nature of the disease, they had yet very con- fused and erroneous notions; of course their attempts at cure were irrational, and little to the purpose. But they by no means deserve the ridicule which has been cast upon them, f°r the term morUde-ckine? or as Blundevil ■Englished it, mourning of the chine; since they did but what is very common with our modern farriers, denominate a disease from one of its prominent symptoms. That the wasting of the chine is an almost invariable ^mptom of chronic glanders, I have had fr«~ x. 2
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132 GLANDERS.
quent occasion to observe; and in the last of
two attempts to cure the disease, my patient, a six year old mare, had a real tabes dorsalis, as far as that term is supposed to intend a con- sumption, and weakness of the loins, Snape was the first of the old veterinary
writers who really understood this disease, and probably,it will not be too much to assert, that he has given as just and philosophic, although concise, an account of it, as the most celebrated of our modern writers; of which any profes- sonal man may satisfy himself, by turning to Gibson's First Treatise, in one Volume, where Snape is quoted, since the work of the latter being scarce, may not be easily obtained. Bracken was undoubtedly in an error to as-
sert, that the glanders was not infectious; ths Doctor had surely not investigated the nature of contagion, with his accustomed patience and acumen; but his observations on the disease, ia his own Treatise, and his notes on La Fosse, whose memoir on the glanders he translated, will be found of great consequence to those who desire information on the subject. The Sieur La Fosse, farrier to the French
king, about the year 1749 made various expe- riments upon glatidered horses, but his chief merit was the invention of the method of tre- panning them, in order to throw injections |
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GLANDERS. 133
immediately upon the ulcerated parts; a dis-
covery of importance, particularly since it proved in every instance to be unattended with the least harm, or even blemish to the horse. Edward Snape, formerly farrier to the present king, followed La Fosse in this practice, as I have been informed, I embrace this occasion of making the old Doctor amends for erro- neously killing him with a word, in my First Volume, by bringing him again to life in the present; he not only lives, but is at the instant employed in writing a Treatise on Farriery, from the practice of half a century: I shall be happy to find that it equals in ability the very able, although concise one, of his ancestor. The last practical writer on this subject, is
St. Bel, in whose work many curious observa- tions will be found: these remarks are intended for the use of such professional gentlemen as may be desirous of consulting the best authori* ties with as little trouble as may be. With re- spect to the possessors of glandered horses, who may wish to make experiment of the possibility of cure, they ought to be assured, that it is a ca* which demands the skill of the most able veterinary physicians and surgeons, and that no satisfaction can possibly be derived from the random attempts of ignorant pretenders. |
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134* GLANDERS.
The following anatomical facts, or opinions,
I have extracted from Bracken on La Fosse, and from St, Bel, La Fosse.-—M There is no communication be-
tween the brain and the nose in the horse." This was by way of answer to those who held the glanders to be a defluxion from the brain, But his commentator controverts this position of £a Fosse, who is supposed to mean no more by it, than that the brain is parted from the upper part of the nose by bones, and that there- fore there is no danger in performing the ope- ration of the trepan; there is a communication through the holes of the bone, called ethmoid des, or crihiforme, from its resemblance to a sieve. " In proportion as the sublingual glands, which are two in number, situate one on each side between the lower jaw, are swelled more (that is, obstructed) the nose would run more; if one only were swelled, then the'nostril on the same side only would run." " The seat of the glanders is in the membrcma pituitaria, o\- lining of the nostrils; best method of cure by injection." j( Nineteen out of twenty glan- dered horses which were killed, had their vis- cera, sound, or very little distempered," " When the discharge is. inclinable to q brownish hue, with blood, &C. the covering of the capillary yessels (in the lining of the nostrils) is abrade^ |
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GLANDERS. 135
and worn off by the sharpness of the humour,
®nd blood makes its escape at the extremities of the ramifications or branchings of the veins and arteries." " The sublingual glands, or glands under the tongue, in hors'es, do not dis- charge from their canals into the mouth, as in man, but on the contrary, turn backwards, and pass behind the holes of the nostrils; these glands are anterior to the maxillary glands, which latter supply the mouth with all the sa- liva ; for this reason, in the glanders, we find obstruction and tumefaction of the former, whilst the latter glands remain sound." " From the appearance of health; the durableness of some glandered horses, the good and laudable state of the viscera, the swelling and ulcers of the pituitary membrane, and the cornets, (or thin cartilaginous substances in shape of horns, in each nostril) and the matter which fills the sinuses, we may reasonably conclude, the glan- ders is a local and inflammatory disease, and that the disease of it is in the pituitary mem- brane/' " A horse for eighteen months, dis- charged a thick white humour in abundance from his nostrils. At rest in the stable the running ceased, and was exchanged for a rattling noise m njs breathing, which noise ceased in turn, on the horse being worked, ^hen the running again succeeded: whence |
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136 " GLANDERS*
inferred the horse not glandered. Being
killed, the pituitary membrane was found peiv- fectly sound, and all the interior parts of the nose in a good state, without any unnatural contents in the sinuses. The lower viscera sound, but a large abscess at the entry of the lungs, in the place where the trachea arteria; or windpipe, divides itself into branches." " Horses cannot cough up corruption from the lungs by the mouth, as mankind do; therefore such matter runs off by the nostrils. If one nostril only run, we may be pretty sure the disease is not in the lungs, but the head, be- cause the matter that comes up the windpipe from the lungs has an equal chance of entering both nostrils/' " A horse may live, and do business a long time, with an abscess in the lungs, before the matter, which passes up the •windpipe, is capable of corrupting the mem-, branes. . The rattling noise in the nostrils, oc- casioned by the tumid state of the glands, and the prodigious quantity of matter which flows off, distinguish the present distemper from the glanders/' St. Bel.—The glanders, aji obstruction or
erosion of the lymphatic ducts and fluids, in animals which do not cleave the. hoof, a disease, hitherto incurable, |
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GLANDERS. 137
•* Young horses most liable to the disease, fat
horses more than lean ones, those at rest more than working ones, least of all those running abroad. *'- The peculiar symptoms of the disease are,
that the virus in most cases does not produce any sensible alteration in the animal oeconomy; the horse has no fever, dullness, or distaste to food, but the animal functions are all regular. The obstruction of the lymphatic glands. The hardness and insensibility of the glands, in this disease, justify the supposition, that the virus contains some noxious and active effluvia which condense the humours. " When the discharge is only from one nos'-»
tril, the gland on that side alone is obstructed. If on compressing the glands (or kernels) be- tween the fingers, an elastic repulsion is felt from the centre of the gland, and the animal shews sensibility of pain, the disease is not the glasders, because in that case the glands are hard and quite insensible/' St. Bel ought to have made the exception, that a portion of sensibility might remain in the glands with the incipient glanders. A he following opinion of Professor Coleman,
on the nature of the glanders, merits the ut- most attention. In an action at law on the ^se, in 1805, the Professor delivered his |
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138 GLANDEUS.
opinion in court, as follows, according to the
Kewspaper report. Glanders is an infectious disease, but not always brought on by conta- gion, more frequently, by a foul atmosphere in the stable. There are two species of glan- ders, the acute and the chronic; the former not incurable. The chronic does not directly affect the nostrils, though they are the channels of the discharge, the seat of corruption being in the cavities of the head: this species conta- gious and incurable. I shall now give my own sentiments respect-
ing this disease, which, during the course of more than thirty years, I have seen in all the various shapes and symptoms described by authors, without being altogether an incurious observer. Within this period I have had three or four glandered horses in my possession, two of which I purchased, chiefly in order to make experiment. The first was a cart-horse, and upon what grounds I have now forgotten, I gave him oak-bark powdered in his corn, for nearly two months, and a considerable quantity of crude mercury; some attention was paid to cleansing his nostrils, and he was kept to con- stant work. The discharge abated by degrees, and at the end of about six months was scarcely visible; but although improved,, he was still very faint, and troubled with a consumptive 6
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GLANDERS. 13^
cough. I sold him, and, about two years af-
terwards, saw him again offered for sale, much in the same condition. About the year 1780, I bought a strong
three part bred hunting mare, six years old, at a low price, and unreflectingly and cruelly stripped her and turned her into the cart stable, exposing her at once to the laborious duty of draught, at that time very constant and severe. From exposure to heats and colds, and general hardship, glanders were gradually induced, and in three or four months confirmed. The mare died miserably, and the circumstance never comes across my mind, even at this dis- tance of time, without giving me pain. I bought a mare of Doctor Snape, which he .supposed he had cured of the glanders, caught from be- ing improperly treated in the strangles. She had not the smallest discharge, but was always in a weak and feeble state, and died tabid and wasted awaj^, at grass, in about a twelvemonth, Ih 1788 I took a well-shaped mare, very va- luable could she have been made sound, which was affected with what Markham would have styled " a high running glanders." In fact, she discharged from both nostrils a copi- ous gleet of the very worst colour and'scent, the kernels under her jaws were hard and in- sensible, her hair came off with the slightest |
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140 GLANDERS.
pull, she had the real hectic purulent fever,
accompanied with the symptomatic " mourning " of the chine," or the usual tabid appearance, more particularly in the loin. Her eyes were ■watery and gummy, sometimes her legs swelled; subject to faint sweats on the least exercise, ap- petite moderate, dung of a loose rotten appear- ance, coat fine, and laid well. I continued her strictly in the course recommended by Bracken, seven weeks, with alternate amend- ment and relapse, towards the latter part of the time, with some small apparent improve- ment; but my man getting weary of so dis- gusting an attendance, and foreseeing that a cure must be at any rate very distant, I sent her to Smithfield and sold her. I must remark here, that relying on the singular opinion of Bracken, I took no precautions whatever with these glandered horses, except in feeding them at some distance from the sound ones. The cart-horse stood in the same stable with five or six others, and yet nothing like infection, or any kind of ill consequence followed, and I have known many similar instances. Much incertitude and variety has arisen in
the definition of the true glanders. The doc- trine of those skilful nosologists, the farriers, is as follows; should a horse die with a dis- charge from his nostrils, and they have no |
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GLANDERS. 141
other disease to lay to his charge, they say, he
died glandered; but should he have the mosfe fetid running, with all the other acknowledged symptoms of the disease, and yet recover, they pronounce he was not glandered. It is no doubt a safe mode of delivering an opinion. Some of the old writers give you a receipt " to bring away the glanders," as if the horse had swallowed a peck of nuts, and you wished him to void them. The ostentatious La Fosse, as fond of splitting hairs, and of sublimating diseases into a useless variety, as our country- man Taylor of empiric notoriety, who divided the diseases of the eye into two hundred and forty-five, describes very accurately from the varying colour of the discharge, half a dozen different species of glanders; he might as well have cross-examined the dejections, in order to establish, from the various hue, consistence, and scent, as many different kinds of diarrJuxa. I submit to the profession, whether every dis- charge from the nostrils of horse, ass, or mule, foetid, and from its acrimony capable of ero- sion, ought not to be called glanders? It "would save much useless disquisition. The Glanders, or Contagious Ca-
tarrh, is either chronic, as being the effect of inveterate and accumulated catarrh, or acute, as arising immediately from epidemic conta- |
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142 GXANDEfei*.
gion, or infection from one animal to another j
the seat of the disease is in the sublingual glands, which are tumefied and obstructed, in the pituitarj membrane, or in the lungs. That the disease is local according to the notion of La Fosse, is so far true, that the discharge al- ways proceeds either from the pituitary mem- brane, or the lungs, but that the whole mass of fluids must be tainted by the glanderous virus in a confirmed case, I think needs no proof; we are not to wonder at the unwilling- ness of that author, to accede to such a posi- tion, he had his system of locality to support: the vanity of making every consideration give place to a favourite hypothesis, is not confined to the Sieur La Fosse. Obstruction and stagnation, whether in the
air, or animal fluids, I take to be the source of mephitis and contagious virus; circulation, mo- tion, and currency its cure. Stagnation is the nidus (so to speak) where are hatched those miasmata, which penetrate, infect, and en- gender their like, in sensible bodies. Strong pungent faetor, is a distinctive characteristic of malignancy, and the power of infection. When the discharge from the nostrils is very foetid, it is a proof that much matter is accumulated* and lodged in the sinus, or cavities of the skull, that the pituitary membrane is ulcerated, |
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GLANDERS. 143
and that the disease will put on its most malig-
nant form. If the running be whitish, of mo- derate consistence, and but little smell, rather copious, and from both nostrils, it in general, I believe, indicates an ulcer in the lungs, that no lodgments of matter are }^et formed in the cavities of the skull, and that the membrane is not corroded. I have seen horses in this state, fat upon the rib, and capable of considerable labour, although dull and sad; but the pecu- liar leading symptoms of glanders were in full force upon them, to wit, the tumefaction of the kernels, and the rottenness of the hair; the discharge also continued constant with no abate- ment from time. I have my doubts whether this milder species be at all infectious, and am in want of information why a superior degree of malignancy exists in the other, unless it be entirely attributable to the circumstance of the discharge in that case suffering greater impe- diment. As to a Cure for the Glanders, the
easiest, cheapest, and that which never fails in the most desperate cases, after every other remedy has failed, is—the collar-maker's K nttfe—In nine cases out of ten, that is per- haps eligible ; but the case of a valuable or fa- vourite horse, or that of mere curiosity, and a laudable attempt at improvement, may justify |
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an experiment There is a natural alliance be*
tween ignorance and cruelty; and the old far- riers had a moat cruel pretended-cure for this disease; according to Biundevil, " they twined " out the pith of the horse's back, with a long " wire thrust up into his head, and so into his *' neck and back/' It has long seemed pro- bable to me, that there is great analogy be- tween glanders and syphilis, and that brute patients under the former disease confirmed, ought to be treated like men in a venereal hec- tic. Mercurial and antimonial alterants, ag- glutinants, gums, woods, turpentines, opium, restoratives, particularly bark. What would be the effect of the famous nostrum of Para- celsus, opium joined with mercury ? Or a course of sublimate continued for a. time, the favourite medicine of Boyle, Boerhaave, and Darwin ? What if the gases (if that could be afforded) of electricity in repeated percussions through the head and breast? In most at- tempts at cure that I have seen or heard of, the ulcers have been deterged and healed, but temporarily, the gleet recurring after awhile; which I think evidently proved that the virus had pervaded the mass of humours, and that internal medicines had not been enough at- tended to. Gibson records two very satisfac- tory instances of cure, and in Bartlet may be |
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GLANDERS. 145
found a very rational method both of cure and
prevention, which last is no doubt the chief object: in this.author, the use of the trepan is explained with plates. Dr. Darwin seems to refer this disease, in-
tirely to contagion, without being aware, that- according to all experience, the horses which' become glandered i'vom contagion, either of the air, or of other horses, are few indeed to those which contract it from common colds' neglected, and hard keeping. In case of the epidemic, the doctor recommends once bleed- ing, and a mild purgative of aloes and hard soap; on the appearance of symptoms of debi- lity, with cold extremities and' sloughs in the membrane, half an ounce of tincture of opium in a pint of ale, every six hours. Turning such out to grass with the gleet upon them, I have never known to succeed. * In'general, those who have attempted the
cure of this veterinary opprobrium, have made a too violent use of medicines of one class, have' totally neglected those of another, perhaps the most material, and have expected success at too early a period. As to the external appli- cation, La Fosse should be punctually fol- lowed, and the mercurials and antimonials.- given in moderate doses, and long continued* w*th the woods, gums, &c. On the prospect vol-, ii. J, |
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146 GLAUBERS.
of the glanderous virus being subdued, a pretty-
long course of corroborants, among which equal quantities of oak-bark, and the yellow Peruvian bark, with steel, are most to be depended on, should conclude the medical part. A long run at grass afterwards, and if the patient be a mare, the horse. A Chalybeate Beer, may be made as
follows : Steel filings, sixteen ounces; cinnamon and mace, each two ounces; gentian-root bruised, or quassia, four ounces; aniseeds bruised, three ounces. Infuse in one gallon, fine, clear, old, strong beer for a month, stopped close, shaking often, then strain. Give half a pint for a dose, in a pint of cold water, or mild ale, once or twice a day, upon an empty stomach, leaving the horse an hour or two to his repose. I have taken this from the Vinum Chalybea- turn of Boerhaave, substituting old beer, which I have reason to believe a good menstruum for the steel, instead of Rhenish wine ; and adding one of the best bitters. Should cinnamon and mace be thought too expensive, Jamaica pep- per, or allspice, would be a cheap and proper substitute. Or ginger. Isjnglass may be added. It was the opinion of that great man, that no drug, diet, or regimen, could equal the preparations of iron, for promoting that power in the animal body by which, biped, is |
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GLANDERS. M?-
niade; of course, it must be a powerful spe-.
cihc, in all cases of over relaxed solids, debilita- tion and consumption. Would not chalybeate beer be a cheap and efficacious medicine for the poor ? Mr. Blaine is so complaisant, as to omit no
opportunity, however trifling, of honouring me with his notice. He says, that probably I was not aware of the knowledge the ancients had of the glanders, when I observed, " that glan- ders and the venereal disease bore the same date in medical annals." I reply, that a little reflection might have saved him the trouble of such a remark. To wave what I had said on the utter improbability of either glanders or syphi- lis being new diseases, the fair construction of my words must be, that the two diseases at- tracted general notice at nearly the same period, With my books before him, what could lead him to suppose, that 1 had never read of the moist malady, or had never turned over the uninteresting and obsolete pages of Vegetius lienatus ? unless indeed it were merely because the Jatter is. obviously a task which he had never imposed upon himself. \ say obviously, for. it is impossible to reconcile his knowledge oi that comp^hon of antiquated foljies and absurdities, with, his repeated, .strong recom- ^PJwIations.p.f the. book, I wi;ll .heg leave to I, 2
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148 GLANDERS.
nfesent Mr. Blaine and his pupils with a short
quotation from that erudite and favourite trea- tise—A Drench against all Kinds of Diseases, from Vegetius, page 393:—" A salutary composition ought to be prepared aoainst all kinds of diseases, that so about the very time they begin, you may be able to en- counter and,resist them with such things as you have laid up in store and have at hand; for medicine that comes too late is vain, and of no value. Take a pound of myrrh, a pound of male frankincense, a pound of the skin of a pomegranate brayed, three ounces of pepper, three ounces of saffron, half a pound of the red thorn tree, half a pound of the grape-cluster cadmia, half a pound of burnt rosin, half a pound of Pontic wormwood, half a pound of the powder of wild thyme, half a pound of be- tony, half a pound of centaury, half a pound of sagapenum, half a pound of faxifrage, half a pound of sow-fennel; after you have brayed and sifted them all well, you may mix them in three sextarii of the best honey, and boil them gently for a very little .while upon the coals, and afterwards you put them up in a tin or o-lass vessel, and keep them for use." What a noble compound for an advertised medicine, which, exclusive of the faculty of curing all diseases, might well defy the united efforts of |
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PURSIVENESS, ASTHMA, &C, 149
all the chemists in Europe and America, both
phlog. and nnti-phlog. to analyze it. Farther- more, should any of Mr. Blaine's patients, brute or human, chance to be bewitched, Ve- getius offers him an excellent specific in that case also. |
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PURSIVEKESS, ASTHMA, AND BB.OKEIT
WIND. On these kindred diseases, or different stages
of the same disease, I have made a few remarks in the first volume of this work, page 304. In addition to the signs of confirmed broken wind, I have frequently observed a palpitation at the chest, and a considerable cavity there, with constant contraction and dilatation ; but as I have said, if the horse be caused to move quick, the defect cannot possibly be concealed. That which constitutes what is called a JX,oarery is a defect in the trachea, or wind-pipe, it being of irregular form, or insufficient dimensions to admit a free passage for the air. Roarers will sometimes go with their noses pointed straight forward, and elevated. Whoever desires to enter into a very minute
investigation of the nature and causes of asthma- tic diseases in horses, had better consult Gib- |
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150 PURSTVENESS, ASTHMA,
son, from whom most other writers on the sub-
ject have borrowed, and in general without •having the honesty to acknowledge it; of this no one stands forth as a more eminent example, "than the modest Mr. Foster, whose whole book of fifty years practice, is a tolerably accurate transcript of Gibson. The chief of what I have to say upop the matter is, that all diseases of this class (I mean chronic obstructions in the luflgs) are absolutely incurable, and that the whole rationale of acting in the case consists in prevention and palliation. Broken wind is no doubt an appropriate ma-
lady of the domestic state, since in the natural, it is unknown. I know not whether asses be subject to it; I suppose from their superior hardiness to horses, in consequence of less de- licate treatment, they are not so open to the impression of cold.. Dr. Lower attributed the broken wind of a
horse to a relaxation, or rapture of the phrenic rierves, which cause the motions of the dia- phragm. A friend of Bar (let supposed the dis- ease to proceed from a morbid or obstructed state of the glands, and membranes of the head and throat,- the enlargement of which prevented a free passage to the wind. According to Os- mer, " certain glands (called the lymphatics) " which arc placed upon the air-pipe, at its en-' |
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AND BROKEN WIND. 1*51
*' trance into the lungs, are become enlarged,
' and thereby the diameter of the tube is les.- '' sened; hence the received air cannot so rea-* " dily make its escape, nor respiration be per- "formed with such facility as before; from " which quantity of contained air, the lobes of " the lungs are always enlarged, as may be " seen by examining the dead carcases of " broken-winded horses.'' But I think I can best explain the matter in the words of Dr, Darwin ; speaking of huinoural asthma, he at- tributes it to " a congestion of lymph, in the air- " cells of the lungs, from defecrive absorption.'' In my ideas, a redundance of lymph being thrown upon the lungs, the quantity becomes too great for the capacity oi' the absorbent vessels, hence it stagnates and chokes up the air conduits, and the theatre of its action being more confined, of coarse respiration must be more difficult and laborious. The disease will thus be always in proportion to the obstruction in the air-cells. The most general cause of broken wind lies
in alternate exposure to inordinate heat and cold. Nothing will ensure the disease so com- pletely to the satisfaction of any experimenter, as that philosophic practice- already celebrated, of washing with cold water, horses under the ardent fever of laborious exertion. Most |
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152 PURS1VENESS, ASTHMA,
horses in public service, and many from im-
proper stable management, have their wind af- fected in some degree, the malady increasing with their years. Professor Coleman, I am informed, supposes broken wind to proceed rather from an acute than a chronic cause* namely, from a sudden and violent rupture of the air-cells: the investigation of this impor- tant matter is a proof of laudable diligence in his professional duties, but his opinion seems totally unwarranted by experience or facts, and in which he may have probably mistaken the effect for the cause. The causes which Mr. Blaine has assigned as most usual, he ought previously to have brought to the test of fact: it is true they have the semblance of being but too probable causes, yet I have never known, heard, or read of their producing any such sudden effects. I have been lono- convinced of the strong analogy in Dispncea, human and brute, and have often had horses labouring under the incurable dispiwa sicca, accompanied with the dry, short, husky cough, to which cows also are liable. As to symptoms, repeated signals from the stern-chace denote much in- ternal distress from hard service, and it is no good prognostic on the state of the horse's liings, how sound soever he may cough, when, like that of Hudibras, |
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153
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AND BROKEN
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WIND.
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" He answers from behind
« With brandish'd tail and blast of wind."
I have often considered the idea of Gibson,
in respect to the too large size of the contained viscera, in proportion to the chest, and the dif- ficulty thence of expansion to the lungs, as a cause of thick-windedness in horses, and am very tar from thinking contemptuously of it. Eclipse, I have heard, was a thick-winded, hard breathing horse, and always made great noise in his exercise; on dissection, his heart and lungs appeared of a remarkable large size, and the case was precisely the same with a pursive hackney which I knew many years: but in all the different stages of this disorder the general treatment must be similar, differing only in degree. Be it remembered, that pursive horses demand a punctilious regularity in physic and exercise. The disease may probably have arisen from
want of timely evacuation, so that occasional physic and bleeding should not be neglected. Mercurial physic is indicated, being powerfully deobstruent, perhaps the saline course, from its diuretic effects, may be peculiarly useful in this case. A late writer on the asthma, seems to place the whole dependance for a cure in the almost total abstinence from liquids. It would |
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154 PtrRSltENtSS, AS¥9lftA,
be madness to glut a broken-winded horse with
water, but I never saw such" take the smallest harm from a moderate proportion of it, fre- quently given; and perhaps the only reason why they are particularly greedy of drink is, because it is a received notion, that they ought to be kept without it. Give as little hay as possible, and that of the hardest and best kind, on the ground, or in a basket; mashes, and an extra quantity of corn. Carrots are specific in the case. If the patient be even but a middling cart-horse, it will pay to keep him to this regimen, instead of the common gar- bage diet. A constant run in upland pasture, where the bite is not too large, suits these horses best; but if once allowed this, there seems a necessity for it ever after, for if taken intirely into the stable again, their malady be- comes intolerable. It is well known, although not always remembered, that asthmatic horses should be put to their speed by degrees, and that they are incapable of any violent exertions. Out of respect to the druggists, I shall set down a few prescriptions. The following is Bracken's succedaneum for
Gibson's too expensive balls, and even this is expensive enough of conscience, in proportion to the good it is likely to operate, although per- haps it would be difficult to contrive a better |
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A-tfD BROKEN WIND. 15.5
farm. It must be remembered, that medicines
intended to open obstructions in the lungs, have the whole tour of the circulation to make, and that they have not the power, as the far- riers suppose, immediately to enter the doors of the disease, and eject the tenant. Recipe. Half a pound cordial ball, if it be
too dry, add half a pint fine Florence oil; bal- sam of Peru, two drachms; anisated balsam of sulphur, three dracbms ; flowers of benja- min, two drachms and half; make the mass with burdock seeds in fine powder. Give a ball the size of a pigeon's egg, when going out to exercise. If burdock seeds cannot be ob- tained, I suppose liquorice powder mav be sub- stituted ; but it may be worth while in a regu- lar stable to make a reserve of that seed, of which more hereafter. Or, One pound cordial ball; powdered
squills, and Barbadoes tar, two ounces each; make up the mass with honey. Or, Antimony in the finest powder, eight
ounces; brimstone powdered, four ounces; gum ammoniacum, pounded garlic, and hard soap, each four ounces; Venice turpentine, three ounces; aniseeds, bay-berries, and lin- seed, in powder, two ounces each ; make the paste with honey, and oxymel of squills. Give a ball daily for a month ; omit a month, I |
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156 PtmSIVENESS, ASTHMA,
and then repeat, having a strict cafe as to re-
gimen. This' may mitigate the symptoms of the disease, and render the horse more use- ful : or may prove an excellent preventive when the danger is apprehended. Soften the ammoniacum by pouring a little vinegar upon it, letting it stand twelve hours ; pick out any small stones or foulness, and pound it b^ it- self; peel the garlic, add, and pound it with the gum. Or, A course of tar-water, about four times
the strength of the common ; a quart or two given in the horse's drink. Lime-water is said to have been found a palliative of late by cer- tain horse-dealers. The vitriol of copper, joined with emetic
tartar, has formerly succeeded in a few in- stances of inveterate asthma, when every other known remedy had failed. The case of pulmonary abscess in horses must
surely be hopeless, as well from the common reason of the difficulty of effecting union of divided parts, where incessant motion takes place, as the consideration, that the constant labour expected from the horse still enhances the difficulty. If any remedy, it must be pure air in upland pasture; the patient to have no disturbance for at least twelve months. There are some few instances of a mare breeding, al- |
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AND BROKEN WIND. 157
though evidently asthmatic, "and with a dis-
charge from the nostrils. La Fosse relates that a horse, in the worst stage of the glan- ders, covered a mare; and it is probable a glandered mare would breed. |
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[ 158 ]
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CHAP. IV.
ON FEVER—PLEURISY----P'EEIPNEUMONY
----SUPERFICIAL OR EXTERNAL PLEU-
RISY—INFLAMMATION OF DIAPHRAGBI ----ANTICOR—YELLOWS—STRANGLES. kMMPLE or idopathic fever, is a preternatu-
ral acceleration of the blood's motion, and con- sequent heat; the compound species, or the associated and symptomatic, is the effect of some morbid material thrown upon the circula- tion, which acts with a virulence exactly com- mensurate with its proper qualities, and the ex- isting state of the bodily humours. Fever is most generally experienced to be symptomatic, and is indeed associated with a vast variety of diseases : in putrid fever, the fever is the effect, not the cause of contagion. Fever is almost invariably combined with catarrh; and such is the analogy between them in their causes, ef- fects, and cure, that they might not very im- roperly be esteemed synonymous, with the bare distinction of hot and cold. Jn a retro* pulsion of that fine fluid or exhalation, the per- |
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FEVER. 159
spirable matter, which even those who have
corrected Sanctorius, make so considerable m quantity; if the load be thrown upon the pi- tuitary membrane, and be evacuated by the usual catarrhal discharge, the disease is called a cold; but if the obstructed matter remain fixed upon any bowel, it may assume the de- nomination and guise of fever, or perhaps of some other disease. That the ancients held this analogy will ap-
pear from the following example : " Manasses, " the husband of Judith, as he was diligent " over them that bound sheaves in the fields, " the heat came upon his head and he died." Judith, chap. viii. St. Bernard says, that the. cause of this man's death was an immoderate running of rheum out of bis head to the inner, parts, which rheum or humour was dissolved by the burning heat. Constantius says such & disease arises indifferently from a hot or a cold, cause, caloris sen frigoris ictu; and in the for- mer case, advises a fomentation of roses infused,. in cold rain water, rose-buds being held to the nostrils, also cold infusion of the twigs and, leaves of willow's; in the latter, laudanum, thus, storax and castorium. Hence, I suppose,: came the notion of a decoction of willow being useful in the glanders. . An English writer,. |
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160 FEVER.
who lived in the reign of Edward VI. calls the
disease of Manasses a poze. The symptoms of fever in horses, analogous
to those in our own species, are either mild, in- termittent, inflammatory, or hectic and malig- nant; and there is an equal analogy in the class of medicines indicated, and the method of cure. Horses, from the nature of their ser- vices, and the severities they undergo, must necessarily be much exposed to febrile disorders, some of the most common causes of which are, excess of exertion, particularly in the hot sea- son ; plethora, or superabundance of blood, from high feeding and little exercise ; in ge- neral, any obstructed humour thrown upon the circulation ; the inspiration of malignant air. • I must once more refer those who desire
much practical information upon this disease in horses to Gibson, who, if he has not treated it vvith scientific and logical precision, has done that which is of infinitely greater use; he has described the various symptoms from his own observation, and given a very rational method of cure from his own practice:' from him chiefly have all our minor authors derived their patho- logy and Kprescriptions in the different species of fever, which they have hashed and served up again, in that which each supposed to be |
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FEVER. 161
the most plausible form. Bracken is lame and
imperfect on fever, obviously from haste and inattention; but his loose remarks deserve to be read over. Bartlet is the mere echo of Gibson; but
that indefatigable diligence, which is Bartlet's honourable characteristic, is ever at work to pick and cull from all quarters, whatever he judges may be useful to his readers : I allude to his Pharmacopeia Hippiatrica. Osmer, as I have before observed, must be consulted in Epidemics, and the veterinary practitioner, even if experienced, will not regret the small labour of having perused Dr. Layard> In the fevers of horses which seldom retreat
by critical sweats, no additional clothing should be used in the stable, nor the bead covered, unless for the particular purpose of encouraging a critical discharge from the nostrils. The stable should not be kept in a stifling heat, and the horse ought to be walked out daily, if cir- cumstances will permit; but abroad, I think, he ought to wear his hood. Gibson allowed cold water in fevers, and almost all other authors have implicitly followed him ; but I am convinced I have seen inflammatory cases, in which such practice would be attended with extreme, probably instant danger. Water, blood warm, or white water,, that is, such as VOL. Ii, M
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162! 1EVER.
lvas had ajittle bran,, or oatmeal boiled in it,
must surely be preferable; but if cold water must needs be allowed, let it be previously boiled. _ I have somewhere lately read an ac- count of the revival of the ancient practice of ablution in typhus, or nervous fever, with cold water and vinegar; cold water I have also heard has been tried upon a horse in the same dis- ease, but with no fortunate effect, the animal dying soon after. It ought never to be prac- tised, I apprehend, upon a skin which shews any tendency to perspiration and moisture; such probably is the chief criterion by which we ought, to be guided. Those hot aromatic drenches of the common
farriers, with which they do so much mischief in fevers, have been already censured; another caution is necessary against the common ground- less apprehension of horses starving themselves, by their abstinence during sickness; this is by no means peculiar to grooms, our good old nurses, who when we are debilitated, " cram " us till our guts do ache," with that delectably light, nutritious substance, calve's foot jelly. coming in for their full share of the merit. Let it be remembered, that in general the appetite ought to be the only director in this case; and that nothing can be more preposterous than to. force solid aliment upon a stomach most pro- |
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bably, already overladen with morbid matter,
which mixing with the new accession, will either remain an inert indigested stercoraceous mass, or going through the common process of digestion, send an impure and vitiated chyle into the blood, to add new force and vi- rulence to the disease. Should the horse have fasted a considerable time, and no indication appear of returning appetite, his strength will be best supported by nutritive glysters, which may be exhibited several times in the day. Locks of the best and sweetest hay_should be y offered him, as the practical Gibson well ob- serves, _by__hand, a method by which most horses will be tempted to feed, particularly if the food be tendered by a favourite. At anf rate, solid corn is highly improper in fevers, ..__*
unless in very small quantities, and ground, as
an addition to the mash, and even that is most befitting the decline of the disease or convales- cent state: the common diet must he hay, scalded bran, or pollard, warm fresh grains. On the re-establishment of health, after any
acute disease, it will be found of material con- sequence to guard against the too sudden return of appetite in the horse; the inordinate indul- gence of which may induce surfeit, indigestion, and the disagreeable concomitants of an acces- sion of crude and unconcocted humours. Bring |
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164 FEVER,
him gradually to his accustomed rations of so-
lid meat. To counteract the ill effects of any morbid relics in the constitution, a dose or two of" purging physic, or a short alterative course, may be expedient; the choice in which must be left, in all cases, to the judgment of the practitioner, who is referred to the Chapter on Purgatives. On the contrary, should the pa- tient be left by the disease in a weak and im- poverished state, the crasis of his blood broken, his pulse languid, and his appetite small, shew- ing in his whole appearance what the old far- riers called " leanness and mislike;" recourse must be had to a light and nourishing diet, with the daily assistance of a cordial ball. In this case, boiled meat has very sudden happy effects. Boiled barley or other corn. Turnipj and oatmeal boiled, some of the liquor being infused in the drink. Boiled rice and potatoes. Baked potatoes. Raw carrots and lucern. Mild rhubarb purge. Moderate walking ex- ercise on dry ground, as I have seen relapse, and very disagreeable effects, ensue on the ex- posure of the feet and legs to wet, in case of recent recovery from fever. Grass. The common symptoms of fever in the horse
are extraordinary heat and dryness of the skin, jaws and tongue; strong breath, pulse quicker than natural, or intermittent; inflamed eyes; |
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FEVER. 165
heaving at the flanks, and impeded respiration;
ears and the lower extremities hot, restlessness and fickle appetite, either to meat or drink; sometimes avidity of drink, frequent casting out of dung-balls, and difficulty of staling; high coloured turbid urine. These signs at their commencement may indicate nothing more than mild, simple fever, but if neglected in the common way, from want of observation, or on the plea of necessity, the disease either becomes inflammatory and of instant danger, or dege- nerates into that species of fever which usually terminates in yellows or jaundice. I must beg leave, in this place, to enter a
caveat against the practice of immoderate and profuse bleedings, adopted of late by various juvenile practitioners, on almost every occasion which may be supposed to require venesection. The idea, and it is a very just one, that during the existence of inflammatory diathesis, it is really dangerous to be too sparing of the pa- tient's blood, has induced a spurious analogy. It has thence been rashly and falsely concluded, that, generally, no good can be effected by a. moderate bleeding. I am led to conclude, from long observation, that much irreparable mischief is constantly done by over bleeding worn-down and debilitated horses. That light- ness and cheerfulness temporarily induced by |
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166 FEVER.
the stimulus of evacuation, either from bleed-
ing or purging, is a never-failing source of de- ception. A middle-aged man, in a state of great debility, was bled five ounces, with the view of mitigating vertiginous symptoms I saw and enquired of him every day, and he neither acquired his previous degree of strength, nor was that trifling waste of blood sensibly re- paired under three weeks. One of the class of improved and enterprising practitioners, lately ridiculing my cautions on this head, as- 3erted it was idle to suppose, that taking a less quantity of blood than four or five quarts, could have any perceptible effect on the circulation of a horse, since he had frequently seen three gallons taken away, at one time, not only with impunity, but beneficially. Nor do I approve of the practice lately in-
troduced, of commencing the cure of all fevers with aloetie purges, more particularly those composed of the coarse aloes, at any rate surely ineligible, when the horse's stomach may be supposed in a state of debility. Should eva-- cuation be strongly indicated, glysters may be used, but if a stomachic purge, give three or four drachms of fine aloes, with a drachm or two of rhubarb, in a solution of six or eight ounces of glauber salts. Let the vehicle be three pints smooth gruel. |
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FJEVEft. I67
Simple fever, taken in time, ordinarily sub-
mits, in three days, to a course of medicine and treatment nearly similar to that recommended in a slight case of warm catarrh; naturally tend- ing to alkalization, fever is to be cured by acids. Bleed agreeable to discretion as to quantity, give a drink of nitre, crernor tartar and honey, from one to two ounces of the two former, each a like quantity, in three pints of a warm decoc- tion, or infusion of any, or as many of the fe- brifugal herbs as can be readily obtained, twice a day; plying the horse in the interim with as much of such infusion as he will take in his water, or if necessary, drenching him with it. The chief of these herbs are, scordium, or wa- ter germander, pennyroyal, balm, sage, sweet fennel, chamomile, agrimony, pellitory, sorrel, mallows, and dandelion, the whole plant with the roots; which last stands recommended by Boyle as a febrifuge. The efficacy of those herbs, in this case, is by no means equivocal-or contemptible ; but if none can be conveniently obtained, give the medicine in gruel, If inflammatory symptoms supervene, with
violent pulsation, and throbbing in the arteries; so as even to be visible, bleed according to the directions in the Chapter on Bleeding, and continue the use of the lancet at intervals, whilst the inflammation continues. Give the |
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16§ FEVER.
above medicine in an increased dose. Suppose,
one ounce and half of nitre, and half an ounce eremor tartar, to two ounces and half nitre, and one ounce cremor tartar; according to the size and strength of the horse, every four hours. Back-rake, and give first a common glyster; if the costiveness continue, with difficulty of stal- ing, give a purgative and diuretic glyster, for which, see the Chapter on Purgation, I have witnessed wonderful effects from nitre; it is our sheet-anchor in the fevers of domestic animals. The addition of cremor tartar, itself a diuretic and febrifuge, perhaps renders the medicine, to a degree, laxative, at least useful in case of an obstructed stomach. If, notwith* standing the mucilaginous drinks, or gruel, the stomach of the horse should be nauseated, or improperly affected by the nitre, as I hinted in, the preface to the last edition, a small quantity of opium (half a drachm) may be added; or cordial ball may succeed. The following neutral mixture, from Bartlet,
may also be made trial of, two or three times a day, a pint each time. Russia pearl-ashes, one ounce ; distilled vinegar, one pint; spring water, two pints; honey, four ounces. Or. Atone period each day, substitute for the nitre drink, the following: Infusion or decoction of rue and camomile, rather strong, three pints; antimo^ |
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PEVER. 1^9
nial beer (See p. 126,) half a pint, or instead
two drachms of antimonial powder; camphor one drachm; contrayerva fine powder, half an ounce. Wash the horse's mouth and throat with white water. It is-with horses which are high fed, and have been neglected as to exer- cise and evacuations, and in consequence full of rich and spirituous blood, that the disease attains this ardent and inflammatory state; being neglected, it terminates fatally in a very- short period ; but the early application of the method just recommended, seldom fails of suc- cess, because patients subject to this exalted species of fever are generally sound in body, and have good stamina. Solleysel notices a fever, which he calls a
palpitation op the heart: the diagnos- tics, violent heaving of the flanks, and laborious respiration. He advises one remedy, which I think no man in his wits will adopt; namely, to let the horse blood in the neck-vein, and then keep him an hour standing up to the neck in water. I have two or three times seen horses seized with this palpitation, which continues several days. It is sometimes the forerunner of a broken wind, or in a broken-winded horse, the sign of exacerbation of the disease, and ap- proach to its worst stage. Bleedings. Neil- |
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170 FEVER.
tral salts, with infusions of the herbs as before.
Tar water. There is a low inirrative fever, attended
with great debility, with which horses are often seized very suddenly. I have paid particular attention to this case, in several instances, with- out being able to form the least probable guess as to the immediate cause of the disease : in July last I saw several horses afflicted with it. They suddenly, whilst at work, lost their appe- tite, and their flesh so fast, that in three days they looked like dog-horses. The hollowness of the flanks very remarkable, intermittent pulse, no discharge at the nostrils, nor much alteration as to the other discharges; but they •were somewhat less in quantity ; hidebound. These horses were recovered by the farrier, and the chief means seemed to be rowels, four or five of which were cut in the belly of one of the horses ; I suppose the fever powder, and the usual alexipharmics with blisters or rowels, are proper here : I should either not bleed at all, or only a pint or two. Some years past, I bad a horse in this state several months, and the country farrier called the disease, a wild- Fire ; a run at grass cured it. I have been since convinced, by a great
number of cases, that the disease is atmospheric, |
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FEVER. 171
occasioned by exposure, in the dog-days parti-
cularly, to vicissitudes of the weather, without proper care. Stage and post-horses are in an especial manner, the victims of this species of fever, which not absolutely disabling them, is generally disregarded, until they drop in harness. This is a case of debility, in which the modern veterinarian, with his formidable phleme, gal- lon measure, and JBarbadoes aloes, ought to be- ware, or he will place himself below the com- mon farrier, whose warm drenches, blisters, and rowels often succeed ; there is neither ac- tual, nor hypothetical inflammation to quench, but a. weak, preternatural and consuming heat. Clean washed, well dried, light clothing should be used. Antimonial beer; the nitrous drink with vol. arom. spirit and opium, ordered in catarrh. If after a few days, the skin should remain rigid and inflexible, and the hair appear dead, a rowel; more afterwards, if needful. I have seen cases of the kind, in which it was plainly unnecessary and even dangerous, to draw a drop of blood, but will also acknow- ledge, there are some of apparent debihty, in which the moderate use of the lancet, and of mild purgatives, have instant and beneficial effects ; but the above are not of them. Fever may arise from eating unwholesome
food, or the constant use of foul water. Mouldy |
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172 EEVER.
and rotten hay and garbage, mufty corn or
bran, soft beans, or too many even of the best beans ; all have a tendency to produce an im- pure and feverish blood. Saline purges and grass. Contagious Fever is either mild or pes-
tilential, according to the degree of virulence in the exhalation inspired. In the first case, it is extremely probable that the animals affected have all received the contagion from one com- mon source, the air; and not from infection one of the other, the contagious material not being sufficiently strong for that end. In pes- tilential and putrid fever, ulcers, abscesses, or buboes, are formed, where fresh matter is ge- nerated, capable of reproducing infection. Dr. Darwin, supposes, " that the matter of all con- ** tagious diseases, whether with or without " fever, is not infectious, till it has acquired ** something from the air, which by oxygenat- " ing the secreted matter, may probably pro- " duce a new acid." Perhaps all it acquires is, emission for the miasmata, and liberty of action, since the most noxious vapour confined is per- fectly impotent. In Epidemic, or Malignant Fever,
the pulse is seldom or never very high, as per- haps the bare impetus of the blood, in an in- flammatory state, would itself resist the tenden- |
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FEVER. 173
cy to putrefaction, at least for a time. The di-
agnostics are, slow or irregular pulse, languor and great depression, with alternation of heat and cold. Eyes dull and moist, with moisture and foulness in the mouth, faint appetite, with feeble motion of the jaws, accompanied with an unpleasant grating of the teeth. Excrement frequently dropping in a loose and rotten state. Staling irregular, sometimes very little and with difficulty; at others, the urine pours down suddenly in large quantities, pale, with-
out sediment. Watchfulness and continual standing. Sometimes a discharge of a brownish disagreeable colour issues from the nostrils, but in small quantity. I have copied these symp- toms generally from Gibson, but I can answer for his correctness in almost every particular, from my own repeated observation. The cure usually commences with bleeding,
but it ought to be in a moderate quantity; and in this case does not always require repetition. Should the hide of the horse feel much clung together, and bound, insert a rowel or two. Clysters as before, according to the necessity, that the body may be kept properly open. Give the following ball twice a day, and at convenient intervals, a few pints of the infusion of herbs, acidulated with cremor tartar. Dia- phoretic antimony, four drachms; camphor, |
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174 FEVER.
one drachm; myrrh and Virginia snake-root,
powdered, each two drachms; make the ball with syrup of saffron. In case of hoarsness, rattling in the throat, or cough, more blood may be drawn. Watch the discharge from the nostrils which may be critical, and encourage it with warm clothing upon the head and throat. It may be observed that the diaphoretic anti- mony is pretty nearly the same thing with Dr. James's famous powder, and I have seldom known the above ball and treament to fail, even in cases of much apparent danger; but for the farther satisfaction of the Reader, I will insert certain other forms in the same intent. Dia- phoretic antimony being a useful fever powder and alterative for cattle, I have given the re- ceipt for those who chuse to prepare it them- selves, and also a preparation of similar intent, much recommended by Osmer; the efficacy and sudden good effect of which I once saw, in a horse seized with a kind of influenza some years ago. This was a patient of my old ac- quaintance Doctor Snape, but some years after he travelled post with four horses. Diaphoretic Antimony. Mix pow-
dered antimony with three times its weight of nitre, and gradually put the mass into a crucible just? beginning to glow ; then, the mixture being Jtaken from the fire, let it be purified by washing 9 |
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TEVER. 175
with water, as well from the salts as from the
grosser parts less perfectly calcined. Osmer's Powder. Take two parts nitre,
and one of antimony, first rubbed together, and deflagrate them over a fire in a crucible, by putting in a little at a time. One or two ounces of this may be given, once or twice a day. Tourstefort's Fever Powder. Harts-
horn shavings half a pound, boil in spring water full an hour; then place them in a dish before the fire, till dry enough to powder. Mix. them with an equal quantity of antimony, both m powder; put the mixture in in unglazed earthen pan over a slow fire, and keep it stirring with an iron spatula to prevent its caking together; when it ceases to smoke, the process is finished, and there will remain an ash-coloured powder. If desired more white, calcine awhile in a red- hot crucible. Dose from one to two drachms, in a ball with honey and liquorice powder, twice a day, washed down with a horn or two of decoction of scordium, or the infusion of herbs, or gruel, as before. Nitre in about double the quantity of the antimony, may be deflagrated in the crucible with it and the hartshorn: and if to the powder tlrere be added calcined mercury, in the proportion of a scruple. |
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176 FEVER.
of the mercury to two drachms, a most potent
medicine will be produced. Keep it close stop- ped up in a glass. Fever drink from Bartlet. Contray-
erva and snake-root, two ounces each ; liquorice- root, sliced, one ounce; saffron two drachms; infuse in two quarts boiling water, close covered, two hours; strain off, and add half a pint dis- tilled vinegar; four ounces spirit of wine, in which half an ounce camphor has been dis- solved, and two ounces Venice treacle; dose, one pint, every four, six, or eight hours. In case of cough and soreness of the breast, give frequently three ounces cold drawn linseed oil, same quantity honey ; one ounce salt or cream of tartar in an infusion of rue and chamomile. In the worst species of putrid or pesti-
lential fever in horses, the diagnostics are as follow: Dimness, with a glazed and lifeless appearance in the eyes, and a discharge from them; running at both the nose and mouth of a brown or greenish colour, and foetid smell, which sticks to the nostrils; no appetite, par- ticularly to drink; putrid breath ; excessive de- bility, so as to stagger when led; trembling; uneven pulse, generally low; skin sometimes hot, then suddenly cold; swelled glands; tu- mours to be felt under the skin in various parts? |
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fcEVEK. 177
swelled joints ; diarrhoea, or scouring of offen-
sive matter dark in colour, of the discharge of which the horse seems scarcely sensible. ■j
As to the prognostics, putrefaction sometimes
proceeds so rapidly, owing perhaps to a previ- ous depraved state of the humours, that medi- cine seems to take no sensible effect, and death happens in a day or two; this I have several times seen. Horses of the best constitution, I believe, very rarely recover from these danger- ous fevers, by the mere strength of nature; but if left to themselves, or what is much the same, confided to ignorant hands, they either soon fall, or the disease vents itself in glanders, farcy, or surfeit, of which they never afterwards get thoroughly cured, from the corrupted state of their blood. I do not find that the putrid fevers of horses have their critical days, or those stated times of critical height, assigned to epi- demics by Dr. Mead; but that matter certainly merits the investigation of our veterinary prac- titioners. The favourable symptoms are, an increase of more laudable and better coloured discharge from the nostrils, eruption, or ap- proach to suppuration in the tumours, increase and constancy of natural warmth, returning sensibility and briskness: but if the contrary, and especially if the discharge from the nostrils vol. ii. 1ST |
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178 FEVER.
turn black and sanious, little hope is to be en-
tertained. The medicines indicated in this case, accord-
ing to Gibson, are, the warmest cardiac, dia- phoretic and volatile, with bark. Sal ammo- niac, salt of amber, salt of hartshorn, and assa- ' foetida. For cheapness sake, the substitutes, camphor, and oil of amber: castor, gentian, zedoary,gallengals, white dittany, bistort, snake- root, diascordium, mithridate. The sweet spirit of nitre is much recommended to be given fre- quently, in malignant fever, by a late writer. The intention of cure, is plainly to support-
nature by proper medicines, and to enable her to cast off the morbific matter, by such chan- nels as she herself shall point out, or to remedy her defect in that particular, by a number of artificial drains. In the emergency of the case, and when a sudden putrid, stagnation of the juices is to be apprehended, the most power- ful antiseptics must be immediately exhibited; but this involves a difficulty, which I must leave to the able medical practitioner; it some- times happens that although the bark, and medicines of that class be imperiously demand- ed, the contra indications, from a load of foul and acrid matter, which renders the stomach totally unfit for the reception of astringents, |
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PEVEH. 179
are equally pressing, and it is impracticable to
relieve a horse by vomit, and attended with extreme danger in malignant or indeed any violent fever, to attempt cleansing the primes vice by cathartics: of this last I had ample proof some years ago, for I killed two large cart-horses in the same day, in thisca.se, by purging them ; as certainly, and almost as ex- peditiously, as if I had given them a proper dose of arsenic. Again, the cordial and corro- borative medicines sometimes given, have sud- denly induced so violent a paroxj-sm of fever, as to destroy the patient in a short time; or on the other hand, the too enrly and injudicious use of the salts, and bleeding, have often re- tarded, or totally prevented the crisis; bringing on a scouring, re-absorption of the putrid matter, and death ; or a lingering consumptive jftate, not easily, perhaps never amended. It is not improbable, that those instances of ill success, which Osmer relates, were owing to his too liberal use of nitre. The use of yeast, in putrid fever, recom-
mended some years since by the Rev. Mr. Cart- wright, deserves attention in horse cases. Half a pint, or more, I suppose, mav be given every four hours, in some proper vehicle. In a case of great danger, prepare a strong
infusion of chamomile, rue, sage, and horse- s 3S" 2 |
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ISO EEVEft.
radish, to two or three pints of which, add
Peruvian bark, finely powdered, six drachms; myrrh and madder, two drachms each ; old Red Port wine half a pint, sweeten with treacle, and give it the horse blood warm, every four hours. On amendment of the putrid symp- toms, this medicine must be exchanged for those of a cooling diuretic quality; the fol- lowing stands highly recommended by Osmer —Crude sal ammoniac and nitre, each one ,ounce; Castile soap half an ounce; camphor rubbed with a little cold-drawn linseed oil, to drachms; mix with mucilage of gum, for one ball or two, and give the dose three times a day. The state of the pulse must determine the propriety of bleeding at all, or at what period of the disease. Should a critical ab- scess or eruptions appear, all possible means should be used to encourage these efforts of nature ; if not, a number of rowels ought to be inserted in the breast and belly of the horse. In preference to rowels in the common form, it was the practice of the above-named author, to make a number of incisions in any part of the skin, where loose ; to separate the skin from the flesh with the finger, and moderately fill the cavity with tow, dipped in digestive ointment, ery day ; first taking out the former.dressing, |
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FEVER. 1S1
Such is the speediest method of bringing on a
discharge, in more abundance, with less inflam- mation, and which may be continued for any length. The following generals to be observed iu
Fevers, have just occurred to me : The mouth and throat should be frequently cleansed with vinegar, honey, and infusion of sage.—All cathartics are to be avoided, unless in case of. extreme necessity, when the purging salts are to be used; the glysters to be mild and often repeated. In that profuse staling, and debility which sometimes happens, Gibson directs the drinks to be made with lime-water. Bark is then indicated.—-In great restlessness, or very inflammatory symptoms, opium may be given; or half a drachm of liquid laudanum in the fever drink.—In heclic fever, very moderate frictions may be used several times a day. Sometimes on the termination of the fever, a horse's legs swell and crack ; restringent fo- mentations, camphorated spirits, walking exer- cise, according to ability : See latter part of the Chapter on the Economy of the stable. |
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PLEURISY, &C.
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182
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PLEURISY, PERIPNEUMONY, SUPERFICIAL
OR EXTERNAL PLEURISY, INFLAMMA- TION OF THE DIAPHRAGM, &C. Obstructions in the parts specified, from the
effects of excessive labour and repelled perspi- ration, from various causes; a symptomatic fever attends, generally inflammatory. These diseases, not easily distinguishable in dumb animals, are generally referable to the ge?ius pneumonia, or inflammation of the lungs and of the neighbouring parts. On pleuretic dis- ease, there is a general agreement between Gibson, and the best medical writers of the present clay, both in the pathology and me- thod of cure; for a copious account of it, as it regards horses, Gibson is the proper au- thority to be consulted, who first discovered the disease in those animals, and dissected some which died of it. It is very rational to suppose, that horses must be liable to all the various maladies of this class, but there is dan- ger in pleuretic pains being mistaken for gripes, for which reason the utmost attention ought to be paid to symptoms. Pleurisy is an inflammation of the pleura,
&v membrane which lines the inside of the |
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PLEURISY, &C. 183
chest, and in general seizes only one side; the
symptoms are, restlessness and increasing fever, ■which soon attains a very high degree; vain attempts to lie down, with frequent pointing of the head to the affected side; ears and feet burning hot, mouth parched and dry, fever still encreasing to the end; running back as far as the collar will admit, remaining in that position, panting with short stops; disposition to cough ; dropping down. Peripjsteumony is a more general inflam-
mation, affecting the whole substance of the lungs, as well as the pleura, or membrane. A'fany of the symptoms are, of consequence, common : but in the general inflammation, the animal is less irritated, and never offers to lie down, either in the beginning or during the continuance of the disease. Pulse, ftrong and high, ropy discharge from the nose and mouth, similar in colour and consistence to that in a malignant fever; constant fulness and working at the flanks, particularly on exertion, ears and feet cold, damp sweats, as in putrid fever or gripes. In the cure of these inflammatory complaints,
the grand dependence is in venesection, and, in Dr. Darwin's words, " the lancet must be used " copiously, and repeated as often as the pain ** and difficult respiration increase. A blister |
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184 PLEURISY, &C.
w on the pained part. Antimonial prepara-
<c tions. Diluents. Cool air. Do neutral salts " increase the tendency to cough?" Zoortom. vol. ii. p- 199- I have never observed such ef- fect of the salts upon horses. If the horse be old and weak, bleed in small
quantity and often, that is, twice a day. Rowel in each side the breast and bellv, unless the motion of the flanks is likely to prevent the operation of the rowel, then in the thighs. Mild blister with Spanish flies only, over the brisket and foremost ribs. Emollient glyster, if needful, once a day. These applications, with any of the cooling febrifuge drinks be- fore recommended, will generally succeed. It is remarkable in this case, Gibson gives a cau- tion against snake-root as too heating, whilst Bartlet recommends a strong decoction of it as a specific. Take spermaceti, one ounce, rub with the
yolk of an egg; add one ounce Venice tur- pentine, mix; then take one ounce nitre pow- dered ; and sugar of lead two drachms ; saf- fron half a drachm; chemical oil of aniseeds half a spoonful. Make two balls for one dose, with honey or syrup of poppies, rolling them in liquorice powder. This from Gibson; but I think the sugar of lead ought by all means to be omitted, and it seems to be the only instance |
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PLEURISY, &C. 185
of temerarious practice in that cautious pre
scriber. I am aware that preparations of lead (See Medical Journal) have been used of late, with apparent impunity and presumed success; my opinion yet remains unaltered, for reasons I am not yet prepared to state. Generally, we have so many efficacious and safe medicines, that it is extreme folly or mere lust of novelty, to venture on those which are dangerous. The balls to be given two or three times a day, washed down with the following drink : Colts- foot, scabious, and ground-ivy, of each a large handful; a handful of barley; figs, half a pound ; garlic, two ounces ; horse-radish, and assafoedda, half an ounce each ; saffron two drachms. Boil in two quarts water, in a close vessel half an hour; pour off clear, and add one pint linseed oil, and honey one pound. The horse continuing hot and restless, purg-
ing glysters may be necessary, with an addtion to the decoction, of caftor and gum tragacaith, half an ounce each. Light open diet; hot mashes with brimstone and honey; scalded bar- ley. If the horse be strong and sound, inish the cure with a mild mercurial purge or two, or detersive pectoral balls. I have no doubt but horses must bf fre-
quently subject to Pleiirodyne Chronica, choni- pal pains, or stitches in the side, which ray be |
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186 pleurisy, &c-
properly enough deemed internal rheumatism ;
should this be suspected, bleeding and a judi- cious selection from the medicines already men- tioned will be beneficial. Superficial or External Pleurisy
is an inflammation of the intercostal muscles, -which compose the fleshy parts between the ribs. There is a ftiffness and soreness to the touch ia the shoulders and fore legs. Method of cure as before. If there appear any ten- dency to suppuration in the swelled parts, en- courage it with ointment of rnarshmallows, or other proper applications. Or, bathe with equal parts spirit of sal ammoniac, and the above ointment] or the oil of chamomile. Some- times the humour will descend, and vent itself in an abscess beneath the shoulder, which is a fa- vourable symptom. INFLAMMATION OE THE DlAFHRAGM, OR
Midriff, or Skirt, as it is vulgarly called.
Cur; as before, where the case admits of cure ; but,according to Dr. Darwin, this accident in hors;s and dogs admits of no cure, since they can >nly breathe by depressing the diaphragm. In tils case the doctor says the mouth of the hurran patient is frequently retrncted ; and, ac- eordno; to Gibson, the horse will be sometimes jaw-.ei. This inflammation of the skirt is pro- baby the proximate cause of a horse's stopping |
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PLEURISY, &C. 187
and falling in over exertion, as in the common
case of hunters and post-horses, inhumanly rid- den to death. When there is any hope, bleed a small quantity, and give every three hours a drink of the restorative herbs, with tincture of assafoetida, half an ounce ; snake-root, half an. ounce; saffron, two drachms; two drachms laudanum. Fine water-gruel is nourishing and excellent. Perhaps volatile aromatic spirit, with opium or laudanum (quantities as before) in good sound beer or Port wine, would suc- ceed beyond any other medicine. If the fever be considerable, add purified nitre, half an ounce. In a day or two, cordial ball in mulled Port or good beer, to one pint of which add half a pint herb drink. On return of appetite, fine fragrant picked hay in very small quantities, and warm malhes of malt and fresh bran. Gentle frictions. Fresh air. Large bed to yoll upon. A Peripneumony neglected may terminate
in a collection of coagulable lymph, left un« absorbed in the chest. This kind of dropsy is mentioned by Wood, and another writer ■whose name I have forgotten. The signs are, difficulty in movirfg the fore-quarters; if the disease be curable, tapping must be the means. |
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188 ANTICOR, &c.
The following case of pkurodyne, happened
a few years back ;• A hale robust woman, of about thirty-five, accustomed to earn her living by gathering water-cresses, became constantly afflicted with pains in her side. She was bled so-frequently (although with little relief) that with the loss of blood and poor living, she be- came quite emaciated, and died covered with \?£rmin. This is the second instance of the morbis pcdicidosus which has come within my knowledge, a symptom which was associated with the fatal disease of the celebrated Pym; and which my old favourites, the cavaliers, su- , perstitiously attributed to the judgment of God, for disloyalty to his Vicegerent. THE ASTTICOR, OR ANTICOEUR,
Is supposed by Solleysel to be an inflamma-
tion of the pericardium, or bag which contains the heart, usually terminating in a critical ab- scess in the chest; according to that writer, " if the swelling ascends to the throat it is " present death/' The disease seems to be un- known in this country, and is, perhaps, pecu- liar to warmer climes. It is of the pleuretic class. |
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STRANGLES. 18$
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THE STRANGLES
Is a well-known disease, which attacks most
colts, and, according to Gibson, usually upon their being first put to labour, terminating in a critical abscess under the jaws. Young animals are subject to some kind of
critical, and non-recurrent disease; for, ex- ample, the distemper in dogs, which, in one instance, I observed to pass oft in bladdery and fetid eruptions. Warmth and a light diet, with broth, water-gruel, &c. are indicated. Rhu- barb and calomels * The old English term for this disease, was
the Strangullion ; and Blundevil, after Laurentius Russius, and the Italian writers, compares it to the Cynanche or Angina of the human species, giving of it, however, a very lame and imperfect account. Solleysel styles it a northern disease, and compares it with the small-pox, as those before him had com- pared it to the quinsey, and it no doubt bears analogy, in many respects, with both dis- eases. It is one of those spontaneous efforts of nature, to disburthen herself of a superflux of humours, which is final, and does not recur ; as to the vives, to which aged horses are sub- |
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190 STRAttGtES.
ject, they either bear no relation to the strangles*
or this latter disorder, in age, makes a different appearance. The matter of the strangles is contagious in a certain degree, since a country farrier propagated the disease by inoculation, and wrote a pamphlet to recommend such un- necessary practice. The authors to be consulted in this case, are
Gibson and Bracken, all our other writers^ -without reserve, having merely copied them; Those who may find it convenient " to sink " a tedious hour in the serious task of criti- " cism," may refer to Mr. Taplin on the Strangles; where that most unfortunate of cri- tics, like a true Signior Apuntador, or Knight of the Pestle, has supposed that comminuted must necessarily and exclusively mean pulve- rised I Although the strangles commonly attacks
young horses on their being first brought to labour, and the nourishing diet of the stable, at least before they arrive at five years ; yet I have both known unbroken colts seized with it in the fields, and horses which have escaped it during their lives. Among colts at grass it has probably been sometimes contagious. It is the custom to suffer a colt to run it off at grass; but I should much rather prefer the taking him up instantly into warm keep, and proper |
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STRANGLES. 331
care, lest the discharge should be checked by
the repulsive property of the cold air, and a part of the disease, from insufficient solution, be left in the habit to re-appear in time, under the guise and denomination of Vives. Bracken seems inclined, under some circumstances, to repel the strangles ; but those only in which it could possibly be safe practice, in my opinion, are, when the tumour or tumours are small, phlegmatic, and disinclined to suppuration. They may then be treated with repellents as the Vives, alterative or purgative medicines be- ing joined. This is no very uncommon case even with colts. The signs of the approach of this disease, are
thrusting out of the nose, hoarse cough, feverish heat, hot breath, heavy, and languid eyes, dif- ficulty in deglutition. A swelling appears be- tween the jaw-bones, increasing daily, until the fifth or sixth day, -when the imnosthuma- tion breaks, discharging a large quantity of matter. In this favourable case, nothing more is necessary than to clothe the head well, anoint the abscess twice a day with an emollient oint- ment, and perhaps to enlarge the orifice, in a small degree, when the matter first appears, and to heal afterwards with camphorated spirits. In the interm, the horse's diet should be soft and warm? with warm water, or white water, |
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192 STRAN6tES,
plenty of gruel, and the salts as occasion may
demand. Should the disorder arise upward among the
glands, and divide itself into several tumours, which maturate at different periods, the pro- gress and cure may be tedious: but when the abscess is formed above, nearly about the head of the windpipe, there is a degree of danger, since it may prevent a horse from swallowing for several days ; and if suppuration be long delayed, a suffocation may ensue. In this situ- ation the eyes will be fixed, and the nostrils dilated, as«in convulsion. Running at the nose is looked upon as an unfavourable symptom. Sometimes the swelling arises on the inside of the jaw-bone, when it is a considerable time in coming to maturity; and the discharge must be evacuated by the mouth. When it is necessary to promote suppuration
by art, unguents and warm fomentations, used three or four times a day, are preferable to poultices in this respect, that the latter are apt to become cold, and by their repelling effect in that state, to undo all the good they may have previously done, a difficulty I have often ex- perienced : but if the attendant will take the pains of replacing the poultices, the instant they lose the necessary degree of heat, there is no method half so efficacious. Receipts for poul- |
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STRANGLES. 193
tices, embrocations, unguents, and preparations
of various kinds, will be found by a reference to the Index. Should the discharge proceed by the mouth,
cleanse frequently with equal parts of best vinegar and spirit of wine, or brandy, diluted a little with water, and sweetened with honey. Wash the nostrils with the same, paying all pos- sible attention to cleanliness. Use no prema- ture attempt to open the abscess, but should nature be too tardy, a depending orifice may be made, not too deep, with alighted candle, or preferably with a small pointed cautery. If the fever run too high, bleed once ; should it be- come hectic and malignant, give the fever drink before prescribed, and incase of much discharge , from the nose, that the horse appear weakened, the bark with red wine will be the best resto- rative; or strong decoctions of guiacum ren- dered palatable with raisins, figs, and honey, a quart a day for a week or two. Indurations of the glands remaining after the cure, will be best dispersed by strong mercurial unction, keeping the horse safe from cold : and mild mercurial physic. In the same manner the Fives are to be treated. |
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"vox. Ii»
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194 YfiLXOWS,
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THE YELLOWSj.
Or jaundice of the human species, is a
common disease amongst horses and horned cattle, and sometimes associated with other ma- ladies, as fever, catarrh, colic. The idopathie, or jaundice, simply considered, is the primary effect of an obstruction in the common gall- pipe (for the horse has no gall-bladder) from various causes, by which the bile, or great part of it, instead of taking its destined course into the lower part of the first of the small guts, where it is designed by nature to blunt and sheathe the acids of the chyley regurgitates into the vena cava, thence passing into the circu- lation, tinging the fluids with a yellow hue. The symptoms are sluggishness, want of appe- tite, rough coat, loss of flesh, and hollovvness of flanks, low fever, yellowness of the eyes and rnouth, pale or brown urine, crude, loose, and pale excrement, or very dark coloured, and in small balls. Should the' disease have arisen from high
keep and indigestion,, for want of air ,and ex- ercise, or timely purgation, and the horse be in tolerable, strength, begin the cure by once mo- derate bleeding, and the next day give the mild G |
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TEL tOWS. 195
aloetic purge, with calomel, perhaps the most
efficacious remedy in the case. After the set- ting of this dose, proceed regularly with the following infusion, until the disease shall submit, which in a favourable and recent case, may very well happen in a week. The infusion; Salt of tartar, two ounces; turmeric, three ounces; saffron and soap of tartar, each half an ounce; filings of iron, three ounces ; mix in a gallon of beer (porter is preferable) and infuse in a stone bottle corked up two or three days, shak- ing frequently. Strain off from a pint to a pint and a half for a dose, milk warm, every mornins; faltins;.—Bracken. Or : Indian rhubarb, turmeric, madder, li-
quorice root, sal polychreft, in powder, equal quantities; make balls with castile soap and honey. A common sized ball twice a day. This seldom fails. Glyster once or twice, if needful. Rowel. Water-gruel. Clothing. Air* Walking exercise. Perhaps another mild purge, or slight course of salts, may be necessary to bring the horse into good working condition. Should the disease proceed from severity of
labour, and chronic obstructions, and the liver he affected, the most powerful chemical deob- struents will be required. The external appear- ance of the horse will shew the state of the case but too plainly. Preparations of steel. iEthiop's o 2
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196 YEILOffS,
mineral, or the antimonial powder, already
given in a former Chapter, must he tried; but • the administration of these ought to be in able professional hands. Gibson recommends bleed- ings, from the inflammatory state in which he has found the livers, on dissection of jaundiced Frequently there will be but little occasion
for medicine, for the horse will be dead in two or three days after being taken from work, when the liver will be found totally decayed; or a dark sanious discharge will issue from the nose and mouth, which the farriers say is the disease changed to the black jaundice, and which is incurable : I have seen both these cases repeatedly, but never that inflammatory species of the disease, which Gibson says produces deli- rium and madness. The inveterate jaundice may with the utmost
propriety take the denomination of consump- tion in horses; a case in which the success of a long course of medicine would by no means be so certain as the expence and trouble. A short course well advised. Salt marshes. Straw- yard with carrots and lucern hay. Dr. Eagletou Smith records a cure of jaun-
dice, supposed to originate from a wound in the fiver, the patient being a soldier, with sheep's gall and water, given after meals; the dose, |
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YELLOWS. 1W
half an ounce of the gall fresh", to two ounces
water. The digestive power had been totally destroyed by the disease. From a number ot cruel experiments on living animals, and some others equally successful and satisfactory upon dead ones, which ought entirely to have super- seded the necessity of ■ the former,, the Doctor has brought xery solid arguments to prove that the gall, not the gastric acid, is the menstruum or principle of digestion in animals. Gall has been long prescribed as a stomachic upon the continent;, and may, in all probability, as a powerful assistant in digestion, be found an efficacious remedy in the consumptions of men or horses. I have now before me, an account of the
epidemic cough among horses, or as it was called, the distemper, in I76O, written by Br Bracken, in his usual roundabout way ; and J have reason to believe, it was the last of his publications on that, or any other subject. The disease, lie says, was produced from
' the constitution of the air,' and was produc- tive of violent coughs amongst the horses throughout this island, whether without, or within doors. lie saw some fall down in cough- ing fits, resembling, in the symptoms* the hoop- ing cough of children. The tone deep and hoi- |
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19S YELLOWS.
low, the cough remaining some weeks, and even
two months. He first advised those copious bleedings, re-
peated according to the strength of the animal, so necessary in all inflammatory cases. ' Since, in fact,' continues the Dr. ' bleeding is the most sovereign remedy ; because, as to the tribe of balsamics doing much good in inflammation of the lungs, there is little reason to expect it, and those gentlemen who pin their faith upon such practice, are wanting in the knowledge of ana- tomy/—'The cough among horses is an inflam- mation of the lungs, as I observed by seeing a horse lately opened, after he died- of the dis- temper in its highest virulence, if I may be al- lowed the term ; for the spungy bones of the nose and the membrane that lines the nostrils, together with all the other parts, as the brain, &c. were free and sound, excepting a very small discolouration from the sharpness and acrimony of the humours discharged by the nose, and which undoubtedly came from the tainted lungs; but these were intirely in a mortified state, and emitted that particular smell, by which a blind man that is a practiser, pro- nounces a sphacelation, or highly gangrenous disposition of the affected part; but before the mortification had advanced far some of |
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YELLOWS. 199
Wood vessels of one of the lobes of the lungs
bad broke, and a part of them inosculated with the pleura, or membrane which lines the inside of the ribs, so as to adhere strongly : and this is no uncommon case in violent pleurisies and peripneumonies/ Some, although not many, he observed, die
of this distemper for want of copious bleeding an the first stage ; and such as recover without it, provided they are highly affected, may be in danger of the glanders, or a broken wind. The following is the good Doctor's prescrip-
tion in the case, sound enough indeed, although. it must be confessed a little in the old woman's style, both of composition and administration. The seneca root, I remember,, in great esteem, and it probably has more efficacy than modern medical fashion is willing to allow. " Take of the root called seneca, or rattle
snake root (which every good apothecary keeps, or ought to keep) two ounces, bruise it in a mortar, and put it in a pan along with five pints of water, boiled to three pints; and towards the end of ihe boiling, put in two ounces of liquo- rice root bruised, half an ounce of saltpetre, and an ounce of cremor-tartar powdered: then strain and give the horse one half of this de- coction, morning and evening, every third morning and evening for three turns, first put* |
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200 YMLOWS.
ting a rowel in his brescot, and another under
his belly, and diet him with soft meats,_ and warmish water, with oat-meal along with sweet short hayj_ if he will eat it; but if not, he must be nourished \vith liquids, and kept warm, and walked out twice a, day, provided the weather is seasonable." After the horse shall be free from his dis-
order, the Doctor orders a purge, of no less than an ounce and half of common aloes, with the addition of jalap, sulphur, cremor- tartar, terebinthinated balsam of sulphur, and syrup of buckthorn, to be repeated in ten days. |
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[ 201 j
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CHAP. V.
VERTIGO----STAGGERS----APOPLEXY----EPI-
LEPSY OR FALLING EVIL-—CONVULSIONS ----STA-G EVIL ----LOCKED JAW----NIGHT- MARE. W ITH these our farriers make a notable con-
fusion, since they are most ofthem, to use Os- mer's words, " no more than secondary effects/' or the symptoms of various diseases. This con- sideration must fully evince the folly of de- pending upon advertised nostrums for staggers and convulsions, which medicines are generally cephalic mixtures, calculated to palliate symp- toms in some particular cases, but seldom, or with extreme uncertainty, to be of any radical use. All pretended secrets for the cure of these diseases, must instantly appear, to any man of a tolerable share of medical information, to be mere imposition: the best secret (and I am sorry it is yet a secret among many) is a dili- gent observation of symptoms, and a familiarity with the praxis and methodus medendi of the best authors. For the theory of apoplectic and |
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202 STAGGERS.
convulsive disease in horses, I refer the juvenile
practitioner to Bracken ; for the practice and method of cure, to Gibson and Bar tie t: there he will find ample satisfaction, but no-where else, unless he meet with better success than I have, after a painful search. Hippocrates says, that convulsions may pro-
ceed either from fulness or emptiness; from plethora and too much blood, occasioned by want of exercise or physic ; or from extreme labour, over purgation, long watching, fasting, or wounds. The same may be said of vertigo or giddiness, which may arise either from the tui'o-escency and tension of the blood vessels in the head, or the dilatation and weakness of the vessels, and rarefaction of the blood ; of the latter ease I can sorrowfully assure the Reader, hand inexpert us Icguor. The idiopathic staggeus in horses, answers
precisely in all respects, whether of cause, symp- toms, or consequence, with the apoplexy of the haman species. The proximate cause of the disease, is supposed to be a stagnation of the blood in the plexus choroides, and other small vessels of the brain, which pressing upon the origin of the nerves, impedes the action of the animal spirits, and puts a sudden stop to the functions of life. The remote causes are. go |
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STAGGERS. 203
fre'rally, over-fulness, richness, or sluggishness
of the blood. The head-acii in horses, mentioned by all
the old writers, is generally a prelude to the staggers, as is also vertigo or giddiness, for- merly called the sturdy or tdbssick, which symptom makes its appearance on their first being led into the air from the stable. The signs of the head-ach are, hanging clown of the head, drooping of the ears, dull and watery eyes, dropping of urine, and costiveness. Pro- bably the pain of the head and vertigo arise, at first, merely from association with the nervous coat of the stomach, the original seat of the ob- struction, which being-neglected, itat last-reaches the brain, and a fit of the apoplexy, or staggers, is the immediate consequence. The horse falls suddenly, and although sometimes the paroxism will in seven or eight minutes exhaust itself, and the animal recover, and arise without assistance; yet, in many cases, unless timely relief were af- forded by opening a vein, the only remedy, death would be the consequence in a very short space. The fit is sometimes attended with strong and violent convulsion, at others not; in the first case, the animal roils and beats himself in. a frightful manner; otherwise he lies on his side groaning, and foaming at the mouth, heav- |
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20-4 STAGGERS.
ing violently at the flanks, his eyes and tail set,
flesh trembling and convulsed. I have seen various cases of staggers ; the last
was as follows: Walking up Fleet-street, I ob- served a crowd of people wonderfully diverted -with the agonies of a cart-horse beating himself almost to pieces, in, I think, the most violent convulsions I ever witnessed. He threw him- self repeatedly upon the foot-path, and was very near going headlong into a shop. To my astonishment, the feliows who seemed to belong- to the horse, took no steps whatever towards his recovery, but were making themselves as merry, with the rest of the mob, as though they were enjoying the humane, considerate, and harmless vdiversion of hunting a miserable and forlorn discarded doa-, with a cannister tied to his tail. It was impossible for me to be silent— 1 called out so often, "■ Why don't you bleed •" the horse in the mouth ?" that a tall fellow, with a whip on his shoulder, took offence at my importunity, and turning to me with a coun- tenance in which contempt was exceedingly well depicted, interrupted me with, " Bleed your " sister!—And pray now, what do you know " about the matter ?—don't you see that the (i horse has got the mad-staggers, and must die/' ■Well knowing my own foible, and that I had |
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STAGGERS, 205
no band at a retort, I remained silent. Pre-
sently the violence of the fit abated, the horse stretched himself out, shaking and groaning ter- ribly, and with the almost certain indications of the insufficiency of nature to tree herself with- out assistance. The carter now standing by his horse's head, I determined to make one more assay, and the anecdote of a certain great man on shipboard; and " extinguish that illumina- " tion," coming that moment across my mind, I resolved also not to make a similar blunder. Accordingly putting myself in the most favour- able posture to obtain a hearing, I bawled out as loud as I was able, "-------your-------you
" thick-sculled son of a-------, why don't yea
" cut the bars of the horse's mouth and be-------
" to you?" I shall never forget it—these flow-
ers of the mother tongue operated upon the fellow's auditory nerves like a charm; he just cast a kind, of vacant look towards the place whence the voice proceeded, whilst his hand mechanically slid down to his pocket; out came bis knife, and after a little awkward fumbling, he drew blood in the roof of the horse's mouth. , The issue of the blood relieved the pressure on the nerves instantaneously, and the horse giving three or four sobs, was upon his legs in less than five minutes; and was led staggering away to $ ferrier, to receive, I suppose, a cordial drink, |
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206 STAGGERS.
by way of preparing him for another fit. I
could not help maliciously asking my old an- tagonist, the tall man with the whip, whether all horses died of the mad-staggers ? " Well, " Mr". Wise-acre," replied this acute sophister of the stable, " don't you see the horse had not " the mad-staggers, or he would not have got ** over it." What a public loss, that such a genius had not been bred a lawyer or a po- litician ! The horse appeared to be high-fed and full of blood, and had been strained hard in drawing a heavy load, in all probability, imme- diately upon a full feed. This, like the colic, is plainly the disease of
neglected evacuations; and an immense load of fasces or dung retained in the intestines, is gene- rally one of the most powerful causes. Cart- horses particularly will always be subject to such maladies, unless they are occasionally purged; but venienti occurrite morbo has heen echoed by every writer since Hippocrates, to no manner of purpose. I am supposing a case of simple apoplexy
from plethora, and the subject strong, and full of humours. To grooms and farriers, should any such honour me with a perusal, I must note here, that I do not mean corrupt or tainted humours, but merely a superabundance of the animal juices, in their natural state. Attend |
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STAGGERS.- STOJ
first to the most urgent symptom, which being
palliated, deliberate on the cause, and the most proper means of a radical cure. Bleed plenti- fully, and in several parts at once, if need be7 from two quarts, even to five or six, according to circumstances. Ilepeat, in a less quantity, next day if required. It' the horse be cast, raise his head and shoulders with a truss of straw. The fit over, setons may be made in several parts of the body. Laxative glysters, morn- ing and night; backraking previously. Salined water or drinks. Water-gruel plenty, and mashes. If the horse still appear dull and heavy about the head, blow up his nostrils, with a, Jong slender pipe, half an egg-shell full o£ finely powdered astira bacca, two or three ragrhis the last thing, and keep him from catching cold. Walking exercise. After a week, a brisk aloetic purge: the following week, begin a course of alterative balls, the size of a pigeon's egg9 morning and night; a fortnight's, or month's continuance may suffice. One ounce of native cinnabar, mixed with half a pound of the cor- dial ball, is recommended by Dr. Bracken. I have not observed this case to require the assist- ance of any nervous or cephalic medicines. In INFLAMMATION OF THE BRAIN, AND
delirium, copious and frequent bleedings,.
glysters, and the use of nitre, to the amount of |
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208 STAGGERS.
from six to eight ounces in a day, are the only
dependance. Blundevil says he has seen a mad horse bite the flesh from his own shoulders. Gibson describes the symptom of a horse
rearing up, and falling back, on the approach of any one to handle his head, referring the cause to water in the ventricle, which from the erect position of the head, flowing backward, causes a sudden pressure and weight on the cerebellum and origin of the nerves. He says, young horses are most liable. I have seen one or two instances of this, which the farriers call- ed the megrim. I was not clearly satisfied, that the head was the seat of the disease; but if so, I should suppose that frequent moderate bleedings, setons, or rowels, and the medicines prescribed generally in convulsions and epilepsy, must be indicated. In general, the epilepsy is rather to be
referred to a weak cause and to inanition, than to plethora. The convulsions do not always proceed originally from the head, but from association with some other affected part. The causes, immediate or remote, may be constitu- tional debility, excessive exertion, labour unac- customed, or too long continued without the necessary remissions. The common signs are, - reeling and staggering, eyes fixed, insensibility to every thing, turning round, -sudden falling" |
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STAGGER Z, 209
down, convulsions succeeded by stillness, insen-
sibility as if death were approaching, legs stretched out stiff and inn bje* trembling and working at the flanks; hors ' :! some-
times continue in this state for several hours, and at last arise of themselves : a dry white foam in the mouth is generally a favourable symp- tom, indicating the termination of the fit. The cure: Bleeding according to strength;
but here the utmost precaution is necessary, for as in the apoplexy from plethora, and a superabundance of the material of life, too free. a use of the lancet can scarcely be made, so in cases of exhaustion, even a small trespass on the quantity of blood, is not repaired for a great length of time. Bodjr to be kept soluble by glystefrs. The following ball and drink, to be given once or twice a day at first; afterwards, once in two or three days, until the cessation of the disease. Asafoetida, half an ounce; Russia cas.tor pounded, and Venice turpentine, each two drachms; diaperite, one ounce; make the ball with honey and oil of amber. Eon THE DRINK TO WASH DOWN THE
ball. Take pennyroyal and misletce, each a
large handful; valerian root, one ounce; li- quorice* half an ounce; saffron, two drachms; infuse in a quart of boiling water two hours, pour off. Or j the following may be used if VOL. II. P
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210 STAGGERS.
necessary, to warm, and invigorate the blood.
Castor and asafcetida, of each half an ounce ; rue and pennyroyal, of each a large handful; filings of iron tied up in a bag, half a pound ; infuse in two quarts boiling water, and keep the infusion close covered by itself. Then take Virginia snakeweed, conlrayerva and valerian, each half an ounce saffron and cochineal, each two drachms ; infuse in a quart of white wine (or fine sound old ale) in the sun, or by the fire side, covered, twenty-four hours. Mix a pint of the first infusion and a gill of the tincture for a dose once a day, or oftner, if re- quired. The above forms are from Gibson, the first
who prescribed medicines of this class for horses in the staggers, which were afterwards highly- approved by Dr. Bracken, who only objected to the expence. Out of this profusion of me- dicines, which I have put down for form sake, the judicious practitioner may select some of real efficacy; and in most cases of this kind, laudanum, or opium, in any convenient ce- phalic drink, may succeed, indeed should never be omitted, the patient being weak. Myrrh and arnmoniacum are also recommended by Gibson..
Should the yellows be associated with con-
vulsions, or more properly, the former be at- |
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STAG-EVIL, AND LOCKED JAW* 211
tended with convulsions ; the specific medicines,
and treatment for each, must in course be joined. STAG-EVIL, AND LOCKED JAW,
This stag-evil, tetanus, or cramp, is some-
times so universal and lasting, that perhaps it ought to be denied idiopathic convulsion in horses. As to the locked jaw, or tetanus tris- mus, it is a symptom or affection arising from sympathy, or consent of parts, generally with a wounded tendon. A year or two since, a horse-dealer, driving his chaise near town, his horse picked up a nail, which penetrated so deep, that he was instantly seized with the lock- ed jaw, or in the common phrase, became jaw- set. I believe the horse died in a day or two. Gibson speaks as follows of the stag-evil.
He has known horses clear their racks in the night, and in the morning drink their water, and eat their usual allowance of corn ; and yet* in less than half an hour, have had their mouths close shut up, and their whole bodies con- vulsed. ** As soon as « horse is seized in this manner,
" his head is raised with his nose towards his " rack, his ears prick'd up, and his tail cock'd, ts looking with an eagerness as an hungry horse, *2
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21§" STAG-EV1I, AND LOCKED JAW.
*' when hay & pat down to him, or like a high
". spirited horse when he is put upon his mettle " ■—his neck grows stiff, cramped, and almost w immoveable; and if he lives in this condi- " tiou a few days, knots and ganglions will " arise in the tendinous parts; all the muscles •' will be cramped, legs stiff, wide and straddle- u ing, as if the horse were nailed to the pave- " merit; skin drawn tight in all parts, eyes M fixed, scarce anv ability to walk ; snorts and " sneezes often, which symptom increases till «* he drops dead, which happens in a few ** days." I have already spoken of cramp as occasion-
ed by cold ; the ancient veterinarians were no strangers to this accident. Tkeo?nnestus de- scribes his favourite horse to have been univer- sally cramped and jaw-set, from passing the mountains in a deep snow; which he cured by raising a diaphoresis in the horse, with a large fire in the stable, .-and by anointing his body with a strange composition of an immense number of articles, called Acopum. -Gibson supposed the stag-evil to proceed
frequently from worms, or ulcerations and im« posthumes in the midriff, or other principal bowels. Of the methods of cure, the external chiefly remains to be treated. Bleed plenti- fully or otherwise, according to circumstances 5- |
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STAG-EVIL, AND LOCKED JAW. 213r
Rub into the cheeks, temples, neck, shoulders,
spines of the back and loins, or wherever is the greatest contraction, the following lini- ment. Nerve ointment four ounces; oint- ment of marshmallows, six ounces; mustard- seed ground, and Flanders oil of bays, each two ounces; oil of amber two ounces; make the liniment thin with camphorated spirits. On, as a cheap liniment, mustard-seed fresh
ground, with camphorated spirits. To perform the friction sufficiently, and with
effect, will require the exertions of two men* for unless there be almost continual rubbing; in a dangerous case, the contraction and insen- sibility increase, and man j horses have been so lost. Other forms oflinimhst. Ethereal oil
of turpentine, or the common, four ounces: nerve ointment, and oil of hay, each two ounces; camphor rubbed fine one ounce; rec- tified oil of amber, three ounces; tincture of cantharides, one ounce. Or. Soap liniment, four ounces ; spirit of sal ammoniac and tinc- ture of opium, each one ounce. Mix. Warm bath, or sweating in a hot-
house, well clothed. No violence must be used to force open the mouth, which will exasperate all the symptoms, perhaps induce |
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214 STAG-EVIL, AND LOCKED JAW.
delirium. Nutritive glysters, Laxative and
cephalic ditto. In a xery bad case, Gibson had great success with crude opium, injected half an ounce in a glyster, which he afterwards fol- lowed up, the mouth opening a little, with a ball of an ounce of Matthews's pill, and two drachms asaf'celida, washed down with warm gruel. I should suppose camphor and nitre in a glyster, probable to be attended with good effects in this case, and would recommend re- peated trials of it. Should they be joined with the opium, or laudanum, or warm spiced wine ? The intent is to stimulate, to excite warmth and sensibility, and I have been informed that the discharge of cold water upon a locked jaw has been tried, but with very ill success. The above cure was completed with several mild alo- etic purges, in which were joined asafoetida, antr- moniacum, and saffron ; Gibson remarking, that the common plantation aloe' was more apt tp create, than cure nervous disorders. Of the Palsy in horses, having no expe-
rience, 1 have nothing farther to say, than that I suppose the foregoing remedies applicable thereto. The same of the Lethargy or Sleepy Evil ; this last in ahorse full of cold, viscid juices, will be cured by bleeding, rowels, infusions of the herbs, with mustard, horse- radish, and parsley, acidulated with cremor tar- |
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STAG-EVIL, AND LOCKED JAW. 215
tar, and sweetened with honey. Brisk mer-
curial and aloetic purge. Cinnabar balls, or I should prefer sulphur and iron filings equal parts. It should be remembered always to aci- dulate the cooling herb drinks with cremor tar- tar or lemon juice, as otherwise they pall and disgust the stomachs of horses; and that gene- rally, infusions in boiling water, are to be pre- ferred to decoctions. There can be no doubt that horses are fre-
quently troubled with the Asthma noctur- num, Incubus, or Nightmare, the symp- toms of which are those profuse sweats, and twistingand dishevelling of the mane, discovered at their uprising in the morning, which the country fellows of old attributed to the jockey- ship and hard post-work of Oberon and his queen. The cause, a dense and sizy blood, and intestinal accumulation. It is one of the salutary warnings of beneficent nature, which is not always neglected with impunity. Vene- section.- Purgatives. Exercise. Grass. |
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[ 216' ]
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CHAP. VI.
ON LOSS OF APPETITE----BULIMIA, OR
CRAVING APPETITE----COST! VEN.ESS —
LAX OR SCOURING----MOLTEN GREASE—-
HIDEBOUND AND SURFEIT----WARBLES
M INGE----FARCY—PLICA POLONICA—'
DROPSY----WORMS.
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LOSS OF APPETITE.
1 HIS arises either from errors in diet and
'management, tvatrt of grass, or from constitu- tional or acquired • debility. It the digestive powers of the horse have been overburdened with accumulated feeds of corn, and at the same tune evacuations and exercise neglected, nothing may be required farther than the op- posite management. Mashes for some days. Course ol salts and cremor tartar; afterwards an aloe tic purge. If a weak case, a run at grass, and the mild-
est purging course on return. Gibson advises to add to the purge of aloes and rhubarb, two |
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LOSS OF APPETITE. %ff
drachms of elixir proprietatis, which is merely
an addition of myrrh and saffron, a useful one however. See purgative forms. After the operation of each purge, to give the following drink, warmed in cold weather. Take a large handful of guiacum shavings;
pomegranate bark, and balustines bruised, each one ounce; galangels and liquorice root sliced, each half an ounce; boil in two .quarts forge water to three pints, and whilst warm, infuse in the decoction two drachms saffron, and half an ounce diascordium. It makes two drinks. On, Chalybeate beer with bitters (see Index) once a day. Loose stable. Walking exercise, or daily turning out in yard or paddock. I have spoken elsewhere of the constitutional
appetites of horses. Some are off their stomach at moulting, or shedding their coats, when they require a somewhat warmer regimen and com- fortable mashes, with cordial ball daily. Mares, in their horsing time, will som times lose their appetite, when a gentle sal ine course is good, and afterwards cordial balls, once a day for a week. Crib biting may destroy the appe- tite, or induce bulimia. The only cure of that vice is to leave nothing in the way to be laid hold on, as in a loose stall with no rack or manger. |
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218 BULIMIA, OR CRAVING APPETITE.
Solleysel. who was a most diligent and accu-
rate observer, pretends horses sometimes lose their stomachs, from " little worms lodged " within the lips, above and below, which " cause such an itching, that he is continually " rubbing his lips against the manger. These 0 worms appear like little pushes when you " turn back the lips, and are dislodged by " cutting the uppermost skin, where they ap- P pear, with a sharp knife, and rubbing with " salt and vinegar/' I have frequently noticed horses rubbing their lips against the manger in the manner mentioned by this writer, but can pretend to no acquaintance with the lip- worms. BULIMIA, OR CRAVING APPETITE.
Horses addicted to this, are commonly styled
foul feeders : It may arise from an acid or acrimonious juice in the stomach, the conse- quence of indigestion, and this mav have for its cause either over repletion and want of exercise, or debility of the organs of diges- tion. The proper cure is to cleanse the first pas-
sages with absorbents and purgatives, and should the disease arise from debility, to use |
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LAX OR SCOURING, &C. 219
corroborants, as directed in the last case. Of
absorbents, none equal magnesia and salt of tartar, as they evacuate as well as absorb, whereas chalk, and the testaceous powders, are apt to leave a load upon the stomach; but in weak cases, joined with looseness, these latter are preferable. To the purge, No. 6, join diapente, one ounce and half. Horses in this state will eat clay, wall, or
dirt, wet foul litter, or even the dung of other horses. Keep the stall clean, with fresh litter. In some horses this constant desire of eating; is merely a habit, and of no great consequence, since you can regulate their diet at will, and they can scarcely devour clean straw enough to injure them. Costiveness, see Chap. ii. p. 55.
LAX OR SCOURING, OR DIARRHiRA.
There is a nervous diarrhaea in horses, which
I hinted at before; those subject to it are ge- nerally young, and of a weak and irritable habit: it attends them only whilst at work, when they seldom carry any flesh; the com- plaint is out of the reach of medicine, but will sometimes subside spontaneously, after a few years use. Many years ago I had a favourite |
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220 LAX OR SCOUEI2TG,
voung horse called Zcnic, subject to this de-
lect, with which I made the grand medical tour to no sort of purpose ; the only result was. the nag whilst at play was always as fat as bacon, and very firm in body; but a week's work reduced his flesh, and caused him to thing like a cow. These delicate horses require great care and dietetic attention to render them of much use. Strong nutriment, but in mode- rate quantities at a time. Good old dried beans in their oats, lucern or the hardest and best upland hay; rice mashes, carrots, occa- sional runs at grass. The scouring in horses which requires and
admits a remedy, may arise from various causes: from an acrimonius ichor in the stomach and intestines, occasioned by the fer- mentation and sudden dissolution of excrement long retained ; from the solution of perspirable matter thrown upon the lower bowels, on oc- casion of drinking cold water when hot, or other causes of cold : from coiliquation of the fatty substance of the body iii being over-heated by excessive labour, especially when out of con- dition ; or lastly, diarrhrea may he a, concomi- tant, or termination of disease. As to the cure, it is a general rule never to
exhibit astringents,, or to attempt to stop a flux |
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on. i>r ->ia. l22i
lie commence?: ',vce the rib charge may
b§ niereljf an eilbrt o, lieve her
from a morbid load. (.imtle laxatives are ra-
ther indicated, and rhubarb from its cardiac and sub-astringent quality, is the sheet-anchor in this case, which I may with truth observe is very familiar to me. In common cases, and indeed generally, astringents are by no means necessary, the effect and proper cause ceasing together; but should the purging continue un- til the healthy humours begin to be evacuated, and the animal become weak in consequence, no time ought to be lost in attempting to stay the flux. Solleysel tixes the period of waiting to three days, when he says the horse will be- •rin to lose his appetite. The LAXATIVE AjVD SCB-ASTEINGBNT
ball or drixk: Take one o«ace fine Tur-
key rhubarb, fresh powdered, lenitive electua- ry, two ounces; ginger finely powdered, two drachms; ball with flour, or make a drink with gruel. To be given every other day three times. The above quantity of rhubarb 13 far too small, but that excellent root is too dear. Two ounces would not be too much. As a substitute, give four drachms of brie aloes, or three drachms aloes and one ounce rhubarb, with ginger, or aniseed powder and |
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222 I.AX OR SCOURING,
fine soap. The night after the operation of
each* dose the following drink may be given warm, if circumstances appear to require it, Diascordium half an ounce to an ounce, in either a tea made of mint, sage, chamomile* and dried red roses; or ale, or gruel. But should the disease turn out too power-
ful for these remedies, and the scouring conti- nue with griping pains, loss of appetite, heaving at the flanks, and fever, an efficacious restrin- gent course must be adapted, both in the me- dicines given at the mouth, and frequent glysters. Restringent Glyster: Oak bark, four
ounces; tormentil-root, two ounces; chamomile, two handfuls; burnt hartshorn, three ounces; boil in three quarts forge water to two; strain off, and add two ounces diascordium; four ounces of starch or ground-rice; and half a drachm of opium. This quantity may serve once or twice according to circumstances. Re- peat once a day. The drink, to be exhibited daily: Take
aniseeds, carraways, and lesser cardamoms, one ounce each; juniper-berries, four ounces; bruise and put them into five pints mint wa- ter, adding diascordium, one ounce ; boil to three pints; strain, and add good old Port |
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CR DIARRII.EA. 223
half a pint, or strong beer, sweeten with treacle.
In case of much pain and twitching in the bowels, two spoonfuls of laudanum may be added. The diascordium, or species of scbrdium, is
composed of such a variety of cordial, aroma- tic, and astringent ingredients, that it saves trouble, and is of equal efiicacy with the mode of prescribing a number of various articles o£ similar intent: it may be given in balls com- pounded with prepared chalk and syrup of pop- pies. Mashes of malt and rice mixed, should be allowed, water in small quantities at a time, and mixed with rice gruel, or solution of gum arabic. I have not heard that horses are subject to
dysenteries, but in case of a flux of blood with the excrement, JBartlet prescribes the following dnnk. Diascordium and French bole, one ounce each; Ipecacuhan powdered, two drachms; opium half a drachm; dissolve in a pint of warm ale, or Port and water, and give it twice a day. Perhaps it would be better to begin with half the quantity of diascordium. In case of a lienterv, or voiding chyle with the excrement, or the aliment unchanged, bark and bitters (see Index) must be brought forward in aid of the other medicines. Or, The following infusion, from Bracken. Take |
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224 MOLTEN-CREASE,
zedoary and gentian half an ounce each j
orange peel, and Winters bark, one ounce < : fine myrrh in powder, half an ounce ; flowers of chamomile and lesser centaury, each half a hancuul; mace and cloves two drachms each. Beat all grossly together, and infuse two. days in a gallon of good Port, or strong beer, cold. Dose, one pint every morning, milk-warm, adding two ounces syrup of dried roses to every dose. MOLTEN-GREASE, OR BODY FOUNDER.
This is a colliquation or general melting of
the adept,or fatty substance of the body, great part of which is absorbed, and thrown upon the blood, and upon the intestines, whence if; is voided with the excrement. The horse must needs be subject to this malady in a greater degree than most other animals, from his natural propensity to acquire fat in a short time, whence Dr. Anderson is inclined to pre- fer horse-flesh to beef for the shambles. This disease has ever been more frequent upon the continent than with us, and it may easily bar discovered from Bracken's writing, that he had never seen it. I have repeatedly seen it, but not in any very dangerous form. The blood |
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OR BODT-rOU^DEft. 225
of a horse taken up from grass will not only
have a greasy pellicle or skin upon it, but will cut several inches deep in fat; this being of a loose and unsubstantial texture, and not firm like the pinguedo or suet, no wonder it will fuse, and be set afloat by extraordinary heat and violent exertion. Having, in the words above, now given in
Italics, expressed myself inaccurately, from in- advertence merely, Mr. Blaine, with a com- mendable diligence, has not failed to lay hold of the supposed advantage, for which he will find I am under a real obligation to him. He could not surely imagine my meaning to be, that the horse's blood was without coagulum; in truth, I intended to express, that the co- agulum was extremely greasy, or impregnated with fat, a state, in which the blood of the horse will be found, in various circumstances. This is one of those very important instances,
which Mr. Blaine has chosen to adduce, in proof of the vast superiority of himself and cer- tain other persons, over our original and prac- tical veterinary writers: but let him speak for himself, and together with the new school, en* joy all the advantages of his victory.—Vol. I. p. 95. Mr. Blaine says, " It is by anatomy ^ve know that molten-grease is no stirring up or melting the fat of the body; which has been a vol, 11, Q
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226 M OLTliN G BEASE,
most gross and dangerous error of long stand-
ins; ; but that it is siraplv a thrdwinp- out of eoagulable lymph/'—" It has taught us like- wise, that strong physic is dangerous, because what was mistaken for fat is only the effect of inflammation."—Vol. II. p. 535. " This dis- ease, the gras fondu of the French, is in itself one of the strongest proofs of the pitiable state in which veterinary medicine has been plunged till this period. Bartlet, who was educated a surgeon, and should have known better, says, by molten grease is meant a fat or oily dis- charge with the dung, and arises from a colli- quation or melting down of the fat of a horse's body by violent exercise in very hot weather. Bracken and Gibson had held the same opinion before him, and later writers on this subject have copied their errors."—Thus far Mr. lilaine, but unfortunately for him, William Gsmer, of the old school, and one of those writers, whom I have, with justice I trust, in- tituled our veterinary Classics, has chanced to anticipate this new discovery.—" Now this melting the grease is nothing more or less than the serous particles of the blood extravasated by too much heat and labour."—Osmer, p. 128. Of the above opinion of Osmer, I was well
aware, when treating on this disease, and also. |
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OK BODY-FOUNDER,* 227
of some general objections from both Gibsort
and Bracken; but I adhered, as a matter of choice, to the evidence of my own senses, in preference to any authority* in the first in- stance; and in the ultimate, to the established veterinary custom of applying to certain dis- charges, the term of grease, a custom adopted also by Mr. Blaine himself, when the matter is discharged from the legs. With respect to the evidence of sense, had
Mr. Blaine ever seen a horse under the disease of molten-grease, he might have found, on ex- periment, that part of the discharges in ques- tion, inflammable and liquefiable, which are not the characters of albumen, but of real grease; and viewing the matter through the medium of experience, I can see no sort of im- probability in a colliquation of loose and unsub- stantial internal fat, by sudden inflammation, and its consequent effusion and discharge by an unusual emunctory; nor in the blood itself being impregnated, and, as it were, lined with fat. Gibson gives an instance (Vol. II. p. 186,) ■which convinced him (apparently incredulous before) of the possibility of a horse's grease being melted. He found " the fat melted and turned into an oil, and drawn off from its pro- per cells into the blood vessels." He says far- ther, this disease " is not unlike the greasy Q 2
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228 MOLTEN-GREASE,
diarrhseas that happen to men ;" that " the
horse's blood will have a thick skin of fat over it when cold;" that " the congealed part or se- diment is commonly a mixture of size and grease." But I have reserved, until the last, that which will doubtless be esteemed, on all hands, my highest authority, for the possibility of the animal oil being absorbed and mixed with the lymph :—it is no less than that of Mr. Blaine himself, who in Vol. II. p. 19 and 20, allows, that the interstitial adeps may become absorbed ; and that when the blood has but a small quantity of chyle poured into it from the lacteal absorbents, the lymphatic absorbents are forced to make up the deficiency, hy tak- ing tip the animal oil. But we have not yet done with Mr. Blaine
on this subject. I have already quoted from his First Volume, the following extraordinary niece of logic.—" It (anatomy) has taught us likewise, that strong physic is dangerous, because what was mistaken, for fat is only the effect of inflammation." Yet, in the case, Mr. Blaine has ordered four drachms of calomel. Now he teaches (p. 7Gl) that the strongest horse should never have more than eight drachms of aloes, many being purged with four; also, (p. 76'4) that " half a drachm of calomel will operate in the proportion of a drachm and half of aloes." |
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OR BODY-FOUNDER. 220
Thus, in a case wherein his knowledge of ana-
tomy had taught him, that strong physic is dangerous, he has prescribed half as much again in quantity, as, by his own account, the strongest horse ought ever to have. Again, in the very height of an inflammation of the brain, he has ordered calomel and aloes, amounting, by his own standard, to the quantity of twelve or fourteen drachms ; a most dangerous mode of practice, in my opinion, under the circum- stances. After all, had Mr. Blaine proved the discharges in molten-grease, to be pure lymph, without the smallest admixture of grease, or melted adeps, what a miserable and trifling: basis, on which to found his boasted superiority. As to his method of cure, it appears to be de- duced merely from analogy, and I conceive that both the calomel, and_ the castor oil which he has ordered, are the most probable articles he could select, to increase that faintness and loss of appetite, which are the never-failing conco- mitants of the disease. The attention I have paid, at different times,
to both scouring calves and foals, has served to convince me, that Mr. Blaine's prescriptions are extremely improper, if not totally opposite to the intention of cure. This complaint, in sucking or weaning animals, alternates with obstruction and gripes, and as far as I have |
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250 MOLTEN-GREASE,
experienced, almost invariably requires laxa*
tive absorbents ; should any thing of a contrary tendency appear to be indicated, oat or wheat meal are intituled to the preference. There is a captiousness in Mr. Blaine's man-
ner of writing, the obvious intent of which, is to depress the merits of other men. If it were not in his power, intirely to curb this defect, there existed the stronger necessity for accu- racy of quotation in its exercise. In Locked Jaw, (Vol. II. p. 548,) with a premature ex^> ultation, he says, " tbe older writers on far- riery did not understand this disease at all.'' Yet it is easy to see, how much he is obliged to Gibson on all hands, but most particularly for that medicine which is his sheet-anchor in the cure. He has also adopted my idea, that stag-evil in horses, is sometimes an original disease. Bartlet, he pretends, prescribed me- dicines to be given whilst the mouth of the horse was shut, but by a little farther and ne- cessary attention, he might have read, that Bartlet had himself made the exception, and advised glysters. In Strangles, (p. 635) with the usual nourishes, Mr. Blaine assures us, that fl Gibson supposed it resembled small- pox." Had Mr. Blaine been old enough, he might possibly have heard such an opinion from the man himself, but Gibson's writings say no |
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OR BODY-FOUNDER. 231.
mch tiling: he merely observes, that such is
the opinion of French and other foreign writers. Dissatisfied, as well as Bracken, with the ana- logies imagined by foreign writers, and con- tenting himself with noticing such opinions, the circumspect Gibson acknowledges that all he knows as certain, is, that the disease is " a critical swelling." Mr. Blaine calls it "a spe- citic fever of horses." The reader mav, if he please, accept this as another shining example of the superiority of the new school. Mr. Blaine never saw an instance of the strangles ending in glanders.—I have several; once par- ticularly, the case of a five-year old bred horse in the hands of a noted farrier near London; another already related. Greasy dejections may be nothing more than
a spontaneous effort of nature; in that case, nothing farther is indicated than to assist her gradually by evacuations, and to pay a better future attention to regimen and exercise; but our business here is with the disease as it arises from over-exertion, and as is commonly the case, when the horse has been unprepared; of course, horses are most liable in the heat of summer. Symptoms, knocking up at work, refusal
of food on being led in, drooping of the head and ears, universal sweat, trembling, heaving |
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232 MOLTEN GREASE, &C.
at the flanks, and turning the head towards them
as if griped, the excrement soon appears greasy, and a scouring comes on in a few hours; after- wards stiffness and inaptitude to motion, per- haps swelled legs. When a boy, I rode a horse with a great deal of loose, gross flesh about him, twenty-one miles in a warm summer's morning, and reduced him to pretty nearly the above described state. Many post-horses under these symptoms arcs neglected, and na- ture in a few days rises superior to the disease in a certain degree, but only to submit to it after a while in the more formidable shape of surfeit, farcy, or glanders. Thousands of un- fortunate creatures are made wretched for the poor remainder of their lives, and sacrificed only for the want of a week's respite, and a few shillingsworth of medicine. The Cure: Bleed plentifully at first, if
there be sufficient strength, and repeat several times in more moderate quantity. Emollient glysters with lenitive electuary, and a small quantity of linseed oil. Give the febrifuge drinks with cremor tartar and fine rhubarb. Bartlet advises to finish with balls of camphor and nitre, two ounces of the latter, one drachm the former, they may be compounded with aniseeds, honey, and Castile soap. Or, a course of the rhubarb and aloetic purge, with |
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HIDEBOUND AND SURFEIT. 233
six drachms diapente. Or, the following al-
terative purge three or four times. Fine aloes six drachms; powdered guiacum, half an ounce; diaphoretic antimony and powdered myrrh, each two drachms, ball with syrup of buck- thorn. Sometimes three or four setons or rowels
may be necessary in this disease, the horse be- ing very gross. HIDEBOUND AND SURFEIT.
The common term hidebound is applied to
a tightness and adhesion of the skin, occasioned by obstruction or deficiency of fluid in the cu- ticular vessels. It is a general symptom of the unthriftiness of animals, as an openness and a warm and moist feel of the hide, is of their health and thriving condition. As a mere symptom, this defect will of course follow the fate of the parent disease, that our present business is only with the tightness of the hide as it exists apparently by itself, and is o-ene- rally owing to want of care and nourishment, or imperfect concoction of the aliment, arising either from obstruction, or the debility occa- sioned by unremitting labour. The cure, im- mediate grass; or, good stable care with cloth- |
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254 HIDEBOUND AND SURFEIT.
ing, plenty of friction, and gentle walking
exercise, with the precaution of not over-feed- ing at first. Carrots, boiled barley, and mashes. One moderate bleeding, or instead, what sometimes I have seen very successful, one rowel. The mildest alterative powder, a fort- night, then a, dose of aloeuc physic. The complaint neglected will degenerate into a sur- feit. This term, of French derivation, to sneak correctly and according to etymology (a nsage which, however, is never strictly ob- served in any science) ought to be applied on- ly to an animal over-done and glutted, but it is of universal application to those of a lean, hide- bound, and unthrifty appearance, particularly when their coats look dead and rusty, and do not lie smooth. Its confirmed state is attended with eruptions, and sometimes swellings of the legs and joints, and in the latter case is usually to be looked upon as the termination of some chronic disease, or a consequence of the im- proper use of mercurial physic. Surfeits are styled D6Y, or wet; in the former, the skin is covered with a thick dry scurf, with scabs, and small hard tumours like warbles; in the latter, a sharp briny ichor issues from the poll, neck, withers, quarters, and hinder legs, in the bend of the hock, causing great stiffness and inflammation; this is probably analogous with |
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HIDEBOUND AND SURFEIT. 235
scurvy in the human body, and will often at-
tend cart-hcrses with foul and unwholesome blood, at stated periods. The too free use of beans will produce the wet surfeit. The cure of surfeits depends almost en-
tirely upon internal alteratives with a very small attention to external applications: as to the latter, perhaps, frequent cleansing with a good strong lather of soap, is generally sufficient, but where the eruptions are hard, and fixed, and the scabs do not peel off, I know of no- thing better than to rub them frequently with the strong mercurial unction, keeping the horse well clothed, and giving warm water in the in- terim. The warm bath, if the animal be strong. It is necessary here to give a caution against the common practice of the farriers, which is to bleed, and treat diseases of this class with violent external repellents only. I lately saw an instance of a Frieziand coach-horse, in such a surfeited state from over-repletion and want of exercise, that he was covered with eruption, and the superabundant humours seemed ready for extravasation in every part of his body, As fast as the doctor repelled the humour in one part it re-appeared in another;_ but I un- derstand he succeeded at last, in killing it, without the least change as to the diet of the horse, or the assistance of any internal remedy. |
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-236 WARBLES.
It is true, the virulence of the humour mi^ht
have spent itself in those irruptions, but still no certain reliance could be placed, and there must have been great probability of the danger of its translation to some noble part, perhaps the eyes. .Supposing the case similar to the example
lust given, that is to say, a real surfeit from glut of provender, bleed, and give mashes ; in a few days, mercurial physic; the week after, repeat, and finish the cure with alteratives. In a weak case, mild alterants, sulphur and iron filings the best, with improvement of diet, as already stated : if the relic of some disease, al- teratives powerful in proportion to strength, and lona: continued; afterwards two months grass. WARBLES.
Authors have failed in making a necessary
distinction between those tumours called War- bles, which, are the consequence of external pressure of the-saddle, and those which arise from an internal cause; namely, the heat and richness of the blood. These appear on the back and buttocks, denoting the want of coolers and attenuants. Salts; if the eyes are in- |
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MANGE. 237
flamed, bleed. Humour-blindness is preceded
by a succession of Warbles, as I have often re- marked ; they have also been formerly styled a flying farcy. THE MANGE,
In animals, like the Psory, or Itch in the hu-
man species, is " a contagious prurient erup- " tion," arising from a thin, serous and acrimo- nious state of the blood, and an obstruction in the pores or excretory ducts of the miliary glands, where the perspirable matter being de- tained, becomes ichorous and corrosive, and a£ length, frets its way through the skin, making it raw or wrinkled in different parts of the bo- dy. TVood, who affirmed that the mange did not proceed from vitiated blood, but from in- sects hatched in the furrows of the cuticle, only mistook the effect for the cause, and had not considered that corrupted humours were a pro- per source, or matrix for the generation of ova or eggs. Like the Italian Dr. What-d'ye- call-him, he naturally supposed the horse might as well be fly-blown without-side as within; nor can I altogether agree with Gibson, who asserts, that the mange is seldom more than skin-deep. My reasons are, that if you keep |
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238 MANGE.
a horse very poorly, he will be mangy; but if
you line his inside well, however you mily ne_ gleet him externally, he will not generally be mangy, excepting, perhaps, the case of your being a lime-carter. Twenty years ago, on the recommendation of certain stable-ceconomists, and in the teeth of common sense and my own experience, I undertook the wise project of feeding labouring cart-horses upon carrots and oat-straw, and other vegetable trash, for which I was properly rewarded in a short time, by the trouble of curing them all of the mange. This disease, or morbid result of poverty and filth, suffered to arrive at an extreme degree of inve- teracy, degenerates into a marasmus or con- sumption, absolutely incurable. The mange, if » mere cuticular affection,
induced by an external cause, or caught by contact of a diseased horse (which last may happen from rubbing against such an one, or wearing infected clothes, or standing in an in- fected stall) is speedily cured by external ap- plications, with the aid of a close or two of physic; but when the disease originates in the mass of humours bein«" vitiated, the cure will require a greater length of time, and a larger share of medical assistance. As to internals, the method of cure is so similar to that of sur- feit, that I have no need to repeat it, nor is any reader ignorant that brimstone, whether |
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MANGE-. 239
internally, or externally, is here the grand spe-
cific In a slight case, strong tobacco infusion (see
Index) with one third stale urine, soaked well into the affected places, may succeed ; but as an efficacious unguent, take the following: strong mercurial unction, half a pound; brim- stone finely powdered, four ounces; black soap, two ounces; crude sal ammoniac, an ounce and half; make the ointment with oil of bays, or of turpentine: Or, Tar, gunpowder finely beaten, black soap, and oil of turpentine. In cases of long standing, where the ulcerations are so ex- tremely foul, or, if you will, the animalcula?, so strong and vigorous as to resist all moderate applications, the following ointment may be ventured: burnt allum and borax, in fine pow- der, two ounces each; white vitriol and verdi- grease, powdered, of each four ounces; put them into a pot over the fire with two pound of honey, or lard and honey, equal parts, stirring till they are well incorporated; when cold, add two ounces strong aquafortis. But I should conceive the first ointment equal to almost every case, which being used at night, the sores, if need be, may be washed twice a day with the sublimate water. Take half an ounce of sub-^ limate, in powder, dissolve in a pint and half of **atei\ Mashes, &c. in course ; clothing and |
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240 FARCY-
every precaution against cold. Finish the cure
with well washing in plenty of soap and warm water, rubbing thoroughly dry with linen cloths. THE FARCY.
Is a disease of the blood-vessels, whereby their
coats and integuments are thickened, and the veins drawn tight like cords, small round hard tumours, in size resembling grapes or berries, and very painful to the touch, springing out alono" the veins in various parts of the body; these not being discussed, suppurate, and de- generate into foul and malignant ulcers. The cause exists in the blood, either from its too great heat, or its depraved and corrupted state: the remote cause, as has already been assigned to diseases of the same class, neglect or consti- tutional tendency. No doubt but the disease, in an inveterate state, must be infectious, the matter of the ulcers having acquired a very exalted degree of putrid acrimony. The vari- ous species of farcy are not worth a particular description, since they are all essentially the same disease, differing only in degrees of ma- lignancy, and requiring medicines of the same class, properly apportioned in strength. The |
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FARCY; 24-1
buds or tumours, and painful stricture, are a
sufficient characteristic of this malady* when localj and in its commencements I have seen. the local and spurious farcy, mentioned by the old writers, as occasioned by spur-galling; it chiefly happens to starved and hidebound horses* from acrimonious blood extravasated, which turns ichorous* and spreads a humour along the belly. It is cured by any of the milder applications used in the mange, assisted by a certain specific called oats, exhibited in libe- ral doses; The old farriers had such strange methods
of curing diseases, that they seem at this time ©f day, to have been the mere vagaries of mad- men. In the farcy, after stitching up some devilish medley in the ears of the animal, they put him to hard labour upon straw and water ! And both the ancient and the present have committed a great error in this case* by over- looking the cause, and confining their attention solely to the visible effects: they expect too speedy a cure of a chronic disease, and instead of altering and purifying by degrees the hu- mours* where the disease is grounded* they are solely employed in coring, and cauterizing* and poisoning the skin. A farcy taken in time, may be cured by dis-
cussing the tumours, and not suffering them to VOJL. II. R
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242 FARCY.
come to suppuration ; a confirmation of which
I saw some time ago, in the case of a running- horse, which had been surfeited and neglected. When the buds maturate and turn ulcerous, the virulent matter generated is soon absorbed, and putrefaction goes on rapidly, both exter- nally and internally; a general rot ensues, sometimes with dropsical swellings in the belly and legs; the case is then incurable. The Cure. In the mild farcy, bleed, and
next day give an aloetic purge, a mild mercu- rial one, or salts, according to state of bo- dy ; if much heat, the latter purgative is ever to be preferred. After setting of the physic (which may be again required, as well as bleed- ing at intervals) begin and adhere strictly to an alterative course (see Alterants) until the tu- mours shall be effectually dispersed, how long soever that may be, whether six weeks or twelve: bathe them in the interim once a day, with doubly camphorated spirit and oil of vi- triol, equal quantities, mixed; to one pint of which add two ounces spirit of sal ammoniac. Ob,, a strong decoction of hemlock, horsera- dish, and the roots of burdock. Rub the chorded veins every night with an unction of turpentine and ointment of elder, or strong mercurial ointment, if there be no clanger of cold; or Venice turpentine, four ounces; quick-* |
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FARCY. 243
silver* six drachms ; mix. Constant moderate
labour, by draught, if convenient, will be be- neficial. The warm bath is vevy efficacious in dissolving the knotty tumours, and cleansing the skin, and should be used, where such a convenience can be had, in most stages of the farcy. The following drink to purify the blood, will
be serviceable in every stage of this disease, and indeed in many others, where alteratives are required ; but as where medicines must be long continued, it is exceedingly fatiguing both to the horse and man, to be constantly drench- ing and balling, there seems a necessity for giving drinks in the water, and powders in the corn, first mixed in a little wetted bran. Take leaves and bark of elder, inner bark of elm, sharp-pointed dock-root, well cleaned, and madder, half a handful each ; turmeric, and Monk's rhubarb, bruised and sliced, liquorice and sassafras, half an ounce each; rosemary and rue a handful each; boil in three or four pints of water to a quart, in which dissolve four ounces cremor tartar, and sweeten with honey. This, however, out of form, once for ah ; -ince few will be at the trouble of these decoctions, when nitrated and salined water, of pretty nearly the same effect, is procured at\so much less trouble. |
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244 FARCY.
Should the tumours yield to the pressure of
the finger, and yet be slow to discharge, make incision with the knife, and dress the ulcers with brandy and aegyptiacum mixed, or a salve of crude mercury, black soap, and mustard seed. In an inveterate case, rub once a day, or two days, into the chorded veins and swellings, the following: linseed oil, half a pint; oil of tur- pentine, and petre, each three ounces; tincture of euphorbium, half an ounce ; oil of origanum, and double aquafortis, half an ounce each ; after the ebullition is over, add two ounces Barbadoes tar. Should the orifices of the buds be choked up with proud flesh, or the skin so thickened over the ulcers, that the matter cannot find vent, make incision with a sharp pointed hot iron, and touch the proud flesh with oil of vitriol, aquafortis, or butter of antimony; or with a salve of crude mercury incorporated with aquafortis, or wash with the sublimate water. As to internals, when the most efficacious mea- sures are necessary, the turbith mineral may be ventured in small doses, one scruple to half a drachm, in cordial ball, or Venice soap, every night, or every other night, for a fortnight, then abstain a week and repeat: or in two drachms of philonium, should the horse be sick; or with four or five grains to half a drachm of opi- um or camphor; great care being taken of cold,' |
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FARCTt. 245
a very necessary caution, both with regard to
externals and internals; to which another equi- necessary may be joined, that of avoiding the large blood-vessels, joints and tendons, in the application of corrosive medicines. Should the mouth become sore, and the horse begin to slabber, from the use of mercurials, desist, un- til that symptom be removed by gentle purges; then proceed with the mercurial course, in smaller, and more properly adjusted doses. Or, Butter of antimony, and bezoar mineral (from Apothecaries Hall) one ounce each, mix and powder, and beat it up with half a pound of cordial ball. Dose, the size of a walnut, on an empty stomach, the horse fasting three hours after, every day for three weeks. Moderate walking exercise. Or, Antehectkum Poterii, two drachms to half an ounce, every other day, in cordial ball. Or, The most powerful alterant (see that Chapter) with cinnabar and powdered guiacum. There is no curable stage of the disease which these medicines will not effectually touch. To recover the lost hair, rub the bald places twice a day with an oint- ment made of honey, ointment of elder, sper- maceti, and French brandy: the first ingre- dients may be incorporated over a clear fire, and the brandy added afterwards. In a livid |
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246 FARCY.
and unfavourable appearance of the buds, in-
dicating a cold and languid state of the juices, tending to putridity, omit the deobstruents, and give the bark, once or twice a day, for four days. Take finest Peruvian bark, in pow* der, one ounce; steel filings, or prepared steel, two drachms; powdered gentian, half an ounce; juniper berries, and chamomile, powdered, half an ounce each ; ground ginger, a tea-spoonful; bail with any astringent syrup. Would a small quantity of opium add to the efficacy of this medicine? Or, Cordial ball with steel may be used, until sufficient warmth and vigour be restored to the blood, and better colour and disposition to the ulcers. Strength enough be- ing left, the cure may be completed with gentle cleansing purges. Grass, that of the salt^ marshes preferable. I have just heard, that The Society of Health
at Paris, are at present employed in making experiments with the internal use of the Mu- riate, and the Carbonate of Barytes, recon> pended by our Dr. Crawford in Scrophula ? in consequence, they have appointed citizens Hazard and Bircn, of- the Veterinary Class, to try the effects of this active and powerful me- dicine upon horses. The r It has been un- favourable. Some horses ina confirmed tar* |
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FARCY. 247
cy took two drachms a day each, both of the
muriate and the carbonate, which in a very short time seemed to make a complete cure: in less than three weeks, however, they died, without discovering, on being opened, any signs of the action of the medicine. Others have since died without any previous tokens of sick- ness. It is probable the experiments were made with too large doses, and that half a drachm a day, or every other day, might have succeeded. Gibson committed nearly a simi- lar error, by giving only one drachm a day of the turbith, which has been often enough used since, in small doses, with all manner of safety and success, both in farcy and against worms. Nor need we be at a loss for medicines of suf- ficient efficacy, either for the scrophula or far- cy; all we want is moderation and patience in their exhibition; specifics to cure chronic dis- eases extempore, are not in nature, of course not discoverable. The farcy has been compared by Solleysel,
to Syphilis: by Gibson, to St. Anthony's fire; and by Bracken, to the yaws; with all, and each of which, it certainly bears considerable analogy. According to Mr. Blaine, " we are certain
that the virus of glanders originates in farcy." There is one thing, of which we are infinitely |
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248 FARCY.
more certain ; namely, that Mr. Blaine is ex-
tremely attached to new hypotheses, and some- what too hasty in his decisions. To this gentle-? man we owe the important discovery, at second hand indeed, that pigeons, although not be- longing to the class mammalia, actually secrete milk!! Vide Vol. I. p. 164. There is no doubt but these nations are indebted to Mr. Blaine for all the pigeons' milk which has been secreted since the publication of his book, He also credulously reports the by-gone, and prac- tically disproved notion, that cow-pox origi- nates in the grease of horses; a notion, of the absurdity of which I had an early occasion to speak in the Medical Journal; but without in-? tending the slightest reflection on the respect- able and patriotic Jenner,, who so well merits the gratitude and remuneration of bis country. With regard to the affair of the pigeons' milk, they who keep dairies of that species, well know, that the milk proceeds from the (technically) soft meat, which, from instinct, the pigeons prepare in their crops, several days previously to their period of hatching, That the inoculated virus of farcy should
have produced symptomatic glanders, can ex- cite no surprize in those, who previously knew, both that the disease is infectious, and that a glanderous discharge from the nose is an occa- |
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PLICA POLONICA. 249
aional concomitant, and a very common termi-
nation of an inveterate farcy. If a bare affinity jn the family of diseases were to constitute identity, it would, in truth, much retrench the compass of nosology, and render useless a great part of the labours of the illustrious CuUen. I have seen and considered much on the glan^ ners and farcy, and am thoroughly convinced of having witnessed an instance of the latter, in an human subject. The ancient Romans knew this disease in horses, and from them we derive the name. I believe a similar cause, obstruction in the lymphatics, may produce either disease, but there are yet causes of farcy, which will never produce glanders: these, not improbably, may hold some analogy with such as are commonly called scorbutic affections, in the human animal. It is a pity, that nature should absolutely compel us, in spite of hypo- thetical ingenuity, to hold glanders and farcy as distinct maladies, by permitting us to cure the latter only, whilst the former remains an everlasting opprobrium of the veterinary art. |
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PLICA POLONICA,
Is a contagious disease, affecting the human
and other animals, particularly horses, wolves, |
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250 DROPSY.
and dogs, in a certain district of Poland, in
which the hair is said to become alive and bleed. It is chiefly confined to infancy and youth. Previous symptoms, spasms, pains in various parts, slow fever, and diseased eyes; all which cease on the irruption of the Plica. The hair grows rapidly, and there is a copious se- cretion of mucus at the roots, by which it is inextricably matted together. A fetid smell is emitted, with swarms of vermin. ■ The Poles never attempt any remedy, supposing the disease to be a salutary effort of nature, to dis- burthen the body of a load of peccant and dangerous humours.—Manchester Memoirs. I should suppose bleeding, antimonial, and mercurial alteratives, with the warm bath, must be the proper remedies, if any; and that to their neglect of medicine, the Poles owe not only the continuance, which it seems is some- times for years, but even the existence of this filthy disease. THE DROPSY,
Both universal or diffused, called anasarca; or
local and encysted, styled tympanum, or asci- tes, happens to horses; proceeding from a slug- gish, poor, and watery blood, the consequence |
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DROPSY. 25t
of some previous disease, or of neglect and un~
wholesome keep, eithsr within doors or with- out ; as feeding entirely on grains, washy latter- grass, remaining abroad in continual rains, and the like. Different parts of the body will be covered with soft inelastic, or oedamatous swel- lings: but the belly, sheath, and legs, are some- times very hard, and distended to a great size. These last must be superficially scarified with a sharp knife, and the water evacuated. Next give a purge or two of aloes and jalap. Strengthening medicines if necessary. Im- proved diet and care. In an obstinate case, drastic purges are spe-
cific, and a drachm of gamboge (or proper quantity of seammony) may be given with an ounce fine aloes, made up with cordial ball and syrup of buckthorn; or for want of cordial ball, with saffron, cloves, nutmegs, and oil of aniseed, working off the purge with as little water as possible. The gamboge should be first rubbed with a little fine oil, and then pow- dered exceedingly well in a mortar, or bits of it may stick among the folds of the guts, and cause intolerable griping pains. Give between the purges every night, or night and morning, a pint of the following drink; black hellebore, fresh gathered, two pounds, wash, bruise and |
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|52 DROPSY.
boil it in six quarts of water to four; strain off
the liquor, and put two quarts white wine, or fine old beer, upon the remaining hellebore, and infuse warm forty-eight hours, shaking often; strain off the wine, mix it with the water, and keep it eorked up for use. The purge may be exhibited once in ten days, re- pealing it as often as necessary, and the cure competed with restoratives, bark, steel, and bitters, or chalybeate beer, as before directed. When the waters are lodged in the abdo- men, or between the inner rim of the belly and guts, then the disease is called a tympany, because the belly sounds like a drum. An in- fusion of crocus metalhrum, or vinum be?iedic- turn, is said to be a powerful specific in this case. But tapping, the most efficacious reme- dy, is neither difficult nor dangerous, in horses and cattle. It is scarcely necessary to observe, that cattle should be allowed little or no drink in this disease, according to the late John Wesley's direction in his Primitive Physic; •whose cure for the dropsy, of biscuit and rai- sins, with total abstinence from liquids, was borrowed from Harman Boerhaave. Of dropsy in the chest, I have already said a few words, which was quite sufficient, since no one has ever pretended to cure it* |
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255
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WORMS.
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WORMS.
The only pathognomic, or peculiar symptom
of worms, is the horse's rubbing his tail often, without any apparent humour or eruption ; the general signs are similar to those which denote griping pains. Farther, a horse troubled with worms will eat heartily, and yet be always lean, and out of condition, his coat staring as if sur- feited; a sickly paleness of the mouth and tongue, and cadaverous smell; he will be tucked up in his flanks, and occasionally heave much? turning his head now and then towards them, and striking his belly with his hinder feet- The dung will be often mixed with a yellowish matter, like melted sulphur, or be otherwise discoloured, foul, and fetid. Worms, and the slimy spawn of them, will be sometimes ejecteds but not always. It is laughable to observe, how industriously
all our authors contend against equivocal gene- ration ; which, in good truth, I am. neither prepared nor disposed to defend at this mo- ment, ©va, for the necessary purpose of worm- hatching, must be received into the body, at the one end or the other, at any rate. Thus the learned Dr. Gaspari,, as Vallisnieri gravely |
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354 WORMS.
assures us, one day by chance, and mere aCci*
dent, enjoyed .the rare and uncommon oppor-^ tunity of witnessing the forcible entry of a large %, after a number of ineffectual attempts, into the anus of his mare, feeding in the field, for the purpose of finding a warm and convenient birth to deposit her eggs. Alas! had the good Doctor been an adept in the noble English practice of figging, experimentally convinced of the contractile force of the sphincter ani in a horse, and the difficulty of penetration, he would surely have found another passage into the body for those eggs, which he was deter- mined, at all events, should be there carried and deposited. Whence come the parental ova, Doctor, of those maggots which are hatched in a foul and neglected ulcer, or a chandler's nose ? How much easier it is to say, that all putrescent animal fluids spontaneously produce animalcula, and save ourselves the trouble of playing at ' I spy' with flies. Pu- trefaction and reproduction, death and life, life and death, are vicarious: they serve to form nature's metempsychosis, or merry-go-round; all we know, all we can know, and therefore all we ought to know: they who dream that more is, and ought to be known, may, as has always been the good fashion, first dispute the point, and then fight it out: I desire not to be of thq |
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worms. 255
number of the combatants; I beg to be ex-
cused, and only to have permission to laugh, whilst they dispute and fight. Mr. Blaine, however, is too fashionable a
writer, and too vigilant and eager to catch the dernier gout of science, to be put off with the stale conundrum of the two Italian Doctors; but as mens' heads are everlastingly caught by the marvellous, he could do no less than join the good company, who, weary of the old, were determined on a new fly-trap, and that propor- tionally less ridiculous than the old, inasmuch, as by the former, the eggs, or the young fry, reach the destination of philosophy, by the fore, instead of the back door! It is really pleasant, to read with what gravity Professor Blaine details, how " the fly to deposit her ova is seen to hold her body upright, and pre- paring an egg covered with a glutinous liquor, she rests for a moment on a hair, and deposits it!"-—how " she rises and prepares another, till some hundreds are so deposited;" and how at last " these ore said not to be carried into the stomach, till they become worms, which takes place in a few days." What! I suppose the new hypothesis could not have been war- ranted sound, or would not run quietly on all- fours,, unless the eggs had patience to wait un- 2
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256 WORMS.
til they became worms. The sheep too havft
so little sensibility in the " inner margin of the nose," as to suffer the fly cestrus, a most irritate ing insect, to deposit its eggs there, and the larvae of them afterwards, to " creep up into the frontal and maxillary sinuses/' They must have a plaguy intricate journey, methinks, and possess much sagacity, considering their tender age. Well—thus far I am satisfied ! I only desire to know the pedigree of those flies, from the eggs of which proceed the maggots that are found in patrid sores; of the cancerous breast, for example, without meaning the hycla* tides; or the worms sometimes found in the warbles, or small tumours, on the backs of horses and cattle, in the winter season, and whilst kept in the stable. The remote cause of worms, is a colluvies of
indigested matter, which for want of timely evacuants, putrefies; or a natural predisposition in the animal fluids to putrefaction. I have known many people to whom it is as natural constantly to produce worms, as hair, and who are yet always taking worm medicines. The defect is generally inherited by their children. In the Cure, mercurials alone are to be de*
pended upon, and as in proper hands, they are perfectly safe, even for human infants, it is |
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worms. 25?
truly unprofitable trouble to use any bthef
means. There is a notion among horsemen, that common aloes, from the drastic roughness of its operation, is a more potent vermifuge than the succotrine; it is groundless, as I know by experience; and by the opinion of one, whose experience to mine, in this particular case, must have been in the proportion of one hundred to five at least; I mean Gibson. Ri- verius says, that oil will suffocate all kinds of worms ; if so, it surety deserves notice as an an- thelmintic. Oil Glyster. Prepare a strong decoc-
tion, or infusion in boiling water, of tobacco, savin, wormwood, rue, garlic, and coralline, if the latter can be procured; to one pint of this,* add a pint of linseed oil, and inject the mix- ture, blood warm, the last thing at night. Re- peat it or not, at discretion, at two o'clock next day; and at night give the horse two drachms calomel, in very fine powder, made up with cor- dial ball, or for want of that with powdered aniseeds, and a little ginger and oil; or with diapente. In the morning give a purge with fine aloes, jalap, and myrrh, balled up with hard soap, and rectified oil of amber; mild or strong according to circumstances, particularly with relation to the effects of the glysters and the mercury. This physic being repeated every vol, n, S
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258 "U'oftMa.
ten days, with the glysters intermediately at
pleasure, the course will eradicate and sweep away the whole generation of worms, together with that collection of foul materials of which they are made. If the calomel should be found too mild, the more powerful preparations of mercury may be substituted, as diagridium or turbith; scaromony also is very efficacious. Clothe well, and beware of cold. Should the subject be too much reduced, and the powers of the stomach debilitated by the necessary force of those powerful specifics, recruit with bark, bitters, and steel as before repeated; or two drachms to half an ounce steel filings, in the corn, for some weeks; or grass. Where the time and attendance cannot be spared for the above regular course, it has always been usual to give worm-powders, or other alteratives, in the horse's feeds; and aethi&ps has been the common vermifuge basis from the earliest days of Gibson : Captain Burdon was bold enough to order two ounces of it for a dose. I know not how, or by what accident, it has happened, but the a?thiops has often deceived me, parti- cularly of late,- passing forth of the intestines unchanged. I Would therefore recommend a trial of alkalized or calcined mercury, half a drachm, to a drachm of which, finely powdered, may be given every other day, mixed up with; |
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worms. 259
a large spoonful of powdered guiacum, turme-
ric, and aniseeds, and continued a fortnight to a month, the usual care being taken of cold, and warm water given if possible; the gljsters also may be used. This method is very suit- able for draught horses. Three grains of asqfktida, with two of cor-
rosive sublimate, in pills, two or three a clay, have proved the most powerful vermifuge in hu- man medicine, for adults. This may be tried with horses, in the proportion of a scruple or upwards of sublimate, to a drachm of asafoe- tida. According to the old farriers, there are four
different species of worm generated in the body of a horse. " Little short worms, with great " red heads, and long small white tails, called " BOTTS. Short thick worms with black hard " heads, all of a bigness, like a man's finger, " called truncheons. Worms from six to " eighteen inches in length, and as thick as a '* man's finger, which are, the rotundi, or " earthworms; and red maw-worms, re- " sembling wood-lice, but with fewer feet, " having thick, short, sharp heads, velveted on " the back like a bat, and made up of several " folds. These last, it is asserted, will perfo- rate the stomach of a horse, and kill him: but it is not yet determined, I believe, whether s 2
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260 WORMS.
worms can really exist in the stomach of a liv-
ing animal; that they are found there after death, every one knows, but Bracken thinks it probable they make their way thither from the duodenum^ after the vital functions hav-e ceased. |
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r 261 j
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CHAP. VII.
ON THE DISEASE OF THE KIDNEYS, REINS,
AND BLADDER—CHOLIC—BURSTENNESS ----FALLING OP THE FUNDAMENT----GO-
N0RRH.EA, AND MATTERING OF THE
PENIS---- FALLING OF THE PENIS —
VENEM0US BITES ---- SWALLOWING OF
LEACHES, HEN'S DUNG, &C.
J. KNOW not that horses are subject to ne-
phritic disease, or to the obstruction of the ureters by sabulous, or calcarious matter: the maladies of this species, to which they are lia- ble, are strains of the reins and kidneys, and sometimes ulcerations in the latter ; sympto- matic stranguary; ischury, or suppression of, urine, and diabetes, or its immoderate flux. Since writing the above, information of the
following case has been handed to me. July 1806, a stage-coach horse, which always laid down and rolled in a suspicious way, on cqiUt ing to stable, was taken ill, and the proprietor sate up with him, through the night. After rolling, stretching out hisneck, and laying his |
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262 DISEASES OF *HE KIDNEYS.
head flat, he died. Being opened, a large
stone, apparently not long before passed, was found in his bladder. My informant remarked, that he suspected a stone, and that it was his motive for opening the horse. This appears a marked case of nephritis, however rare that disease may be in the horse. I desire to make a few minutes pause here,
to note a curious passage in Bracken, vol. i. p. 254. The doctor says, " three or four times " I have in my practice (when the sphincter "• muscle, or neck of the bladder, has been so " swelled, that it would not admit of passing " the instrument) cut into the very body of the " bladder above the Os Pubis, and let the " urine flow out that way for a month or six " weeks, till such time as the inflammation, " &c. about the neck of the bladder, was quite ** dispersed and gone; after which the people " pissed as well and sound as ever, and some " of them are yet Iking; though it is ten " years since I performed such operation upon " them/' Now Bracken challenges the invention ot
this operation, as " a method never before " practised, nor even mentioned in any an- " cient or modern author." I have read of the ancient operation of Lithotomy, described by Cekus; of the use of the Catheter, by |
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DISEASES OF THE KIDNEYS. 263
Romanis and Marianus; of the high and low
operations; of the improvement of Frert Jacques, and the latter improvements upon him, by various eminent men ; but of the ope- ration through the abdominal muscles, imme- diately above the os pubis {or high operation) as described by Bracken, I only find it said to be a late discovery, with no notice whatever of the inventor's name. I have somewhere read, that the famous Lord Peterborough underwent the high operation, and nearly about the same period in which Bracken practised it. Profes- sional critics can no doubt set me right, as to the truth of Bracken's pretension. Granting him really the inventor, it is not difficult to conceive that his cotemporariesj a-nd even some writers since, would preserve an affected silence concerning him; for he was generally treated with contempt by the fashionable physi- cians of the day, as a vulgar provincial doctor, infinitely beneath their notice. I have seen in some medical work, a catalogue of veteri- nary writers, with the names of Gibson and Bartlet, without any mention of Bracken, to whom the two former were so much obliged; but Bracken was an honest, and good physi- cian, and a useful and solid writer, although he possessed neither the genius, nor the imagi- nation of " our Jock," |
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264 DISEASES OF THE KIDNEYS.
I have formerly laboured under the horrors
pf the ischury nearly three weeks myself; at the same period a poor man in my neighbourhood (a stony district, where nephritic complaints were frequent) died of a suppression of urine : 3t the conclusion of the Zoonomia, Dr. Dar- win adverts to the danger and ill-success of "various efforts to discharge the water, in inabi- lity to empty the bladder, and recommends the injection of crude mercury into the ure- thra, which might by its weight open a pas- sage ; now granting the facility and safety of the operation described by Bracken, it surely deserves the reconsideration of the faculty: I saw no reason at the time to doubt, that the poor man abpve-mentioned might have been saved by it. It is curious to compare the flimsy elegance
of the late Dr. Austin's book, where he at- tempts to prove, that nephritic diseases have not an urinary origin, with the vulgar and homespun, but sound and convincing reason- ing of Bracken's Lithiasis Anglicana. I men- tion the latter tract, for the purpose of intro- ducing from it, an anecdote of a gentleman from the North, who was always afflicted with, calcareous complaints in his own country ; but coming up to London, was cured by the town beer; and after awhile, intending to return |
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DISEASES OF THE KIDNEYS. %6o
home, he was seized with his old complaint
from the use of the country beer, before he had completed any considerable part of his journey ; on which he put back, and ever after resided in London, free from gravel or stone; and I have known the same thing to happen myself. London Porter, and London Fine Ale, are the most salubrious of all malt liquors; the latter, when genuine and unadulterated, and as it ever ought to be, the neat produce of Thames or New River water. The white malt of Ware, and Farnham hops, has been esteemed by many wine-drinkers, of rank, as a rich and generous liquor; it is in perfection at six and nine months old, and is specific in consump- tions, particularly those of women. But, alas! London beers have long lost their character for genuineness; their diuretic quality however re- mains in full vigour, a,s the druggists are able to testify. Let us return to the stable. Strains in the
kidneys proceed from violent exertion and overloading. The symptoms, difficulty of stall- ing, and frequent attempts; thick, foul, or bloody urine ; faintness, loss of appetite, and deadness of the eyes; inability to back. These injuries being neglected, it is said the horse will in time become surfeited from the im- perfect secretion of urine, the kidneys being |
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%66 DISEASES OF THE KIDNEYS,
diseased; and that the affair may end in glan^
ders and consumption. Bleed according to the degree of fever, and the condition of the horse. A rowel in the belly. Diuretic glys- ters, see p. 75. Gum Arabic in the water, and half an ounce of sweet spirit of nitre in it, Once a day, for a few days. Gentle walking exercise, led. The following ball, twice a day ; Lucatellus balsam, one ounce ; spermaceti, six drachms; sal prunel, half an ounce; mix with syrup of marshmallows, or honey, and aniseed powder. Should that not succeed, make trial of —Balsam of Capivi, or Strasburgh turpentine, one ounce; Venice or Castile Soap, one ounce; nitre, six drachms; myrrh powdered, two drachms; ball as before, and wash it down with a horn or two of marshmallpw decoc- tion sweetened, or warm gruel. Decoctions of juniper berries, marshmallows, parsley, and liquorice roots, in which gum is dissolved, and sweetened with honey; dose a pint or two, with a gill of line old Holland Geneva; in case of much fever the spirit to be omitted. The quantity, freedom, and colour of the urine, will determine the state of body, or the horse's amendment. Sometimes a cure is very tedious and protracted, but it is infinitely safer to at- tend patiently nature's good time, and the ope- ration of mild medicines, than to attempt any |
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DISEASES OP THE KIDNEYS. 26*7
hasty and forcible measures. The horse being
strong may have gentle physic after the cure, otherwise should be sent to grass. Chronic, or neglected cases of this kind, are absolutely in- curable in the stable; the same may be said of strains in the loins, which, if very bad, will re- quire at least a twelvemonth's run, to be thoroughly recovered. For affection of the kidneys from Catarrh,
see that Chapter. For bloody Urine, from falls or bruises,
from overstraining at a hard leap, or a hard run heat in racing, or any other cause ; bleed, and give two quarts of milk, or whey, warm, with a gill of peppermint-water, and a strong decoction of two ounces juniper berries; Irish slate, two drachms; sweeten with honey, or syrup of quinces. If the drink be desired more efficacious, repeat and continue it once a day, with the addition of one ounce to two of Armenian bole in powder; and two drachms, to half an ounce, Japan earth. Or. The fol- lowing restringent ball twice a day; Peruvian bark, half an ounce to one ounce. Lucatellus balsam, or balsam of Peru, half an ounce; Irish slate two drachms; elixir vitriol, one drachm ; ball with conserve of red roses, and syrup of poppies. Or. A decoction of logwood and |
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268 DISEASES OF THE KIDNEYS
oak bark, sweetened with honey, dose one
pint. In a suppression of urine from inflammation,
paralysis or numbness, or other defect in the kidneys, whence obstruction, and inability to perform the office of secerning the urine from the blood, the body of the horse will appear distended, although his bladder be empty, and he make no motion to stale; at least very little water will pass: in a few days, the legs will be swelled, and the tumefaction of the body en- creased to a great degree, with perhaps erup- tions and blotches, from the retention of the urinous salts in the blood; this case demands instant relief, and carries with it an apology for vigorous measures, since the most power- ful stimulants, have to my knowledge proved for a considerable time ineffectual. A horse remaining in this state, the secretion of urine being repressed two days, may be looked upon as lost. The reader will observe the cautions above
given. " patiently to attend nature's time, and the operation of mild medicines;" and mark well the critical exigency of the case. He will have a full answer to an uncandid note of Mr. Blaine, respecting former practice in this case, which, it is highly probable, he has not amended, |
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DISEASES OF THE KIDNEYS. 269
I refer the veterinary reader to Gibson's prac-
tical observations, and the cases he relates. If the strength of the horse will bear it, open
several veins in different parts, drawing to the quantity of from one two quarts of blood. Im- mediately give a glyster, and follow it up with a ball, the ball to be repeated three times in the day, if needed ; and the glyster at discretion ; should there be a partial and gradual amend- ment, they may be repeated in a milder form, or substitutes chosen from amongst those forms before prescribed. The Geyster. Succotrine aloes from one
to two ounces, in exceeding fine powder; jalap, two drachms to half an ounce. Nitre well beaten two to four ounces. Juniper and bay- berries bruised, one handful each ; Venice tur- pentine, two ounces; beat up with the yolks of two eggs. Infuse in one or two quarts marsh- mallow decoction, or thin gruel, adding one pint linseed oil. The Bale. Juniper berries pounded, one ounce; succotrine aloes, and sal prunel, six drachms each ; ethereal oil of tur- pentine, from two to four drachms; camphor one drachm; ball with liquorice powder, oil of amber, or preferably with chemical oil of juniper, and honey : make it into two or three balls, for one dose. Or : in a desperate case, cantharides from one scruple to half a drachm; 3 |
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2^0 DISEASES OF THE KIDNEYS.
camphor dissolved in oil of almonds one
drachm to two; nitre and Venice soap each an ounce; mix with syrup of marshmallows. But I must own I have never seen any good effect in the case* from the internal.use of can- tharides. Warm gum Arabic water, and scald- ed pollard, if the horse have any appetite. Lead out well clothed, and walk gently half an hour, the weather permitting. When the kidneys are sound, mercurial physic will some- times succeed. After the cure, strengthen the kidneys with bark and steel, if there remain symptoms of debility. If an external applica- tion should be thought necessary, lay the fol- lowing cataplasm, spread on a double coarse flannel, upon the loins of the horse, and bind it on with a warm covering, previously rubbing well into the parts two portions oil of turpen- tine, and one of oil of amber. Garlic pounded, and horse-radish, g. s. Mustard seed, one pint; camphor, two ounces; as much green soap as will make a plaister of due consistence: it may be renewed every two days. The Ischury (for which the strangury, al-
though in common use, is an improper term) often afflicts aged horses, or such as are hard worked, and hardly used. It is an obstruction at the neck of the bladder, preventing the course of the urine, or suffering it to pass only |
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DISEASES OF THE KIDNEYS. 271
in drops; and arises either from an inordinate
distention, and consequent loss of elasticity and force, in the detrusores wince, with a paralysis of the sphincter muscle, from the horse being driven on, and forced to retain his water too long, and other causes of debility ; or a collec- tion of matter derived from diseased kidneys, or the determination of catarrh or fever. The symptoms are obvious, distended flanks, strad- dling, with frequent ineffectual motions to stale ; but the horse will sometimes lie down Oil his back and roll, as in a colic. In the Cure of this malady, it is a general
rule, to which I know of no exception, that all drastic diuretics (at least in any considerable doses) should be religiously avoided ; since they do but excite a more copious secretion of urine from the kidneys, and of course increase the distention of the bladder, its inflammation, or the numbness and debility of its muscles. In a case of desperate necessity, I should suppose no measure could be so effectual, or so safe, as an evacuation of the urine by the proper surgical operation, which by emptying the bladder, would give opportunity for the recovery of its tone; otherwise bleeding, tender care, and the milder diuretics, with opiates continued. To establish a cure, two months grass, or straw- yard. |
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272 colic.
The Diabetes in a horse, is either the
fatal termination of some chronic disease, or the sign of a constitution too far gone to be worth the attempt at a recovery; but if such an attempt be meditated, it must be essayed by the long continued use of restringents, aggluti- nants and balsamics—Barks, gums, balsams, boles, chalk, logwood, and lime-water. Dry nourishing diet, with beans and rice. Casting my eye over a Review lately, I saw
a very excellent practical observation of a cer- tain physician (surely Dr. S. Walker?) treated with unmerited slight. The doctor remarked, that the dread of a diabetes, during their fre- quent nervous emissions of urine, was a com- mon hallucination with many hypochondriac patients: I can vouch for the truth of that remark. THE COLIC, GRIPES, OK FRET.
For the Cure of this troublesome, and some-
times dangerous complaint, eminent men, both under the ancient and new order of things, have invented extraordinary remedies. Leo- nard Mascal assures us (p. 242) that " the colic " in the belly of beasts is soon put away, by " beholding a goose or a duck on the water " swimming." Markham prescribes a glyster |
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cone. 273
of hen's dung, nitre, and strong vinegar ! And
the late great state physician, Citizen Marat, Mho also was in the habits of prescribing for the body natural, and loved a radical cure to his heart, being one day severely griped, (as Brissot tells us) ran all over Paris, in search of a surgeon, who would undertake the cutting his guts open, in order to look for the colic ! Unfortunately that consummate operatrix, Charlotte Cordav, had not arrived. I suspect authors may have run their divi-
sions upon this disease in horses, somewhat too fine ; it may, however, be divided into the com" mon fret or gripes, the flatulent, the K.ed or inflammatory, and the bilious COLIC ; of the occasional existence of this lat- ter, in an animal so frequently subject: to biliary obstruction, no doubt need be entertained. The primary cause of a common fit of the
gripes in a horse, is nine times out of ten an accumulation of indurated excrement in the intestines; for independently of the solid ob- struction so occasioned, the usual proximate causes would seldom have power to work those serious effects we witness; thus in a horse, the colon of which was not previously infarcted and plugged up, the effect of a slight cold thrown upon the bowels, or the devouring a few new vol. II. T
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274 colic.
beans, would probably pass off with a very mo-
derate struggle from nature. The symptoms scarcely need description; cold
dew at the ear-roots and flanks; frequent point- ing to the seat of complaint, and a desire to lie down and roll; sudden rising and great agita- tion ; the greatness of the agitation, or rather jactitation, no convulsions existing, seems to form the diagnostic in all colicky complaints. The Cube requires prompt and vigorous
measures, and plenty of assistants to conduct them. Loose stable, or out-house, well littered down, that the horse may have room to roll himself without injury. Clothe with warm dry clothes. Man to attend the head, that it be not beat against the pavement or wall; another or two to rub the beliy well at every quiet interval; a more effectual help than ge- nerally imagined, to disperse the wind. Bleed, if possible, in the neck veins, not only to ascer- tain the quantity, but because surely it cannot be irrational to suppose such a substance as blood, improper to be taken into the stomach, under the circumstances. Whilst medical re- medies are preparing, walk the horse about briskly in hand, one following with a whip ; or keep him to the jog-trot, but drive him not fast, or harass him, on any pretence, which has ruptured the belly of many a horse, and 2 |
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coiiS* $7B
which at least often inflames and exasperates
the symptoms. Back rake with a small hand well oiled, and give the common gruel glys- Ter, with half a pint of oil, and a large hand- ful of salt; immediately pour down by the mouth, half a pint of Holland's geneva, rum, or brandy, and a like quantity of sweet oil mixed, or a little diluted with thin gruel, if thought too strong; keep the horse on his legs, and exercise him forthwith. If to be obtained soon, and demanded by the exigence, add to the glyster four to six ounces of Glauber's salts. Or, of tincture of jalap, or of senna, two ounces. Or best aloes in very fine pow~ der, half an ounce. And to the drink, three or four ounces syrup of buckthorn. Or, 'Elixir Proprietatis, or aloes wine. Castor oil may be used instead of olive. A notched onion may be thrust up the fundament; or an onion and a piece of soap the size of an egg. beat up together into a soft bolus, with a pinch or two of pepper; afterwards a glyster of black soap, one ounce to a pint warm water. Should sup- pressed perspiration thrown on the bowels be among the causes, (see Colds) the warm seeds ginger, castor, and camphor, should make part of both the drinks and glysters. For a large cart-horse, where wind is not the predominant symptom, and no appearance of cold, the fol- T %
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27<5 cone.
lowing drink: Gin, brandy, or rum, and sweet
oil, one pint each, mix with the solution of six ounces Glauber's salts, repeat in two or three hours, warm gruel in the interim. The repe- tition of these must be left to the judgment" of the practitioner; but plenty of warm gruel and warm water, should ever, in these cases, he at immediate call, as sometimes the throwing in two or three gallons of these at both ends, and at proper intervals, will do the needful with little or no assistance, from the apothecary. Bracken cautions against the common prac- tice of farriers, who give large quantities of Venice treacle, mithndate or diascordium, both by way of drink and clyster, upon leaded in- testines ; thereby locking up the cause of the disease still more securely : he compares it to firing a pistol into the horse's fundament,.by way of clearing all obstructions at once. Mashes. A week after the cure, a gentle purge or two. The Flatulent, or Wind Colic, is
known by great fullness and tension of the belly, from rarefaction of the air contained in the intestines; bovborigmi, or rumbling of the guts, discharges of wind, and frequently stran- gury, occasioned by the fullness and pressure of the streight gut upon the neck of the blad- der; this last is denoted by the horse rolling |
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COLIC. ' 277
upon his back, and by frequent ineffectual
attempts to stale* 'Crib-biters, from constantly sucking, in large quantities of air, are particu- larly subject to windy gripes. We are not how- ever to suppose, that the flatulence in the sto- machs and intestines of animals, is composed of external air inhaled, a common error which I have noted in the General Treatise on Cattle. The intention of Cure plainly consists in the speedy exhibition of volatile and carmina- tive, of diuretic, and laxative medicines, which ought to be given both in the form of glyster, and by the mouth. Ball. Strasburg, or Ve- nice turpentine, juniper berries, and carraway seeds pounded, each half an ounce; fine aloes well powdered, two drachms; sal prunel, one ounce; chemical oil of juniper, one drachm, salt of tartar, two drachms; ball with honey and hard soap. Wash down with a pint or two warm gruel. Or, The following drink : Castile soap and nitre, one ounce each ; juniper ber- ries, and carraway seeds, half an ounce each; ginger powdered, two drachms; Venice tur- pentine, dissolved with the yolk of an egg, six drachms; tincture of senna, an ounce or two. Mix with warm ale and treacle. Repeat, Glyster as before with the addition of carmi- natives: chamomile flowers, twohandfuls; anise, coriander, and fennel seeds, one ounce each; long pepper half an ounce. The following |
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278 eo^ic.
herbs are prescribed, but as in general there
may be a difficulty in obtaining them, I have substituted water-gruel, which, in truth, I have always found an excellent substitute : Mallows, pelhtory, elder-flowers, the herb mercury, mul- lein, bear's-breecb, &c, St. Bel remarks on the difficulty of hitting
the critical moment, proper for the exhibition, of opium in long continued pains; and of re- gulating the quantum of the dose. He pre- tends, that should the opiate be too weak, the pains will be enraged ; if too powerful, that it will hasten death. Bracken determines the proper time for the use of opiates to be, after the cause of the disease shall have been removed by lenient purgatives and clysters; when the former are requisite to complete the cure, by appeasing pain, allaying the tumult of the bowels, and obviating superpurgation or fluxa Proper forms will be found alter the next Species of cphc, since they may be necessary in both. The Inflammatory or Rep Coxig, is
supposed to originate in some internal injury; it is that species with which race-horses are sometimes afflicted, as St. Bel asserts, from the immoderate use of purgatives, which act as caustics upon the nervous fibres of the stomach $nd mte*t nes, and even irritate the extremities qf the fcmail blood vessels to that degree, as tQ |
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€OLIC. 279
cause them to contract, and thereby impede
the course of the blood. How far that writer is correct in his cetiology of this disease, I am enable to ascertain, but I have often enough seen the colics of race-horses^ a double exam- ple of which I recollect in one day, and both horses were cured by an ignorant country fel- low ; that is to say, the man cut their mouths, poured some stuff, which smelt very hot and Strong, down their throats, and flurried them up and down dreadfully, beating them with cudgels. One of them had a very narrow escape, but thanks to the doctor, or to the doc- tress Nature, he lingered through it. They had both run that day, and their disease seemed to me to proqeed from inanition, and having been kept too long without sustenance, desic- cation of the juices of the stomach and intes- tines, and inflammation from hard-straining. The common symptoms in this species are
violent; the horse discovers pain if his flanks or belly are pressed. The conjunctive mem- brane of the eye appears much inflamed, the anus the same, and of a bright red colour; the high degree of inflammation is chiefly oc-, casioned by the acrimony of the bile. There is an appearance of looseness in the beginning, a little dung is ejected with a hot scalding water; sometimes a burning fever; and the progress of inflammation so rapid3 that a jnor- |
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280 colic.
tification in the abdomen takes place in a few
hours. Bleed as largely as you can with safety. In
the urgency of the case, and before medicines can be obtained, gruel and sweet oil, or even warm water and oil mixed, may be given at either end. Castor oil, one quarter to half a pint; nitre, two ounces; camphor, one drachm ; make the drink with gruel, or decoction of febrifuge herbs and honey. Repeat, or substi- tute within an hour or two: Turkey rhubarb in powder, half an ounce ; diapente, one ounce; salt of tartar, two drachms ; ginger grated, and oil of juniper, one drachm each j ball with oil of amber. A Glyster of the herbs chamo- mile, mallows, &c. two ounces lenitive electuary. The following Purging Drink, if necessary: Senna, two ounces ; liquorice root, one ounce; salt of tartar, two drachms; carraway and juni- per berries bruised, one ounce each ; boil in a quart of water to a pint, strain and add two ounces lenitive electuary, with good old white wine half a pint. St. Bel recommends Pukis Jacobus every six hours ; an antimonial prepa- ration which I have been unable to find. Should a tendency to mortification appear, it must be resisted by bark and wine, both in drinks and glysters. The Anodyne Drink and Ball. The Drink: White wine, or |
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COLIC. 2SX
iine beer, one quart, dissolve in it the size of an
egg, common cordial ball, and one ounce Venice treacle, add or omit according to cir- cumstances, one hundred drops laudanum, and the same number tincture of castor. Stir well, and give it warm. Or, The ball. Diapente, one ounce; diascordium, half an ounce ; myrrh, two drachms; hall with liquorice powder, and two drachms oil of amber. I know of no distinct or peculiar method of
treating the Hepatic or Bilious Colic ; it is generally inflammatory, and requires similar treatment with the above, regard being had to the medicines prescribed in the Yellows. The colic produced by hair-balls, bezoar-stones, and concretions in general, is said to be mor- tal. In the colics of horses and cattle generally,
without regard to their species, and in random practice, laudanum or tincture of opium, have had wonderful success. A table spoonful of laudanum is the common dose, sometimes re- peated, in warm gruel or beer. A veterinary surgeon of some note, lately reminded me of the old preference given to brandy in this case, before any other spirit, which is no doubt grounded on experience. Fine French brandy__ js a noble medicine, as a tonic evacuant. As an extemporaneous and domestic or stable |
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282 colic.
form, in almost any colic which may occur,
I know of nothing more safe and efficacious, than laudanum as above, a gill of fine French ferandy, and half a pint of pil olive, in three pints warm, fine gruel, or ale7~"To~be repeated, if needful, or mtre~to~""Be "aefded, as before di- rected, if much fever. It is a great object to give the medicine in time, and before the vio- lence of the pains, have induced a high degree of fever ; and such articles as oil and lauda- num, should always be at hand, where horses are kept. It must not be concealed however, that many horses have been lost in colics, ■when opium and tonics have been freely exhi- bited, on which I shall speak farther in the ad* ditions. The following extraordinary note may be
found in Mr. Elaine's second volume, p. 487 : " In a late publication by Mr. J. Lawrence, " from a want of information on veterinary " medicine, which, though he candidly owns, "' yet by attempting to draw information from " other sources, he propagates some very dan- «' gerous errors: recommending in this com- " plaint drugs that are most highly improper, <{ as camphor, ginger, oil of juniper, oil of am^ " ber, cavvaway and juniper berries, with white " wine,. The pleasantry and humanity dis- " played in this work would make me foreo-Q |
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COLIC. 2S3
*« any criticifm; but this is so very dangerous
w an error, that it would be improper to pass it " over, in justice to the science, and to the ** unfortunate animals that may fall victims to *' it." I leave it to others nicely to scrutinize the motives of the above, and similar obser* vations of Mr. Blaine, with expressing my perfect satisfaction that his complacence did not in this case prevail over his sense of justice and public spirit. 1 will only add, that I wish it may be in Mr. Blaine's power to take my replies in as good part as I do his remarks, and to bring his mind to the state in which I have been labouring for many years to reduce mine; to enable it to love truth with equal ardour, whether it concern myself" or others. If jt turn out that I am wrong in this case, I shall al- ways hold myself under an obligation to Mr. Blaine for having informed me of my error; if otherwise, I am still obliged for the oppor-. tunity of vindication. But, in the first place, in what page of my
book, or where did Mr. Blaine find me " own- " ing a want of information on veterinary me- " dicine?" With respect to the " comfortable *' things and cordial drenches'* commonly given in gripes, and the danger of increasing inflammatory symptoms, Mr. Blaine might have convinced himself, as my readers,, in ge- |
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284 colic.
neral, are no doubt convinced by my obscrva*
tions and cautions, that I was fully informed and prepared on that head. In truth, it was from the most mature consideration, that I or- dered paregoric and anodyne articles, which, from experience, I. conceive, must ever be indi- cated, in a greater or less degree, during the tormina of colic, however considerable the in-* fiammation. Mr. Blaine's objection to cam- phor, I apprehend, will do him little credit, that drug being perhaps our greatest depend- ance in the case, as febrifuge, anti-inflammatory, an excellent antiseptic, and preventive of the ' strangury, which sometimes supervenes. He may observe, that in my first prescription, no article to which he objects is to be found, cam- phor excepted ; surely then, as antiphlogistic as himself could wish. ; Afterwards, and on the presumption of an exacerbation of the tormina or gripes, which I have often observed, oil of juniper and articles of a similar intent, are pre- scribed, but in such moderate quantities, and so guarded, as to render it impossible they should; have any of those dangerous effects which Mr. Blaine pretends to dread, or, in fact, any but such as are legitimate and salu- tary. The wine which Mr. Blaine quotes, rather in a marked way, is only half a pint in a purging drink, if held necessary, that is, after a |
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', COLIC. 285
considerable time for reflection on the state of
the case. The larger quantity of wine, after- wards ordered, is on a suspicion of the approach of gangrene. The experienced practitioner, particularly in the colics of horses, will now de- cide on the validity of Mr. Blaine's objections; and by what follows, to which of us, the charge of dangerous practice, will most probabhy at- tach. I have already remarked, " that I suspect
" authors may have run their divisions upon " this disease in horses somewhat too fine." That observation occurred from what I had seen; and I am still farther confirmed by what Mr. Blaine has written, that is to say, collected from mere authority, on the different species qf colic. This disease in horses is generally of a compound nature, and the species so decidedly inflammatory as he pretends, rarely exists in this country. With the nosological arrangement of the profound and experienced Cullen before him, it is pit}' but that Mr. Blaine had also paid some attention to the excellent advice given in the Preface—not to embarrass the his- tory of a disease by an unnecessary detail of symptoms that are " adventitious and acciden- tal,' but to confine himself to such as are " common and inseparable/' To teach gravely,, that in red colic " the horse expresses great |
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&86 colic.
" uneasiness, lays clown and gets up again?
" strikes his belly, but seldom rolls, but that in " spasmodic colic he frequently rolls; and " be « careful to distinguish it (red colic) from " gripes," will not serve to impress a gravity appropriate to the occasion, upon the counte- nance of the practical reader. Small indeed must be the inflammation which the attendant cannot palpably detect, and strange must be that colic which is distinct from gripes! I move, that henceforth such equivocal disease do obtain the name of the Blainean colic. Before we dismiss this subject, it must not be
forgotten, that the flatulent or spasmodic colic is, by far, the most frequent with horses, and, in this species it is, that farriers do so much mischief with their inflammatory specifics, sometimes curing their patient as effectually and instantaneously, as if, in the language of Bracken, they had " fired a pistol Into his fun- " dament." Mr. Blaine seems to follow these hardy prescribes passibus equis. With half an ounce of asther, and half an ounce of tincture of opium, he has ordered three ounces of the spirit of turpentine, an article, from a liberal dose of which, many a poor horse has happily received the coup de grace. To use the actual cautery in colic, would be needlessly to add to the tortures of a wretched animal, whose feel- |
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EtTilSTEWNESS OR RUPTURE. 287
ings ought to be respected, when it becomes
but too plain we can afford him no farther as- sistance. From late medical writers who have visited Arabia, Mr. Blaine may learn, that the cautery is generally useless in this case, and many others, in which, nevertheless, by the custom of that country, it is as generally ap- plied, leaving very unsightly eschars in various parts of the patient's body. The actual cau- tery, sacrificalions of the occiput, and blister- ing the lower extremities with cloths dipped in boiling water, also are very old remedies in apoplexy. BUESTENNESS OR RUPTURE.
Ruptures proceed from strains in labour, high
and difficult leaps, particularly with heavy weights, kicks; from being staked, or gored by oxen, and various other accidents. Gibson says, he has known instances of the belly being rup- tured from too deep an incision for the purpose of a rowel. In a rupture, a portion of the Omentum or
caul, or of the guts themselves, is forced through the muscles of the belly at the navel, or through the rings into the scrotum or cod. The tumour, when not too large, will return on |
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238 FALLING OF THE FUNDAMENT.
being pressed, as if it were merely flatulent*
and the rupture or chasm may be felt. It is easv to conceive, that such a defect is incurable, excepting possibly in a very slight case* and a very young subject; the intention must be to palliate, to render the animal as useful as possi- ble, and as comfortable to itself. In a recent case, bleed, and give emollient and oily glys- ters, boiled barley, malt mashes, nitrated water. Foment twice a day with camphorated spirits and vinegar warm, and poultice with oatmeal, oil, and vinegar. Use the restringent embro- cation (see Index) occasionally, ever afterwards; but nothing would be so effectual as a suspen- sory bandage, could that be contrived. Should tbere be an external wound, and the skin be divided, in course, the protruded intestine must be carefully returned, and the wound healed with spirituous and balsamic application. I have some obscure recollection of a complete cure in that case. ON FAEElNG OF THE FUNDAMENT.
This may be occasioned by long continued
looseness or scouring, and horses of a lax and washy constitution are most subject to it. It is |
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falling oe the fundament. 2BQ
produced by long journies, or hard labour with
insufficient nourishment, The defect is fre- quent with over-driven pigs, which I have often attempted to cure, with very ill success. Sol- leysel says, it was sometimes brought on horses, in his time, by docking. In the Cure no time ought to be lost. If
the gut descend to any great length, and be much swelled and inflamed, Wash with warm milk and aqua vegeto equal parts, and suspend it; repeat the washing, and when the inflam- mation is abated, anoint with oil of roses, chamo- mile, or dill, and a small quantity of Friar's balsam, and gently with a warm linen cloth, return the gut to its proper place. Bathe the fundament frequently with the following mix-' ture: Red Port wine and camphorated spirits, a quarter of a pint each; Goulard's extract, forty-drops. A composition of oak-bark, flour, honey, and turpentine, applied frequently to the fundament. Mashes of malt, or corn and bran, and the animal kept vevy quiet, with the most gentle usage. Should the gut not re- main, or fall down in exercise, and shrink up again in the stable, it is the sign of a fistula, and the only remedy is excision ; which must be performed with a red-hot knife, a ligature being previously made.. The wound healed, a vol. II. V
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290 GONORRHOEA, MATTERING,
pretty long run at grass or straw-yard; pre-
viously to which, it will not be safe to work the horse* |
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GONORRHEA, MATTERING, AND FALL
OP THE PENIS. A stallion weakened by too much covering,
will sometimes have a thin white discharge. Bathe the testicles with the restringent embro- cation at night, and wash them in the morning with cold water, rubbing them dry with a cloth. Or. Ride him up to the belly in water every morning the first thing. A strengthening ball: Balsam of Ca-
pivi, olibanum, and mastic powdered, each two drachms, bole armoniac, half an ounce; ball with honey and liquorice powder, and give it night and morning ; afterwards once a day, as long as wanted. Should there be a foul icho- rous discharge from chafing or ulceration, ex- ternally or internally, first wash well with soap and water warm, which it may be also useful to inject. Apply the following, milk-warm, to any excoriation or sore, with a soft rag or sponge : lime-water, one quart; sugar of lead, half an ounce. Mix. In case of fungous flesh, |
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AitD FALL OF TtlE PENIS. 2§X
half an ounce of vitriol may be added. Oil;
liniment of turpentine* and honej of roses. For an injection, take balsam of capivi, half an; ounce, with the yolk of an egg, add lime wa- ter, half a pint; honey of roses, two ounces. The yard being much inflamed and swelled, ftn ment as often as necessary, with leaves of mafc lows and marshmallows, chamomile flowers, toe* lilot, and fumitory, each three handfuls; rose- mary, wild thyme, southern-wood, and elder* flowers, each two handfuls j juniper and laurel- berries bruised, each four ounces. Boil in eight quarts of water to six. Strain and foment with two flannels, by turns, as warm as convenient, morning and evening. A pint of British brandy may be added. While using, keep it warm over a chafing-dish. The remaining li- quor may be put again on the herbs, for next day's occasion. A seminal gleet in horses, from plethora and
want of exercise, is remedied by venesection, mild purgatives, alterants, and regular attention to cleanliness; but partially in some constitu- tions, where the seminal secretion is very copi- ous : this, joined to the other inconvenience' of stallions being more liable to grease and foulness than geldings, has often made me wonder that so many of the former should have been formerly kept in the London brewery. That they are u2
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-292 GONORRHEA, MATTERING, &C.
more capable of labour, I know by experience
:lo be unfounded, at least that geldings are fully adequate .to every purpose required. It is a • great folly in the breeders to keep so many ill— shaped horses stoned. Fast walkers are now the great object of request for the Lon- don drays, and I think the best cattle which I have noticed of late are geldings. In a falling of the yard from debility, and
relaxation of the muscles, anoint with wine, one pint, and Goulard as before (see Funda- ment) or oil of roses and brandy ; or foment if much tension, suspending the penis, with a hole left for the urine to pass. Inject the first mix- ture. It has been advised to make superficial punctures about the j'ard with a sharp needle, and then to wash with distilled vinegar, but I know nothing of the success of such practice. The member being returned, bolster it up se- curely, and charge with bole, whites of eggs, (lour, dragon's blood, turpentine, and distilled vinegar. Discharge a pail or two of cold water, from the pump or well, upon the horse's loins every morning early, rubbing dry; bathe the loins once or twice a day with the restringent embrocation, to which may be added oil of origanum. Cordial balls with a scruple or two of opium. In the cure of gonorrhaea in horses, it has
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VENOMOUS BITES. 2<£3
been long the practice in Spain to use the ac-
tual cautery, and it has been lately1 recom- mended in the French school: I conceive there are various objections to such practice. VENOJIDPS BITES;
Bracken makes merry with Sir William
Hope's'mice; however I have often seen the shrew, or shrove-mice of the old farriers, in dif> ferent counties; they have a snout like a hog, their bite is venomous, cats will kill, but not eat them. If a horse in the field were seized with a numbness in his limbs, vi'hich was styled to be taken, or in the language of Mons. Horace, a famous French farrier, suhpdis, ho was adjudged by the old sages, eiiher planet- struck or shrew-run; and the cure (which never failed) was as rational as the supposed cause of the disease; the patient was dragged through a bramble which grew at both ends! In punctures from the stings of hornets or
■wasps, or wounds by the tusks of a boar, which last are apt to swell as if 'venom were really in- stilled ; wash clean with warm soap suds, and anoint well several times a day with warm salad oil. Emollient poultices, and fomama- |
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2§4 VENOMOUS BITES.
tions with rue, wormwood, bay leaves, rag?
weed, and wood-ashes. Heal with iEgyptia- cum and Brandy mixed. Saline physic, or filtrated water, if feverish symptoms'supervene; or the internals hereafter recommended. The bite of a viper or eft, is of far worse
ponsequence; not only the wounded part, but sometimes the whole body will be considerably swelled. Make a tight bandage above the wound, if upon a limb; enlarge the wound with a small sharp pointed cautery, avoiding the tendons, and keep it open as long as the venomous symptoms remain, with sponge smeared with precipitate ointment, or orris root prepared with Spanish flies. Rub in warm pil mixed with viper's fat, both to the wound and the, swelled parts. Wash with strong vinegar, one pint; mustard-seed, two ounces; mix. Stop close a few hours, and Strain. Dress with warm iEgyptiacum, once or twice a day. In some cases bleeding is re- quired. The following drink every night for a week. Venice treacle one ounce; salt of hartshorn, one drachm; cinnabar of antimony, half an ounce; sweet oil, three ounces in warm ale. Drinks of wormwood, rue, and scordium. Scraped tin. On that most dreadful of all maladies, Ca-
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VENOMOUS BITES. 295
nine Madness, no new discoveries have
been made, excepting that the hydrophobia, or dread of water, is not a peculiar consequence, or symptom of the rabid poison, although its general attendant; but merely sympathetic af- fection from a pained tendon, analogous to the tetanus, or locked jaw. Hydrophobia has been known to attend hysteric cases, and pain* ful wounds in the tendons, and to precede the locked jaw. In the bite of a mad-dog, for in that animal
the contagious rabid poison seems to originate, or of any animal which being bitten acquires the power of propagating the poison, the only remedies intituled to any rational ciependance are instant exsection, or cutting away the bit- ten part, ustion or burning, and mercurials, The Ormskirk Medicine, Dr. Mead's remedy, bathing in salt water, and many other pre- tended specifics, have all failed; and as I should conceive, never had any real title to do otherwise. That Dr. Mead should recom- mend liver-wort and pepper, as articles of suf- ficient efficacy to be a specific cure in a disease of such dreadful and potent malignancy, would be truly astonishing did we not know that the greatest men are sometimes guilty of the^reat^- eft absurdities. Besides burning the wound, |
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%$6 VENOMOUS BITES.
where practicable, a circle ought to be drawn
round it with a cautery. Rub the part with
strong mercurial ointment and turpentine as
often as possible, without raising a salivation.
Turbith mineral has been supposed to succeed
in the cure of dogs, of course it ouo-ht to be
tried with horses, and also with human patients.
Bartlet advises turbith and camphor equal
quantities (see Farcy.) Before, or after the
Turbith course, the horse should be frequently
plunged in cold water. This is recommended
by the old doctors, to be done the day before
the full, or new moon : what her nocturnal
majesty can possibly have to do in the business,
I have no conception; but it is easy enough to
prove, that she and her starry attendants are
often implicated by fond and silly mortals,
where they have no manner of concern.
The diagnostics of canine madness are, hun-
ger and thirst, without power to eat or drink; trembling, eyes fierce and flaming, hanging of the ears and tail which is bentinwards; lolling of the tongue, foaming, barking of the dog at his own shadow, panting, running a straight and heedless course against any thing in bis way, biting With violence ; .other dogs fly him by instinct. Some people have, and do at this day, deny
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SWALLOWING OF LEACHES. 297
the existence of canine madness, as also that the
plague is contagious; this is only the proof of another species of madness. SWALLOWING 01" LEACHES, OR HEN'S
DUNG. This accident frequently happens to country
cart-horses, passing off with a slight sickness, and without notice. Whilst the horses are absent, the poultry will always watch the op- portunity of examining the mangers, where they leave both dung and feathers, which ought ever to be carefully swept away, pre- vious to feeding the horses. Horses drinking at ponds will often suck in a variety of filth and vermin. The signs of having swallowed leaches, or other vermin, are, hanging the head to the ground, and a discharge of impure saliva, sometimes mixed with blood. Give a pint of sweet oil warmed, with a glass of brandy, and a drachm of ground ginger. Scalded bran and gruel. The oil may be repeated if needful. Mild dose of aloes and rhubarb, with one ounce diapente, washed down with warm ale. When any considerable quantity of fowls
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298 SWALLOWING OF LEACHES.
dung and feathers have been swallowed, the
horse will lose his appetite, swell in his bodv, and void fetid, slimy matter from his funda- ment. The same medicines and treatment, with the addition of honey to the oil. Walk- ing exercise, the horse clothed. Sow-thistle dried and powdered, smallage-seed bruised, marjoram, and the ashes of the root, leaves, and fruit of briony, were the specifics of former times. |
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I 299 ]
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CHAP. VIII,
ON THE DISEASES OP THE EYES AND
MOUTH. J[ AM by no means deeply skilled in the phy-
siology of vision, arid shall refer such of my readers as are curious upon that subject, or desirous of acquiring satisfactory information on the anatomy of the eye, to Dr. Bracken's works, where their laudable curiosity may be amply satisfied. The Doctor (who seems to have been thoroughly qualified for the task) passes some very severe strictures upon both the knowledge and veracity of the famous Che- valier Taylor; and it; is highly probable seve- ral physicians of that time, not . big thorough- ly experienced in the anaton:y of tie eye, were deceived by the plausibility and manual ad- dress of that confident empyric. The diseases of the eyes in horses, natural
and acquired, maj', I think, be conieniently classed as follows: Opthalmjt or Inpi-abi- m at ion, from whatever cause; Huiuour- PX/I.NDNESS, PlMINUTION OF SlGItT PROM |
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300 diseases of the eyes.
Debility of the Organs, Cataract,
gutta serena, external accidents. Previously to entering upon the method of
cure, I have a few remarks to make upon an article of prime consideration, as a remedy in this case, which has been introduced since the days of Gibson (a solitary instance of addition, I believe) I mean Goulard's Extract of Saturn, a preparation now more commonly used in veterinary practice, than the sugar, or salt of lead. I have reason to know, from frequent experience, that this most potent and effica- cious repellent and bracer, is made much too free with, both to the eyes and tendons of horses, whence are induced violent irritation, inflammation, and a general effect totally con- trary to that intended. Mr. Taplin, who is in most cases a cautious prescriber, has yet not only erred, according to my observation, in asserting that the specific in question is more commonly too much diluted, but in the want of sufficiently diluting it in his own prescrip- tions. He advises (p. 89, Stable Directory) no less a quantity than two ounces Goulard's Ex- tract, with the same quantity of spirits, arid four ounces opodeldoc, without the least dilu- tion, to be rubbed twice a clay into a horse's leg; an application,I I should conceive, not merely probable to disappoint and interfere with |
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DISEASES OP THE EYES. SOI
the intention, but to be attended, if persisted in,
with all those dangerous consequences usually resulting from superastriction, and the known poisonous quality of lead. His collyriums also, I think much too strong
and sharp, and such as I am convinced would injure any of those horses eyes with which I have been acquainted, and they have not been few. Gibson makes a moderate use of lead in his prescriptions, justly observing, that the eye is very delicate, and in a recent hurt scarcely able to endure the common eye-waters. Dr. Darwin speaks against the too early use of sti- mulating eye-waters in opthahny, and recom- mends afterwards the solution of vitriol, in preference to that of lead. Bold measures, it is pretended, succeed well with the eyes of horses, but such pretensions must be received with caution ; the eye is a very delicate organ, to what animal soever it may belong. I have been in the constant habit of using
Goulard's Extract, more than twenty years, not only upon horses and other animals, but upon my own person. From the unfortunate custom of writing by candle-light, and the un- pardonable omission of any kind of guard for eyes, I had experienced a gradual diminution of sight about, four years. I had always least sight in ray left eye, and about the year 1794', |
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802 DISEASES Of THE EYES.
after writing late the preceding night, I walked
to see the skaters upon the ice in St. James's Park, where, on a sudden, I perceived a dis* agreeable sensation communicated to the optic nerves, from the glare of light occasioned by the reflection of the sun upon the ice and snow. On my return home, taking up a book, I was extremely shocked to find I had lost all distinct vision with my weakest eye, which 1 have not yet regained, nor ever shall. I mention this matter merely to inform those who may be in the same unlucky predicament, of an eye-wa- ter which is in constant use with me as a strength- ener, and which is always ready at my elbow. Saturnine embrocation (Index) seven drops; soft water, one ounce. Apply it to the corner of the eye, and between the lids with the finger, wiping it afterwards from the surrounding skin, which it is otherwise apt to draw into wrinkles, if constantly used. If by accident I make it stronger, it never foils to irritate and inflame, and lays me under the (s.nrv of discontinu- ing it awhile, and of us,fij s pJe water as a cooler. In case of humour or inflammation, add a small tea-spoonful of brandy or old Ma- deira, or few drops of camphorated spirit. Optiialmy, or Inflammation of the
Eye, is always sufficiently visible.. The Eye- lid is closed, swollen, and weeps ; the ball is |
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DISEASES OF THE EYES. 303
inflamed, and the vessels filled with stagnant
blood appear very plain npon the coat. It is first necessary to investigate the cause, since it may be merely the intrusion of some small ex- traneous body, such as a hay-seed; which be- ing suspected, -the eye ought instantly to be searched with a soft rag, or piece of spunge dipped in warm skim-milk and water, to which may be added a tea-spoonful of aqua-vegeto. I have now before me a memorandum of a colt, one eye of which appeared as above described; dreading to give the animal pain, I would not suffer the eye to be opened and searched, al- though the cause of the complaint was sus- pected. It continued excessively bad several weeks, the colt losing his appetite and falling away in consequence, until the inflammation being abated, and the eye opened, a scar upon the external coat, left by the offending parti- cle, perhaps an oat-hull, was visible, and was not obliterated under several months. A case of slight, or superficial opthalmy, will
generally give way in a few days to topical ap- plications, of the emollient and repellent kind. It is the general practice to have recourse to repellents in the first instance ; all I have a right to say is, I have sometimes seen the ill success of it, by an increase of the inflammatory symp- toms, to allay which it has become necessary 1
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30^ DISEASES OF THE EYES.
to make instant use of emollients. 1 have suc-
cessfully treated inflamed eyes in horses, with warm skim-milk and water, repeated often, and bread and milk poultices, until the heat and tension had abated; afterwards, with a mild solution of Goulard. I have since observed, there is good authority for the preference of warm relaxent applications in the case; that of Benedict Duddell, the famous oculist, who lived in the reign of George I. confirmed by Ware and Noble, whose method is, to immerse the eye every ten minutes in warm water, or warm water mixed with spirit. ' The most usual practice however is, the im- mediate use of cold spring water, or vinegar and water, and repellents. Take one pint of the strained decoction of plantain, rosemary, and red rose-buds: or instead thereof, a pint of clear water, add one drachm sugar of lead, and one drachm and half of white vitriol. Ok, The following aqua-vegeto-mineralis: Clear water, one pint; Goulard's extract, one hun- dred drops; best brandy, a small glass. In this proportion, 1 have generally used the ex- tract to the eyes of horses. Bathe externally, and apply internally with rag or sponge, seve- ral times a day. On, Honey of roses, spring water, and white of an egg, mixed ; and ap- plied with a feather. Some horses are subject |
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DISEASES OP THE EYES. 305
all their lives to weak and weeping eyes, upon
every slight cold, from neglect while colts, and lying about in wet and boggy pastures; the only remedy is the occasional use of the vege- to-mineral water. Colts, whilst breeding their teeth, and horses with irregular teeth, arc li- able to similar inconvenience; the same exter- nal method, with salts, and moderate bleeding, and extirpation, or filing down the preternatu- ral teeth. Humour-blindness, or Inveterate
Opthalmy. The whole eye is inflamed both internally and externally, and the admission of light occasions intolerable pain; the proxi- mate cause, I apprehend, to be either obstruc- tion in the capillaries, the blood being too dense for circulation, or a dilatation and weakness of the vessels themselves. This disease is curable with two provisos; being taken in time, and the eye being naturally good ; otherwise the at- tempt at cure is fruitless. For the description of a good eye, I refer the reader to the first vo- lume ; if a professional man, to Gibson. For the best method of cure with which I am acquainted, I shall present the Reader with a remarkable case from my memoranda. In 1781 my fa- vourite brown mare had a weeping in one of her eyes, with swelling of the lids; it passed off, after a while, unattended to; a short time vox. ii. X
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306 DISEASES OF THE EYES.
after, the other eye was affected in the sanis
manner. Eye-water was used, and bleeding, and the mare being wanted for a particular occasion, was physiced. The disease remitted and exacerbated alternately, for a month or two, until at length it became very serious; one eye was exceedingly swollen, and opened with great difficulty, discharging a scalding serum, which almost brought off the hair; the coats of the other were thickened, and looked very dull. Bye-and-bye, the ball of the one was in-
flamed in the highest possible degree, and the other, although not so much inflamed, seemed to admit little or no light. There appeared a white speck upon the pupil, and several igno- rant fellows who saw the mare were exceedingly desirous of having I know not what escharotic powders blown into the eye, with a view of scouring off what they supposed to be_fijms up- on the. external coat, not being aware that the. disease was purely internal; and it is shocking to reflect upon the useless tortures the poor animal would have endured in such hands. Repellents either increased the inflammation -or had no effect at all. Nitre was given. A dose of physic checked the inflammation,-but total blindness shortly followed. By the advice of my surgeon, I applied to Snape, the King's |
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DISEASES OF THE EYES. 337
farrier, who pronounced the mare incurable ; I
then sent her to Lavton, a very eminent farrier at Walham Green, with my particular request that he would undertake .the case; which he declined as hopeless. Thus left to my own efforts, and my affections deeply interested, I was determined no exertions of either thought or care should be wanted ; and luckily I was seconded by a skilful groom, a son of old Mendham, well known as an humble stable-at- tendant at Newmarket. It must be premised, that the mare had had a slight fit of the stag- gers about a year before, which had been ne- glected, but her eyes were of most perfect con- formation, and in their natural state as clear and diaphanous as a polished mirror. After turning over all my veterinary Oracles, I formed my plan, and having previously obtained the approbation of a regular medical friend, I be- gan my operations. 1 judged that the humours were condensed, and that topical applications were indicated, to render them fluid and fit for absorption, and circulation; and that a number of drains or issues were immediately necessary, for the purposes of evacuation and revulsion. I supposed, right or wrong, that peculiar benefit would be derived from the prox- imity of the issues to the parts affected, on which particular, I should at this day be thankful for x 2
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308 DISEASES OF THE EYES,
information. A soft leather half-hood, with
holes for the ears and eyes, was made, intended to cover and secure poultices. Five rowels were cut; one in each cheek under the ear, under the throat, in the chest and the belly. The eyes were poulticed with hot bran and lard, aqua-vegeto occasionally added, a number of times during the day, and very early in the morning ; poultices continually remaining upon the head : this course was sedulously observed during a month or six weeks, all which time the rowels, or most of them, were running. An opening diet, and a little salts with walking exercise. After a week the inflammation gra- dually subsided, but there were no signs of re- turning sight, till the end of a month or five weeks; when we were indulged with hope one day, and driven to despair the next; in short, the jokers were busy, but I was determined to persevere. We were soon after agreeably sur- prised with considerable amendment in one eye, and in a week or two more, the mare could en- dure the light with both, and saw very clearly; there still however remained a blue cloudiness, which was not dispersed until some months af- terwards. The poultices were discontinued, but the eyes were strictly guarded from the Tight by the hood before-mentioned, the eye- holes being filled with soft leather; nor did I |
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DISEASES OP THE EYES. 309
expose the eyes to the light for nearly two
months after the return of sight, riding the mare blinded. After the poultices, aqua-vege- to was used twice a day. Salts, and a short course of cinnabar in cordial ball. I highly enjoyed the first little journey I rode without the blinds, the animal stopping a great number of times upon the road, to examine different objects, with as much curiosity as if she had entered upon a new world. Her eyes remained perfect until her death, which happened six years afterwards from an apoplectic fit, as was supposed, she being seen well in the field at night, and found dead in the morning. I tried the above method with two horses afterwards, but by no means with corresponding success ; which indeed I did not expect, their eyes be- ing naturally small, and of defective form. The conclusions to be drawn from this case
are, that the grand dependence for cure is upon the timely insertion of a sufficient number of rowels, and upon keeping the eyes strictly from exposure to the light; that repellents are not always successful, but I presume more parti- cularly indicated in weakness and dilatation of the vessels, and that purgatives may be inju- rious. Liniments fou the Eyes. Mild and
cooling: ointment of tutty, one ounce; honey |
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310 DISEASES OF THE EYES.
of roses, two drachms; white vitriol, one scru-;
pie. Detergent: myrrh finely powdered, half a. drachm; camphor, five grains; white vitriol, ten grains; honey, two drachms; rid) them to- gether with spring water. To be used with a feather or pencil in foulness from much dis- charge. For a film, web, or speck left upon the out- *■
ermost coat of the eye, after the inflammation shall have subsided, there seems hitherto to have been no remedy, but corrosive powders or waters; although Dr. Darwin seems to hint at the practicability of an instrumental operation. Solleysel indeed recommends streaking a white film with the thumb covered with wheat flour, the eyes being previously washed ; which he; says will extirpate it much sooner than the use of powders, the best of which for the purpose, in his opinion, is sal ammoniac. Bracken re- commends Dr. Mead's ointment, which indeed seems ever to have'been'most in repute, whether from the great name of the author, or from ex- perience, I know not; at any rate it does not stand in the predicament of the Doctor's chip in porridge for hydrophobia, for of the oint- ment no one can doubt the efficacy, from its incisive power, and I should dread its action upon the corners of the eye, and the eye-lids, where it might raise a new inflammation. |
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DISEASES OP THE EYES. 811
Take glass, reduced to a fine powder, which
sift throup'h fine lawn, and mix with hone v. I would advise a very small quantity to be tried <xt first, which may be increased, if not found to produce irritation and painful symptoms. Previously to the use of the ointment, perhaps the eye should always be washed with skim- milk and aqua-vegeto. Gibson advises white vitriol, one drachm, white sugar-candy half an .ounce, ground very fine, to be blown into the eye with a tobacco-pipe, once a-day; or put into the corner of the eye, with the finger and thumb. Of these applications I have hitherto had no experience, but 1 will once more give a .caution, that before the use be hazarded, it be well ascertained, that the defect intended to be removed be really situate upon the outer coat ,of the eye, since such remedies can have no possible effect upon the internal parts, and may inflame, irritate, and torture to no manner of purpose. Diminution or Sight from debiei-
tv or the organs. It is doubtless owing .to their various hard laborious services, that .horses are more subject to diseases of those most tender and sensible organs the eyes, than any other animals; thence perhaps also the source of their hereditary defects. Hard la- hour,.particularhy heavy draught, and repeated |
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$1:2 StSEASES 0? THE EYES.
violent exertions at dead pulls, will produce
blindness; aUo poor and unsubstantial keep. The signs are, a gradual loss of convexity, or plumpness in the eyes, with dullness, and im- perfect sight at intervals. Jf the eyes are na- turally good, a cure may be wrought by mend- ing the keep of the horse, and the constant use, twice a day, of the strengthening satur- nine collyrium prescribed in humour-blindness. Bathe the temples occasionally with distilled vinegar and brandy mixed. Cataract or Glaucoma, for they ap-
pear to be one and the same disease, is a suf- fusion, or cloud upon the pupilla, commonly called the sight of the eye, at first partially, in the end totally, obstructing the ingress of the rays of light: the proximate cause is said to be a preternatural affection of the crystalline, or second humour of the eye, which is changed, becomes opaque, and impervious to the rays of light; the remote cause, in horses particularly, is almost always natural bad conformation of the organ, by which the humours are predis- posed to other causes of the disease; and J Scarcely recollect seeing either cataract, or gutta serena, in a well-formed eye. That which \s termed in the language of the stable, Lu- natic, or Moon-blindness, is nothing but the intermittent or periodical blindness^ |
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DISEASES OF THE EYES. 313
usually consequent of the incipient cataract;
which as well as hydrophobia, the catemenia, and other natural and preternatural events, our wise grandsires, who in all things, religious and political as well as medical, adhered to rule in preference to truth, would need suppose were humble attendants upon the phases of the moon. I3ut common sense is coming apace into fashion; and instead of merely read, mark, iubn; examine—~approfondissez—take your draught from the bottom of the well—are the order of the day: let us however be careful to keep> clear of the mud, Citizens. Moon-blindness, generally makes its ap-
pearance in horses, at five, or before six years old ; and the cataract may be a year or two, or more, in coming to perfection. The symptoms in the mean time are well known; cloudiness, imperfect sight, in one or both eyes; in some a discharge of serum, with an eye quite closed at intervals; well and tolerably clear again : in others, scarcely any discharge, but a gradual wasting and decay of sight. As to cure, it is pot to be expected, unless in the very-rare case of a cataract occurring in a naturally good eye, when I suppose the disease would submit to that method already laid down in humour- blindness; in general, moon-blindness is too much a disease of debility, to require those |
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314 DISEASES OF THE EYES.
considerable evacuations. Should however the
disease be supposed to originate in obstructed humours, and a depraved state of the blood, mercurial physic, rowels, and tying up the tem- poral arteries or veins, according to the nature of the case, have been recommended ; and I must acknowledge the last moon-blind horse with which I had any concern, had all that ap- pearance, but I had been too often foiled to make any new attempt. Bracken says he couched one horse with success, but he does not tell us whether to render his success of real use, he made the patient a present of a pair of concave -spectacles, and taught him their use; since what with the loss of convexity in the cornea, from the disease first, and afterwards from- the operation, the horse would see but wildly after all, without artificial help. The cruel and silly idea of putting out one
<>ye to save the other, appertains properly to the old system, and is cousin-german to that religious practice of hanging or drowning a poor wretch, burning or burying alive a guiltless animal, for bewitching or being bewitched ! And the perpetrators of these humane and le- gal acts, were great and good men-—great and good men.! Were they knaves or fools ? They were surely far enough from fools, but an ob- stinate aod implicit faith, and adherence to |
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DISEASES OF THE EYES. 31.5
systematic follies, has ever had the sad effect
of changing honest men into knaves, and of leading the most able into the commission of acts which would disgrace an ideot. The put- ting out one eye is perfectly useless, since if the other be naturally good, the measure is unne-. cessarv ; if not, it can have no good effect, but may have the evil one of inducing a fresh in- flammation, perhaps by sympathy, upon the best eye. In a Gutta Serena, both eyes are gene-
rally affected, and are vulgarly called glass eyes, appearing clear and shining, although they admit little or no light. They are some- times large and prominent like calves' eyes, at others small and flat, in colour often of a light blue, the pupil being deep blue, or black. The pupil neither dilates nor contrafis, which is pretty much the same as to say, the eye, or rather its vision, is extinct; and that again is To say, no cure need be expected. The defect has always been supposed to originate in a want of irritability in the optic nerve. Accor- ding to Darwin. Electricity. Blisters on the head. Opium and corrosive sublimate mer- cury, four or six weeks. Would not sneezing' powders be beneficial in the beginning of the disease, or turning to grass, that the constant depending situation of the head in feeding, |
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316 DISEASES OF THE EYES.
might invite an accession of blood and nourish-
ment to the eyes? External accidents. Contusions on
the eyes are to be treated with coolers, repel- lents, fomentations or poultices, and bleeding. Sometimes from a blow or stroke upon the eye, the juices, naturally clear and pellucid, will stagnate and turn to a pearl colour, or quite white, over the whole surface, and the horse will be nearly or totally blind; but such symp- toms will in a few days submit to proper treat- ment. Wounds of the eyes may be mortal if they penetrate the orbit to the bottom, where the branches of the optic nerves pass from the cerebellum; should the retina be pressed, which is composed of the optic nerve, and many small twigs of veins and arteries, blindness is una- voidable, and perhaps convulsions may ensue; the same may be expected from the fracture, or depression' of the bones of the orbit, or soc- ket, but a wound, or puncture through some of the coats and humours is curable; for instance, the cornea, or horny coat may be perforated, the humour let out, and vision interrupted, and yet the humour shall be replenished, and sight restored in ten or twelve hours time, as • cockers often experience : with the exception, however, that the wound be not deep enough to touch the chrystalline humour, which would |
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DISEASES OF THE EYES. 317
become changed or darkened from the acci-
dent, and occasion glaucoma and blindness. The treatment of wounds in these parts, must
be conducted on the same principles with those of any other, respect only being had to their superior sensibility, and the danger of inflam- mation and defluxion. Bleed. A rowel in the chest, or belly. An opening diet. Walking in the shade. Avoid all harsh applications, particularly that common one in these cases,, oil of turpentine. If the lid be divided, give but one stitch with a straight needle, proper for superficial wounds, the parts not being drawn too close, but only so far as to bring the edges together, that there may be room for the discharge, should the eye-ball be wounded. Honey of roses, one ounce; tincture of myrrhr one drachm, is the proper dressing. Dip a pledget of lint (for tow or hurds are too harsh) into the mixture warmed, and apply it fresh once a day, until the wound be healed. Should fomentations be necessary, take the following form: elder-flowers, red roses, and mallows, each a handful; nitre, half an ounce; Gou- lard's Extract, three tea spoonsful. Infuse in a quart boiling water, strain through a linen cloth, and when cold, add half a pint Red Port wine. Use two thick woollen cloths alternate- ly half an hour, the liquor not being made too |
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318 DISEASES OF THE EYES.
hot, but warmed again, should it grow too cool;
the quantity will last two days, and the eye may be fomented five or six times. The Haw, probably bearing analogy with
the encanthis of the human eye, is a preterna- tural enlargement and sponginess of the ca- runcle, or fleshy substance, in the inner corner of the eye next the nose ; the excess.of it somer times causes the ligament which runs along the "verge of the membrane, to compress the eye- ball like a hoop, when the common operation of cutting out the haw is absolutely necessary, nor is there any danger, if too much substance be not taken away, an error sometimes com- mitted by the farriers. Dress with honey of roses;, if fungous flesli, sprinkle with burnt allum, or touch with blue vitriol. In case of defluxion and weakness, brace with aqua-vegeto, Jn very painful wounds or inflammations of the eye, diluted tincture of opium. Saline purges are very proper from their gentle and cooling effects, when such aid is wanted. In his Chap- ter on Moon-Eyes, Gibson recommends a 'mild, aloe purge once a week, with the following use- ful practical observation, of which 1 had a i striking example last week. He has known " a weak purge work powerfully two or three " days, without the least diminution of the " horse's strength or loss of flesh; from foul- |
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DISEASES OP THE EYES. 319
u ness by reason of redundant slime and
" grease." The mare which I mentioned, p. 64, was
off her stomach, weak, her coat rough, dead and staring, and very hollow in her flanks. From her poor and meagre appearance I was almost afraid to purge her, but suspecting the real state of the ease, I ventured upon the fol- lowing dose, which I had often given to horses of her size and strength, With scarcely any but alterative and diuretic effects. Succotrine aloes, and Turkey rhubarb, six drachms each; myrrh and turmeric, each two drachms: ani- seeds, two drachms; saffron one drachm; balled with syrup of buckthorn, and oil- of amber. This began on Saturday morning, and did not set until Monday noon; operating the While with a degree of violence, which, however, did the mare no sort of injury; on the contrary, she has been sleek in coat, and in the best spi- rits ever since ; but had the quantity of aloes been larger, or of the common kind, in her state of body, the injury to her constitution might have been considerable: an example of which I have before adduced. I must claim here a few grains of allowance for having said, that a balling iron ought never to be used : Few grooms, 1 believe, would chuse to present the lady, of whom I am now speaking, with a |
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320 05? THE MOUTH.
ball, without such assistance; we were farther
obliged to put two halters upon her head, ty- ing them in opposite directions, at a proper height, a person standing behind her'with a whip. ON THE MOUTH.
And first of the Lamp as, from the Latin
Lampascus; this is an inflammation and tu- mour of the first bar of a young horse's mouth, adjoining the upper fore-teeth, which prevents his chewing. La Fosse and Bracken were in an error to deny the existence of this inconve- nience. I have never known any danger from burning in the case, but out of respect to the opinion of Gibson, who asserts that the opera- tion and usual repellents are apt to prevent a discharge, and prejudice the eyes, I advise the measure to be deferred a week, giving during the interval scalded mashes and warm gruel, and bleeding if indicated; should the inflam- mation still continue, cauterize the tumid parts lightly, without penetrating deep enough to scale off the thin bone; subjacent of the upper bars. Wash with salt and water first, and af- terwards heal with a mixture of French brandv, Red Port wine, and honey. No. I. 2 |
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diseases of the mouth. 321
Relaxation and swelling of the
Palate from Cold. Use the above mix- ture, with a little addition of pepper, ginger, or spirit of sal ammoniac. Bloody Chinks oh Chops in the Pa-
late, from thistles, whins, or other prickly feed. Examine and wash with salted water, or salt and vinegar, using the mixture after- wards. From neglect, the roof of the mouth may be inflamed and ulcerated ; puncture with a small pointed cautery. Gtggs, Bladders, or Flaps in the
Mouth, these are the old terms for soft tumours, or pustules with black heads, growing in the inside of the lips, level with the great jaw teeth; in some cart-horses they have been known to equal the size of a walnut, and at any size are painful, and prevent mastication. Draw out the tongue, and use the knife or cautery, cleansing and healing as above. The Camery or Frounce, or small indurated tumours upon the palate ; cure as above. Barbs or Paps, are small excrescences
under the tongue, which appear by drawing it aside; when preternaturally enlarged, cut them close. Canker in the Mouth, or rather ulcers
with little white specks proceeding from gigs and warts neglected ; the cautery moderately vol. ii. Y
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322 DISEASES OF THE MOUTH.
heated is perhaps the best remedy: I should
suppose the mixture, No. I. with the addition of sal ammoniac sharp enough, but if not, apply several times a day, iEgyptiacum and tincture •of myrrh, sharpened with oil of vitriol: or, sublimate water; or, burnt allum, honey, and tincture of roses. Hurts in the Tongue and Mouth,
from sharp or heavy bits. Touch several times a day with No. I. to which tincture of myrrh may be added, proceeding with the sharper applications should they be necessary. Examine the jaw-bone, which is too often injured likewise, carefully removing any splin- ters. I have in the First Volume spoken of the cruelties inflicted in this way upon horses,, by,a race of indolent and cold-hearted block- heads, giving one dreadful example of justly merited punishment, and what I have since observed, has served to convince me, that the galling of the bits and trappings is frequently" the occasion of those many instances we have of horses breaking away in single harness. Very frequently the brydone is so tight, that the horse's jaws are drawn up as if with a pulley, the animal half choked, and kept in constant pain. Frequently on the change of a horse, no care is taken to change the bit, which if not sufficiently wide, holds the mouth, 5 |
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DISEASES OF THE ItiOUTH. 323
perpetually screwed up as a vice. It is a ma-
terial part of the duty of grooms and horse- keepers, often to inspect the inside of the mouths of their horses. Wolves Teeth are said to be two small
superfluous ones, growing in the upper jaw next the grinders, and to be very painful to the horse; it was the old practice to loosen and wrench them out with a mallet and car- penter's gouge, by which rough operation the ]aw was often materially injured; granting the necessity of their extraction, it behoves the ve- terinary surgeon to furnish a milder and safer method. In general, all teeth of irregular growth, whether inwards or outwards, which, during mastication, prick and wound either the tongue, gums, or lips, are styled wolves teeth. The upper teeth of old horses some- times over-hang the nether so far, as to wound£ the lips. In every case of this kind, the file is the most proper instrument; first a? rough, then a smooth or polishing one, the mouth clean washed after the operation, with salted water warm. For loose teeth, the gums being swollen, puncture with a lancet, and wash with a decoction of oak-bark, honey, and sage, adding a small quantity of distilled vinegar. Dr. Darwin asks, " does the enamel (upon
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324 DISEASES OF THE MOTJTH.
" human teeth grow again when it has been
" perforated or abraded ?'" I have tried to re- store it for a considerable number of years to- gether; and if any thing can-possibly effect such end (which I much doubt) I think it is the constant use of the bark, which I have ever found the best dentrifice. Much will depend upon the age of the subject. About ten years ago, a man whom I chanced to know, published a dentrifice under the title of Eastern Tooth- powder, or some such name, the basis of which was japan earth, and which instead of polish- ing, actually abraded the enamel from the teeth of thousands, and of my own among the rest of the gulls. The constant use of bark tinges the teeth with a yellow hue. Strong acids have been frequently recommended : they are certain de- struction to the enamel. I know of nothing equal to charcoal and soap, both for the cleans- ing and preservation of the teeth. I am again called upon by Mr. Blaine (vol
ii. p. 93) and, as usual, upon a most important occasion, no less than that of my having propa- gated that momentous error of the old school, the excision of excrescences under the tongue of the horse, called barbs or paps. In a long and windy note, this writer observes: " Persons who profess to instruct in any art, should be doubly careful how they receive the errors of |
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DISEASES OF THE MOUTH. 325
others, and propagate them blindly, from a
Want of experiment and observation." In the truth of that remark, I join most cordially, with the addition, that it behoves pretenders to have an especial care, least by their own logic they convict themselves. Is there any proof, for ex- ample, of Mr. Blaine's experience in the dis- eases of horses, and his consequent ability to instruct, in his assertion, that jaundice, or yel- lows, is an unfrequent, and that diabetes is not an unfrequent disease, in the horse?—a propo- sition which every farrier's apprentice, or tea- kettle groom, knows must be read backwards. To return to paps and barbs—as far as my own experience or information goes, barbs have ever been supposed to denote, primarily, a pre- ternatural and inconvenient enlargement of the paps, or heads of the glands or kernels, under the tongue of the horse or ox; generally, any excess in the folds of the skin of the nether jaw\ These excrescences are sometimes the subject of inflammation, at others, there is little or no inflammation, but, in either case, they impede mastication, and occasion the animal to bite and wound his tongue ; when excision becomes necessary, and I have never, in a single in- stance, either known, heard, or read of the - smallest danger or inconvenience resulting from such-excision. Mr. Blaine allows, that the excising the superfluous skin might not be at- |
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326 DISEASES OF THE MOUTH.
tended with any danger, but the removal of
the paps would be, fatal,1" and might proba- bly strangle the animal.—Very true indeed. Equally true it is, that cutting a superfluous wart from a man's nose, would be a harmless and perhaps salutary operation, whilst the ex- cision of his whole nose, or even the half of it, might prove a dreadful eye-sore to him, and still more to his wife. Did Mr. Blaine ima- gine, that it could ever be possibly intended to scoop out the paps, as boys do modicums from apples? In this case, common sense ought to have dictated to him the necessity of giving ex- amples of mal-practice or danger. This wretched trifling is adduced, as another
proof of the ignorance of (amend the expres- sion) anti-collegiate times: what it really does prove, requires no explication. Bracken and Bartlet, it seems, were unacquainted with the anatomy of the horse, an opinion with respect to the-former, which can neither be supported from his writings, nor his own acknowledg- ment, since he informs us, that dissatisfied with the original work of Shape, aiici the Compen- dium of Gibson, he had engaged in a similar work himself, which it is probable he did not1 live to finish. Mr. Blaine seems aware that the old anatomists were acquainted with the nature and uses of the paps, of course there is a little ,disingenuousness in the case. Even old Ger« |
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DISEASES OF THE MOUTH, 327
vase was not uninformed, " that the barbs are
" two little paps which naturally do grow un- " der every horse's tongue whatsoever, in the " nether jaw," &c Markham's Maister Piece, p. 170. In the Lampas, Mr. Blaine proceeds with
unusual caution. During the time of denti- tion, and even after that period, the roof of a young horse's mouth will sometimes become inflamed and tumefied. This may continue, and prove very painful and irritating to the ani- mal. I have, more than once, caused the cau- tery to be run lightly over the parts, with im- mediate good effects. Mr. Blaine, so gene- rally partial to the actual cautery, here re- commends the knife. Vol. i. p. 336.—" The Arabian horses are
" the fleetest and most durable in the world."—■ Vol. ii. p. 96- " I have had occasion to re- mark that the English,' though excellent riders, as far as regards their seat upon a horse, are in general strangers, most of them, to what may be termed bridle-management. They usually con- sider this appendage only as the means of stop- ping or guiding a horse, and sometimes as part of the means by which they stay on him, &c. &c." These hacknied observations, orginaliy made before Mr. Blaine's grandfather existed, by continental riding masters, and which might, |
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323 DISEASES OF THE MOUTH.
•with equal truth, be applied to the manege itself,
as to our real jockey System, are, amongst nu- merous others, a sufficient proof of hjs total want of information on the subject of Arabian horses, and English horsemanship. Had St. Bel lived, he also would, I fear, have exposed himself as much on this subject, as he did re- specting my old friend Rush's mare. The late Mr. Rufh, Inspector General of Regimental Hospitals, had purchased a mare, which, it turned out, had stolen a leap. A short time before foaling, the mare being very ill, and ex- hibiting the usual tokens of approaching partu- rition, St. Bel's opinion was asked. The poor Frenchman, not long arrived in this country, and, I suspect, brow-beaten, and put off his guard, by vulgar superciliousness, pronounced, in broken English, the mare would die, " for " her inwards were coming out." But a certain predecessor of Mr. Blaine, of high desert, for the beauty of his type, the fineness of his paper, and the respectable price of his book, beats Blaine, all to nothing, at closet jockeyship, and would have us ride our race-horses without a pull! A wag observed to me, that my book had been the occasion of much ridiculous mischief, by teaching, that " a spice of the jockey ought to be blended with the veterinarian." On the Diseases of the Eye (Vol. ii. p. 670)
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DISEASES OE THE MOUTH. 329
we will not regret Mr. Blaine's plagiarism or
total insufficiency, since we may promise our- selves ample compensation from the superior abilities and practical researches of Professor Coleman, who, according to Mr. Blaine, t: has paid more attention to the subject than any per- son in this kingdom., or perhaps in the world." In the first paragraph, the ideas appear to have been copied from Gibson. What a triumph over poor Taplin, because he chanced to render pipe or duct, by the name of bladder! The hacknied subject of the Haw in the eye
(p. 72. 671) Mr. Blaine has treated, as he sup- posed, for his own purpose, and precisely with his usual success; on no account indeed, has he shewn himself more weak, or more deficient in practical knowledge. It is totally false, that any respectable writer has " called the nictat- ing cartilage the haws"—that the membrane is a late discovery, or that the haw, which is a real morbid excrescence, is a protection to the eye. That the caruncle is intended as a pro- tection is as obvious as its existence. I should not wonder at any absurdity in the operations of a common farrier, but what example Jias Mr. Blaine to produce of loss of sight from the ex- cision of the haw? I much doubt that he has ever seen the case at all, upon which he decides so peremptorily. I have now and then wit- |
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330 DISEASES OP THE MOUTH.
nessed an excess of the caruncle in the human
eve; in horses very frequently, and also the operation in the latter, from which I never heard even of the smallest inconvenience. Within these two months I have seen an aged gelding, the haw in one of the eyes of which has been increasing since five years old, at pre- sent is nearly in contact with the pupil, and, in the opinion of the farrier, bids fair in the end to blind the horse. He remarked, it ought to ■have been reduced in the horse's youth. The enlargement appears rigid and without inflam- mation. In confirmed opthalmy I have not observed any particular enlargement of the ca- runcle. Gibson's proximate cause of the haw is perhaps correct; an obstruction of the excre- iorif duct, the function of wkkk is to carry off superfluous moisture from the glands on the in- ner corners of the eyes. I should be glad, however, to find a real and effective substitute for cutting out the haw, which must be a pain- ful and irritating operation. In the first number of a certain miscellany
(die Monthly Register) which professes to «-ive something on the veterinary .subject, my attention was attracted by a most curious dis- sertation on the Haw, and an equally admirable puff direct of the Veterinary College. The gallant author proceeds—*' I shall not venture |
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DISEASES OP THE MOUTH. 331
to say, that the first discovery of this membrane
(the nictating) in the horse, is to be attributed to the Veterinary College, (modest, since the membrane was known to the old writers) but I will boldly affirm, that if the practical applica- tion of this discovery were the only benefit de- rived from its professors, the public mind would have been amply repaid for all the ex- pence and solicitude attending the institution." —For my part, I shall venture to say, that it is •well the College has a good stock of original merit, as a national institution, or the senseless puffs of its various " d------d good-natured
friends" would absolutely work its ruin, in the
public esteem. In No. 2. of the above Ma- gazine, as the title of p. 141, I observed, De~. labere Blaine—below, I found a criticism on Mr. Blaine's work, with the following extra- ordinary announcment, which I hasten to com- municate to my medical readers, that they may, if they please, take immediate advan- tage thereof: On account of the defects of the Nosology of Cullen, and the failure of Darwin's attempts at improvement—" some more .methodical and scientific arrangement may be reasonably expected from the present (Mr. Blaine's) attention to the subject." By whom the above articles were written I would |
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332 DISEASES OE THE MOUTH.
not presume even to guess. There is farther a
consideration, which ought to have had weight with Mr. Blaine. Is he not plainly injuring the reputation of his own labours, as an ana- tomical writer (the only source from which he can, thus far, reasonably derive any expecta- tion) by placing such a stress on very trifles, and pretended discoveries, of little or no con- sequence if real ? |
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[ 333 "j
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CHAP. IX.
ON THE DISEASES OF THE LEGS AND FEET,
AND OF LAMENESS FROM RELAXED OR CONTRACTED LIGAMENTS, &C. |
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THE GREASE.
AT the head of St. Bel's Essay on the Grease,
we find the following quotation from Mon- taigne : " I wish that every one would write " only what he knows, and as much as he " knows:" in this case I fear our professor has gone farther than Montaigne's wish, by writing- somewhat more than he knew; however in the Prize Essay of a juvenile practitioner, a little flourish is pardonable ; and the Essay contains some excellent remedies, and in general, a very rational method of cure. . The grease in horses is an extravasation, or
bursting from the vessels, and afterwards through the skin, of serum, or simple humour, in the legs and heels, from the want either of exercise, or the recumbent posture, to promote |
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334 GREASE.
the circulation of the fluids in those depending
parts, " as (according to our veterinarians, *' whose opinion is here sanctioned by Dr. " Darwin) the column of blood pressing on " the origins of the veins of the lower ex- " tremities, when the body is erect, opposes the " ascent of the blood in them ; they are more " frequently liable to become enlarged, and to " produce varices, or vibices, or, lastly, ulcers " about the legs, than on the upper parts of the " body." That such is the cause, appearsfrom the well known circumstance of the horse being free from grease abroad, where he constantly walks about to obtain his food, or stretches himself upon the ground at his ease. The dis- charge being greasy, appears to be peculiar to the horse, as I have before noted in molten- grease ; that it is so fetid in this case, is not to be attributed to any original foulness and malig- nancy, as our grooms commonly suppose, but to the subsequent cause of the humour being- lodged out of the verge of circulation, where it in course soon corrupts. I have described the disorder as it may
speedily happen to a horse in the best con- dition of body, under the hands of a bad groom, the animal standing as a mere fixture fastened by the head in his stall, without exer- cise, his legs heated and fretted into cracks |
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GREASE.
with dirt; but the grease may be coin plica;
"with, or occasioned by an impure state of the humours, by laxity and weakness of the vessels, and a serous and impoverished blood ; or lastly by predisposition {'rem the natural conforma- tion of the limbs. Round fleshy-legged horses are notoriously subject to this malady, which is as much as to say, it prevails most among cart- horses ; and that generally speaking, the more blood a horse has, by so much the easier he is preserved from the grease. Not but some draught cattle have flat legs with the tendon very distinct; a point which deserves the at- tention of the breeder. The necessary measures of prevention, and
the minor remedies proper to the incipient dis- ease, have already been set forth in the Chap- ter on Stable duties, Vol. I. I have said, that some round-legged horses will not, with what- ever care, stand clean in the stable during the winter season; of course such ought not to be kept but where they can be constantly accom- modated with a run abroad : and in an inve- terate case, a field to walk about in, is at least three parts of the cure, nor ought such to be ■undertaken without that advantage,, for it 13 else generally palliative and deceptious; the disease, after a number of fresh attacks, termi- nating its career in canker, graped heels, and |
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>£» GREASE.
stiffjoints, for which it may not be in the power
of art to furnish a remedy. Should the tension not subside, nor the cracks
heal in consequence of the milder applications, but the hair begin to stare, discharging greasy drops, the swelling increase and become pain- ful, the horse catching up his leg and resting upon the toe; the indication is, that the hu- mours are faulty, at least superabundant, and require evacuants, and that the external appli- cations must be of the more efficacious kind. It may perhaps be necessary to bleed. Give diuretics immediately. 1 always prefer a course of salined water to any of the usual diuretic balls, and have a very good opinion of a decoc- tion of fir-tops, in which, sweetened with ho- ney, the purging salt and cremor tartar, with the addition of nitre, if you will, may be dis- solved. Plent}r of this will make your horse urine enough to float your stable, besides scour- ing and unlading his bowels. However, if you be inviolably attached to precedent, and no- thing will suit either 3'ou or your horse, but a good urine ball, take the following from our worthy friend Bartlet: Yellow rosin, four ounces; salt of tartar, and sal prunellas, of each two ounces; Venice soap, half a pound ; oil of juniper, half an ounce; give a ball of two ounces weight every morning. Or. Nitre, 3 |
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GREASE. 537
two ounces; camphor, one drachm; ball with
honey. Almost all these articles I have ob- served to disagree with horses of delicate sto- machs; and I think aniseed, Van Helmont's solamen intestinorum, a good corrector of them: or the balls may be washed down with a horn or two of warm ale and powdered aniseed sweet- ened. Aloetic, or mercurial purges, followed by a short, or long alterative course, or not, ac- cording to the case. It is however very ma- terial to be noted, that if the stagnation of the humour arise from a lax, dilated, atonic state of the vessels, and poverty of the blood, the eva- cuants must be of the gentlest kind, the alte- rants must partake of the restorative class, cor- dial ball, steel, &c. and after cessation of the discharge, the tone of the defective vessels should be well confirmed, both by the actual and medical bracers; to wit, bandage and em- brocation. Clip away the hair, and let ablution, as al-
ready directed, be rigorously, and punctually persisted in, twice a day (no excuses from John, or Jugghng between him and the Doctor) with the fotus afterwards, or fomentation with flan- nels. Poultices (see Index) and the parts con- stantly bound up, and well defended from cold. Bowel or seton in the breast, belly, thighs, or ah of them. Loose stable, and walking exer- VOI. ir. 7
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338 GREASE.
cise, twice a day. Touch the sores with the $gjf%
tiacum mixture (Vol. I. Stable),- and if they be- come rigid and dry, rub in the following oint- ment, or use it upon lint or tow : The ashes of the finest hay, goose-grease, neat's-foot oil, and sugar of lead. On, Yellow basiiiconand ho-* ney,- two ounces each ; verdigrease in fine pow- der, three drachms. Or. Black snails, bur- dock-root, yellow soap, honey, and sugar of lead ; beat well, and mix thoroughly. I1 or an occasional emollient wash, warm skirn-milk and water, with a little aqui'-vegeto. When from the inveterate foulness of the ulcers, the most powerful restrirrgents and desiccatives are de- manded, the following forms are proper. A drying Water. White vitriol and burnt allum, two ounces each; oegyptiaeum, one ounce; lime-water, two or three pints; wash two or three times a day. Or. Dissolve half ah ounce of Roman vitriol in one pint of water, decant into a quart bottle, adding half a pint of spirits doubly camphorated, same quantity of" distilled vinegar, and two ounces regyptiacum. Or. The following drying unguents. Ho- ney, four ounces; white or red lead, powdered j two ounces; verdigrease in fine powder, one ounce. Orj opiment, one ounce ; verdigreasej three ounces; sdot, five ounces; honey, one pound ; soft soap, and a small quantity of un* |
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GREASE. 389
slacked lime: mix thoroughly over a slow fire,
and use once a day. The objections of St. Bel and others to the use of strong restringents and desiccatives, from the danger of a retro- pulsion of the morbid humour, must be under- stood as applicable only to the earlier stages of the disease, and the practice of common far- riers, who are in tbe habit of an exclusive exhi- bition of those, without the necessary concomi- tant internals: when the ulcers and cracks are of long standing and foul, and the greasy ichor. has acquired an inveterate habit of discharge by those outlets, scarcely any medicaments can be sufficiently harsh or potent; and I have often been tempted to try the actual cautery by way of a desiccativej and of changing the na- ture of the disease by rendering it acute. From the constant greasy discharge, there
will be a fungous growth of the hoof; or, in modern professional slang (on a volubility in the use of which, every tyro so bighly piques himself,) the discharge takes on the action of producing horn! Cut down the crust and shoe m such form, that the frog may come to the ground. The heels will be violently swelled, !!nd the hair being pen-feathered, or bristled, and-distinct, will discover the skin of a dead white, or livid colour; little bladders will arise and become confluent, forming ulcers covered z 2
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340 GREASE.
with granulated flesh, when the heels are said
to be graped. These swellings should be sca- rified in time, with the knife, secundum art em, to evacuate the sanious and bloody contents: some perform this with a heated knife, which perhaps may be preferable, if loss of hair and scars be disregarded. Cover well with ano- dyne poultices. Foment, &c. as before. Grapes upon the heels of long standing and dry, are incurable, unless perhaps they could be era- dicated either by knife or caustic, and the cure conducted with the horse living abroad. Horses living upon grains, and other washy
and unsubstantial food, are very liable to grease; the foolish custom of clipping, or pulling the heels intirely naked to the skin, in cold wintry weather, as we often see poor post-horses served, also subjects them to chil- blains and chaps, which soon become greasy. It may endanger a relapse, to suffer horses re- covering from the disorder to go abroad with the cracks exposed to the air; a Burgundy pitch plaister is useful. The Canker tN the Foot, usually arises
from grease and ulcerated thrushes. It is of a cancerous nature, and will in a very short time rot the sole, and destroy the muscles of the bottom of the foot, which however will be reproduced after a cure. If neglected only a |
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GREASE. 341
few days, it will grow several inches high, into
a kind of cauliflower head, but of a pale red colour. Cut away the hoof wherever it press upon the tender parts, and soften with neat's foot or linseed oil, and every time of dressing bathe all about the coronet with chamber-lye, in which iron has been quenched. Dress at first once a day with aquafortis, oil of vitriol, or butter of antimony; or the nitrous acid, half an ounce, with corrosive sublimate two drachms. Red precipitate. An ointment may be made with any of those, mixed with honey and ver- digrease. The common method of dressing is, to extirpate the fungous flesh with a knife, and apply pledgets of tow dipped in the oint- ment, wedged as tight as possible. This fre- quent dressing at first is absolutely necessary, as the great moisture of the canker drowns and weakens the force of the most powerful oils. When the fungus is pretty well con- quered, and does not rise upon the dressings, °nce in two days will suffice. Strew precipi- tate and burnt allum upon the new growth of flesh, until the sole begin to grow. Aloetic or mercurial physic Alteratives with guiacum. Salt marshes. Scratches, rat-tails, crown-scab,
Warts, mules. These are generally conco- mitants, or different appearances of the grease, |
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342 THL LEGS.
g,ad consequently demand the same methods of
prevention and cure. Scratches or Crepanches, are long scabby chaps, or clefts, either dry* or with a small fetid discharge, situated upon the hinder legs, between the fetlock and the hock. Rat-tails, so denominated from their appear^ ance, are excrescences of the hair and integu- ment, upon the pastern and shank, either moist or dry; the crown-scab is a defluxion of the grease upon the coronary ring. .\Varts and mules breed upon the heels; the latter sq named from an Italian word, is, I believe, a kind of kibe or chilblain. Scratches and rat-tails are often oc?
casioned by neglect, and the horse standing in hot dung and filth. Begin the cure by getting off all the scurf, and making them raw, or if necessary, laying them open, or paring off with a knife. Emollient and suppling applications may be wanted, of which variety has been pre- scribed, as also of those of different intent. The cure of a crown-scab is sometimes a matter of considerable difficulty, for in a bad case, the milder applications have small effect, and the more powerful, as oil of vitriol, and such as are in common use, injure the coronet, and endanger the loss of hoof. Soak the parts once or twice a day, with the tobacco infusion, and the tobacco itself may be bound on as a |
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THE LEGS, S43
charge. Or, a charge of marsh-mallows and
yellow basilicon, spread on tow. Touch with ^'gyptiacum and brandy; camphorated spirits, and as much sal ammoniac as it will dissolve ; or the spirit of nitre and sublimate as before. Purges, &c. Warts. Extirpate them with the knife,
and apply a styptic of vitriolic acid. When the bleeding is perfectly stopped, touch the roots either with the actual or potential cau- tery. If the wound be large and sore after the escar is sloughed off, dress with the Burgundy pitch plaister; if otherwise, with the diachylon only. Mauecters and Sallenders, for
their description see Vol. I. Foul and gourciy- legged horses are most subject to them, and in such, it is not always safe to repel the discharge without purging or alterative medicines. Clip the hair close, and wash often with a strong- lather of soap and water warm. Stale urine. i^ress with strong mercurial unction spread on tow. Or, Frequent dressings with Burgundy pitch, common frankincense, tar, diachylon, ar>d quicksilver, well rubbed down with Venice turpentine. The Broken Knee. Wash the wound
lean from small specks of gravel or earth,
W a linen rag and warm soap suds; wipe
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344 THE LEGS.
dry, and apply brandy. Stale chamberlye and
salt, frequently applied. Friar's balsam has healed broken knees very speedily. Or. Bind upon the parts tow, dipped in tincture of myrrh and brandy. It may be necessary to poultice, and afterwards heal with wound-oint- ment. The knees being swelled, bathe with brandy and vinegar warm. It is said that pigeon's dung, honey, and goose-grease mixed, will cause the hair to grow speedily; and per- haps a piece of sheet-lead, bandaged upon the part, might occasion the hair to grow smooth and even with the old. I have of late observed an improvement in
the hose, or boots, which defend the legs of race-horses in travelling; they reach above the knee, and are of the same stuff as the clothes, with a leathern patch in front of the knee, and three tyers behind the leg; the hose or guard kept up by straps on each side, externally, going over the withers and buckling on each side, about the middle of the shoulder. This guard for the knee should be used to
sale horses during their journey from the coun- try, and to valuable horses when exercised by careless boys; and some kind of guard fastened above and below the knee, would be of great use to post-horses worked immediately upon a recent fall, sioce they are so liable to a repeti- |
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THE LEGS. 345
t-'on of the accident whilst the knee is yet stiff,
and the wound being again laid open, tljs mis- chief is past remedy. The speedy-cut might as well be prevented by a leather guard, as knocking. These wounds should be attended to in time, and require applications of the same kind as broken knees. Windgalls. (Vol. I. see Index, and for
a description of defects, I refer the reader gene- rally to Vol. I. as above, and to the subsequent pages.) Blood-horses, and those which are used for speedy travelling, seem to be most subject to windgalls. Cure. The best stable attention so often
recommended; washing twice a day in cold water; embrocation, bandage, blistering two or three times successively. Grass. Early prevention when the colt is first worked, and duly continued. When these bladders prevail in a great degree within the pastern joints, and have arrived at their worst stage, that the horse stands and travels in constant pain, and is very unsafe to ride, all palliatives are so much time lost; even firing is ineffectual, as being too su- perficial ; and I think in some cases even adds to the pain of windgalls, by impacting that jel- ly, the absorption of which it cannot promote, still closer. As to taking up the veins, you might as well draw the horse's teeth for a cure. |
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346 tHL LlC
Excision is then the only remedy, the opera-
tion for which, Bracken lias improved from the old tamers; his improvement consists in mak- ing the incision deep, and in the use of escha- rotics, with the intent of eradicating the sub- stance of the cyst or bag, previously to healing the wound, without which the cure would be only partial. My experiment of this method is as follows: About the year 1779? I pur- chased at Tattersal's, expressly for the purpose, a bay hackney mare, got by Belmont, ten or twelve years old, having the most windgalls of any horse 1 could find, out of a hundred or two. Being of an excellent constitution, and the best temper in the world, she endured the operation without flinching, or giving us the smallest trouble ; and the wounds were so well'-* conditioned, that they healed surprisingly soon, notwithstanding they were most injudiciously and dangerously exposed, without the least covering, an hour or two in a dirty yard, whilst it rained, and was very cold. Her ear and lip were moderately twitched, her head tied pretty high, and one leg held up, in order that her Aveight being thrown upon the other, the wind- galls might be the more distended and palpa- ble. A farrier of the name of Field performed the operation under my direction, by pressing the bladder with the fingers of the left hand, |
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iHE LEGS. 347
on the other side of the joint, to render it
tense, whilst he made an incision with a pen- knife, either upward or downward, • with the course of the hair. Being timid at first, he made several strokes before he penetrated the eyst, which was remarkably thick, although the mare was very delicate and fine skinned. The gelatinous or glary fluid issued out, and left the bag perfectly flaccid. We made nine dif- ferent incisions in her four legs, completely evacuating every bladder which could be dis- tinguished by the finger. Very small flux of blood. Bathed instantly with warm brandy. In a few hours we applied the following escha- rotic to the divided cyst in each wound, which was continued until the substance of the cyst was destroyed; the wounds were then soon healed with some spirituous application, and if I recollect aright, Burgundy pitch plaister. The Universal Eschahotic Powder, from Dr. Bracken, p. 239, Vol. II. Equal parts allum, and white vitriol in powder, cal- cine in a crucible over a hot fire, or upon a red-hot fire shovel, until you reduce them to a fuzy white calx, which pulverize with equal weight of red precipitate, and keep in a dry bottle, well corked for use. This the doctor recommends, and I, his disciple after him, to t ?© farrier, in preference to the more violent |
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348 THE LEGS.
escharotics, which sometimes corrode the ten-
dons themselves, as well as the superfluous substance intended to be destroyed. Being resolved not to make the experiment by halves, and having a right to a leap of Croney, I sent the mare to straw-yard, and had her covered in the spring. She proved barren, and came up after a run of a year and a half, perfectly sound, her legs as fine as when foaled, and the marks of the operation scarcely visible. I rode her a few weeks, and I perceived she frequently dropped in her joints. She at length fell side- wise with me, in cantering down hill, and doubling my left knee, under her, nearly dis- located it; the laxity and weakness of the part remain as an everlasting remembrance of her, to this hour. But I am by no means con- vinced, that her dropping related at all to the operation which had been performed, and which I think deserves farther trial. Surgeon Wood- thorp, then of the dragoons, an amateur and excellent practical judge of horses, and, amongst our medical gentlemen, one of the best quali- fied for veterinary practice, if he chose the trouble of it, took this mare into Nottingham- shire, where I was afterwards informed she won a match, and was then sold to carry a lady, no windgalls reappearing, nor any complaint of her going unsafe. The reader |
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THE LEGS. 349
wdl excuse my circumstantiality and mention
°f names, to the observance of which I am in- duced, by reading certain cases which bear the most palpable marks of fabrication. By this method, windgalls upon any part of the limbs, may be safely eradicated, and this brings me to— The Bog-spavin, upon the hollow of the
hock behind, or jelly-bag, which was exsected, and a perfect sound cure made upon a colt by Bracken (see his Second Volume, p. 214.) Cast the horse, and let a person press the windgalls which appear between the bones on the outside of the hock, to render the bladder more tense and palpable for the operator. Keep clear of the vein, and cut boldly and deeply into the tumour. Apply the corrosive, and secure it, by introducing dossils of lint tied with a thread, and dipped in oil of turpen- tine. A little Armenian bole may be mixed with the powder, which ought to be used once in three days. Heal with common digestive. If a swelling of the joint ensue, foment. In 1788 I bought a very fine young horse for a trifle, so lame with bog-spavins as scarcely to be able to creep, with a view of curing him ; but I could not find a farrier in my neighbour- hood then, who would undertake the opera- tion, and I bave no dexterity of that kind ray- |
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350 THE I'EGS;
self. I have had several horses afflicted with
this malady, and can assure those from experi- ence, who are in the predicament, that blister- ing, firing, taking up veins, and fomenting, Hi !,hort any palliative method of cure for it, will rather benefit their farrier than their horse. In No. I. Veterinary Transactions, Profes-
sor Coleman says, " therefore the opening of windgalis cannot succeed." I must own, the Professor's short theoretical observations on this head, are by no means satisfactory to me; and I wish before he had decided so perempto- rily upon a matter of great moment, that he had attended to the case recorded in Bracken, and to the experiment I have just related; at any rate, that he had not left the matter as he found it, but hud favoured us with some prac- tical and decisive reasoning, to which we should have paid all due respect. With regard to the new discovery of the identity of windgalis and mucous capsules, which at present remains hy->- pothetical, its importance is nearly as great, as whether we adopt the old, or the new term* The nature of the malady, the secretion and purposes of tile mucus, and the causes of its extravasation, have been long well known, and veterinary science stood rather in need of a good method of cure, than a new name. I acknowledge, and indeed my reader must have 8 |
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Tin; legs. 351
perceived, that I have considerable apprehen-
sion, from the various new nomenclatures, at present afloat on the ocean of science. Mr. Coleman observes, " it has not been
generally understood, that the same bags exist hi all horses when first foaled." It may be re- plied, that no smatterer in physiology could bo unacquainted of the existence of mucous glands, although such an one might probably be unin- formed, for a time, that the glands had changed their names to purses or capsules. As to the existence of bags on the joints of horses previ- ously to labour and domestication, neither men acquainted or " unacquainted with the subject," could possibly be apprized of them, for the best of all possible reasons—their non-existence; la- bour and straining are necessary to convert these mucous glands into tumid and palpable bags, granting the identity of the burs<£ and the windgalls, which is yet far from proved. The eliminated mucus may have formed to itself a Ja«- See Bell's Anatomy on the bursa; mucu- *(e' Lastly, (for my habits have led me to a 1!)Ucu greater familiarity with the living, than 4-1-1
e "ead horse) is every windgall situated pre-
cisely Upon a n)UCOus capsule I If so, the whole important result is, that we have only to do with the bursa in their diseased, not 1 le!r natu'"al state, and the matter is brought |
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33% THE LEGS.
to a level with Mr. Blaine's grand discovery
relative to barbs and paps. Mr. Coleman speaks of " erroneous and fatal practice/' from what he styles false suppositions, evidently pointing out those who have opened windgalls; but has he any facts or proofs ? Was Bracken, the first regular professional man who opened windgalls; one of the " not well acquainted i" I am concerned to observe, that the Professor has hinted approbation of the common practice of farriers in using the cautery to windgalls; a remedy, as far as I have seen, worse than the original disease ; and by which, in the language of the thoroughly practical Osmer, (such are the men this country wants, although it so un- gratefully and unwisely neglected him,) " the outer tegument or skin is rendered rigid and indurated; hence the pain occasioned by these tumours is greater than it was before, and the horse is fit for nothing but the cart/' Oslets, Splents, Spavins, Distor-
tions, Curb, Ringbone. These bony excrescences, differently situated, all origi- nate in the same proximate cause, an extra- vasation of the cement, mucilage, or oil of the joints, winch gradually condenses and be- comes ossified. I have said, that when com- pletely ossified they are incurable ; but proba- bly, a radical operation, judiciously performed, 9
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THE LEGS. 353
might succeed. The owners of all young
horses should constantly watch the parts whence these excrescences put forth, and take them in hand instantly, when success need not be doubt- ed ; since the matter not being firmly con- densed, its absorption might be promoted by repellents, and it might be compulsively re- turned again into the refluent blood. Watch any invisible lameness or pain, as there is al- ways an uneasiness in the parts previous to aft exostosis. Rub hard three times a day, twenty minutes each time, with a piece of Brazil wood, or any smooth substance. Rub in goose grease, and the most active discutients, cam- phorated spirit, with sal ammoniac, and a little distilled vinegar. Puncture. Blister a number of times. Brisk mercurial physic. J have my doubts concerning a blood-spa-
vin, wnr, or dilatation of the vein, within- side the hock; not that such a thing is impos- sible, but because our best writers speak con- fusedly about it,. evidently from the accounts °t the elder farriers, who describe a bog under " e name of a wet-spavin, but erroneously sup- pose it fec{ fry tjle master-vein. Supposing the eal existence of a varix, repel and bandage; that will not succeed, tie the vein, a crooked
'th ***** waxed thread being passed under 1 ' both above and below the swelling, which |
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354 THE LEGS.
must be suffered to digest away with the liga-
tures ; dress with turpentine, honey, and spirit of wine. Gibson records a successful operation upon a
confirmed bone-spavin. Both he and Osmer improved upon the method of the old farriers, in this case; though these last, according to Markham, used sometimes to dissect and lay bare the spavin, which they then chipped off with a fine chissel, a quarter inch broad, and a hammer, keeping clear of vein and sinews: then dressed with verdigrease and nerve oil; in three days washed with vinegar; plaister of pitch, rosin, and turpentine; healed in seven days. The spavin in Gibson's case, was deeply seated
in the hock of a hunter. He first applied as strong a caustic as he dared venture, for fear of hurting the tendons and ligaments, but inef- fectually ; when judging rightly that his hand possessed an elective power which the caustics had not, he determined on the cautery. The irons were made in the shape of a fleam, that they might penetrate deep, but not pointed; rounded on the face, and thick towards the back. Some small blood vessels were divided, and a pretty large effusion of blood ensued, to which a styptic was applied. The wound half an inch deep, and an inch long, with two or three short lines on each side, was dressed with |
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THE LEGS, 355
"ry tow until the third'day, that the hemorrhage
migut be fully stopped. Several days a gleet °* viscid water; great pain, inflammation, and swelling of the hock. Fomentations—First dressings, turpentine on tow; afterwards with finely ground precipitate, two drachms to one ounce turpentine. Plentiful discharge of thin glutinous matter, for two months, before the skin began to close and cover the wound, when the matter became laudable. "Walking exercise. The precipitate which entered into the nervous parts, supposed of great benefit. ■Physicked during the cure. Sore healed in three months, and the hair grew, excepting a small spot, over which a defensive plaister. Hunted same season, and ever afterwards per- fectly sound. In May 1805, perceived in a sis year old
gelding, lately set on his haunches, and in- tended for a charger, an incipient thorough- Pln» and disposition to bog-spavins in both a°cks. Applied a perpetual blister to the tho- oughpin? wnicn was continued three months, _ie horse being moderately worked the while. le tnor°ughpin was perfectly cured, or ra- ler prevented from reaching maturity, or the curable state ; and the spavins, a thing which d not exPect, receded, and the parts be-
came fine. |
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a a 2
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356 THE LEGS.
Osmer's method (Spavin) with which however
he does not warrant success, was to introduce a caustic enveloped in lint, in a particular man- ner, which I have no room to describe; and I only notice it to state, by way of caution, that Mr. Robson's Spider, the famous trotter, was killed by the bungling attempt of a farrier at this method ; the corroding poison of the ap- plication was so effectual and speedy, that it reached the horse's heart in about forty-eight hours, when he died in great agonies. .Distortions or Luxations of the
Bones of the Hock. By a wrench or strain, sometimes the small bones are jarred and displaced. The swelling generally appears on the middle and forepart of the hock. Ex- treme stiffness and inaptitude to motion. If possible, force the bone into its place, filling up the forepart of the hock with tow, and the cavities on each side, and also all the other ca- vities and vacancies, applying a piece of paste- board, soaked in vinegar, over the distortion, and binding the whole with a broad soft roller or list. Six months run at grass. In firing a Ring-bone, use a thinner instru-
ment than common, drawing the lines barely a quarter inch distant, and crossing them ob- liquely like a chain. Mild blister, afterwards Burgundy pitch plaister. This, however, \ |
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THE LEGS. 357
have known not to succeed. As to drawing
the soal, it is perfectly useless; and the opera- tion, as described by Solleysel, with the intro- duction of the red hot knife, is dreadful to think of. Jardons, Hough-bokey, or Capped
Hocks (Vol. I. Defects.) Indurated tumours, to be treated in the beginning, like initient spavins and splents ; when confirmed, they are nearly as difficult as those to remove. String-halt, although incurable, may
and ought to be treated with palliative reme- dies, which will prevent its progress to the last stage, when the complaint becomes exceedingly unsightly, and considerably diminishes the va- lue of the horse. Loose stable, and as much running abroad as possible. After a hard day's work, a warm bath for both hinder legs, up to the hocks, as long as the water continues warm; rub bone dry with linen cloths. Repeat in the morning. If very bad, comfortable fomenta- tions. Anoint the back-sinews, and about the hocks, with a liniment made of goose-grease and spirit doubly camphorated, well rubbed in. I nursed the string-halt many years, and should be well content to experience the same trouble to the end of my days, on the same terms. |
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358 THE FEB-T.
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HURTS UPON THE CORONET, TREADS,
SANDCRACKS, CORNS, GRAVELLING, BRUISED THRUSH, RETRAIT, CLOV- ING, &C. QUITTOR, AND FALSE QUAR- TER. In Hurts upon the Coronet, and Treads
on the Heel.0, the rationale is giving instant at- tention ; when that may be made w hole in a day or two, which, if neglected, may cost months and pounds, and at last be an incom- plete cure. I had once a fine cart-horse, three months in the stable, under the farrier's hands, and five months afterwards abroad, in consequence of a simple tread upon his heel by another horse. Cleanse well with warm suds or urine, dress with tincture of myrrh and brandy, or Friar's Balsam, no greasy applications on any account. Bind up and preserve from dirt. If a wound between hair and hoof, from a stub or any sharp body, and the membrane bulge out, use the sublimate water, as well as the foregoing mixture, or sal ammoniac in campho- rated spirits. Bind a piece of thin sheet lead, or card, upon the part. Dress once a. day. See Wounds. |
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THE TEET. 359
The Sandceack, called by the French,
Seime, is a cleft in the hoof, either up and down, or with the grain, in which latter case it is much easiest cured. The cause is dryness of the hoof, either natural or accidental, and the malady should be prevented by those stable measures of ablution, cold or warm, already treated on at large. Should the cleft be con- siderable, at no rate work the horse, but let him walk abroad in a light bar-shoe with the hoof bound up, and occasionally attended to. Cut the edges smooth with a knife, that the horn may not press the tender parts; wash clean with warm suds, and dress with tincture of myrrh, applying tow dipped in the tincture; bind fast with list, and tarred rope-yarn. In case of hollowness under the Seime, and con- sequent danger to the gristle or ligament, it is recommended by Gibson to fire with irons moderately heated : of this operation I have had no experience. Corns, (p. 208, Vol I.) La Fosse, so at-
tached to sub-divisions, has improved upon: Solleysel, by making five instead of three species of Bleime: In fact there are two, the natural and accidental; the one occasioned by compression of the hoof itself, in bad feet, with wiry heels and scarcely any binders; the others by that of the shoe, or the intrusion of gravel. |
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360 THE FEET.
or small stones under it. The preventive re-
medy is the new style of shoeing. If the bruise appear dry, with no tendency to suppuration, extirpate it by degrees with the knife, or rub in frequently some spirituous application, and na- ture will in time outgrow the blemish; turpen- tine and camphorated spirits mixed : should the horse travel tenderby, a light bar-shoe. In case of suppuration, make a small opening for the matter, and stop with pledgets laid one over the other, dipped in the proper digestive, warm. In narrow heels, cut away the horn which presses upon the bleime. Geavelling. The intrusion of gravel in-
to the feet, chiefly through the nail-holes; one of the many ill consequences of the common method of shoeing, according to which, the shoes are hollow, and apt to admit and retain the gravel, and the sole pared so thin, that it easily penetrates. The horse halts and desires to go upon his toes, and the hoof is inflamed ; but as other accidents, such for instance as a clumsy shoe setting hard upon the heel, may occasion similar signs, suffer not the soal to be cut away rashly, under the idea of searching for gravel: but should there really be gravel, it must needs be drawn out by manual opera- tion, on account of the spiral form of the hoof, which occasions any substance admitted |
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THE FEET. 36l
to work upwards towards the coronet, whence
a quittor may arise. This shews very clearly the folly of the old practice of stopping up a gravelled foot by night, and suffering the horse to be travelled on. Having by moderate pinching, found the offending matter, get it all out as clean as possible with the drawing knife. Your success will be known by the disappear- ance of the blackness; wash and deterge well with warm beer, in which is melted strong- soap and salt. Leave the hole rough, and hol- lowed, larger internally than at the orifice, to the end, that it may better contain the appli- cation. Charge as usual. The gravel being all eradicated at a certainty, but by no means else, burning oil of turpentine may be dropped in ; afterwards Burgundy pitch, or rosin. The above method being ineffectual to dis-
lodge the gravel, which may have penetrated deep, and laid long enough to rot the coffin- bone: enlarge the wound, cut away the rotten flesh, and dry and cleanse the bone with a cautery, pointed sugar-loaf-form, as recom- mended by Bracken. Dress the bone once or twice a day with dossils of lint, dipped in tinc- ture of myrrh-aloes half an ounce; tincture of euphorbiUrnj tw0 drachms. Mix. Cover with green, or precipitate ointment. Poultice the whole foot, if necessary. This method is less |
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S6S THE FEET.
painful and more effectual, than coring out
the gravel with sublimate. Bruised Fkush, this happens to fleshy
frogs or in running thrushes. Poultice with stale beer grounds, &c. USe the knife judi- ciously. Detergents, repellents, styptics, as before. Our late numerous veterinary writers, copying one from the other, seem totally unac- quainted with the natural running thrush, which the most perfect shoeing cannot remedy, and to talk of curing which, by pressure, is pure in- sanity. Retrait, Cloying, or Pricking,
iriTH Nail, or Stub. The two former are old terms. Retrait is when a horse is pricked by the smith, but the error being per- ceived, the nail is instantly withdrawn. A horse was said to be cloyed, when the whole mail was driven into the quick, and clenched. This latter case, it may be easily conceived, would not remain long unattended to; and in a retrait, although the whole of the nail should have been withdrawn, a tender-footed horse jnay go a little lame, and such accidents should always be acknowledged by the smith, who may be by no means in fault. Let the horse stand in the stable some days without shoes, |
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THE FEET. 363
pare the wounded side, and wash the hoof with
urine, and if any apparent wound, use the spirituous application. Any nail, stub, or thorn, having been ex-
tracted, to effect which no time ought ever to be lost, wash, dress, and stop, as already di- rected. Tar and turpentine are frequently used. If from pain and discharge of matter, some remnant may be suspected to remain be- hind, pare as thin as possible, and introduce a bit of sponge tent, to enlarge the wound, and give room for the extraction of the remnant, with a: small pair of forceps, or encourage it to come away by digestion: should this proceed- ing be ineffectual, and the lameness continue, with a sanious and fetid discharge, use your drawing knife cautiously, and examine the bot- tom of the wound. Bartlet says, if a nail be so driven as to
"wound the tendon, the soal must be drawn, on account of the gleet which will ensue. I must confess myself unprepared to judge of that. He says farther, that should the joint of the foot be penetrated, or a nail pass up to the nut-bone, the case is incurable. It is curious to remark the old applications for drawing out stubs, &c. the sagacious prescribes of which really thought, or seemed to think, their me- dicaments endowed with the mechanical powers |
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364 THE FEET.
of the forceps, instead of merely digestive ones;
as some old goodies, even now-a-days, bless out thorns. QUITTOR AND FaLSE QUARTER: cause
and consequence. A quittor, formerly called by our farriers a quittor-bone, or horny quit- tor, is the javart of the French school. It is a hard round lump, or excrescence upon the coronet, between hair and hoof, on one or the other, but usually the inside quarter of the foot. Its cause is the ascent of a foreign body, or morbid material from the bottom, or soal, up- ward; as a nail, a quantity of gravel, or the extravasated matter of a bruise or corn, which could find no vent below; these forcing their way between the quarter and the coffin-bone, work a passage to the coronet, by destroying the foliated substance, and corrupting all the adjacent parts. This disease may be a consi- derable time in breeding, to the exquisite tor- ture of the animal, whose wincing, as well as the lump and inflammation upon his coronet, are perhaps totally neglected by the biped his master, until suppuration, and an ulcer of the most stubborn and dangerous kind ensue. I have been describing the thorough quittor, of all maladies to which the horse's foot is liable, the most hopeless, if we except the founder; which makes it necessary to caution the reader |
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THE FEET. 365
against those superficial and palliative methods so
confidently recommended. Any thing short of the most radical operation in this case, will endanger the speedy and total loss of the hoof, for which reason no cure can possibly be made without the ill consequence of a False Quar- ter, or seam down the hoof, from necessary loss of substance. A horse with this latter defect, may be very sound in slow draft, but I never knew one in my life, that could be de- pended upon to ride. They are apt to drop down suddenly as if shot. A superficial quit- tor, originating above, in which the cartilage is untouched, or a mere wound or ulcer in the coronet, is curable by the method already de- scribed. St. Bel compares the horny quittor to the
third species of whitlow on the human nail. Bating a little flourish, & la coutume, that author is much superior to any in our lan- guage, on the cure of this disease; I shall therefore follow him. Probe the ulcer, care- fully following the direction of the fiftulas, to discover whether the cartilage be affected ; but if it should be impossible to judge exactly of the irregular bottoms of the wound, it will be necessary to proceed to the following opera- tions. Reduce the horse's solid food, and give mashes of bran and ground corn, with plenty |
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366 THE FEET.
of white water. Pare the hoof, rasp the quar-
ter thin near the seat of the operation, and wrap the foot up in an emollient poultice two or three days. Having cast the horse upon plenty of litter, and made a ligature round the pastern, to prevent a flux of blood, an incision is to be made with a history or knife, parallel with the coronet, and long enough to discover the car- tilage in all its extent. Cut away as much of the upper part of the wall as necessary, but preserve the lower part of the quarter and heel, as a support, if possible; then with the instru- ment called a sage-leaf, from its form, having a blunt back, and being slightly bent, cut away the cartilage gradually at three or four different attempts. In passing the instrument behind the cartilage, which covers the principal blood-ves- sels of the foot, as well as the capsular liga- ment of its articulation with the bone of the coronet, the operator must use the utmost cau- tion, since if he make an accidental opening or breach in those, the horse is lamed for ever. Scrape away lightly with the knife, the remain- ing fragments of the root of the cartilage, ob- serving to fix the instrument on a solid part, and gently bearing from within outward, to avoid opening the adjoining capsular ligament. When all the cartilage is cleared away, exa- mine the state of the bone of the foot; if cari- 9 |
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THE FEET. S6j
ous, remove the faulty part, and fire, in order
to exfoliation. Search the wound carefully to the bottom, to ascertain whether there be any remaining sinus or fistula; and the operation completed, give the first dressing, by applying to the bottom of the wound small pledgets, soaked in a mixture of brandy, vinegar, and turpentine. The dressings must make an equal but sufficient compression on all the surfkce, and may be finished by laying over the wound, and round the coronet, large pledgets, to avoid compressing the part. The bandage consists of a piece of linen, almost square, and big enough to go round the pastern and the foot, with a roller three ells in length, and two inches broad; lead to the stable, and then take off the ligature from the pastern. Bleed. ^Febri- fugal diet. The first dressing must remain a week, and
then the wound must not be probed for fear of a hemorrhage: The second, five days, when suppuration will have taken place, unless the wound has been too strongly compressed : dress as at first. In a few days the third dressing must come off", and if any black spots appear on the surface, tliey commonly indicate that there are yet relics of the cartilage; if so remove them. Dress every other day with the same digestive, the cauterized parts excepted, on |
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368 THE FEET.
•which small pledges, dipped in tincture of
myrrh aloes, are to be applied. The exfoliation may happen in two weeks, or a month, accord- ing to age and constitution. When the eschar has fallen off, the wound
soon fills up; but should any particle of the cartilage or bone remain, and the exfoliation have been imperfect, fresh fistulse would ensue, and occasion the necessity of a new operation ; an inconvenience which I experienced before I had the advantage of reading St. Bel's Book. Probe the black spots, and if needful introduce a sufficiently solid tent, soaked in the above- named tincture, and lightly dusted over with powdered vitriol, or red precipitate, in order to facilitate the desired exfoliation, and con- sume part of the flesh covering it. When once the wound is sound to the bottom, all danger is at an end, and the trouble is amply recom- pensed. Run at grass previous to work. NARROW HEELS, AND BINDING OF THE
hoof; grogginess and surbating;
the foundered foot, and loss of HOOF.
Narrow heels. I have already spoken
sufficiently of cases of this kind, and will only |
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THE FEET. 369
add, that hard, narrow, and wiry heeled horses,
of all others, demand the new method of shoe- ing; and that you had better to avoid vexation, knock your horse on the head at once, than have him shod by a common farrier, who will, conjurer-like, every time of shoeing open the heels; that is to say, cut away the substance which nature has placed there, expressly for the purpose of keeping them open. Geogginess is that stiffness arising from
battering of the hoofs on hard ground, or swell- ing of the legs, and 'contraction of the sinews. A horse bearing.all upon his heels in his trot, is styled groggy* and the defect is generally incurable ; at least I have found it so after ten months trial. Sujrbating is derived from the Sobatitiira of the old Italian writers, and means beating of the foot, which ends in a founder. Sudden accidental surbating, or com- pression by the shoe, will be remedied by timely stable attention. See that Chapter. -I he Foot-founder is an obstruction or
condensation of the humours; and is either acute and from sudden accident, or the conse- quence of a long series of predisposing causes, RlanJ of which have already been noticed. A cn to°t-fbunder may be occasioned by sop- pressed perSpiratIon (see Vol. I. -Index) or \% may associate Wlta the body-founder, or it may B b
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370 THE FEET.
arise from standing constantly tied up in a nar-
row stall. It is generally in both feet either before or behind, sometimes in all four. There is great inflammation in the parts, and swellings- of the veins in the legs ; and m the acute foun- der a symptomatic fever attends. The aeute and chronic have been formerly, and by no means improperly distinguished, as the wet and dry founder. By the straining of the muscles of the loins, in order to favour the pained feet, some farriers have supposed the disease to be in the loins ; however the symptoms of founder are too obvious to be mistaken. Gervase Markham very aptly compared the sensation of the horse from the foundered foot, to that pricking and shooting experienced by the hu- man animal,, from obstructed blood in the foot, when said to be asleep: but the old farriers made a dreadful mistake in gartering up the leg in this case, which must necessarily increase the obstruction, and redouble the tortures of the afflicted beast; in short, the number of simi- lar instances, independently of any other con- sideration, ought to be an eternal bar to confid- ing the medical or surgical care of animals to merely mechanical hands. In thirty years, I do not recollect to have
heard a single instance of a foot-founder cured: by a farrier, aorhave our Veterinarians boasted |
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THE FEET. 371
ftlueb. of their success: in a chronic case, no
possible good could be done in the house, and it would be madnest to attempt it j or rather something else in him who should undertake it for a fee. All that can be done in the stable is as follows : as soon as convenient, cut the toe until the blood come, and let the hoof bleed awhile; then with the drawing knife make a number of vertical incisions, through the whole foot, from under the coronet almost to the toe, nearly or quite to the quick, with- out even fearing to touch the cartilages; the feet may be wrapped in emollient poultices a few days, afterwards charge with tar, and pow- dered olibanum; or pitch and rosin. After- wards turn the horse off, for sis months at least, upon salt pastures in preference, but at any rate, where shelter may be bad* and where feed is not too difficult to come at^ or the foundered creature may starve either for want, or from cold. In an acute founder, bleed; allow an open-
ing diet, with saline physic, nitre, and glyster>, as in fever and molten-grease. Pare down the crust and thin the soal. Soak the feet and legs thoroughly in vvarm water, in which bran has been scalded; and afterwards gently rub dry with cloths, Leave the feet all night in poul- tices ot mealy potatoes and scalded bran, mixed b b 2 |
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372 THE FEET.
up with oil of turpentine, which may be conti1*
nued three nights. My reason for advising potatoes, is because I find they retain the hea* much longer than any of the usual articles^ Prepare the fotus, (with or without spirits, or sal ammoniac) or bath- for the legs and feet, re- commended, Vol. I. (Stable)in which steep them -well, keeping the liquor to a constant convenient heat,, full half an hour ; giving the legs after- wards long continued gentle frictions. Stop the feet with pledgets of tow dipped in the warm mixture of turpentine, linseed oil, and cam- phorated spirits ; and bind the hoofs-round with flannel dipped in the same mixture. These mea- sures must be persevered in strictly three times a day, until the condensed and stagnated hu- mours are rendered sufficiently fluid for circu- lation, when the over-stretched vessels being disburdened of their superfluous contents, may be restored to their proper tone by restvingent applications. Walking exercise in the mean- time will be beneficial, but it must be in a dry and warm place, and the greatest care taken that the feet be not wetted, and the horse should be led, not ridden. When the inflam- mation shall have subsided, and the proper feel- in"- of the feet have returned, measures directly opposite to the foregoing must be adapted, Wash, the feet in urine and vinegar, first blood- |
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THE FEET. 373
v''trm, afterwards cold; bathe the legs with the
restringent embrocation, lead abroad daily, and prepare by degrees for the only effectual resto- ratives, grass, and the dew of heaven. These Faeasures failing, recourse must be had to the operation prescribed in the chronic case. The old farriers, and St. Bel after them, remarked- that a foundered horse, by way of easing the tension and pain in his legs and feet, would place himself upon his back. Would ip not promote the reflux of the stagnant humours to eontiaue the horse ia that posture half an hour a day, upon a soft bed, extending and fasten- ing up his four legs, in such sort, that the liga- ture did not impede the course of the blood? I hope the ladies will pardon the comparison, but I suppose I caught this idea from the memoirs either of Mrs. Bellamy, or Mrs. Anne Sheldon; one of whom laid all night with her hands tied up above her head, in order, by draining them of blood, to make them delicately white. It has, I believe, been the general practice of
the farriers, to pare the sole of the foundered foot thin, and charge it with pitch and tallow, or some such combustibles, boiling hot; pre- cisely so was the patient served, in the case which I have already quoted, and it appeared to me to confirm the founder. The method I have hid down, I have always seen successful |
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STi THE FEET.
in analogous cases, but as I differ in a'material
point, as well from our own writers as from Pro-^ fessor St. BeJ, who has treated this disease more at large, I must beg leave to refer the enquirer thither. Contrary to a principle laid down elsewhere by himself, in a case of fluxion, inflammation, and tension, when, speaking of astringents and repellents, he saysa " they fix w the humour in the part, and coagulate irs " constringe the vessels, check the circulations " and at length occasion induration, the effect " of the concretion of the fluids."—He orders a foundered and feverish foot to be soaked an hour in a cold bath, in which have been in-« fused the most powerful repellents and astrm-< gents. This practice I well know has been derived from ancient authority, and is pre- scribed by Petrus Crescentius and others, but that, and even the consideration that such me- thod has ever since prevailed in the continental schools, is no absolute proof of its rectitude ; and for my own part, I must confess I should as soon think of applying a snow-ball by way of poultice to a feverish head. I must entreat the reader not to misunderstand me; I do not pretend to dogmatize upon this point, I am only submitting my opinion to the correction of professional men. I have repeatedly seen very ill effects from even moderate coollers and |
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THE FEET. 375
repellents, applied to hot and surbated feet.
See p. 304, for the use of warmth, and relaxants So the opthalmic eye, an analogous case with respect to inflammation and a turgescency of the vessels; but much depends on the consti- tution of the patient. When from any accident the whole hoof
■shall become loose, so as to indicate an entire parting from the bone, prepare a pliable leathern boot with a strong sole, fitted to the foot, to be laced around the pastern. The hoot to he bolstered and stopped with soft flax or tow, that the horse may tread as easy as possible, and the stopping to be daily renewed. Dress with wound ointment, in which is mixed myrrh, mastich, and olibanum, very finely powdered. In case of fungus; precipitate, sublimate wa- ter, &c. Should the coffin he sound, a good new hoof will be produced; but it must be noted, the old hoof will fall spontaneously, and ought by no means to be removed by violence, or the knife; unless indeed when it *nay com- press the new. Captain Raymond of the West, informed
i*se, that he had a case of a strong convex, or pomiced foot. He cut away boldly, but by degrees, until he came to a mass of extrava- sated blood, which being discharged, the foot recovered its shape and use. I have had seve- |
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376 LAMENESS FROM RELAXED
ral cart horses in this way. It is a misery to,
see them labour with any form of a shoe, and I think, if there be any hope in the case, gene-^ rally it must arise from a run abroad only. |
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LAMENESS FROM RELAXED OR CON-
TRACTED SINEWS. The usual seats of these lamenesses in horses,
are the Knee-joints; the Back-sinews, or Tendo Achilles; the Pastern, and Cof- fin-Joints; the Loins, or Couplings; the Hip, or Whirl-bone j the Stifle, and Hock.
Alternate extension and contraction, or elas-
ticity, seem to be the grand source, or medium of motion, in all animated bodies ; the muscular, tendinous, and nervous fibres, the ligaments of the joints, the muscles themselves, and their ap- pendages" the tendons, are all endowed with their appropriate portion of this elastic power. The animal fibre I suppose to be in its perfect state when its powers pf extension and retrac- tion are exactly equal; this aptitude for its pro- per functions, is injured in various degrees, by those causes which produce inordinate contrac- tion or relaxation, namely, heat and dessicca- tion, or overstretching, attended with a flux of |
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OR CONTRACTED SINEWS. 377
Moisture. Nothing can be more apt than the
analogy so often adduced upon this occasion, °f a piece of catgut, which if it become too dry, instead of stretching will break; or if wetted, or overstrained, kxses in degree, or perhaps for ever, its elasicity or contractile power. Generally, it is the property of heat to ex-
pand and loosen, and of cold, to contract or draw into a narrower compass. (See Brisson's Physical Principles of Chemistry.) But the same physical causes, and the same medical ap- plications, will, sometimes, dependent on cer- tain contingencies, produce directly opposite to their general effects : all the phenomena, never- theless, invariably combine to prove the suscep- tibility of impression, or irritability of the liv- ing animal fibre, whether in its individual or aggregated state. Themison held, that " ad- striction, contraction, and relaxation, or a pro- portion of the three, are the cause and cure of all diseases;" and he was not far from the truth. Bracken and Osmer are the proper authori-
ties to be consulted on lameness of the tendons, since they were practically acquainted with that description, among which the malady is most frequent, namely race-horses. It is laugh- able enough to read Burdon on the subject; |
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LAMENESS FEOM RELAXED
the captain was a man of great dispatch, he
cured an old strain in the back sinews in half % dozen nights; and of all things in the world, with grease and emollient poultices. ■Qsmer, although be has written curiously
and well upon the causes and cure of these maladies, has bewildered and contradicted him- self strangely in his endeavours to support the absurd notion that tendons are inelastic and in- capable of strain: St Bel has gone farther, and entered into various reasonings in support of this hypothesis, which might be easily enough refuted in detail, but that any trouble with the superstructure is totally unnecessary, since the foundation itself may be swept away with a few words. The tendons, to be capable of their muscular action, must necessarily be elastic, in the first place, let any man make use of the extensor muscle of his leg, and extend or point his toe straight forward upon the level of his knee, and then clap his fingers upon the^ezor tendon just above his heel, and he will find the said tendon relaxed and flexile ;' let him then elevate his toe, and depress his heel, and he will in an instant feel the tendon firmly con- tracted, and comparatively hard as a bar of steel. The same thing precisely he will expe- rience in the leg of a horse. Farther, the dead tendons of a horse, and of
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OR CONTRACTED SINEWS. 379
every other animal, are elastic, until they have
*ost the quality by a total loss of moisture; it is true indeed of elastic bodies, that to stretch them, they require a mechanic force in propor- tion to their substance, for which reason there is a greater appearance of elasticity, in a single fibre, than in a large tendon composed of fibres; and hence may have arisen the deception. That the Tench Achilles in a Turkey is elastic, almost every cook will vouch, and I can confirm their report, from a fresh drawn one now lying upon mv table. I shall moreover avail myself of the high authority of Dr. Darwin; speaking ol a limb, in convulsions, he says (Zoon. Vol. II. p. 327) *' the tendon is seen to be 46 stretched." To assert that tendons are mere inirritable,
inert and torpid bodies, appears to me, not only contrary to palpable experience, but a wild and unnatural paradox; since in that state they would be incapable of their proper muscu- lar functions, and even superfluous and useless, but there seems a strange affection for parados in some men, which arises perhaps in certain cases, from their suffering themselves to be in- variably guided by their own peculiar sensa- tions, or from a confined view of things; also from defective attention to the idiosyncracy of bodies. This last is often a source of cruelty. |
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1
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380 LAMENESS FROM RELAXED
A certain gentleman who has lately.written
■upon medical errors, after fifty years practice, not only recommends to expose the bodv to cold air during the operation of a purge, but even answers for the innocence of the cold-bath at that time. A tendon being endowed with the muscular
power of contraction and dilatation (which I have instanced, because Osmer pretends to argue from its loose uncontracted figure) or rather such being its natural offices, must of course be liable to injury from excess in either of these, and the injury must consequently pro^ duce a defect of elasticity; nor does that neces- sarily presuppose elongation, since there is a species of elasticity not at all connected with elongation, for instance, that of whale-bone and wood. But I neither assert that the ten- dons of horses are elongated by a strain, nor «?rant its impossibility : the main tendons may be secured from that by their position, and M'ben we see a race-horse which is broken down, with his fetlock nearly upon the ground, it may be probably the ligaments and fibres only which are lengthened, and yet, with equal probability, the tendons themselves may be elongated in their apportionaie degree; that they become softened, and lose part of their tenseness and contractile force, under these circumstances, |
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OR CONfKACTED SINEWS. 581
&tty one may discover who has feeling in his
fingers; and this is all which is contended for* Strains are of various degrees, and necessary
to be distinguished, whether acute and recent, or chronic, and of long standing; and in cases of inferior concern, the fibres only are affected, and that perhaps merely by inflammation, as when we see the leg of a young horse swelled and painful after work > or the fibres may be relaxed, or some of them even ruptured, by a sudden strain; the strain may happen to the ligaments, or tyers of the joints : and lastly, when the force of the strain is very great, and in case of repeated and accumulated injuries to the tendons themselves, the animal fibre may gradually lose a portion of its elasticity, which can then only be restored as it was lost, by gra- dual means ; a truth of the utmost importance ; when the injuries have been frequent, the re- storative means too long neglected, or the spring too much weakened, no perfect rein- statement of it need ever be looked for. The proper means of restoring the tone, or
spring of relaxed animal threads, are by rest, and abatement of the stress upon them; by assuaging the inflammation, and promoting the absorption of the concomitant flux of humour, with poultices, partly emollient and partly rer- stringent, and after the tension shall have sub* |
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S&2 LAMENESS PROM RELAXEt)
sided, by the application of bandage to the
loosened parts, and of those rough and austere substances which are known to possess the power of bracing or drawing parts together • lastly, by the actual cautery, or fire: after these, or in conjunction with these, in horses, the parts ought to be exposed, during a certain period, to the bracing influence of the atmosphere; in the human animal, to that of water, or the temperate or cold bath. I am not ignorant that instead of retaining
the antiquated words, bracers and astringents, I might have adopted a more fashionable term from the Darwinian nomenclature, but I must be bold to say, that I am averse to change un- attended with actual improvement, whether in morals, politics, or medicine; and I humbly conceive there is neither improvement nor cor- rectness in the substitution of the word So>-- hentia, since many of the proper sorbentia are xelaxent, and many astringents cannot properly be called absorbent, although it be true that their secondary effect is to promote absorption. There appears to me a want of discrimination running throughout the whole Brunonian sys- tem. The doctors assertion (Vol.11, p. 735) that bracers and tonics are mechanical terms^ not applicable to the living bodies of animals, may, I think, be experimentally confuted and 2
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OR contracted sinews. 385
Overthrown by holding a glass of rough Port wine
in the mouth, or the application of cold water to the relaxed scrotum. Bracers act first by their power of contracting* or drawing parts together, from which it follows that the con- tained fluids are propelled, and their absorp- tion is promoted. To make use of the term- Sorbentia in this mode, seems to me an adop- tion of the figure Hysteron ProtcroHi or the setting the cart to draw the horse. Let me once more apologize for stating my objections to particular parts of that monument of genius, human learning, and medical research, the Zoonoraia: I should hold myself doing any Elan the greater honour, by speaking my mind freely in his presence. And honestly to deli- ver the verum dc nmiuis, perhaps Darwin's- poetical, will be rated higher by posterity, than- bis phsiological and medical talents. In these maladies it is, obviously the most
irequent and dangerous of all others which af- mct the horse, in a country so devoted to speedy ravellingr that, in my opinion, our new veteri- nary school proves most defective. The affec- 10n of gratuitously and implicitly supporting e unnatural hypothesis of fibrous inelasticity,, has stifled inquiry, and led to the most danger- ous deftepti0ns< The general warjt of skUi m «aere anatomists,.to detect the seat of ktmeness
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334) LAMENESS ER(ni RELAXED
in horses, is notorious; and the fashionable idea
that strains consist of nothing but inflammation and effusion, is most futile. If so, of what na- ture is that lameness which remains after all traces of inflammation have vanished, and to speak technically j the smews have regained their original fineness? Every practical man will recognize this as a general case. Mr. Blaine, as might be well expected, must be " up to the height of the mode," and nothing can be more laughably affected, than his fashionable substi- tutes of muscular extension, extension of the; shoulder, violence done to the sheath of the ten- dons, and his " strains, as the farriers call them !" If he really have any meaning on the subject, of which my doubt is considerable, does not he intend by extension, improper elongation ? and does he not prescribe, in the case, those medicines which we old-fashioned and vulgar folk call bracers, or astringents^ with the view of reducing elongation, or bring- ing parts into a nearer contact, in order to strengthen or consolidate them ? And what is all this, but the completes! acknowledgement of those physiological phenomena, the strict urn and the laxum t What reader of the home- spun order of common sense, but must smile* at the extreme caution in page .647, least the words bracers or astringents, prompted by na* |
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9& CONTRACTED SINEWS, S85
re> m'ght inadvertently slip out. Mr. Blaine
8uPposeSj that generally, a lesion of fibres is *nore probable than an extension or relaxation: an idea totally unphilosophical, and which, if trne, would render every muscular exertion most precarious: the animal thread, from its necessary ductility, must ever be more liable to over-strain than to rupture. How often do we see an old broken-down
racer, after having finished his course, limping towards the stables, with his fetlock joints nearly m contact with the ground; and yet, by the help of bandage and astringents, within twenty- our hours, as straight and erect upon his legs, h he were become perfectly sound ? Again,
how common is it in the stud, for a foal to be ^Topped in so weak a state, that its fetlocks are bent to the earth, nevertheless, in four or five days, the parts shall gradually contract, and the animal become upright Can there be ^clearer proof of the ductility and elasticity of dic-Tlmal fibl'e' and that the Ph^sicai
and me-
terms relaxation and bracing are perfectly
COrrect^ legitimate? * m* ",theCUreof trains, Mr. Blaine has adopted
J avounte practice of dispersing the inflam- a! ?',anc* reducing the tension, previously to
the exhibition c ■ tt , 1U« or strong astringents. However,
V:T em,nent men, at this day, of a con-
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i
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386 LAMENESS FROM RELAXED'
trary opinion, and who, in cases of external in-
flammation, immediately apply the most power- ful repellents. Such practice, no doubt, occa- sionally succeeds, but I have witnessed violent and) dangerous effects therefrom, and, viewed m a general light, it is no doubt erroneous. Mr. Blaine,- systematically inconsistent, says, page 644, " farriers have considered these parts as merely relaxed in these cases, and hence re- quiring what they deem bracers only as neces- sary to a cure, which applications have gene- rally produced a greater deposit of coagulabls lymph, obstructing the motion of the part, and rendering the lameness permanent." Here he has totally forgotten, that he himself is guilty of precisely the same error (which I also no- ticed in St. Bel) adopting the strongest brac'mg and astringent practice, in the acute founder, toao-e 705) a case of fluxion, inflammation, and tension of the vessels, in which case and prac- tice I have, more than oncer seen- the result of permanent lameness. Whence comes it, that Mr. Blainer so ready
to question me on the most trifling and-even ri- diculous topics—barbs and fat! I preserves a total silence to the arguments I have advanced on this most important of all veterinary sub- lets ? It is my purpose to be more compla- cent to Mr. Blaine. Let us then see, with |
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Ofe CONTRACTED SINEWS. 38?
at degree of truth and congruity, he has
supported his adopted child—the inelasticity °f tendons. Vol. II. p. 644, nature has given absolute inelasticity to the teitdons, which are but the ropes of the muscles, or like the string the bow." Imprimis—where are those ropes and bow-strings which are not elastic, °r, which is more to the present purpose, are not relaxed and elongated by heat, and con- tracted and consolidated by its opposite ?— Vol. I. p. 240, we are taught on the other hand, how, " the flexor tendons are put too much upon the stretch, and in time become strained and defective.—Same volume, page 400, lie warns us " of the great degree of dis- tension even tendinous parts are enabled to re- cover, which, as usually described, are per- fectly inelastic: yet in pregnancy both muscles md tendons become amazingly distended, but °» delivery soon regain their former size and **tent. Thus in Mr. Blaine's first volume, ? °ns are completely elastic, in his second, 10 utely inelastic; but we must not be too
severe * i
>■ "etween the writing his first and second
rae, he had leisure to complete his reading,
■^d make up his maid.
Air. Everard Home has lately proved, be^
Sbre f-qUeSti°n' the irritabillt3r of nervous
W' 10m an accurate observation of the c c 2
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388 LAMENESS PROM RELAXED
phrenic nerve of a horse ; arid the experiment
exactly confirms Bracken's opinion. Both the nerves and tendons have been for a consider- able number of years generally supposed to- tally inelastic, and, from the prevalence of such erroneous ideas in our surgeons, as well as from the ignorance of farriers, I apprehend, it has arisen, that so many horse-cases have been merely palliated and quacked, or the ani- mals prematurely and incurably lamed. Within these few weeks, (1804), in the
hundreds of Essex, I have witnessed the old miserable ignorance of putting a pat tin-shoe on the sound foot, in a case of the most palpable debility, requiring every possible al- leviation from weight or labour. In my ■many conversations with old Snaper who had most probably put on hundreds of pattin- shoes, I could never discover that he had any correct ideas of their use. It was simply—-oh! turn him off with a pattin-shoe. The whole virtue was lodged in the shoe, not in the ration- ality of the thing ,' the light precisely, in which people generally view a receipt, as it is called, for a cure, one of the most superlative vehicles of folly and deception, and by which even people of education, who have not turned their attention to the philosophy of medicine, are frequently gulled. I had last yea!" a hackney |
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OR CONTRACTED SINEWS. 389
nare Snewn me, which had worked some years,
anc* ln the back sinews of which, according to mY ideas, heads and fingers endowed with a Moderate portion of sense and feeling must in- evitaoly discover a most sufficient cause of lameness: but the farrier, who had been forty 5'ears m business, finding little heat and no ten- S1°n in the legs, declared the mare sound in those parts, and that the lameness was in her feet, and would be mended by work! Her feet were however in a very good state, and the mare, a favourite, has proved to be incu- rable, obviously, I think, from want of early attention and runs abroad—the only depend-
ence, farther extracts from my Memoranda. In
September 1804, a farrier of long established
reputation, and one who pretended to have va-
iuable specifics, had travelled his horse in
*wgie harness, about a dozen miles. I per-
veci tlie nag lame, and on making inquiry,
*le Doctor replied, Yes, the horse had indeed
^een lamed in the shoulder; but had been
0Wele<i and cured, had ben purged twice,
f C at another dose of physic was intended;
^ the horse went stiff and tender from the
A he horse being stopped, put out his
foS m an lnStant' and toul bis wn tote. K.t-j-
the pastern joint and along the ten- |
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390 LAMENESS EROM RELAXED
don, with fingers long practised in the case, I
could perceive a real cause of lameness, as plainly as skin, bone, and tendon, bat had not the same success in convincing the Doctor, or even in making myself understood. His whole conviction seemed to consist in the certainty of completing the cure of his horse's lameness, with the next dose of physic. In May 1805, a respectable friend of mine,
a Member of Parliament, purchased a six year old gelding, for seventy guineas. I observed the toe of the near fore foot turned in, and the joint crooked, I suspected the nag would fail in that part first; in short, I thought I could perceive incipient debility, which opinion I communicated. Some time after, the nag fell lame. He had a splent on the other fore leg, but in nowise interfering with the sinews, and the leg discovered no sign of unsoundness. But the near, and really lame leg, having little or no tension or inflammation, at least to their feeling, neither groom nor farrier could discover the seat of lameness, but agreed to lay the blame upon the splent of the off leg. The horse was now exposed to sale, and the gentle- man about to become a purchaser, gave him a rattling gallop over "the road, with the. intent of trying his soundness. The horse pulled up dead lame, marked his near foot, the joint be- |
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■OR CONTRACTED SINEWS. 391
'came inflamed and enlarged, and both farrier
-and groom were convinced. January 1806, the gelding which had been
cured of the thorough pin (p. 35a) became lame. Ihe defect appeared to me very obvious in the =near pastern joint; indeed, I had for some tune perceived debility in that part, .and directed the attention of the farrier to it, who.;, however, in- siated the lameness was in the foot- The horse, as usual m such case, was la?me and apparently coand, alternately, until at length it appeared proper to turn him off. Me came -up after a summer's run, somewhat fresh5 but to me, the old lameness was still too visible; to the groom end farrier the horse was sounds at any rate, not lame in the part which I pointed out. A little work soon decided that -he was a lame horse. A veterinary surgeon of note was'now called in, and he pronounced the horse lame in the joint, yet ordered the feet to be -soaked in warm water, to dilate them, and bleeding at °e toe. The groom now said, that the sur- geon could really discover no lameness in the pastern joint, and that if he pronounced the J°int faulty, ,it was merely because he (the groom;) ;had hinted that from me. So both * amer> (and he was an eminent one) and groom, persisted still, that the lameness was really in 8 *' vvhich to appearance evinced perfect |
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392 LAMENESS FROM RELAXED
soundness, whilst the joint, to my apprehen-
sion, demonstrated the plainest symptoms of disease. The nature and symptoms of these cases, appear to me to be yet very imper- fectly understood. And among grooms and farriers particularly, the kobby-horsical lame- nesses seem verging from the shoulders, their ancient seat, to the feet. Mr. Blaine has, with much good sense and
feeling, reprobated the cruel insanity of attempt- ing to work lame horses sound, but alas! his reasoning is very ill calculated to enlighten on that head. I speak from personal feeling, as well as the constant habit of examining thp limbs of horses, throughout half my life, and I well know, that nothing is more common, than ligamentary and tendinous lameness, from the debility induced by laxity merely, unattended with tension or material inflammation. But the most apt analogy in the case, is that of the generally relaxed habit, in which the unfortu- nate patient feels but too plainly a flabby loose-" ness and want of contractile force, in every muscle, tendon, ligament, and fibre of his body J and all this without the aid of ruptured tfaca, or sheaths, and extravasated mucus; although these last are doubtless also accidents of com- mon occurrence, as Osmer long since taught. Nothing, again, can be more appropriate, or |
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OR CONTRACTED SINEWS. 393
*»ore forcibly illustrative of the grand funda-
mental doctrines of constriction and relaxation, than the citation made by Blaine, (Vol. II. p. 264) of John Hunter's opinion respecting the contraction of the cremaster muscle, in the human and other animals, as the most uner- ring mark of strength and full health. Never- theless, relaxation is an idea of the old school, now exploded, and ridiculed by an Irish doc- tor of high repute, who cures debility with the warm bath ! See Medical Journal. Another eminent Brunonian strongly recommends heat, as the grand specific in the cure of fever, with •the potential aid of the warmest stimulant me- dicines ; and above all things, the most salutary Stimulus of thundering rat-tats at the door, to relieve the torpor of the patient! for it seems, ty- ing up the knocker is an old-fashioned and im- proper jpaetke, These, however, are trifling new discoveries, compared with what we find , m the American Philosophical Transactions, where the celebrated Dr. Rush makes the black colour of the negroes a disease, and curable by medical art! The faculty have written much or late about quacks: I would beg to know where greater quacks could possibly be found, than haVe ever existed in their own body ?—-a profession yet> which has, and does contain, |
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394< Umenesb prom reiaseb
some of the most learned, most enlightened, and most liberal of the human race. The writ- ings of such have been my instructors, and my solace throughout life; nevertheless, as far us my very limited knowledge and experience ex- tend, I cannot withhold my assent from the position of the learned and sagacious Bataviara Dr. Ontyd, in his Influence of Chemistry on the Operations of Animal Bodies, that " the majority of the numerous new theories, and new modes of practice, are found by experience to merit our contempt." As to the method of cure, I shall begin with
a clap in the back sinews, the most common ac- cident; the signs of which are described, Vol. I. (Defects) as also is the remedy in a slight case, or mere inflammation, in a former page, of the present Volume- The seat of the complaint being well ascertained from the motions of the horse, and the heat and tension at the back .part of his leg, put him immediately by himself in a loose stable, and bleed him, giving mashes and salts. Foment the leg twice a day, in the bath already advised, with the addition of spirits or vinegar, but; should the herbs not be within reach, substitute warm water and skin j milk. Should that not succeed, poultice. The inflammation having subsided, use the restrin gent embrocation twice a day; suffer no one to |
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OR CONTRACTED SINEWS. 395
ride the horse. Judge from your observance
of the cause, from the symptoms, and the ac- tion of the horse, whether it were a sudden ac- cident ; convinced of that, and no farther ap- pearance of the ailment, he may be brought moderately to his work. If an old affair, no sudden appearance of soundness ought to be an inducement to work a horse a single hour previous to a three month's run at grass, he- cause such unthrifty conduct ensures relapse, and aggravation of the complaint beyond all remedy. Let no one listen to the pretended specihcs of silly grooms in this ease, which are to effect a cure in a few days; those doctors suppose the business ended, as soon as the inflammation has subsided, whereas that cri- terion only marks the commencement of the |
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cure.
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It is proper here to say a few words con-
cerning the form of embrocation which I have recommended on my own experience; as no ' man ]s more fond than myself of quoting the nullius addktus, it would be absurd indeed or me to desire any one to pin his faith upon my sleeve; I shall, therefore, bye and bye, submit other forms to the reader's choice. I ave found the mixture in question to succeed
well, not only with the smews of horses, but emg proportionably reduced in strength with
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$96 LAMENESS FROM RELAXED
those of human creatures also ; and from many
years experience upon my own person particu- larly, I can recommend it in either recent or oM strains. Infuse eighteen drops of G oulard's Extract in one, two, or three ounces of dis- tilled vinegar, according to the strength re- quired. My usual rule is to allow as much of the Goulard, as will produce a head, somewhat similar to that upon common glass-proof bran- dy. In a sense ofcoklness or numbness of the part, add two tea spoonsfull of cjuTV^hjoratecl spirit. Mix. Should too much heat ensue "tftlMhe use of the embrocation, immerse in; or dash with cold water. An astringent charge, to speak in the language of the stable, is often of considerable use and comfort. In the year 1790, I relaxed the ligaments of my shoulder, which I cured in about three months, . by suspending the arm, bandaging the part, causing cold water to be poured upon it every morning, and the constant use of the embro- cation. About three years afterwards I acci- dentally strained the parts again, when the in- jury became incurable; only as it is occasion- ally braced and palliated by the above mix- in the Chapter on Diseases of the Eyes, I have spoken on the abuse of restringents, par- ticularly Goulard's Extract, and other preps*- |
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OR CONTRACTED SINEWS. 397
rations of lead. It is a long time since I saw
foulard's Essay on Lead, but I believe he di- rected his Extract never to be used undiluted with water, for want of which observance I have committed several disagreeable errors, both with "myself'and others. A young person °nce applied to me with a slight strain in the foot in which I raised a most violent inflam- mation and contraction, producing absolute lameness, by causing the part to be embro- cated with a mixture of vinegar, spirits, and Goulard undiluted, although the quantity of the latter was by no means large : The same thing happened to myself several times, arid I was sufficiently sensible of that heavy benumb- ing pain in the very marrow of "the bone, which I have heard described as'the usual effect of lead, by those who labour in the manufactories. In horse cases, I have often found by the rigid and inflamed state of the parts, that I have been bracing too fast, and r"y usual method is to order cold water a few *uiles, as a substitute for the embrocation. I dv' i many times drawn up the lax sinews in - ie course of a few days, and made the horse to all appearance sound; but the first ride has convinced me of the inutility of those prema- ture measure by the return of the horse as le' ant* "is sinews' as loose as at first. In |
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3§8 LAMENESS FROM RELAXES
most cases, our medicines by no means want
efficacy, but we ourselves want patience; not stopping to consider the absolute necessity of the healing and consolidating balsam of time. If restringents are too violent, even when the parts are cool, they contract the fibres too sud- denly, whence necessarily ensues a reaction, with increased debility; the_ fluids also are pushed forward too fast for the capacity of the absorbents, which produces inflajmnation, ten- sion, and increase of the disease; how dan- gerous then must be the effect of powerful bracers upon nervous and tendinous parts, yet in a state of inflammatkm from recent injury ? And yet such application is a common practice. The reader will observe, that I have since found vinegar will sufficiently reduce the Gou- lard's Extract, but there certainly may be cases, in which water also may be necessary. I must acknowledge that I am by no means
prepared to give a decided opinion on the subject of firing, or the application of the actual cautery in strains; the truth is, I have had few horses fired, and with those few it did not succeed. Its use is said to be, to discuss swellings by promoting absorption; and in contracting the skin to form a constant ban- dage around the sinews, both during the cure, aud ever afterwards. What strikes me as the |
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OR CONTRACTED SINEWS. 899
nost lmportant benefit m the measure is, the
Wpport it is. said to give to the parts after the ure. Tbe necessary precautions respecting
the operation upon the back sinews are, that the parts to be fired be not in a state of in- flammation, that no cross lines be made on any account, that the fire be only given deep enough to have sufficient effect upon the skin, without burning the sheaths of the tendons, that no person be suffered to mount the horse, but that he be turned to grass, as soon as con- venient, for at least three months. The wind- galls, I think, should be opened previously to firing. When the operation is intended to be very effectual, the lines are drawn thick around the leg, from the bottom of the pasterns almost up to the knee. I should conceive that fewer lines would make a firmer bandage. I must remark ako, that a man's common sense must naturally depict the operation of cauterizing as a very delicate one, and by no means within the power of every heavy-handed smith. V* hen the pastern, joints are exceedingly full
swelled, the legs gorged, the tendons en- arged, m fact, the parts indurated, there
seems an almost absolute necessity for blister-
^,.a. ^''no) since no other measures will be
sufficiently discutient; however, when it shall
again niy ]ot to have auother case of this
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400 LAMENESS, &C.
kind in hand, in addition to the number with
which I have been plagued, I mean to depend on blistering, to discharge the coagulated hu- mour, without firing; and to conduct a cura- tive process abroad. After the blistering course, as long as may be needful; that which I have already styled the actual bracer, or a firm ban- dage, so fastened that the tendon may not be pressed downward, to support it whilst the horse walks about. Embrocation to be used every night in the field, at least once a day, the horse being:'accustomed to come for a few handfuls of corn; to be continued two or three months. It is unnecessary to remark, that the horse had need be valuable, and the owner to possess a few sparks of laudable eques- trian enthusiasm, to render all this trouble worth while; however I can almost warrant it would pay well in the case of race-horses, few of which but must be shortened in their speed, if fired to any effectual purpose of bracing; and after all, I can scarcely think but that a force sufFicient again to start the tendon, must also be adequate to loosen or burst the ban- dage. With Contracted Sinews (to which post-horses
are particularly subject) the legs are hot and gorged, and the joints indurated; the horse steps short, and is liable to drop down on a sudden, |
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LAMENESS. 40i
-specially in his walk. If there be any effectual
emedy, it is repeated blistering, and six months —Sfiiss. As to palliatives within doors—brandy
and JmseedjoUj for a liniment. Daily Varni emollient Jp^er^ations, be they only bran and ---JLSI; A liniment of goose grease, and spirits
doubly camphorated. Or. Black soap* one Pound; old beer, one quart j neat's foot oil* full half a pint; seethe over the fire, and when cool, add camphorated spirits, half a pint; use this warm. • Pastern-joint wrung* or strained by ac-
cident; fomentation, anodyne poultice, embro- cation, bandage long continued, Markham says,^a.wrench^ofjthiajoint, there will be swelling andjenderness upon thejoints of the ■ %..?fe or withers. In strains of the knee- joints, whether in horses or the human species, I have observed the extensor tendon affected] and^ne^at^h^o^on^of thejeg. Compression of the" nut^bone, be-
ween the coronary bone and the tendon, and
swelT ^ the C0FFIN-J0INT« The sighs*
the f'^ and §reat pain in tne coroneti neat in
to °T* 8t^ness m tne Joint, and setting the
ble d Up°n the Sround- Pare the sole' and
the foot as in a founder; the same after be f ment aS ak°ve- It ought by no means to
^orgo ten, that strains in these lower joints |
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402 LA ME NESS.
neglected become perfectly incurable; disloca*
tion, anchylosis, or immobility of the joint tak- ing place. Drawing the sole, of which I have spoken before, is sometimes resorted to in this case. I have of late, for the first time in fey life, heard of a solitary instance of success in this torturing operation, without, however, haw ing had ocular proof. I think all men of feel- ing should set their faces against it, since it is well known how often it has been recommended and performed, merely to promote business. Snape, Gibson, Burdon, Osmer, Wood, and all our ablest practical men, were entirely against k. Wood, Burdon, and others, assert, that there is no hurt in the cask of the foot, which may not be come at without the aid of this desperate measure. St. Bel directed to draw the sole on a very slight occasion, which I formerly remarked in a certain small tract; but in a founder, where it would be dangerous to unsole, that author advises to make an opening by cutting away about two finger's breadth at the top and front of the hoof, be- neath the coronet, which was also Snape's and Gibson's practice. I believe I omitted to-men- tion this small operation before ; it may per- haps answer in several cases. Strains in the Shoulders are much less
frequent than in the nether limbs; as to the |
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Lameness. 403
5yttipfoms5 there is generally a deceptio visus,
aI1 lame horses appearing affected in the shoulders, however sound those parts may be, ■which is the occasion of the perpetual blunder of grooms and farriers, whose sole rule of judgment is from appearances and custom. J- he only sign to be depended upon within my Knowledge, is the motion of the fore-arm al- ready adverted to, or tenderness and tumour in the parts. The muscles or ligaments of the shoulder, may be relaxed, or even a dislocation may possibly, but not very probably happen; contusion and stunting of the point of the Shoulder may ensue, from running against any «ard body; and lastly, notwithstanding the merriment of Osmer, a horse may be really sliook in the shoulders, of which I have been too often convinced. This last is a disease of in- flammation and contraction, analogous with surbating and the foot founder, and to be re- moved, when curable, by rowels and running road. por a dislocation, swimming is gene- a y recommended, or reduction of the joints y extension and counter-extension (the inflam* ion being previously allayed by relaxent Pphcations) under the care of an able veieri- dry surgeon; afterwards bandage, astringents, a«d long rm, 6 & v d2
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404 LAMENESS.
For strains in the Loins or Couplings?
Bracken advises the following charge; pitch and rosin, each four ounces; turpentine, three ounces. Mix. Pour it upon the parts warm, and cover the fillets all over with tow or hurds. I have no great opinion of the efficacy of this charge, unless a strengthening embrocation could be also poured upon, and soaked into the parts twice a day; and after all, if the affair be serious or of long standing, no in-door measure will succeed. If only a slight strain, no labour of any kind, during the cure. In lameness of the Hip, or Whirlbone,
the leading symptoms are, swinging of the limb, or its being longer than natural; when the horse trots, he drops backward upon the heel; in general, perhaps, not going very lame, , on which account the disease is neglected, until it becomes incurable. A slight affection of the muscles and ligaments, is cured by the pro- per restringent applications, with time and rest. "Where the whirlbone, or hip is beat down from its socket, it will so remain, and yet, per- haps, the horse may do considerable service. Hipped horses have even raced. The cure is . generally blistering, firing, astringents, and rest; but Osmer asserts the inutility of firing in this case, on account of the strong muscles inter- vening between the skin and the ligaments. In |
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LAMENESS 405
blistering he directs a broad piece of cloth to
"e kept upon the adjacent part of the horse's flank, .to guard it from inflammation. If you rowel upon the thigh, beware of the liga- ments. *Jf the Stifle-bone, upon the thigh-
bone, similar to the small cramp-bone in a leg of mutton. (Vol. I. Defects.) Usual treat- ment for strains, and rest. Parts being swelled, foment, making use of crude sal am- moniac and wood-ashes. The tumour will sometimes suppurate, but seldom, which soon perfects the cure. Should a rowel be neces- Sarj5 any convenient part will do. The acci- dent taken in time, and properly treated, is by no means dangerous. Strains in the Hocks. Sickle-hammed
horses, whilst young, are subject to these strains, seldom with any other external sign than heat *n the parts and lameness. Rest, restringents, Moderate labour. In case of tension, or callo- SltJ > fomentations, blisters, firing with small,' superficial, and rather close lines; charge after- wards with mercurial plaister, and that de Ci- cuta. cum AmmoNIAco, melted together, re- newing once or twice as it drops off. The joints of the hocks being much enlarged, Osmer recommends the cataplasm of salt (see farther) twice a day, and fomentations, with |
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406 LAMENESS.
bleeding and cooling internals, rejecting blis-
ters and firing. The absolute division, or rupture of the
main tendon, is remedied, by bringing the divided extremities into exact contact, by com- pressing and securing them in that state, and by binding the fetlock with a splent externally applied, that the foot, having lost the stay of the tendon, may not turn outwards to impede the union of the ruptured parts. The usual cooling and restringent remedies. St. Bel asserts, that such a rupture is never perfectly cured without drawing the sole : We do not find that to be exactly the case in England, and I should conceive,the tenderness of a new sole to be the worse alternative. Would not Osmer's method of an incision under the part af- fected (p. 4IS) be particularly useful in this case ? The old farriers directed to divide the sinew ■with the shears, when ruptured, but not tho- roughly, which produces convulsions ; after, a charge of turpentine, Burgundy pitch, and Sanguis Draconis, applied hot. The fracture of the leg or thigh-bone, in
cattle, was held by no means incurable, or even very difficult of cure, by Datagliacoxzo, Ruini, and the old veterinary anatomists, as Solleysel assures us; far less ought it to be so in the pre- sent times. The cure is performed in the. |
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LAMENESS. 407
common mode of splent and bandage, and the
usual dressing; the horse or beast being left in & large outhouse, or dry field, where he will make a good shift with three legs. This is probably full as well as slinging with canvas and ropes; directions, and a plate of which, may be seen in the last edition of Bartlet's Phai ^nacopeia. The only practicable method of reducing
dislocations in the joints of cattle, is to cast the animal upon his back on a soft bed, and draw up his four legs with pullies; the dis- placed joint ought then to be extended, with all possible tenderness and care, duly replaced, and bound. The general cause of those frequent strains
in the back sinews, to which horses in England are peculiarly liable, is our custom of hard. .riding; but the extent of the mischief may be considerably reduced, by the improved method of shoeing, which restores to the flexor tendons, or main sinews, the intire frog, intended by Mature as their cushion and support. I have, however, formerly put the case somewhat too strongly, in. my- attempted illustration, since, even when the frog does not touch the ground, *t is still a paitialjsujDport to the tendon, al- though not so firm a one, as if it occasionally touched, or rested on the ground. An idea has |
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408 LAMENESS.
of late years been propagated, that the chief use
of the frog is by no_means the support of the tendon, but rather as a medium of expansion to the hoof; a most inconsequential theory, in every point of view. -That, from its position, the frog must serve both purposes, is equally true and obvious ; nevertheless, its chief func- tion seems to be precisely that which, was orU ginally assigned to it by La Fosse. In the meantime, no one has denied that theJlexor tendon has other supports, of which, in truth, nobody could be ignorant, who had either viewed, or read a description of the internal structure of the horse's foot. Mr. Blaine's everlasting penchant for new
discoveries absolutely throws a burlesque over many of his subjects, and here, gravity herself cannot withhold a smile. Par exemple; who, that had ever a horse's foot in his hand, yet doubted the pliability and elasticity of the horny sole? By consequence it required much the same kind of proof that " the sole descends by the pressure of the internal parts" as is neces-« 8ary to ascertain the amount of two and two. The general elasticity of the contents of the hoof, the descent of the sole, at every tread, and the infracumbent situation of the frog, tend not barely to elucidate, but clearly to demon- strate the position, that one important function, |
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IAMENESS. 409
of the latter is to act as a cushion, stay, and sa-
hent point. From numerous passages in this author, a reader, unacquainted with the sub- ject, would be led to suppose that the utility of an occasional, or constant support in the frog (the term pressure has been too freely used) of thinness at heel, flatness, lightness, and solidity in the horse's shoe were late, as they are most truly important discoveries. In slating the con- sequence of low shoe-hee]s, namely lameness, " by putting the tendons to the stretch/' Mr. Blaine, from want of experience, was not aware of an equally great, and perhaps more perma- nent objection: but it is a strange inadvert- ence in him indeed, to suppose that those whose practice it has been to reduce the frog, have go done with a view to its preservation, as a cushion to the tendon: in truth, practitioners of that stamp have never fatigued their sage brains with any useless speculations on the matter ; but viewing the frog as one of nature's bastard and frolicsome productions, a mere horny excrescence, have ever taken especial care to extirpate, as fast as she could produce it; and that centuries before the theory of the frog's use was generally known. It is laughable enough to read Blaine's long-winded account of this man s shoes, and that man's shoes ! He would, with equal use, have given us a list of those |
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410 LAMENESS.
great discoverers, who have made alterations in
the cock of the hat for the last twelve years; compared with whom, the inventor of the hat itself was, sans chute, a man of straw. _^- In all invisible or uncertain lamenesses, it
ought to be an inviolable rule to attempt no random methods of cure, but to turn the horse to grass, a sufficient length of time, during which, he will probably either obtain a cure, or discover the seat of his malady. The man who should surfer his farrier to operate under such circumstauces, I would advise to apply to the conjurer in Hatton Garden, whenever he shall be so unfortunate as to lose a silver spoon. To repeat what I said in the Firft Volume,
the touch of a delicate and discriminating hand, will generally discover the affected part: A thorough jockey, mounted upon the nag to /* which he has been accustomed, will even dis-
cover from his motions, the play of his ears, and his pressure upon the bit, the smallest de- viation from his natural style of going; and will be thence able to form a pretty accurate prognostic of the nature of his complaint. No farrier ought to be trusted in affixing patten- shoes to the feet of lame-horses. Because in wasting and contraction of the sinews, on one side, it was found beneficial to affix a patten, or high shoe, upon the opposite foot, in order to |
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LAMENESS. 411
oblige the animal to put the other foot to the
ground, by which action the shrunk or con- tracted sinews were habitually stretched, and in- the end brought to their due tone; the ignorant and undistinguishing farriers acted precisely in *he same way, when the leg or shoulder was lame from the sinews being relaxed, or over- stretched, thereby adding to the complaint, and rendering the victim totally incurable : If a horse was lame in the haunches, for a cure, they forced him to drag the harrows. In a shoulder-lameness, after the use of oils, they directed the horse to be journeyed on, by way of benefitting him ; a conduct equally rational as the suspending a leaden weight to a piece of catgut, after having well greased it, in order to crisp and draw it up, or to recover its elasticity. Farriers cures for strains, even at this hour, are generally oils and greasy applications adapted only, if at all, to the first stage of the disease; out to repeat the practices of this class of men in former times, upon poor horses supposed to be lame in their shoulders, or with real dislo- cations, would be to add to the^ already ample catalogue of ancient barbarities and follies. in turning lame horses abroad for recovery,
especial care ought to be taken that they are
n v confined in a narrow place with sound ones,
n may <jrive an(j harrass them about.
8
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412 ' LAMENESS.
When the back sinews are considerably let
down, and the frog will not touch the ground, it is of great use to turn the horse off in a light bar-shoe, the bar resting upon the ground, and supporting the frog and the tendon. Various forms of embrocation for
strains. Best vinegar, one pint; campho- rated spirit, four ounces ; white vitriol dissolved in a little water, two drachms ; mix. Or. Vine- gar, one pint; camphorated spirit, and spirit of vitriol, two ounces each; mix. Take distilled vinegar, eight ounces ; dissolve
therein, one ounce Castile soap; add half an ounce sal ammoniac. Or. Sugar of lead, alum, and white vitriol, one drachm each; powder and dissolve them in four ounces tinc- ture of roses, and two of japan earth. This is powerfully astringent. Take the the whites of three or four eggs,
beat them to froth, add roch allum, finely pow- dered, one ounce ; spirits of wine camphorated, and of turpentine, half an ounce each, mix. An Opodeldoc, discutient and bracing.
Spirits of wine, two pints; Spanish soap, five ounces; digest in a gentle heat until the soap be dissolved, then add camphor one ounce; oil of origanum, one ounce. The quantities of camphor and origanum may be increased upon occasion. |
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LAMENESS. 413
Oil of turpentine, one ounce; spirit of wine
camphorated, two ounces. This from Bracken, but I find if constantly used, the turpentine fetches off the hair; perhaps the addition of a little Barbadoes tar might prevent that effect; which, in fact, will be changing the turpentine into oil of spike. For enlarged, and inflamed, and weakened
tendons from Osmer. Foment twice a day with decoction of white lily roots, mallows, elder- .leaves and flowers, bay-leaves, &c. Make a poultice for the parts, of the fomentation thick- ened with meal. The tension subsided, apply twice a day the salt cataplasm ; or, com- mon salt, whites of eggs, vinegar, and oat- meal, using also astringent mixtures. Or. Make two incisions through the skin below the diseased part, being careful not to wound the fibres, or sheath of the tendon, apply as above, and keep the wound running. This I have never tried. |
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[ 414 ]
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CHAR X.
TUMOURS----WOUNDS----ULCERS; WITH THE
PROPER EXTERNAL APPLICATIONS. MIS-
CELLANEA. For critical Tumour and Abscess, see Stran-
gles: Encysted, see Windgalls. Phlegmons or Boils seldom require external remedies, see Warbles. Oedematous swellings, see Dropsy. Schirrus or induration, will only give way to potential, or actual cautery. Wens should be extirpated in their early state, which is then easily performed with the hot knife, or perhaps by seton; they have also been successfully am- putated upon horses, when very large and broad at the base, the flux of blood being stayed by the cautery, and by styptics: it must be noted they are encysted, and will re-appear, unless the bag be eradicated. For cases see Gibson, Vol. II. Tumours in general, whether spontaneous, or
resulting from contusion, are to be resolved and dispersed, which is effected by compression with bandage, by fomentations, poultices, aBd |
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MISCELLANEA. 415
repellents. Inflammation, according to the pre-
sent theory, is always attended with the pro- duction of new fibres, constituting new vessels; these vessels not being re-absorbed, secrete a new fluid, that is, purulent matter, which ge- nerally forces its way through the skin: La Fosse observed this kind of new vessels in dis- section, but apparently without being aware that it was a general consequence of inflamma- tion. Wounds, Ulcers, or foul Wounds. All our
best writers, from the days of Gibson to the present time, have concurred in making heavy complaints against the farriers, for obstinately adhering to the ancient method of treating wounds, and I am very sorry I have no right to vouch for any general amendment. It is still too much their practice to make use of oils and greasy applications, to cram the parts with long hard tents, to thrust a whole candle into a wound, and there leave it, which has prepared many a horse for his last journey; and to begin too soon, or needlessly, with es- charotics. In a healthy subject, flesh-wounds are suffi-
ciently disposed to unite and heal, nature her- self furnishing an agglutinating balsam ; the chief care necessary, is to' preserve them from the air, and keep them clean. The proper me- |
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416 MISCELLANEA.
dicaments, whether of the healing, detergent*
or discutient class, are composed of turpentines, gums, and spirits, with as little oil as is con- sistent with rendering the composition suffi* ciently emollient. Inflammation renders poul- tices and fomentation necessary. Bring the lips of the wound together by bandage or sew- ing; indeed the latter is not often necessary, A single stitch is sufficient for a wound two inches long; in large wounds, set the stitches full an inch distant; in those seated upon pro- minent parts, such as the hips, or the large muscles, the stitches generally burst asunder upon the horse's lying down or rising, on which account the lips must not be drawn too close: the wound being deep, the needle must be passed deep in proportion. Should inflamma- tion and great discharge ensue from the tight- ness of the suture, relief will be obtained by cutting the stitches. In case of hemorrhage, from an artery divided, pass a crooked needle underneath, and secure it with a waxed thread, in preference to silk ; should that be impracti- cable, clap a button of lint or tow, dipped in some proper styptic (hereafter given) fast upon' the orifice of the bleeding vessel, carefully keep- ing it there with a proper compress, until the eschar be formed. Cover with rags dipped in brandy, tow spread with wound-ointment, &C, |
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MISCELLANEA. 417
observing it as a general rule, to keep all di-
vided parts as much at rest as possible, to pro- mote union. In two days the first dressing niay come off, the parts may be fomented and poulticed, and a proper digestive applied ; con- tinue this until the flesh shall appear florid, and the discharge healthy and of good consistence, when the fomentations may be discontinued, and the wound healed with proper attention to the suppression, when needful, of the fungous flesh; but especial care ought to be had, not to dry the wound too much, and render it horny by the abuse of escharotics. The tents, or dossils made use of, ought to be soft and short, and put in as loose as possible. Wounds upon the joints or ten-
dons, and those occasioned by stakes, or gor- ing of oxen, are cured by the same method; in these latter, the orifice must be enlarged, and instead of the old farrier's method of thrusting up a candle, and stitching it fast, to confine the matter and impede digestion, make an incision in form of a cross, wide enough for the discharge, and proceed as before. In gun-shot wounds, and in case of the
lntrusion and lodgment of any foreign body, Such should be extracted, when it can be done Vvuhout too much pain and disturbance; other- wise by emollient and drawing poultices; the v°t. U. Ee
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418 MISCELLANEA.
orifice must generally be enlarged and a de-
pending one procured. In SCALDS OR burns, the skin beinz
intire, bathe well three times a dav with cam- phoraied spirit, in which soap has been dis- solved, and keep the parts dressed with linen dipped in the same, or with a plaister of salt and soap ; or use an embrocation of soap, salt, and camphorated spirit. When the skin is broken, anoint with salad or linseed oil. Lin- seed oil, red lead, and bees-wax, half a pound each, boil and mix over a slow fire. Or, in case of great inflammation, bread and milk poultice with elder flowers. Yellow basilicon with pre- cipitate. Or, dress the burnt parts with— two ounces crude sal ammoniac, boiled a few minutes in one quart water, mix gradually with spirit of wine, one quart. I have not yet had leisure to peruse Kentish on Burns, to which I refer. Ulcers must be brought to the state of a
wholesome wound, and to discharge a good white and thick matter, previously to any attempt at healing. They must be carefully probed, and every cavity and sinus detected, and tho- roughly cleansed to the very bottom. Dress, and fill vvith dry lint to the surface. Bandage tight. In ulcers of the human body, the ap- plication of cold water from a tea-pot has been |
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MISCELLANEA. 419
recommended by authors of good repute.; for
instance, Bigby, and lately by Mr. Baynton; adhesive plaister being applied for bandage. In some cases oak bark, beat very fine, seven parts, with ceruse powder, one part, may httve a good effect. Alum water, or powdered char- coal, are of great use to counteract the fetid stench in putrid ulcers. All callous or horny substances must be extirpated with the knife or caustic. In hollow sinuous ulcers* where no counter-opening can be made* injections must be used. When the bones are foul, which is generally discovered by a loose, flabby flesh, a thin, oleous, fetid discharge, and by the rough feel of the bone against the probe, it is neces- sary to extirpate the loose flesh, to come at the bone, in order to remove the carious part, which is best effected by the cautery. In gan- grene, bark internally, and the mortified parts timely sacrificed, to eliminate the putrid serum. In the symptomatic fever sometimes attendant upon wounds, cooling laxatives, glysters, vene- section ; in a depraved state of the blood, alte- ratives, steel, &c. It is recommended to far- mers to provide themselves with proper leaden probes, needles, &c. from the surgeons-instru- ment makers. |
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£ e 2
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420
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MISCELLANEA,
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VARIOUS FORMS.
The Common Poultice. Milk half a
pint; salad oil, three large spoonfuls; grated bread enough for due consistence. Add the bread to the milk when boiling, afterwards beat in the oil thoroughly. Suppurative or Ripening Poultice
in the Strangles. Leaves of mallows and marsh-mallows, green or dry, twenty bandfuls; white lily root washed and pounded, half a pound ; linseeds and fenugreek seeds bruised, four ounces each ; boil very soft and pulpy, and add elder ointment, four ounces; and lard as much as needful. Mix, and keep for use.
Common Digestive Poultice,in Grease, &c. Boil ground oat-meal, and strong beer
grounds, add lard enough to supple it. Tur- pentine, two to four ounces may be added to the foregoing. Or. Lily roots, linseed, and rye flour.
Resolvent. Onions and camomile flowers
properly boiled and mixed, add goose-grease, or for want of it, neat's-foot oil. This is very efficacious to disperse swellings. Or. With oatmeal, cummin seeds powdered, two ounces; |
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MISCELLANEA. 421
powdered camphor, half an ounce; or sal am-
moniac dissolved in British spirit. Proper in bruises, and to disperse coagulated blood. Anodyne. Boil chamomile, elder leaves, or
flowers, poppy, bay-leaves, and rosemary with oatmeal, mix with elder ointment, and a little camphorated .brandy. Repellent and Restringent. Dis-
solve alum in vinegar, or verjuice, add half the quantity of oil, with red wine lees, or stale beer grounds, and bean meal. Ob. Old ver- juice, or distilled vinegar one quart; alum, one ounce; currier's shavings, or oak-bark, boil to a poultice, with or without saturnine oint- ment, and apply warm twice a day. Unguents, Emollient and Suppu-
rative. Elder ointment. Opt. Neat's-fqot oil, three pints; yellow wax, nine ounces; yellow rosin, half a pound ; turpentine, two ounces ; ground ginger, two ounces. Melt the rosin and wax in the oil, take off the fire, and add the turpentine; strain hot, and mix in the ginger. Stimulant and Discutient. Flanders
oil of bays, half a pound ; goose grease, four ounces ; quicksilver, one ounce ; turpentine, one ounce. Mix the quicksilver and turpentine thoroughly, then adding the rest, work well half an hour. A quantity of digitalis, or fox- |
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422 MISCELLANEA.
glove flowers, sufficient to impregnate the whole
mass, may be beat up with it, the ointment being kept two or three weeks previous to use. To dissolve tumours on the glands, or kernels, either in the brute or human species. Blistering. Nerve, and ointment of
marshmallows, each two ounces, quicksilver, one ounce, rubbed in a mortar with one ounce and half of turpentine, till of a lead colour; mix those well, and add cantharides, in fine powder, one daachm and half; sublimate, one drachm ; oil of origanum, two drachms. Or. Common ointment, or oil, two ounces; can- tharides, three drachms. Observe that the flies are fresh and good. Gut the hair close as possible, rub in well and patiently. Tie the horse up without litter, till the blister work. Cover with pitch plaister. When a rowel will not discharge, apply now and then a small quantity of blister with a feather. Digestive for Wounds. Venice tur-
pentine and bees wax, one pound each ; olive oil, one pound and half; rosin, twelve ounces j ■when melted, stir in two or three ounces verdi- grease? finely powdered ; stir on till cold. This may be used with red precipitate, instead of verdi^rease, half an ounce to four ounces. Bur- gundy pitch one pound may be added to the ^ flio'esUve. For wounds near the joints, &c. |
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MISCELLANEA. 423
Venice turpentine, one ounce. Yolks of two
eggs, honey and tincture of myrrh, one ounce each. Balsam equal to Friar's. Gum Ben- jamin, three ounces ; storax, two ounces; bal- sam of Peru and Tolu, half an ounce each; succotrine aloes, six drachms; myrrh, two ounces; rectified spirit, two pints; infuse in a warm place several days, tili the gums are dis- solved, then decant. Healing. Beat up whites of eggs and flour
with a little brandy; spread on brown papen For slight treads, &c. Tobacco Ointment. Leaf tobacco, half a pound; boil in a quart Red Port to a pint (or elder wine and distilled vinegar, equal parts) straiu, and add half a pound tobacco in fine powder; lard ox oil, one pound; rosin and bees-wax, four ounces each ; roots of round birthwort powdered, two ounces- Drying, detergeirt, and appeases pain. Styptics against bleeding. Puff-
balls dried amd powdered. Spunge moderately dried by the fire, so as not to destroy its spring, and kept dry. Or. Roch allum and blue vitriol, three ounces each ; spring water, one ■quart, boil till dissolved, filter, and add oil of vitriol, half an ounce. Apply with dossils of lint. Coldbatch's styptic may be had of the druggists. Gelding is safe at any age in a healthy
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^<24i MISCELLANEA.
subject. Having opened the scrotum, tie the
cords with a strong waxed thread, and then cut off the testicle. Proceed as in other wounds. The old mode was with the cautery, and no ligature; very unsafe. Moderate exercise. Se- veral bottle-conjurors have gone about at diffe- rent periods, pretending to make a secret of gelding horses, and working them in a few days; and, lamentabile dictu, the secret has died with one of them, notwithstanding a cer- tain wise-acre employed himself two hours, en- deavouring to bring the dying man to a con- fession. The itch for miracles seems innate. Si populus vult humbuggi, humbuggiatur. On this subject of castration Mr. Blaine di-
lates with much confidence, but, as usual, pure- ly in the speculative way. He asserts roundly, that Gibson and Bartlet, as surgeons, recom- mended the ligature merely from analogy j in- tirely overlooking the great veterinary practice of the former. The fact appears to have been, that the ligature was first introduced by Gib- son, from the repeated accidents which occur- red in his time, by the heavy-handed cauteriz- ing or carelessness of smiths and farriers. Gf thts, 1 have heard complaints in the country, even of late ; but in general, they are improv- ed, giving the fire in a more skilful way, and hence, the ligature in gelding horses, has been |
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long discontinued. My advising tlie ligature
■was chiefly on my own experience, and on ac- count of the mischiefs I had seen and heard of from particular cases of hemorrhage, both in gelding and docking: generally, the danger is so small, that I willingly accede to the use of the cautery. It is wonderful how nature so readily and certainly provides her styptics in these cases. Horses, on the continent, have been castrated and instantly driven post; end there is a sow-gelder near Barnet, who will, and has •repeatedly, at his own risk, and the mere common price, gelt a full-grown boar, by cut- ting away the whole scrotum, testicles, cords and all, without using the least application of any kind ! I wonder this fellow, on the strength of his boldness and good fortune, has not had, like his northern brother, some right honour- able and right reverend patient; not indeed for castration. Blaine's instance of Mr. Cline's two horses,
was inconsiderately given; a mere exception probably. I have never heard that the ligature was laid aside on account of fatal accidents, and it prevailed many years. Mr. Blaine's theory of the danger of inflammation, in quadrupeds, from the peculiar vacancy between the scrotum and the abdomen, will barely hold water. Will facts satisfy him ? If boars are qnadru- |
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426 MISCELLANEA.
peds within his description, I can furnish him
with some cases. In about eleven years, I cut, with my own hands (a delicate amusement, which it will be strange if ever I repeat) many more, I apprehend, than five score full grown boars, of all ages and sizes, invariably using the ligature, and was equally successful with any other cutter. Part of the time, an old Irish- man was accustomed to cut for me, who never used either ligature, or any other application, salt excepted. This man, hearing that another lived with his wife, in Ireland, sat off one day, without shoe or stocking, to travel from out of Surry to Liverpool, and thence across the sea to Ireland, with the full determination, to which every saint in the Irish calendar was called to witness, of gelding his unauthorized deputy. Should the reader wonder at my keeping such a collection of boars, 1 inform him, that I sold them fat to country sausage-makers, who were in the habit of furnishing the London markets with that exquisite delicacy. Op Spaying, Mr. Blaine had much better have said nothing. It is a strange circumstance, that in the country, the gelders should be so expert at this operation, seldom failing, while in Lon- don, they seldom succeed. I have had four sows killed out of five, in spaying. Swelled Neck erom Bleeding. Warm |
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MISCELLANEA. 427
fomentations, cooling saturnine ointment,bread
and milk poultice. Check proud flesh with red precipitate and burnt allum, fine powder. If swelling or indurations remain, spirits doubly camphorated, four ounces; bole, one drachm; aquafortis, twenty drops. -Apply lint or tow, dipped in the mixture; bind with warm thick flannel. Proper in bruises of the back and. withers. Or*, llowel in the breast, and blow the skin up to the part affected. Swelling, or Bruise from the saddle; Boil hay ia equal parts of stale urine, iron quenched in it, and verjuice; spirits may be added after, or not. Bathe with the liquor, and charge with the hay as hot as can be borne. Renew. A Sit-fast must be exsected with the knife, or extracted with pincers; in the latter case, place a whisp of hay, and upon it a board, as a fulcrum, or rest for the pincers. As to Chap- in g with Collar or Harness, the most mischief happens from wet, or the harness be- ing rough dry ; prevention, or instant remedy. Salt and water. Vinegar. Spirits to the raw S places. Leathern flaps are very useful to pre- vent chafing by the shafts. Uarnt ss should be guarded with some soft body, where it uses to chafe. Prevention is the art in all similar cases. The actual cautery, that prime instrument
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428 MISCELLANEA.
in the earliest veterinary practice, has been
much used of late, in the above case, and in punctured wounds on the legs and joints. In certain chronic cases, indurated tumours,in the division of parts, and as a styptic, the use of the cautery is of the highest consequence; but there are solid objections to its general intro- duction, as amongst the Arabians, who apply- ing it to fresh wounds, make slow cures, and leave needless scars. In Osmer's words, the cautery often rouses a sleeping lion. The dis- advantages of it, in certain horse cases, are loss of substance and hair, and sometimes the in- crease of inflammation, to be, in the ultimate, reduced by fomentation and poultice, which, in all probability, would of themselves have proved sufficient for the cure. In punctures of tendinous and ligamentary parts, there is con- siderable risk of injury from the cautery, more especially if in the hands of smiths, who are sufficiently inclined to the use of the fire. One of those veterinary surgeons, who have lately published, seems to have frightened himself sufficiently by the inflammation he raised with the cautery applied to a prick on the knee- joint. I should apprehend that compress and bandage would prevent the escape of the sy- novia, and" that hot fomentations and poultices would, as heretofore, prove effectual remedies. |
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MISCELLANEA. :-'v 42,9
The same may be said of swelled necks, which
do not appear to be removed more quickly by the cautery, although indeed it might be ex- pected. I do not write thus from the desire oi cavil, but of information ; and from real dif- ficulties existing in my own mind on the sub- ject. Professor Coleman, in No. I. p. 5, Veteri-
nary Transactions, observes, " if a joint be opened, the synovia escapes, the hard parts touch the inflamed surface, and frequently oc- casion death, or a stiff joint. The usual re- medies are, to rub the surrounding integuments with hot. oils, and blue vitriol; verdigrease, cor- rosive sublimate, and otlier caustic applications are often introduced into the cavity of the wound, and into the joint itself." The Pro- fessor, doubtless from inadvertence merely, omitted to add, that such was the practice of farriers, but by no means sanctioned by our best veterinary writers, who have directed a. treatment, in this case, the most guarded and judicious; making precisely the same com- plaints with himself. Gibson speaks amply of the danger from a gleet of the synovia; and Osmer, after reprobating the use of repellents and escharotics, warns us that " if the matter in this case be confined, or not well disgested, inflammation, tension, gangrene, fever, and |
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4-30 MICELLANEA.
death will certainly ensue." Bartlet was of
opinion, that the actual cautery is in general far superior to rowels, setons, and caustics, and regretted the prejudice against it in human pa- tients, through which, he observes, and pro- bably with justice, we fail of success in many obstinate cases. Poll-evil, akd Fistula in the Wi-
thers. Those generally arise from gross and brutal neglect, and would submit in their early stage to the usual repellents, hot vinegar, &c. with bleeding and cooling inte rnals. W hen the in- flammation increases, and it is obvious that matter is forming, forward with poultices, if necessary, arid wait until the abscess be thoroughly ripe, and fluctuating under the finger: then intro- duce one or more setons, from the up; er to the very lowest extremity of the tumour. This will succeed, and indeed make the best cure in a mild case; but in dangerous and inveterate ones, such as I have seen, would be a very feeble and deceptions method, as I have al- ready hinted; and on a reference, I find Dr. Bracken of the same opinion. When the ab- scess on the poll is opened, if there be matter on both sides, a depending orifice must be made in each. In the necessary operations- with the knife, great care must be taken that the muscles be not cut across, and particularly |
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miscellanea; 431
that the white line, cervical ligament, or as the
farriers call it, the fix-fax of the neck, be not wounded; and that the parts be preserved as much as possible from the air. Tie the horse's head high, by which the ligament of the neck will be slackened, and less exposed to danger, as the finger may be introduced under it. It is probable, that some operators in these cases, may have been too free with the knife, but it is equally true, that in foul and fistulous ulcers, in horses, no cure can be expected until the cor- rupt or callous flesh shall be extirpated, either with the knife or fire ; and that at last, there will be frequently such an overflow of greasy and gluey matter, as will blunt and render use- less the most potent corrosives, unless applied scalding hot. The Common Digestive for Ulcers^
Add to the general wound ointment, spirit of turpentine, or a few drachms of mastic and myrrh, in fine powder, or tincture of myrrh, Or use the following; common tar, two pounds; turpentine and honey, half a pound each; a dozen yolks of eggs ; melt, and when they are only milk warm, stir in one ounce best verdi- grease in fine powder, or an ounce or two of red precipitate; mix sufficiently long, that these last do not sink. Phagedenic Water to suppress fungous
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432 JflRffS*I>i9F&fe
flesh. Strong hme water, one quart; corrosive
sublimate, half an ounce; stir frequently seve- ral days, pour off clear, and add spirit of wine, eight ounces. Or, A strong solution of Ro- man vitriol and alum, in water. Cleansing Mixture inPoll-evil,oe
Fistula. Best vinegar and rectified spirit, half a pint each; white vitriol dissolved in a little water, half an ounce; tincture of myrrh, four ounces; shake when used. To be heated in a ladle, and the abscess washed with tow well soaked in it. Fill with tow, moistened in the mixture, or soaked in aegyptiacum, and oil of turpentine hot; and cover with tow soaked in vinegar and whites of eggs beat together; warm woollen over all. Scalding Mixtures. When all mea-
sures have failed to bring the ulcer to good con- dition, from its coldness, and the superflux of matter, scalding has generally been resorted to with success; but I think it ought not to be adopted in case of much inflammation. Corro- sive sublimate, verdigrease in. fine powder, and Roman vitriol pounded, two drachms each; green copperas, half an ounce ; aegyptiacum, two ounces; oils of turpentine, and train, or linseed oil, eight ounces each; rectified spirit, four ounces; mix in a bottle for use. Or. Verdigrease, half ah ounce ; oil, half a pint; 9 |
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MISCELLANEA. 433
C]i or turpentine, four ounces; of vitriol, two
ounces. First cleanse the abscess with spunge and vinegar, then pour in the mixture scalding hot, from a ladle with a spout; close the lips with stitches, and cover to remain several days ; if then the matter appear thick and good, no- thing farther will be needed than spirituous applications; if otherwise, the operation must be repeated; In a confirmed case of this kind, what would be the event of covering the ab- scess with a Burgundy pitch plaisterj making one or more setons, and turning the horse tipon a salt marsh ? To Promote the Growth of Flesh.
-Dragon's blood, bole, mastic, olibanum, and round birthwort, half an ounce each ; succo- trine aloes, one drachm and half; make am ointment with turpentine. Applications in Gangrene. After
the necessary scarifications, wash the parts with strong salt and water, and old verjuice, equal parts ; or, the nitrous acid ; or, camphorated brandy. Or. Boil the following in one gal- lon strong vinegar, to two. quarts—alum, one pound; copperas* half a pound ; verdigrease, fine powder, three ounces. Shake as you use it: if not sufficiently strong, add to each quart, Quicksilver, one ounce, dissolved in two ounces aquafortis. Foment and poultice, Dress with V°L. it. pf
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4"M MISCELLANEA.
basilicon four ounces; oil of turpentine, and
jegyptiacum, two ounces each, melted together. Bracken orders scarifications to discharge the ichor, but not to dissect the flesh, as Wallis as- serts in his Dispensary. Varicose Ulcers, or those '-among the
blood-vessels, must be bathed once or twice a day with warm fomentations of oak-bark, po- megranate flowers, red rose buds, alum, and ■white vitriol, boiled in vinegar. Fomentations, Discutient and Re-
pellest. "Worm woody southernwood, and camomile, two handfuls each ; bay and juniper berries bruised, one ounce each ; crude sal am- moniac and pot-ash, two ounces each ; boil in three quarts spring water to two; to every quart when used, add one pint spirit of wine camphorated. Drawing Applications. Arsmartand
brooklime, equal quantities. Just cover them mth stale urine, stop close some days. Boil for use,, and apply hot. This is said to be particularly efficacious in a sudden strain of the shoulder, with much tension and inflammations and may be applied in a kind of boot, wide at top, and fastened over the withers. Cata- plasm foii swellings. Black soap, yeast and honey, a quarter pound each, goose grease, q. s. ginger, fine powder, one drachm. |
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MISCELLANEA- 435
jOV. Solleysel speaks pretty much at
'arge of the prognostics to be drawn from the appearance, colour, and consistence of the blood in horses, and therein several of our •ors have copied him; but as far as I have observed, nothing in the world can be more fal- lacious, and in this opinion I am confirmed by the experienced Mr. Clark; who observes, that the blood of horses which labour hard, gene- rally appears of a darkilh, or deep red, and sometimes with a thick yellow, or buff crust; and that the blood of a sick horse will often have the appearance of one in fall health, and vice versa. This by way of caution, since the badness of the blood of their patients is such a common and alarming thing with our Cyclo- pian doctors. Fumigation for stables, after any infec-
tious disease, from Dr. C. Smyth. Immerse a tea-cup into a pipkin of heated sand, put into the tea-cup half an ounce of concentrated vi- triolic acid, gently heated, and half an ounce of pure nitre in powder. Stir them together. with a glass spatula^ until a considerable degree °f vapour arise. I formerly recommended Capt. Burdon's re-
cipe to preserve Steel from rust. On farther lr*al, I find it of no permanent use. Rotten Fi'2
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436 MISCELLANEA,
stone, scouring paper, dry keeping, and elbow-
grease, are the best known specifics. Passage op Horses by Sea. A person
who took a stallion over to America, upon deck, gives cautions against that as a very dangerous practice. Previously to {hipping horses, their shoes should be taken oft", and their toes short- ened. In a long passage they ought frequent- ly to have mashes; sometimes with brimstone and cremor tartar, equal quantities, mixed in them. Turning off. Much mischief, and even
litigation^ has arisen lately from errors in this particular. Be it remembered, that tall or large horses cannot subsist upon a short bite, for the plainest reasons; nor is poor winter grass sufficiently substantial for them. In these circumstances, it is necessary that such horses "be well filled twice a day from the crib. Hay. Salt strewed upon the MOW, when
making, about a pound to three hundred weight of hay (it is said) will correct the damp,, pre- vent mould, and render the hay more nutriti- ous and relishing. In anointing the hides of cattle, arm the.
hand with a bladder. |
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I 437 ]
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CHAP. XVI.
«N THE DISEASES OP HORNED CATTLE,
AND THE PROPER TREATMENT OF COWS AND CALVES. .HORNED and other cattle, are not subject
to that variety of diseases, and of untoward ac- cidents, which necessarily attends the superior luxury, and more frequent, and severer labours of the horse, hence probably those have not shared the equal attention of our modern vete- rinarians ; but since medicine is medicine still, to whatever creature it may be dispensed, whe- ther to horse or cow, to quadruped or biped, the ineffable burlesque of intrusting the pre- scription of it to farriers and cow-leaches, will no doubt soon be laughed off the stage. On this branch, however, had I room to
*pare, nothing can be expected in the present ^ork, beyond a general outline, and a few Practical hints, since I have written another ^eatise on the Diseases of Cattle. The en- |
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43S HORNED CATTLE.
quirer is referred to my General Treatise on
Cattle. In the ancient writers, scarcely any thing is
to be found, applicable to modern occasions, or the enlightened practice of modern times ; the same may be said of the books of our modern cow-doctors in general, those lame and imper- fect copyists of the ancients, which exhibit an uncouth and barbarous nomenclature of dis- eases, a vague and unintelligible pathology, ■with a medicinal catalogue, and method of treatment, perfectly congenial. Divers Italian physicians, both of the last and present century, have treated on the diseases of cattle,-but from what I have read in their works, I think I may venture to assert, that little to any beneficial purpose, is to be drawn from those sources. The various writers on black cattle and sheep, have been collated by Haller, and in the Giaur- P,al di Literati of Italy. Dr. Hale's Vegetable Statics may be consulted, and Dr. Layard be- fore mentioned ; for the rest, a practitioner must be guided by the analogy which holds in the diseases of the larger animals, and his own discriminating observations. Much the same methods of administration,
whether in regard to medicine, or the common operations, are in use amongst other cattle, as with horses; the same materia medka must be |
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HORNED CATTLE. 439
naturally common to both; and all those coarse
or insignificant vulgar articles, with which cow-drenches are stuffed, ought to be totally rejected, as of equivocal use, if not of pro- bable bad consequence. The doses for neat cattle seem not to have been hitherto properly Ascertained and apportioned ; but the little ex- perience I have had, leaxls me to suppose, that they require a less quantity of medicine in a dose, than horses, by about one third in gene- ral. Why balls are not given them as com- monly as to horses, I am ignorant. The medical aids generally required for cat-
tle, are of the relaxent and deobstruent species, with the occasional demand of cardials; agglu- tinants have little place here, the animals posses- sing the inherent quality of being fattened with their proper.food. The attempt to restore ani- mals in a cachochymic or consumptive state, by the help of medicine, would be most unpromis- ing • and the first end of such, will on calcula- tion be always found the best. When unthrifty animals have a fine silken and glossy coat, the true prognoscis is, that their viscera are un- sound ; and I have generally observed the liver of such to be of bad colour and consistence, and the lights adhering to the pleura, or tegu- ment of the chest; with a rough and staring --at, their ill habit may probably arise from |
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440 HORNED CATTLE,
internal obstruction on!}-, "which alterants or
purgatives may quickly remove. The Sturdy, or Turning-evil. See
Staggers in Horses. Foul ih the Foot, arises from want of
cleanliness. Prevent by constant attention. For cure, cleanse with bran and water boiled, •and lather of black soap. Use Bracken's Fis- tula water (Index.) Garget in the Maw, from swallowing
crabs, acorns, &c. See the same in Horses. Scouring in Cows. This is common
enough, and I have seen it continue so long for want of care, that the disease has been ir- remediable. Dr. Dowmng's prescriptions in this case, of turpentine, pomegranate powder, pipe-clay, oak-bark, verjuice, &c. appear to me very dangerous, and likely to lock up the offending matter in the intestines. This diar-. rJioea arises from various causes, to wit, change of diet, the solution of a cold, particularly after calving, or in travel across the country; lastly, it may be a symptom of rot, either from bad keep, or constitutional; this I think I have sometimes discovered by the hair pulling off, as from a glandered horse. Take it in time, and allow comfortable mashes with warm, dry, and generous keep. See the disease in Horse:;, It is called the ROT ia the North, |
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1 ,
HORNET) CATTLE. 4H
The Hoose, or Chronic Cough, This
in cows is often incurable. It usually proceeds from cold taken in calving, and cold and wet winter lying. For palliation, or cure, see bro- ken wind in Horses. Loss of the Cud, or Quid. By read-
ing the strange account of this indisposition in the old writers, one is Jed to suppose that the beast, through carelessness, drops something from its mouth, like a quid of tobacco, and lies down to mourn the loss of it: their remedies were equally satisfactory. You are directed to take yeast, clay, piss, salt, and the slaver of another beast, with which a new (mid, or ball, is to be made for the patient. The real cause, and remedy for this disorder,
are as follow: Cattle which ruminate, or belch up their food for mastication, are provided by nature with four stomachs; of these the rumen, or cud-bag, which receives the provender, is constructed with certain fleshy fibres, or con- tracting muscles, which by drawing and purs- ing it up, enable it to throw into the gullet and mouth, the crude aliment to be chewed over again. The defect exists in the laxity and weakness of those contracting muscles, and their consequent inability to expel the food for the purpose of rumination. This weakness piay arise from, various causes. The intention |
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442 HOAXED CATTLE.
of cure is to brace the fibres and strengthen
the system. Begin with warm mashes of bran and groutad oats. Give from four to six drachms, according to the size and strength of the beast, of the finest aloes and rhubarb, equal quantities; salt of tartar, half an ounce; ani- seeds powdered, one ounce; either in gruel, or beer warm. Good sweet hay, small quantities ■at a time. In two or three days, bark and gentian, half an ounce each; ground ginger a tea-spoon full, in warm ale, moderately sweet- ened, twice a day, to be continued awhile; or, .occasionally a decoction of horehound, chamo- mile, and carduus, sweetened: the very rough astringents, such as verjuice, oil of vitriol, alum, &c. used by cow-leaches in this case, are highly improper, and sometimes have fatal ef- fects. Clarke relates an instance of a horse being killed by a draught of vinegar. Hep Water, or Bioody Urine, oh
Foul Water, in Cows. Opium, sixty grains; with or without as much rust of iron; or thirty grains vitriol of iron to be given twice, a day, in a ball mixed with flour and water, and dissolved in warm ale: corn twice a day, and cover at night, if cold weather, Zoonomia, Vol II. p. 69- Gorged or Hoven, i. e. swelled with
over-feeding, either with green or dry food* |
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^ :^l
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HORNED CATTLE. 443
Bleed from three pints to four, and drive
about moderately. The case being slight, cither of the following drenches may succeed, without paunching. Glauber or Epsom salts, two to six ounces; syrup of buckthorn, if at hand, one ounce; nitre, one ounce; oil, half a pint: peppermint water, or gin, a quarter pint; ground ginger, q. s. in three pints warm whey or gruel. The addition of two drachms succotrine aloes in fine powder, will render this medicine more effectual. Or. Dr. Whytt's medicine, of Edinburgh, by which he saved eighteen hoven cows out of twenty. Gin, one pint, in the same quantity of water. When the affair appears dangerous, and the beast cannot stand, lose 110 time, but perform the simple and easy operation of paunching; viz. make an in- cision with a sharp knife, on the near side, about an inch and a quarter long, between the rib and hip-bone, three inches below the bones of the loin. In case of pregnancy great care must be taken. The wound may afterwards be healed with tar and spirits, or Friar's balsam. A farrier, in Sussex, lately took from the body of a cow near two bushels of indigested hay. Some insert a tube into the wound to conduct forth the imprisoned air; and Professor Munro of Edinburgh, invented a flexile one, to be Passed through the mouth into the stomach of |
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I
444 HORNED CATTLE.
either oxen or sheep, which may be had of
Mac Dougale, Oxford-street, London. This tube may be left in the stomach of the animal any length of time, being no hindrance to ■breathing; or any medicine may be injected through it. It is held a safer method than in- cision by Dr. M. Epidemics in Cattle; Pest, Mur-
rain, or Plague. See Horses. Dr. Lay- ard, our best, or rather only author on this subject, published his' book from Rivingtons, 1757- The doctor defines tlie distemper as a pestilential fever sui generis, peculiar to animals with horns, but uninfectious to alL others. Leonard Mascal, however, relates an anecdote in his clays, of an infected hide, carried on horseback to a tanner, which killed both man and horse, tanner and all: although such writers are little to be depended upon, one would suppose this to be too plain a case to be mistaken. The following is extracted from Zoonomia,
Vol. II. p. 249. The Vestis Vaccina^ or disor- der among the cows, seems to have been a contagious fever with great arterial debility, as in some of them, in the latter stage of the disease, an emphysema could often be felt in some parts, which evinced a considerable pro- gress of gangrene beneath the skin. In the |
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HORNED CATTLE;. A-4&
sensitive, ihirritated fevers of these animals, I
suppose about sixty grains of opium, with two ounces of extract of oak-bark, every six hours, would supply them with an efficacious medi- cine, to which might be added thirty grains vitriol of iron, if any tendency to bloody urine. To prevent the infection from spreading, an order from government, forbidding the removal of any cattle found within five miles of the place supposed to be infected, for a few days; until the ascertainment of the existence of the contagion by a medical committee: That being ascertained, all the cattle within five miles of the place to be immediately slaugh- tered, and consumed within the circumscribed district;, the hides to be put into lime-water before proper inspectors. See General Trea- tise on Cattle. Milch Cows and Calves. My small
dairy, for some seven or eight years, varied occasionally between two and ten cows: I shall present the reader with a few hints on the subject; in the obstetric part particularly, tak- ing the advice of Dr. Downing. Swelled Udder. Some cows are liable
to have the udder exceedingly swelled and in- flamed, a few days before calving. Milk the cow twice a day, and bathe the parts tho- roughly with camphorated spirit. It is an |
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446 HORDED CATTLE.
error to suppose milking a- cow before calv
is injurious. Chafing. Cows which are cat-hammed
and go close behind, are apt to chafe the udder and thighs: I have had them raw, and even ulcerated in those parts, emitting a very dis- agreeable stench. Wash twice a day with warm soap suds, and bathe with aqua vegeto and camphorated spirit mixed : or, for want of those, brandy alone. Chapped Teats. Were the consumers
of milk to witness the filth which is mixed with it, in this case, they would think less of the trouble of prevention. Instead of suppling the teat with warm milk as usual, which most pro- bably goes, filth and all into the pail, order a bowl of warm water for the purpose. After milking, use the mixture ordered for chafing. Avoid all greasy applications if possible ; if nots use elder ointment, or goose-grease, with a little ceruse mixed. In seven or eight days, the teats will be whole, and cleanliness may preserve them so. Cows are much more liable to danger in
parturition, than other brute animals, and their bodies at that time are exceedingly accessible to the impression of cold air. Warm shelter, if the weather be cold or wet. Comfortable |
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3
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HORDED CATTLE. 44 f
mashes, with gruel, and a quart of warm ale„
If cold be already taken, mis the size of a pigeon's egg of cordial bail, in the gruel; if that be not at hand, aniseed, half an ounce, i-n powder; two tea spoons of powdered gin- ger ; treacle, and the decoction of a handful of juniper berries, Keep the cow within untill well. Watch, and put the afterburden, or clean-
ing, out of the cow's reach, as their devouring it is sometimes attended with nearly as bad ef- fects as its retention : this last, J have some- times seen attended with fatal effects; and up- on dissection, the part remaining, has been found in a putrid state. The beast more usually lingers a great number of months. Symptoms, staring of the hair, falling away of the flesh, intermittent pulse, shuddering, coldness of the ears, fetid breath, knots in the mouth, general languor and debility. The old leaches called this " wethering." I have treated this malady successfully as follows : Warm lodging. Gentle currying and brushing, twice a day, permitting the cow to walk about in the day time, if fine. Good hay, mashes, cordial, &c. as before. In the morning fasting, the following mixture, in three pints strong decoction of pennyroyal, gruel, or ale: Elixir Projprietafis, compound tincture of castor, and Volatile Aromatic |
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44$, ' HORNED CATTT.-.
Spirit, of each a table spoonful or tSo
three successive mornings. Should the beast be costive, a single drachm or two of the finest aloes, in powder* may be added to one of the drinks. The alternate use of aloetics and cleansers of the womb, with cordials and tonics. Repeat occasionally, if needful. The cow to be sucked dry, not milked. For a violent puerperal fever* called by
Downing, dropping after calving, he advises the following medicine, in a decoction of fever- few, balm, and chamomile, to be repeated every twelve hours: Nitre powdered, two ounces J rub it in a mortar* with a tea spoonful of oil of vitriol; then add valerian, one ounce and half; snake-root, one ounce; treacle, half a pound. A pint of the decoction of the herbs, sweetened every two hours. Keep the cow warm with proper covering. Back-rake, if needful. Place her with the fore-parts ele- vated. Thick gruel or milk-pottage. Con- stant attendance night and day* Inward bruises, from extracting
the Calf. Spermaceti, and Irish slate, two ounces each ; Castile soap* and diapente, one ounce each, in a quaft of warm ale, daily. Or, the same made into balls with Venice tur- pentine. |
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HORNED dATTLE. 449
Warm water and mashes.
Want of Milk. The drink and treat-*
ment recommended in colds. Or, fennel, am~ seeds, and grains of paradise, two or three ounces, in warm ale, sweetened with Spanish juice; repeat. Veterinary Obstetrics. The dis-
ciples of Mauriceau, Bracken, Smellie, and Denman, need not be at a loss here to direct the operations of the leach or hind; analogy is a sufficient guide. Cows, particularly the Northern short-homed species, often need the assistance of the accoucheur. The natural presentation of the calf, is with its head and fore-feet, the nose between the feet, and the back upwards. Downing enumerates seven: preternatural positions: namely, 1st. Reverse presentation, or tail first. 2d. Fore-feet, no* head appearing.- 3d. Sidevvise, belly upwards, head reversed over one shoulder,legs appearing. 4th. Fore-feet, with head under the brisket- 5th. Head alone, or one fore-leg only, with it. 6th. Head and one leg, or head alone. 7th. Calf lying on its back, its four legs folded nearly together, and close up to the cow's hack, the head appearing, or doubled back, even with the ribs, on one side or other; one hind-leg, perhaps, presenting. General Rules. Timely assistance, be-
fore the cow is exhausted. Extraction never V0L, II. G ?•
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MO HORNED CATTLE.
to be attempted in an improper position. Supple
the hand and arm with warm water and fresh lard. Examination best made, the cow stand- ing, and in the interval of pains. In pulling at the feet, inclose the claws in the hand, that the horn may not bruise the cow. Navel string bursting, and the usual flux of blood, of no consequence. Instruments to be used only in the last resort, and by experienced and steady persons only. The proper hook is of hard iron, four inches long, with a loop for the cord at the straight end. In a Natxjral Position, if the cow should
want help, the position of the calf may be as- certained after the waters have been seen. A cord ought to be in readiness, to attach to the fore-legs, of the calf, in order to assist each natural exertion. The head to be kept clear of obstruction. Preternatural Position, No. 1, as
above. No attempt to turn the calf, this posi- tion being favourable for extraction, but use expedition, for fear it be suffocated. Press the haunches back with the palm of the hand, take hold of the bend of the hock of one leg, pull at it, and reach the foot; 'both feet may thus be brought forth. No. 2. Reduce the head to its proper situation, between the fore-legs, either by hold of the nose, or jaw-bone. A long arm is needful, which must be kept to the |
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HORNED CATTLE. 451
full extent in the body, that instant advantage
may be taken of every throe, the fingers being properly fixed.—No. 3. Gently move the calf back, and bring the head forth to the legs.—» No. 4. Push the calf back to find the head; pull at the nose : this requires address, but it is useless to employ force, until the head be in its proper place.—No. 5, and 6. Push the calf back against the shoulders and brisket; the feet will be found folded under the belly, brino- the feet forward, one at a time, the hand being gently placed on the bend of the knee. Should the head be too much swelled and bruised, to be returned, it must.bc skinned and amputated. Dissect in a straight line, from the poll to the nose, force the skin back over the first joint of the neck, divide the head from the body, push- ing the latter back to obtain hold of the knees. The loose skin must be previously wrapped over the ragged bone, and an assistant should have fast hold, in order to guide it clear of the haunch-bones of the cow; should it hitch there, put back instantly.—No. f. If one hind-leg appear, put it back : the calf cannot be brought forth with a hinder and fore-leg together, and the difference between the knee and hock, will be immediately discovered. The head being doubled back, must of course be reduced to its proper place. The cow c g 2
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45% HOBOED CATf£E,
beinp' stron"- and quiet, the business may be
effected with care and patience; but should the hook be positively necessary, hold mast be taken, either in the sockets of the eyes, cavity of the ears, or in the jaw. Keep steady until fair hold be taken.. The case of Dkofsy in the calf, will be sufficiently apparent by its preternatural size; use the knife carefully, should that be necessary, to pierce the belly of the calf.
Suckling. The common error of the
nursery universally prevails in the calf-pen. Calves are either allowed too much milk, oir their stomachs are o-vercharged with too greaS a quantity at a time; hence their digestive faculty is overpowered, thrift is impeded, and a state of disease induced, the most commoB symptoms of which are, alternate purging and eostiveness. Perhaps twice a day is too sel- dom, and it would probably pay the extra trouble, to suckle three times.: The calf kept so many hours from the teat, often, in winter- time, sixteen, greedily swallows an immense quantity of milk, sinks down to sleep* wakes •with the disagreeable consequences of an over- loaded stomach, bekhing up a scalding acid a liquor, and remains restless and bleating for a ' fresh 'supply and a repetition of the error, Many people milk the cow first, which as bad. |
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IJORNEB CATTLE. 453
practice, the last milk being the richest, and
tiot so proper for the calf. We have here the reasons for the frequent sourness of veal,, and for its producing curds and whey, instead of rich and wholesome gravy. Costive iff ess in Calves. Take the
" chalk from them. Give half an ounce, to an ounce of magnesia, with the same quantity of aniseeds powdered, in a pint of warm gruel, the powders being well mixed in it. This may he given occasionally? obstruction being a great enemy to thrift. Or. Rhubarb and magnesia may be given, equal quantities. I have repeatedly seen the good effects of this practice. Purging Calf. I must differ totally
from Dr. Downing in this case, for reasons already assigned. He advises for a dose, chalk, pomegranate, bole, and alum, to the? amount of four or five ounces. I have no idea that articles of that class, can do any thing but mischief to a sucking: animal. I would recommend rhubarb, and a table spoonful or two of peppermint water, in warm- ale. Ai- terward's, if necessary, two drachms of dia.s- cordium, in ale, for two or three days. Rice gruel. This failing to have an immediate good effect, the butcher's knife is the most profitable remedy.; |
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[ 454 ]
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ADDITIONS
TO THE
-.'HIRD EDITION.
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IMPROVEMENT OF THE BREED OF HORSES,
I HAVE already thrown out a few hints on
this topic, which has long engaged my atten- tion, and will now attempt to say something more conclusive. Our pretensions to superi- ority in horses, real use more especially consi- dered, do not rest on the sandy foundation of national prejudice; all foreigners, who have had the opportunity of comparison, assign the preference to the English horse, and the surest proofs pf it are the eagerness with which they seek him, and the high prices at which they are willing to purchase. This indeed has been the case from a very early period, and the con |
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IMPROVEMENT, &C. 455
sideration that our advantages have been de-
rived entirely from imported foreign breeding stock, and from the changes gradually wrought upon it in this country, must afford the most rational encouragement to persevere in our course of improvement, to adopt a more re- gular and systematic plan, until we approach the nearest possible stage to perfection. To remain stationary will be inconsistent with our high national reputation, and with a very im- portant national interest. We have already advanced, perhaps to the
ultimate point, in the objects of lightness, de- licacy, and sightliness of figure, for every pur- pose; our military horses, formerly of such pre- posterous and unwieldy bulk, are now generally as much reduced in size and weight, as is con- Sislent with the weight of which they ought to be completely masters, and no cavalry in Europe, I apprehend, could, at equal numbers, either stand the shock with the British cavalry, or escape their pursuit. This I believe to be con- ceded by the nations upon the continent. As to quick draught, we can scarcely refine higher, considering the great number of thorough bred cattle which are employed in that service, and the great portion of blood which is ia such Universal request,. Our cart horses likewise, |
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455 IMPROVEMENT Oi' THE
with the exception of the metropolis and those
counties whence it is supplied, are in general to the full as light, as is consistent with the animal weight required as a prime object in draught; and I have in a former chapter of vol. i8 where I had previously objected to the bulk and weight of the great horse of the mid- land counties, allowed his late improvement in shape and action. This universal adoption of a lighter species of horses, has probably been attended with the advantage of a saving in food, and undoubtedly contributed to the speed and convenience of our journeys, the lighter Ijorses being really able, without abuse, and even with facility, to make that dispatch, of which their heavy cart bred predecessors were totally incapable. I am yet far from being convinced, that a more square and substantial form of the horse for quick draught, would not he superior to the present hunting forms which we daily see upon the roads; equal, or even superior action in the trot, the only pace re~ quired, might be obtained in the former, with, superior powers of draught, an object surely of great consequence, from the immense, indeed, shameful loads, carried by our yet flying stage coaches, against which their light horses tugg with misplaced and inadequate ability. They |
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BREED OE HORSES. 457
drudge through their incessant and torturing
labours, it is true, but too many of them fall a premature sacrifice, both for the interest of humanity and the pecuniary interests of.their owners. I cannot better explain myself, per- haps, on my ideas of an advantageous form for quick draught, than by referring those who can remember thirty or five and thirty years past* to the fashionable gig mares of that period. Allowing our undoubted superiority, that
there have been English horses in every period*; within the last century, bordering on perfec- tion, and that at the present time, individuals are to be found approaching that character, m all the requisites of utility and beauty of form ; yet it must be conceded, that instances of high qualification, are rare, and that if a middling species for use and figure predominate, the number of those in the favour of which no- thing can reasonably be said,-is far too consider- able. This defect by no means originates in inferiority of size or of breed, but almost entirely in faulty conformation, with respect to those.- points most contributory to strength and ac-. tjvity, and also to symmetry and beauty of form. The notorious difficulty of procuring a, serviceable horse out of the immense numbers bfed- and exposed to sale in this country, and |
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458 IMPROVEMENT OF THE
the rarity of one of thorough shape and high
qualification, the capital prizes in this real lot- tery, entirely exempt me from the labour of proof. They have not in fact, formed an er- roneous estimate, who assert, that more sub- stantially useful and equally active horses, were to be found in the country, thirty years since than at present; and still in a greater degree, those of first rate qualities. There was in the hacknies of that day, a union of substance and action, which we do not so often witness at pre- sent, and which is perhaps now more readily to be met with in the hacks and hunters of Ireland; considerable annual importations of which have of late years occurred. Since the rage for a shew of almost thorough blood, as well for the barouche and curricle, as for the saddle, the views of our breeders seem entirely confined to figure and height; and this being jill which is required, for the ample, or rather comparatively excessive prices, which have been given of late years, it is not rationably to be expected, that the generality of breeders, whose prime object must necessarily be present in- terest will be at the pains of farther reflection, or of aiming at the change of a system, per- haps to them, the most productive, since the more slight and superficial in real goodness. |
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BREED OF HORSE S. 259
their stock, the sooner will it be torn to pieces,
rendered useless, and under the necessity of being replaced, to the obvious increase of de- mand, and continuance of high price. Here we have precisely, the old and univer-
sal case of an opposition of interests between the public and particular bodies of men, and in all such, I profess to write without a single reserve on the side of the public. It is the in- terest then, of the public and of those breeders of horses, who are emulous of serving the public •with honour and integrity, as well as from, mere motives of emolument, and the number of such must doubtless be considerable in our country, to aim at the attainment of solid and substantial qualities ii\ their stock, as well as the more superficial and attractive of external figure. The benefits which would thence re- sult to the public are numerous, of the highest importance, and the detail will be gratifying to the heads and hearts of those who delight to contemplate, although at a distance, pro- spective plans for the promotion of human en- joyment, and the alleviation of animal misery. The more substantial and accurate in symme-
try, the conformation of the animal destined to labour, but more especially to that labour in which speedy action is required, with so much |
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-160 1MPROVEMESTET OP THE
the greater facility, and proportionally less in-
jury, will the animal perform his task. Were any elucidation of this position necessary, the following must be obvious to all who are ac- customed to witness English post work. A pair of horses shall start in a chaise, the one with a shoulder calculated for expedition, sub- stantial loins, and so favourably formed in the lower extremities, that he never knocks or cuts a hair, but from accident. His partner, with defec- tive shoulders, a loose middle piece, and his lower joints so badly formed, that he wounds one or other of his legs, at almost every stroke. Sup- pose the pace required to be from eight to ten miles per hour, throughout a stage of fourteen *>c fifteen mites; after the first burst of five or six miles, the inferior horse whose rate is pro- bably insufficient for the speed required, begins to run distressed, and? his distress must increase every yard afterwards; he hacks and wounds his legs, scours and wastes his- substance in feint sweats, and horrid to relate, although abominable custom has taken all horror from the sight, the utmost tortures of the whip and goad, must supply natural want of ability, and the unfortunate creature must undergo the most cruel punishment for the crime of natural de- fect. In the- mean time, the well formed horse, |
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BREED OP HORSES. 46l
runs through his stage with ease, even uncon-
cern, and if his driver chance to possess common sense, little or no abuse. The stage finished, the one eats his corn with an appetite and with due nourishment, whilst the other droops his wretched head, dissolves in sweat at every pore, and if he feed at all, mumbles over -and swallows his food as it were mechanically, ac- quiring little nourishment or vigour therefrom, Under an unremitting course of severe labour, for which he is so ill calculated, he soon sinks heart-broken, his lacerated body bearing the marks of the tortures he has endured. One well shaped horse will often outlast three of four of the above description, notwithstanding the best horses have always imposed upon them an extraordinary share of the common labour. The analogy holds in proportion with slow draught. A compact and well-formed cart horse will move a given weight with far greater dispatch and less injury to his powers, than one with narrow, defective loins, and long legs. Humanity is thus powerfully interested, in
promoting the improvement of the English horse, from which such severe services are re- quired, as also is every class of proprietors, in regard to their profit and convenience. I do not wish to encourage the expectation, that a-ja |
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'46^ IMPROVEMENT OF THE
improvement in the breed of horses would ren-
der a less number necessa^, but that a superior form would enable the animals to execute their labour with greater ease and less injury, whence an immense national saving would accrue, from the greater quantity of labour which might be obtained at the same expence of keep; and there is a farther consideration of high conse- quence, that horses generally go with safety as ■well as speed, in proportion to the just form and position of their shoulders; thus even the risks of riding on horse back, may be greatly reduced by improvement in the form of the horse. '■ ; Having generalized thus far, the remainder
of my task consists in pointing out specifically the defects to which I have alluded, their pro- bable remedy, and its means of attainment. The most material defects of horses, in
■which well-placed substance and unembar- rassed action, are the prime requisites, will be found as follows: Abrupt setting on of the head.
CREST REV EFvSED, OK SUBSTANCE OF THE
NECK BELOW. SHOULDERS OF INSUFFICI- ENT COMPASS, DEPTH AND SUBSTANCE, OR UPRIGHT, INSTEAD OF DECLINING TO- WARDS THE WA.ISTj OR GROSS AND HEAVY, |
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-breed. of h0r3es. 465
girth too narrow, in proportion to
the size of the horse, want of width and substance in the loins, fre- quently with the appearance of a sinking or cavity across the fillets, defici ency ofwidtii or extension of the hinder quarters; the, hinder approaching nearer to each other than the fore feet. want of sub- stance in the leg bones. crooked- ness in the hocks and pastern joints., faulty position of the feet, the toe, being turned either outward or in- WARD. For a more enlarged account of the defects
of horses and comments thereon, the reader will return to the first volume; the above may be held the most signal and original. It will, be immediately obvious that the remedy must lie in an improvement of our breeding system. horses being bred without, as well as with the enumerated defects; and the most ample and long tried experience being at hand, to vouch for the success of judicious measures, in the at- tainment of the end proposed. The basis of change or improvement in the
animal form, is the old axiom that like pro- duces like. This we witness primarily, in ge* |
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4fj4 IMPROVEMENT Of THE
nus, species, and variety ; for example, the con-
junction of horse and mare, produces a horse or mare ; of a thorough bred horse and mare, a thorough bred foal; of a thorough bred horse, and cart mare, a half bred foal, and so on in endless variety. To a certain degree, the same effects follow, in regard to the animal constitution and external form, the produce following the resemblance, and inheriting the merits and defects of the sire and dam. Yet all these may be modified, and some of them neutra- lized by gradation or opposition of form and qua- lities in the parents. A hot tempered horse and mare will produce stock of a similar disposition, and even such disposition in the stallion alone, has run through many generations. A trot- ting stallion, that is to say, one properly formed to excel in that pace, will get trotters, if there be no very considerable countervailing property in the mare ; but should her form equal that of the horse, very high qualifications might ra- tionally be expected in the produce. Atten- tive breeders are well aware how even marks and peculiarities from both sire and dam, de- scend to their progeny. There is a stallion covering at this time, or was very lately, the foals Of which are all crooked in the knees. Some are remarkable for getting stock with 1
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BREED OP HOUSES. 465
strong and sound feet, others for the reverse;
and I have heard of a horse in the north, the progeny of which were almost invariably sub- ject to defective frogs and running thrushes, one example of which, indeed, involved me in no little trouble. The truth of these observations will be ac-
knowledged, or rather cannot be controverted ; but it is pleaded, that like frequently fails to produce like. Is it then strange that general rules should be occasionally accompanied with their exceptions, or that failures should be ex- perienced in this world of uncertainties ? A husbandman shall prepare bis land with the greatest judgment, sow the best seed, exhibit the most sedulous after-tillage, and yet reap an inferior crop; which is yet no proof that such measures are not the best adapted to the attainment of success; for the truth is, they are not only,' in a general view, the best as- surance of success, but they form the only road "which leads towards perfection. Thus, if the cattle breeder who proceeds upon the principle that like produces like, is successful generally and upon the average, and this has never failed "within my knowledge, he will succeed in this, with an equality of success experienced in every other species of human projection. What vol. II. H h
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466 IMPROVEMENT OF THE
ground then of dissatisfaction, or what more
can be reasonably expected? A slight view of the matter, which, indeed
it is strange should have been so long over- looked, will demonstrate a very palpable error in the common notions of horse breeders on this point. They expect from a misplaced analogy with cattle improvement continued through a course of years, that the male should do all, and in one cross, the work of one year, fully impress his image and likeness. But to confine ourselves simply to the position of like producing its like, two can, or rather must play at this game, and a true shaped stallion shall procreate a foal of a form far inferior to his own, and nevertheless like may have pro- duced like in a very precise degree. Because the position must of necessity relate to the female, as well as the male. The stallion may have a good shoulder and loin, and stand clear and straight upen his legs, the mare in some, gt all of these important points, may be totally deficient. In such conjunction, the utmost that ought to be expected, is a iertium quid, the foal^ partaking in certain degrees, of the perfections of the sire, and the imperfections of the dam ; were it otherwise, and should the produce equal the [perfection of the sire, like would not have pro- |
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3
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BREED OF HORSES: $W
duced like. The ancient breeders seem to have
judged more comprehensively in the case, from Blundeville's statement, that, most commonlie such sire and dam such colt: a position, in all probability, by him derived from earlier times. The above facts* for tbey stand on the ground
of experience* elucidate the necessity of that attention to the form and qualities of the mare, which I have so often endeavoured to incul- cate, and which, in our common breeding sys- tem, is so universally neglected. Nor will the correctness of the assertion be doubted, that to expect thorough shaped produce, without the aid of a thorough shaped mare, as Well as horse.* would be equally futile* as to hope for a racer from a mare but half or three parts bred, an occurrence of one it| the thousand, and an exception to the general rule. Let me be understood fully to acknowledge
the lusits and caprices of nature and chance, in the affair of procreation, and this chance we can Neither analyze nor controul. From the sexual conjunction, a monster may be the result.' No Certainty or even probability can be arrived at* whether the produce shall be male or female, although the ancients supposed that circum- stance to be a contingent on the bodily condi- tion of the parents, and that the stallion being in high vigour, and the mare in low plight, a h h 9,
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468 IMPROVEMENT OP THE
colt foal would be the result, and vice versa.
It is again, the general idea, that the produce always bears most resemblance to the male, both in form and qualities, an opinion which ought to be received with much greater re- serve, than it universally is, which universality has no small share in confirming the opinion, by rivetting the attention, as it were, almost entirely to the male, and by the circumstance, that the male is necessarily of the greater con- sequence. But my observations through a course of years, of considerable length, upon the human animal, horned cattle, horses, and poultry, have a tendency to shew, that upon an average, the progeny resembles both sire and dam, in an equal degree, either by a mixture and union of qualities, or by intire resemblance in particular parts, or by the chief resemblance of the male at one birth, and of the female at another. Occasionally, a strong resemblance of the grandsire, or even of a more remote an- cestor will occur, and I have, within the pre- sent month, seen a hunting mare, so truly the picture ofjOld ilcgulus, and a gelding so ex- tremely like the portrait of Chikiers, that it is almost impossible to form a doubt, of their des- cent. According to the portraits, Second by Chikiers, took his form almost intirely, from Basto, his maternal grandsire ; and if my me- |
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BREED OF HORSES. 46p
mory be correct, it was Tulip by Damjper, of
which, on viewing her, I made a similar ob- servation. This likeness to ancestors, I have no doubt, has given rise to the absurd notions of superfetation in sows and bitches, experi- ments relative to which I have repeatedly made, with all possible accuracy. The circumstance in this case, of the male or female being of a mixed breed, may not have been observed. Mr._Tattersall lately related to me the curious feet, that neither Highflier, nor Sir Peter, ever .Jgot a chesnut foal, notwithstanding that marry -chesnut mares must have bred- by them, yet Highflier got various colours, even to pye-balls. There is yet a host of probable causes of failure, many of which may be discovered, if they are not so easily obviated. In the choice of breeding stock, external conformation, ap- parent qualities, and actual performances, are our only rule, which to speak technically, we must take with all faults, namely, its excep- tions. The common failure then, of like producing
like, or rather of the produce proving equal to its sire, which is generally better shaped than the dam, ought in reason to be attributed to the inferiority of the latter, and no man will pretend to question the probability of success, fronj a union of thorough shapes in both, far |
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470 IMPROVEMENT OF THE
less to assert an equal chance, -with inferiority
on the female side. Had a breeder bis choice of two mares at an equal price, where is he, who knowing the difference, would prefer the worst shaped—would choose in preference nar- row quarters, cat-hams, upright shoulders, and crooked posterns ? I may be laughed at here, as combatting giants of my own manufacture, and elucidating sunshine, but the ridicule will not proceed from those, who have seen such brood mares as have often come under my in- spection. Among the obvious probable causes of
failure, excluding pure and unaccountable lusus naturae, are certain internal and constitutional inaptitudes for procreation; for an animal may be of fair external form, and yet prove either barren, or inferior for the purposes of the stud. Too lavish a use of the powers of the stallion, must also assuredly abridge his capacity of stamping a whole length of his image in full perfection of size and form, and vigour. The uncertainty of the business of the stud has been fully experienced upon the turf. It has often happened, that of two full brothers, one shall race capitally, and the other in a very in- ferior form, or even with so little demonstra- tion of speed, as absolutely not to be worth the expence of training. I yesterday viewed a, |
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BREED OF HORSES. 471
horse which is an instance of the latter; and the
reason appeared to me, to consist in his too shallow jjjirth, and great length of leg; his sire,_ probably, not being in so hearty, or jit a state,_ foi, procreation, on the leap for him, as forjijs. Jbrother, or the_j)Owers of jhisdam be^ng -i^ «■ declining state. Racers of the highest form, occasionally prove very indifferent, or perfectly useless stallions, however fit for procreation, and certain foal getters. Snip by Flying Childers, was a middling racer, but proved a stallion of high repute, Gimcrack was a capital racer, yet totally worthless as a turf stallion, and Garrick by Marske, out of thejdam of JEJchpse, was good for nothing either upon the turf or in the stud, Again, it has happened to our most successful stallions, to fail entirely, in the worth of their progeny, at some particular pe» riod. The case is obviously too complicated for the controul of human skill and industry, but there is still left to the turf breeder, a mode which may be styled the right, since it seems to be the only one sanctioned by reason and experience ; to concentrate, as far as he is able, in his breeding, all the known requisites. Failures, one would suppose, must usually pro- ceed from the inferiority of the mares, yet that such has not been always the cause, has been suf- ficiently proved. To produce perfection, is too |
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4?2 IMPROVEMENT OP THE
great an effort of nature, for frequent repeti-
tion, and the union of a number of properties bordeiiog on perfection, with respect to them- selves, is necessary to complete the racer; no wonder so few excel, among so many bred. The risk and uncertainty however, in breeding for other purposes, are by no means so great, since whenever size, figure and a moderate share of symmetry are obtained, the breeder's end is at least profitably, if not completely an- swered. I have adverted in my other works, the Ge-
neral Treatise on Cattle, and in the History of the Horse, with plates, to the advantages gained by crossing forms, a variety in which nature ever delights. For example, in the union of the long and loose, with the short and compact, and in general, the counteracting defects on one side, by their opposites on the other, the efficacy of which will seldom fail to appear, in the particular improvement re- quired. This, in my opinion, is one of the most important species of crossing. An attentive, perhaps, no very long cause of breeding after this mode, since we at present possess much good stock to work upon, would infallibly pro- duce a race of thorough shaped nags, and in- creasing improvement would annually diminish the difficulty of obtaining good models; but |
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BREED OF HORSES. 473
skill, persevering industry, and not the least
qualification, an adequate portion of enthusiasm in the cause, are indispensable. Such under- takings are not calculated for that common race, whose sole ambition is turning the present penny. It was the opinion of Osmer, whom I have
so often quoted, with respect, as one of my masters, that the matter of external conforma- tion has ever been too little regarded even upon the turf, where blood, or rather fashion- able blood, is all in all. This error, for such I am convinced it is, subsists in full force at the present moment. It is an old maxim, to back the. winning racer, and the idea is always car- ried into the stud, where the blood of the win- ning racer is backed until it prove no longer worth backing; it then ceases to be fashion- able. Without denying the real genuineness and superiority of blood in certain of our old stallions, the founders of celebrated breeds, since I am fully convinced of their existence, I must still insist, experience has proved, that we carry such ideas to their useless extreme. I had touched on this point before, and have rea- son to believe, that the late_ ^uimej^-hifnjy^ the jockey, with whom I had some communica- tion by letter, two or three years since, agreed with me thereon, as well as on the yet too pre- |
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474 IMPROVEMENT OP THE
valent error of over training; and on the more
just and favourable treatment which I claimed for the race-horse, Upon the average it will appear, if not in-
variably, that our great racers have owed their superiority to the excellence either of some important point of external form or an as- semblage of such, and that the failure of our presumed best bred horses has originated in a similar defect. If this has not been always apparent, neither has always a minute scrutiny taken place. As Osmer said of his time,, the general reason assigned for a failure, is* thf. blood did not nick : the easiest logic in the •world. Another consideration is, that putting entire new blood out of question, all the pre- sent breeds must in the cqurse of years and of crossing, have a plentiful infusion o£_the most valuable blood, namely, from the Rverlcy _Turk, the ^Darfey, AJcock, and Godolphiq Arabians, and others of the highest form as stallions. That a thorough shaped horse or mare of any reputed breed, must, one would suppose from reasons grounded on experience, be far superior to any of inferior shape, al- though sanctioned by the opinion of fashion- able blood. To put an end to all difficulty in the case, and in a way in which even the fa- vourite opinion may be retained, let as much at- |
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BREED OF HORSES. 4J3>
Mention be paid to external shape, as to the
blood of the racer. Such a plan must not only, in all proba-
bility, increase the number of good racers, and contribute to the facility with which they perform their labour, but also render thena much better adapted and more useful in other services, in course, of greater worth, on dis- posal. Crookedness in the lower joints of racers, has been a too general turf opprobrium, which must of necessity, detract, in a certain degree, both from the strength, and velocity of the animal machine. Whether Osmer's plan of setting the feet of racing foals in the stocks, as we are accustomed to do with our children at the dancing school, would succeed, I have never yet assayed, although I have been some times strongly tempted thereto ; but I think more care ought to be used to obviate this de- fect in the choice of breeding stock; for al- though it be deemed the mere effect of debility, that originates in the parents of the foal, and even independently of debility as a cause, I believe such and other defects to be propagated from sire or dam. The rigid notions of the necessity of crossing
the racing breeds, one with the other, and the panic of even making an approach to the sys- tem of breeding in and in, which we have so |
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47-6 IMFEOVEMENT OF THE
successfully practised in cattle breeding, have
probably been a great bar to the improvement of external form in the racer. Certain breeds have long been supposed as the_ bestjcross Jqt each other ;:feffjeateBple, the de^ejad;an_ts_ of the Darley Arabian with those of the Godot- j)jiin, and the idea is well founded; we have in all likelihood obtained great speed from the one and stoutness from the other: but as I have observed above, the idea has been abused by .excess, nor is there any sufficient reason grounded on experience, that for the sake of form, size, or other requisites, a horse and mare may not be united, although both may descend from the same original stock, the blood varied, beside as it must have been in its course, or even should they be full brother and sister. The prevailing opinion on this head will best appear from the following fact: a cer- tain famous mare, the property of a great and respectable breeder, has hitherto been unsuc- cessful in the stud, yet I fear I have not .suc- ceeded in my request, to have her tried next season with an excellent stallion, merely, be- cause he chances to be out of the same dam with the mare, yet their sires stand in those distinguished crosses, the Godolphin and Dar- ley Arabian. |
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BIIEED OP HOUSES. 477
I will now speak of that which appears to me
the most probable plan, for superinducing a general improvement in the external form and the limbs of our English horses, upon the principles already discussed, all that is wanted to render them complete. The first step undoubtedly is, for our great
turf breeders and landholders to take the lead, not confining themselves entirely to breeding for the turf, but setting the best examples to inferior breeders, by an annual exhibition of specimens of every variety of the English nag, bred from selected stock, and according to the truest principles in their judgement. I have too often expatiated on the advantages accru- ing to the nation, from our numerous agricul- tural societies, for a repetition to be necessary here; and shall only say, that I believe these societies to be also the best means and con- ductors of that improvement which is my pre- sent theme. Many of those societies have al- ready been long and laudably engaged in this way, as far as relates to cart horses, their at- tention would be at least equally useful, with regard to the other varieties of the horse, for which no possible substitute can be fouud ; and the magnitude of importance in the subject, deserves a thorough, unremitting^ and precise attention. |
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4?S IMPROVEMENT OF THE
New motives, an additional stimulus to ac-
tion, are wanted for the common breeders of horses, who are at present perfectly well satis- fied with breeding a large horse, and obtaining a. large price for him, the correctness of his form, or whether he go right, of wrong end foremost, making the smallest part of said breeders consideration. And happily, there are. motives which will stimulate men to new and beneficial action ; such as the example of su- periorsi the reason of the thing made plain to every comprehension^ emulation, reward, the thirst of distinction. lice tibi erunt artes. Such &re the tools for patriots, labouring in the service of their country, to work with; new ideas, and re- flections may* and have been propagated, with new breeds of cattle, and new practices of hus- bandry, in minds which never reflected before. The enticing farmers from their secluded haunts and indolent habits, and collecting them in so- cieties, where they had the opportunity of hearing that there were other practices beside their own, and of being convinced that such, although to them novelties, might be deserving of their attention j have laid the foundation and reared the superstructure of our modern agri- cultural and veterinary improvements; it is time that this of which I speak? should have its due share of attention. |
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BfcEED OF HORSES. . 4<7§.
The French have of late years formed so-
cieties in different parts of their country, with this view, and premiums have been instituted for the best shaped horses for various purposes* not however with any great encouragement to proceed, there being but little information, I apprehend, on such subjects, in that country. I have long been of opinion, that a liberal dis- tribution of premiums in all our horse districts* would have the best effects, and that it might be highly useful to establish horse shows in the metropolis, upon the plan of the cattle shows. This last indeed, was brought to my recollec- tion, by Mr. Longman, M. P. for Maidstone, who at Lord Somerville's cattle show, remarked to me, he thought, considering the immense numbers of bad horses with which the public stables are crowded, that a horse show, with premiums, was equally necessary. I must candidly own however, that having proposed the subject to several persons of rank, and to Mr. Tattersall, they did not altogether con- cur in the probable ; utility of horse shows in London; Mr. Aldridge of St. Martin's Lane, on the other hand, inclined to think, they might contribute much to the desired improve- ment, of the necessity of which he expressed shimself fully convinced; adding in an appror |
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480 IMPROVEMENT OF THE
priate style, ' the best English horse now is art
Irish one.' The plan and organization of a society for
animal exhibition, being so familiar in this country, it is scarcely necessary to repeat, that the funds must be raised by subscription and by admission money, and that a president would be required, m the person of some Nobleman or Gentleman breeder, or con- cerned in horses, to continue in that office three years. The premiums to extend from twenty to fifty or even four-score guineas, and their adjudication to be intrusted to an equal num- ber of horse-breeders and dealers. The situa- tion of the show to be as centrical as possible in the metropolis, time of the year, the spring, the best adapted period of which would pro- bably be, the three or four days immediately succeeding Lord Somerville's cattle show, from the obvious convenience to country visitants to have the two exhibitions together. ARRANGEMENT OF PREMIUMS.
For the best shaped hack or hunter.
For the best shaped coach horse, of the first
class. For the best shaped horses for the various
purposes of quick draught, |
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EEEED OF HOUSES,
For the best shaped stallion to get hacks,
hunters, and horses for quick draught. For the best shaped brood mares for the
above purposes. The above is merely an outline, which may
be varied into any necessary subdivisions; the grand object, attention to correctness of form in all. The effect would be an assemblage every year of the finest nags produced in the country, and the plan being successful, the pleasure and profit of gradual improvement* Those who are ambitious of possessing horses of the highest form and qualifications, would have a certain resource for purchase, and the pos- sessors of such the most advantageous market, exclusive of the object of a premium. If the show of stallions and brood mares be thought rather appropriate to the country than the Me- tropolis, at any rate, it might be patronized with effect by country societies. Were such prices as the following given in
consequence of superior shape, by no means always the case, it would surely be the only stimulus needed by the breeder. Intelligence from the late Horncastle fair stales* that five horses there purchased, were sold to the Prince of Wales at one thousand guineas. That no capital hacknies could be bought under one hundred and fifty guineas each; and that such li
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482 SMITIIFIELD.
■was the demand for all descriptions, particu-
larly those calculated for military service, that nearly all the purchases made at Horncastle, were resold in a few days to great profit. SMITIII'IELD.
This topic found its way incidentally, into
the first volume, where, p." 107, the reader will see my prediction relative to the removal of the market, which has been lately fulfilled. An additional market however has been established at Paddington, which, considering the com- paratively small quantity of cattle furnished to the Metropolis, by the western and southern counties, is a very trifling, or no relief at all to Smi'thfield. Nothing has occurred to induce me to change a tittle of my first opinion of the necessity, the propriety, the common decencjr, not only of removing the market for live cattle, from a populous city, but also of the slaughter- ing houses, the custom of using which, in any town whatsoever, must disgrace a people which does not consist of ignorant savages. On discoursing the subject of removing
Smithfield market, with a common council man, he told me, with becoming decision, that no mm but a fool, could entertain such au |
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SMITHPIELD.
idea; for, continued he, why do men submit to
be cooped up in cities, but to get money, the grand object? True, my friend; but they whose pecuniary feelings are interested in con- fining Smithfield market to that spot, bear about the same relation in ncimber, as that spot does in magnitude, to the rest of the metro- polis ; and the removal is grounded on prin- ciples of lawful expedience. My reader has been informed by the periodi-
cal prints, that Sir Joseph Banks, a patriot ever on the watch to forward measures which may tend to the public interest, introduced the proposal for the removal of Smithfield market, at the last year's cattle shew, when it was pa- tronized by Lord Somerville, and the whole body of landholders, graziers, breeders, sales- men, and butchers assembled, and by a con- siderable number of Smithfield residents; Sir Joseph Banks remarked, that the extent of the market remained the same, as in the days of William the Conqueror, notwithstanding that cattle, sheep, and pigs were now annually sold there to the amount of five millions in value. The Right Honourable Baronet might have said with the utmost truth, that the present is not a twentieth part of the extent of $rnith> field, in those early days; and in perfect unison with the absurd and bizarre feelings of the op- I \% |
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484 SMITHTIELD.
ponents of removal, the dimenfions of the
market have contracted in a ratio with the enlargement of the metropolis ! ' I shall take leave to remark, that this sub- ject was not afterwards debated with that gra- vity and attention, which its real consequence demanded, and that the project was dismissed, from an undue complacence to petty and con- temptible private interests, so often the bane of public spirited measures. It is but just how- ever to acknowledge, that the application to Parliament was premature, in respect to the un- certainty of obtaining a fit place for the pro- posed new market, an error which will doubt- less be avoided on a future occasion. From about the year 1777, I have been in
the occasional habits of visiting Smithfield mar- ket, either on business, or from motives of ob- servation ; but my opinion on the present sub- ject has been materially formed on the judg- ment of my old and worthy friend Mr. Justice Cotterill, whose experience will be universally acknowledged. I have before me a letter from Mr. Cotterill, inclosing a copy of one by him sent, Jan. 10, 1809, to the Lord Mayor, his ticular friend, both which at large, on ac- count of the spirit of humanity and real utility which breathes through them, are highly de- serving of a place here, could I possibly spare |
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SMITHFrELD. 485
the room. The substance of them hereafter
follows. After touching on the damage received by
the various species of live stock from defect of accommodation in Smithiield, and the dangers incurred, both there, and in the metropolis at large, proceeding to the topic of humanity, Mr. Cotterill observes to me, I know you feel for all animals, which are unnecessarily pained by the damned cruelty of mankind, and have, on every occasion in your power, endeavoured to prevent it. A particular in- stance of cruelty, is the necessary result of want of room in Smithiield, on every full market. Forty or fifty oxen are driven into a heap, and their heads being forced as close as possible together, the points of their horns are liable to be constantly running into the eyes or other parts of each; to bring them into this collected state, requires much abuse and beat- ing about the head, a barbarity which must be repeated in order to separate them, every time a butcher wants to handle the fore quarters, and again when it becomes necessary to turn out those which are sold. Thirst is another cruel infliction upon the cattle, more particu^ larly during the heat of summer; perhaps after having been stinted on the road, they are tied "p from twelve to sixteen .hours at market, |
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ic6 SJIITHFIELD.
without a drop of water, a deprivation, which,
it is supposed, greatly contributes to that wild-
ness and fury which seizes on many when let
loose.
Mr. Cotterill proposed to the consideration
of the Lord Mayor, the removal of Smithfield market to a spot selected by De Lolme, who I have been informed, about thirty years since, published a tract on this subject, The scite is on the northern side of the road leading from Islington to Battle-Bridge. Maiden-Lane to be the western boundary of the market; the acclivity towards the White Conduit House, to be the eastern ; the \ r^ediate space being about four hund , with a bound- less scope of count)'} . • -n . u ward, assuring
the advantage, of not ig in a few years pro- bable to be inclosed bv buildings. The far greater proportion of oxen and sheep
for the supply of the metropolis, is driven from the northern counties, those furnishing proba^ "hly an equal or greater quantity of cattle than the aggregate of all the rest of England. These are rested, the evening preceding the market at, and in the vicinity of Islington, that is to say, in immediate proximity to the very spot proposed for the new market. Cattle from the western counties would be
driven by the Marybone road, entering the |
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SMITIIFIELD. 487
new market by Maiden-Lane, instead of their
present dangerous rout through the streets of London; those from the eastern by Bethnal Green and the City Road, entirely avoiding the streets; the southern droves, being under the necessity of crossing the town, so long as there shall be no market on that side, would yet have the narrowest part of London to cross, with the choice of Goswell Street, St. John^s Street, Bagnigge Wells Road, and Gray's-Irm Lane. Purchasers residing in the east, west, and
northern parts of the town, might drive their cattle home by the City Road and New Road, the cattle proceeding by the streets nearest their places of destination, instead of being- driven entirely through the streets to the two extremities, to the infinite annoyance and dan- ger of the inhabitants. Troughs to be fixed for a supply of water to
the cattle, the expence of which is beneath no- tice in so great and important a concern, and when both humanity and profit are taken into the question. In the extent of the ground to be purchased,
a prospective view to be had to the improving state of agriculture, the cultivation of waste lands, and increase of cattle necessarily conse- quent on the progressive demand, which must |
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488 SMITHFIELD.
be expected from the vast advancement of po-
pulation in the metropolis. Hence the ex- pedience of obtaining in the first instance, a quantity of ground considerably beyond the im- mediate demand; which would be sure to ad- vance greatly in value, and the surplus might be let to tenants at will, to be resumed when wanted. From motives of humanity and safety, no
beast ought to stand loose in the market, and a clause in the proposed act is absolutely ne- cessary, to compel the tying up and confining every beast exposed to sale; and also for the complete separation of every distinct species. Such were Mr. Cotterill's sentiments, pre-
viously to the public agitation of this question, and in a farther and very important particular, I also most heartily agree with him. Observ- ing on the possibility of so strong a future op- position to the removal of the market from gmithfield, as to render the measure Imprac- ticable, he recommends an application to Par- liament, by the country interest, joined with that in the metropolis, entertaining congenial iments, for a new or competition market on the spot already mentioned, to be named .New Smithfield. Ample subscriptions would no doubt be raised for such purpose. Indeed putting every idea of humanity beside the ques- |
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SMITHFIELD. 4S§
tion, the interests of both town and country
loudly demand an increase of market room; and with respect to the latter, it is often ab- solutely impossible to show the cattle to ad- vantage, or even to find place to shew great part of it at all, a heavy disadvantage to the proprietors of cattle from the distant counties. It is however to be hoped, that the renewed application .to Parliament for the remoi'al of the market, will be attended with success, and that the party in the city, which was lately averse to the measure, having since had time for more mature reflection, will attend to the arguments of the patriotic Alderman Wood, to whom this cause of humanity has from its commencement, been so essentially obliged. Neither the pecuniary interest of a few inha- bitants of Smithfield, nor the extreme delicacy and fastidiousness of a small number of resi- dents in the vicinity of Gray's-Inn Lane, will surely continue of paramount consequence to the interests, safety, and convenience of the mass of inhabitants of the whole metropolis, to those of humanity itself. As a resident in the environs of the town, and a frequent perambulator of the streets, I must acknow- ledge myself in that degree, an interested pleader. A few years since, in the neigh- bourhood of St. Martin's Lane, with well |
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490 ACCIDENTS.
timed agility, and more presence of mind than
is usually at the command of the studious, at least of myself, I avoided the horns of a Hio-h- land Scot, apparently as sharp as a dirk. I won, I. should conceive, by less than half a yard. The year after, my wife, in an advanced stage of pregnancy, had a very narrow escape from an over driven and frightened animal of the same description. Such examples however, of inferior folk, will be thrown quite into the back ground, when I can add, that at about the latter period, a maid of honour was ac- tually tossed, and at the extreme risk of her' life, by a mad ox; the meaning of which de- signation is a poor, pitiable, frightened animal driven by inferior brutes, or mad men, through the crowded streets of a populous city, collec- tively mad enough to permit, or submit to such brutal insanity. ACCIDENTS—STAGE-COACHES.
See Vol. I. p. 164,398 and elsewhere. I laid
particular stress on the danger of driving restive horses, in the public carriages, and the suffer- in°r horses to stand on the road without a guard at their head, stating the consequent accidents within my knowledge from both practices^ |
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ACCIDENTS. 491
since which gratuitous and meddling cautions
of mine, such accidents have increased, to the cracking of a few bones, and the diminution of a few lives, which might peradventure have been lost soon after in some worse mode, kindly and opportunely making way, in these populous times, for others who may be earnestly desirous of becoming successors: as if I could not have eaten my pudding, held my peace, and taken care of mine own carcase. In this affair of pre- cautions, the great and respectable majority seem ever to have uppermost in their minds the old precept, not to hay gold too dear; view- ing safety as the gold, few are willing to se- cure it, at the expence of present ease and con- venience. Such being the case, it is too plain, that stage coach acts, whether framed by Mr. Gammon, or any other weJl-intentioned legi- slator, can have but circumscribed good effects. There are even people who think it extremely hard, that they cannot have the privilege of breaking their own arms, or legs, or necks, as they see fit, without the impertinent interpo- sition of the legislature, and I actually heard a fellow on the roof of a coach, exclaim, that he would be d—d if we was gammoned in that way; he wanted'to get home as well another man. Now all this is perfectly right with re- spect to the majority, but not quite so right, |
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ACCIDENTS.
that they should possess the power of breaking
•the necks of the minority also. I shall yet be fool hardy enough, to venture
a few more speculations for the encouragement of the minority, cr of those who have a due and reverend care of their outward men. And first as to the efficacy of those legal regula- tions, made and provided for the safety of travellers in our public vehicles. I have mis- laid an abstract of the acts, but I believe they turn upon number of passengers, and weight carried aloft, solely ; granting this to be correct, I think such legal provision, cannot be efficient, or go to the root of the evil, because in this country, expedition has long been the order of the day, in travelling, the paramount object, inducing a necessity of the lightest possible carriage, which will stand under the given weight. At the same time, the number of our travellers is increased to that degree, and the Stage coaches are so loaded within and without, in front, aloft, and in the rear, as to remind one
of that place, which is sometimes supposed tb be so full, that the Dutchmen sit with their legs out of the windows. Thus two very in- compatible objects are equally the aim, to ob-. tain the lightest possible carriage, and to load it with the heaviest possible weight. The conse- quence is, coaches are frequently so over- |
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ACCIDENTS, , 403
weighted, with relation to the sufficiency of
•weight in the vehicle itself for its own support, that there is real danger of the equiiibre being lost, and of an upset, from the most trifling inequality of surface in the road. The reader has already been cautioned in
this work, that I make no pretensions to me- chanical knowledge, but I am here speaking to incontrovertible facts, daily occurring to the observation of all, whose senses, are suffici- ently disengaged. Examples I could give plenty, had I equal plenty of space, since I have for some years, kepi" a register of accidents, which indeed would make a handsome volume, with the appropriate decoration of engravings, and might be very aptly intituled, the Theory and Practice of Neck-breaking made easy to the meanest Capacities. The grand points ia this question, ar,e, the cupidity of the proprie- tors of coaches, the lightness of their vehicles, the carelessness of their coachmen, and the stupidity or the temerity of their customers. I shall give an illustration or two from my own experience. A few years past, I had occasion to travel
by the coach, about forty miles from the me- tropolis, and made choice of the box for the sake of the coachman's conversation, and perhaps from an additional motive which the reader will |
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49<A accidents.
easily suppose, might have weight with an au-
thor. With respect to the number of passen- gers withoutside, I did not observe that the coach was very heavy laden, which however I afterwards found to be the case. There were four horses, and although in good condition, I was astonished that they seemed distressed, and to need a very sharp application of the whip, to compel them to climb the very first ascent, that of Westmister-bridge. I then perceived what kind of a load we had, and the nature of the morning's task of this poor set of horses, which bad a whole stage to perform at the usual rate, although unable to climb the first ascent with- out the exertion of their full powers. This brought on a discourse between the coachman and me, in which I failed totally in my attempt to convince him of the propriety of employing six horses, when four could possibly suffice, his being the old West India principle of the su- perior profit of wearing out labouring beasts quickly, getting your pennyworth out of them, and replacing. About mid-way of the stage, the road had been mended in the centre, and was extremely rough with large and sharp stones, notwithstanding which, the coachman whipped his horses through it, with difficulty enough, leaving on each side fair and ample soach room. On expressing my surprise aS |
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ACCIDENTS. 493
this choice, he replied in a low tone, you don't
consider, we have got at least three ton weight to carry, so I understood him, and though, there seems to you to be room on either side, a little unevenness of the ground might occa- sion an accident I must own, that if the reins had been in my hand, I should unwarily have avoided the centre of the road. This caution I have since frequently observed. Upon the next dead pull over a similar piece of road, the near leader swooned on his collar and fell. I, seeing some probability of an upset, took my jump and landed with only the incon- venience of a rather rude concussion: The horse was raised and driven on several miles farther, the coachman expressing the utmost surprise at some symptoms of compassion which escaped from me. It was a thing of which he had heard the name. Two or three years since, the horses of a
stage coach, being left to themselves, ran away and overset it. There was one, I believe, a military gentleman within side, who jumping out, whilfl the horses were on their career, fractured his skull, and soon after perished. Within about three weeks afterwards, I travelled the same road, and the coach stopping in a street, the horses, four fine ones, were left in- tirely to themselves. No passenger, myself |
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496 ACCIDENTS.
excepted, seemed to notice this, and on my
remarking to the coachman, the fatal accident which had so recently happened on the same road, he replied coolly, with a face of recol- lection, that he had heard of some such thing-. In the course of the present summer, a stage coach broke down, either from the linch-pin of one of the wheels starting, or the imme- diate breaking of the axle-tree, from excess of weight in the load. Many fractures and much mischief ensued among the passengers. I soon after travelled the same road, on the roof. The coach, laden to such excess, with both live and dead lumber, that even a mouse trap additional would have been an incum- brance, sat off in a town roughly paved, and I could clearly perceive in the care and cir- cumspection of the coachman, that the most level surface he could possibly select, was ab- solutely necessary to the safety of his charge. He proceeded at a very slow rate, and every «orner was turned with the most deliberate sweep. Nevertheless at the stones end, some more luggage offered, and the temptation was too great to be withstood. On this the pa- tience of a gentleman within side was exhausted, and he insisted, that neither another passenger, nor a pound additional weight should be ad- mitted, declaring, that with the present weightj |
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ACCIDENTS. 497
the coach was in very obvious danger either
of an upset, or of breaking down. I joined, him in this remonstrance, but we stood alone. There was a number of young men, not of the lowest class, on the box and the roof, who de- clared such fears were ridiculous, and that the more clanger the more honour, the coachman himself most philosophically observing, that it was a silly thing to think of danger before hand, as it was'enough to think of it when it came. I demanded of him, whether he were not apprized of a legal regulation in the case, on which he joked, pretending to be ignorant of it, and joining with the young men in the sentiment, that both the law and custom were to carry as much as a stage coach could possibly stow, and —, the more the merrier. In fact, the minority, to which party it is my usual fate to. belong, on most subjects, was completely silenced, and we were entertained throughout the journey, which was safely performed, with very keen and pertinent observations on the folly of meddling reformers, and how much more proper it was, for every man to mind his own business, and to let things take their natural course. People who thought other- wise, Mr. Coachman shrewdly remarked, ou°'ht not to travel in stage coaches. He drove with unceasing vigilanqe, his eye constantly gjanc-. vol. ii. K k |
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498 ACCIDENTS'.
ing at one or other wheel, and apparently with
considerable anxiety. It appeared to me nearly even betting, stand or fall; but I consoled my- solf with the idea, that my birth upon the roof afforded the best chance in case of acci- dent. The above description, I believe,, may be ap-
plied generally without fear of incorrectnes to our public travelling system, and I submit it to those gentlemen who are desirous by farther legal provisions, of serving the cause of hu- manity, and of safety to the lives and limbs of those, who are under the necessity of travelling in stage coaches. The probable result is, that a mere restriction of the number of passengers without-side, granting such to be observed, would be essentially inefficient; and whether to regulate and limit the total weight, by the number of horses, would have a more radical effect, I am not at present qualified to judge. The matter is however most truly an object of legislative interference, since nothing can be more evident, than that the personal safety of •the people ought not to be put to wanton risks, in compliance either with foolhardiness on one side, or commercial avarice on the other. For proofs of real danger, look to the chapter of accidents in the newspapers of the day, and to the loaded vehicles themselves!—and let the oh- |
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ACCIDENTS. 4P9
server reflect that in those, he may have to in-
trust the safety of a husband, a wife, or a child. Coaches may be frequently observed passing the streets of the metropolis so weighted, that the interposition of a tolerably large sized stone, -would be sufficient to throw them off their ba- lance, and the danger must be obviously in- creased, in the too frequent case of insufficiency of number, or power in the horses. Our tra- velling upon the public roads, ought to be re- duced to a scale of greater safety. Yet the matter, it must be confessed, is full
of difficulty, since laws of regulation can do little, without the co-operation and punctual observance of the people, ever a very poor de- pendance where their interests, or their desires are in the opposition. For example, a man or woman, bent on a journey, twenty or thirty miles from home, and eager to return, will in- cur any risk for the sake of a passage. Indeed it approaches very near to a jest to administer cautions to a people, the one sex of which seems of late years, as highly delighted with being burned alive, as the women of Hindustan, whilst the other is equally attached to the sport of having their fingers, arms, or noddles, shat- tered by the bursting or accidental discharges of guns. Such a day, a lady's dress caught fire, and she lies without hope of recovery, k k 2
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500 ACCIDENTS,
The gun of Christopher Trueaim, Esq. chanced
to burst, and his hand was shattered to pieces. Tommy Dandy took up a pistol, unconscious that it «as loaded, and presenting it, did great execution in the family. A certain stage coach overthrown, one man had his back bro- ken, another his ribs, arms, or legs, another was killed out-right. 1 put no notes of admi- ration to such common place occurrences, almost of as quick succession and little import, as the defeat of armies and the. loss of king- doms. But I can a tale deliver, which surely deserves some marks of admiration. Abou* the year 1770, at Ipswich, I was told, as an undoubted fact, by a man who personally knew the parties, that a farmer near the river, actually shot dead, both his father and mother atone shot, with a shore gun, and was, within six months afterwards, seen at the sport of shooting M f Talk of precautions, when I have seen the brink of an abyss of burning lime, left entirely without a guard, and have heard of a poor child falling headlong dowrvand being consumed to ashes in such a real hell, of which, predestina- tion apart, one must surely be deemed enough, even by the most tenacious of that effectual species of purification. As to proprietors of coaches, and their
drivers, their business is to get money, the |
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ACCIDENTS. 501
prime concern of life, and never more fashion-
lily so, than at the present time—not merely to take care of the lives and limbs of their passengers, which is the after-concern of the surgeon and the doctor, and our coach-folk would scarce!}7 be so impolite, as to interfere in other men's concerns. Besides, why interest themselves needlessly and obtrusively for the safety of those, who appear to have no solici- tude for their -own ? To treat this matter seriously, as it really
ought to be treated, a heavy responsibility naturally attaches to the proprietors and drivers of our public coaches. Their default may be at ■once a deprivation of life, or an abridgement of its comforts to the end, by the fracture or loss of limbs. The law indeed decrees heavy fines in such cases, but the care of the public itself, ought to extend more to prevention. It is in- dispensable to the public safety, that a coach- master never be allowed to employ improper horses, carriages insufficiently substantial, or coachmen of light and dubious character, or addicted to drunkenness. A coachman ought to be a rigid discipliniaran, and never to omit the important duty of inspecting with his own eyes and hands, every part of his tackles, whe- ther appertaining to carriage or horses, previ- ously to setting off, and at evevy stage, and his |
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502 ACCIDENTS,
encouragement should be liberal, for the duty
is constant and severe. We have at present many steady and skilful men in this line, or accidents would be infinitely multiplied ; and we have also had many of the opposite descrip- tion. I was informed by the coachman first alluded to in this section, that on the com- mencement of the mail-coach plan, either from a real want of able drivers, or of due en- couragement to such, those coaches were in- trusted to a parcel of giddy headed boys, with- out either skill or character, and that such was the source of most of the accidents of that time. He also related to me the following story on his own knowledge. After certain efforts at improvement, the mail-coach coiir struction was boasted to be such, that an over- turn was almost impossible. One of the drivers above described, hearing of this, swore in the hearing of my informant, with all his most flash and fashionable oaths, that he would overturn his coach that very night, in spite of all their boasts. Accordingly he, and as I recollect, his postillion, both drunk, exerted themselves to the utmost of their power, by driving at full speed around every corner in the stage, but with what success, I have for- gotten. Another coachman assured me, that the two postillions who occasioned a late fatal |
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SHOEING. SOS
and deplorable accident, were the most profli-
gate rascals in existence, the very scum of the ■road, and had years before committed atn> .cities deserving of the gallows. |
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SHOEING.
See 11th Chapter, Vol I. and Vol. II.
p. 10. The improvement of this branch is generally diffused, but to the greatest degree in the metropolis, where the best shoeing is as nearly as possible upon the principle and plan, which Osmer bequeathed to us. I am aware of no useful novelty ; and our pretended new discoveries have gradually died away, leaving only this impression among the keepers of horses, that the authors of such have occa- sioned much temporary mischief and confu- sion of practice. The great consequence of preserving the sole and frog from the butchery of former times, seems to be making its way gradually, and in the mode of all the useful truths; I nevertheless, last year, met with a very striking exception. On purchasing a nag from a very considerable London dealer, I found it was the practice at his stable, to pare away the sole and frog, in shoeing, to as great a degree as it has ever been done within my |
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504 INCENDIARIES.
remembrance, and such practice was strongly
recommended for all kinds of feet, by the most intelligent person I could find in the stable. The hor,,e which I tried was three parts bred, and had feet sufficiently delicate; they had nevertheless been pared so nearly to the quick, thai he flinched under me, upon every piece of rough ground, and riding him pur- posely with a loose rem, I was amused at the anxiety of the attendants, least the horse should come upon his knees. It is probable, his feet- had received only one course of this beneficial paring, or they would not have recovered in so short a time as they really did, from a still mope beneficial non-paring. I have lately seen shoes from various parts of the country, with the old broad and convex surfaces, and upon such, the poor carthorses of London, still too generally slip and slide away their wasted powers. |
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INCENDIARIES.
See Vol. I. p. 430, on the vulgar cant about
MONOPOLY AND FORESTALLING. The fol-
lowing, paragraph I haie just read in the County Chronicle. " A short time since, Mr. Joseph Lacy, a maltster; Mr. Bright, a farmer |
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INCENDIARIES. 303
and maltster ; Mr. Josling, a linnen draper, and
other wealthy inhabitants of Braintree and Booking, in Essex, received threatening let- ters, staling, that if the price of bread and provisions in general, were not reduced, their corn-ricks, Sec. would be set fire to; and they actually carried their threat into execution, for the straw house adjoining the malt house, be- lono-ino- to Mr. Josling*, was discovered to be on fire a week after, which, fortunately by timely assistance, was prevented from burning the malt-house. By a well laid stratagem, it has been discovered, that a school-master of Braintree, and a journeyman taylor of the same place, were concerned in writing and sending the letters. They were taken before the Rev. John Thurlow, and several other magistrates assembled upon the occasion, at Braintree, when the evidence produced against them, was sufficient to induce the magistrates to commit the prisoners for trial." To what 1 have before said of the delin-
quency of too many of our public prints in this case, I have a curious addition to make. A certain party among us, with high pretensions of aversion to the principles of the antimono- polizing and aritiforestalling gangs of Marat and Robespierre, have during a number of years, yet strenuously adopted their tyrannical |
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506 REMINISCENCES.
and Turkish opinions of political economy, and
these may be observed current, as if by gene- ral consent, through various publications of a certain stamp. The animals of obnoxious pro- prietors, generally' come in for their share of the barbarities inflicted by those, who seek to reduce the price of provisions, by consuming them with fire. |
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REMINISCENCES,
I shall here take the liberty of pressing upon
the recollection of the reader, certain specific ob- jects of improvement in the view of humanity and convenience, which loriginally and anxiously recommended, and which I flatter myself will be found to possess a claim to consideration.—- Early docking and cropping, where the latter may be held indispensable, Vol I. p. 292.
The advantage of light or racing weights, in trotting matches, Vol. I. p. 354.—Of mak- ing a handsome canter and LEAPING, part of the education of the colt, Vol. I. p. 355.—Of teaching the cart colt to back and go in the shafts, Vol. I. p. 4L8.—The selection by post-masters of light weights, and the permission of tra- vellers, subject to their convenience, for the post- boys to ride upon the sPLiNT£R-BAR,apractice |
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REMINISCENCES. 50J
which ought to be invariable with all return-
ing chaises. A light seat should always be affixed to the splinter-bar, one instance only of which I have yet seen, although in conversing lately with post people, I found them fully sensible of the advantages that would be thence derived to the horses, occasionally freed from carrying, whilst drawing weights, Vol. I. p. 408. .----The LOOSE STABLE OR STJTLL, Vol. I. p.459-
—The use of a leathern guard around the
knee, either as a preventive, or defence to a broken knee, Vol. II. p. 344.—Rules for the farrier in shoeing, Vol. II. p. 11.—Cautions against horse-stealing and straying, Vol. I. p. 540.—Encouragement to veteri- nary surgeons of regular professional edu- cation, passim. . My marked recommendation of pugilism,
Vol. I. p. 205, has been since honoured with the sanction of some of the most eminent cha- racters of our country, and my sentiments promulgated under names possessing that con- sequence and weight in which my own is to- tally deficient. It has been said in the Senate and most justly—-" We must choose between the fist and the stilletto." To the gratification of my most earnest wishes, the practice of box- ing has been still more generally diffused,- and without the old accompaniment of barbarous 5 |
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508 REMINISCENCES.
infliction on brute animals under the gross mis-
nomer of sports. The character of the pu- gilist has been humanized and rendered in- telligent, an effect which surely ought in great measure to be attributed to the countenance and society of the upper ranks. Indeed since the days of the savage and sullen Broughton, whom I personally knew, we have had men of this class demonstrating in their conduct, hu- mane, generous, and peaceable dispositions. I also knew the Suffolk champion Hugh Wright, unfortunately killed in a playful scuffle with his youngest brother, about the year 1770.— Pi ugh, with the frame of a giant, and a most appalling countenance, held in his capacious bosom, a compassionate heart, inclined to all the sociable qualities. Johnson bore an ex- cellent character, and as I have been informed by his master, laboured in his calling of a porter, to support the widow and children of his friend. William Pearce, distinguished by the name of the Game Chicken, had a heart
warmed with noble and elevated feelings, which even his dissipated habits of life could never deaden or suppress. His combat with .Belcher in 1805} ought to immortalize both British puigilis.il and the name of Pearce, which I at this moment embalm with tears of exultation. In the 12th round — " The 7
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REMINISCENCES. 503
Chicken went in and rallied furiously* and it
was evident, Belcher had fallen off in strength ; he had materially the worst of the rally. The Chicken closed and threw Belcher on the rope and had a fair opportunity of ending the &ht; for Belcher lay balanced upon his back, and had the Chicken given him one of his death- like blows, he must have been killed. Instead of which, this truly English Chicken, potting himself in an attitude for striking the blow and looking around the ring, with a counte- nance in which shone a mingled sense of justice and compassion, exclaimed, Jem, I wont take advantage of thee. I should have been proud, had it been in my power, to adorn my book with a picture of this battle. Pearce signalized himself also in the revival of the age of chivalry, as a champion for the Taii- sex. _ lie delivered a forlorn damsel from the lewd gripe of three game-keepers, whom he discomfited and put to flight. And in 180? at Bristol, he rescued another' young woman from perishing in the flames, at thc°eXtreme peril of his own life------ At length, upon the neighbouring house-top seen.
A gallant youth now hastens to her aid
And o'er the fearful parapet does lean, With spirit dauntless to assist die nsnid:
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510 .REMINISCENCES.
Endow'd by heaven with more than common might,
He grasps her aims, and draws Tier to the height. O glorious act! Oh! courage well apply'd ! Oh ! strength excited in its proper cause!
Thy name, O Pearce! be sounded far and wide—• Live ever honor'd, 'midst the world's applause!
Be this thy triumph!—know one creature sav'd Is greater glory than the world enslaved. Anon.
Mendoza, whose name has been so long and
universally celebrated, had last year honour- able mention in the public prints, for his hu- manity in the behalf of a strange girl, whose unfeeling mother he took before the magis- trate; a troublesome office, from which the humanity of most would have shrunk. If I have nothing to say in the praise of Gulley, the present champion of England, I trust it is because I do not know the man. The com- pany Mr. Jackson keeps, ought doubtless, to be a voucher for the respectability of his character. The above facts will prove, that ail our
boxers are not a set of brutal profligates, whose only gratification lies in aggressive and inso- lent actions, in devouring living cats, and tor- turing to death of innocent animals; and will leave no doubt of the force of good examples, upon the whole class. Sparring academies in the metropolis, have been long winked at by |
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REMINISCENCES. Sll
the police, and boxing matches are suffered in
the country, but often attended with obstruc- tion and inconvenience, in the necessity or ex- pediency of which, I cannot concur. Such playing at fast and loose, is not confined to boxing, and consists neither with the dignity of the law, nor the freedom of the people. I would far rather see a regular subscription pu- gilistic theatre reared in London, upon a handsome scale, and regular profeffors esta- blished at respectable salaries, where our youth of all ranks and degrees might, ac- cording to the prices they were respectively able to afford, be duly initiated in the old British science of manual defence, be grounded in the duties of true British humanity, and also be assured of an arena on which to decide with native freedom, their unaccommodated differences. I would have boxes, pit, and Gal- lery, at a moderate admission price. I should not at all be surprized, if such a plan were to reduce the number of battles, by with- drawing the public taste from serious boxino- to bloodless sparring, to which also the prac- tice of betting might attach. I had, however, no success in my former
similar proposal for Paris, Vol. I. p. 211. The at- tempt, I am informed, having been made, not indeed by Mendoza, but some other En'dish |
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512 THE RIGHTS OF BEASTS.
professor. But the season of peace was la-
mentably short, and boxing perhaps an insipid novelty to the martial French, who have such a horrid penchant for steel, as the late bloody duels among our prisoners of that nation, have too fatally evinced.—Knives, razors fastened to sticks, points of compasses—gracious hea- ven ! Yet these weapons of necessity were fairly and openly used, according to the laws of regular combat. Such painful examples, but still more the rare and unkind assassinations of less generous and enlightened people ; together with the foul play so disgraceful to ourselves, still too prevalent in one part of England, ought to be the most powerful incitements to us, to countenance that practice, which has been the groundwork, and must still be the preservative of our superior national humanity. THE RIGHTS OF BEASTS.
About thirteen years since, on the first edition
of this work, Vol. I. p. 131, ] proposed the re- cognition by the legislature, of the jm anima- llum, or the right of beasts to the protection of the law, on the ground of natural justice in the first instance, and in the sequel, on that of ex- pedience, regarding both humanity and profit. |
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THE RIGHTS OP BEASTS. 513
It was then said, that no similar proposal had
previously been made in this country. Since the last edition, in the beginning of the year 1808, I repeated this proposal in the Monthly Magazine, Vol. 24, p. 53Q, pursuing the subject of humanity to brute animals, in various lights, as it affects the human mind, adducing practical examples, and explaining the most lenient rne^ thods to be used with animals, in the neces- sary deprivation of life. I beg leave to refer the reader to those essays. I was well aware of the suspicion, and even
odium, which must inevitably attach to the man who should presume to broach such no- velties ; thereby attempting to increase the al- ready too burdensome and fatiguing duties of human life. But I trusted, perhaps too much to the sincerity and goodness of my motives, which were those of conscience and perpetually wounded feelings. Indeed, and why should I be ashamed to acknowledge it, the sufferings of men and animals are to me a source of never ending mercy. I make this appeal to the can- dour and justice of those from whom I differ in opinion. With all due respect for the humane motives
of those who stated from the press, in a general way, the obligation of compassion and good treatment to beasts^ it appeared to me, that VOL. II. L 1
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514 THE RIGHTS OF BEASTS.
something far more pointed and specific in the
case, was required, than the ordinary routine. It was too obvious, that the effects of mere naked precepts, under whatever sanction, or of declamation however eloquent and pathetic, were weak and transient, and even often tend- ing, from superficial or erroneous view's, rather to injure than promote the cause of humanity. Inveterate custom, which bars all reflection, is the grand source of cruelty towards brute ani- mals. Persons of the strictest religious habits, and the external demonstration of a correct morality, if they do not personally commit any flagrant acts of cruelty, yet live in the daily ob- servation of the whole mass of such, with an apathy and contentedness evincing their total unconcern. The education of their children in an absolute ignorance of the rights, and dis- regard for the feelings of the beasts beneath them, is but too strong a proof on the same side. Even those with naturally compassionate hearts, and inclined to justice, may be habi- tually, both unjust and cruel, through want of reflection, or from the prevalence of systematic errors. It was necessary to instruct men that such a duty existed, as that of shewing justice to a brute beast, and many will start with astonish- ment at the actual application of such a principle. The desideratum appeared to be, an analytical and |
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THE RIGHTS Or BEASTS. 515
practical developement of the duties of man to~
wards the inferior animal creation; to furnish a system for action, in which, from a sound dis- crimination, might result the closest possible union of justice, humanity, and expedience* This I essayed to furnish, presuming myself not unqualified, as well from a long and patient in* vestigation of the subject, as from constant practical habits. It was necessary to direct appeals to the reason and common sense, as ■well as to the feelings and passions of men, in order to produce that kind of excitement which leads to radical and useful effects. The sue-* cess of this mode has been of late yearsj con- siderable, notwithstanding too much exception* and very powerful counteractive efforts from that party among us, which is said to seek means of hardening the heart of man, least he should lose his pugnacious qualities, and become too much inclined to peace; a groundless ap- prehension, against which nature herself has made but too ample a provision. I suppose I am ' carrying coals to Newcastle,'
in tendering proofs of the existence of such sen- timents, or such a party among us, but proofs , are always good things, and it frequehlly hap- pens, that a proof of the day light shall be re- quired, whilst the sun beams dart upon the eyes of the requirer. In a monthly miscellany of 1,12
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51<3 THE RIGHTS OF BEASTS.
considerable respectability, we have been lately
informed, that " In these troublesome times,' the advantage of every state requires that personal sufferings should be contemplated by the majority of the people, with Spartan in- difference. To promote this essential point, our legislature refrains from prohibiting those hardy exercises among the vulgar, which fa- miliarize the mind with animal sufferings, even with animal death. How preposterously in- congruous with this patriotic spirit, and how thoroughly calculated to enervate the temper of a warlike people, are those penal statutes, which represent personal torture as the acme of human suffering, and punish the most desperate violations of social order with death, which it should be the object of government to repre- sent as contemptible in the esteem of the public at large/' Amongst my various correspondence on the
subject of these volumes, I have a letter before
me, which was put into my hands in February
last, by an artist with whom I have some pre- sent connection. The letter was addressed to me by a gentleman of Newcastle. This cor- respondent seems to repine, that my political sentiment's do not exactly tally with his ; and on my part, by way of answer, I regret, but with- out repining or surprize, that his politics do not |
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THE RIGHTS OF BEASTS. 517
agree with mine. He expects that my senti-
ments should be entirely changed by the course of events subsequent on the French revolution; sufficient evidence to me, that he has not only as well as so many others,, misunderstood my sentiments, but the general question. Indeed, my principles were ever in the direct line of op- position to the notions of those, who sought to propagate liberty at the point of the dagger, and by the slavery of coercion. He proceeds to defend cock-fighting, but on
a stronger principle now, when he, can wink at the otherwise barbarous custom (which he dis- likes) of bull-baiting. Courage is not the lot of all, but it may be acquired and practised by analogy. The man who sees his cock win a hard fought battle, or die righting, or who sees his dog pin a bull to the ground, even with bleeding entrails, feels a stimulus to bravery from the act of his feathered and hairy cham- pions, and will keep up that otherwise un- founded, though political idea, now so neces- sary, that one Englishman can beat three 1'renchmen ! Thus we see, from the above sentiments, and
by the far greater latitude given, in more im- portant respects, to the principle on which they are grounded, that the well-known position of certain ancient sophists, has its full practical |
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518 THE EIGHTS OF BEASTS,
force in these religious times ; " There is no-
thing just in itself, customs and usages make justice/' The savage can form no clear con^ ception of any general moral obligation which does not tend to his own immediate profit, and such a feeling has too often taken the lead in civilized society, The tortures of unoffending- beasts being held necessary to the gratification of hardness of heart in man, or its promotion, juftice need not stand in the way, for since justice is the mere creation of forms and usages, it may be just to expose beasts to torture. The life of a man granting him innocent, being demanded by public exigence, \ need not be move pointed, who is there in these days of purity, of such an unfashionable moral, as to disclaim the sacrifice ? But which is he among these just moralists, who would choose to fit the garment upon himself ? .'Some how or other, it haih never been my fortune to light on any pf these just and good, and polite people, who did not appear to me probable to feel the keenest sensibility at any personal injustice which might be offered to themselves. And I dare say, even my patriotic correspondent above, would detrn it a most barbarous pro- ceeding, being unfortunately a prisoner to the Hqrpns or Iroquois, if they should bind him %q a stake, and torture him with flaming brandy |
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THE RIGHTS OF BEASTS. 519
notwithstanding the sage plea of those polite
*md enlightened people, that they so acted with the refined and politic view of steeling the hearts of their brethren, familiarizing their minds with animal suffering, and impressing them with sentiments of eternal hatred to their enemies, and of eternal war. The most stre- nuous of these advocates for animal misery, as a mirror, through the reflection of which, men are taught to suffer, are I believe chiefly among- those, who themselves choose rather to suffer by proxy ; that valiant band, who filled to sa- tiety, with the good things of this life, and hugging in security their firesides, gloat over the accounts of massacre, and burning, and devastation, human and animal misery in every possible form, the usual concomitants of just and necessary wars 1 Nay, does not a lat writer esteem war an honourable mode of get- ting rid of superfluous population? We have had numerous and powerful advocates for sla- very—torture; even the giving no quarter in war, has been more than once recommended by a considerable part of our public press. "VVho then shall say, that we do not contemplate tlie personal sufferings, at least of others, with Spartan indifference ? With respect to the torture of animals on
the plea proposed, granting it unjust, it must |
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£20 THE .RIGHTS OF BEASTS.
beyond question, sanction the principle of in*
justice; and though this should be deemed in- justice of an inferior degree, a more important occasion only will be required, to sanction a still greater degree of injustice, until the sum- mit of the scale be attained. Then, the pro- gress from beasts to men is easy, even impercep- tible ; and they who are familiar with the tor- tures of brute animals, will have very little com- passion on the sufferings of their fellow men. Thus the miseries and horrors of war may be screwed up, and pitched at the highest key, ■which our proposers may deem necessary. But granting that we could evade the gross in- justice, the despicable, prostrate, and cowardly meanness, of fast binding, torturing, and tear- ing piece-meal, the bodies of helpless and un- offending beasts, and that we could thereby render the hearts of our populace, as savage and ferocious, as the hyaena and tyger of the desert j what shall we have gained, unless our object be hordes of marauders, calculated solely to de- populate, ravage, and destroy ? Cruelty and cowardice have been hitherto proverbially, al- though I acknowledge not quite so correctly linked together. And who has proved, that bravery is confined to that base scum and rabble, which yells and bawls, and grins securely at inflictions, which they feel not, and would. |
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THE Til GUTS OF BEASTS. 521
most probably, the far greater part of them,
shrink"from, with feminine affright ? Real har- dihood and contempt of personal sufferings, must be acquired from personal experience, from combats man to man, and from actual warfare, in which, heaven knows, a contempt for all sufferings, both of self and others, is full soon acquired by the soldier. In the mean time, how degrading is it to the character of an Englishman, who is certainly from nature, of the best stuff of which real soldiers are made, to be told that his courage stands in need of artificial and spurious incitements. How dis- graceful and pitiful our national vapouring, as if such were necessary to supply the defect of military renown to Britain ! It ought to be held, as of old, duke et decorum, sweet and ho- nourable to die, not to lie, for our country. The single honourable declaration oftheFrencb, respecting the battle of Talavera, is worth far more to us as a nation, than ten thousand lying boasts—" The English fought well." And the softening the horrors of war, in their humane treatment of our wounded committed to their care, is a noble example of civilization and na- tional feeling, both in the army which practised and tliat which demanded it. It is surely de- sirable in every just and moral view, to mollify the ruggid features of war, whilst it must last, |
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522 THE RIGHTS OP BEASTS.
in all possible degrees, and no less, to instil a
love of the pacific virtues, into the breasts of Englishmen, who, in the judgment of other nations, have been ever too fond of war, for the quiet and well being of human society. I exulted at the outset, in our superior na-
tional humanity, our aversion to deeds of blood in our quarrels, and the decline of barbarous sports, regretting yet much alloy, the gradual extinction of which, I fondly looked for, in the increase of light, and the progressive improve- ment of the human mind. There was much light abroad, and a strong disposition in the public mind to absorb it. It was the time to have purified the national character of those re- lics of ancient barbarity, which disgraced it, to have put a final period to our cruel sports, and to have regulated our popular diversions by the standard of a discriminating humanity. The developement of such a rational plan, however, ' gave rise to a set of alarmists, who trembled for the fate of ancient prejudices, and the profit to be derived from cruelty! And their exer- tions have, at least, been honoured with the ne- gative success of balancing the public mind, and preserving it stationary. It is as revolt- ing to mv English feelings, to allude to that unprecedentedly numerous, and black cata? • logue of crimes, with which our public record^ |
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THE BIGHTS OF BEASTS. 523
have been disgraced, during the last ten years,
as it is impossible not to impute the dark parts of our national character, in a considerable de- gree to those doctrines of cruelty and selfim- ness, which have been so generally disseminated. An effect which it is totally impossible, could be meditated by those, who have promulgated such doctrines, and whom, very sad and so- lemn considerations ought to make wary, how they attempt to harden the English heart. Fortunately for the cause of humanity, and
congenially with the general bias of the Bri- tish character, a strong party has arisen in fa- vour of the just rights of the brute creation, in more customary and intelligible Englisba of that compassionate and merciful treatment, which it is our duty to extend towards beasts. The press, without the aid of which, all right might be suspended, and all improvement lan- guish, has been employed to a degree of ac- tivity, and many excellent writers have exer- cised their pens on this subject, in an engaging and popular way. The magistracy also, at least in the metropolis, have of late years, with the utmost propriety, assumed a discretion in the case of flagrant cruelty to animals, even by their proprietors, and have ordered summarv punishment, an example which ought to be imitated throughout the country. And Lord |
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.52-4 THE BIGHTS OP BLASTS.
Erskirre's bill was truly, both ' an honour to
the country, and an osra in the history of the world.' For although, from perhaps not being thoroughly considered, it did not pass, there can exist no doubt, from the humanity of the the noble lord's character, of his perseverance in the cause, and as little of his exertions be- ing finally acceptable, as well to the legisla- ture, as the public. It must yet be confessed, that the opposi-
tion in parliament to Lord Erskine's bill, had considerable influence upon the public mind, and although a great majority were desirous of promoting the cause generally, there evidently appeared much more of economy than of en- thusiasm, in their sentiments, and the appre- hension seemed to be extensive of a too great a legal controul over property, and of the dan- ger of vexatious suits. I had anticipated such objections in my original proposal, Vol. I. p. 144, but I must acknowledge, that I had no idea of going beyond the simple recogni- tion of the right of" brute animals to the pro- tection of the law, on which I supposed, any flagrant act of barbarity to an animal, whether by its owner, or others, might be prosecuted, the nature of the act, and the punishment,, to be left entirely to the decision of the judge and jury. Indeed I looked chiefly to the uss |
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" THE RIGHTS OF BEASTS. 525
of such an example as the declaration of agreat
abstract truth, by the legislature,, in favour of justice and humanity, forming the ground- work of a general improvement of manners, and giving countenance and authority to those, who should at any time be willing to stand forth the defenders of those creatures, which nature has put into our power, most certainly not to be tortured and abused. In the mean time, it is worth while to con-
sider, whether there be really any just cause for those apprehensions entertained of Lord Erskine's bill, both within and without doors, and more especially, as there can be no doubt of the bill being again presented to parliament, either in its pristine form, or in some modified state. 'On the recognition of the principle, Lord Erskine's sentiments are particularly im- pressive, and entitled to the attention of readers of every class. The intent of the bill is, to make the ' wantonly and maliciously abusing' any of the domestic animals specified, a mis- demeanor triable before a jury, and farther to invest the magistracy with a summary power in certain cases. It is to be observed in the first place, that the aid of mercenary informers is totally rejected, which circumstance alone, on reflection, ought to quiet the alarms of all persons at the probability of vexatious,prose- |
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5'2,6 THE RIGHTS OF BEASTS.
cations. From the notorious general apathy,
and the christian fortitude, with which the great majority of mankind, can always bear the sufferings of others, human or brute, there is too little probability, that prosecutors will be found, even in the most flagrant and abomin- able cases; never will there be found such, in any of an equivocal description. I appeal to any man of the least experience or ob- servation in this matter. Where are we to look for the description of persons, so prodigal of their time and their peace, as to enter into a troublesome suit, in which they would be sure of nothing so much, as ridicule, contempt, and execration, and from that body particularly, ■which must ever be most powerful in society ? What grand jury would find a groundless or equivocal bill? And if a true bill of malicious cruelty were found, who is he, that will ac- knowledge his regret, unless on the avowed principle of protecting, that is, of encouraging,
cruelty ? With respect to the discretionary
powers of the magistrates, such have been by them exercised, during several years, without the smallest complaint of abuse, the chief dif- ficulties in the case, being the want of persons willing to take upon themselves the trouble of apprehending offenders, and afterwards of in- ducing the magistrates to act with effect. At |
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THE RIGHTS OP BEASTS. 52,'
the same time, I chearfully acknowledge, that
Earl Stanhope was at his post, when he de- murred at this part, in defence of the trial by jury, but have reason to assure myself, that the noble and patriotic lord will always be found among the advocates of humanity, and of^the rights of our mute and four legged citi- zens. In short, a law of this description would, in too great probability, like so many others, in our code, remain a dead letter, from the natural indolence and selfishness of man- kind. But the existence of such a law, its very shadow, and the known possibility of legal pu- nishment, would operate as a check upon cruelty, and improve the condition of animals, whilst the great example of the legislature would have the most forcible effects in impress- ing upon the minds of the people, a due sense of the nature of justice, and of inducing the ge- neral habit of humanity. The opposition to this laudable attempt to
prevent, and provide punishment for injustice and cruelty, was conducted in the same strain of levity and merriment, which formerly gave so much disgust, in the defence of the horrors of bull-baiting. Surely the ludicrous cannot with an}r degree of fitness, apply to such sub- jects. Nor can it be overlooked, that positive and acknowledged cruelty has been defended. |
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£28 THE RIGHTS OT BEASTS,
and its pretended uses specified. It has even
been publicly said, it were preferable that these cruelties should subsist, rather than a new law be made for their prevention. The novelty of the principle being a grand objection, and the cruelty being questioned or absolutely denied, brings immediately to recollection, the opposi- tion to the abolition of the Slave Trade, with certain other cases, and in general that oppo- sition which has ever been made, and must be expected, to every plan, the object of which is general amelioration. There is a never dying apprehension, least the quantum of cruelty and misery, held absolutely necessary to the safe and profitable conduct of the affairs of this M'orld, should run short. And as though the system of nature itself was not sufliciently cruel, men seem ever desirous of making thou- sand fold artificial additions. 1 have lately read among the lucubrations of a certain county historian, a severe reproof of the just, humane, and patriotic Letsom and his friend JSTeale, for their exposition of the dreadful state of too many English prisons, a labour for which they will be most deservedly canonized in the hearts and memories of the compassionate. In the very temperate reprover's opinion, such abuses should not have been unveiled, but left, as they have subsisted during so many centuries, and |
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THE RIGHTS OP BEASTS. 529
might have for centuries more, to the gradual
reformation of magistrates. But perhaps iu the writer's opinion, and the opinion is too ge- neral, such horrors and cruelties are appro- priate to prisons, which are not to he mansions of luxury; and better that all the innocent and unfortunate be victims, than one guilty pri- soner escape. Nothing can be more intelligi- ble, than the meaning of gradual reformation, and leaving things to improving morality, and the ameliorating hand of time ; in other words, profit by the abuse as long as you are able, dispute its ground inch by inch, and leave the final struggle to posterity. At last, what abuse was ever removed without a struggle? It is impossible to entertain so mean an opi-
nion of the intellects of certain persons, as to suppose them arguing sincerely and with good faith; or not to be convinced, that they are ac- tuated by systematic prejudices, which controul their natural humanity. The features of mis- representation are so strongly marked, that it would be base sycophancy to pretend igno- rance. The ground, the leading argument of opposition to Lord Erskine's bill is, that its intent is to enforce the duties of mere morality by an act of legislation, a purpose, winch it must be obvious to every one who has perused the bill, or the elucidations of the noble Lord, vol. II. M m
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530 THE RIGHTS OF BEASTS.
could never possibly have entered into his con-
templation, although he did, as is most rational, expect the consequence of a spontaneous and gradual improvement of manners. The object of the proposed law is not to enforce duties, which must of necessity, be referred to human discre- tion, but to punish aggressive nets, which natu- ral justice has made unlawful, and which for that plain reason, ought to be held equally so, in the social contract, under which, if brutes be not protected, the great and radical defect of in- justice must necessarily be incurred. In truth, the neglect of the jus animalium, has been a gross defect in every system of legislation hi- therto, and a proposal for the question of its adoption, has of late been made by a very able continental jurist. The claim of beasts is grounded on justice, the same ground on which ought to rest every human claim ; and injustice is such, whether in reference to man or beast. It was remarked with an inapplicable looseness, that ' were a man to feel as much for the pains of others as for his own, why then, by the consequent accumulation of evil, the ends of providence would be defeated.' Common sense of a very ordinary standard, would dis- cover, that neither reason nor duty prescribe this sacrifice, and nature has provided most amply against the possibility of such error, but the best ends of Providence are defeated by in- |
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THE RIGHTS OP BEASTS. 531
justice, and jthence the deplorable accumula-
tion of artificial, avoidable, or criminal evil. The notorious cruelties committed by the
London carmen, by postillions, and even by 'those miscreants who deal in worn out horses, are glossed over, or attempted to be denied. Such subterfuges have been employed as such a cause ever demands. The horrors of the middle passage, the murders and cruelties com- mitted upon the negroes, and that compendium of all the crimes that hell itself can instigate, the African Slave Trade, zoere extenuated—de- fended. And after undeniable examples have been selected from all times, including the present, of the most horrible cruelties inflicted upon beasts, and of regular systematic injustice and barbarity, the answer is, ' what were they to think of the cry that had been raised for some legislative measures upon this subject? It arose from a false and spurious sort of huma- nity ; and to give way to such a cry, would be to consult the dictates of a fallacious and hypocritical spirit of humanity, at the expence of every good feeling of the human heart/ The good feelings of the human heart are thus plainly defined, as was humanity heretofore, in the defence of the Slave Trade, for humanity sake. But I do not omit the context, with the view
of taking an undue ad van tage, the very idea M m 2
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532 THE RIGHTS OF BEASTS.
of which I scorn. The above declaration of
humanity was ushered in, under the pretence, that in the case of cruelty to post-horses, which was acknowledged, there was a sort of copart- nery in responsibility, between the proprietors, the servants and the employers, but that the latter held the larger share. But the whole affords a poor and beggarly argument, much easier to attribute to our daily paper stainers, than to any man of solid reflection. What results? Why, if only fair and proper exer- tions have been made, and the case is entitled to considerable allowances, no possible danger can accrue from the law which protects the rights of beasts. But if flagrant, ' wanton and malicious' abuse has been used, no doubt such law, with that equality, which ought to be the essence of all law, would punish the offending parties, be they high or low. With respect to the excuse held out for the post boy, that he Committed the crime for a j'ee, or his bread, the same plea might be set up for a highway
robbery. The base and mercenary instru- ments of torture are always to be found, from the executioner, jailor, and myrmidon of a private madhouse to the postillion ; and regular legal punishments ought to be provided for such, to prevent those irregular effects, which must ehe arise from the sudden ebullitions of the fury of compassion. But a law in the case |
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THE RIGHTS OF BEASTS. 532
■would be a safe guard to the inferior ranks, of
of which they would avail themselves, as well as a memento to all ranks. Severe use must be allowed, however much lobe lamented, such is the constitution of human society, and the general obligation of labour, that a consider- able portion of excess seems to appertain to natural, therefore unavoidable evil. But is there then no line to be drawn, no discrimination in this, which is so essential in all cases else : must we still add to nature's already tad heavy load, and cannot we exist without the enjoyment of inflicting tortures upon the helpless ? There can be no sound plea for cruel and unmerciful usage, either in favour of business or pleasure, both which may, and ought to be consistent with justice, fairness and compassion. Even however considerable may be the difficulties of the case, our business, our pleasures, our pride and luxurious gratifications, are not to be put in competition with justice and mercy, those grand advantages of which we are all ous for ourselves, and at the with-holciing of which, w-e
are wont to be so loud in our complaints. The treatment of animals, and of inferiors is a case in which every honest and fair man would de- sire a curb upon his passions. In fine, the ne- cessity of some legal protection for beasts, has ever been most apparent, and I apprehend it |
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534 THE RIGHTS OF BEASTS.
ought to be extended to the whole brute crea-
tion-without reserve, no part of which ought to be exposed beyond absolute necessity, to wan- ton or malicious cruelty. Sir Samuel Ronuily, that light and glorv of
English law, and patron of humanity, in a "few lines of his speech, fully did away the presumed difficulties of Lord Erskme's bill, at least, to those whose sense of justice is superior to that of petty interests and conveniences. Sir Samuel observed, ' These (wantonly and maliciously abusing) are not words of vague and indefinite signification, but such as magistrates and juries, on other occasions, conceive sufficient for their direction. As to the quantum of punishment or severity, the crime is entirely in the degree of it/ it may not be unuseful for the purpose of illustration, to suppose a few examples. A carman is seen severely whipping his horse ; if sensible that there exists a law which will take COgllizance of cruelty, he will submit to be
questioned by those, who have at least as good
a right to range themselves on the side of the oppressed, as he has to be an oppressor. He Will perhaps prove satisfactorily, that he has only used a necessary severity required by that particular animal, or perhaps have the candour to state, a case which I have experienced, that from the hardness of the times, "he cannot feed |
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THE RIGHTS OF BFASTS. 535
so well as he would wish, and is compelled by
necessity, to a treatment of his horses, very different from his real desire. After such a de- claration, would any man of common sense, think of punishment I but yet a few rational words in favour of the horse, might have im- proving effects upon the mind of his owner or driver. But should a man whip or beat cruelly and maliciously, a poor and worn out horse, staggering, or perhaps falling under his suffer- ings, and evidently incapable of the exertion re- quired of him, it is too plain a case to be mis- taken, and such a delinquent ought to suffer the penalty of the law7. Men ought not to be per- mitted to subsist on the agonies and miseries of animals, the strength of which has already been exhausted to the very lees, in a whole life of perhaps the severest services. I allude to those miserable objects intended for slaughter, which, if they shew but an existing spark of life and strength, are purchased for renewed la- bour, and even too often of the severest kind. Here it is, that vigilance among those who wish to serve the cause of humanity, is wanted, and that some severe, examples might be bene- ficial. I know no other method of decreasing the horrid but common practice, of torturing out animal life to the last sob! |
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536 THE RIGHTS OF BEASTS.
A gentleman in the ardour of the chace,
Vol. I. p. iy6', shall ride his hunter to death. The horse shall have been in high blood and con- dition, and from his generous eagerness in fol- lowing the hounds, shall have, in all fairness, incurred a share of the blame with his master, who was actuated by the same headlong and furious enthusiasm. Th it such fatal eagerness sometimes exists in the breast of the hunting horse, is well known to horsemen. The horse has been supposed to enjov a race, a thing which I have never been so fortunate as to per- ceive, intimate as I have been with race horses, but that many have a real enjoyment in hunt- ing, is beyond all question. The trotjti^i^jhack mentioned in the first volume, to.which I was i sqja^Uiched, had suchjyai ejrjoyjnent in lmnt- ing, that I have sent her twice a-week into the field, merely to gratify her, although I ever ^detested hunting myself. I once sent a half- bred hunter into the field, in a light country, where the horses went a racing pace, and mine not being ridden with sufficient caution, ran_un- til it btirstjtself, and d ropped_down dead. Ne- vertheless horses have been wantonly and cruelly sacrificed m this way, literally whipped and jyuaded to death, atrocious cases totally different from the former, and most truly me? |
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THE RIGHTS OF BEASTS. 537
riting that reprehension and punishment, which
thev are never likely to meet, under the bill in question or any other. The case of driving to death the wretched worn out post horse, is a crime of" a different shade and a far deeper dye, and never ought to escape severe punish- ment. The ordinary yse^£_Uie_yvJii£_ upon the re-
gular race course, although far too severe and Jrequent, Vol. I. p. 254, can scarcely ever be- come the subject of legal question. Happily, this and all other severities upon the course are materially softened and reduced in our times, for which_th_eJoj^ers_ of humanity are indebted _ to no^ndiyidjaal __so, greatly, as to Sir Charles _J3unbun', who has through life made use of his great opportunities and practical knowledge, to • divest his favourite sport of horse racing, as much as is possible, of ail cruelties. Sir Charles _Bu;B_frury never snffers any rigorous or cruel discipline to be used towards his horses, caus- ing them to be treated in their labour, with all fairness, jujtice^and compassion. He, in many cases, even totally interdicts the use of the whip and spur, and indeed never permits it, but . ,i ■■■■*■. r i --■-•—*— m I
on an evident and just necessity, and then to
be administered in the most temperate and sjpajring way. Sir Charles's tarf jmotto, and I have it now before me, in his own hand writ- |
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538 THE RIGHTS GF BEASTS.
ing, is—parce pim-jtimults. The example o/
{his eminentrand humane sportsman has had great and beneficial Influence upon the raan- ners\of the turf, and henceforth any deviations from the common itandard of fair treatment, adopted by gentlemen sportsmen will be mors conspicuous, and ought to be liable to legal controul and merited punishment. For ex- ample, no magistrate or jury, could hesitate a moment in such a pitiable case, as that of the poor old fleabitten grey gelding, Vol. I. p. 1.58, or in that late instance of detestable and black- guard cruelty, upon ttie inhuman perpetrators of which a whole county ought to have risen, the match of two horses to be run unto death ! in which, one, after having been urged on- ward with the severest tortures, in the power of the hell-hound bestriding him to inflict, having fallen heart-broken and_jdead, was actually Jioisted upon a carriage, and drawn full speed, by four freshj^J^recWi^ijnas, in order to gain
the goal before his competitor, and thereby
win the race "with hi&jdead ^carcase ! Surely all the worthy part of society will agree with one voice, that actions thus desperately immoral and wicked, must be. forbidden and punished under every just system of human government, and that no pretence of worldly profit or con- venience, ought to stand in the way of a law |
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THE RIGHTS GF BEASTS. 53.9
for that end. Could the magistrate hesitate
for a moment on the case of the Manchester butcher, Vol. I. p. 132, who cut off the feet of his sheep, in order to drive them with conve- nience, or of the baker, who lately threw a miserable dog into his heated oven ? I am aware of an objection from the refined
and courtly writers of the present time, that I have not treated this subject in a conciliating way: no, as the case stands, I should have deemed such a proceeding scarcely honest, and considering the general apathy, far more probable to be injurious on one side, than bene- ficial on the other. There are cases, in which the appearance of truth in pnris naturalibus, is indispensable, however it may disgust the deli- cate and fastidious, and perhaps there never was a time, in which the public was so grossly flattered, or so deeply injured by flattery, as at present. There is an open and avowed ridicule of compassion, and of those whose hearts are warmed by it, and a regular systematic defence of cruelty for certain pretended advantages. Against such principles, a man may determine to speak his mind with the utmost freedom, al- though at the same time, desirous of treating many of the persons who entertain them with the highest respect. |
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510 THE RIGHTS OF BEASTS.
Attend, impartial reader, if such a being
exist, to the lamentation of an unfortunate wight, acknowledged by no party; for which of them, philanthropist or antiphilanthropist, whig or tory, will agree with me? I say attend and determine upon the justice and rationality of my scheme. Hereafter followeth my con- fession ; my motto is, all for truth, and I never view the compromise of expedience, with- out extreme distrust, too often with the most penetrating sorrow and regret, at the imper- fection and imbecility of our nature. But homo sum, and as a man, I must, and there- fore will, submit to legitimate expedience, whilst I contemn and execrate the pretended, hypocritical, and illegitimate. 1 have said, (philosophy of sports) assigning
my reasons, that hunting and cock fighting may be tolerated, and that horse racing and boxing, are diversions calculated for most use- ful and important purposes, in a community. I have endeavoured to prove, that all these
may be enjoyed without any trespasses upon the rights of justice and humanity, drawing the line and stating the important difference be- tween the fair and lawful labours, or voluntary sufferings of men and animals, and the unlaw- ful and cruel sufferings of beasts, which are |
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THE RIGHTS OF BEASTS. 541
bound and staked to the torture. In my sys-
tem, there is no aggression or trespass. Yet surely boxing and cock-fighting afford enough of the example and practice of hardihood, for good lessons against effeminacy, and to keep alive a manly boldness, the source of martial arclour, without the base and unnatural re- course to animal torture ; and this part I ad- dress to the reflection of the great patron of bull-baiting, and with the remark, that bull- fighting continued through centuries, with a re- finement which may well be styled by us, who are not mealy mouthed, the very sodomy of cruelty, have not made the Spaniards soldiers, nor enabled twenty thousand of them to beat ten thousand French, who notwithstanding, never enjoyed the immense advantage of tor- turing animals in their military education. To address myself to the humane party, who
surely ought to honour me with some small share of their attention, on what sufficient ground, can they class together, as they do, the barbarous torturing of animals, with their legitimate use; what warrant have they, in this case peculiarly, for arguing from mere abuse, or how will they avoid the just reproach of a want of discrimination, which they will readily throw upon their antagonist ? Of the rationals of this party, I would seriously ask, whether |
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542 THE RIGHTS OP BEASTS.
they expect, that the human mind will ever be
divested of those passions, which naturally produce dissention and combat, and whether they cannot discern a balance of good, in the English practice of boxing—of advantage, and even lawful amusement, in horse racing, which fairly conducted, most assuredly is not so great a trespass upon the feelings of horses, as occurs daily, in the ordinary business of life, nor greater than that to which men voluntarily ex- pose themselves ? What—is it unlawful, to put to a fair test, and witness the exertions of the courser, .after that mode, in which nature has chosen peculiarly and specifically to distinguish him ? Such an idea would be equally irrational, as the exemption of his back, appropriated by nature to the burden, from ever bearing one, on the plea of a spurious and wrong headed hu- manity. The practice of cock fighting also, Vol. I. p. 187, ought never to be confounded Or compared with that of throwing at cocks, a
cold blooded barbarity, under the influence of
the basest passion of the human soul. It is im- portant to mark the difference. In cock-fight- ing, the object is to witness the result of vo- luntary combats. The animals themselves par- ticipate, they follow their peculiar natural in- stinct, and would pursue the same course, did they meet in their own walks, or upon Salis- 6
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THE RIGHTS OF BEASTS. 543
bury plain. They would there fight it out ad
internecionem, and-with much more fortitude and certainty, I apprehend, than some of their masters, who have formerly proposed interne- cine war. I lately read in an Irish newspaper, * of certain of our conjuring humanists, who made prisoners of the ringleaders of an assem- bly engaged in the diabolical sport of cock- fighting, killing the cocks. Well, these gen- tlemen may not have reflected on the differ- ence, and had it been throwing at cocks, I should have highly applauded their zeal and humanity. I am therefore, in some degree, content; but when I soon after read, in an English paper, the boasts of some of our zeal- ous reformers, that they had completely driven febe prostitutes from ft'fcertain quarter of a po- pulous city, and hoped in time, totally to expel them, and that certain poor labourers were ap- prehended and fin^d^for shavirig and being shavedj.or bakuij* their hebdonnmiljpint,sent on the day market! number seven, in our reckon- ing, I could not help exclaiming with the poet— " Protect us mighty Providence, what would these madmen
have V Do these modern Solomons consider, that
. -the regular demand of the market of love must |
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544 THE RIGHTS OF BEASTS.
and will be supj?_ligda and that for every jjrp-
stitute withdrawn from the public service a re- cruit must,bej;aised ? But perhaps, hushj is all which is required by the saints. To put an end to boxing, horse-racing, cock-fighting, and —wenching !! ! A most hopeful speculation doubtless, when it has come out, that_ even the authors of the Christian hero, and o£the_Evi- dences o£th_e Clirjstian religion, had both colts_ teeth in their heads, and that the elders of_the tabernacle, ancient and modern, have not sel- dom,_ranked ajnor^tjie_besXc,us sisterhood.^ In these respects, I agree with a certain popular writer—we are not to be Han- nah Mored into reformation. It will appear, I trust, on mature reflection,
to those who are sincerely desirous of amelio- rating the condition of brute creatures, and of imbuing the minds of the people of this coun- try, with a rational compassion, that their ob- ject must be retarded by those misconceptions which I have noted, and by the well grounded
fear which must be entertained by their op- ponents, of attempts under the guise of reform, to throw impediments in the way of the really lawful business and pleasures of life. To ad- dress both parties, surely on the one hand, it must be deemed by the most zealous, an ad- vantageous compromise, to adopt a plan, in |
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THE RIGHTS Of BEASTS. 545
which the active energies and curiosity of the
people, may be gratified with the smallest pos- sible trespasses on justice and animal feelings; and they will not forget, that human wisdom is nought but a series of compromises. And the other party should remember, that the lawful use of animals, to its fullest extent, is proposed to be left unretrenched. Safely indeed, may the most tenacious agree to these measures* arid under the full assurance, that human pas- sions and interests will ever prove sufficient mounds against an overflow of humanity! I too well know, that with respect to practice and the actual routine of human affairs, my scheme, as well as all others which aim at correct and even handed justice, are perfectly Utopian. Nature has given to beasts an inheritance in the earth, as well as to men ; they hold by the tenure of duties^ as well as men, and I would not take from beasts more than from men, an iota of their just rights. Feeling is feeling, whether in man or beast, and according to temperament, may often exist in a higher and more intense degree, in the latter. How easily may a man assimulate himself to a beast, by supposing him- self in a state of slavery, diseased, insufficiently ' fed, fainting under a burden, and recovered by cruel and bloody stripes, the purpose of which is to excite the last spark,of vital power for the vol. ii. Nn |
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5X6 THE RIGHTS OP BEASTS.
profit of the tyrant. Should there yet be no
pity for the poor worn out horse, under similar circumstances ! I speak to those, who hare hi- therto made no use of that compassion, which nature may have bestowed upon them. But if to aim at perfection be Utopian, yet our systems and our laws ought to be grounded on the clearest principle of right, instead of a pre- sumed expedience being adopted as a principle. The bottom of thb fountain being muddy, the waters will always be contaminated, and the vermin hatched and nourished by the filth, will struggle to .the last for their existence. I have sufficiently, in the course of this
work, expressed my opinion of superfluous and impertinent legislation, but the experience of all times, even the present however enlightened, has proved the necessity of a legal controul over the actions of men in the case of beasts, which is not merely a question of morals, but of right, and on the general issue I wish to go
beyond Lord Erskine's. I would have the
whole animal creation included, but should be sa'tisfieS with the simple declaration of the right of animals to be protected from ' cruelty. It nmst be the business of the moralist afterwards, to form the minds of the rising generation upon that model; and in practice, to'adhere as closely to the principle of the general law, as natural evil and fair expedience* will admit. |
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THE RIGHT* OF BEASTS. 547
A law being instituted for the warrant and
assistance of those, who meditate the propaga- tion of justice and compassion both to man and beast, let us see on what beside they have to depend, the materials on .which they have to work, and the difficulties they have to en- counter. They who have amused themselves and others, with the idea of an earthly millen- nium, perfectibility, or perfection here, have but superficially considered the nature of man and the world. Can elements be changed and the fabric subsist ? The world will ever abound with injustice, cruelty, and misery, which in- deed are of the. elements of its composition, and can at best be balanced by the opposite virtues. Yet Johnson said, that men natu- rally love justice, which must be taken in a gene- ral sense; for in that sense, justice is our great dependence here, and our only rational hope hereafter. The system of nature is inevitably, and from the unimpeded progress of causes and effects, notwithstanding so many boasts of its benevolence, a system of the greatest cruelty, and the glory of its correction has been conferred on the due exercise of the reasoning faculties of man. Both good and evil may be propa- gated in endless variety, but still being essen- tial principles, there must of necessity be good and evil, thus there will always be cruelty and w n 2 |
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548 THE RIGHTS OF BEASTS.
injustice in the world. There will ever be men,
who by their words and actions, appear to love injustice for its own sake, even independently of the profit it may bring. Nevertheless im- provement in the faculties and condition of man has an immense and practicable stride to make. On the above principles, we ought to learn also the virtues of forbearance and com- passion towards those who possess them not; and herein all legislatures, have been deficient,- who have instituted punishments grounded on an impotent revenge, instead of mere preventive and exemplary justice. In the archives of certain regular governments, over- thrown by the French Revolution, were found whole volumes on the scientific and mechanical branches of the torture ! It was not perceived, that the most wicked man who has ever ex- isted, must have acted merely from the im- pulse of his nature, and such are not forewarned by example, simply because nature investing them with too much boldness, denies them an adequate share of caution. The torture, could anv preventive benefits be ascribed to it, and the contrary is said to have invariably resulted, would be an unjust and diabolical extension of animal suffering. Has an individual been guilty of inflicting the greatest tortures ? by the revengeful punishment of him, in a similar |
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THE RIGHTS OF BEASTS. 549
way, you do but add another unit to the
already frightful sum of animal suffering, You make war against the howling winds. I have spoken of the necessity of adducing
particular examples of cruelty to brute animals, from the general inadvertency on that head, in all times, and anlong all classes of mankind, from the most learned and religious, to the lowest and most ignorant. The ancients di- rected the young steer to expire in tortures, from the. corruption of the carcase of which, a swarm of bees was to be generated. The old Cologne Dispensatory prescribed the necessity of killing the bird by fatiguing it to death, of which their aqua caponis, or chicken broth, was to be made. Our London College afterwards, with English humanity, presume that the fowl will be killed previously to being plucked and embowelled. I have somewhere read of ,the cruelties of the old Catholics to cats, and Shakespeare alludes to the torments of a cat in a bottle! the very idea curdled my blood, and filled my mind with a gloom almost bordering on despair, from which indeed there is no other defence than the fortitude, arising from ne- cessity, that strong hold of rational man. I recollect seeing an old advertisement of the amusements to be presented at Hockley in the Hole, or the Bear Garden, among which, was |
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55(y THE RIGHTS OF BEASTS.
to be a dog drawn up by fire ! How are we to
account, that one being endowed with feeling, and with the reasoning faculty, can feel pleasur- able gratification in the writhings, the excru- ciating torments, of another being, the suffer- ings of which, demonstrate its sensibility ? The motive assigned by Aristotle, curiosity, is in- sufficient, and one is driven to suppose a great infusion of the pure spirit of abstract cruelty from hell. Boys and young men are particu- larly addicted to cruelty, from nature, the sti- mulus of curiosity, or desire of action ; and I knew one of a party of young demons, who nailed an unfortunate cat to a gate post, through her paws, afterwards torturing her to death ! About the same time, demons both old and young, were in the habits of tying cats toge- ther by the hinder legs, and hanging them across ropes or rails, in order to enjoy the ex- quisite pleasure of seeing the unfortunate ani- mals bite, and worry each other to death ! I have known young surgeons in the constant habit of catching cats in steel traps, for the mere pleasure of dissecting them alive. About three years since, some miscreants in the vi- cinity of Sniith'field, were seen by my inform- ant, amusing themselves with the agonies of a poor hedge hog burning alive ! 1 have been informed, indeed many years ago, that the |
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THE JRICI1T8 OF BEASTS. 551
gFossest cruelties were committed upon the
<leer when run down and taken at the annual Easter Hunt upon Epping Forest, the horrid .^fcysftinjan practice being literally followed, of cutting pieces for distribution, from the living animal; but I trust the magistrates of that district, would not at this time, permit such an abomination. In Percival's account of 'the Cape of Good Hope, it is confirmed, that the . ^ ~~~ jr ^iutCH colonis^g, perhaps among the greatest barbarians upon the face of the earth, cut pieces with knives out of the flesh of their draught cattle, when weak, unable, or lazy, and that the drawing the knife and whetting it, occasions the utmost irritation and tremor in the miser- able animals. Hull in his late entertaining tra- vels in Scotland, gives account of certain bar- barous sports; rklu^ajt_geese which are bung up alive, to be caught hold on, and torn down by the horsemen as a prize; and the students, with the barbers at Edinburgh, are said to amuse themselves by hunting cats to death in saw-pits! I.wish I had also read, that the zeal of the Scotish clergy had been equally warm and effectual against these moral enormities, as against philosophy, writing of plays, and church music. But the general system of theologians is restricted too much to the con- cerns of another and better world, to admit of |
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552 THE BIGHTS OF BEASTS.
sufficient attention to a just moral conduct in
the present. The absurd 'belief in the possibility of witch-
craft, still subsists with the ancient cruelty at- tached to it. A maid servant lately baked a duck alive! in order to detect and destroy a witch. It is melancholy to reflect upon the numerous cruelties, to which this foolery has given rise, and which might, a century since, have been eradicated from the minds of the people, by properly and honestly stating to them, that such a being as a witch or wizard, could never possibly have existed, being inconsistent with an immutable law of nature. The reason why this course has never been taken, is sufficiently obvious, and a most contemptible reason it is. The attempt to cozen mankind into morality, by deceptious arts, I believe, has never had that success attributed to it, and I have witnessed the best effects from appeals to the reason and common sense, even of the most
ignorant. A certain man, this year, at Covent
Garden market, in the act of cruelly beating his horse, was seized with a locked jaw. A clergyman, I understand, made an eloquent ser- pion on this, as an act of particular providence, at least it was so represented in the public papers, on which it was remarked, a few such providences then, were particularly wanted in |
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THE RIGHTS OF BEASTS. 553
Thames Street. The earthquake at Lisbon
overturned a whole street, excepting a chapel of the Virgin, which was left standing and unhurt. This was celebrated as a particular interference in favour of such a holy mansion, but of ano- ther street it was also observed, all the houses were overturned save one, and that was a Nanny-house 1 _ The unfortunate, who spoiled the miracle by seeing and saying too much, was in course, thrown into a dungeon by the tyrant. Yet I am not warned, but deriding others, in various cases, for not taking warn- ing ! In my first edition, I took the liberty to re-
commend the subject of compassion to beasts, as a standing topic for the clergy : I now beg leave to press it upon the attention of our Agri- cultural Societies, which have, and most de- servedly, so great an influence in the country. An association has been proposed, in one of the magazines, under the denomination of the Animals Friend, and money has been, I be- lieve, subscribed or offered, for such purpose. No doubt, but such association throughout the country, by their precepts and example, and by their taking cognizance of any gross and marked instances of cruelty, might greatly and effectually serve the cause of good morals. They might circulate cheap tracts in prose and |
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$54 T»E RIGMT5 OF BEASTS.
verse. Good dinners, good singing and hila-
rity, would attract subscribers, and most as- suredly men assemble in this way, on far less important occasions. The bust of the humane and generous Sir Richard Hill would with much propriety deck their rooms, whose charity to aged aad decriped horses is so well known. And the memory of Toussaint L'Ouverture, the negro chief, well deserves our reverence on the same, account. But no other measure can be of so great and
general consequence, as that of parents instil- ling into the minds of their youngest children just ideas of compassion, accompanied with constant practical lessons and explanations. The certain effects of this I can speak to, as to my own contracted circle, in which the youth of both sexes, instead of exulting, as is common, in the miseries of beasts, pay the penalty of light and compassion, by too great sympathy in their sufferings. In the general mode of bringing up children, they are ab- solutely taught to experience delight in animal misery. Do they see a horse, dog, or cat, the first wish of their hearts is to inflict pain upon it, and more especial if poor and miserable to view! The very sayings which are first im- pressed upon the ears and minds of children, in the nursery, are of dreadful import:— 6 |
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555
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THE RIGHTS OP BEASTS.
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a Lady bird, lady bird, fly away home,
Your house is on fire, your children will burn. Ding dong bell,
Pussy catty in the well.
My mamma killed me,
My daddy ate me,
My little sister picked my bones,
And buried tkem under cold marble stones."
I should be curious to know the motive of
the cockshead, who was the original inventor of such infernal trash for the use of the nursery. In the Monthly Magazine, I particularly
adverted to the sufferings of poor horses, and other cattle in parish pounds. A law is cer- tainly required in the case. The animals ought to be fed, and the cost defrayed by their owner, or by sale. A shed ought to be erected in every pound, to keep them dry. A law also is much wanted, with a considerable penalty, one half to the informer, against that infamous but too common practice, of beating out the teeth of the colt, in order to make him appear older than he is, and fit for immediate labour; from which deception, vast numbers of colts are prematurely ruined, and the public shame- fully cheated. The law ought to interdict the shameful practice of putting out the eyes of singing birds, for which a fellow belonging to Covent Garden market, was lately punished by the magistrate, linemy as 1 am to calling |
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&56 THE RIGHTS OF BEASTS.
in the aid of legislation wantonly and unneces-
sarily, I should rejoice to hear of a heavy penalty attached to the horrid and unnecessary practice of figging eels alive, by which the ani- mals endure such lengthened tortures ; a prac- tice utterly unnessary, since the skin of the eel is rich? gelatinous and nourishing, indeed equally with the flesh. As to killing them, to stun them with blows on the head, or cut. into their brain, are the only methods. For the cruelties practised on other fish, and on wild anifnals, nature seems to have left us without a remedy, but improved morals would mitigate them. The case of the poor horses sold to slaughter
is nearest my heart, but I can devise no re- medy. Within these few days, I saw one lying in the streets, which had dropped from mere famine. He turned his head piteously towards his hollow flanks, and I was obliged to turn mine from the by-standers, to hide my tears. Not long since, I saw one of these miserable victims, in harness staggering and falling, in agonies, and the dung dropping involuntarily from him, at the same time, writhing under the abuse of a hoary miscreant, who seemed to take pleasure in deriding his sufferings. And strange it is, that poverty and misfortune should attract contempt, and even hatred, but the 9
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THE RIGHTS OF BEASTS. 5SJ
wretched animals in question, are the common
objects of ridicule and of abuse, instead of com- passion. Our sympathies surely ought to be, in a peculiar manner, excited in favour of these objects, which have most of them already been exhausted by a whole life of labour; and those who are ambitious to serve this cause, in the metropolis, should devote as much as possible of their attention, to this class of unfortunate creatures, and to their treatment by the car- men, the excessive cruelty of which may be too often seen in the affrighted and affecting looks of the animals. Upon the turf, the wanton cruelty of the
whip has given way to increasing light and hu- _manity_; surely we may hope soon to have the game boast to make, with respect to the coach- JiisL system, in 'town, of our persons of rank. It is somewhat extraordinary, but doubtless the effect of stupifying custom, that ladies of high and exquisite sensibility, can sit unmoved at the cruel whipping of coach horses at a rout, or at the opera house. I must be bold to say, that it is most disgraceful, and to pretend to be certain, that it is equally unnecessary. No- thing can be more clear, than that a horse can- not be whipped through the eye of a needle, or into an impossibility, and most of the horses in question are too eager. The practice is a |
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$58 THE EIGHTS OT BEASTS.
mere base and silly gratification in the coach-
man, and mere customary stupidity in those who permit it. A word or two upon the easiest method of
putting a period to animal life, the greatest fa- vour we can bestow upon animals, when they are no longer wanted, and when their presence is, or may be the greatest burden to both themselves and us. It is a grand point, to do this with the least possible pain to the animal, and without its consciousness of the approach- ing blow. Here nature has indeed favoured us, and never was there a more wrong headed view, than the sentiments of those who hesi- tatingly say, ' life is sweet, we ought not to take away that we cannot confer, and let the poor creature take his chance.' Such ideas seem to orginate in the base fear of death and of trouble. Nature herself has taught us dif- ferent things. The bringing up so many dogs and cats, and afterwards inhumanly deserting and turning them out, is the cause of a vast load of animal misery and very serious incon- veniences. Much cruelty is generally used in depriving the cat of life. The easiest method, is to tie a cloth over the head, strike it one or two blows upon the head, with souse heavy sub- stance, and then immerse it in a pail of water standing ready, holding it down with a broom. |
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THE RIGHTS OF BEASTS. 55Q
I have seen them die thus with scarcely a
struggle. In hanging the dog, his eyes should be bandaged and a heavy blow or two laid upon his head, before being drawn up. On the dispute as to the preference of pithing^ or knocking down cattle, I have, spoken in my General Treatise on Cattle, 2nd edition. I fear the bvavcry of knocking clown an animal fast bound, or secured, and its supposed effects, have decided that question. The terror and uncertainty of the blow, appear to me the ob- jects to be avoided, the difference between the two modes, in other respects, unworthy of con- sideration. The numbers of eager and curious spectators of the operations of the slaughter- houses, of the gatlaw-tree, of the breakiny .a wretch alive upon the wheel in France, under thejDM, infamous government, at which plea- sant spectacle, ladies and men of fashion hired the nearest pla^sjff inspection, at high prices! are a theme for the sad and solemn reflection of the naturalist and philosopher. Where are we to find consolation ? No where, but in the exercise and enjoyment of the reasoning fa- culty. There is perhaps a barren sort of con- solation, a degree of negative satisfaction to the soul of sensibility, in the thought, that cruelty impartially goes its rounds, that oppression and suffering perpetually interchange, and that the |
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56*0 THE RIGHTS OF BEASTS.
victims which we lament might in opposite cir-
cumstances have been the aggressors. But such views, which might be widely extended, detract nothing from the obligation of our duties. Mr. Fox, in the case of the Slave Trade,
insisted on the necessity of a display of parti- cular acts of cruelty, which is most obvious, in more than one view. How often do we read or hear, in jocular terms, of the dog with a ca- nister tied to his tail, yet an act in its probable, or most certain consequences, of atrocious cruelty. Where can the forlorn and perse- cuted wretch fly for protection?—and such a subject of merriment! A bullock being hunted through the metropolis, his beef is said to be the better, by two pence a pound! I had in- deed finished this subject, in the last para- graph, but dare not omit the following dis- heartening account, which, considering its con- nection, and thence most dangerous example, is in a peculiar manner disgraceful to the country. It was stated in all the public news-papers, that during the late, election for the county of York, eight post horses per day upon ' an average, laid dead, or expiring upon the public roads. I forbear other remarks, than that the Magistracy ought always to interfere in such cases, and that they ought to be supported by |
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THE RIGHTS OF BEASTS. 56l
the law. During the remarkable great heats_
in July, 1808, a considerable number of Stage horses perished upon the public roads. On the great road to Edinburgh, fourteen or fifteen were killed in one day. I was informed by Mason, the Colchester coachman, a steady and intelligent man in his business, that the allow- ance of jonejbour in fifteen^ would have_sjived_ those horses ; and where would have been the damage of such a delay, so much greater being occasioned by frosts and floods? Mason pointed out to me a roan horse, which would have infallibly sun-k under the excessive heat, but which he preserved? by allowing him to walk occa^ioji^l]yj^n_J^_stage, and by^afjter- wards resting him during a few stages. Here is a union between interest and humanity, which does not always so obviously occur, na- ture perpetually truckling to our interests. I hope this will obtain attention,from the body of stage masters; an English public will nei- ther be so unreasonable, nor so inhuman, as to demand of them a strict punctuality of time, under such circumstances. |
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56*2 VETERINARY MEDICINE,
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• CANINE MADNESS.
This most dreadful disease, which has hi-
therto baffled every proposed remedy, even those which might be presumed of the most radical tendency, is now under the considera- tion of the ablest medical men in this country, the result of which cannot fail to interest the public attention. I reintroduce the subject' from Vol. II. p. 295, for the purpose of re- marking on that other species of madness, \thich has impelled certain individuals to deny the possibility of thk, in opposition to a clear and continued chain of evidence. An Edin- burgh physician is among these, who seems also to think as lightly of a cure for the glanders in horses. All other remedies hav- ing failed in canine madness, perhaps these gentlemen have merely tire intern of trying the eiiect of hallucination. The notion of the' nonexistence of such disease, although of much older dale, may have arisen with its present advocates, from the case related by John Hunter, of a gentleman who was bitten by a dog supposed to be mad, and who from mere affright, brought upon himself hydrophobic |
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VETERINARY MEDICINE. 563
symptoms, which subsided spontaneously, on
his being ocularly convinced, that the dog really, had not been mad. A superficial pam- phlet, has been lately published on this ground, and on another hypothesis equally unsatisfac- tory, ' explaining the impossibility of the dis- ease termed Hydrophobia, being caused by the bite of any rabid animal.' According; to this author, the disease is merely hypoeJiondria, aris- ing from affright at: the usual horrors of the case, and that the cure consists in convincing the patient of the impossibility of receiving disease from a brute animal. This scheme is over- turned in a moment, by stating the undoubted fact of numerous cases, both of unconscious children and adults totally devoid of sensibility or solicitude on the subject, falling victims to disease ; the cases so multitudinous and strongly marked, as to leave no possibility of mistake. As to those cases brought forward in the pam- phlet, there has always been plenty of such, the infection of canine madness, like other in- fections, being very uncertain. There is a sys- tematic boldness in some sanguine people, which often". ends in the other extreme. Far too many dogs are bred, and there is a miraculous carelessness about them, in their incipient in- dispositions, which may have such tremendous consequences. The hunting of dogs of suspi- oo 2
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564* VETERINARY MEDICINE.
cious appearance, during the time of alarm, is
most barbarous; indicting all sorts of cruelties upon the unfortunate and distresed! Something of a net should be provided, to throw over the rabid dog, so dangerous it is, to lay hold on him; and much more effectual regulations are required, for the absolutely necessary purpose of confining dogs in seasons of prevailing in- fection. I think there are many cases which go to the proof of spontaneous rabies. SCALDS AND BURNS.
Both the stimulant plan, with oil of turpen-
tine or camphorated spirit, &c. and the use of cold water, have been successful, according to constitution and the circumstances of the ease.
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PURGING SYSTEM.
The use of the common, or Barbadoes aloes
for horses, continues, as it ever has been, almost universal. In fact, I have conversed with veterinary surgeons, who apparently had never reflected on the difference between the common and the succotrine aloes, expressing a |
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VETERINARY MEDICINE. 565
surprize, that the latter should ever be given to
hprses, on account of its price. That farriers are generally supplied with cheap drugs, is no- torious in the trade, and ought to excite atten- tion elsewhere. The accidents formerly so common from the use of Barbadoes aloes, have been avoided of late years, by a decrease in the quantity of the doses, and I have been in- formed by Mr. Sandiver, that the usual purge for an aged horse at Newmarket, now seldom exceeds seven drams of common aloes, from which rarely any ill effects occur. Mr. Sandi- ver, observes, that Matchem Tims, groom to the Puke of Arncaste_r, Nvas the_ only jperson, within his knowledge, who ever used the succo- trine aloes, and that the_race_Jhorje^Jethrp was killed by a dose of them. The quantity generally used Jby_ Tims /or a dose, was ten to twelve drams. That such a quantity unaided by other circumstances, could be fatal, I have no faith to believe, who have so often and dur- ing so many years, given ten to fourteen drams to various horses, with perfect safety, frequently with very little purgative effect. We have no account of the state of health Jethro might have been in, nor can there be much depend- ence, as to the species of aloes administered fco, him, |
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566 VETERINARY MEDICINE.
Mr. White prefers Barbadoes aloes, but
without any other reason assigned, than that it is a stronger purgative than the succotrine, a truth already well known. He objects to my grounding an opinion from a comparative trial of the two species, on my own stomach, over- looking the circumstance that I had previously made the same experiment on the stomachs of various horses, induced thereto by the advice of Gibson, the first probably, who made the distinction, and who appears to have had sound practical reasons for it. My opinion remains unaltered on the question, and the constant use of succotrine aloes, both' to brute and human patients has confirmed all J formerly said in its favour, as a stomachic and great promoter of the appetite, as well as a safe and excellent visceral purge. I think a great advantage is given up, by its disuse, nor did I ever know of ahorse injured by it, whilst the few accidents that happen in latter times, from the use of the coarse aloes, I believe are to be attributed solely to the smaller quantities prescribed. The peculiar effect of aloes in general, on the lower intestines, is well known, whence its adaptation as a purge to the horse ; but the fine species pos- sesses great advantages, and I should conceive is far less dangerous, in hands, from which great accuracy is not to be expected. On the |
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VETEIUNART MEDICINE. 56/
score of interest, it is easy to conceive that
. Barbadoes aloes would meet a preference, since in the first instance, it is the cheapest, and little more than half the quantity will suffice. With respect to my .prescription for the horse
under the impeded operation of a purge from badness of the drugs or cold, Mr. White has made, in all - respects, a very uncandid state- ment. The. fact is, I had advised the same remedy in effect, which he has adopted ; but I also added another, and that of a stimulant na- ture, on the contemplation that the bowels of the horse might be in a torpid, atonic state, with rigor and shivering, of which I have seen a late instance, and thence unable to bear any more medicines of the purgative class. In such case, warm stimulants will frequently prove the Safest and best evacuants. Mr. White how- ever occasionally -orders succotrine aloes and even rhubarb, although the last be one of those articles, lately said to .have no effect upon the horse. . . .1 am perfectly satisfied with my answer to
jYIr. Blaine on.the subject of molten grease, and cannot.help thinking, that he has «ot found a very powerful advocate, in Mr. White. I cer- tainly can have no doubt, that this.grease in the stable.phrase,.is an effusion of lymph, the con- sequeuge of inflammation, but I contend, that |
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568 VETERINARY MEDICINE.
the lymph in the alleged case, is saturated with
grease, so as to appear in Mr. White's phrase, < like fat mixed with the dung/ I suppose in such a sudden colJiquation, the melted grease cannot escape quickly enough, through the proper excretories, hut is thrown upon the lym- phatics. In truth, I have various practical rea- sons for desiring to retain the popular term grease, both in this case, and the common disease in the legs of the horse. If I assailed Mr. Blaine with unmerited ridicule, it ought, and will recoil upon myself. From the freedom •with which I had treated others, Mr. White was certainly under no necessity for making any apology to me, and he leaves me in debt to his politeness. And, notwithstanding my igno- rance of veterinary medicine, in his opinion, the reality of which will appear still more clearly by my different publications on the subject, Mr. White has nqt scrupled to avail himself of a number of hints from my Treatise on Horses, as on collation will appear. I should really have been bappy, to have
found Mr. White's books free from that epide- mic affectation, which has certainly detracted much from the character of our late veterinary publications. In his Vol. II. dated 1806", he speaks of veterinary science as of late origin in this country and pretends, that Gibspri, |
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VETERINARY MEDICINE. 569
Bracken, and Bartlet, were not aware of the
difference which has since been found to exist, between the structure and economy of the horse, and that of the human subject, &c. He however has omitted a material part of this strange observation, to be found in a prece- dent edition, obviously, in consequence of a former remark of mine (Treatise on Cattle), and would have wisely consulted his reputa* tion, had he omitted the whole. The writers abovenamed, he supposed, were led, or rather misled by human analogy, and that their prac- tice was unsuccessful; suppositions which the world knows to be groundless, and it is pro- bable, that one at least of those writers had more experimental practice, than has fallen to the share of any individual since. Mr, White should not have drawn upon himself such a dangerous question as the following'-r-on a col- lation of his books, with those of Gibson, Bracken and Bartlet, how much of useful no- velty will be found in White ? Astonishing too it is, that Mr. White should call a veterinary pharmacopoeia, untrodden ground, with no guide to lessen the labour of the attempt. Did he never then hear of the dispensaries of Gib- son, Bartlet and Wallis ? As to the labour of the attempt, copying and transcription are, to be sure, troublesome enough. Bat these vc* |
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570 .VETERINARY MEDICINE.
terinary gentlemen will scarcely give us, room
, to put in a word in their praise, so full are .they of it themselves! Another of them has lately published a; pamphlet on horse warranty, in which he also modestly boasts of the originality of that attempt! When professional men pub- lish, the world has a right to expect an account ©f their own practice; and no high pretensions or change of scenery, can blind us to those con- stant repetitions which we meet. In Mr. White's books are a number of errors, to which I have before incidentally adverted. As to the diet, exercise, and management of the horse, I apprehend, noexperieneed reader will look upon this gentleman, as thoroughly qualified. .Some of his prescriptions are useful and good, if not new; others >are mere flourish, by way of add- ing a ruffle to the shirt of veterinary science. There is a way in which our veterinary sur-
geons might essentially serve the public. It is in exposing those clangorous catch-penny pub- lications, which come abroad, under the names of farriers. I have adverted to the common ynanuoevres of such, in my General Treatise on cattle. The name of some farrier is generally borrowed, and a compilation made from dif- ferent writers, by.a scribe, perhaps totally ig- norant of the subject. As a specimen of the prescriptions in such, take the following from a |
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VETERINARY MEDICINE. 57t
compilation to which the name of Clater has
been tacked, and which has been puffed in printed bills, stuck upon the walls, as having saved three hundred thousand horses!—no fewer. For race horses or hunters, "after * a hard day's fatigue/ a drink composed of the following articles, is strongly recommended—- senna, salt of tartar, lenitive electuary, Glau- ber's salts, and—-jalap ! Since the manufac- turer of this book, had not common sense enough to be apprized of the danger and in- humanity of giving such a debilitating mess, to a poor animal under the circumstances of fatigue and faintness, it may well be appre- hended, that grooms and owners of horses, to whom the book professes to be of peculiar use, may be led into a similar act of barbarous stu- pidity. My Newcastle correspondent supposes, that
the rules of horsemanship which I have drawn, in the first volume, from Hughes's pamphlet, ought rather to be attributed to Mr. Thomp- son, author of the Hints to Bad Horsemen. This I dare say is correct, and that Hughes's name was prefixed to rules, the chief or all of which were pilferred from Mr. Thompson.— It is a trick of the trade, One part of my apology for the memory of
old Mr. Frampton, Vol. I. p. 260, I fear must |
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572 VETERINARY MEDICINE.
fall to the ground. His horse Dragon, and I
have never heard he had two of that name, raced about the year 1710, and was twice beaten by [Bay Bolton. I have much standing among my memoran-
dums, on the colds and colics of horses, and other subjects, for which I have neither leisure nor room here. I have observed occasionally a fatal result from the exhibition of quantities of laudanum in gripes, however generally suc- cessful, when the stomach and the intestines have been loaded. |
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finis.
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FrinUd bj Uw ind Gilbert, St. J«hn'j Square, londoa.
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Xezv Books printed for Sherwood, Neely and
Jones. Mr. LAWRENCE'S Agricultural and Veterinary Works, com-
plete, form Five large Volumes Octavo, Price si, 15s. 6d. in Boards, and comprehends a body of useful practical know- ledge of every material Object in the culture of the Soil, and the management of Live Stock, r. In One large Volume 8vo. price us. boards, a New Edi-
tion, being the Fifth, with large additions, containing a full practical Exposition of the Nature, Causes, and Effects, of Blight, Smot, Mildew, and other Diseases of Corn, with various useful Hints on the most important Branches of Husbandry. THE NEW FARMER'S CALENDAR: or, Monthly Re-
membrancer for all Kinds of Country Business; comprehending all the material Improvements in the New Husbandry, with the Management of Live Stock. Inscribed to the Farmers of Great Britain. Containing reflections on the existing State of our Agri- culture, its Merita and Defects, the real Causes and only effec- tual Remedy of Scarcity. Calendar: pointing out the Business of every Month in the
Year, as it regards preparing the Land, Sowing, and Harvesting the various Crops, and the Management of Cattle—Hiring and Stocking Farms'—The Implements of Husbandry—Soils and Ma- nures—Draining—Fencing—Farm Yard, its Form and Manage- ment—Vermin—Irrigation and Warping—Woods and Planta- tions—Tillage and Fallowing—The Drill Husbandry—Dibbling —Seed—Blights—Course of Crops—Cattle Crops—Winter Pre- servation of Roots, &c.—Meadow and Pasture—Live Stock, Breeding and Improvement—Horses, Neat Cattle, Sheep, Swine, Rabbits, Poultry, &c.—-Diseases of Vegetables. In a neat Pocket Volume, Price 2s. extracted from the above, fcr more general Use. 1. The FARMER'S POCKET CALENDAR; or Monthly Remembrancer for all kinds of Country Business necessary to be attended to throughout the Year ; Jcomprehending all the material Improvements in the New Husbandry. 3. The MODERN LAND-STEWARD: in which the Du-
ties and Functions of Stewardship are considered and explained, •with their several Relations to the Interests of the Landlord, Te. riant, and the Public. 8vo. 10s. 6d. boards. "If the Author had not already recommended himself to the
Public by his New Farmer's Calendar, and other works, the judi- cious observations and useful hints here offered would place him in the list of those rural Counselled who are capable of giving ad. vice, and to whose opinion some deference is due, though it may |
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New Booh printed for Sherwood, Neely and Jones.
not be implicitly followed. His sentiments on general subjects
expand beyond the narrow boundaries ot vulgar prejudice; and his good sense is forcibly recommended to us by its acting in con. cert with a humane disposition." Monthly R view, Aug. 1803. 4. A GENERAL TREATISE ON CATTLE ; the Ox, the Sheep, and the Swine; comprehending their Breeding, Ma- nagement, improvevent, and Diseases. Dedicated tc the Right Hon. Lord Somerville. Second edition with additions, in one large volume, 8vo. 12s.
boards. , ..Contents.—Neat Cattle—Various foreign Races. Form and the Principles of Improvement. Description of the established Breeds of British Neat Cattle, with their permanent Varieties. Breeding and rearing. The Dairy. Stall-feeding, Sec. Ox labour. Various Opinions of preceding Writers.— Sheep and Wool. Breeding and Improvement. Various Breeds of Britain. Spanish Sheep, with the Nature and actual State of the Improvement of British Wool by the Spanish Cross. Similar Improvement upon the Continent from the French of Lasteyrie. Swine. Various Breeds, Management, &c. Cattle Medicine. A Proposal for its establishment on a rational Foundation. On Quacks, advertised Medicines and Infallible Receipts. The Vari- ous Diseases of Oxen, Cows, and Calves; of Sheep and Swine, with Remedies.and proper Treatment. c. A PHILOSOPHICAL and PRACTICAL TREATISE
on HORSES, and on Moral Duties of Man towards the Brute Creation; Comprehending the Choice, Management, Purchase and Sale of every Description of the Horse ; the improved Me- thod of Shoeing; Medical Prescriptions and Surgical Treatment in all known Diseases : with Replies to the various Objections contained in a late Publication, and seasonable Hints to certain impolitic Advocates of the Veterinary College. Third Edition, with large Additions, in which the Nature and Tendency of Lord Erskine'S late Bill for the UgJ Protection of Beasts, are fully considered. 2 vols. 8vo. il. is. boards. " The book certainly handles a number of very useful topics,
in a most-facetious and pleasing way," Farmer's Magazine. 11 Mr. Lawrence treats particularly of the management of
horses, under the heads of the economy of the Stable, purchase and sale, veterinary medicine, &c. He writes with spirit, good sense, and humanity, and we recommend his work to the notice of our readers." M:;,thly Review. 6. THE GRAZIERS'READY RECKONER;
or, a ufeful. Guide for Buying and Selling Cattle ; being a com-
plete fet of Tables, diftinftly pointing out the Weight of Black Cattle, Sheep, or Swine, from 3 to 130 Stones, by Meafurement; together'with Directions, ihewing the particular Parts where the Cattle are to be meafured/ By GEORGE RENTON, Farmer.' Price 2s, <>d, 1
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Nevl Booh Pi nted for SberixjooiJ, NceTy and Jones.
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7. THEPRACTICALPLANTER.;oratuea-
life on Foreft Planting, Comprehending the Culture and Man--
agemcnt of Planted and Natural Timber, in every'Stage of its Growth. Alio on the Culture and Management of Hedge Fen- ces, and the conftruftion of Stone Walls, -&c. By WALTER KICOL.. 7s. boards. . Z ' /■ ; Dedicated to Lord Grcnvilk. In one volume8V0. price 6s, boards.
8. THE EXPERIMENTAL FARMER;BEiNfc
Strictures on various Branches of Hufbandry arid Agriculture,,
drawn from a long Scries of Praftice in different Parts of Great ... Britain ; containing Obfef vati'ons on planting and preferving Young Trees, with an approved method of thinning them, to .become Timber; Likewife, Plans for laying out Land, on a Five and, Four Field Syftem. Alfo, a new Method to bring die'mod Bar-: ren Land into Cultivation, for Meadows and Sheep-walks: and a Variety of other ufeful Information in every Branch of this Art, abfolutely neceffary for every Perfon, from the opulent Farmer, to the Proprietors of fmall Pieces of Land. By THOMAS TIBBS, Farmer, Late Land. Steward to Lord Grenville ;and who has received
the SandVien and a Premium from the Board of Agriculture. LAND SURVEYING.
Dedicated "to the Gentlemen interefted in Agriculture, and thofe intrufted with the Tuition of Youth," &c. Lately publifued, in one volume 410, Second Edition, Embellimed with an Engraved Plan, and Six Plates: together , with an Engraved Field Book of 27 Pages, Price 16s. Half; bound. THE SYSTEM of LAND SURVEYING at
prefent adopted by Surveyors and Commiflioncrs in Old and New
Inclofures, conducted as an actual Survey, on a Plan confifting of open Fields, Ings, Common and Old 'Inclofure, divided and allot- ted according to Conditions of Agreement between the feveral Proprietors. |
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Treating of the Quality, and
Quality Lines
Taking Particulars Proprietors andOccupiersNames Book of Particlars Elplanation of Characters ufed in the Field Book, &c.
Ranging the Poles |
Laying the Lines upon the Plaa
Plotting Valuing by the Gommiflioners
Calling Taking Dimensions
Finding the Content, &c. Book of Dimenfions, Carting*, &c. |
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Running,the Lines
Dividing into allotments—New Drains—New Roads—Stone
and Sand Pits-— Allotting the Fields, Common, Inng, &c.—Old iirclofure—Setting off upon the Plan each Proprietor's .'Quantity, |
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Npw Books Printed'for Shtrivood, Keely and jfones.
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according to their proportional Value—On the Fields, Commons,
Inns, &c.—The letting and ftal- i g o it Allotmenfs, Roads, Drains,- Sand.pits, &c &c. To which are added Rules, (hewing in what Manner Line-:
may be meafurcd, where there are Impediments, or not, to ob- ftruft the Sight, fuch as Buildings, Water, &c. Taking Dift- ances; rneafuring on the Outfide of any Quantity of Land or Water, and thereby find the content: furveying large Towns., Cities, &c. Likewise, the proper Method to be purfued in rnea- furing detached Pieces of Land where Plotting is not required. The While by the Chain only.
By WILLIAM STEPHENSON, Land Surveyor, Horncaftle. £S* This Treatife divulges what has hitherto been kept a Se- cret from the Public, fcarcely known to any than its Profeffors, and is fo eafy, that a Youth may teach himfelf, in a ftiort Time, as no Mathematical Inftrument is ufed ; and Gentlemen, not hav- ing Leifure to make it a Study, may by referring from the Book to the Plan, and other Plates, become acquainted with the proceed- ings of Surveyors and Commiflioners, and Plans in general, fo ef- fential to every one interefted in Agricultural Purfuits, &c. BUENOS AYRES. In One large Volume, 8vo. price i as. 6d. in b; ?rd , THE HISTORY OF THE VICEROY aLTY
OF BUENOS AYRES; containing the moft accurate Details
relative to the Difcovery, Natural Hiftory, Agriculture,
Conqueft, Population, Productions,
Topography, Government, Commerce,
Climate, Courtsof Juftice, Revenues,
Curiofities, Religion, &c. &c.
Of that valuable Colony.
BY SAMUEL HULL WILCOCKE. This Work is uniformly and elegantly printed on fine wove demy paper, forming one handfome volume in with a correct map of the country, an accu ate plan of i\ e town, and various other plates on fubjefts of natural hiftory, &c. &c. The valuable information with which the Britiih Public is here
enriched, has been obtained in confequence of the author having been engaged in cxterifivc mercantilepurfuitsimmcdiately connect- ed with the Spanifh colonies in South Americe, the value of which, is very much enhanced by the difficulty in obtaining it. The volume contains a very particular and detailed account of all the principal mines which are worked in this colony ; and the reader will be highly gratified andinftrufted by its details refpefting the famed fettlements ©f the jefuits, their origin, extent, and fubver- fson. We are precluded by our limits from entering on the curi- ous detail of natural hiftory, which adds to the intereft and Talue of this volume.—Fide Monthly Review, Seft. 1809, |
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