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Vol. III.
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212

ON THE LIVE-STOCK

this place to notice a few of those disorders of which almostevery farmer has some knowledge in his own experience.

Cholic or Gripes is a frequent cause of loss, to those farmerswho feed their horses very high, and occasionally require ex-traordinary exertions. This distemper has been treated otunder three different characters, namely, the flatulent, thebilious or inflammatory, and the dry cholic. The first ofthese may be occasioned by drinking too much cold waterwhen a horse has been overheated; the second arises froman internal injury produced from overstrained exertion ; andthe third, which is very similar to the first, is sometimes oc-casioned by a too abundant allowance of oats, and otherheating and astringent food. The flatulent cholic maybe treated with success by bleeding in the neck veins,emptying the intestines with the hand and by means ofglysters, and administering gruel of oil and salt, Geneva, andnitre. The horse should be well rubbed on the back andbelly, with a hand moistened with oil, kept on his legs ifpossible, and induced to take moderate exercise. Opiateshave also been given with good effect. In the inflammatoryspecies of this distemper, a cure is probably more difficult,stimulating medicines must be improper, and only such asare of a cooling and laxative nature should be given. Ifthese do not effect a cure, a very strong decoction of Jesuit’sbark has been recommended.

There are some horses much more liable to a cholic thanothers: every slight variation in their food and labour indu-ces it. Sometimes they recover of themselves, as is almostalways the case as soon as there is a discharge of faeces orurine. These frequent and apparently innoxious attacks, areapt to create a feeling of security, both in farmers and theirservants, and the disorder at last almost always terminatesfatally. As soon as a horse exhibits symptoms of a cholic,which arc too well known to need any description, not a mo-ment should be lost before the proper remedies are applied;and such horses as are frequently seized, should be disposed

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