INFUSIONS.
These are made by steeping herbs, roots, and other medicinal substances in boiling water. No particular rules can be laid down as to the quantity of each article required: it will, however, serve as some sort of a guide, to inform the reader that we generally use from one to two ounces of the aromatic herbs and roots to every quart of fluid. A bitter infusion, such as wormwood or camomile, requires less of the herb. All kinds of infusions can be rendered palatable by the addition of a small quantity of honey or molasses. As a general rule, the human palate is a good criterion; for if an infusion be too strong or unpalatable for man, it is unfit for cattle or sheep. We do not depend so much on the strength of our agents: the great secret is to select the one best adapted to the case in view. If it be an agent that is capable of acting in concert with nature, then the weaker it is, the better. In short, nature requires but slight assistance under all ordinary circumstances, unless the animal is evidently suffering from debility; then our efforts must act in concert with the living powers. We must select the most nutritious food—that which can be easily converted into blood, bones, and muscles. If, on the other hand, we gave an abundance of provender, and it lacked the constituents necessary for the purposes in view, or was of such an indigestible nature that its nutritive properties could not be extracted by the gastric fluids, this would be just as bad as giving improper medicines, both in reference to its quantity and quality.
An infusion of either of the following articles is valuable in colic, both flatulent and spasmodic, in all classes of animals: caraways, peppermint, spearmint, fennel-seed, angelica, bergamot, snakeroot, aniseed, ginseng, &c.