| Sulphuric ether | Two ounces. |
| Tincture of camphor | Half an ounce. |
| Tincture of opium | One ounce. |
| Cold water or gruel | One pint. |
This should be repeated every quarter of an hour, till four drinks are swallowed; then the intervals should be lengthened to half an hour, and, as the symptom decreases, the medicine ought to be administered at still longer periods, and ultimately, but gradually, withdrawn.
There are, however, other things to be done. When the animal is first brought in, procure five quiet assistants; give a leg-bandage each to four of the helpers, and a sponge, with a basin of cold water, to the fifth. Order the men to perform their ministration silently; the four are to bandage the four legs while the fifth sponges out the mouth, nose, eyes, and anus; this done, the body is to be superficially cleaned. Sweat is to be removed and dirt taken off; the ears pulled, and the head made comfortable; the tail and mane having been previously combed, a hood and body clothing should be put on.
All this should be well understood beforehand; while it is being accomplished not a word should be spoken; nothing is more soothing to an agitated system than perfect silence. Wet swabs should then be placed upon the feet, a pail of gruel suspended from the manger, and a man left to warn off all noisy strangers from the exterior of the building; for during spasm from overexertion perfect quietude is quite as essential as medicine.
Spasm of the diaphragm, if taken in time, is not generally fatal; and no man, however determined a "Nimrod" he may be, is justified in proceeding after having recognized so mysterious a warning. The sound before alluded to must emphatically inform him all is not right with the animal on which he is seated. It is folly to urge that the horse enjoys the chase as much as the rider; no life would, for its own pleasure, run itself to a spasmodic exhaustion. Old hunters may have left the field to follow the hounds; the animals, however, obey only the impulse of education, and did what they imagined would gratify their superiors. The horse is given as a servant to man; the creature is obedient to its destiny; to serve is its lot, to please is its reward. Body and soul it devotes to the heartless being who is assigned its appointed lord; it will spend its last breath in the gratification of its master; such affection surely merits better treatment than the quadruped generally receives.
When spasm of the diaphragm terminates fatally, approaching dissolution is announced by easily recognized signs. The pulse cannot be felt at the jaw; the heart only flutters; the feet are icy cold; a yellow discharge drains from the nostrils; the breath becomes fetid; the pupil of the eye enlarges; the horse wanders round and round its box; it soon sinks and perishes.
ACUTE GASTRITIS.
A HORSE SUFFERING FROM ACUTE GASTRITIS.
This most painful affliction is only known in the horse as the consequence of some poisonous substance being swallowed. Poisoning entire teams of valuable horses has followed the use of certain powders, these being mixed with the corn; the intention was to improve the personal appearance of the animals to which the drug was administered. Carters have a large faith in condition powders, and a distant belief in the magic of medicine; in their ignorance, they spend their hard-earned wages to procure the stuff, too often compounded of agents which never should be trusted in the hands of the uneducated. The men argue, if these powders, say one spoonful given each night, will make the horse bloom in a fortnight, two spoonfuls must do the same thing in a week; the spoonful possibly contains the utmost limits of the dose; that quantity exceeded may endanger or destroy life. But ignorance is always impatient; it ever desires the speediest results; and if accident attends its eagerness, indignation should be visited upon those who put responsible trusts in such keeping; upon the men who for gain sell poisonous drugs to the obviously uninformed.