Mix, pour on the whole one quart of boiling water, set it aside for two hours, then strain through cotton cloth, and give a table-spoonful night and morning.[20] If the bowels are constipated, a dose of linseed oil should precede the mixture. No water should be allowed during the treatment.
The following injection may be used:—
| Powdered bayberry bark, | 1 ounce. |
| Powdered gum arabic, | half an ounce. |
| Boiling water, | 1 pint. |
Stir occasionally while cooling, and strain as above.
The legs and ears should be briskly rubbed with tincture of capsicum; this latter acts as a counter-irritant, equalizes the circulation, and, entering into the system, gives tone and vigor to the whole animal economy.
FOOTNOTES:
[20] This preparation undergoes a process of fermentation in the course of forty-eight hours, and should therefore only be made in sufficient quantities for present use.
CASTRATING LAMBS.
The lambs are first driven into a small enclosure. Select the ewe from the ram lambs, and let the former go. Two assistants are necessary. One catches the lambs; the other is seated on a low bench for the purpose of taking the lamb on his lap, where he holds it by the four legs. The operator, having previously supplied himself with a piece of waxed silk and the necessary implements, grasps the scrotum in his left hand. He then makes an incision over the most prominent part of the testicle, through the skin, cellular structure, &c. The testicle escapes from the scrotum. A ligature is now passed around the spermatic artery, and tied, and the cord is severed, bringing the testicle away at one stroke of the knife. As soon as the operation is completed, the animal is released. The evening is the best time for performing the operation, for then the animal remains quiet during the night, and the wound heals kindly.