Cape aloes is rather transparent, very brittle, easily powdered, in this state of a bright yellow colour; the odour arising from it is not so strong as the Barbadoes, but stronger and less agreeable than the Socotrine. This kind is sold at a much lower price than the others, but is so weak and uncertain in its effect, that it is seldom employed in veterinary medicine. The dose of Socotrine aloes is from five to nine, Barbadoes from four to six, and Cape from six to ten drachms.
Aloes operates more speedily when united with soap, or any of the fixed alkalies. In old books cream of tartar is prescribed with aloes, under the supposition that it prevented griping, but soap is preferable.
Aloes is sometimes given as an alterative in doses of one or two drachms. It is also an ingredient in Friar’s balsam, and compound tincture of myrrh; preparations much used by farriers.—White.
Alpine Spaniel (Canis Alpinus), s.
The spaniel of St. Bernard exceeds all others of the same tribe in size and beauty. He generally reaches two feet in height at the shoulders, and is upwards of five feet from the nose to the tip of the tail. His coat is much more curled than that of either the springer or the cocker, and his hair is very closely set, with short woolly fur at the roots; his feet like those of all the dogs of cold climates, are protected from the possibility of being cut by the frost, by being covered with a thick fur, which, besides, enables him to climb those almost inaccessible ridges of ice which are so numerous on the Great St. Bernard. There is a peculiarity about the corners of the eyes of this dog which is attributed to the snow, and the high Alpine regions which he inhabits.
In point of intelligence, the Alpine spaniel may be reckoned at least equal to any of the species; and he has the greatest aptitude for learning anything to which he may be trained. He is peculiarly adapted to those stormy regions, the Swiss Alps; and Providence, in the wisdom of its arrangements, seems to have placed him where he was to be most serviceable to mankind.
These dogs are kept by the monks of the monasteries of the Swiss Alps for the express purpose of searching, during heavy snow storms, for travellers who may have fallen into cavities or pits, in which situation, without timely assistance, they would soon be starved or frozen to death. The practice is to send them out in pairs, and being perfectly conversant with the nature of their employment, they traverse a great extent of the adjoining country. By marks in the snow, but principally from the scent formed from the breath of persons so situated exhaling through the drift, they discover the pit that contains the buried traveller; in which case they instantly return and give the alarm, when assistance being procured, these sagacious animals lead the benevolent monks to the relief of the unfortunate individual.
The following anecdote appears to be well authenticated:—In crossing the mountain St. Gothard, near Airola, the Chevalier Gaspard de Brandenberg and his servant were buried by an avalanche; his dog, who escaped the heap of snow, did not quit the place where he had lost his master: this was fortunately not far from the convent; the animal howled, ran to the convent frequently, and then returned; struck by his perseverance, the next morning the people from the house followed him; he led them directly to the spot, scratched the snow, and after thirty-six hours passed beneath it, the Chevalier and his domestic were taken out safe, hearing distinctly, during their confinement, the howling of the dog, and the discourse of their deliverers. Sensible that to the sagacity and fondness of this creature he owed his life, the gentleman ordered by his will, that he should be represented on his tomb with his dog; and at Zug, in the church of St. Oswald, where he was buried in 1728, they still show the monument, and the effigy of the gentleman, with the dog lying at his feet.—Brown—Daniel.