Cattle and Their Diseases Part 22

ANTHELMINTIC POWDERS.--Nux vomica, in one half-drachm doses, two or three times daily, to an ox or cow; for calves, the dose must be diminished, according to age.

ANTIDOTES.--Medicines which neutralize the effects of poisons by a chemical union, forming an insoluble compound, or a mild, harmless one.

Alkaline solutions are antidotes for the mineral acids; as soap in solution, a simple remedy, and always at hand. Lard, magnesia, and oil are antidotes for poisoning by a.r.s.enic; alb.u.men,--in the form of the white of an egg,--milk, etc., for corrosive sublimate, and other mercurial preparations.

ANTISEPTICS.--Medicines which prevent putridity in animal substances, and arrest putrefaction, when already existing. These are used both externally and internally. The chief specifics of this cla.s.s are the acids, alcohol, ammonia, asafoetida, camphor, charcoal, chloride of lime, cinchona, ether, and opium.

ANTISPASMODICS.--Medicines which exert their power in allaying inordinate motions or spasms in the system, arising from various causes, such as debility, worms, etc. Those most generally in use are ammonia, asafoetida, camphor, cinchona, ether, lactacarium, mercury, and opium.

ANTISPASMODIC DRAUGHT.--Tincture of opium, one ounce; nitric ether, two ounces; water, one-half pint. Mix for drench; if repeated, it should be followed by a purgative, as soon as the spasms have subsided. Or, use the following: sulphuric ether, one to two ounces; water, one-half pint Mix for drench; repeat every hour, if necessary.

AROMATICS.--Medicines possessing a grateful, spicy scent, and an agreeable, pungent taste; as anise-seed, cardamoms, cinnamon, cloves, ginger, etc. They are princ.i.p.ally used in combination with purgatives, stomachics, and tonics.

ASTRINGENTS.--Medicines which serve to diminish excessive discharges, as in diabetes, diarrhoea, etc. The princ.i.p.al agents of this cla.s.s are the acids, alum, chalk, lime-water, opium, and the sulphate of copper, lead, iron, or zinc.

ASTRINGENT POWDER.--Opium, one drachm; prepared chalk, half an ounce; Jamaica ginger, six drachms. Mix, and divide into four powders; one to be given every hour, in a little flour gruel. Or, the following: opium, one drachm; catechu, two drachms; prepared chalk, one ounce. Mix, and divide into four powders; to be given as before.

CARDIACS.--Cordials--so termed, from their possessing warm and stimulating properties--given to invigorate the system.

CATHARTICS.--Medicines--also known as purgatives--which cause free evacuations of the bowels. The only purgatives used by the author in his cattle practice, as a general rule, are aloes, cream of tartar, Epsom-salts, lard and linseed-oil. These answer all the indications, where purgatives are useful; indeed, no better purgative for cattle can be found than Epsom-salts, combined with a carminative or aromatic drug, such as ginger.

CAUSTICS.--Substances which burn or destroy parts, by combining with them and causing their disorganization; used to destroy unhealthy action, or morbid growths, such as foul ulcers, foul in the foot, warts, etc. The most powerful remedial of this cla.s.s is actual cauterization with a red-hot iron; caustic potash, lunar caustic, nitrous and sulphuric acids, permanganate of potash, etc., are also used.

CORDIALS.--Best brandy, three ounces; orange peel, one drachm; tepid water, one pint. Mix all together, for one dose. Or, this for a single dose: ale, one pint; Jamaica ginger, two drachms. Or, the following, also a single dose: allspice, three drachms; ginger, one drachm; caraway seeds, two drachms.

DEMULCENTS.--Mucilaginous medicaments, which have the power of diminis.h.i.+ng the effects of stimulating substances upon the animal system. Of this cla.s.s, garden rue, or marsh-mallow, gum-arabic, and gum-tragacanth are the most useful.

DETERGENTS.--Agents which remove foulness from ulcers.

DETERGENT POWDER.--Prepared chalk, two ounces; alum, one ounce. Mix; to be sprinkled on the part, after was.h.i.+ng with Castile-soap and water.

This powder is also an admirable application for foot-rot in sheep.

DIAPh.o.r.eTICS.--Agents which increase the natural discharge through the pores of the skin, and in some animals induce perspiration.

DIGESTIVES.--Medicines which promote suppuration.

DIGESTIVE OINTMENT.--Mix together equal portions of spirits of turpentine and lard. Or, mix together with a gentle heat the following: Venetian turpentine, one ounce; lard, one ounce; pulverized sulphate of copper, two drachms. Or this, mixed: rosin, two ounces; spirits of turpentine, one ounce; red precipitate, one-half an ounce; lard, two ounces.

DIURETICS.--Medicines that stimulate the action of the kidneys, and augment the secretion of urine. These are very useful in swellings of the legs, or body. Take of nitrate of potash and rosin, each six drachms; mix, and divide in three powders; one to be given daily. Or, the following: spirits of turpentine, half an ounce; Castile-soap, one ounce; Jamaica ginger, one drachm; opium, one drachm. Mix: and divide in two b.a.l.l.s; one to be given each day.

EMOLLIENTS.--Medicines which relax the lining tissues, allay irritation, and soften the parts involved,--generally of a mucilaginous, or oily character. Lard, linseed meal, and marsh-mallows are chiefly used.

LITHONTRIPTICS.--Medicines possessing the power of dissolving _calculi_, or stones in the urinary pa.s.sages; composed princ.i.p.ally, according to the researches of modern chemists, of lithic or uric acid. The preparation most successfully employed by the author in such cases is muriatic acid, in doses of from one to two drachms, in a pail of water, once or twice a day.

NARCOTICS.--Medicines that stupefy, and produce sleep. Belladonna, camphor, hyoscyamus and opium, are among the narcotics in common use.

NAUSEANTS.--Agents which cause loss of appet.i.te, and produce the sensation of vomiting, without affecting it. For this purpose, aloes, tartrate of antimony, white h.e.l.lebore, etc., are used.

PARTURIENTS.--Agents which act upon the uterus. In cases of difficult parturition, or calving, resort is occasionally had to them. Ergot of rye is the most powerful.

REFRIGERANTS.--Cooling applications, which reduce the temperature of the blood and body; as cold water, ether, lead-water, etc.

RUBEFACIENTS.--Medicines which gently irritate the skin, producing redness on white surfaces. Of this cla.s.s, are aqua ammonia, creosote, mustard, turpentine, etc.

SEDATIVES.--Agents which depress the vital energies, without destroying life; as aconite, digitalis, h.e.l.lebore, hydrochloric acid, hyoscyamus, opium, and tartrate of antimony.

TONICS.--Medicines which increase the action of the muscular system, giving strength and vigor to the animal. These are among the most useful remedies known to man, and are beneficial in all cases of debility, toning up the stomach, and improving the appet.i.te and condition of the animal.

TONIC POWDER.--Pulverized gentian-root, one ounce; Jamaica ginger, one half an ounce; anise-seed, six drachms. Mix, and divide in eight powders; one to be given night and morning.

TRAUMATICS.--Medicines which excite the healing process of wounds; as aloes, friar's balsam, myrrh, rosin, sulphate of copper or zinc, tar, etc.

TRAUMATIC LOTION.--Mix tincture of aloes, one ounce; tincture of myrrh, two ounces. Or, melt together, tar, one ounce; rosin, two ounces; lard, four ounces. Or, mix sulphate of zinc, one drachm; rain-water, one half pint. Or, use the following, the celebrated friar's balsam; benzoin, in powder, four ounces; balsam of Peru, two ounces; Socotrine aloes, one half ounce; rectified spirits, one quart. Digest for ten or twelve days; then filter for use.

DOSES OF VARIOUS REMEDIES USED IN CATTLE PRACTICE.

ACONITE.--[_Monk's hood_; _Wolf's bane_.] An active poison. Used as a sedative in tincture; ten to twenty drops in water.

aeTHIOPS MINERAL.--[_Hydrargyri Sulphuretum._] One to two drachms.

ALCOHOL.--A stimulant; three to six ounces.

ALLSPICE.--[_Pimento berries._] Aromatic; two to four drachms.

ALOES.--Cathartic and tonic; tonic dose, one half to one drachm--cathartic, one to two ounces.

ALUM.--[_Alumen._] Irritant, astringent, and sedative; two to four drachms.

AMMONIA.--[_Aqua ammonia_; _Liquor ammonia_; _Hartshorn_.] Princ.i.p.ally used in combination with mustard, as an external irritant, and internally, as a diffusible stimulant; two to six drachms. Of carbonate of ammonia, three to six drachms.

ANISE-SEED.--[Fruit of the _Pimpinella Anisum_.] One to two drachms.

ANTIMONY.--[_Sulphate of Antimony._] Used in condition-powders; one to three drachms. Muriate of antimony. [_Oil, or b.u.t.ter, of antimony._]

Caustic; very good in foul in the foot. Tartarized antimony. [_Tartar emetic._] One to four drachms. The author, in the last instance, varies from the dose prescribed by veterinary authors, never giving it in more than one-half-drachm doses, believing its action thus more certain and satisfactory.

ASAFOETIDA.--Stimulant; two to four drachms.

AXUNGE.--[_Hog's Lard._] Ointment, princ.i.p.ally; may be used as purgative in doses of from one to one and a half pounds.

BALSAM OF PERU.--Stimulant, and tonic; two to four drachms.

BELLADONNA.--[_Deadly Nightshade._] Narcotic, anti-spasmodic, and irritant poison; one to two drachms.

BENZOIN.--[_Gum Benjamin._] Ointment; see Traumatics.