Common salt, 4 ounces.
Manganese, 1 ounce and a half.
Let these be well mixed, and placed in a shallow earthen vessel; then
pour on the mixture, gradually, sulphuric acid, four ounces. The
inhalation of the gas which arises from this mixture is highly
injurious; therefore, as soon as the acid is poured on, all persons
should leave the building, which should immediately be shut, and not
opened again for several hours. Dr. White, V. S., says, "This is the
only efficacious _fumigation_, it having been found that when glanderous
or infectious matter is exposed to it a short time, it is rendered
perfectly harmless."
GALBANUM. This gum is used for similar purposes as gum ammoniac
and assafoetida.
GALLS. They contain a large amount of tannin, and are
powerfully astringent. A strong decoction is useful to arrest
hemorrhage.
GARLIC. See _Allium_.
GENTIAN. This is a good tonic, and is often employed to remove
weakness of the stomach and indigestion.
GINGER. A pure stimulant. Ginger tea is a useful remedy for
removing colic and flatulency, and is safer and better adapted to the
animal economy, where stimulants are indicated, than alcoholic
preparations.
GINSENG, (_panax quinquefolium_.) It possesses tonic and
stimulant properties.
GOLDEN SEAL, (_hydrastis canadensis_.) A good tonic, laxative,
and alterative.
GOLDTHREAD, (_coptis trifolia_.) A strong infusion of this herb
makes a valuable application for eruptions and ulcerations of the mouth.
We use it in the following form:--
Goldthread, 1 ounce.
Boiling water, 1 pint.
Set the mixture aside to cool; then strain, and add a table-spoonful of
honey, and bathe the parts twice a day.
GRAINS OF PARADISE. A warming, diffusible stimulant.
HARDHACK, (_spiraea tomentosa_.) Its properties are astringent
and tonic. We have used it in cases of "scours" with great success. It
is better adapted to cattle practice in the form of extract, which is
prepared by evaporating the leaves, stems, or roots. The dose is from
one scruple to a drachm for a cow, and from ten grains to one scruple
and a half for a sheep, which may be given twice a day, in any bland
liquid.
HONEY, (_mel_.) Honey is laxative, stimulant, and nutritious.
With vinegar, squills, or garlic, it forms a good cough mixture.
Combined with tonics, it forms a valuable gargle, and a detergent for
old sores and foul ulcers.
HOPS, (_humulus_.) An infusion of hops is highly recommended in
derangement of the nervous system, and for allaying spasmodic twitchings
of the extremities. One ounce of the article may be infused in a quart
of boiling water, strained, and sweetened with honey, and given, in half
pint doses, every four hours. They are used as an external application,
in the form of fomentation, for bruises, &c.
HOREHOUND, (_marrubium_.) This is a valuable remedy for catarrh
and chronic affections of the lungs. It is generally used, in the
author's practice, in the following form: An infusion is made in the
proportion of an ounce of the herb to a quart of boiling water. A small
quantity of powdered marshmallows is then stirred in, to make it of the
consistence of thin gruel. The dose is half a pint, night and morning.
For sheep and pigs half the quantity will suffice.
HORSEMINT, (_monarda punctata_.) Like other mints, it is
antispasmodic and carminative. Useful in flatulent colic.
HORSERADISH. The root scraped and fed to animals laboring under
loss of cud, from chronic disease of the digestive organs, and general
debility, is generally attended with beneficial results. If beaten into
paste with an equal quantity of powdered bloodroot, it makes a valuable
application for foul ulcers.
HYSSOP, (_hyssopus officinalis_.) Hyssop tea, sweetened with
honey, is useful to promote perspiration in colds and catarrh.
INDIAN HEMP, (_apocynum cannabinum_.) An infusion of this herb
acts as an aperient, and promotes the secretions. It may be prepared by
infusing an ounce of the powdered or bruised root in a quart of boiling
water, which must be placed in a warm situation for a few hours: it
should then be strained, and given in half pint doses, at intervals of
six hours. A gill of this mixture will sometimes purge a sheep.
INDIGO, WILD, (_baptisia tinctoria_.) We have made some
experiments with the inner portion of the bark of this plant, and find
it to be very efficacious in the cure of eruptive diseases of the mouth
and tongue, lampas, and inflamed gums. A strong decoction (one ounce of
the bark boiled for a few minutes in a pint of water) makes a good wash
for old sores. A small quantity of powdered slippery elm, stirred into
the decoction while hot, makes a good emollient application to sore
teats and bruised udder.
JUNIPER BERRIES, (_juniperus_.) These are used in dropsical
affections, in conjunction with tonics; also in diseases of the urinary
organs.
KINO. This is a powerful astringent, and may be used in
diarrhoea, dysentery, and red water, after the inflammatory symptoms
have subsided. We occasionally use it in the following form for red
water and chronic dysentery:--
Powdered kino, 20 grains.
Thin flour gruel, 1 quart.
To be given at a dose, and repeated night and morning, as occasion
requires.
LADY'S SLIPPER, (_cypripedium pubescens_.) This is a valuable
nervine and antispasmodic, and has been used with great success, in my
practice, for allaying nervous irritability. It is a good substitute for
opium. It is, however, destitute of all the poisonous properties of the
latter. Dose for a cow, half a table-spoonful of the powder, night and
morning; to be given in bland fluid.
LICORICE. Used principally to alleviate coughs. The following
makes an excellent cough remedy:--
Powdered licorice, 1 ounce.
Balsam of Tolu, 1 tea-spoonful.
Boiling water, 1 quart.
To be given at a dose.
LILY ROOT, (_nymphaea odorata_.) Used principally for poultices.
LIME WATER. This article is used in diarrhoea, and when the
discharge of urine is excessive. Being an antacid, it is very usefully
employed when cattle are hoven or blown. It is unsafe to administer
alone, as it often deranges the digestive organs: it is therefore very
properly combined with tonics. The following will serve as an example:--
Lime water, 2 ounces.
Infusion of snakehead, (balmony,) 2 quarts.
Dose, a quart, night and morning.
LOBELIA, (herb,) (_lobelia inflata_.) This is an excellent
antispasmodic. It is used in the form of poultice for locked-jaw, and as
a relaxant in rigidity of the muscular structure.
MANDRAKE, (_podophyllum peltatum_.) Used as physic for cattle,
(which see.)