Hard soap and common turpentine,
of each 4 dr.
Ginger 1 dr.
Opium ½ dr.
Powdered caraways enough to form the ball. Diuretics should not be kept
to become hard, as they often are, but be given in rather a soft state,
and recently made. Diuretics should never be so given as to operate
while a horse is in work, as he may thereby be prevented from staling
when he has occasion; from neglecting this precaution, and from their
frequent and immoderate use, arise those mischievous effects before
alluded to. The kidneys are often materially injured by them as well as
the bladder.—_White._
DIURETIC, _a._ Having the power to provoke urine.
DOCK, _s._ The stump of the tail which remains after docking; a
place where water is let in or out at pleasure, where ships are
built or laid up.
DOCK, _v._ To cut off a tail; to cut any thing short.
DOG, _s._ A domestic animal remarkably various in its species.
In ancient manuscripts we find the following names for the dogs employed
in the sports of the field; that is to say, raches, or hounds; running
hounds or harriers, to chase hares; and greyhounds, which were favourite
dogs with the sportsmen; alauntes, or bull-dogs, these were chiefly used
for hunting the boar; the mastiff is also said to be “a good hounde” for
hunting the wild boar; the spaniel was of use in hawking; “hys crafte,”
says the author, “is for the perdrich or partridge, and the quaile; and,
when taught to couch, he is very serviceable to the fowlers, who take
those birds with nets.” There must, I presume, have been a vast number
of other kinds of dogs known in England at this period; these, however,
are all that the early writers, upon the subject of hunting, have
thought proper to enumerate. In the sixteenth century the list is
enlarged; besides those already named, we find bastards and mongrels,
lemors, kenets, terrours, butcher’s hounds, dunghill dogs,
trindel-tail’d dogs, “pryckeared” curs, and ladies’ small puppies.
There formerly existed a very cruel law, which subjected all the dogs
that were found in the royal chases and forests, excepting such as
belonged to privileged persons, to be maimed by having the left claw cut
from their feet, unless they were redeemed by a fine; this law probably
originated with the Normans, and certainly was in force in the reign of
Henry I.
* * * * *
Linnæus, in his System of Nature, has placed the dog as the second genus
of the third order of mammiferous animals, or those which suckle their
young by means of lactiferous teats.
The characters of the third order, FERÆ, are as follows:—The fore teeth
are conic, usually six in each jaw; the _tusks_ are longer, the
_grinders_ have conic projections; the feet have claws, which are
usually subulate, or awl-shaped; they feed on carcasses, and prey on
other animals.
The characters of the genus _Canis_, or Dog, are, six cutting teeth in
the upper jaw; those at the sides longer than the intermediate ones,
which are lobated. In the under jaw there are also six cutting teeth,
the lateral ones lobated; there are four canine teeth, one on each side,
both above and below, and from six to seven grinders. The specific
characters of the _Canis Familiaris_, or common dog, are, the head is
carinated, or keel-shaped on the crown, the lower lip is hid by the
upper, indentated and naked at the sides; the tongue is smooth; on the
upper lip are five or six rows of whiskers; the nostrils are turned
outwards into a crescent-shaped furrow; the upper margin of the ears is
reflected and posteriorly doubled; the anterior margin is three-lobed,
and there are seven or eight hairy warts on the face. There are ten
teats, four of them pectoral, and six abdominal; the feet are
subpalmated, with claws on the toes, which are long, a little curved,
and not retractile within the toes, as is the case with those of the
cat.
He has, besides the above anatomical distinctions, other general
characters which are peculiar to his tribe.
He delights in associating with man, feeds on flesh, carcasses, and
farinaceous vegetables, digests bones, is vomited by eating grass, which
he does instinctively; drinks by lapping, runs obliquely, resting upon
his toes; perspires by his tongue, which he lolls out when warm; when
lying down turns often round; hears in his sleep, and dreams frequently.
Of all animals the most faithful; fawns at the appearance of his master,
and defends him; runs before him in a journey, and if the road divides,
looks back and generally waits to see which he takes: will turn to the
branch to which he is directed from a distance; his sense of smell is
exquisite.
Cuvier, in his Animal Kingdom, gives the following generic character of
the dog, which differs but little from that of Linnæus, except in his
new and more distinct terminology.
The upper cheek teeth are six on each side, the three first are sharp,
trenchant, called by Cuvier _false molars_; the following, a carnivorous
tooth, has two cutting lobes, beyond which, on each side, are two flat
teeth. In the lower jaw there are seven; four false molars, a
carnivorous tooth, has two cutting lobes, beyond which, on each side,
are two flat teeth, and two tuberculous teeth behind it. The length of
the jaws and muzzle vary greatly; the tongue is smooth; the ears are
extremely variable; there are five toes on the fore-feet, and four on
those behind, furnished with longish nails, obtuse, and not retractile,
and the mammæ are ventral; the eye-pupils are circular and diurnal, or
formed for seeing by day.
* * * * *
_Dogs exempt from Duty._—Whelps which are not six months old at the time
of returning your list for taxes. Dogs belonging to any of the royal
family, who are exempt from all duties on sporting. Poor persons, who
are not assessed for dwelling-houses, may keep one dog, provided it be
not a sporting dog.