No. 1. Ointment of nitrate of mercury, commonly named citrine ointment.
No. 2. Hog’s lard, two ounces; red precipitate, finely powdered, two
drachms.
No. 3. Hog’s lard, four ounces; melt, and stir in Goulard’s extract, one
ounce.—_White._
MALE, _a._ Of the sex that begets young, not female.
MALE, _s._ The he of any species.
MALEFEATHERS, _s._ Those on the breast of a hawk.
MALLARD, _s._ The drake of the wild duck.
[Illustration]
The mallard, or wild-drake, weighs from thirty-six to forty ounces, and
measures twenty-three inches in length, and thirty-five in breadth: the
bill is of a yellowish-green colour, not very flat, about an inch broad,
and two and a half long, from the corners of the mouth to the tip of the
nail: the head and upper-half of the neck, are of a glossy, deep,
changeable, green, terminated in the middle of the neck by a white
collar, with which it is nearly encircled: the lower part of the neck,
breast, and shoulders, are of a deep vinous chestnut: the covering
scapular feathers are of a kind of silvery white; those underneath,
rufous; and both are prettily crossed with small waved threads of brown:
wing-coverts ash; quills brown; and between these intervenes the
beauty-spot (common in the duck tribe) which crosses the closed wing in
a transverse, oblique, direction; it is of a rich, glossy, purple, with
violet or green reflections, and bordered by a double streak of black
and white. The belly is of a pale grey, delicately pencilled and crossed
with numberless narrow-waved, dusky lines, which, on the sides and long
feathers that reach over the thighs, are more strongly and distinctly
marked: the upper and under tail-coverts, lower part of the back, and
rump, are black; the latter glossed with green: the four middle
tail-feathers are also black, with purple reflections, and, like those
of the domestic drake, are stiffly curled upwards; the rest are sharp
pointed, and fade off to the exterior sides, from a brown to a dull
white; legs, toes, and webs red.
The plumage of the female is very different from that of the male, and
partakes of none of his beauties, except the spot on the wings. All the
other parts are plain brown, marked with black. She makes her nest, lays
from ten to sixteen greenish-white eggs, and rears her young generally
in the most sequestered mosses or bogs, far from the haunts of man, and
hidden from his sight among reeds and rushes. To her young helpless
unfledged family (and they are nearly three months before they can fly),
she is a fond, attentive, and watchful parent, carrying or leading them
from one pool to another, as her fears or inclinations direct her; and
she is known in this country to use the same wily stratagems to mislead
the sportsman and his dog, as those before noticed respecting the
partridge.
Like the rest of the duck tribes, the mallards, in prodigious numbers,
quit the north at the end of autumn, and, migrating southward, arrive at
the beginning of winter in large flocks, and spread themselves over all
the loughs and marshy wastes in the British isles. They pair in the
spring, when the greatest part of them again retire northward to breed;
but many straggling pairs stay with us: they, as well as preceding
colonists of their tribes, remain to rear their young, who become
natives, and continue with us throughout the year.—_Bewick._
MALLEABLE, _a._ Capable of being spread by beating.
MALMSEY, _s._ A sort of grape; a kind of wine.
MALT, _s._ Grain steeped in water and fermented, then dried on a
kiln.
Malt is very serviceable to horses that are recovering from fever: it is
useful, also, when the system is weakened by large abscesses which
discharge copiously, and in almost every case depending on debility.
It appears to be easy of digestion, and very nutritious, though not so
stimulating as oats. Green malt has been recommended for improving the
condition of horses, and giving them a smooth, glossy coat. Infusion of
malt is sometimes given with advantage to sick horses; but they
generally require to be drenched with it, which is a great
inconvenience.—_White._
MALT, _v._ To make malt.
MAMMALIA, _s._ The first class of animals in the system of Linnæus.
MANAGE, _v._ To carry on; to train a horse to graceful action; to
tame or break hawks in.
MANCHINEEL, _s._ A large tree, a native of the West Indies; a
dyewood.
MANDIBLE, _s._ The jaw, the instrument of manducation.
MANE, _s._ The hair which hangs down on the neck of horses.
When a horse’s mane stares or lies irregularly, it should he neatly
platted; leaded at the ends, and kept damp with a wet sponge.
MANED, _a._ Having a mane.
MANGE, _s._ The itch or scab in cattle.
The canine mange is a chronic inflammation of the skin, dependent, in
some instances, on a morbid constitutional action: it is infectious
also, from miasms produced from animal exhalations; and it is
notoriously contagious from personal communication with one affected. It
is not, however, so completely contagious, in all its varieties, as is
supposed, for I have known dogs to sleep with affected ones for some
time without becoming mangy; but in the majority of cases it is
otherwise; and in some the predisposition to it is such, that almost
simple and momentary contact will produce it. The mange which is
received by contagion is more readily given to another than that which
is generated. The uniform presence of animalculi within the psoric
pustules has revived the idea that it originates in the attack of acari.
Mange is also hereditary. A bitch, lined by a mangy dog, is very liable
to produce mangy puppies; but the progeny of a mangy bitch is certain to
become affected sooner or later; and I have seen puppies covered with it
when a few days old. The morbid action by which mange is generated is
excited in various ways, and by various causes. When a number of dogs
are confined together, the acrid effluvia of their transpiration and
urine begets a miasm productive of a virulent mange, very difficult to
be removed. Close confinement, with salted food, is even more certainly
productive of mange; thus dogs who have come from distant countries, on
ship-board, are generally affected with it. Very high living, with
little exercise, is a frequent cause: a state nearly approaching to
starvation is also not unfavourable to it. In both these apparent
contrarieties, the balance between the skin and the digestive functions
is not preserved, and the disease follows as a necessary consequence.
The disease has some permanent and fixed varieties; it has also some
anomalies; but the pruritus or itching is common to all.
The scabby mange, one of the most common forms under which this eruptive
complaint appears, is an extension of the secretory pores of the skin in
very minute red vesicles, that at first are distinct, but as they extend
become pustular, confluent, and scabby. Sometimes simple linear cracks
of the cuticle seem to pour out a serous fluid, which concretes into
scab. It is occasionally confined to the back; at others it is found
principally in the joints of the extremities.
* * * * *
The red mange, so called from a redness of both skin and hair in the
parts affected, is likewise not unfrequent, and partakes much of an
herpetic character. In this variety there is less pustular eruption, but
nearly the whole skin of the body, particularly in white-haired dogs, is
in a state of active inflammation: it is also hot to the feel, and
itches intolerably. In the red mange, the hair itself becomes morbidly
affected, and alters in its colour, particularly about the extremities:
it also falls off, and leaves the skin bare, much thickened, and
puckered into stubborn wrinkles. Dogs with the strong coarse hair called
wired are very liable to this state; in which a magnifying glass applied
will often detect innumerable minute ulcerations, covered by
furfuraceous scales.
* * * * *
_Acute mange._—Besides that variety just noticed, there is yet a more
directly acute form of the complaint, which puts on an appearance not
unlike erysipelas in some instances; in others it is a pure erythema, or
red efflorescence; but more frequently it is accompanied with some
ulceration. It commences by a direct febrile attack, with panting heat,
and restlessness; next some part of the body (usually the head) begins
to swell, which, the second or third day, gives place to ulceration of
the nose, eyelids, lips, ears, neck, &c. This ulceration proves
superficial, but extensive; and continues a longer or a shorter period,
as the treatment is more or less judicious. Bleeding, aperients, and
febrifuges, form the constitutional remedies: the topical ones are tepid
fomentations the first two days; and, when the tumefaction has given
place to ulceration, the application of a cooling unguent of
superacetate of lead (sugar of lead), with spermaceti ointment, will be
proper. What remains of the affection, in a week or ten days’ time, may
be treated as common mange.
* * * * *
Mange is apt to be considered more troublesome than hurtful, which is a
great error; for it is not only invariably hurtful, but very often fatal
also: when long continued, it frequently ends in dropsy. It sometimes
diseases the mesenteric glands, and the subjects of it die tabid:
neither in any case can it be neglected with impunity. In sporting dogs
it is injurious to their qualities as well as their health: their scent
invariably becomes impaired, and their general powers are always
weakened by its irritation.
The following formulæ are adapted for the first described form of
mange:—
No. 1. Powdered sulphur, yellow or black 4 oz.
Muriate of ammonia (sal ammoniac),
crude powdered ½ oz.
Aloes, powdered 1 dr.
Venice turpentine ½ oz.
Lard, or other fatty matter 6 oz.—Mix.
Or,
No. 2. Tobacco in powder ½ oz.
White hellebore in powder ½ oz.
Sulphur in powder 4 oz.
Aloes in powder 2 dr.
Lard, or other fatty matter 6 oz.
Or,
No. 3. Powdered charcoal 2 oz.
Sulphur powdered 4 oz.
Potash 1 dr.
Lard, &c. 6 oz.
Venice turpentine ½ oz.
Or,
No. 4. Sulphuric acid (oil of vitriol) 1 dr.
Lard 6 oz.
Tar 2 oz.
Powdered lime 1 oz.
Or,
No. 5. Decoction of tobacco 3 oz.
Decoction of white hellebore 3 oz.
Oxymuriate of quicksilver
(corrosive sublimate) 5 gr.
Dissolve the corrosive sublimate in the decoctions, which should be of a
moderate strength; when dissolved, add two drachms of powdered aloes, to
render the mixture nauseous, and prevent its being licked off, which
ought to be very carefully guarded against: the best means for this
purpose is a muzzle having a very fine wire capping or mouth-piece,
which will effectually prevent the dog from getting his tongue applied
to the ointment, which would prove his almost certain destruction.