OLEUM LINI, (flaxseed oil.) This is a useful aperient and laxative in cattle practice, and may be given in all cases of constipation, provided, however, it is not accompanied with chronic indigestion: if such be the case, a diffusible stimulant, combined with a bitter tonic, (golden seal,) aided by an injection, will probably do more good, as they will arouse the digestive function. The above aperient may then be ventured on with safety. The dose for a cow is one pint.
OLIVE OIL. This is a useful aperient for sheep. The dose is from half a gill to a gill.
OPODELDOC. The different preparations of this article are used for strains and bruises, after the inflammatory action has somewhat subsided.
_Liquid Opodeldoc._
Soft soap, 6 ounces.
New England rum, 1 pint and a half.
Vinegar, half a pint.
Oil of lavender, 2 ounces.
The oil of lavender should first be dissolved in an equal quant.i.ty of alcohol, and then added to the mixture.
PENNYROYAL, (_hedeoma_.) This plant, administered in warm infusion, promotes perspiration, and is good in flatulent colic.
PEPPERMINT, (_mentha piperita_.) An ounce of the herb infused in a quart of boiling water relieved spasmodic pains of the stomach and bowels, and is a good carminative, (to expel wind,) provided the alimentary ca.n.a.l is free from obstruction.
PLANTAIN LEAVES, (_plantago major_.) This article is held in high repute for the cure of hydrophobia and bites from poisonous reptiles. The bruised leaves are applied to the parts; the powdered herb and roots to be given internally at discretion.
PLEURISY ROOT, (_asclepias tuberosa_.) We have given this article a fair trial in cattle practice, and find it to be invaluable in the treatment of catarrh, bronchitis, pleurisy, pneumonia, and consumption. The form in which we generally prescribe it is,--
Powdered pleurisy root, half a table-spoonful.
" marshmallow roots, 1 ounce.
Boiling water sufficient to make a thin mucilage. The addition of a small quant.i.ty of honey increases its diaph.o.r.etic properties.
POMEGRANATE, (_punica granatum_.) The rind of this article is a powerful astringent, and is occasionally used to expel worms. A strong decoction makes a useful wash for falling of the womb, or fundament.
Given as an infusion, in the proportion of half an ounce of the rind to a quart of water, it will arrest diarrhoea.
POPLAR, (_populus tremuloides_.) It possesses tonic, demulcent, and alterative properties. It is often employed, in our practice, as a local application, in the form of poultice. The infusion is a valuable remedy in general debility, and in cases of diseased urinary organs.
PRINCE"S PINE, (_chimaphila_.) This plant is a valuable remedy in dropsy. It possesses diuretic and tonic properties. It does not produce the same prostration that usually attends the administration of diuretics, for its tonic property invigorates the kidneys, while, at the same time, it increases the secretion of urine. The best way of administering it is by decoction. It is made by boiling four ounces of the fresh-bruised leaves in two quarts of water. After straining, a table-spoonful of powdered marshmallows may be added, to be given in pint doses, night and morning.
PYROLIGNEOUS ACID. See _Acid_.
RASPBERRY LEAVES, (_rubus strigosus_.) An infusion of this plant may be employed with great advantage in cases of diarrhoea.
ROMAN WORMWOOD, (_ambrosia artemisifolia_.) This plant is a very bitter tonic, and vermifuge. An infusion may be advantageously given in cases of general debility and loss of cud. A strong decoction may be given to sheep and pigs that are infested with worms. If given early in the morning, and before the animals are fed, it will generally have the desired effect.
ROSE, RED, (_rosa gallica_.) We have occasionally used the infusion, and find it of great value as a wash for chronic ophthalmia.
The infusion is made by pouring a pint of boiling water on a quarter of an ounce of the flowers. It is then strained through fine linen, when it is fit for use.
Sa.s.sAFRAS, (_laurus sa.s.safras_.) The bark of sa.s.safras root is stimulant, and possesses alterative properties. We have used it extensively, in connection with sulphur, for eruptive diseases, and for measles in swine, in the following proportions:--
Powdered sa.s.safras, 1 ounce.
" sulphur, half a table-spoonful.
Mix, and divide into four parts, one of which may be given, night and morning, in a hot mash.
The pith of sa.s.safras makes a valuable soothing and mucilaginous wash for inflamed eyes.
SENNA A safe and efficient aperient for cattle may be made by infusing an ounce of senna in a quart of boiling water. When cool, strain, then add, manna one ounce, powdered golden seal one tea-spoonful. The whole to be given at a dose.
SKULLCAP, (_scutellaria lateriflora_.) This is an excellent nervine and antispasmodic. It is admirably adapted to the treatment of locked-jaw, and derangement of the nervous system. An ounce of the leaves may be infused in two quarts of boiling water. After straining, a little honey may be added, and then administered, in pint doses, every four hours.
SNAKEROOT, VIRGINIA, (_aristolochia serpentaria_.) This article, given by infusion in the proportion of half an ounce of the root to a pint of water, acts as a stimulant and alterative. It is admirably adapted to the treatment of chronic indigestion.
SOAP. This article acts on all cla.s.ses of animals, as a laxative and antacid. It is useful in obstinate constipation of the bowels, in diseases of the liver, and for softening hardened excrement in the r.e.c.t.u.m. By combining castile soap with b.u.t.ternut, blackroot, golden seal, or balmony, a good aperient is produced, which will generally operate on the bowels in a few hours.
SQUILL, (_scilla maritima_.) A tea-spoonful of the dried root, given in a thin mucilage of marshmallows, is an excellent remedy for cough, depending on an irritability of the lungs and mucous surfaces.
SULPHUR. This is one of the most valuable articles in the veterinary _materia medica_. It possesses laxative, diaph.o.r.etic and alterative properties, and is extensively employed, both internally and externally, for diseases of the skin. The dose for a cow is a tea-spoonful daily. Its alterative effect may be increased by combining it with sa.s.safras, (which see.)
SUNFLOWER, WILD, (_helianthus divaricatus_.) The seeds of this plant, when bruised and given it any bland fluid, act as a diuretic and antispasmodic. Half a table-spoonful of the seeds may be given at a dose, and repeated as occasion requires.
TOLU, BALSAM OF. This balsam is procured by making incisions into the trunk of a tree which flourishes in Tolu and Peru. It has a peculiar tendency to the mucous surfaces, and therefore is very properly prescribed for epizootic diseases of catarrhal nature. The dose is half a table-spoonful every night, to be administered in a mucilage of marshmallows. One half the quant.i.ty is sufficient for a sheep.
VINEGAR. See _Acetum_.
WITCH HAZEL BARK, (_hamamelis virginica_.) A decoction of this bark is a valuable application for falling of the fundament, or womb.
Being a good astringent, an infusion of the leaves is good for scouring in sheep.
WORMSEED, (_chenopodium anthelmintic.u.m_.) A tea-spoonful of the powdered seeds, given in a tea of snakeroot, is a good vermifuge: it will, however, require repeated doses, and they should be given at least an hour before the morning meal.
GENERAL REMARKS ON MEDICINES.
Here, reader, is our _materia medica_; wherein you will find a number of harmless, yet efficient agents, that will, in the treatment of disease, fulfil any and every indication to your entire satisfaction. They act efficiently in the restoration of the diseased system to a healthy state, without producing the slightest injury to the animal economy. The Almighty has furnished us, if we did but know it, a healing balm for every malady to which man and the lower animals are subject. Yet how many of these precious gifts are disregarded for the more popular ones of the chemist! Dr. Brown, professor of botany in the Ohio College, says, "Of the twenty or more thousand species of plants recognized and described by botanists, probably not more than one thousand have ever been used in the art of healing; and not more than one fourth of that number even have a place in our _materia medica_ at present. The glorious results, however, attending the researches of those who have preceded us, should inspire us with that confidence and spirit of investigation which will ultimately result in the selection, preparation, and systematic arrangement, of a full, convenient, and efficient _materia medica_." Unfortunately, the medical fraternity, as well as the farmers, have been accustomed to judge of the power of the remedy by its effects, and not in proportion to its ultimate good. Thus, if a pound of salts be given to a cow, and they produce liquid stools,--in short, "operate well,"--they are styled a good medicine, although they leave the mucous surface of the alimentary ca.n.a.l in a weak, debilitated state, and otherwise impair the health; yet this is a secondary consideration. For, if the symptoms of the present malady, for which the salts were given, shall disappear, nothing is thought of the after consequences. The cow may be constipated for several succeeding days, and finally refuse her food; but who suspects that the salts were the cause of it? Who believes that the abstraction of ninety ounces of blood cut short the life of our beloved Washington? We do, and so do others. We are told, in reference to the treatment of a given case, that "the patient will grow worse before he can get better." What makes him worse? The medicine, surely, and nothing else. Now, if ever symptoms are altered, they should be for the better; and if the medicines recommended in this work (provided, however, they are given with ordinary prudence) ever make an animal worse, then we beg of the reader to avoid them as he would a pest-house. This is not all. If any article in this _materia medica_, when given, in the manner we recommend, to an animal in perfect health, shall operate so as to derange such animal"s health,--in short, act pathologically,--then it does not deserve a place here, and should not be depended on. But such will not be the result. We recommend farmers to select and preserve a few of these herbs for family use; for they are efficient in the cure of many diseases. And as the services of a physician are not always to be had in small country towns, a little experience in the use and application of simple articles to various diseases seems to be absolutely necessary. It was by the aid of a few of these and similar simple remedies, that we were enabled to preserve the health of the pa.s.sengers of that ill-fated ship, the Anglo-Saxon. The following testimony has never, until the present time, been made public, and we would not now make use of it, were it not that we wish to show that there are men, and women too, that can appreciate our labors:--
"The undersigned, pa.s.sengers in the Anglo-Saxon from Boston, feeling it a duty they owe to Dr. G. H. Dadd, surgeon of the ship, would here bear testimony to the valuable medical services and advice rendered by him to us, whilst on shipboard; believing his attendance has been conducive of the greatest benefit; at times almost indispensable, not only during the short pa.s.sage, but also through the trying period subsequent to the wreck through all of which, the coolness and devotion to the best interests of his employers and of the pa.s.sengers, exhibited by him, deserve at our hands the highest terms of commendation.
ROBERT EARLE, S. C. AMES, BENJAMIN CHAMPNEY, LEWIS JONES, HAMILTON G. WILD, W. A. BARNES, GIDEON D. SCULL, W. ALLAN GAY, ISAAC JENKINS, PRESCOTT BIGELOW, A. M. EARLE, ROSALIE PELBY, OPHELIA ANDERSON, HELEN C. DOVE, ELEANOR TERESA MCHUGH, JOHN HILLS, FRANCES BLENKAM, HARRIET PHILLIPS, LOUISA A. BIGELOW,
EASTPORT, May 9, 1847."
Notwithstanding this disaster, Enoch Train, Esq., of Boston, with a liberality which does him credit, appointed us surgeon of the ship Mary Ann, commanded by Captain Albert Brown; thus giving us a second opportunity of proving what we had a.s.serted, viz., _that the emigrants might be brought to the United States in better condition, and with less deaths, than had heretofore been done_. It must be remembered that about this time the typhus, or ship fever, was making sad havoc amongst all cla.s.ses of men, and many talented professional men fell victims to the dire malady. We left Liverpool at a sickly season, having on board two hundred persons, and were fortunate enough to land them in this city, all in good health. Several ships which sailed at the same time, bound also to different ports in the United States, lost, on the pa.s.sage, from ten to twenty persons, although each ship was furnished with a medical attendant. Here, then, is a proof that our agents cure while others fail.
PROPERTIES OF PLANTS.
Professor Curtis tells us that "herbs, during their growth, preserve their medicinal properties, commencing at the root, and continuing upward, through the stem and leaves, to the flowers and seeds, until fully grown. When the root begins to die, the properties ascend from it towards the seed, where, at last, they are the strongest. Even the virtues of the leaves, after they get their full growth, often go into the seed, which will not be so well developed if the leaves are plucked off early; as corn fills and ripens best when the leaves are left on the stalks till they die. In the annual and biennial plants, the root is worthless after the seed is ripe, and the stem also is of very little value; what virtue there is residing in the bark and leaves also lose their properties as fast as they lose their freshness. All leaves and stems that have lost their color, or become shrivelled, while the roots are in the earth, have lost much of their medicinal power, and should be rejected from medicine." Seeds and fruit should be gathered when ripe or fully matured.