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MEDICINES AND THEIR DOSES.

Acid, Acetic.—Is used externally only.

Acid, Hydrochloric.—Of diluted or medicinal acid
horses take 1/2 to 2 drams * (drachms), cattle 2 to 4 drams,
sheep and swine 15 to 20 drops, in 40 or 50 times its
bulk of water, often given with bitters and iron.

Acid, Nitric.—Of diluted medicinal acid horses and
cattle take 1 to 2 drams, sheep and swine 10 to 20 drops,
largely diluted with water ; often conjoined with bitters.
For external use, a dram in a pint of water is strong
enough for all except escharotic (caustic) purposes. An
ointment and a paste are also used.

Acid, Nitro-Hydrochloric.—Diluted and in the same
doses as nitric acid.

Acid, Sulphuric.—Horses take of the medicinal acids
1 to 2 drams, cattle 2 to 4 drams, sheep -¾- to 1 dram,
swine 10 to 20 drops, several times a day, freely diluted
and often conjoined with aromatics and bitters. As an
external astringent, 10 to 20 drops of medicinal acid are
mixed with an ounce of water.

Aconite.—Horses, 20 to 30 drops ; cattle 1/2 to 1 dram;
sheep and swine, 5 to 10 drops. Fleming’s tincture of
aconite is about 4 times stronger than most others, and
must be used accordingly.

* A teaspoon contains 1 fluid dram ; a dessert­spoon 2 ; a table­spoon
1-2 a fluid ounce ; a wine glass 2 to 2 1-2 fluid ounces ; teacups 5 to 7
fluid ounces; common tumblers from 8 to 10 fluid ounces.

In apothecaries’ weight 20 grains make 1 scruple, 3 scruples 1 dram, 8
drams 1 ounce ; (pound not used except at wholesale, when 16 ounces,
avoirdupois, is the standard). In fluid measure 60 minims make 1 dram,
8 drams 1 ounce, 16 ounces 1 pint, 2 pints 1 quart, 4 quarts 1 gallon. In
England 20 ounces make 1 pint, imperial measure.


14

MEDICINES AND THEIR DOSES.

Alcohol.—Of rectified spirit, that is, alcohol made from
grain, not the kind made from wood, horses take about
1 oz. (ounce), cattle 1 to 3 oz., sheep 1/2 oz., swine 2 drams.
Rectified spirit is also called spirit of wine. Whisky, gin,
and brandy are about half the strength of rectified spirit ;
sherry and port about a third the strength of whisky ; ale
about half the strength of sherry and port. In critical
cases they have to be given at Intervals of 1 or 2 hours.

Aloes—Horses. 2 to 10 drams ; cattle, 1 to 2 ounces;
sheep, 1/2 to 1 ounce ; swine, 2 to 5 drams, twice a day.
For colts allow 5 grains for every week of their age. Aloes
purge the blood as well as the bowels.

Alums.—Horses and cattle, 2 to 4 drams; sheep and
swine, 20 grains to 2 drams, in ball or solution.

Ammoniæ Liquor Fortior.—Horses, 1 to 2 drams;
cattle, 2 to 4 drams ; sheep and swine, 1 dram. Liquor
ammoniæ and aromatic spirit of ammoniæ, being about
half the strength, are given in double doses.

Ammonium Carbonate.—Horses, 2 to 4 drams; cat­
tle, 3 to 6 drams ; sheep and swine, 15 to 60 grains, in
ball, linseed meal, or gruel. Used cold.

Ammonium Chloride.—In same doses as ammonium
carbonate.

Ammonii Acetatis (Liquor).-—-Horses and cattle, 1 to
4 ounces, given in 5 or 6 parts of water, diluted spirit,
or linseed tea. Diluted spirit means half alcohol and
half water.

Amyl-Nitrite.—Horses and cattle, 3 to 10 drops. Try
small dose first. When given hypodermically, half doses
usually suffice. Inhaled, on sugar or in draught, with
rectified spirit or ether.

Anise.—Horses, 1 oz. ; cattle, 1 to 2 oz. ; sheep and
swine, 2 to 3 drams, several times daily, powdered. Anise
oil, mixed with a little spirit and olive or other mild oil,
destroys lice. Linseed, palm, and cod liver are also mild
oils. ‘ A little spirit’ means alcohol (in proportion.)


MEDICINES AND THEIR DOSES.                        15

Antimony Tartrate (Tartar Emetic).—When given
to horses or cattle for sedative, alterative, or expectorant
effects, 1 to 4 drams, 3 or 4 times daily, in ball or solu-
tion. As an emetic for swine, 4 to 10 grains.

Areca-Nut.—Horses, 4 to 6 drams, in soup, mucilage,
or milk. Also called catechu or betel-nut palm.

Arnica, Tincture.—Horses. 4 drams to l once ; cat­
tle double the quantity, in water, ale, or gruel. J

Arsenic.—Horses and cattle, 1 to 6 grains ; sheep 1
to 2 grains. Usually given once a day for 8 or 10 days

Asafetida.—Horses, 2 to 4 drams ; cattle, 1 ounce ;
sheep, 1 dram, several times daily, in ball or solution.

Atrophine (Sulphate).—Horses and cattle, 1 to 3
drams. Hypodermically, 1-5 or less the quantity. For
prompt and marked antispasmoclic and anodyne effects,
it should be combined with equal parts of morphine. |

Belladonna.—Of the dried powdered leaves horses and
cattle take about 2 ounces. It is usually made into ex­
tracts, succus, or tincture. Of the green extract (British
Pharmacopeia process), horses take 1 to 2 drams, cattle
2 to 3 drams, sheep 10 to 20 grains.

Bismuth.—Of the sub-nitrate horses take 1 to 2 drams.

Boric Acid.—Horses and cattle, 3 to 6. drams ; colts
and calves, 20 to 30 grains.

Bromides.—Horses, 1 to 2 drams, in ball or water.

Broom.—Horses, 1 ounce of the succus (the fluid ob­
tained by pressing plants, flesh, &c.)

Buchu.—Of the leaves horses and cattle take 1 to 4
ounces, in linseed tea or barley water.

Caffeine.—Horses, 10 grains; hypodermically (under
the skin), 5 grains.

Calabar Bean.—Horses and cattle,--15 to 30 grains.

Calcium Oxide.—Of quicklime horses and cattle take
1 to 2 drams, sheep 20 to 30 grains. Of lime-water horses
and cattle, 4 to 5 ounces ; sheep, 2 drams to 1 ounce.
Two ounces of lime-water and gentian infusion often check


16                        MEDICINES AND THEIR DOSES.

diarrhea in feeble calves ; half the dose for sheep. For
calves and dogs saccharated lime is used as an antacid
and stomachic. It is made by rubbing an ounce of slaked
lime with two ounces of sugar, transferring the mixture
to a bottle containing a pint of water, shaking, and sep­
arating the clear solution with a siphon. It renders the
milk conveniently alkaline, without diluting it as the lime-
water does. Antacids obviate acidity of the stomach.

Calcium Carbonate.—Horses, 1 to 2 oz. ; cattle, 2 to
4 oz. ; sheep, 2 to 4 drams ; swine, 1 to 2 drams, in ball
or solution.

Calcium Chlorata.—Horses, 1 to 2 drams; cattle, 2
to 4 drams ; sheep, about 1 dram.

Calcium Phosphate.—Horses and cattle, 1 to 2 drams ;
sheep, 5 to 10 grains, in food.

Calomel.—See ‘Mercurous Chloride.’

Camphor.—Horses, 1 to 2 drams ; cattle, 2 to 4 drams;
sheep and swine, 20 to 40 grains. For external use dis­
solve in 6 or 8 parts of proof spirit, linseed oil, or oil of
turpentine. Proof spirit consists of 5 pints of rectified
spirit and 3 pints of water.

Cannabis Indica.—Horses and cattle take the extract
in 1/2 to 1 dram doses. Tincture—horses, 1 to 2 drams ;
cattle, 2 to 4 drams.

Cantharides.—Horses, 4 to 20 grains ; cattle, 10 to 20
grains ; sheep and swine, 2 to 8 grains, once or twice a day.

Carbolic Acid.—Horses and cattle, 15 to 40 drops;
sheep and swine, 5 to 8 drops, in ball, water, or glycer­
ine and water. Better in fluid.

Cascarilla Bark.—Horses, 2 to 4 drams ; cattle, 1 oz. ;
sheep and swine, 1 to 2 drams, in ball, infusion, or
tincture.

Castor Oil.—Horses and cattle, about a pint; sheep
and swine, 2 to 4 oz., alone or with gruel, milk, or aro-
matics.

Catechu.—Horses, 1 to 3 drams ; cattle, 2 to 6 drams;


MEDICINES AND THEIR DOSES.                        17

sheep and swine, 1 to 2 drams, 3 or 4 times a day, in
mucilage or gruel.

Chamomile Flowers.—Horses and cattle, 1 to 2 oz. ;
calves, sheep, and swine, 1 dram. Sometimes used as
fomentations and poultices.

Charcoal (Carbon).—Horses, 4 drams to 1 oz. ; cattle,
1 oz. ; sheep and swine, 1 to 3 drams, in. gruel or other
mucilaginous fluid.

Chloral (Hydrate).—Horses, 2 to 4 drams; cattle, 4
drams to 1 oz. ; sheep and swine, 1/2 to 2 drams, in sirup
(syrup), every 2 or 3 hours.

Chlorine is made by heating common salt and man­
ganese black oxide with sulphuric acid. The gas is in­
haled or the fresh solution applied in spray for ulcerated
or diphtheritic sore throat in horses, and to abate the
discharge and fetor in diseases of the facial and frontal
sinuses (cavities). Both destroy the mites infesting the
air-passages of calves and lambs. The liquor chlori (wa­
ter charged with chlorine gas) is often introduced into
the windpipe. Chlorine is irritant, stimulant, antiseptic
(opposed to putrefaction), deodorant, and disinfectant.

Chloroform.—Horses and cattle, 1 to 2 oz. ; sheep and
swine, 4 drams to 1 oz. ; given on blotting paper or
sponge for sheep and swine ; on sponge or in bag for
horses and cattle ; put sponge in nostril. The chloro­
formed horse must have its knees protected with stout
caps. Internal dose—horses and cattle, 1 to 2 drams ;
sheep and swine, 20 to 40 drops, in sirup, mucilage,
whisked egg, or weak alcohol, every 2 or 3 hours.

Chloroform, Spirit of.—Horses, 1 oz. ; cattle, 2 oz. ;
sheep and swine, 2 to 6 drams, in water.

Cinchona.—Horses, 2 to 4 drams ; cattle, 1 to 2 oz. ;
sheep and swine, 1 to 4 drams, 2 or 3 times daily for
several days, reducing the dose or intermitting for a day
or two if nausea occurs. The above doses are for the
bark. An infusion is made by digesting for 1 hour, in a


18

MEDICINES AND THEIR DOSES.

covered vessel, 1 part of red bark in No. 40 powder with
1/4 part of aromatic sulphuric acid and 20 parts of water ;
strain. A tincture is made by maceration and percolation
of 4 ounces of red bark, No. 40 powder, in 1 pint of
proof spirit.

Quinine is made by boiling the bruised cinchona bark
with diluted hydrochloric acid, and mixing the filtered
solution with lime until it is alkaline, when a precipitate
falls ; is collected and boiled with alcohol, which dissolves
both the quinine and cinchonine. Quinine is obtained
from different cinchonas, but chiefly from the yellow, and
is the active principle of those valuable drugs. Horses
and cattle, 20 grains to 1 dram ; sheep and swine, 5 to 20
grains, in ball, pill, or solution, 2 or 3 times daily.

Cinnamon.—Horses 4 drams to 1 oz. of the bark, 20
drops to 1 dram of the oil, on sugar, in sirup, &c.

Cod­ Liver Oil.—Horses, 2 oz. ; cattle, 2 to 4 oz. ;
sheep, 1 oz. ; swine, 4 drams to 1 oz., twice a day and
repeated for weeks, omitting if diarrhea sets in ; given
in milk, gruel, eggs, &c.

Colchicum (Autumn Crocus or Meadow Saffron).—
Horses, 1/2 to 1 dram ; cattle, 1 to 2 drams ; sheep, 10 to
25 grains ; swine, 2 to 8 grains, powdered and given in
salines. Salines contain a salt, or have the properties of
a salt.

Copper Sulphate (Blue Vitriol).—Horses, 1 to 2 drams ;
cattle, 1 to 4 drams ; sheep, 20 to 30 grains ; swine, 5 to
10 grains, in ball or solution, twice a day.

Creosote.—Horses, 10 to 30 drops ; cattle, 1/2 to 1 dram ;
sheep, 5 to 15 drops ; swine, 2 to 10 drops, in ball or sirup.

Croton Seed and Croton Oil­—Horses, 10 to 12 seeds
(3 grains to each seed) ; cattle, 15 to 20 seeds ; sheep, 3
to 4 seeds ; swine, 2 to 3 seeds. Of the oil, horses, 15
to 25 drops ; cattle, 1/2 to 2 drams ; sheep and swine, 5
to 10 drops.

Corrosive Sublimate.--See Mercuric Chloride.’


MEDICINES AND THEIR DOSES.

19

Curare (A South American arrow poison).—Horses and
cattle, 1/2 to 1 grain. It is more effective if injected intra­
venously or subcutaneously (into a vein or under the skin).

Digitalis.—(So called because the flower resembles a
finger stall ; also called Fox Glove.) Of the powdered
leaves horses take 10 to 30 grains ; cattle, 1/2 to 1 dram ;
sheep, 8 to 15 grains ; swine, 2 to 10 grains. Of the
tincture, horses and cattle, 2 to 4 drams ; sheep, 1 dram.
The fluid extract made in the United States is nearly 10
times as strong as the B. P. (British Pharmacopeia) tinc­
ture. A horse was poisoned by two ounces of the pow­
dered leaves in twelve hours. In some cases six drams
have caused death in from twelve to sixteen hours.

Epsom Salt.—See Magnesium Sulphate.’

Ergot (of Rye).—As an ecbolic for the mare or cow, 1/2
to 1 oz. ; for sheep and swine, 1 dram, every 1/2 or 1 hour.
Swallow dregs and all. Sometimes 100 lbs. of hay yields

lb. of ergot. Ecbolics are used to cause abortion or to
hasten parturition. Avoid ergot pastures in grazing.

Ergotin.—Horses and cattle, 15 to 25 grains. When
used hypodermically, smaller doses should first be tried.
Ether.—As a stimulant horses take 1 to 2 oz. ; cattle,

2  to 3 oz. ; sheep and swine, 2 to 4 drams, in cold water,
diluted spirit, &c.

Eucalyptus (Blue Gum Tree).—Horses and cattle, 1
dram, in diluted spirit, mucilage, or milk.

Fern Root.—Of the powdered root horses and cattle
take 1/2 lb. ; sheep, 3 to 5 oz. Liquid extract—horses and
cattle, 2 to 4 drams; sheep, 1 dram. The extract is
less bulky and surer.

Galls.—Of tannic acid horses take 20 grains to 2 drams ;
cattle, 3 drams ; sheep and swine, 15 to 30 grains. Tan-
nic acid is the principle to which oak-bark galls, log­
wood and many vegetable astringents owe their properties.
Galls, tannic and gallic acids differ only in the degree of
their action.


20                        MEDICINES AND THEIR DOSES.

Gamboge (A Gum Resin).—Cattle, ½ to 1 oz. ; sheep,
20 to 30 grains, given with other purgatives and in so­
lution.

Gentian—Horses, ½. to 1 oz.; cattle, 1 to 2 oz. ; sheep,
1 to 3 drams ; swine, ½ to 1 dram, 2 or 3 times daily, in
ball or infusion.

Ginger.—Horses, 4 drams to 1 oz.; cattle, 1 to 3 oz.;
sheep, 1 to 2 drams ; swine, ½ to 1 dram, in ball.

Gum Arabic.—Horses and cattle, 2 to 3 oz. ; foals,
calves, and sheep, 1 oz.

Glycerine, given shortly before meals, is useful in
checking undue gastric (stomach) fermentation, acidity,
and flatulence, both in calves and dogs. It is the basis
of many dressings for blisters, burns, cracked heels, &c.

Hellebore.—Do not use without medical advice. A
powdered ounce, with 2 ounces of alum, dissolved in a
gallon of hot water, will destroy caterpillars.

Hemlock.—Of the fluid horses and cattle take 2 to 4
oz. ; sheep and swine, ½ to 1 oz. Neither the dried
leaves nor fruit is reliable.

Henbane (Hyoscyamus Leaves).—(Poison Tobacco,
Stinking Nightshade.) Of the tincture horses and cattle
take 1 oz. The extract is 6 times as strong as the tinc­
ture. Hyoscyamine, usually given as a neutral sulphate,
is 100 times more active than the extract. Sometimes
used hypodermically. The leaves and seed are the parts
used in medicine. Eaten by swine.

Iodine.—Horses, 20 grains to 1 dram ; cattle, ½ to l½
dram ; sheep, 15 to 40 grains ; swine, 10 to 20 grains, 1
or 2 times daily, 2 hours after eating, for a week or 10
days, omitting for a day or two if necessary.

Ipecac (lpecacuanha).—Of the powder, as an emetic,
swine take 20 to 30 grains, in tepid water, either alone
or with ½ to 1 grain of tartar emetic. Some use Dover’s
powder (1 part each of ipecac and opium and 8 parts of
potassium sulphate). Of this expectorant and diaphoretic


MEDICINES AND THEIR DOSES.                        21

horses and cattle take 1 to 3 drams ; sheep, 30 grains to
1 dram, several times daily. Plenty of diluents ; clothe
comfortably ; atmosphere 60° F. Expectorants induce
coughing, hawking, and spitting. Diaphoretics excite
perspiration. All watery drinks are diluents.

Iron, Sulphate (Green Vitriol).—Horses, ½ to 2 drams ;
cattle, 1 to 4 drams ; sheep, 10 to 30 grains ; swine, 5 to
20. The smaller doses are given as tonics and for the
blood, the larger as astringents, 2 or 3 times daily, in
ball, solution, or food.

Iron, Iodide.—Same doses as iron sulphate. Avoid
overdoses.

Iron, Chloride.—Of the medicinal liquor and tincture
horses and cattle take ½ to 1 oz. ; sheep, 20 to 30 drops ;
swine, 10 to 20 drops. Taken at the same intervals and
for the same purposes as sulphate of iron, above.

Jaborandi.—Of the fresh leaves, as an infusion, horses
and cattle take 2 to 4 drams ; sheep and swine, ½ to 1
dram. Pilocarpine nitrate or hydrochlorate (a component
part of jaborandi), is used hypodermically in horses and
cattle in 1 to 2 grain doses.

Jalap.—As a purgative for swine, 1 to 4 drams, com­
bined with a grain or two of calomel.

Juniper.—Of the fruit as a stomachic horses and cat­
tle take 1 to 3 oz. ; sheep, 2 to 4 drams, several times a
day, coarsely powdered and mixed with fodder. Of the
oil, distilled from the unripe fruit, as a diuretic, horses
and cattle take 1 to 2 drams, every 3 hours till water
passes freely. Diuretics increase the secretion of urine.

Laudanum.—See Opium.’

Lead Acetates.—Horses and cattle, ½ to 1 dram;
calves and sheep, 10 to 20 grains ; swine, 2 to 4 grains,
once or twice a day, in ball or solution. External use—
Sugar of lead is used in powder, ointment, or dissolved
in 20 to 40 parts of water, with a little vinegar, to in­
crease its solubility. Goulard’s extract, diluted with 4 to


22                        MEDICINES AND THEIR DOSES.

6 parts of linseed or olive oil, is a cooling application
for blistered or contused surfaces. An equally valuable
astringent and anodyne is Goulard’s extract, 1 part, vas-
elin or glycerine, 6 to 8 parts. Equal parts of Goulard’s
extract and alcohol, diluted with 8 to 10 parts of water,
make a useful refrigerant astringent.

Lead Iodide is occasionally prescribed as a gland stim­
ulant, and applied as a dressing for ringworm and indo­
lent tumors. Used as ointment or plaster.

Linseed Oil.—As a purgative horses take ½ to 1 pint;
cattle, 1 to 2 pints ; sheep and swine, 6 to 12 oz. ; shaken
up in linseed gruel, milk, &c. For horses and cattle it
is sometimes mixed with a well-made bran mash.

Magnesia.—Colts and calves of 3 or 4 months old,
take, as an antacid, ½ to 1 dram. It is conjoined with
carminatives and given in milk or gruel. Carminatives
allay pain.

Magnesium Sulphate (Epsom Salt).—As a purge,
given in 10 or 15 parts of water, cattle take 1 to 1½lb.;
calves of 2 or 3 months, 3 to 4 oz.; sheep and swine, 4
to 6 oz. To expedite purgation and prevent nausea and
griping, add a dram of ginger to the oz. of salt. One-
fifth or one-eighth of these doses are often effectual in
removing indigestion, keeping up the action of other
cathartics, and as febrifuges and alteratives. On horses,
when given alone, it is uncertain. For febrifuge and al­
terative purposes, in any class of patients, it is conjoined
with niter, mineral acids, gentian, and other bitters. Ca­
thartics are either purges or laxatives. Febrifuges are
opposed to or abate fever. Alteratives are supposed to
produce salutary changes in diseases, but without excit­
ing any sensible evacuation.

Mercurous Chloride (Calomel).—As an alterative and
febrifuge horses and cattle take 10 grains to 1 dram;
sheep and swine, 5 to 30 grains, usually 2 or 3 times a
day, and frequently with equal weight of opium, to pre-


MEDICINES AND THEIR DOSES.

23

vent too rapid purging. As a purge calomel should be
combined thus : For horses—calomel, 1 dram, aloes, 4
drams. Cattle—calomel, 1 to 2 drams, Epsom or com­
mon salt, 1 lb., or oil, 1 pint. As a vermifuge (worm
destroyer) for horses: Calomel, oil of male shield fern,
and aloes, 1 dram each; ginger, 4 drams, in ball, with
linseed meal and molasses. As an emetic for dogs or
swine: Calomel, 2 to 3 grains; tartar emetic, same; or
(in place of tartar emetic) 15 to 20 grains ipecac. Calo­
mel destroys the acari (parasites) of scab and mange, kills
lice, abates the itching of eczema and prurigo, removes
the scales and heals the cracks of psoriasis, hastens the
removal of warts, and is one of the best remedies for thrush
in the horse's frog. In the form of ointment, it relieves
piles in dogs. It should be used discreetly.

Mercuric Chloride (Corrosive Sublimate).—Horses
and cattle, 5 to 8 grains; sheep and large pigs, 1 grain,
in water or other simple fluid. For most external uses,
a solution is made of 2 to 5 grains to the oz. of water.
For itching—corrosive sublimate, 2 grains, prussic acid,
2 drops, water, 1 oz. Ointment—corrosive sublimate, 1
part, fatty matters, 12 to 20 parts, usually the latter;
used for skin and parasites.

Mustard.—As a stomachic, carminative, or mild stim­
ulant horses take 4 to 6 drams; cattle, ½ to 1 oz.; sheep
and swine, 1 to 2 drams, in pill or electuary (confection.)
Large doses act as emetics in dogs, cats, and swine.

Myrrh.—(A brown-red gum-resin, from the coasts of
the Red Sea.) Horses and cattle, 2 drams; sheep and
swine, ½ to 1 dram, several times daily, in ball, decoc­
tion, or tincture ; used with other tonics or with aloes.

Nux Vomica (Strychnine).—Of powdered nux vomica
horses take ½ to 1 dram; cattle, 1 to 2 drams; sheep,
10 to 40 grains; swine, 10 to 20 grains. The extract is
8 or 10 times as active as the powder. A tincture is
sometimes used. Strychnine is more uniform and more


24

MEDICINES AND THEIR DOSES.

readily absorbed than the crude drug, and upward of 50
times more powerful. Horses. 1 to 2 grains; cattle. 2 to
5 grains; sheep. 1-5 to 1 grain. Both forms are usually
given twice a day.

Oak Bark.—Horses. 2 to 4 drams; cattle. ½ to 2 oz.;
sheep and swine. ½ to 2 drams. It is made with 1 or 2
oz. of bark to a pint of water; given with aromatics and
bitters; in dysentery, with opium and starch gruel; in
typhoid fever, with camphor and mineral acids.

Olive Oil.—Small doses are occasionally given to horses
and other animals to soothe the irritated mucous mem­
brane in chronic catarrh and bronchitis. Bronchitis is
inflammation or catarrh of the bronchial (lung) tubes.

Opium.—Of solid opium horses take 1 to 2 drams;
cattle, 2 to 4 drams ; sheep, 10 to 40 grains ; swine, 5 to
20 grains. Of morphine and its salts horses and cattle
take 3 to 10 grains; sheep and swine, ½ to 2 grains.
For hypodermic injections use the small doses first. Tinc­
ture of opium (laudanum)—horses and cattle, 1 to 3 oz.;
sheep and swine, 2 to 6 drams.

Pepper, Black.—As a stomachic horses take about 1
dram; cattle, 2 drams; sheep and swine, 10 grains to ½
dram, in ball, water, alcohol, or gruel.

Peppermint.—Horses and cattle, 20 to 30 drops, on
sugar or in alcohol and water.

Pepsin is a preparation of the mucous lining of the
fresh and healthy stomach of pigs, sheep, or calves. Colts
and calves, 2 to 10 grains, in water, with a few drops of
hydrochloric acid.

Petroleum Benzin is used as a vermifuge, killing even
tapeworms. Horses take 2 to 4 drams.

Podophyllum.—(May Apple or Mandrake.) For chol-
agogue (cathartic) or sedative purposes horses and cattle
take 1 to 2 drams of the resin (podophyllin), with aloes
or calomel, or with niter or Epsom salt. Ginger prevents
nausea and griping. Sedatives depress the vital forces.


MEDICINES AND THEIR DOSES.

25

Potassium Bromide.—Horses and cattle, ½ to 1 oz.,
every two hours, in water.

Potassium Carbonate and Bicarbonate.—Of either
kind horses and cattle take ½ to 1 oz.; sheep and swine,
½ to 1 dram, several times a day. liberally diluted with
water. For stimulating gastric secretions they are given
half an hour before eating; but in most dyspeptic cases
acids are more permanently effectual.

Potassium Chlorate.—(Chlorate of Potash.) Horses,
1 to 4 drams; cattle, 2 to 6 drams; sheep and swine, 20
to 60 grains, 2 or 3 times daily, in ball or solution, alone,
or conjoined with bitters, tonics, or stimulants. Most
horses will take an ounce a day of their own accord. As
a soothing electuary for sore throat, it is conjoined with
camphor, belladonna extract, and molasses.

Potassium Iodide.—Horses and cattle, 2 to 6 drams;
sheep and swine, 20 to 60 grains, two or three times a
day, in ball or solution.

Potassium Nitrate (Niter).—As a diuretic horses take
½ to 1 oz.; cattle, 1 to 2 oz.; sheep, 1 to 2 drams; swine,
½ to 1 dram. For fever ½ the dose, several times daily.

Potassium Permanganate.—As an alterative and feb­
rifuge horses and cattle take 1 dram, but it is not pref­
erable to either the nitrate or chlorate.

Potassium Sulphide.Horses and cattle, 1 to 3 drams,
for chronic cough, rheumatism, and skin diseases.

Prussic or Hydrocyanic Acid.—Of the B. P. 2 per
cent, acid horses and cattle take 20 drops to 1 dram ; sheep
and swine, 10 to 20 drops, 3 or 4 times daily, in sweet­
ened water.

Quassia Wood.—Of the B. P. infusion (chips, 1 part,
cold water, 80 parts, macerated 1 hour) horses and cattle
take 2 to 4 oz.; sheep and swine, 4 drams.

Quinine.See Cinchona.'

Rhubarb.—As a stomachic and tonic horses take 1 oz.;
cattle, 2 oz.; sheep, 1 dram, several times a day. It is


26

MEDICINES AND THEIR DOSES.

used as powder, infusion, or tincture. Rhubarb. 2 parts,
magnesia, 6 parts, ginger, 1 part, all in fine powder and
thoroughly mixed, make an excellent stomachic and ant­
acid; doses double those of simple rhubarb. In diarrhea
in calves and foals it exerts carminative, laxative and sub­
sequently astringent effects. When the bowels are per­
sistently relaxed, 2 drams each of rhubarb and magnesia,
with ½ a dram of opium, may be given night and morn­
ing in well-boiled wheat-flour gruel, with 1 or 2 table-
spoonfuls of spirits or sweet spirit of niter. One-third or
one-half the quantity for lambs. Spirits ' mean whisky,
brandy, gin, rum, &c., as well as alcohol.

Salicylic Acid.—Horses and cattle, 1 to 2 drams;
sheep, 10 to 15 grains, every 1 or 2 hours, with an equal
quantity of borax to insure solubility ; ball or solution.

Savin.—As a destroyer of worms horses and cattle take
3 or 4 drams of the volatile oil, dissolved in any mild
fixed oil, or in mucilage. Decoctions and ointments are
used externally.

Silver Nitrate.—Horses and cattle, 2 to 5 grains; sheep,
1 to 2 grains; swine, ½ to 1 grain, 2 or 3 times daily ; ball.

Sodium Carbonates.—Of the carbonate horses and
cattle take 1 to 2 drams ; sheep and swine, 10 to 50 grains.
The bicarbonate, possessing only about half the strength
of the carbonate, is given in double doses; ball or water.

Sodium Sulphate.—As a purgative cattle take 1 to 1½
lb.; sheep, 2 to 4 oz., in ginger and molasses, followed
by a liberal supply of chilled water.

Sodium Sulphites and Hyposulphites.—Of the sul­
phites horses and cattle take ½ to 1 oz.; sheep and swine,
½ to 1 dram. Of the hyposulphites ½ these doses. Take
either several times daily, in powder or solution, or with
food.

Sodium Chloride (Common Salt.)—As a purgative
adult cattle take ¾ to 1 lb.; sheep, 1 to 3 oz.

Sodium Chlorata.—Of the B. P. solution (about 2½


MEDICINES AND THEIR DOSES.                        27

per cent, of the available chlorine), horses and cattle take

to 2 oz.; sheep and swine, 1 to 2 drams, in water.
Spirit of Nitrous Ether.—As a stimulant and antispas-

modic horses take 1 to 3 oz.; cattle, 1 to 4 oz.; sheep,

2   to 4 drams; swine, 1 to 2 drams. Do not mix with
other medicines or water till ready to give. Give in cold
water or linseed tea. Antispasmodics allay spasms.

Squill.—Horses take ½ dram of the sirup. The acetate
and tincture are given in about half the dose of the sirup.

Strophanthus.—Of the tincture (1 part to 20 of rec­
tified spirit) horses take ½ to 1 dram. The seeds are used
in Africa as an arrow poison.

Strychnine.—See ‘Nux Vomica.'

Sugar.—Of sugar and molasses, as laxatives, horses and
cattle take 1 pound; sheep, 3 to 4 oz.; swine, 2 to 3 oz.,
given, with aromatics and salines, in water, milk, gruel,
or mash.

Sulphur.—As a laxative horses take 1 to 4 oz.; cattle,

3   to 6 oz.; sheep and swine, 4 drams to 1 oz. As an
alterative ¼ the quantity.

Sulphurous Acid.Of the B. P. solution horses and
cattle take 1 to 2 oz.; sheep and swine, ½ to 1 dram,
every 3 or 4 hours, in water or other mild fluid.

Taraxacum (Dandelion Root).—The fresh succus is
the best preparation. Horses about 1 oz.

Thymol.For vesical catarrh horses take 5 to 20 grains.
Its chief use is in antiseptic surgery.

Turpentine.—Horses and cattle, 1 to 3 oz.; sheep, 1
to 3 drams; swine, 1 to 2 drams, in milk, oils, eggs, &c.
The larger doses are stimulant and antispasmodic; the
smaller, frequently repeated, are diuretic and inspissant
(thickening).

Turpentine Oil (Spirit).—As a stimulant and anti-
spasmodic horses and cattle take 1 to 2 oz.; as a diuretic
½ to 1 oz.; as an adjuvant cathartic or vermifuge about
2 oz., combined with aloes in solution, castor or linseed


28

MEDICINES AND THEIR DOSES.

oil. iron salts, quassia, gentian or other bitters. Large
cattle take double these doses. Sheep and swine, 1 to 4
drams; given in mild oils, linseed gruel, milk, &c. An
adjuvant medicine is introduced into a prescription to aid
the operation of the chief ingredient or basis.

Valerian.—Horses and cattle, 2 to 4 oz., several times
daily, in powder or infusion, conjoined with ginger, gen­
tian, or camphor, or dissolved in spirit of ammonia.

Veratrum Viridi and Album.—(Green and White
Hellebore Rhizome.) Of the powder horses and cattle, ½
to 1 dram; sheep and swine, 20 to 30 grains, every 3 or
4 hours, in ball or dilute alcohol. Used externally in the
several forms of powder, watery decoction (improved by a
little spirit), and ointment, made with 1 part of veratrum
to 8 of vaselin or lard. It is occasionally applied with
tar or sulphur dressings.

Verd igris, Blue (Copper Subacetate) is an irritant
poison, and is rarely used internally. It is used exter­
nally as a caustic, stimulant, astringent, and antiseptic.

Water is a valuable diluent, febrifuge, and evacuant.
It should be given moderately cold and at frequent in­
tervals. Except for a few hours previous to great exer­
tion, and when hungry, overheated, and prostrated, healthy
horses should not be restricted in their water supply. But
it must always be given judiciously, especially to the sick.

Zinc Oxide.—Horses and cattle, 2 to 4 drams, in ball
or solution. For external use there are solutions, lini­
ments, ointments, and pastes or powders.

Zinc Sulphate.—As an astringent and tonic for horses
and cattle, 1 to 3 drams; sheep, 10 to 20 grains, in solid
or fluid state. As an emetic for swine and dogs 8 to 15
grains, in 2 or 3 ounces of water. Externally it is used
in powder or solution—30 to 60 parts of water for the
latter. Zinc sulphate, ¾ oz., lead acetate, 1 oz., water, 1
quart, constitute the well-known ‘ white lotion.' It is a
valuable astringent, sedative, and antiseptic.


MEDICINES AND THEIR DOSES.                        29

The foregoing doses, except where otherwise specified,
are for adult animals of medium size. Stallions, bulls,
and rams, owing to their larger size, require larger doses.
Difference of sex does not materially affect dosage in the
lower animals. Doses must be adapted to the age of the
patient. It is usually estimated that a 1-year-old colt
requires one-third the quantity of any medicine given an
adult horse ; a 2-year-old, one-half ; a 3-year-old, two-
thirds. A somewhat similar proportion is applicable to
cattle.

Medicines are usually given (1) internally, that is, by the
stomach ; (2) by inhalation ; (3) by absorption through
the skin. The latter mode has also three ways of ad­
ministration—epidermically, by in-rubbing ; endermically,
by removing the epidermis (skin) ; hypodermically, by
injection into the tissues under the skin. A ready but
less prompt or certain substitute for hypodermic injection
with a syringe, consists in coating a thread with a strong
solution of the medicine to be introduced, and drawing
it through the skin. Medicine may be injected into the
veins or arteries ; but this mode is rare and usually ex­
perimental.

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