WORMS—are known to be of different kinds; and when any one particular species has taken possession of the stomach, or any part of the intestinal canal, in a horse, they not only occasion extreme pain, or perpetual disquietude, but become inveterate opponents to health, and constant enemies to flesh and condition. Some horses, of strong constitution, will bear their persecuting pinchings for a great length of time, before they give external proof of internal depredation; others, from less patience, or greater irritability, are very early in their indications. Symptoms of worms are various, and not unfrequently deceptive: those most relied upon are a largeness of the belly, with a leanness of the flesh;an unkind and hollow slaring of the coat, a flaccidity of the skin, a dryness of the mouth, a fœtidity of the breath, an occasional looking towards the flank on either side, or stamping with one hind foot or the other when in pain. A kind of straw-coloured sulphureous scurfy stain at the sphincter of the anus, is considered a certain and invariable sign; but ocular demonstration (which very frequently happens) removes the matter beyond all present doubt, and subsequent disappointment.
—are known to be of different kinds; and when any one particular species has taken possession of the stomach, or any part of the intestinal canal, in a horse, they not only occasion extreme pain, or perpetual disquietude, but become inveterate opponents to health, and constant enemies to flesh and condition. Some horses, of strong constitution, will bear their persecuting pinchings for a great length of time, before they give external proof of internal depredation; others, from less patience, or greater irritability, are very early in their indications. Symptoms of worms are various, and not unfrequently deceptive: those most relied upon are a largeness of the belly, with a leanness of the flesh;an unkind and hollow slaring of the coat, a flaccidity of the skin, a dryness of the mouth, a fœtidity of the breath, an occasional looking towards the flank on either side, or stamping with one hind foot or the other when in pain. A kind of straw-coloured sulphureous scurfy stain at the sphincter of the anus, is considered a certain and invariable sign; but ocular demonstration (which very frequently happens) removes the matter beyond all present doubt, and subsequent disappointment.
The sorts with which horses are most commonly afflicted, are as follow:Botts, a short circular worm, with a shelly kind of coat, picked at one end, and nearly round at the other, not unlike the silk-worm in its dormant state: these adhere closely to the internal coat of the stomach, causing the most excruciating pains as they increase in numbers, and are sometimes so numerous and destructive as to occasion theloss of life; instances of which have been proved by an examination of the viscera after death; of which a case is described in Page 132 of "A Compendium of Farriery," by the present Author, published in 1796. These take their seat also in the rectum, (the large intestine nearest the anus,) where they are seen adhering to the interstices as close to each other, during the moments of evacuation, as a swarm of bees; and five or six may be twitched off at a time with the fingers and thumb, just at the critical contraction of the sphincter.
There is also a large dark worm comes from horses, having a black head, and in its formation precisely the same as the grub-worm, so destructive to the roots of strawberries in certain dry seasons; but that these are of a cream coloured white, and the former of a brownish yellow, which tinge may probably be derived from the excrements in which they have been ingulfed. A third is the long white worm, from six or seven to fourteen inches long, equally picked at both ends, but larger in circumference towards one end than the other; these are prolific in the body beyond description, and when completely dislodged by medical specifics, are evacuated in putrified masses exceeding credibility. The fourth are a greenish small worm, with a perpetual vermicular motion, which, by its continual twisting and twirling in the intestinal canal, so irritates the animal, that he sometimes evacuates suddenly, and in a state so lax, that these worms are frequently expelled with the dung in great numbers, and seen working in all directions upon its surface, exactly similar to the exertions of an eel when thrown upon the grass from its native element.
Numerous are the quackeries and nostrums recommended by theil-literati, from old books, and unenlightened practice, long since buried in oblivion; but more particularly since the discovery of those grand specifics,MERCURYandANTIMONY, which may be comparatively said to contain an equal degree of merit with the remaining conjunctiveparts of the whole Materia Medica. After all the various experiments made, and minute observations collected, it does not appear that any mode, but mercurial purgation, will be productive of actual and infallible extirpation. Instances are numerous, where they have been evacuated in large quantities (and in many cases completely eradicated) by the advertised Antimonial Alterative Powders of the Author; butMERCURIALSare certainly entitled to priority, upon the well-founded plea of infallibity. Worms are as common with dogs as with horses, and may as certainly be cured by the same proportional means.
WORMING of DOGS,—when whelps, or puppies, is believed by some to prevent their wanton and destructive propensity in play when young; and by others, to render unnecessary any fear of their receiving the canine infection ofmadnessduring their lives: the latter, however, is too slender a foundation for any decisive opinion to be erected upon. The operation of worming is simply this; underneath the tongue is a frænum (or bridle) by which the motion of the tongue is regulated; the exterior skin of this is to be delicately slit superficially with a lancet, when a tendinous substance, calledthe worm, will be perceived: the point of a small probe, awl, or large needle, should then be insinuated beneath its center, to raise it up, when, with very little force, one end will come away; this taken hold of, with a linen cloth, or handkerchief,the other end will soon come away under gentle extraction. Too sudden force, or violence, must not be used, lest the worm should be broken, and a part left behind in the attempt.
,—when whelps, or puppies, is believed by some to prevent their wanton and destructive propensity in play when young; and by others, to render unnecessary any fear of their receiving the canine infection ofmadnessduring their lives: the latter, however, is too slender a foundation for any decisive opinion to be erected upon. The operation of worming is simply this; underneath the tongue is a frænum (or bridle) by which the motion of the tongue is regulated; the exterior skin of this is to be delicately slit superficially with a lancet, when a tendinous substance, calledthe worm, will be perceived: the point of a small probe, awl, or large needle, should then be insinuated beneath its center, to raise it up, when, with very little force, one end will come away; this taken hold of, with a linen cloth, or handkerchief,the other end will soon come away under gentle extraction. Too sudden force, or violence, must not be used, lest the worm should be broken, and a part left behind in the attempt.
WORMWOOD.—This plant is of two sorts, distinguished by the names of Roman and Common Wormwood: both have their properties of utility; but the former is esteemed the most efficacious of the two. It has a strong but fragrant smell, and is intensely bitter to the taste: it powerfully resists putrefaction, and is highly useful in antiseptic and emollient fomentations; consequently well worthy a place in the garden of every rural sportsman, to be ready upon unexpected emergencies. Experiments have been made with this article dried, powdered, and given to horses in balls, for the cure of worms; but it does not appear to have acquired reputation for any specific or infallible effect in their extirpation.
.—This plant is of two sorts, distinguished by the names of Roman and Common Wormwood: both have their properties of utility; but the former is esteemed the most efficacious of the two. It has a strong but fragrant smell, and is intensely bitter to the taste: it powerfully resists putrefaction, and is highly useful in antiseptic and emollient fomentations; consequently well worthy a place in the garden of every rural sportsman, to be ready upon unexpected emergencies. Experiments have been made with this article dried, powdered, and given to horses in balls, for the cure of worms; but it does not appear to have acquired reputation for any specific or infallible effect in their extirpation.
WOUNDS—are well known to be occasioned by various means; and, in the strictest signification, imply an accidental separation of parts, or solution of continuity, by some sharp instrument, suddenly and accidentally, or wilfully introduced. In all recent wounds casually encountered, and in a bleeding state, (if not deeply seated,) little more is required, or can indeed be effected by the most expert practitioner, than to absorb the flux of blood, and then to bring the edges of the wound as nearlyinto contact with each other as circumstances will admit, either by suture or bandage, where the seat of injury will admit of such process; which is not always the case; wounds sometimes happening where the edges of the separated parts cannot be brought intoanydegree of union, and the cure can only be effected by incarnation. In some circumstances, wounds are sustained in such singular situations, and across such large muscles, that the insertion of stitches, to secure the edges, would prove of no effect, as the whole would inevitably rupture upon every exertion of the horse, in either laying down or getting up.
—are well known to be occasioned by various means; and, in the strictest signification, imply an accidental separation of parts, or solution of continuity, by some sharp instrument, suddenly and accidentally, or wilfully introduced. In all recent wounds casually encountered, and in a bleeding state, (if not deeply seated,) little more is required, or can indeed be effected by the most expert practitioner, than to absorb the flux of blood, and then to bring the edges of the wound as nearlyinto contact with each other as circumstances will admit, either by suture or bandage, where the seat of injury will admit of such process; which is not always the case; wounds sometimes happening where the edges of the separated parts cannot be brought intoanydegree of union, and the cure can only be effected by incarnation. In some circumstances, wounds are sustained in such singular situations, and across such large muscles, that the insertion of stitches, to secure the edges, would prove of no effect, as the whole would inevitably rupture upon every exertion of the horse, in either laying down or getting up.
Wounds of magnitude vary so much in appearance, as influenced by the healthy or morbid state of the body, the proper or improper mode of treatment, or even the changes in the weather, that no precise and invariable plan can be derived from books, or inculcated by the pen, but what must necessarily become subject to such alterations as prudence may prompt, or the judicious practitioner point out. In all wounds of the smaller kind, and where neither the arteries or the tendinous parts are affected, dressings of mild digestive or other emollient unguents, upon pledgets of lint, with a soft bed of tow, and proper covering for the whole, will promote a speedy incarnation, when cicatrization will follow of course. Wounds of other kinds are produced by different means, and require modes of treatment in a degree adapted totheir magnitude, and the causes by which they have been occasioned. SeeAbscess,Fistula, andStrangles.
YARD-FALLEN—is what some horses are constitutionally subject to, and frequently display it in a state of weariness, or bodily lassitude, denoting no indisposition, and to which no ill appertains. If the yard is seen to drop, and continue so any length of time, in a state of flaccid debility, (the horse being in other respects healthy, and free from pain,) it indicates a previous injury, sustained by pinch, pressure, or some other means, upon that part in the groins; or by slip, strain, stroke, or bruise upon the back, by which the internal organs are severely affected. From whatever cause such debility may have been derived, the restorative and invigorating system is the only rational plan to be adopted; nursing in all such cases is preferable to a paltry and unnecessary profusion of medicines: the latter may be proper for an interested individual to recommend, but is too inconsistent for a man of sense to adopt. Good mashes, prepared of malt and bran, equal parts, solutions of gum arabic in oatmeal gruel and water, for common drink thrice a day, and a cordial ball night and morning, for two or three days in succession, are the best and simplest means that can be brought into use upon such an occasion.
—is what some horses are constitutionally subject to, and frequently display it in a state of weariness, or bodily lassitude, denoting no indisposition, and to which no ill appertains. If the yard is seen to drop, and continue so any length of time, in a state of flaccid debility, (the horse being in other respects healthy, and free from pain,) it indicates a previous injury, sustained by pinch, pressure, or some other means, upon that part in the groins; or by slip, strain, stroke, or bruise upon the back, by which the internal organs are severely affected. From whatever cause such debility may have been derived, the restorative and invigorating system is the only rational plan to be adopted; nursing in all such cases is preferable to a paltry and unnecessary profusion of medicines: the latter may be proper for an interested individual to recommend, but is too inconsistent for a man of sense to adopt. Good mashes, prepared of malt and bran, equal parts, solutions of gum arabic in oatmeal gruel and water, for common drink thrice a day, and a cordial ball night and morning, for two or three days in succession, are the best and simplest means that can be brought into use upon such an occasion.
YARD FOUL.—A foulness within the sheath is what happens with most geldings; but some generate or form much more filth than others. This collection, for want of being occasionally relieved, and cleaned out, so nearly plugs up the orifice, that the yard, in its vapid state, has not the power to protrude itself for the purpose of evacuation, and the urine falls dribbling from the sheath; a circumstance that in itself points out the necessity of occasional cleansings, to prevent so unpleasant an obstruction.
.—A foulness within the sheath is what happens with most geldings; but some generate or form much more filth than others. This collection, for want of being occasionally relieved, and cleaned out, so nearly plugs up the orifice, that the yard, in its vapid state, has not the power to protrude itself for the purpose of evacuation, and the urine falls dribbling from the sheath; a circumstance that in itself points out the necessity of occasional cleansings, to prevent so unpleasant an obstruction.
YELLOWS—is a disorder in horned cattle, denominated theyellows; but in horses, as well as in the human species, it is distinguished by the appellation ofJaundice, which see.
—is a disorder in horned cattle, denominated theyellows; but in horses, as well as in the human species, it is distinguished by the appellation ofJaundice, which see.
YEOMAN-PRICKER—is a part of the royal retinue annexed to his Majesty's hunting establishment. Of these there areSIX, whose official department it is to be subordinate to the huntsman, and execute his orders in all matters relative to theSTAG HOUNDS, whether at their exercise and airings, or during the chase; full and explanatory particulars of which will be found under the separate and distinct heads ofKing's Hounds, andStag Hunting.
—is a part of the royal retinue annexed to his Majesty's hunting establishment. Of these there areSIX, whose official department it is to be subordinate to the huntsman, and execute his orders in all matters relative to theSTAG HOUNDS, whether at their exercise and airings, or during the chase; full and explanatory particulars of which will be found under the separate and distinct heads ofKing's Hounds, andStag Hunting.
THE END.
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TAPLIN,VETERINARY SURGEON,AUTHOR OFThe Gentleman's Stable Directory;(2VOLS.)"A Compendium of Farriery," and "Multum in Parvo;"REMOVED FROM EDGEWARE ROAD, TOSLOANE SQUARE,
TAPLIN,VETERINARY SURGEON,
AUTHOR OFThe Gentleman's Stable Directory;(2VOLS.)"A Compendium of Farriery," and "Multum in Parvo;"
REMOVED FROM EDGEWARE ROAD, TOSLOANE SQUARE,
BEGS to make his most grateful Acknowledgements to those Noblemen and Gentlemen, who have continued to honour him with their Patronage during thefourteen yearshe has been energetically employed in endeavouring to promote a Reform in the formercruelanderroneousSystem of Farriery. It is the greatest ambition of his life to have seen that endeavour fully accomplished. Since the original Publication of his "Gentleman's Stable Directory," he has exultingly surveyed, not only the Institution, the Erection and the Establishment of theVeterinary College, but the almost incredible increase ofVeterinary Surgeonsin every Town; andVeterinary Druggistsin every Street of the Metropolis. Many of these, with a certain degree of Professional Fertility, not only do him thehonourto imitate his long-establishedHorse Medicines; but others, with a degree of Liberalitypeculiartothemselves, offer to supply the Public with "cheapandefficacious" Horse Medicines, for evenhalfwhat Mr. Taplin'sGENUINEIngredients can be obtained at the first Commercial Houses in the City of London. To the judicious and enlightened thisMysterywill sufficiently explain itself. Mr. Taplin, so long honoured by the Countenance and Support of the most distinguished and opulent Characters, never indulged a momentary Idea of dispensingCheapMedicines, because his Principles would never permit him to put his Hand dishonourably into the Pockets of his best Friends; nor would his well-known Attachment to the Animal, allow him to prepare a single Article upon the genuine Property and expected probable Efficacy of which, he is not only ready at all times to pledge his Reputation, but his Existence. The honour of supplying nearsix hundredGentlemen, (a List of whom may be seen,) exclusive of his different Agents, preclude the necessity of pestering the Public with perpetual Advertisements; rendering it at the Commencement of every Season, only necessary to communicate respectful Information, that Gentlemen residing in any part of the Kingdom, addressing their Commands toMr. Taplin, Sloane-Square,London, shall have their Medicines immediately dispatched by whatever Conveyance they may please to appoint.
List of Medicines, with their Prices.
Mr. Taplincontinues to give Advice upon theDEFECTSandDISEASESofHORSES,and to render Assistance in all Cases ofdifficultyandDANGER,withinTEN MILESof theMETROPOLIS,upon the most moderate Terms.