Effectual Remedy for the Bite of a Mad Dog. the EDITORS of the SPORTING MAGAZINE. 197 bruife them, they fhould be raifed with a fmall flat ftick, and turned over into a glafs or glazed veffel, out of which being lid on a pin sharp knife) to be head is (with fevered from the body, which is For ufe, 24 beetles, with the honey adherent to them, are taken, bruised, and mixed on a plate; to them are gradually added the following ingredients: of theriaca, or conferve (rob) of elder, two ounces; of ebony fhavings pulverifed, two drachms; Virginian fnake-root in powder, one drachm; filings of lead, one drachm; and of dried mushrooms, or fungus laricis, twenty THE principal article ufed in this fpecific remedy is a beetle, the body of which is (without the head) preferved in honey, and occafionally bruifed and mixed up with it for ufe. This beetle, cockchaffer, or profcarabé, is by Linnæus arranged by the name of meloés, in the clafs of coleopteres. It is the anti-grains; all which are by degrees, cantharus defcribed by Shoeffer, and not the fearabeus melotontha, the common beetle, but a plump infect without wings, yet covered with the common brown cafes, not fhining, nor hard, but of the confiftence of thin leather. It has three pair of feet of unequal length; the body, thick as a finger, is ftreaked with blue, green, and chiefly red colour, and is often an inch, and an inch and a quarter long, and the female biggeft, although there is a fmaller fort equally good and ufeful. They are gathered in May, in warm and dry days, in fields and high meadows. They are fo tender, as, when touched, to emit a mucilaginous yellow fluid of a grateful fmell, that tinges the fkin: in order, therefore, not to VOL. IV. No. XXII. in the order here ftated, intimately to be mixed, made into pafte, and, when taken, rubbed down to the confiftence of an electuary. The part remaining, untaken must be kept clofe and cool, like the jar with the beetles. The dofe of pafte is according to the age and ftrength of the patient: for men, from 80 to 30 years, 2 drachms; at 25 years, 1 drachm; from 20 to 10 years, one drachm; from 10 to 6 years, 30 grains; at two and one year, 24 grains; and for children at the breaft, the nurfe is to take the dofe that fuits her age, the quantity for women being one fourth or one-fifth lefs than that prefcribed for men. As to animals, for full-grown horfes, 3 drachms; for fullgrown colts, 22 drachms; for Cc colts 198 Effectual Remedy for the Bite of a Mad Dog. colts, 50 grains; for hogs, 2 The perfon taking a prefcribed dofe of this medicine is to abstain 24 hours from eating, and 12 hours from drinking; if thirst becomes infufferable, he may be allowed fome elder-flower infufion, or common tea. He muft be kept in a temperate air within doors during the whole courfe, to encourage a neceffary perfpiration, which may be procured at firft by lying 12 hours in bed. After 24 hours, he is to be shifted with warm body and bed linen; the foul are to be removed immediately, in order to be purified. To perform a cure in winter, the patient's room must be kept moderately warm. When the bite has made a wound, the fpot is to be washed with wine vinegar. Beer vinegar, not being fo fharp, requires the addition of falt. And, when neither are at hand, foft water, in which falt is diffolved, may be ufed. Warm application may also be made to the part with cloths dipped in thofe fluids; after which it is to be kept covered with plaifters of bafilicon ointment, or falt butter. The wounds muft, from time to time, be anointed with fcorpion oil, vipers' fat, or with the unctuous fubftance of cockchaffers, mixed with, and diftilled from, olive oil, in which thofe infects have been macerated, in order to keep the wound clean and open for a time; after which it is flowly to heal of itself. During the cure, and fome time after, the patient muft keep quiet, avoid ftrong exercife, and whatever may caufe agitation of mind. He is to abstain from all ftrong liquors, and avoid all kinds of excess. As to cattle, when a beaft is bitten, it must be put up in a ftable or byer by itself, have the medicine adminiftered as above directed, and not be let out again till the cure be completed beyond doubt, at leaft for two days more: after which the ftable is to be well purified, that it may not be infectious for man and beaft; and the fame abstinence from eating and drinking is to be obferved for both: as likewife for the treatment of a wound, when there is one, the cleanfing of which is effentially neceffary, to remove the froth and flaver of the animal, and prevent its mixing with the fluids of the body. The perfon who attends fuch patients is advised alfo to take a dofe of the fame medicine, to prevent infection from the breath or touch of the patient, as poffi. bly contagious. When the bite has made no wound, and only left a mark like a contufion, it will ftill be proper to wash and foment the part with vinegar and the wetted cloth, as above directed. But if the spots prove painful, it will be proper to lay a bliftering plaifter upon them the first night, to procure a discharge of the novious humour they contain, and to make a fore, that is to be treated in the fame manner as thofe of the bites above defcribed. То Remarks on the rigid Exercife of Horfes. To the Editors of the Sporting GENTLEMEN, AM a constant reader of your entertaining and refpectable publication, and know you do vo more than juftice to your fubfcribers, to record the events of the different matches that are made by the owners of that most ufeful, willing, and noble animal the horfe; but, gentlemen, when I fee beings fo loft to humanity, fo totally divefted of that feeling which ought to be the characteristic of man, as to injure a generous quadruped for the confideration of a trifling gain, I really am ftruck with horror, and can fcarcely believe they were formed by the fame power. I am led into thefe reflections, by noticing in your laft and preceding Number, an account of two different matches made by the fame perfon, who rode his own horfes, and was on both occafions fuccefsful, though, as I am credibly informed, to the entire injury of both animals. Surely, gentlemen, there cannot be any great caufe for exul. tation here; for on the fcore of intereft, which muft certainly have actuated the proprietor in no final degree, a deprivation of the functions which enable them to perform what the wifdom of Providence intended them for, muft ultimately tend to their owners difadvantage. A friend to whom I was mentioning my intention of troubling you, has furnished me with the following remarks, which I think fo applicable to the purpofe, that I cannot forbear introducing them. "If a horfe can trot ten miles an hour (fays this gentleman), it is not long before a wager is laid that he performs twelve; if this 199 fhould be accomplished, fo much the worst for an excellent beaft: higher wagers fucceed under an increase of task, till his fpirit and powers fink at length under the whip and fpur! The owner, who perhaps goes to church now and then, but would certainly refent the fufpicion of his not being a chriftian, only calculates the difference in his favour between the bet and the price of his nag. 66 Many years ago I remember to have heard of a man of this clafs, though my recollection fails in name, place, and date, which indeed may be difpenfed with, who had a fine fpirited ftone horfe, that won every stake he started for; infomuch, that a match was made for geldings, purposely to exclude him. Refolving not to be jockeyed, he brought his horfe to the poft, and caufed him to be caftrated juft before he started! I fhudder while I relate, that this poor animal, thus treated, won the heat, and then dropped down dead! Had I been an abfolute prince, and fuch a deed had been perpetrated in my dominions, I would have fulfilled the lex talionis. It is hard there fhould be no law for brute animals, when they carry fo large a proportion of reprefentatives to every legislative affembly. 1 fhall illuftrate the fubject ftill further, by another instance of brutality; and, I trust, your readers will agree with me, that neither of thefe men are entitled to the appellation of sportsmen. The perfon alluded to having an excellent horfe, that was deemed fuperior to the one he wanted to match it with, confented, in the delirium of intoxication, to load it with 18 ftone for one hea tn the morning, and with 16 fto e for another in the afternoon f C c 2 te 200 Obfervations on Hunting by Dr. Johnson. the fame day, for 50 guineas! To the Editors of the Sporting He was afterwards fo fenfible of was his folly, that he offered 30 to be releafed from his engagement; but, as it was not accepted, in order to fave the other 20, he madly rifked, or rather doomed, a horfe to deftruction, that was efteemed to be worth four times the whole bet! A faddle w accordingly loaded with eight ftone of lead for the brutal occafion, and the refult may easily be anticipated. The poor abufed animal was fo injured by the first heat, that it was with the utmost difficulty he was led back to the ftable, attended by a groom, who was fcarcely able to fupport the weight of the faddle! The con clufion of my ftory is fuitable to the beginning, as the owner confoled himself for fpoiling a valuable horfe, by a cunning evafion of paying his bet, becaufe his antagonist, a well known refponfible neighbour, had negJected to depofit his ftake on the courfe. Having informed you how I would have punished the horfegelder, I will only afk any compaffionate man how the two prin. cipals in this race ought to have been ferved. I think I have now faid enough to convince every man poffeffed of humanity of the folly and abfurdity of fuch idle purfuits; and it is my fincere withes that it may foften the almoft inflexible hearts of the defcription of perfons 1 have had occafion to notice. Wishing your Magazine every fuccefs which it is entitled to from the indefatigable industry of its proprietors, I remain a lover of humanity, although July 14, 1794 A SPORTSMAN. Magazine, "Dr. Johnfon told us (fays Mr. Bofwell at breakfaft) that he rode harder at a fox-chafe than any body." "The English (faid he) are the only nation who ride hard a hunting. A Frenchman goes out upon a managed horse, and capers in the field, and no more thinks of leaping a hedge, than of mounting a breach. Lord Powerfcourt laid a wager in France, that he would ride a great many miles in a certain fhort time. The French academicians fet to work, and calcu, lated from the refiftance of the air, it was impoffible; his lordfhip, however, performed it.” |