Part 28

For a _brown_, take some powdered alum, boil it well until dissolved; then add a pound of walnut-tree bark, from the branches when the sap is up, or the buds or green nuts; boil it in an hour, and let it stand. When after skimming it for ten minutes, put in the gut or hair for about a minute (stirring it round), or until you like the colour. If it continues too long, it will become quite dark and injure the hair. The lighter it is tinged with this colour, the better. Salt and ale will also give hair a brownish cast that is steeped in it.

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For a blueish water colour, proceed as above; only add logwood instead of the walnut, and be careful not to colour it too much.

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_Yellow._—The inner bark of a crab-tree boiled in water with some alum, makes a fine yellow, which is excellent when the weeds rot, the line appearing of the same hue. Another dye may be obtained from two quarts of small ale, and three handfuls of walnut leaves bruised therein; the hair to remain in it until tinged to your wish.

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_Tawny_ is prepared from lime and water mixed together, by steeping hair in it for four or five hours, and then soaking it a whole day in a tan pit.

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_Russet._—Take a pint of strong lye, half a pound of soot, some juice of walnut leaves, and a quart of alum water; put them together into a pan, boil them well, and when the liquor is cold, steep the hair until it acquires the colour you desire.

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_General Remark._—The hair to be dyed, should always be the best white: the seasons for using dyed hair, are, September and two following months; the yellow, russet all the winter, and until the end of April, as well in rivers as in lakes; for the same periods, the brown and tawny should be used in blackish, heathy, and moorish waters.

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_Dyeing or Staining Fishing-rods._—Red is done by boiling the wood in water and alum; then taking it out, adding Brazil to the liquor, and giving the wood another boil in it. Black, by brushing it over with logwood, boiled in vinegar, then washing it over with a decoction of galls and copperas, till it be of the hue required. Any other colour may be given by squeezing out the moisture of horse-dung through a sieve, mixing it with dissolved roch alum and gum arabic, and to the whole adding green, blue, or any other colour designed. After standing two or three days, pear-tree or other wood cut to the thickness of half-a-crown is put into the liquor boiling hot, and suffered to remain till it be sufficiently coloured.

_In Dyeing Bone, Horn, or Ivory._—Black is performed by steeping brass in aqua fortis till it be turned green; with this, the bone, &c., &c., is to be washed once or twice, and then put in a warm decoction of logwood and water. Green, is verdigris, sal ammoniac, and white wine vinegar; keeping the material therein till sufficiently green. Red is began by boiling it in alum water, and finished by a decoction in a liquor compounded of quicklime steeped in rain-water strained. To every pint an ounce of Brazil wood is added: the bone to be boiled therein till sufficiently red.—_Ancient Recipes._

DIET, _s._ Food, victuals; food regulated by the rules of medicine.

DIG, _v._ To work with a spade.

_Digging Foxes._—With respect to the digging of foxes which hounds run to ground, if the hole be straight and earth slight, follow it, and in following the hole, by keeping below its level, it cannot be lost.—_Beckford._

DIGEST, _v._ To generate matter as a wound.

DIGESTION, _s._ The act of concocting food; the preparation of matter by a chemical heat; the act of disposing a wound to generate matter.

DIGESTIVES, _s._ Medicines which promote suppuration in ulcers, and cause them to discharge a white healthy matter.

DIGESTIVE OINTMENT.

1. Hog’s lard and strained turpentine, of each 4 oz. Verdigris 1 oz.—Mix.

2. Hog’s lard and Venice turpentine, of each 4 oz. Sulphate of copper (blue vitriol), finely powdered 1 oz.—Mix.

3. Ointment of yellow rosin 4 oz. Oil of turpentine 1 oz. Nitric oxide of mercury (red precipitate), finely powdered 1 oz.—Mix.

4. Ointment of nitrated quicksilver 4 oz. Oil of turpentine 1 oz.—Mix. —_White._

DISEASE, _s._ Distemper, malady, sickness.

DISLOCATE, _v._ To put out of the proper place; to put out of joint; to displace a bone.

DISMOUNT, _v._ To throw any one from on horseback; to alight from a horse.

DISPENSATORY, _s._ A book in which the composition of medicines is described and directed; a pharmacopœia.

DISTEMPER, _s._ A disease, a malady.

_The Distemper._—No disorder is more general or so destructive as that known by the name of the distemper; it is the most fatal (the plague only excepted) that any animal is subject to.

The symptoms of the distemper are not invariably similar, although there are predominant ones which always occur. It generally comes on with a dry husky cough, dullness and want of appetite, a running from the nose and eyes, and loss of flesh. As the disease advances, the dog appears much emaciated, and grows excessively weak, particularly in the loins and hinder extremities; usually there is convulsive twitchings of different parts, most commonly of the head, attended with dimness of sight; when the disease proceeds, and takes on its more virulent form, then the twitches degenerate into continued convulsive fits, the dog foams at the mouth, runs round, and expresses great pain, has a constant disposition to dung, with obstinate costiveness or incessant purging. There is likewise great irritability of the stomach, every thing being thrown up immediately it is taken in, and the animal dies, generally, in one of the spasmodic fits. From this state of the disease hardly any dog recovers, unless from the powerful effect of this gentleman’s medicine, and even then he admits its success doubtful, although he insists, with the medicine early given, the disease will never arrive to this height; but, with every deference to the efficacy of the above medicine, the compiler has known Dr. James’s powder cure the most inveterate stages of the disorder: the method of administering it will be hereafter directed. In every part of this disease a want of nervous energy, and a particular paralytic affection of the nerves, is apparent, and, in some instances, remains long after every other symptom has ceased, and in many respects is not unlike the palsy of the human frame.

The distemper, when existing in its worst form, is very often mistaken for canine madness; but a close attention to the following points will with certainty show the difference. Puppies are not so liable to madness as full-grown dogs; it is but seldom the animal will drink freely in the distemper, never in madness—yet they will now and then try to drink; the hydrophobia arrives likewise at its height, in general, sooner than the distemper, although the latter is sometimes equally sudden in its attack, and rapid in its progress. In madness, all recollection of places or persons is lost by the affected animal; his home will be left, and he will bite the hand that feeds him, indiscriminately with any other. In the distemper, there is no loss of reason but in the attack and actual continuance of the convulsion fits; the animal does not attempt to bite or rove abroad, and, on recovery from the fit, resumes his faculties. If, therefore, a young dog will drink when the immediate effect of the spasmodic restriction is removed, or, without evident fear, will bear the sight of water, but more particularly when his weakness is excessive, and strongly apparent between the intervals of the fits, it may be safely concluded that it is the distemper, and not madness. These circumstances, continues Mr. Blaine, should be carefully remarked, as they are unerring, and may save many a valuable animal from destruction, and many a timid mind from the most dreadful apprehension.

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For the distemper, so soon as the symptoms appear, give an ounce of castor oil, and after its operation has ceased, give the following powder, mixed up with butter, into a bolus, every two hours, keeping the dog warm, and supplying him frequently with warm milk or water-gruel. Should the medicine occasion sickness or purging, the quantity and frequency of the doses are to be abated.

Crocus metallorum finely levigated, and white antimonial powder, each six grains, and diaphoretic calx of antimony, ten grains for one dose.

It is necessary to remark, that the above dose is sufficient for a pointer or fox-hound, of six or eight months old, and that the quantity is to be varied according to the size and age of the dog.

Rhubarb and jalap mixed, as much as will lie on a shilling, is an excellent common physic. For dogs, foul within, five grains of tartar emetic, given in a piece of hog’s lard. For a surfeit, one ounce of sulphur, half an ounce of antimony, mixed together; a small ball in butter, to be given to the dog, and the sore place well rubbed with a mixture of white hellebore-root powdered, and hog’s lard; the dog to be kept from water if he licks the ointment.

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Doctor Darwin has given the following opinion upon the disorder, and how to counteract its malignity.

“In dogs, the catarrh is generally joined with symptoms of debility early in the disease; the animals should be permitted to go about in the open air, the use of being as much as may be in the air, is evident, because all the air which they breathe, passes twice over the putrid sloughs of the mortified parts of the membrane, which lines the nostrils, and the maxillary and frontal cavities; that is, during inspiration and expiration, and must, therefore, be loaded with contagious particles.

“Fresh new milk, and fresh broth, should be given them very frequently, and they should be suffered to go amongst the grass, which they sometimes eat for the purpose of an emetic; and, if possible, they should have access to a running stream of water, as the contagious mucus of the nostrils generally drops into the water they attempt to drink.

“Bits of raw flesh, if the dog will eat them, are preferred to cooked meat, and from five to ten drops of tincture of opium (according to the size of the dog), may be given with advantage when symptoms of debility are evident, every six hours. If sloughs can be seen in the nostrils, they should be moistened twice a day with a solution of sugar of lead, or of alum, by means of a sponge fixed on a bit of whalebone, or by a syringe. The lotion may be made by dissolving half an ounce of sugar of lead, or of alum, in a pint of water.”

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The following remedies have their advocates, and, consequently, in some cases of the disorder have been proved essential in its cure.

One grain and a half of calomel, and five grains of rhubarb, to be repeated every other day.

Four grains of Turbith’s mineral, and one grain of emetic tartar; first bleeding the dog.

A tea-spoonful of jalap, half the quantity of grated ginger, a table-spoonful of syrup of buckthorn, made into a ball, or given liquid in warm water. No milk, but water-gruel to drink, and the dog must be kept very warm.

Gamboge, dragon’s-blood, jesuit’s-bark, of each half an ounce, made into pills the size of a hazel nut. To a full grown dog, one pill to be given every morning until cured; to a whelp, three times a week, the dogs to have liberty to run out.

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Some rely entirely on purgatives: others bleeding and physicking; others on emetics; some put tar upon the nose, others a pitch plaster, and some cauterize the nasals; some inject vinegar into the dose, others hellebore, and others a solution of camphor; some cut off the tail, others the ears; some give tobacco and olive oil, others the golden sulphuret of antimony; the keeper gives the curpeth’s mineral: the more scientific of these gentry will knock down the disease, and the dog too with arsenic. The gentleman will give compound tincture of benzoin, the farmer common salt; the medical man sulphuric ether, or emetics and sulphur, or emetics and jalap, or emetics and scammony.—_Youatt_—_Daniel_—_Darwin._

DITCH, _s._ A trench cut in the ground usually between two fields; any long narrow receptacle of water.

DIVER, _s._ A bird; one that sinks voluntarily under water; one that goes under water to search for any thing.

DIURETICS, _s._ Medicines that excite and increase urinal discharge.

DIURETIC POWDER.

Powdered rosin and nitre, of each, 4 drs.

Mix for one dose, and let it be repeated daily, or twice a day, if necessary, until a sufficient effect is produced.

DIURETIC BALL.

Hard soap and common turpentine, of each, 4 drachms.

Powdered caraway seeds enough to form the ball. Mix for one dose.

CORDIAL DIURETIC BALL.

Hard soap and common turpentine, of each 4 dr. Ginger 1 dr. Opium ½ dr.

Powdered caraways enough to form the ball. Diuretics should not be kept to become hard, as they often are, but be given in rather a soft state, and recently made. Diuretics should never be so given as to operate while a horse is in work, as he may thereby be prevented from staling when he has occasion; from neglecting this precaution, and from their frequent and immoderate use, arise those mischievous effects before alluded to. The kidneys are often materially injured by them as well as the bladder.—_White._

DIURETIC, _a._ Having the power to provoke urine.

DOCK, _s._ The stump of the tail which remains after docking; a place where water is let in or out at pleasure, where ships are built or laid up.

DOCK, _v._ To cut off a tail; to cut any thing short.

DOG, _s._ A domestic animal remarkably various in its species.

In ancient manuscripts we find the following names for the dogs employed in the sports of the field; that is to say, raches, or hounds; running hounds or harriers, to chase hares; and greyhounds, which were favourite dogs with the sportsmen; alauntes, or bull-dogs, these were chiefly used for hunting the boar; the mastiff is also said to be “a good hounde” for hunting the wild boar; the spaniel was of use in hawking; “hys crafte,” says the author, “is for the perdrich or partridge, and the quaile; and, when taught to couch, he is very serviceable to the fowlers, who take those birds with nets.” There must, I presume, have been a vast number of other kinds of dogs known in England at this period; these, however, are all that the early writers, upon the subject of hunting, have thought proper to enumerate. In the sixteenth century the list is enlarged; besides those already named, we find bastards and mongrels, lemors, kenets, terrours, butcher’s hounds, dunghill dogs, trindel-tail’d dogs, “pryckeared” curs, and ladies’ small puppies.

There formerly existed a very cruel law, which subjected all the dogs that were found in the royal chases and forests, excepting such as belonged to privileged persons, to be maimed by having the left claw cut from their feet, unless they were redeemed by a fine; this law probably originated with the Normans, and certainly was in force in the reign of Henry I.

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Linnæus, in his System of Nature, has placed the dog as the second genus of the third order of mammiferous animals, or those which suckle their young by means of lactiferous teats.

The characters of the third order, FERÆ, are as follows:—The fore teeth are conic, usually six in each jaw; the _tusks_ are longer, the _grinders_ have conic projections; the feet have claws, which are usually subulate, or awl-shaped; they feed on carcasses, and prey on other animals.

The characters of the genus _Canis_, or Dog, are, six cutting teeth in the upper jaw; those at the sides longer than the intermediate ones, which are lobated. In the under jaw there are also six cutting teeth, the lateral ones lobated; there are four canine teeth, one on each side, both above and below, and from six to seven grinders. The specific characters of the _Canis Familiaris_, or common dog, are, the head is carinated, or keel-shaped on the crown, the lower lip is hid by the upper, indentated and naked at the sides; the tongue is smooth; on the upper lip are five or six rows of whiskers; the nostrils are turned outwards into a crescent-shaped furrow; the upper margin of the ears is reflected and posteriorly doubled; the anterior margin is three-lobed, and there are seven or eight hairy warts on the face. There are ten teats, four of them pectoral, and six abdominal; the feet are subpalmated, with claws on the toes, which are long, a little curved, and not retractile within the toes, as is the case with those of the cat.

He has, besides the above anatomical distinctions, other general characters which are peculiar to his tribe.

He delights in associating with man, feeds on flesh, carcasses, and farinaceous vegetables, digests bones, is vomited by eating grass, which he does instinctively; drinks by lapping, runs obliquely, resting upon his toes; perspires by his tongue, which he lolls out when warm; when lying down turns often round; hears in his sleep, and dreams frequently. Of all animals the most faithful; fawns at the appearance of his master, and defends him; runs before him in a journey, and if the road divides, looks back and generally waits to see which he takes: will turn to the branch to which he is directed from a distance; his sense of smell is exquisite.

Cuvier, in his Animal Kingdom, gives the following generic character of the dog, which differs but little from that of Linnæus, except in his new and more distinct terminology.

The upper cheek teeth are six on each side, the three first are sharp, trenchant, called by Cuvier _false molars_; the following, a carnivorous tooth, has two cutting lobes, beyond which, on each side, are two flat teeth. In the lower jaw there are seven; four false molars, a carnivorous tooth, has two cutting lobes, beyond which, on each side, are two flat teeth, and two tuberculous teeth behind it. The length of the jaws and muzzle vary greatly; the tongue is smooth; the ears are extremely variable; there are five toes on the fore-feet, and four on those behind, furnished with longish nails, obtuse, and not retractile, and the mammæ are ventral; the eye-pupils are circular and diurnal, or formed for seeing by day.

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_Dogs exempt from Duty._—Whelps which are not six months old at the time of returning your list for taxes. Dogs belonging to any of the royal family, who are exempt from all duties on sporting. Poor persons, who are not assessed for dwelling-houses, may keep one dog, provided it be not a sporting dog.

SYNOPSIS OF BRITISH DOGS.

│Terrier. │Hounds │Harrier. │which hunt │Foxhound. │Dogs │in packs. │Bloodhound. │of │ │Chase. │ │Irish Greyhounds. │ │Hounds │Gazehound. │ │which hunt │Greyhound. 1. The most │ │singly. │Leviner, or Lyemmer. general kinds. │ │Tumbler. │ │ │ │Spaniel, or Springer. │Fowlers. │ │Setter. │ │ │Large Water Spaniel, or Finder. │ │Lap Dogs.│ │Spanish Gentle, or Comforter.

│ │Shepherd’s Dog. 2. Farm Dogs. │Watch │ │Mastiff. │Dogs. │ │Bull Dog.

│ │Wrappe. 3. Mongrels. │Mongrels.│ │Turnspit. │ │Dancer.

Although it is said by naturalists that there are only thirty-seven varieties of the dog, yet the fact is, that almost every nation on earth intertropical, temperate, and polar, has its own peculiar variety.—_Brown._—_Daniel._—_Cuvier._

DORMOUSE, _s._ A small animal which passes a part of the winter in sleep.

DOSSIL, _s._ A pledget, a nodule or lump of lint.

DOTTEREL, (_Charadrius morinellus_, LINN.; _Le Guignard_, BUFF.) _s._ The name of a bird.

The length of this bird is about nine inches. Its bill is black; eyes dark, large, and full; its forehead is mottled with brown and white top of the head black; over each eye an arched line of white passes to the hinder part of the neck; the cheeks and throat are white; the back and wings are of a light brown, inclining to olive, each feather margined with pale rust colour; the quills are brown. The forepart of the neck is surrounded by a broad band of a light olive colour, bordered on the under side with white. The breast is of a pale dull orange; middle of the belly black; the rest of the belly, thighs, and vent, are of a reddish white; the tail is of an olive brown, black near the end, and tipped with white, the outer feathers are margined with white. The legs are of a dark olive colour.

The dotterel is common in various parts of Great Britain, though in some places it is scarcely known. They are supposed to breed in the mountains of Cumberland and Westmoreland, where they are sometimes seen in the month of May, during the breeding season; they likewise breed on several of the Highland hills. They are very common in Cambridgeshire, Lincolnshire, and Derbyshire, appearing in small flocks on the heaths and moors of those counties during the months of May and June, and are then very fat, and much esteemed for the table. It is said that the dotterel is so very stupid a bird, as to be taken with the most simple artifice, and that it was formerly the custom to decoy them into the net by stretching out a leg or an arm which caught the attention of the birds, so that they returned it by a similar motion of a leg or a wing, and were not aware till the net dropped and covered the whole flock. At present the more sure method of the gun has superseded this artifice.

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_The Ring Dotterell._—(_Ring Plover_, or _Sea Lark_; _Charadrius Heaticula_, LINN.; _Le Petit Pluvier à collier_, BUFF.)—The length is rather more than seven inches. The bill is of an orange colour, tipped with black; the eyes are dark hazel; a black hue passes from the bill, underneath each eye, and spreads over the cheeks; above this a line of white extends across the forehead to the eyes; this is bounded above by a black fillet across the head; a gorget of black encircles the neck, very broad on the forepart, but growing narrow behind, above which, to the chin, is white; the top of the head is of a light brown ash-colour, as are also the back, scapulars, and coverts; the greater coverts are tipped with white; the breast and the under parts are white; the quills are dusky, with an oval white spot about the middle of each feather, which forms, when the wings are closed, a stroke of white down each; the tail is of a dark brown, tipped with white, the two outer feathers almost white; the legs are of an orange colour; claws black. In the female the white on the forehead is much less; there is more white on the wings, and the plumage inclines more to ash-colour.