Part 5
An arrow, weighing from twenty to twenty-four pennyweights, made of yew, was considered by archers to be the best that could be made. The feathers of a goose should be used; and the bird from which they are taken should be two or three years of age. In an arrow, it is remarkable that two out of three feathers are commonly white, as they are plucked from the gander; but the third is usually brown or grey, being taken from the goose; and this difference of colour shows the archer when the arrow is properly placed. The expression of the “grey goose’s wing,” in the old ballad of Chevy Chase, is an allusion to this occurrence; originally, arrows were armed with flint or metal heads; latterly with iron of different forms and names. Henry IV. ordained that all arrows should be well boiled or brased, and hardened at the points with steel. Arrows were usually reckoned by sheaves; a sheaf consisting of twenty-four arrows. They were carried in a quiver, called an arrow case, which served for the magazine. In ancient times, different species of combustible materials were attached to the heads of arrows, and shot from long bows; and even subsequently to the invention of gunpowder this mode has been carried into execution. According to Neade, an archer may shoot an ounce of fireworks from an arrow twelve score yards. Among the stores at Berwick and Newhaven, in the reign of Edward VI., arrows with wildfire are enumerated. Some slight opinion of the strength of an arrow in its full flight, may be formed from the account given by Edward VI. in his journal: he observes, that one hundred archers shot arrows each before him, and afterwards altogether; that they shot at an inch board: some pierced it through and stuck in the other board, and others pierced it through with the heads of their arrows.—_Ascham_—_Strutt._
ARSENIC, _s._ A mineral, the preparations for which are sometimes used in veterinary practice.
There are two kinds, white and yellow: white arsenic is a powerful tonic, and has been given with success in glanders and farcy. Yellow arsenic, mixed with lard, is used to remove warts, and in fistula and poll-evil.
ARSENICAL, _a._ Containing arsenic.
ARTERIAL, _a._ That which relates to the artery; that which is contained in the artery.
ARTERY, _s._ An artery is a conical vessel, conveying the blood from the heart to all parts of the body.
ARTICULAR, _a._ Belonging to the joints.
ASAFŒTIDA, _s._ A very offensive-smelling gum. It has antispasmodic qualities; and in veterinary practice is said to be serviceable in coughs, thick wind, and lock-jaw.
ASCARIDES, _s._ Little worms generally found in the rectum.
ASCITES, _s._ For this disease in horses and dogs, see _White_, _Blaine_, &c.—_Vide_ ANASARCA.
ASH-COLOUR, _s._ A colour between brown and gray.
_Ash colour, pearl colour, or golden cinnamon._—Take some _walnut_ roots and boil till your stuff begins to strike, then add some _galls_; boil till it comes up near to what you want, and then add some copperas, but very sparingly.
ANOTHER METHOD.
Take a little fresh _black-thorn_ bark and a few young tops of _briar_; boil them in water, and when you think all the dye is extracted, take them out, and put in a small bit of your stuff for trial, and, if you like the colour, put in the whole when boiling, and boil till it comes to your liking. _Bush-thorn_ bark, when ground, if fresh, will, in turmeric, give a rich golden cinnamon.
ASH-COLOURED FALCON, _s._ This bird is smaller than the _Hen Harrier_ or _Ringtail_, with which it is frequently confounded. It is a scarce bird, though Selby says he has taken it in Northumberland, where it breeds on the open moors. Pennant calls it a variety of the _Ringtail_.
ASININE, _a._ Belonging to an ass.
ASS, _s._ An animal of burden.
This animal, though now so common in all parts of these islands, was entirely lost among us during the reign of Queen Elizabeth, for Hollingshed informs us, that in his time “our lande did yield no asses.” Yet we are not to suppose that so useful an animal was unknown here before that period; in fact, mention is made of them as early as the time of King Ethelred, above five hundred years preceding, and again in the reign of Henry III., so that it must have been owing to some accident that the race was extinct during the reign of Elizabeth. We are not certain as to the time it was again introduced, probably in the succeeding reign, when our intercourse with Spain was renewed, in which country this animal was greatly used.
Their constitution is so hardy, that even in the depth of winter, the most wretched hovel is sufficient for them from the cold; and so temperate are they with respect to food, that they can subsist on such vegetables as almost any other animal would refuse to eat. The thistle and plantain, which generally grow in abundance on waste lands and along the sides of roads, afford them a sufficient feast after their day of toil is concluded.
When young they are sprightly, handsome, light, and even graceful; but they soon lose those qualities, either from age or bad treatment, and become slow, stubborn, and headstrong. The ass is strongly attached to his master, notwithstanding he is usually ill-treated; he will scent him at a great distance, and distinguish him from any other person. Of all the animals covered with hair he is the least subject to vermin, which apparently proceeds from the peculiar hardness and dryness of the skin; and for the same reason he is less sensible than the horse to the whip, and to the stinging of flies.
The milk of the ass is the lightest of all milks, and is recommended by medical men to persons of delicate stomachs.
The age of the ass is equal to that of the horse, and even in some instances, exceeds it. One which died in 1782 had been employed in turning the water-wheel at a deep well in Carisbrook Castle for forty years.
By far the largest breed of asses at this time known in the world is in Spain; they are large, strong, elegant, and stately animals, often fifteen hands or more in height. The best of this breed sell there at very high prices, sometimes for as much as a hundred guineas each, and upwards. In other countries of Europe the ass is nearly as much neglected as it is in Great Britain. In Sardinia there is a race of asses that are very little larger than dogs; they seldom exceed two feet in height, and are in all respects proportionately small.
As the skin of the ass is very hard, and very elastic, it is used for different purposes, such as to make drums, shoes, and thick parchment for pocket-books, which latter is slightly varnished over. It is also of ass’s skin that the orientals make their sagri, or, as we call it, shagreen. Probably, too, the bones of asses are harder than those of other animals, since the ancients made their best-sounding flutes of them. In proportion to his size, the ass can carry a greater weight than any other animal; he sleeps much less than the horse, and never lies down for that purpose, unless very much tired.—_Le Keux._
ASTHMA, _s._ A frequent, difficult, and short respiration, joined with a hissing sound and a cough.
ASTHMA IN DOGS.
_The Canine Asthma_ is hardly ever observed to attack any but old dogs, or those who, by confinement, too full living, and want of exercise, may be supposed to have become diseased by these deviations from a state of nature. It is hardly possible to keep a dog very fat, for any great length of time, without bringing it on. This cough is frequently confounded with the cough that precedes and accompanies distemper; but it may be readily distinguished from this, by an attention to circumstances—as the age of the animal, its not affecting the general health, nor producing immediate emaciation, and its less readily giving way to medicine. The cure is often very difficult, because the disease has in general been long neglected before it is sufficiently noticed by the owners. As it is in general brought on by confinement, too much warmth, and over-feeding, so it is evident the cure must be begun by a steady persevering alteration in these particulars. The medicines most useful are alteratives, and of those, occasionally, emetics are the best. One grain of tartarised antimony (_i. e._ tartar emetic), with two, three, or four grains of calomel, is a very useful and valuable emetic. This dose is sufficient for a small dog, and may be repeated twice a week with great success—always with palliation.
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It derives its origin from the artificial mode of life forced on pet and fancy dogs, whose close confinement and over-feeding lead to an extraordinary accumulation of fat: and according to the degree in which these predisposing causes have been applied, the disease appears earlier or later in life. In some it comes on at three or four years old: in others, rather less artificially treated, it may not appear until seven or eight.
In some cases, the irritation of the cough, and the accompanying hectic, emaciates and wears down the animal: in others, the pulmonary congestion stops respiration, and kills by a sudden suffocation; or the obstruction the blood meets with in its passage through the heart, occasions accumulation in the head, and convulsive fits are the precursors of death. Now and then a rupture of the heart, or of some large blood-vessel, suddenly destroys: but by far the most common termination of the complaint is in dropsy, or serous collections within the chest or belly, or both, but most frequently of the latter. In these cases, the limbs and external parts of the body waste, but the belly increases in its size; the legs also swell; the hair stares; the breathing becomes very laborious; and, in the end, suffocation ensues.
Of the various remedial plans I have pursued, none have appeared more uniformly beneficial than a course of emetics, steadily persisted in twice a week. In the intermediate days _alteratives_ were administered, with the occasional use of a purgative, provided the dog was strong, fat, and plethoric; otherwise this was dispensed with: but it should be remembered, that this remedial plan must be uniformly and long continued, to ensure permanent benefit. The alterative is as follows:—
Calomel (_submuriate of mercury_) ½ gr. Nitre (_nitrate of potash_) 5 gr. Cream of tartar (_supertartrate of potash_) 10 gr. Antimonial powder 2 gr.—Mix.
This may be given either as a powder, or it may be made into a ball with honey; this dose being repeated once or twice a day, according to the urgency of the case: the quantities may be also lessened or increased according to the effect produced; the recipe is intended for a dog of middling size. On the morning that the emetic is given, the alterative should be omitted; and where the alterative is repeated night and morning, it will be prudent to watch the mouth, that salivation may not unexpectedly come on. If this should happen, discontinue the medicine for some days. Where also the calomel has been found to disagree, I have substituted the following alterative with benefit:—
Nitre (_nitrate of potash_) 2 gr. Tartar emetic (_tartarised antimony_) ¼ gr. Powdered Foxglove (_digitalis_) ½ gr.—Mix.
This may be given as the other, and alternated with the emetic also, watching the effect of the foxglove, through the medium of the pulse, that they may not be too violent. In some cases of long standing, where the attendant cough has been very harsh, noisy, and distressing, I have added ten, twenty, or thirty drops of tincture of opium (_laudanum_), or the eighth, sixth, or fourth part of a grain of opium, to each alterative with advantage. In other instances, the cough has been best allayed by an evening opiate of double the strength before prescribed. I have, now and then, experienced benefit also from the use of the balsamic gums, which may be all tried, therefore, in obstinate cases. Relief has been obtained likewise from the following, given every morning:—
Powdered squill ½ gr. Gum ammoniacum, powdered 5 gr. Balsam Peru 3 gr. Benzoic acid 1 gr. Anisated balsam of sulphur to form a ball.
Or,
Inspissated juice of the white garden lettuce ½ dr. Tincture of balsam of Tolu 1 dr. Powdered gum arabic and extract of liquorice 1 oz. each
Make into balls, and give one night and morning.
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The following I have found to mitigate the severity of several cases, and it deserves a trial:—
Extract of cicuta ½ dr. Extract of hyoscyamus 10 gr. Powdered digitalis a scruple
Conserve of roses to make 10, 8, or 6 balls, according to the size of the dog; of which one may be given night and morning; increasing the dose if it occasions no disturbance in the system. Mr. Youatt has, I believe, found benefit in asthmatic cases from the exhibition of prussic acid: but the powerful nature of this remedy requires _professional_ assistance when it is administered.—_Blaine._
ASTRINGENT, _a._ Binding, contracting.
Astringents are useful in suppressing unnatural evacuations in diarrhœa, diabetes, &c. Opium, bark, and preparations of copper, iron, lead, and zinc, are principally employed in combining astringent preparations.
ASTRINGENT RECIPES.
No. 1.— _For diarrhœa, diabetes, &c._ Opium ½ to 1 dr. Ginger 1½ drs. Prepared chalk 3 dr. Flour 2 dr.
Mix into a ball with treacle, syrup, or honey for one dose.
No. 2.— Gum kino 2 dr. Aromatic powder 1½ dr. Or, Veterinary aromatic powder 6 dr. Carbonate of soda 2 dr. Treacle enough to form the mass.
No. 3.— Powdered catechu 2 to 4 dr. Alum 2 to 4 dr. Powdered opium ½ to 1 dr. ———————— ginger 1 to 2 dr. Oil of cloves 10 drops. Treacle enough to form the ball.
_Astringent Drench for diabetes._
Opium ½ dr. Powdered ginger 2 dr. Powdered oak bark 1 oz.
To be given in a pint of oak bark decoction.
_External Astringents._
POWDERS.
No. 1.— Powdered alum 4 oz. Armenian bole 1 oz.—Mix.
No. 2.— White vitriol 2 oz. Flowers of zinc 1 oz.—Mix.
LOTIONS.
No. 3.— A strong goulard mixture.
No. 4.— A solution of blue vitriol, white vitriol, or alum.
No. 5.— Muriate of iron 1 oz. Water 8 oz.—Mix.
OINTMENTS.
No. 1.— Venice turpentine 4 oz. Bees’ wax 1 oz. Hog’s lard 4 oz.
To be melted over a slow fire; and when rather cool, but while it is liquid, add sugar of lead 1 oz. or alum finely powdered, 2 oz. Stir the mixture until it is cold.
No. 2.— Ointment of yellow resin 4 oz. Oil of turpentine 1 oz. Sulphate of copper finely powdered ½ oz.—Mix.
No. 3.— Red nitrated mercury, commonly named red precipitate, rubbed down to a very fine powder 1 dr. Calamine cerate, commonly named Turner’s cerate 2 oz.—Mix.
Astringent powders and ointments are designed chiefly as remedies for grease, after the inflammation of the part has been in great measure removed by proper poultices: but the ointment is applicable only to those ulcerations or cracks which are effects of that disease, or occurring from other causes.
ADDITIONAL RECIPES FOR INTERNAL ASTRINGENTS.
For diabetes, or an excessive discharge of urine:
No. 1.— Catechu, or kino, 2 to 4 dr. Powdered ginger 1 to 2 dr. ———————— gentian 2 to 3 dr. Opium ½ dr. Oil of caraways 20 drops.
Syrup enough to form the ball. One dose.
No. 2.— Opium ½ to 1 dr. Ginger 1 to 2 dr. Cinchona, or Peruvian bark, or when that cannot be had, powdered oak bark 1 oz. or more.
To be mixed with a decoction of oak bark, or a strong infusion of camomile flowers, and given as a drench. Either of these may be given early in the morning, and repeated at night, should it be found necessary.—_White._
ATHLETIC, _a._ Belonging to wrestling; strong of body, vigorous, lusty, robust.
AUBURN, _a._ Brown, of a tan colour.
AUCUPATION, _s. obs._ Fowling, bird-catching.
AUK, _s._ (_Alca impennis_, LINNÆUS).
This species appears to have become extremely rare on the north coast of Britain. The natives in the Orkneys informed Mr. Bullock, in his late tour through those islands, that one male only had made his appearance for a long time, which had regularly visited Papa Westra for several years. The female (which the natives call the Queen of the Auks) was killed just before Mr. Bullock’s arrival. The King, or male, Mr. Bullock had the pleasure of chasing for several hours, in a six-oared boat, but without being able to kill him, for though he frequently got near him, so expert was the bird in its natural element, that it appeared impossible to shoot him. The rapidity with which he pursued his course under water was almost incredible.
The length is three feet. The bill is black, very strong, compressed, and marked with several furrows. The base of the upper mandible is covered with short velvet-like feathers; between the bill and the eye is a large patch of white; the head, neck, back, and wings, glossy black; lesser quill-feathers tipped with white; legs black.
The smallness of the wings renders them useless for flight, the longest quill-feather not exceeding four inches in length. These, however, are admirably adapted to its mode of life, and are of peculiar use in diving under water, where they act as fins; by which means it pursues its prey with astonishing velocity.
This bird is only found in the most northern parts of the kingdom; it is said to breed in the isle of St. Kilda, from which Dr. Fleming had one in 1822. Like the rest of this genus it lays only one egg, white, sometimes irregularly marked with purplish lines, or blotched with ferruginous and black at the larger end: length six inches. It feeds on fish, but the young birds will eat rose root (_Rhodiola rosea_), or other plants.—_Montagu._
AURICULARS, _s._ (In _Ornithology_). Feathers which cover the ears.
AVOIRDUPOIS, _a._ A kind of weight, of which a pound contains sixteen ounces, and is in proportion to a pound Troy as 17 to 14.
AVOSET, Scooper, Crooked-Bill, or Yelper. _s._ (_Recurvirostra Avosetta_, LINNÆUS. _L’Avosette_, BUFFON.)
This bird, which is the only British species of Avosets, does not much exceed the lapwing in the bulk of its body; but from the length of its legs it is much taller. It measures about eighteen inches in length, to the end of the toes twenty-two, and from tip to tip thirty; and weighs from twelve to fourteen ounces. The bill is black, about three inches and a half long, and of a singular conformation; looking not unlike flexible flat pieces of whalebone, curved upwards to the tip: the irides are hazel; the head round, black on the upper part to below the nape of the neck: above and beneath each eye, in most specimens, there are small white spots; but in the one from which the above figure was taken, a streak of that colour passed over each eye towards the hinder part of the head. The thighs are naked, and, as well as the legs and feet, are of a fine pale blue colour. The whole plumage of the Avoset is white, intersected with black; and, like most of the variegated or piebald birds, the patches of these colours are not placed exactly the same in every individual; therefore, as the bird cannot be mistaken, a more minute description is unnecessary.
These birds are common in the winter about the lakes, mouths of rivers, and marshes, in the southern parts of England; and they assemble in large flocks on the fens, in the breeding season. When the female is frightened off her nest she counterfeits lameness; and when a flock is disturbed they fly with their necks stretched out, and their legs extended behind over the head of the spectator, much in the same way as the peewit or lapwing, making a shrill noise, and uttering a yelping cry of twit, twit, all the time. The places where they have been feeding may be traced out by the semicircular marks left in the mud or sand by their bills, in scooping out their food, which consists of spawn, worms, insects, &c. Latham says, “They lay two eggs, the size of those of a pigeon, an inch and three quarters in length, of a cinereous grey, singularly marked with deep brownish dark patches, of irregular sizes and shapes, besides some under markings of a dusky hue.” They keep near the shore, wading about, up to the belly in the water, and sometimes swimming. In all their motions they are smart, lively, and volatile, and do not remain long stationary in one spot.
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The Scooper is the only species found in England. It breeds in the fens of Lincolnshire, and on Romney Marsh in Kent. It does not migrate, like other birds of similar habits, but is found at all seasons, though in winter it chiefly frequents the sea-shore; and, besides on the coast of Kent, it is found about the mouth of the Severn, in Gloucestershire, as well as on the eastern coasts of Norfolk and Suffolk, and sometimes in Shropshire. During the breeding season, the Avosets are seen in considerable numbers near Fossdike, in Lincolnshire, and also in the fens of Cambridgeshire, and similar localities. Temminck says it is common in North Holland. It seems, indeed, to be very widely diffused, being found in Denmark, Sweden, Russia, Siberia, the Caspian Sea, and particularly about the Salt Lakes in the deserts of Tartary.—_Bewick_—_Latham_—_Montagu._
AWNING, _s._ A cover spread over a boat or vessel to keep off the weather.
AXLE, AXLE-TREE, _s._ The pin which passes through the midst of the wheel, on which the circumvolutions of the wheel are performed.
AZURE, _a._ Blue, faint blue.
BABBLE, _v._ To open on a false scent.
BABILLARD, _s._ (_Curruca garrula_, BRISSON.)
A species confounded by British naturalists with the white-throat. (_Vide_ MONTAGU.)
The babillard does not appear to be a plentiful species in this country, and is confined to the western parts of the kingdom, from Gloucestershire and Wiltshire, in both which counties we have found them, and is probably in part of Somersetshire, but not in Devonshire or Cornwall. Selby even doubts its existence; but Sweet has kept them in a cage for years.