Part 64

NITRATE OF POTASH, NITRE, or SALTPETRE, _s._ A neutral salt, formed by the combination of nitrous acid and potash.

This is a medicine of great utility in veterinary practice. It possesses a cooling and diuretic property, which renders it extremely useful in fevers, and complaints of an inflammatory nature.

In fevers, it is often joined with emetic tartar, or antimonial powder. In catarrh or cold, nitre is the best remedy; and in troublesome coughs it gives relief, if mixed with some emollient drink and a little honey.

The medium dose of nitre is about one ounce, though farriers often give double that quantity, but large doses are apt to irritate the stomach and do mischief. In urgent cases half an ounce may be given every fourth hour, in a mucilaginous drink, or in water-gruel.—_White._

NITROUS, _a._ Impregnated with nitre.

NOBLE, _a._ Of ancient and splendid family; exalted to a rank above commonalty; great, illustrious; exalted.

NODE, _s._ A knot, a knob; a swelling on the bone.

NOMBLES, _s._ The entrails of a deer.

NOPE, _s._ A kind of bird called a bull-finch or red-tail.

NOSE, _s._ The prominence on the face, which is the organ of scent and the emunctory of the brain; scent; sagacity.

NOSE, _v._ To scent, to smell.

NOSTRIL, _s._ The cavity in the nose. _Nostrils linear_, in ornithology,—when they are extended lengthwise in a line with the bill, as in divers; _Nostrils pervious_,—when they are open, and may be seen through from side to side, as in gulls, &c.

NOSTRUM, _s._ A medicine not yet made public, but remaining in some single hand.

NOTCH, _s._ A nick, a hollow cut in anything.

NOZZLE, _s._ The nose, the snout, the end.

NUT, _s._ The fruit of certain trees: it consists of a kernel covered by a hard shell; a small body with teeth, which correspond with the teeth of wheels.

NUTBROWN, _a._ Brown like a nut kept long.

NUTHATCH, NUTJOBBER, or NUTPECKER, _s._ A bird.

NUTRITIOUS, _a._ Having the quality of nourishing.

NUX VOMICA, _s._ A flat compressed round fruit, about the breadth of a shilling, brought from the East Indies. It is a certain poison for dogs, &c. _Vide_ POISON.

OAK, _s._ A tree; the wood of the tree.

A decoction of oak-bark is a good vehicle for tonic and astringent medicines. When finely powdered and given as a drench with ginger, it may be of service in those complaints, the continuance of which depends upon debility. It is said, however, to be much less efficacious than Peruvian-bark; yet, when that cannot be procured, it may be found a useful substitute. The dose is about two ounces.—_White._

OAKAPPLE, _s._ A kind of spongy excrescence in the oak.

OAKEN, _a._ Made of oak, gathered from oak.

OAKUM, _s._ Cords untwisted and reduced to hemp.

It is somewhat extraordinary that I and other sportsmen, as well as the gun-makers, should never have discovered that a punched wadding on the powder is not the best means of loading a gun. We were all content, because it was ten times better than paper, and therefore it is, and has long been, the universal method of loading. But I was induced to try an experiment at quires of paper, having, as I always do, a clerk, the same as at a cricket match, to take down the advantages of strength and closeness, and then to sum up the evidence and pronounce, like a judge, the grand aggregate of the gun’s performance; which, on such occasions, is seldom so undecided as to be merely a matter of opinion. I first tried a pasteboard wadding of Mr. Joseph Manton’s, and no one, I presume, will dispute, that both the punch and the wadding, as well as every thing else from Mr. Joseph Manton, must be of the best quality; the one as to fitting well, and the other as to being of good pasteboard. I then tried this duck-gun system of loading, viz.: a piece of coarse tarred oakum (precisely what ships’ ropes are made of,) first wound round the finger, so as to be quite hard, and then rolled up in as large a ball as will fit tight into the muzzle, and go with moderate force down the calibre of the gun. (The balls thus rolled up may be readily made and carried in the pocket; and, if of the proper size, will force down the calibre rather quicker than punched wadding. Let the calibre be as large as it may, you of course, with this wadding, require nothing more on the powder.) I then put a common pasteboard wadding (with air vent) on the shot, and I found, that even in small guns, where pasteboard is far less apt to swerve, this mode of loading threw the shot closer, stronger, and, above all, with less variation in its performance.

In the experiment, I anticipated an increase of recoil, particularly when I came to try it with a detonater; but, on the contrary, the recoil was less from the oakum than from the wadding. The case, I conceive, must be this: the punched wadding gives a severe check at first, but before the powder is half burned, it slips a little on one side, and allows it to mix with the shot; while the oakum has an elastic rotundity, that springs to every gradation, of the calibre; and therefore will never suffer any powder to escape, till it has left the muzzle of the gun.

Moreover, on the other hand, the pasteboard being once a little contracted by the friction, or rendered soft on its edges by the elastic fluid in the barrel, allows the powder to escape where the calibre becomes relieved, and therefore makes the gun, in comparison, shoot thin, weak, and irregular.—_Hawker._

OAR, _s._ A long pole with a broad end by which boats are propelled.

OATCAKE, _s._ Cake made of the meal of oats.

OATEN, _a._ Made of oats, bearing oats.

OATMALT, _s._ Malt made of oats.

OATMEAL, _s._ Flour made by grinding oats.

OATS, _s._ A grain with which horses are fed.

In the choice of oats for horses, such as are heavy and clean, and sweet, are preferable. New oats are injurious, being difficult of digestion, and apt to scour; but this quality may be, in a great measure, corrected by drying them gradually on a kiln.

Kiln-dried oats are seldom used in Ireland, it being supposed that they are injurious to a horse’s wind.

OCULAR, _a._ Depending on the eye, known by the eye.

ODD, _a._ Not even, not divisible into equal numbers; particular, uncouth, extraordinary.

ODDS, _s._ Inequality; more than an even wager; advantage, superiority.

OFFAL, _s._ Waste meat, that which is not eaten at the table; carrion; coarse flesh, refuse, that which is thrown away; the food of hounds.

OIL, _s._ Any fat, greasy, unctuous, thin matter.

Oils are fixed or volatile. The former are procured from animal and vegetable substances by heat and pressure, and hence they have been named expressed oils; and are termed fixed, because they do not evaporate, except at a very high temperature. Volatile oils, on the contrary, evaporate readily, and are obtained from vegetables by distillation; and as they commonly contain all the essential qualities of the substance they are procured from, they have been named also essential oils. The numerous officinal oils prescribed in old dispensations are now totally disused.

_Oil of Bay._—Is liker an ointment than an oil, of a light green colour. It is used as an external application in cutaneous complaints, as mange. Sometimes it is substituted for hog’s lard in making mercurial ointment, and is supposed to render it more active. When to this mixture is added cantharides and oil of origanum, a strong blister is formed, which is recommended for the removal of splents and spavins.

_Oil of Castor._—An useful laxative. The dose is about a pint.

_Oil of Olive._—This also is a very pure and sweet oil; and in the dose of a pint generally operates as a laxative. When castor oil cannot be easily procured, this may with great propriety be substituted for it. It is used also in making emulsions, liniments, and ointments.

_Oil of Linseed._—This also has a laxative quality, but is not so certain in its effect as the castor or olive oil. It is employed as a remedy for coughs; and on such occasions the cold-drawn oil is preferred, _i. e._ that which is expressed from the seed without the assistance of heat.

_Oil of Palm or Palm Oil._—This, though termed an oil, is of the consistence of hogs’ lard, and very similar to it in its medical qualities.—_White._

OIL, _v._ To smear or lubricate with oil.

OILY, _a._ Consisting of oil, containing oil, having the qualities of oil; fat, greasy.

OINTMENT, _s._ Unguent, unctuous matter; a sort of cataplasm.

Ointments are composed generally of lard, suet, tallow, bees’ wax, oils, resins, and turpentines. The following are those principally used.

SIMPLE OINTMENT.

Olive oil 1 lb. Bees’ wax 3 oz. Palm oil 2 oz.

Melt over a slow fire, and continue stirring until cold.

For common purposes hogs’ lard makes a good simple ointment, but becomes rancid by keeping. The simple ointment may be readily converted into a detergent, a digestive, or an astringent, by the addition of red precipitate, verdigris, or blue vitriol finely powdered, finely powdered alum, superacetate of lead (sugar of lead), or a solution of subacetate of lead.

The following is a very useful ointment for chapped heels, harness galls, &c.

GOULARD OINTMENT.

Simple ointment 1 lb. Solution of subacetate of lead, commonly called Goulard’s extract 3 oz. Olive oil 1 oz.

Melt the ointment by a very gentle heat, and add the oil, then let it be removed from the fire, and stir it in the Goulard’s extract; continue stirring until cold.

SULPHURIC OINTMENT.

Oil of turpentine 6 oz. Sulphuric acid 2 oz.

Mix cautiously in the open air, or in a chimney, in a vessel large enough to hold one pound and a half; stir the mixture, and, when they are perfectly combined, add one pound and half of hogs’ lard: continue stirring until cold. By the addition of cantharides, this ointment forms a strong blister, and with sulphur vivum, finely powdered, or flower of sulphur and train oil, it becomes a good mange ointment.

DIGESTIVE OINTMENT.

Hogs’ lard 1 lb. Common turpentine 1 lb.—Melt, and add Verdigris 2 oz.

Continue stirring until cold.

HOOF OINTMENT.

Tallow 1 lb. Tar 1 lb.

Melt; continue stirring until cold.

Ointments are not so generally applied to wounds or inflamed parts, as they were formerly; as powders, washes, and fomentations are often found more efficacious. _Vide_ ASTRINGENTS, DIGESTIVES, DETERGENTS, CAUSTICS, EMOLLIENTS, BLISTERS, &c.—_White._

OLD, _a._ Past the middle of life; not young.

OLIVE, _s._ A plant producing oil; the emblem of peace; a colour.

_To dye a fine Golden Olive._—Take as much of fine sappy green heath tops as will half fill a pot which holds eight gallons, put one pound and a half of _strawall_ (wild French weed, dyer’s weed) in the bottom while dry; spread over that a little of the heath to cover it; put in half a pound of fur, or more if you like; cover that with the remainder of the heath, and put on your frame and lid; press it down and fill it with water, and boil it twelve or eighteen hours. Divide the time to make different shades in your drawings, and do not let your liquor boil away too much without adding fresh water to keep it up. If you have your shades to your wish, you will have the finest golden olives that ever were dyed, and in the simplest way. Wash them, and they are finished.

_To dye fine Green Olives._—Take a pound of strawall, put it down with eight quarts of water, and half a pound of fur. Cut your strawall short, and put it down. (You ought to have a frame or wooden crop, and a broad piece of lead, to keep down the stuff, as it takes so very long to give out the dye.) When it has boiled about half an hour, see if it is anything of a fine greenish yellow. Draw then for the first shade. Boil half an hour longer; look at it, and if you like it draw it, as it is not right to have your shades too near. For the next shade give double the time, and so on to about four shades. The last ought to get six hours’ boiling, and you ought, by rights, to divide the time amongst them all. When you have made out four shades, lift out the dye stuff, and put in the size of a small horse-bean of copperas with the liquor; and, when dissolved, put in each shade, and whip it out, and so on with the whole. If not enough of the olive, add a little more copperas with each, and dip each of them over again. Thus you have four very fine green olives. Wash out the copperas immediately.—_Old Recipe._

OMBRE, _s._ A game at cards played by three.

OMENTUM, _s._ The caul, the double membrane spread over the entrails, called also reticulum, from its structure, resembling that of a net.

OOZE, _s._ Soft mud, mire at the bottom of water, slime.

OPACITY, _s._ Cloudiness, want of transparency.

OPERATION, _s._ Agency; action, effect; in chirurgery, that part of the art of healing which depends on the use of instruments.

OPHTHALMY, _s._ A disease of the eyes.

OPIATE, _s._ A medicine that causes sleep.

Opiate confection is composed of opium, long pepper, and other stimulants. One ounce of the confection does not contain more than fourteen or fifteen grains of opium; it may therefore be given in doses from one to two ounces, though in this quantity it would be a powerful stimulant.

In veterinary medicine, an electuary may be advantageously substituted for the opiate confection of the London dispensatory.

OPIATE CONFECTION, OR ELECTUARY OF OPIUM.

Opium 1½ oz.

Macerate in hot water until it forms a thin paste, or, by stirring, is uniformly mixed, and free from lumps.

Powdered ginger 3 oz. Powdered caraway seeds 6 oz. Powdered allspice 6 oz. Treacle 1½ oz.

Let these ingredients be well mixed, and kept in a closed jar or pot. The dose is about one-twentieth part of the mass. It is a warm cordial and diaphoretic, and may be given in flatulent colic mixed with a little warm beer, or infusion of peppermint, or other aromatic herbs. This electuary is a good cordial for cattle.—_White._

OPIUM, _s._ A medicine used to promote sleep.

The anodyne quality which renders opium so valuable in human medicine, is not so manifest when given to the horse.

If injudiciously given, opium frequently aggravates the disease, and does injury: and I have several times seen it increase pain, when it has been improperly given as an anodyne. In flatulency or spasm of the bowels it is an excellent remedy, particularly if joined with aromatic powder, ginger, or some other stimulant. In diarrhœa it is an effectual remedy, but must be given cautiously. In diabetes I have found it very beneficial, when joined with bark and ginger. Sometimes it is given with emetic tartar, and some cordial composition, with good effect, and in this way it proves a good diaphoretic.

I have given opium and squill, in obstinate coughs, with success; but the effect is not permanent.

Opium is very apt to produce costiveness in horses; but this may be in a great measure counteracted by exercise: when it does take place, it may be removed by clysters, bran mashes, or a laxative ball.

The medium dose of opium is half a drachm, or two scruples; but if given in the form of clysters, which it sometimes is with the best effect, two drachms will not be too much.

Opium is brought to this country in chests from Turkey and India. The Turkey opium is in flat pieces, covered with leaves and the reddish capsules of some species of dock, which is considered an indication of its goodness, as the inferior kinds of opium have none of these capsules adhering to them. Turkey opium generally contains about one fourth part of impurities. India opium is less pure, is in round masses, covered with leaves to the thickness nearly of one fourth of an inch. Mr. Kerr relates that, at Bahar, it is frequently adulterated with cow dung, the extract of the poppy procured by boiling, and various other substances. It is made also from lettuces, in India.

A celebrated preparation of opium, named the _black drop_, is thus prepared:—

Opium sliced ½ pound. Good verjuice 3 pints. Nutmegs 1½ oz. Saffron ½ oz.

Boil them to a proper thickness, then add a quarter of a pound of sugar and two spoonfuls of yeast. Set the whole in a warm place near the fire for six or eight weeks, then place it in the open air until it becomes a syrup; lastly decant, filter, and bottle it up, adding a little sugar to each bottle. One drop of this is said to be equal to three drops of the tincture of opium.

The diseases of the horse in which opium is the most beneficial, are locked jaw and flatulent colic; in the former it has been given in large doses, with the best effect, generally joined with camphor, and sometimes with assafœtida and other antispasmodics. In flatulent colic, smaller doses have been found sufficient, which have generally been joined with sweet spirit of nitre, and other carminatives.—_White._

OPODELDOC, _s._ Soap and camphor dissolved in spirit of rosemary.

It is either liquid or solid. The former is made with soft, and the latter with hard soap. In the solid state it seems to be the same as the celebrated _Steers’s opodeldoc_.

It is employed for strains and bruises, after the inflammation which accompanies those complaints at first has subsided.

LIQUID OPODELDOC, OR SOAP LINIMENT.

Soft soap 4 oz. Water 8 oz.

Mix, and add one pint of rectified spirit of wine, in which there has been previously dissolved—

Camphor 2 oz. Oil of rosemary 1 oz.

STEERS’S OPODELDOC.

Hard soap ½ oz. Rectified spirit of wine 8 oz. Camphor ½ oz. Oil of rosemary 2 dr. Oil of lavender, or oil of origanum 2 dr. Compound spirit of ammonia 4 oz.

Digest in a moderate heat, so as to dissolve the soap, which should be cut up in thin shavings. For these expensive preparations, the following may be substituted:—

VETERINARY OPODELDOC.

Soft soap 4 oz. Water 8 oz.

Mix over the fire; when cold, add—

Rectified spirit 1 pint. Oil of rosemary 2 oz. Strong liquid ammonia 4 oz.—Mix.

ORANGE, _s._ The orange tree; the fruit of the tree.

ORANGE, _a._ Belonging to an orange, of the colour of an orange.

_To dye a fine Orange._—If you have half a pound of stuff to dye, you must get an ounce and a half of black grain (cochineal), and pound it fine; put down the stuff in six or eight quarts of water, with turmeric, to bring it to the finest highest yellow that is possible; take it out, and put in the black grain; stir it about well, boil it half an hour. Then put in the stuff for ten minutes, and draw half for the first shade; keep the remainder of the stuff for thirty minutes, then take it out, put two teaspoonfuls of Brazil dust into the pot, and let it boil up. Throw in the light shade, and be watchful lest it get too dark; lift out the stuff, and put in two more spoonfuls of dust, and watch as before, and boil on for a blood orange. This is certainly the best way for oranges in the world.

Should you make your shades too dark, infuse six drops of spirit into the liquor while hot, and any shade you want to brighten throw it in, press it well, and lift out in an instant; and if not to your wish, put in three drops more, and throw the other shades into it, and it will enliven the colour exceedingly. The same may be done with gold colours, and it will brighten them also.

_To dye Orange Hackles._—Get white hackles; prepare them as already directed. Ground them richly in turmeric, then put in some cochineal, boil it well, and if you do not soon get a fine rich orange, put in some more cochineal with a pinch of Brazil dust. Let it boil for a time, and then draw for bright orange; put in more cochineal, and a teaspoonful of Brazil dust; boil it well, and you will have a full or deep orange. Draw the hackles, and put in a spoonful or two of Brazil dust, and boil on till you see a fine blood red. These three shades may be distinguished as a bright orange, a blood orange, and a blood red. Archil will give a fourth shade.

* * * * *

Take care not to dry your hackles too quickly, neither put them too near the fire. Finish one bunch at a time, and draw them constantly through your fingers till dry, as that keeps the hackles in proper form. You should keep the wet hackles rolled up in paper, as, if they dry too fast, they will get ragged and staring, which is a great fault, and can seldom be cured. To stain fine bright golden yellows, follow the same process, with this difference,—that the quantity of turmeric and madder used must be very small, and only two drops of spirits should be infused, if any be necessary.—_Old Recipe._

ORBITS (_Orbita_, LINN.), _s._ In ornithology, the skin which surrounds the eye. It is generally bare, but particularly in the parrot and the heron.

ORC, _s._ A sort of sea-fish.

ORNITHOLOGY, _s._ Natural history of birds.

A good ornithologist should be able to distinguish birds by their air as well as by their colours and shape; on the ground as well as on the wing, and in the bush as well as in the hand. For, though it must not be said that every species of birds has a manner peculiar to itself, yet there is somewhat in most genera at least, that at first sight discriminates them, and enables a judicious observer to pronounce upon them with some certainty. Put a bird in motion

“——et vera incessu patuit.”