The administration of a drench is a much more troublesome affair than the giving of a ball; and in almost all cases more or less of the dose is wasted. Sometimes, however, a liquid medicine is to be preferred, as in colic or gripes, when the urgent nature of the symptoms demands a rapidly-acting remedy, which a ball, from its requiring time to dissolve, is not; and, besides this, a ball cannot contain any of the sprituous cordials. The best instrument for giving a drench is the horn of the ox, cut obliquely, so as to form a spout. Bottles are sometimes used in an emergency, but their fragile nature always renders them dangerous. In giving a drench, the tongue is held in the same way as for the delivery of a ball, but the head must be more elevated; the drench is then carefully poured into the throat, after which the tongue is let go, but the head still kept up till it is all swallowed. Allowance should always be made for some waste in giving a drench.
The mode of managing all horses while 'in physic,' is that which I shall here describe. In all cases, if possible, the horse should be prepared by bran mashes, given for two or three nights, so as to make the bowels rather loose than otherwise, and thus allow the dose to act without undue forcing of the impacted fœces backwards. If physic is given without this softening process, the stomach and bowels pour out a large secretion of fluid, which is forced back upon the rectum, and met by a solid obstacle which it takes a long time to overcome, and during that interval the irritating purge is acting upon the lining membrane, and often produces excessive inflammation of it. Purging physic should generally be given in the middle of the day, after which the horse should remain in the stable, and have chilled water as often as he will drink it, with bran mashes. By the next morning he will be ready to be walked out for an hour, which will set the bowels to act
