till the hair is completely saturated.
In this state it should be allowed to remain at least twelve hours, at the
expiration of which time the oil may be removed with yelk of eggs and
water: only an additional number of eggs will be required. As to the
quantity of castor oil which may be necessary, a moderate-sized dog with a
long coat will require about a pound, and a large Newfoundland four times
that amount. The process, as might be anticipated, operates upon the
bowels; but I have never found it to do so with any dangerous power; on
the contrary, the laxative effect is generally in these cases beneficial.

Medicine to the dog requires to be administered with caution. The nostrums
which are so particularly recommended by grooms and farriers ought never
to be made use of. The veterinary surgeon is less likely to commit error;
but there are, however, few of the profession who devote attention to the
dog with the zeal which the comprehension of its diseases and their
treatment demand. Huntsmen and gamekeepers are generally from practical
experience not altogether inapt dog doctors, where the larger and more
robust kind of animal is to be treated, but for the smaller and petted
species these persons ought not to be consulted. Many of their receipts
are harsh--not a few of them inoperative--and some even dangerous; while
all for the most part are pushed down at random, or in total ignorance of
any effect the agents employed may induce beyond the intended one of doing
good or working a certain cure. Nevertheless, with the kind of animals
generally entrusted to their charge, such persons are so far successful
that, in the absence of better advice, they deserve to be consulted for
the larger species of dogs. The human physician will also, on occasions,
be enabled to prescribe advantageously for the canine race; but not
knowing the treatment of the diseases, and the symptoms being too often
deceptive, the highest opinions are by no means to be absolutely relied
upon.

Dog-doctoring is, in fact, a separate branch of science so intricate as to
call for intense study strengthened by constant observation. No one not
attached to the animal should attempt to master it, for success in such a
case would be hopeless. The annoyances are so great that the patience is
continually being tried; and the facts on which reliance can be placed are
so few, that he who is content to depend upon the received assertions will
never be able to real