An unguent is perhaps to be preferred

An unguent is perhaps to be preferred

An unguent is perhaps to be preferred

Or a little of the ointment recommended for piles may be smeared upon the wound in lieu of the above. An unguent is perhaps to be preferred, as giving better protection to the sore, over which the fæces must pass, and also as being more grateful to the feelings of the patient. Powder and ointment may be changed and varied according to the judgment of the attendant: thus, to render the last more stimulating, I mix creosote with it occasionally; or to give it an astringent property I add a portion of galls, catechu, or kino; but these I never pass into the rectum. Astringents introduced upon the sore and ulcerated surface of the intestine of course render it harsh, dry, and corrugated; and as during the exercise of its function the part is necessarily dilated, the animal is, by the pain produced from the stretching of the constringed membrane, indisposed for the performance of that act, on the regular discharge of which its health in no little measure depends. Astringents, moreover, heat and irritate the part; and the sensations induced make the dog draw its anus along the ground, thereby adding greatly to the evil it is the intention of the application to remove. Therefore prudence will approve what humanity suggests; and those who in kindly feeling can discover no motive, will in the colder reason find every inducement for the adoption of the gentler measure.