Kitabı oku: «The Master of Game: The Oldest English Book on Hunting», sayfa 6

CHAPTER XIII
OF SICKNESSES OF HOUNDS AND OF THEIR CORRUPTIONS

The hounds have many divers sicknesses and their greatest sickness is the rage whereof there be nine manners, of the which I shall tell you a part. The first is called furious madness. The hounds that be mad of that madness cry and howl with a loud voice, and not in the way that they were wont to when they were in health. When they escape they go everywhere biting both men and women and all that they find before them. And they have a wonderful perilous biting, for if they bite anything, with great pain it shall escape thereof if they draw blood, that it shall go mad whatever thing it be. A token for to know at the beginning, is this, that they eat not so well as they were wont to, and they bite the other hounds, making them cheer with the tail¹⁰⁸ first, smelleth¹⁰⁹ upon them and licketh¹¹⁰ them and then he bloweth a great blast with his nose, and then he looketh fiercely, and beholdeth his own sides and maketh semblant that he had flies about him, and then he crieth. And when men know such tokens men should take him from the others until the fourth day, for then men may see the sickness all clearly, or else that he is not mad for some time. Many men be beguiled in that way. And if any hound be mad of any of the nine madnesses he shall never be whole. And their madness cannot last but nine days¹¹¹ but they shall never be whole but dead. That other manner of madness is known by these signs: In the beginning he doth as I said before, save that they neither bite man nor beast save only the hounds, as perilous is his biting as the first, and ever more they go up and down without any abiding. And this madness is called running madness. And these two madnesses beforesaid taketh the other hounds that they be with, though they bite them not. That other madness is called ragemuet (dumb madness) for they neither bite nor run not, eke they will not eat for their mouth

is somewhat gaping as if they were enosed¹¹² in their throat, and so they die, within the term beforesaid without doing any harm. Some men say that it cometh to them from a worm¹¹³ that they have under the tongue, and ye should find but few hounds that hath not a worm under the tongue. And many men say that if that worm was taken from them they would never go mad, but thereof I make no affirmation. Nevertheless it is good to take it from them, and men should take it away in this manner. Men should take the hound when he is past half a year old and hold fast his fore-feet, and put a staff athwart his mouth so that he should not bite. And after take the tongue and ye should find the worm under the tongue, then ye should slit the tongue underneath and put a needle with a thread betwixt the worm and tongue and cut and draw the worm out with the thread or else with a small pin of wood. And notwithstanding that men call it a worm it is but a great vein that hounds have under their tongue. This madness diseaseth not other hounds, neither man nor other beast. That other madness is called falling, for when they want to walk straight they fall now on one side and now on the other side, and so die within the aforesaid term. This madness stretcheth to no other hound nor man or beast. That other madness is called flank madness¹¹⁴, for they be so sore and tucked up by the middle of the flanks as though they never ate meat, and pant in their flanks with much pain, and will not eat, but stoop low with the head and always look downwards, and when they go they take up their feet high and go rolling as a drunken man. This madness stretcheth to no other hound nor to any other things, and they die as it is said before. The other madness is called sleeping madness, for they lie always and make semblant as if they were asleep, and so they die without meat. This sickness stretcheth to no other thing. That other madness is called madness of head. Nevertheless all madnesses are of foolishness of the head and of the heat of the heart, for their head becometh great and swelleth fast. They eat no meat and so they die in that madness. This madness stretcheth to no other thing. And certainly I never saw a hound that had any of all these madnesses that ever might be healed. Nevertheless many men think sometime that a hound be mad when it is not so, and therefore the best proof that any man may do, is to draw him from the other hounds and assaye him three whole days each one after the other following, if he will eat flesh or any other thing. And if he will not eat within three days slay him as a mad hound. The remedies for men or for beasts that be bitten by mad hounds must need be done a short time after the biting, for if it were past a whole day it were hard to undertake to heal him of the two first madnesses whereof I spake at the beginning, for all the others can do no harm, and the remedy may be of divers manners. Some goeth to the sea, and that is but a little help, and maketh nine waves of the sea pass over him that is so bitten. Some take an old cock and pull all the feathers from above his vent and hangeth him by the legs and by the wings, and setteth the cock's vent upon the hole of the biting, and stroketh along the cock by the neck and by the shoulders because that the cock's vent should suck all the venom of the biting. And so men do long upon each of the wounds, and if the wounds be too little they must be made wider with a barber's lancet. And many men say, but thereof I make no affirmation, that if the hound were mad, that the cock shall swell and die, and he that was bitten by the hound shall be healed. If the cock does not die it is a token that the hound is not mad. There is another help, for men may make sauce of salt, vinegar and strong garlic pulled and stamped, and nettles together and as hot as it may be suffered to lay upon the bite. And this is a good medicine and a true, for it hath been proved, and every day should it be laid upon the biting twice, as hot as it can be suffered, until the time when it be whole, or else by nine days. And yet there is another medicine better than all the other. Take leeks and strong garlic and chives and rue and nettles and hack them small with a knife, and then mingle them with olive oil and vinegar, and boil them together, and then take all the herbs, also as hot as they may be suffered, and lay them on the wound every day twice, till the wound be healed, or at least for nine days. But at the beginning that the wound be closed or garsed¹¹⁵ (cupped) for to draw out the venom out of the wound because that it goeth not to the heart. And if a hound is bit by another mad hound it is a good thing for to hollow it all about the biting with a hot iron. The hounds have also another sickness that is called the mange, that cometh to them because that they be melancholy. There are four manners of mange, that one is called the quick mange the which pulleth¹¹⁶ the hounds and breaketh their skins in many places, and the skin waxeth great and thick, and this is wonderfully evil to heal, for though the hounds may be whole it cometh to them again. Commonly to this mange, this is the best ointment that men may make thereto. Nevertheless many men would put many others thereto, first take ye six pounds of honey and a quart of verdigris, and that the honey be first melted and stirred in the bottom with a ladle, and then let it cool, and let it boil often with as much of oil of nuts as of the honey and of water, wherein an herb has been boiled that men call in Latin Cleoborum, and in other language Valerian, the which make men sneeze, and put all these things together and mingle them upon the fire, stir them well and let it be cold, and anoint the hound by the fire or in the sun. And look that he lick not himself, for it should do him harm. And unless he be whole at the first time anoint him from eight days (to eight days)¹¹⁷ until the time that he be whole, for certainly he shall be whole. And if he will make any more of that ointment, take of the things aforesaid in the same wise or more or less as seemeth to you that need is. That other manner (of) mange is called flying mange¹¹⁸, for it is not in all the body but it cometh more commonly about the hounds' ears, and in their legs than in any other place of the body¹¹⁹, as the farcy, and this is the worst to heal, and the best ointment that any man can make for this manner of mange is this: take quicksilver for as much as ye will make ointment, as ye have need, and put it in a dish with spittle of three or four fasting men, and stir it altogether against the bottom of the dish with a pot-stick, until the time that the quicksilver be quenched with the water, and then take ye as much verdigris as of the quicksilver and mingle it with spittle, always stirring with a pot-stick, as I have said before, until the time that they can be all mingled together. And after take old swine's grease without salt, a great piece, and take away the skin above, and put it in the dish that I spake of, with the things before said, and mingle and stamp it altogether a long while, then keep it to anoint the hound there where he hath the mange and in no other place, and certainly he shall be whole. This ointment is marvellous and good and true not only for this thing, but also against the canker and fistula and farcy and other quick evils, the which have been hard to heal in other beasts. That other is a common mange when the hounds claw themselves with their feet and snap with their teeth, and it is on all the body of the hound. And all manners of mange come to hounds from great travel and from long hunting, as when they be hot they drink of foul water and unclean, which corrupteth their bodys, and also when they hunt in evil places of pricklings of thorns, of briers, or peradventure it raineth upon them, and they be not well tended afterwards. Then cometh the scab, and also the scab cometh upon them when they abide in their kennel too long¹²⁰ and goeth not hunting. Or else their litter and couch is uncleanly kept, or else the straw is not removed and their water not freshened, and shortly the hounds unclean, I hold, and evil kept or long waterless, have commonly this mange. For the cure of which take ye the root of an herb that groweth upon houses and walls, the which is called in Latin iroos¹²¹ (iris) and chop it small and boil it well in water, and then put thereto as much of oil made of nuts as of water, and when it is well boiled cast out the herb, and then take of black pitch and of rosin as much of the one as of the other, well stamped, and cast it in the water and the oil before said, and stir it well about on the fire with a pot-stick: and then let it well grow cold, and anoint the hound as before is said. Sometime cometh to the hounds sickness in their eyes, for there cometh a web upon them, and growing flesh which cometh into that one side of the eye, and is called a nail¹²², and so they grow blind unless a man take care thereof. Some men put about their necks a collar of an elm tree both of leaves and of bark, and seeth that when that shall be dry the nail shall fall away, but that is but a little help. But the true help that may be thereto is this, take ye the juice of a herb that men call Selidoyn (Celandine)¹²³ powder of ginger and of pepper, and put all together thrice in the day within the eye, and let him not claw nor rub it a long while, and that customarily by nine days until the time that the hound's eyes be whole, and also it is good to put therein of the Sousse¹²⁴ of the which men find enough at the apothecary's for the same sickness, and if the nail were so hard grown and so strong that he might not be healed therewith, take a needle and bow it in the middle that it be crooked, and take well and subtly the flesh that is upon the eye with the needle and draw it up on high, and then cut it with a razor, but take good care that the needle touch not the eye. These things the smiths can do well¹²⁵, for as the nail is drawn out of a horse's eye, right so it must be drawn out of the hound's eye, and without fault he shall be whole. And also another sickness cometh into the hound's ears the which cometh out of the rewme (cold) of the head of the hound, for they claw themselves so much with the hinder feet that they make much foul things come out thereof, and so out of her ears cometh much foul things, and some time thereof they become deaf. Therefore they should take wine luke-warm and with a cloth wash it well, and clean three or four times in the day, and when it is washed ye should cast therein oil and camomile milk, warm, three drops, and suffer him not to claw it nor rub it a great while, and do so continually until the time that he be whole. Also hounds have another sickness that cometh to them of the rewme, that is to say, they have the malemort (glanders) in their nostrils as horses have, wherefore they can smell nothing nor wind, and at the last some die thereof, and they take it most when they hunt in snow. For this sickness boil mastic and incense in small powder in fair water, and of a thing that men call Ostoraces calamynt¹²⁶, brygella¹²⁷ of rue¹²⁸ and mint and of sage, and hold the hound's nose upon the pot's mouth wherein these things should boil so that he may retain within his nostrils the smoke that cometh thereof out of the pot. And in this wise serve him a long while, three or four times every day, until the time that he be whole, and this is good also for a horse when he hath the glanders strongly coming out of the nose. Also there is another sickness of hounds, the which cometh to them in their throats and sometime cometh so to men in such wise that they may not keep down their meat, and so they must cast it out again. In some time the sickness is so strong on them, that they can keep nothing down in their bodies and so die. The best medicine is to let them go wherever they will, and let them eat all that ever they will. For sometime the contrary things turneth them to good. And give them to eat flesh right small cut, and put in broth or in goat's milk a little, and a little because that they may swallow it down without labour, and give him not too much at once, that they may digest better. And also buttered eggs doeth them much good. And sometimes the hounds hurt themselves in their feet, and in their legs, and in their breast. And when it is in the joints of their feet that be run out of their places, the best help that there is is to bring them again into joint, by such men as can well do it, and then lay upon that place flax wetted in white of egg, and let them rest until the time that they be whole. And if there be any broken bones men should knit it again in the best wise, the one bone against that other and bind it with flax above as I have said, and with four splints well bound thereto that one against that other, because that the bone should not unjoin, and men should remove the bands from four days to four days all whole. And give them to drink the juice of herbs that are called consolida major¹²⁹ and minor¹³⁰, and mix it in broth or in her meat, and that shall make the bones join together. Also many hounds be lost by the feet, and if some time they be heated take vinegar and soot that is within the chimney, and wash his feet therewith until the time that they be whole, and if the soles of the feet be bruised because, peradventure, they have run in hard country or among stones, take water, and small salt therein, and therewith wash their feet, the same day that they have hunted, and if they have hunted in evil country among thorns and briars that they be hurt in their legs or in their feet, wash their legs in sheep's tallow well boiled in wine when it is cold, and rub them well upward against the hair. The best that men may do to hounds that they lose not their claws is that they sojourn not too long, for in long sojourning they lose their claws, and their feet, and therefore they should be led three times in the week a-hunting, and at the least twice. If they have sojourned too much, cut ye a little off the end of their claws with pincers ere they go hunting, so that they may not break their claws in running. Also when they be at sojourn, men should lead them out every day a mile or two upon gravel or upon a right hard path by a river side, so that their feet may be hard. Hounds also sometimes be chilled as horses when they have run too long, and come hot in some water, or else when they come to rest in some cold place, then they go all forenoon and cannot eat, nor cannot walk well, then should men let blood on the four legs. From the forelegs in the joints within the leg, from the hinder legs men should let blood in the veins that goeth overthwart above the hocks on the other side, and in the hinder legs men may well see clearly the veins that I speak of, and also in the forelegs, thus he shall be whole. And give him one day sops or some other thing comfortable till the morrow or other day. The hounds also have a sickness in the yerde that men calleth the canker, and many be lost thereby. Men should take such a hound and hold him fast and upright and bind his mouth and his four legs also, and then men should take his yerde backward by the ballocks and put him upward, and another man shall draw the skin well in manner that the yerde may all come out, and then a man may take away the canker with his fingers, for if it were taken away with a knife men might cut him. And then men should wash it with wine, milk warm, and then put therein honey and salt, so that the sickness shall not come again, and then put again the yerde within the skin as it was before, and look every week that the sickness come not again, and take it always out if aught come thereto until the time that it be whole. And in the same wise a man should do to a bitch, if such a sickness were taken in her nature. In this sickness many hounds and bitches die for default of these cures, whereof all hunters have not full knowledge. Sometimes the hounds have a great sickness that they may not piss, and be lost thereby and also when they may not scombre (dung). Then take ye the root of a cabbage and put it in olive oil, and put it in his fundament so that ye leave some of the end without, so much that it may be drawn out when it is needful. And if he may not be whole thereby make him a clyster as men do to a man, of mallows, of beets, and of mercury, a handful of each, and of rue and of incense, and that all these things be boiled in water and put bran within, and let pass all that water through a strainer, and thereto put two drachms of agarite¹³¹ and of honey and of olive oil, and all this together put into his anus and he shall scombre. And then take five corns of spurge¹³² and stamp them and temper them with goat's milk or with broth, and put it in the hound's throat to the amount of a glassful. And if he may not piss take the leaves of leeks and of a herb that is called marrubium album¹³³ and of modirwort¹³⁴ and of peritorie¹³⁵ and morsus galline¹³⁶ and of nettles and parsley leaves as much of the one as of the other, and stamp them with swine's grease therewith, and make a plaster thereof, and make it a little hot, and lay it upon the hound's yerde and along his belly, and that which is hard to understand ye shall find at the apothecary's, the which know well all these things. Also to the hounds cometh sores, that cometh to them under the throat or in other parts of the body. Then take ye of the mallows and of the onions and of white lilies,¹³⁷ and cut them small with a knife, and put them in a ladle of iron and mingle these herbs whereof I speak, and lay them upon the sores, and that shall make them rise, and when they be risen, slit them with a sharp knife. And when they be so broken, lay upon them some good drawing salve, and he be whole. Sometimes the hounds fight and bite each other, and then they shall take sheep's wool unwashed, and a little olive oil, and wet the wool in the oil, and lay it upon the hound's wound, and bind it thereupon, and do so three days, and then after twice each day anoint it with olive oil, and lay nothing upon it. And he shall lick it with his tongue and heal himself.¹³⁸ If peradventure in the wound come worms as I have seen some time, every day ye shall pick them out with a stick, and ye shall put in the wound the juice of leaves of a peach tree mingled with quicklime until the time that they be whole. Also it happeneth to many hounds that they smite the forelegs against the hinder wherefore their thighs dry¹³⁹ and be lost thereby, and then if ye see that it last them longer than three days that they set not their foot to the earth, then slit ye the thigh along and athwart within the thigh, crosswise upon the bone, that is upon the turn bone of the knee behind, and then put thereupon wool wet in olive oil as before is said, for three whole days. And then after anoint the wound with oil without binding as I have said, and he shall heal himself with his tongue. Sometimes a hound is evil astyfled,¹⁴⁰ so that he shall sometime abide half a year or more ere he be well, and if he be not so tended he will never recover. Then it needeth that ye let him long sojourn until the time that he be whole, until he is no longer halting, that is that one thigh be no greater than the other. And if he may not be all whole, do to him as men do to a horse that is spauled in the shoulder in front, draw throughout a cord of horsehair¹⁴¹ and he shall be whole. Sometimes an evil befalls in the ballock purse,¹⁴² sometimes from too long hunting or from long journeys, or from rupture,¹⁴³ or sometimes when bitches be jolly, and they may not come to them at their ease as they would, and that the humours runneth into the ballocks, and sometimes when they be smitten upon in hunting or in other places. To this sickness and to all others in that manner, the best help is for to make a purse of cloth three or four times double, and take linseed and put it within, and put it in a pot, and let it mingle with wien, and let them well boil together, and mix it always with a stick, and when it is well boiled put it within the purse that I spoke of, as hot as the hound may suffer it, and put his ballocks in that purse, and bind it with a band betwixt the thighs above the back, make well fast the ballocks upwards, and leave a hole in the cloth for to put out the tail and his anus, and another hole before for the yerde so that he may scombre and piss and renew that thing once or twice until the time that he be whole. Also it is a well good thing for a man or for a horse that hath this sickness.¹⁴⁴