veying into the stomach of that nice and noble animal, the more disagreeable drugs which it would not swallow in drenches. Hence these balls should not exceed the size of a pullet's egg, and be dipped in sweet oil previous to their administration, that they may pass down the throat with greater facility. But as some horses have a straight gullet, and are remarkably averse to this method of taking medicine, it would be preferable to give them drenches, or mixtures with bran, or other mashes.—See Farriery.
Portable-balls for removing spots from clothes in general, may be thus prepared: take fuller's-earth perfectly dried, so that it crumbles into a powder; moisten it with the clear juice of lemons, and add a small quantity of pure pearl-ashes; then work and knead the whole carefully together, till it acquires the consistence of a thick elastic paste; form it into convenient small balls, and expose them to the heat of the sun, in which they ought to be completely dried. In this state, they are fit for use in the manner as follows: First, moisten the spot on your clothes with water, then rub it with the ball just described, and suffer it again to dry in the sun; after having washed the spot with pure water, it will entirely disappear.
Ballota. See Horehound.
Balls (fuel). See Coal-balls.
BALM (Common), or Melissa officinalis, L. is an exotic plant, though much cultivated by our gardeners, on account of its pleasant aromatic smell, resembling that of the lemon, and its fragrant, though roughish taste. It grows wild in the souhern parts of Europe, and flowers with us in the months of June and July. See Woodville's Med. Bot. pl. 147.
Formerly, the balm was held in very high estimation: Paracelsus, Hoffmann, and Boerhaave, probably biassed by the opinions of the Arabian physicians, believed to find in it a medicine of uncommon efficacy; nay, the first of these, with his fanatical followers, supposed it to possess virtues, by which human life could be prolonged beyond the usual period, and they vainly promised themselves a complete renovation of man. In modern times, however, the properties of this agreeable plant are better understood: it yields, by distillation, a small proportion of an essential oil, of a yellowish colour, and a very grateful smell. A few drops of this oil, diluted in a glass of simple water; or strong infusions of the young shoots, drank as tea, and continued for several weeks, or months, have proved of service to nervous and hypochondriacal patients, of a lax and debilitated habit.—Either of these liquid preparations, when slightly acidulated with lemon juice, acquire a fine reddish colour, and may be taken with advantage in dry, parching fevers, as well as in cases of distressing flatulency, attended with eructations, where the first passages have previously been opened.
BALM (Reddish Bastard), or Melittis melissophyllum, L. is an indigenous plant, growing wild in the West ol England, in woods and about hedges; it produces purple, reddish, and spotted flowers from May to July. See Withering, 539, and Curtis, pl. 6.
BALM (Purple and White), or Melittis grandiflora, L. another species of the balm, likewise indigenous to this country, and flowering in
May:
