A dose of medicine, whether purgative cordial, diuretic, or any other kind, when given in a solid form, is termed a ball. It should be soft and about the size and shape of a pullet's egg The operator stands before the horse, who is generally unbound, and turned with his head out of the stall, and a halter upon it. An assistant stands on the left side, to steady the horse's head, and keep it from rising out of the operator's reach. Sometimes he holds the mouth open, and grooms generally need such aid. The operator seizes the horse's tongue in his left hand, draws it a little out, and to one side, and places his little finger fast upon the under jaw; with the right hand he carries the ball smartly along the roof of the mouth, and leaves it at the root of the tongue. The mouth is closed, and the head held, till the ball is seen descending the gullet on the left side. When loath to swallow, a little water may be offered, and it will carry the ball before it.

Some grooms are sad bunglers at this operation. Some can not do it at all; many not without the use of a balling-iron, and none of them can do it handsomely by any means. I have seen the tongue severely injured, half torn out of the horse's mouth; and many horses are so much alarmed and injured by a bad operator, that they become exceedingly troublesome and always shy about having the mouth or head handled.

By keeping the little finger upon the bar of the mouth, the tongue can never be injured; the hand follows every motion of the head without being dragged by the tongue. By delivering the ball smartly, and without instruments, no pain is produced, and no resistance offered. A hot troublesome horse should be sent to a veterinary surgeon. The probability is that the groom will fail; he may lodge the ball among the teeth, or injure the mouth, and the horse will be pained to no purpose, and taught to resist all operations about his head.