I will be off line for a few days to run up to Milwaukee and the see the
good folks at the Ferret Den.  I hope to see a lot of people there, and
I promise I will hold back on the worst level of puns.  Show up if you
dare, and if you can stump me in a non-vet question, I'll have a special
gift for you.
 
I apologize for not doing a lot of emails or FML posts, but I have been
busy getting ready to be an expert witness in a legal case I cannot yet
discuss.  I've spent weeks on getting ready, and another week in
videotaped legal depositions.  Let's just say the defense wasn't happy
about what I had to say, and hopefully I in a few weeks I can tell you
all about it.
 
See you in Milwaukee!
 
Bob C  [log in to unmask]
 
When a person is bitten by a ferret and the puncture wound turns blackish
and becomes increasingly painful, the victim should drink fine wine and
apply a plaster made from crushed onions [cepis] and leeks, fig leaves
and cumin.  Ferret bile is a deadly poison for anyone who drinks it,
unless its effect is counteracted by an appropriate medicine.  Ferret
brains, fried in vinegar and taken orally, are said to cure epilepsy.
When an abscess occurs behind the ear, smearing it with ferret blood
is supposed to be beneficial; another treatment for the same condition
consists of using the burned bone marrow from a ferret, mixed with molten
beeswax and lily oil.
~Albertus Magnus 1258-1262 Man and the Beasts: De Animalibus (Books 22-26)
[Posted in FML issue 4920]