No. 6. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 123 



Schmidt-Koldiiij;, to base a successful plan of treatment upon this 

 theory. Schimdt's treatment consisted in injecting solutions into 

 the udder for the double purpose of washing- it out and, so far as 

 possible, of neutralizing the poisons that it contained. For this 

 purpose it was found that a 1 per cent, solution of iodide of potash 

 was well adapted and the Schmidt-Kolding or iodide of potash treat- 

 ment for parturient paresis was used for several years with highly 

 beneficial results. By means of this treatment the mortality from 

 the disease was reduced from 40 to 50 per cent, down to from 14 

 to 18 per cent. Thousands of cows have been saved by using this 

 treatment. The general introduction of this treatment into Penn- 

 sylvania was brought about several years ago by sending to 150 vet- 

 .erinarians full instructions and materials for applying the treat- 

 ment, with the stipulation that reports upon the animals treated 

 with it, should be'returned to the oflSce of the State Veterinarian. 

 Reports upon approximately 200 cases showed 83^ per cent, recov- 

 eries. In 1902, Schmidt published, in a Danish journal, a review of 

 the work that had been done in the five preceding years in regard 

 to the development of a plan of treatment for this disease. He 

 had himself found that it was useful to introduce into the udder 

 a considerable amount of air with the iodide of potash solution that 

 he employed. The results from this appeared to be somewhat better 

 than when the idodide of potash solution was introduced without 

 air, although many veterinarians not accustomed to administer air 

 had obtained excellent results (some, indeed, administered idodide 

 of potash solution intravenously and found the treatment to be 

 beneficial, although not so good as when it was introduced into the 

 udder). In the paper referred to above, Schmidt gives statistics 

 on 914 cases of parturient paresis that were treated more or less 

 in accordance with his method. Of these, ^914 cases, 884, or 96 per 

 cent., were cured; 12 died of parturient paresis; 6 were killed during 

 the course of the disease and 6 were killed later on account of com- 

 plications. The treatment Schmidt recommends is to inject about 

 one pint of 0.7 to 1 per cent, solution of iodide of potash and follow 

 this immediately with an injection of air, filtered through cotton, 

 sufficient to widely distend the udder. Other remedies are used, 

 in addition, in cases where heart failure threatens. In this way 

 he had recently treated forty nine patients, all of which v/ere cured. 

 A number of veterinarians reported at the time Schmidt's paper 

 was presented that they were using injections of air without the 

 other treatment, and that they were obtaining good results. 



In the same year (1902) Knusel reported on the treatment of par- 

 turient paresis by infusion of pure oxygen into the udder. In treat- 

 ing eighteen cows in this way he found that the result was most 

 remarkable. All of the cows were cured. In many cases improve- 



