THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE. 



527 



out of its orbit, and likewise obstructed the nasal 

 l)assage on that side. As there was no hope of her 

 recovery from this disease, the owner wished her 

 destroyed. This was deferred to a fair day, the 

 weather now being very cold, and also to enable me 

 to notify Drs. Saunders and Thayer to be present. 

 On Friday, Dec. 2, Mr. Chenery called to inform 

 me that the mammoth cow, " Lady Washington," 

 was sick with the distemper, and wished me to 

 visit her immediately. I went accordingly, accom- 

 panied by Dr. Sa'mders; and meeting with Dr 

 Thayer there, I examined the animal, which I will 

 now describe. She was six years old, of the pure 

 Durham breed, and measured as follows : From 

 the occiput to the tuberosity of the ischium, nine 

 feet ; girth around the brisket, eight feet eight in- 

 ches ; height, five feet four inches (sixteen hands), 

 and weighed 3,260lbs. She gave birth to a calf 

 two days befoi-e. She had, as I was informed, 

 been delicate in her feeding since the Sunday pre- 

 vious. 



On the morning after calving, the following 

 drench was given her — 



Infusion of thoroughwort, 2 pints ; 



Sulph. magnesia, 8 ounces; 



Pulv. zingib., 1 ounce ; 



Molasses, 4 ounces. 

 Upon examination, the following symptoms were 

 presented : Pulse rapid and oppressed, the artery 

 having a peculiar vibrating or double action under 

 the finger. Respirations, 36 ; sighing during in- 

 spiration, grunting on expiration. There was also 

 a kind of subsultus, or spasmodic twitching of the 

 involuntary muscles about the chest. The rumi- 

 nation had ceased ; the appetite was lost ; she 

 drank but little ; the visible mucous surfaces were 

 shghtly injected, and a morbid insensibility of the 

 spinal column existed about its connection with the 

 diaphragm. She coughed occasionally, lay down 

 frequently, and rose up without any imusual effort. 

 On the left side percussion was very dull, and also 

 on the right, below the median line, above which 

 a vibratory sound was most distinctly heard. 'Ihe 

 left lung was evidently consolidated, and the right 

 partially so. 



Treatment. — The bowels having responded to 

 the medicine before given, I plugged the dewlap 

 on both sides with the Phytolacca decandra, and 

 gave tonic and stimulating agents combined, under 

 the conviction that, as torpidity and debility seemed 

 to be the leading features in the disease, this mode 

 of treatment was fairly indicated. I ordered her 

 to be kept warm, to have warm drinks given her, 

 and a little food of any kind that she would eat. 



It being now a fine day, and Drs. Saunders and 

 Thayer present, we destroyed the Devon heifer, 

 which, upon examination, showed no trace of the 

 acute disease for which she had so recently been 

 treated. The abdominal viscera were healthy, ex- 

 cept the liver, upon the anterior superior surface of 

 which was a small abcess, about the size of an Eng- 

 lish walnut. The heart was healthy ; the lungs also, 

 with the exception of a small portion of the left 

 lung, about five inches in length and four in breadth, 

 which at the extreme inferior margin was consoli- 

 dated, and, strange to say, it had the appearance 

 of a band having been placed around it between 



the healthy and the diseased parts. It was hanging 

 l)endulous, as if about to slough away from the 

 healthy portions. She had exhibited no symptoms 

 of disease for a week previous to her being de- 

 stroyed. She ruminated, ate, drank well, took her 

 rest regular, the excretions were healthy, and spirits 

 good, and, to all appearance, she had fully reco- 

 vered from the recent attack of the disease, being 

 killed only on account of the cancer in the orbit. 



Dec. 3rd. — I visited the mammoth cow. Symp- 

 toms the same as yesterday. She drinks a little 

 gruel, but eats nothing ; lies down and rises with- 

 out difficulty. The sighing, grunting, and twitch- 

 ing of the muscles of the chest still continue. The 

 countenance is expressive of extensive disease; 

 surface of the body cold ; extremities, legs, ears, 

 and horns warm and cold at intervals. 



Treatment. — I inserted two setons, of about ten 

 inches in length, of Professor Morton's medicated 

 tape, on each side, which were dressed occasionally, 

 and renewed when needed ; and at the urgent re- 

 quest of Dr. Thayer, several applications of the 

 cantharides liniment were made over the setons, 

 but it produced little action. The vital force seemed 

 concentrated within the body, and the skin had be- 

 come cold and insensible to the stimulating 

 effects of the blister, and,indeed, even the setons 

 were very tardy in their operation, and hardly 

 effectual. 



As this communication must necessarily be 

 lengthy, I will be as brief as possible as to treat- 

 ment. ' Suffice it to say, that it consisted of tonics 

 and stimulants, given for about three weeks, the 

 bowels all this time remaining healthy, when diar- 

 rhoea set in, which was succeeded by rapid prostra- 

 tion. I now ordered one pint of wheat flour and 

 one of oatmeal, made into gruel, one-half to be 

 given that evening, and the remainder the following 

 morning. From this time she was disposed to con- 

 stipation, and required aperient medicines, one in 

 three or four days at the longest. A quart of in- 

 fusion of thoroughwort always gave relief. 



She continued in this way, occasionally rallying 

 for a few hours, only to sink lower in the scale of 

 health, until January 9th a.m., when she died, after 

 five-and-a-half weeks' illness, with but little varia- 

 tion of symptoms from the first to the last. Nor 

 did she during all this time eat a sufficiency of food 

 to have supported her one day when in health. 



As I had informed my employer at first that this 

 animal was suffering from latent disease of the 

 lungs (as the sequel will show), he was desirous 

 that I should demonstrate my diagnosis by an 

 autopsy of the animal. 



Again accompanied by Dr. Saunders, I went to 

 Belmont, where we met Dr. Thayer. 



Post-mortem Examination, seven hours after 

 death. The stomach and intestines were healthy, 

 and they contained very little ingesta; the kidneys 

 and bladder were also healthy, the latter was empty. 

 The liver was pale and of a yellow hue, enlarged in 

 size, flaccid, and appeared to contain a quantity of 

 a semi-fluid or grayish matter. On opening the 

 thorax, the lungs were found to present a mass of 

 disease, and the anterior and inferior portions of 

 the right lung were so firmly adherent to the pleura 

 costalis that it required a stout man to break dowri 



