SIXTH ANNUAL YEAR BOOK — PART VIII. 625 



Is usual to puncture the stomach of an ox, and prolong the incision 

 in a downward direction until it is long enough to admit the hand. 

 AVhen the point of the knife is thrust into the flank and the blade 

 cuts downward, the wall of the stomach, the muscle, and the skin 

 should all be cut through at the same time. Two assistants should 

 hold the edges of the wound together so as to prevent any food slip- 

 ping between the flank and the wall of the stomach, and then the 

 operator should remove two-thirds of the contents of the rumen. This 

 having been done, the edges of the wound should be sponged with a 

 little carbolized warm water, and, the lips of the wound in the rumen 

 being turned inward, they should be brought together with catgut 

 stitches. The wound penetrating the muscle and the skin may then 

 be brought together by silk stitches, which should pass through the 

 entire thickness of the muscle and should be about 1 inch apart. The 

 wound should afterwards be dressed once a day with a lotion and the 

 animal covered with a tight linen sheet, to protect the wound from 

 incests and dirt. The lotion to be used in such a case is made up as 

 follows: Sulphate of zinc, 1 dram; carbolic acid, 2 drams; glycerine, 

 2 ounces; water, 14 ounces; mix. It is clear that this operation requires 

 special skill and it should be attempted only by those who are competent. 



LOSS OP CUD. 



It is very common among farmers, when a cow or ox is ailing, to 

 say that the sick animal has lost its cud. If it is meant that the 

 animal does not ruminate or chew the cud, and that it consequently 

 must be sick, no fault can be found with the expression. In most 

 cases, however, the remark is not intended to convey the idea that the 

 animal does not ruminate, but that the loss of cud is a disease in 

 itself; that the cud has actually been dropped from the mouth and 

 lost, and that for this reason the cow can not ruminate. We may 

 here observe that loss of cud is a sympton of suspended rumination, 

 and shows that the animal's digestive functionse are not performed as 

 regularly as usual. It is a sympton of a great many diseases, and 

 when its existence is detected it should lead the observer to try to dis- 

 cover other symptons upon which to base a correct opinion as to the 

 nature of the disease from which the animal suffers. 



VOMITING. 



This is not to be confounded with rumination, though some writers 

 have advanced the opinion that vomiting is merely a disordered and 

 Irregular rumination. It is not of common occurrence in cattle, though 

 It sometimes occurs. 



Symptons. — Animals which vomit are frequently in poor condition.. 

 After having eaten tranquilly for some time the animal suddenly 

 becomes uneasy, arches the back, stretches the neck and head, and 

 then suddenly ejects 10 or 12 pounds of the contents of the rumen. 



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