SIXTH ANNUAL YEAR BOOK— PART VIII. 637 



to be avoided. Sudden changes of food are always reprehensible, but 

 much more so in the pregnant animal. Let the change be gradual. Care- 

 fully avoid the use of spoiled or unwholesome food. 



In case of prevalence of ergot in a pasture it should be kept eaten 

 down or cut down with a mower, so that no portion runs to seed. In 

 case of a meadow, the grass must be cut early before the seeds have 

 filled. The most dangerous time appears to be between the formation 

 of the milkey seed and the full ripening. Yet the ergot is larger in pro- 

 portion to the ripeness, so that the loss of potency is made up in quantity. 

 The ripe seed and ergot may be removed by thrashing and the hay safely 

 fed. It may also be noted that both ergot and smut may be safely fed in 

 moderate quantity, provided it is used with succulent food (ensilage, 

 roots, etc.), or with free access to water, and salt is an excellent acces- 

 sory as encouraging the animal to drink. Both ergot and smut are most 

 injurious in winter, when the water supply is frozen up or accessible 

 only at long intervals. The ergoted seed, when thrashed out, cannot be 

 safely sown, but if first boiled it may be fed in small amount or turned 

 into manure. The growth of both ergot and smut may be to a large 

 extent prevented by the time-honored Scotch practice of sprinkling the 

 seed with a saturated solution of sulphate of copper before sowing. 



Fields badly affected with ergot, or smut, may be practically renewed 

 by plowing up ana cultivating for a series of years under crops (turnips, 

 beets, potatoes, buckwheat, etc.), which do not harbor the fungus and 

 which require much cultivation and exposure of the soil. Drainage and 

 the removal of all necessary bariers to the free action of sunshine and 

 wind are important provisions. 



Other precautions concerning separation from cows in heat — a proper 

 construction of stalls, the avoidance of carrion and other offensive odors, 

 protection from all kinds of mechanical injuries, including overdriving 

 and carrying by rail in advanced pregnancy the exclusion of all irri- 

 tants or strong purgatives and diuretics from food or medicine, and the 

 guarding against all causes of indigestion and bloating — have been suf- 

 ficiently indicated under "Causes". For protection of the womb and fetus 

 against the various causes of disease, available methods are not so evi- 

 dent. For cows that have aborted in the last prenancy, chlorate of 

 potash, 3 drams daily before the recurence of the expected obortion, has 

 been held to be useful. 



TREATMENT OF NOXCOXTAGIOUS ABOBTION. 



Although the first symptoms of abortion have appeared, it does not 

 follow that it wil go on to completion. So long as the fetus has not per- 

 ished, if the waters have not been discharged, nor the water bags pre- 

 sented, attempts should be made to check its progress. Every appreciable 

 and removable cause should be done away with, the cow should be placed 

 in a quiet stall alone, and agents given to check the excitement of the 

 labor pains. Laudanum in doses of 1 ounce for a small cow or 2 ounces 

 for a large one should be promptly administered and repeated in three or 

 four hours, should the labor pains recur. This may be kept up for days 



