PART X. 
COMMON DISEASES AMONG 
DOMESTIC ANIMALS. 
SYMPTOMS AND TREATMENT. 
From Special Report of U. S. Department of Agriculture. 
Department of Animal Industry. 
DISEASES OF THE DIGESTIVE ORGANS. 
BY CH. B. MICHENER, V. S 
(Revised in 1903 by Leonard Pearson, B. S., V. M. D.) 
It will not prove an easy task to write "a plain account of the common 
diseases, with directions for preventive measures, hj^gienic care, and 
the simpler forms of medical treatment," of the digestive organs of the 
horse. This study includes a careful consideration of the food and drink 
of our animals, their quality, quantity, analyses, etc. This, of itself, is 
material for a book. Being limited as to space, the endeavor must be 
made to give simply an outline — ^to state the most important facts — leav- 
ing many gaps, and continually checking the disposition to write any- 
thing like a full description as to cause, prevention, and modes of treat- 
ment of disease. 
These articles are addressed entirely to farmers and stock owners, 
and I must ask my professional brethren to bear this in mind when they 
are disposed to complain of a want of scientific treatment of the sub- 
jects. 
WATEE. 
It is generally held, at least in practice, that any water that stock can 
be induced to drink is sufficiently pure for their use. This practice oc- 
casions losses that would startle us if statistics were at hand. Water 
that is impure from the presence of decomposing organic matter, such as 
is found in wells and ponds in close proximity to manure heaps and 
