498 IOWA DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 
temporarily in straining to pass the liquid dejection, is of a more or 
less deep red; and it may be ulcerated. Fever, with rapid pulse and 
increased breathing and temperature, usually comes on with the very 
fetid character of the feces and is more pronounced as the bowels 
become inflamed, the abdomen sore to the touch and tucked up, and 
the feces more watery, and even mixed with blood. 
Prevention. — The prevention of these cases is the prevention of 
constipation and indigestion, with all their varied causes as above 
enumerated, the selection of a strong, vigorous stock, and, above all, 
the combating of contagion, especially in the separation of the sick 
from the healthy, and in the thorough purification and disinfection of 
the buildings. The cleansing and sweetening of all drains, the removal 
of dung heaps, and the washing and scraping of floors and walls, fol- 
lowed by a liberal application of chlorid of lime (bleaching powder), 
4 ounces to the gallon, are indicated. Great care must be exercised 
in the feeding of the cow to have sound and wholesome food and 
water, so apportioned as to make the milk neither too rich nor too 
poor, and to her health, so that the calf may be saved from the evil 
consequences of poisonous principles that may be produced in the body 
of the cov/. The calves should be carefuly kept apart from all calving 
cows, and their discharges. Similarly, each calf must have special 
attention to see that its nurse gives milk which agrees with it, and 
that this is furnished at suitable times. If allowed to suck, it should 
either be left with the cow or it may be fed three times a day. If it 
becomes hungry twice a day it is more likely to overload and derange 
the stomach, and if left too long hungry it is tempted to take in un- 
suitable and unwholesome food, for which its stomach is as yet un- 
prepared. So, if fed from the pail, it is safer to do so three times 
daily than twice. The utmost cleanliness of feeding dishes should be 
secured and the feeder must be ever on the alert to prevent the strong 
and hungry from drinking the milk of the weaker in adition to their 
own. In case the cow nurse has been subjected to any great excite- 
ment by reason of travel, hunting or carrying, the first milk she 
yields thereafter should be used for some other purpose and only 
the second allowed to the calf. Indeed, one and all of the conditions 
above indicated as causes should be judiciously guarded against. 
Treatment. — Treatment will vary according to the nature and stage 
of the disease. When the disease is not widespread, but isolated cases 
'only occur, it may be assumed to be a simple diarrhoea and is easily 
dealt with. The first object is to remove the irritant matter from 
stomach and bowels, and for this 1 or 2 ounces of castor oil may 
be given, according to the size of the calf. Reduce the milk by one- 
half or twothirds. If the stools smell particularly sour, it may be re- 
placed by 1 ounce calcined magnesia, and in any case a tablespoonful 
or two of lime water must be given with each meal. Great harm is 
often done by giving opium and astringents at the outset. These 
merely serve to bind up the bowels and retain the irritant source of 
the trouble; literally, "to shut up the wolf in the sheep-fold." When 
the offending agents have been expelled in this way carminatives and de- 
