160 THE AMERICAN FARMER. 



leaves. The stable should be kept clean and well ventilated, and it may also be well to cover 

 the sick animal with a blanket to keep her warm. &quot;Warm gruel should be given her fre 

 quently, and light mashes. Attempts should frequently be made during the day to draw milk 

 from the teats; the sooner this can be accomplished, the better. The return of the milk to 

 the udder is one of the surest indications of a speedy recovery. One attack of this disease 

 predisposes an animal to another; care should therefore be exercised to obviate the cause as 

 far as possible. 



Rabies, Or Hydrophobia. This is a disease known to originate in the genus Canis, 

 such as the dog, fox, and wolf, and also in cats. It seems to be caused primarily by a blood 

 poisoning, and not a disease of the nervous system, as was formerly supposed, and may be 

 communicated to all animals and man by the bite of an animal thus affected, the virus being 

 in the saliva and blood. This disease was known to the ancients, and is mentioned in the 

 writings of Aristotle, Pliny, and Horace. Almost all animals that are bitten by a rabid dog 

 are attacked with the disease sooner or later, while only a comparatively small percentage of 

 men that are bitten by rabid animals are ever affected by it. A horse that is bitten by a 

 rabid animal will generally be attacked in from twelve to ninety days usually thirty days; 

 cattle from twenty to thirty days, and frequently from ten to fourteen days; sheep from fif 

 teen to seventy days; swine from twenty to forty -nine days. In mankind the period of incu 

 bation varies from a few days to months, and even years, it frequently being brought on by 

 nervous anxiety, dread, and mental excitement respecting it. The first symptoms of the 

 rabies in the dog, are a loss of appetite, sullenness of disposition, and restlessness; he will at 

 times stand perfectly quiet with a vacant gaze forward, seems eager for water, but can 

 swallow it only with great difficulty; sometimes the sight of water will throw him into con 

 vulsions; he bites at everything that comes in his way, even his chains and the boards in his 

 kennel. The lower jaw sometimes becomes pendulous, froth issuing from the mouth; he 

 continues to grow worse and generally dies on the fifth or sixth day. 



Cattle attacked with this disease have similar indications; they are restless at first, refuse 

 food, have considerable fever, delirium setting in early. Their destructive propensity is 

 shown by striking and hooking with the horns, biting the manger, etc; the animal paws and 

 bellows, has an evident desire for water, but cannot swallow it, continues to grow worse, death 

 finally taking place in convulsions, or by paralysis. There is no known remedy for this dis 

 ease, and even if there were, it would be dangerous to attempt treatment. All that can be 

 done is to place the animal suspected of having this disease by himself, and confined in such 

 a manner as to be powerless to do harm, and wait for the development of more positive 

 symptoms. As soon as these are satisfactorily indicated, the sooner the poor animal is killed 

 and thus relieved of its suffering, the better. 



Red Water. (See HAEMATURIA.) 



Rinderpest. This terrible disease, known also as the &quot;cattle plague,&quot; originated in 

 Asia, and was carried into Europe as early as the fourth century. An extensive outbreak 

 of this disease occurred in 1709; it is estimated by reliable authorities that not less than two 

 hundred millions of cattle were destroyed in Europe during the eighteenth century by this 

 disease alone. Of the causes that tend to develop the cattle plague, nothing definite is known, 

 the principle of contagion not yet being fully understood, but when once an animal is infected 

 with this deadly disease, it extends to every tissue and secretion of the body. Healthy 

 animals will become infected by even, coming near infected animals without contact 

 with them, or near anything contaminated by their secretions or exhalations. Any object 

 therefore may bcome infected, such as clothing, hay, straw, woodwork, etc., and carry the 

 disease for a long time. Even dogs and cats have been known to have carried the disease in 

 their fur, and birds in their plumage. It is also known that a small quantity of blood, or 



