48 BED WATER 



moderate degree. The lands of poor people furnish the 

 roots most likely to induce the disorder; and I can confirm 

 the statement of the late Mr Gumming of Ellon, who, in 

 his very interesting essay on the subject,* says, particularly 

 in reference to Aberdeenshire, that it is "a disease essen- 

 tially attacking the poor man's cow; and, to be seen and 

 studied, requires a practice extending into the less favourably 

 situated parts of the country. On large farms, where good 

 stock is well kept, and in town dairies, where artificial 

 food is used to supplement the supply of turnips, it is 

 seldom now seen." 



Symptoms. General derangement attracts the dairyman's 

 attention, and on looking at the urine the cow has passed, it 

 is observed red or of a reddish brown or claret colour, 

 sometimes transparent, at others clear. The colour increases 

 in depth, other secretions are checked, the animal becomes 

 hide-bound, and the milk goes off. Appetite and rumination 

 are suspended, the pulse becomes extremely feeble and 

 frequent, though, as in all debilitating or anaemic disorders, 

 the heart's action is loud and strong, with a decided venous 

 pulse or apparent regurgitation in the large veins of the 

 neck. In some cases, if even a small quantity of blood be 

 withdrawn, the animal drops in a fainting state. In red 

 water the visible mucous membranes are blanched, and the 

 extremities cold, indicating the languid state of the blood's 

 circulation and the poverty of the blood itself. Constipation 

 is one of the most obstinate complications ; and many veteri- 

 nary surgeons, knowing that if the bowels can be acted on 

 the animal is cured, have employed purgatives in quantities 

 far too large, inducing superpurgation, and even death. 



* On Puerperal Red Water in Cows. By Mr M. GUMMING, V.S., 

 Ellon, Aberdeenshire. Transactions of the Highland and Agricultural- 

 Society of Scotland, vol. iv. page 9. 



