MILK-FEVER 339 



has been inverted, probably without the fact being discovered, 

 and has become so congested that it is impossible to return it. 



Protrusion of the Vagina (or the " body " in common 

 language) occurs before and after calving, when some cows 

 that are in high condition and well fed lie down. The proper 

 treatment is to bathe the protruding organs to clean them, 

 and wash with a solution of chloride of zinc, to stimulate the 

 relaxed parts and to prevent the development of objection- 

 able odours. The floor of the stall should be a little higher 

 at the hind than at the fore feet of the animal ; and the food 

 given should be concentrated rather than bulky. Animals 

 with such a constitutional and, most probably, hereditary 

 weakness should not be retained. 



Milk-Fever or Parturient Apoplexy occurs not so much 

 in fat cows, as is usually supposed, as among cows that are 

 being well fed, and are full-blooded and thriving rapidly at 

 the time. Many fat cows are in this condition, but very 

 many that die of milk-fever cannot be said to be fat. Deep 

 milkers are more liable to it than others, but only in the case 

 of cows of more than one calf. It usually appears within three 

 days after calving, but sometimes, though rarely, before it. 

 Digestion is suspended, fever is not present as the name 

 implies, but a subnormal temperature, serious disturbance 

 of the nerve centres, and consequent loss of muscular power. 

 " The disease probably results from the poisoning of the 

 system by products (ptomaines) absorbed from the udder, 

 and, acting principally on the brain and nervous system, the 

 effects become very similar to those of very strong narcotics." 



Preventive means may be used to render remedial treat- 

 ment unnecessary. It is advisable to restrict the amount of 

 food for six weeks before calving (as by shutting up at night 

 without food a cow that is liable to be attacked), and to keep 

 the bowels open by giving bran or grass. If the udder be 

 large and painful, milking should be done regularly even 

 ten days before calving. Should these preventive measures 

 not prove sufficient, as would be shown by one cow of a 

 number similarly treated being affected, the animals most 

 likely to become ill may be bled and physicked a day or two 

 before the calf is expected, or merely physicked with 8 Ibs. 

 of treacle, or 14 to 16 oz. of Epsom salts, followed in fourteen 

 or fifteen hours by a pint of linseed oil to counteract the 



