CHAMBERS'S INFORMATION FOR THE PEOPLE. 



powdered ginger in a pint of water, may be given, 

 or two drachms of chloride of lime dissolved in 

 a pint of water. If the distention is so far ad- 

 vanced that the animal is suffering considerable 

 pain, and moves with difficulty, an incision into 

 the rumen should be at once made, if relief 

 is not afforded by medicine. The delay of a 

 few minutes may prove fatal. An incision made 

 with a sharp-pointed penknife, or with a trocar, 

 will give speedy relief the instrument being 

 passed inward and downward to puncture the 

 rumen. If a knife is used, a quill may be 

 inserted in the wound. It is all-important to 

 remember that the incision should be made on 

 the left side, in that part of the abdominal cavity 

 between the last rib and the point of the hook- 

 bone. After the escape of the gas, the wound 

 may be drawn together by a needle and thread, or 

 piece of sticking-plaster placed on the part. The 

 feeding afterwards should be restricted in quan- 

 tity. If the patient exhibit symptoms of consti- 

 tutional disturbance, aperient medicine may be 

 given. One pound of common salt, or an equal 

 quantity of Epsom salts dissolved in water, is the 

 most suitable. 



Abortion occurs more frequently in the cow 

 than in any of the other domesticated animals. 

 When one cow of a herd aborts, the case is 

 usually followed by others; and the cow which 

 lias once slipped calf, is extremely liable to sub- 

 sequent abortion at the same period of gestation. 

 The character of the food (such as pastures or 

 forage affected with ergot), fright, violent exertion 

 (as in leaping fences), disease such as pleuro- 

 pneumonia, and other causes, tend to produce 

 abortion. When it takes place at the early stages 

 of gestation, the constitutional disturbance is 

 seldom great. Occurring, however, after the fifth 

 month, there is considerable danger from inflam- 

 mation, particularly of the womb. It is advisable 

 to give sedative medicine : the best is common 

 salt in the drink of meal-gruel. The food should 

 be restricted, and the cow kept quiet, having 

 been previously removed to a comfortable loose- 

 house, apart from the other cows. Unless the 

 animal is valuable for breeding purposes, it is 

 advisable to fatten her off. If, however, it 

 is determined to retain her, she should be got 

 into good health previous to being served; and 

 after she is pregnant, she should be kept quiet, 

 fed regularly, but rather sparingly. Some prac- 

 titioners recommend that within a few days of 

 the period of the former abortion, four quarts of 

 blood should be taken from the neck, and one 

 ounce of the tincture of opium given each alter- 

 nate day for a week Keeping the animal in 

 an open shed, and studying quietness, is the best 

 security that the cow will reach the full time. 



Puerperal Fever occurs frequently where the 

 cow is in high condition, the flow of the lactic 

 fluid considerable, and where parturition has been 

 protracted and severe; it sometimes arises from 

 overfeeding previous to, but in most cases after 

 parturition. The cow, when affected, rises with 

 difficulty sometimes is unable to get up the 

 flow of milk is nearly, if not wholly suspended ; 

 and if relief is not speedily afforded, the animal 

 dies. The first duty of the practitioner is to 

 cause the bowels to act one pound of Epsom 

 salts, with two ounces of ginger, dissolved in 

 water, should be given. This may be repeated 



630 



in four hours. Clysters may also be tried. The 

 udder should be bathed, and every effort made to 

 induce a flow of milk. No time should be lost 

 in calling in the most skilled practitioner. 



Carrot in the iidder sometimes follows severe 

 parturition. It is, however, more frequently pro- 

 duced by an excessive flow of the lactic fluid to 

 the udder previous to calving. It also arises from 

 an unskilled or careless milker not drawing the 

 teats regularly, nor emptying them completely. 

 If the udder is much distended previous to par- 

 turition, the cow should be milked, and this for 

 several days. Not only is this a great relief, but 

 it tends to check that febrile condition incident to 

 the constitutional disturbance. The indications 

 of garrot are, a hot udder followed by a hard 

 knot, after which pus and blood are mixed with 

 the milk this generally from one teat. Occa- 

 sionally an abscess forms on the outside. Upon 

 the first symptoms being observed, the cow should 

 receive a handful of salt in gruel or in boiled 

 food ; repeat the dose every time the cow is fed till 

 the bowels are acted on and carefully restrict 

 the quantity of food. The udder should be 

 bathed with hot water, and gently rubbed, and 

 the teats emptied. A little lard rubbed over the 

 udder is also advisable. This should be attended 

 to each time the cow is milked three times in 

 the twenty-four hours. If the garrot proceeds to 

 form pus, the affected teat should be drawn 

 regularly, and the matter coming from the teat 

 kept separate from the rest of the milk. The 

 endeavour should be to preserve the teat, by 

 preventing its closing up. A cow with a light or 

 blind teat cannot be disposed of as a sound ani- 

 mal, although the quantity of milk is seldom much 

 diminished. When two quarters of the udder are 

 affected, the result is different 



Diseases of the skin are not common in cattle 

 that receive ordinary attention as to housing, 

 cleaning, and feeding. Mange is produced either 

 by contagion or by poverty of condition, arising 

 from neglect. A mixture of oil and sulphur 

 should be well rubbed into the roots of the hair. 

 The animal should receive one pound of common 

 salt each alternate day till the bowels are operated 

 upon bran mashes, roots, or green food allowed. 

 As the disease is contagious, the patient should 

 be separated from other cattle. Lice is a much 

 more common complaint than mange; indeed, 

 these parasites are seldom absent from cattle kept 

 in byres or open sheds during winter and spring. 

 Contact, direct or indirect, with animals affected, 

 inattention to cleanliness in byres and cattle- 

 courts, and, some believe, exposure to wet, with 

 low diet, cause the presence of lice in cattle of all 

 ages. Several recipes are in use : tobacco-juice, 

 with spirit of tar, is the most common ; a salve 

 composed of mercury and lard; also soft soap 

 and oil mixed with sulphur. Oil well rubbed 

 into the roots of the hair, where the larvae or lice 

 appear, is the best treatment. The oil closes the 

 breathing organs of the parasites, and thus 

 speedily kills them. The skin should be well 

 curried, and the parts to which oil has been 

 applied may be washed with soft soap and water, 

 followed by rubbing with dry wisps. The byre 

 or sheds should be gone over with lime-water, to 

 destroy any of the larvae in the wood-work or 

 stone walls. 



Red-water occurs frequently during spring and 



