288 DR. LEGEAR'S STOCK BOOK. 



and the animal is soon unable to walk or stand alone, therefore 

 goes down. It may, in a fit of excitement, try to rise, but fails, 

 and soon quiets down into a comatose (sleepy) condition, with 

 the head turned to the side with the nose resting on the 

 ground. Occasionally the animal will stretch out at full 

 length with the head on the ground. She is now in 

 a dead sleep, as it were, with no signs of life except a 

 weak, slow pulse and very slow breathing. You can touch the 

 ball of the eye without her even batting the eyelid. The animal 

 may live in this condition for several hours, but as a general 

 thing they will die in from two to four hours after it comes on. 

 Many valuable cows have we been called to see in this comatose 

 condition, but all we could do was to watch them die. The ani- 

 mal has no power of swallowing, neither is there any digestion 

 going on. Medicine put into the stomach with a stomach pump 

 does no good, as there is no digestion or absorption. 



Treatment. If the cow is seen before she falls and before the 

 power of swallowing is lost, a good physic should be given, as 

 No. 4. If the physic is given six or eight hours before the coma- 

 tose condition comes on you may save her. But if she goes off 

 to sleep before you give the medicine, or shortly after, the case 

 is hopeless, and she will die. The head should be kept cool by 

 applying ice or cloths wrung out of cold water. The animal 

 should be protected from the sun or cold wet weather. Ail 

 milk should be removed from her bag often. If the animal can 

 yet swallow give: 



Tincture of aconite 20 drops. 



Nitrate of potash \ ounce. 



Bromide of potash 1 ounce. 



Water 1 pint. 



Mix, and give as a drench every four hours. 



