DISEASES AND TREATMENT OF CATTLE. 307 



up, and in a few days afterward catch it again and fill the holes 



with iodine, and keep putting in the iodine every fourth day until 



the holes heal up. If this treatment fails to kill the lump destroy 



the animal and burn it, for it is dangerous to have it in your herd, 



and its meat should not be used for food, as it might set up the 



disease in man. 



ANTHRAX. 



This is an infectious disease caused by germs, called the 

 anthrax bacilli, getting into the blood. This disease affects cattle 

 in all parts of the world, and is only noticed in cattle that are 

 grazing on low, swampy land that have pools of stagnant water on 

 it. When once the disease gets into a pasture field it will remain 

 there for years, and the only way to get rid of it is to break the 

 field up and drain it. 



Symptoms — It more frequently aflfects young cattle than older 

 ones ; the attack is very sudden, and an animal apparently well 

 the night before will be found dead in the morning. In some 

 cases as soon as the animal is affected it drops down, goes into 

 convulsions and dies. In other cases it will last longer, the pulse 

 will run up to from 80 to 100 beats per minute ; the animal will 

 not eat; the whole surface of the body, legs and ears are cold, and 

 it is very dull, stupid and weak, In a short time this dullness 

 gives way to uneasiness, it champs its jaws, kicks and paws the 

 ground and appears to be in terrible agony ; it has very much 

 difficulty in breathing, the nostrils are enlarged and the mouth 

 open ; the lining of the mouth, nostrils, rectum or back bowel 

 and vagina are of a blue color, the manure is first thin and watery 

 looking, then covered with slime and blood ; the symptoms gradu- 

 ally get worse, and in a few hours it dies a miserable death. The 

 germs are taken into the system from eating grass around a 

 swamp or drinking the water from stagnant pools. They find 

 their way from the bowels into the blood, and work around until 

 they locate themselves in the bowels or tissues under the skin. 

 When an animal dies from this disease it bloats up, decomposition 

 setting in very quickly, and there is a blood-stained fluid flows from 

 the mouth, nose and anus. If you have had an animal or two die 

 while pasturing on this kind of land, and showing the above 

 symptoms and appearance after death, send for the government 

 veterinary inspector, he will examine the blood, and if the germs 

 are found in it you will then be sure it is anthrax. Burn the 



