Preventive Pathology 131 



because all the ills of the first stage may be con- 

 tinued through the second, with new ones arising 

 in the enlargement of function. The start in 

 feeding solids with the milk in a bucket is quite a 

 delicate business. At meal time, a healthy calf is 

 hungry ; yet offer him the solids alone, and he will 

 not touch them, which shows that, in taking them 

 with the milk, he does so, not because he desires 

 them or feels fit for them, but because he cannot 

 have his milk without them. I need hardly insist 

 on the foolish cruelty of thus cheating him into 

 indigestion against his own sound taste by an 

 excess of solids, but that is exactly what many 

 people do. This morning, the stuff for twelve 

 calves is in a pot, prepared from last night, to be 

 shared out at the rate of y 1 ? to the average calf. 

 Give twice as much to a small one as to a big one, 

 and you are only making more trouble for your- 

 self in the Infirmary. When I do the work 

 myself, I never have a single case of serious 

 ailment at any of these stages. For two or three 

 days after starting the solids, watch the calf closely, 

 and he will let you know whether you are giving 

 him too much. Far better too little at this stage, 

 with the dry mixture in the trough to supplement 

 it. My average is f Ib. per day now, but some 

 get less and some get more, according to 

 size and constitution. Many people like to 

 see their porridge a bulky mess, which means 

 an excess of water and an injury to the calf. 

 The best possible measure of water is the 

 minimum required uniformly to boil or scald 



