MEDICAL TREATMENT OP DOMESTIC ANIMALS. 473 



really necessary or judicious to bleed for the diseases of animals. 

 ' A more humane and equally effectual course will be the fol- 

 ' lowing : — 



" A pound to one and a half pounds of Epsom or Glauber's 

 ' salts, according to the size and condition of the animal, should 

 'be given, dissolved in a quart of boiling water ; and when dis- 

 ' solved, add pulverized red pepper, a quarter of an ounce, car- 

 ' away, do., do., ginger, do., do. ; mix, and add a gill of molasses, 

 ' and give lukewarm. If this medicine does not act on the 

 'bowels, the quantity of ginger, capsicum, and caraway, must be 

 ' doubled. The insensible stomach must be roused. When 

 ' purging in an early stage is begun, the fever will more readily 

 ' subside. After the operation of the medicine, sedatives may be 

 ' given, if necessary. 



" The digestive function first fails, when the secondary or low 

 ' state of fever comes on. The food undischarged ferments ; the 

 ' stomach and intestines are inflated with gas, and swell rapidly. 

 ' The nervous system is also attacked, and the poor beast stag- 

 ' gers. The hind extremities show the weakness ; the cow falls, 

 ' and cannot rise ; her head is turned on one side, where it rests ; 

 ' her limbs are palsied. The treatment in this stage must depend 

 ' on the existence and degree of fever. The pulse will be the 

 ' only true guide. If it is weak, wavering, and irregular, we must 

 'avoid depleting, purgative agents. The blood flows through the 

 ' arteries, impelled by the action of the heart, and its pulsations 

 'can be very distinctly felt by pressing the finger upon almost 

 ' any of these arteries that is not too thickly covered by fat 

 ' or the cellular tissues of the skin, especially where it can 

 ' be pressed upon some hard or bony substance beneath it. The 

 ' most convenient place is directly at the back part of the lower 

 'jaw, where a large artery passes over the edge of the jaw-bone 

 ' to ramify on the face. The natural pulse of a full-grown ox, 

 ' will vary from about forty-eight to fifty-five beats a minute ; 

 'that of a cow is rather quicker, especially near the timp of calv- 

 ' ing ; and that of a calf is quicker than that of a cow. But a 

 ' very much quicker rate than that indicated will show a feverish 



