COMMON ILLS OF CATTLE. 159 



however, our efforts met with success the milk came freely, 

 and the cow was saved ! The remaining treatment consisted 

 in rubbing mustard paste along the spine to establish a counter 

 irritation, keeping the cow well clothed for warmth, turning her 

 from side to side occasionally, and bolstering her up with straw. 

 Presently her appetite returned, and she was fed with easily 

 digestible food bran mashes, and so on, and in a week or two 

 was quite herself again. 



A veterinary practitioner saw her at the end of the first day, 

 and pronounced the case a hopeless one. I too had but little 

 hope, but concluded I would persevere with the treatment. 



To prevent milk fever, a cow in good condition should be 

 sparingly fed for a week or two prior to parturition on food which 

 is not very stimulative, and her bowels should be opened and 

 her blood cooled by two or three quarter-pound doses of Epsom 

 salts. If mischief be suspected, her milk should be drawn 

 before she calves ; and if it flows reluctantly, a red drink in 

 treacle should be administered without delay. 



Garget, or Mammitis. This malady, so often fatal in cows 

 whose condition is high, comes from various causes. Cows in 

 milk are liable to it from careless milking, blows, from exposure 

 to a cold draught in hot weather, and so on. Grazing cattle 

 are sometimes seized with it in the heat of summer, and with 

 them its course, if not checked, is commonly rapid. 



In the case of a cow in milk, the contents of the udder must 

 be removed if possible, and in any case a red drink should be 

 administered first of all. The udder should be fomented with 

 hot water several times a day, and rubbed with Purified Driffield 

 Oils to breakdown the clots of coagulated milk. An udder 

 remaining persistently hard should be rubbed twice a day with 

 a mixture of equal parts of soap liniment, tincture of opium, 

 and compound solution of iodine. If the teats are choked with 

 clotted milk a syphon should be inserted, and a dose of four 

 ounces of Epsom salts and one ounce of nitre may be given to 

 diminish the secretion of milk. 



Milch cows commonly lose " quarters " if carelessly treated 

 under an attack of garget, and sometimes their lives ; but they 



