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CATTLE— DISEASES AND REMEDIES. 



legs is often sufficient to keep them warm 

 in spite of the nature of the complaint ; 

 the breath and mouth are hot ; the mouth 

 is generally open, and there is a ropy dis- 

 charge from it; the beast will often lie 

 down, and can scarcely be induced to 

 move ; the flanks heave very laboriously, 

 and the head is protruded, showing the 

 great difficulty of breathing. The pulse 

 is not always much increased in number, 

 but is oppressed, and can sometimes 

 scarcely be felt. 



Inflammation of the lungs is caused by 

 the perspiration being obstructed from 

 sudden and great changes of the weather, 

 especially when accompanied with wet. 

 Cattle that are driven long distances, and 

 then exposed to the cold and damp air of 

 the night, are particularly liable to it. In 

 most cases it can be traced to the cattle 

 being imprudently exposed to cold ; but 

 when the cause is not so apparent, it 

 oftenest attacks those that are in good con- 

 dition. 



Young cattle, and particularly calves, 

 are more subject to this disease than older 

 ones ; and in them it must be principally 

 attributed to their being in a state of ple- 

 thora, that is, having a redundancy of 

 blood in their systems. 



Sometimes the membrane covering the 

 lungs and lining the chest is the part prin- 

 cipally attacked; the disease is then 

 termed pleurisy, and is in this form often 

 complicated with rheumatism, but it is 

 more usual for the substance of the lungs 

 to be affected in common with their en- 

 velopments. 



Copious bleeding is the remedy most to 

 be depended on for subduing the inflam- 

 mation, and should be had recourse to as 

 soon as the disease is discovered. The 

 beast should be put into a cool cow- 

 house well littered, and immediately bled. 

 If the difficulty of breathing and other 

 symptoms are not much relieved in six or 

 eight hours after the first bleeding, it 

 should be repeated. A third or fourth 

 bleeding may in bad cases be requisite. 

 In this disease, more than in any other, 

 the person who attends the cattle should 

 be present when the beast is bled. It is 

 impossible, by looking at the patient, and 

 considering the symptoms, to say what 

 quantity of blood ought to be taken away; 

 but, as a general rule, and especially in in- 

 flammation of the lungs, and at the first 



bleeding, the blood should flow until the 

 pulse begins to falter, and the animal 

 seems inclined to faint. The faltering of 

 the pulse will regulate the quantity of the 

 after-bleedings. Little bleedings of two or 

 three quarts, at the commencement of in- 

 flammation of the lungs, can never be of 

 service ; from six to eight quarts must be 

 taken, or even more, regulated by the cir- 

 cumstances that have been mentioned, and 

 the blood should flow in a large, full 

 stream. 



A seton should be set in the dewlap 

 immediately after the first bleeding, and 

 the purging drink No. 2 given. Four 

 drachms of nitre, two of extract of bella- 

 donna, and one of tartarized antimony, 

 may afterward be administered twice a day 

 in a drink. 



In very severe cases, the chest has been 

 fired and blistered with advantage. 



Warm water and mashes must be regu- 

 larly given two or three times a day. 



When the beast has recoverd, it will be 

 proper, as much as possible, to avoid all 

 those causes which induced the complaint. 

 The animal should for a short time be 

 housed during the night, and, if the weather 

 is very unsettled, kept up altogether or 

 turned out for a few hours only in the 

 middle of the day. 



CATTLE, Pleurisy.— (See Cattle, In- 

 flammation of the Lungs.) 



CATTLE, Bheumatism, or Joint-Felon. 

 — The early symptoms of this complaint 

 are those of common catarrh, with no 

 great cough, but more than usual fever ; 

 by degrees, however, the animal shows 

 some stiffness in moving, and if the hand is 

 pressed upon the chine or any part of the 

 back, the beast will shrink, as if this gave 

 him pain. When the complaint goes no 

 farther than this, it is called chine-fel- 

 on in many parts of the country ; but 

 generally, in two or three days, the ani- 

 mal appears stiffer in the joints ; these af- 

 terwards begin to swell, and are evident- 

 ly painful, particularly when he attempts 

 to move. Sometimes the stiffness ex- 

 tends all over the body, and to such a 

 degree that the beast is unable to rise 

 without assistance. 



This is generally termed joint-felon. 

 Old cows are very subject to it, and es- 

 pecially a short time before calving ; but 

 milch cows and young cattle are oftener 

 attacked by it in the spring of the year. 



