CATTLE— CARE AND MANAGEMENT. 



171 



Should considerable weakness and loss 

 of appetite remain when the fever seems 

 to be subdued, the Tonic Drink (see No. 

 32, Domestic Animals, Medicines for,) 

 may be given. 



This may be repeated daily, or twice a 

 day, as circumstances may require. 



It will sometimes happen that the ani- 

 mal will for some days refuse to eat, on 

 account of the soreness of the mouth. 

 Thin gruel should always be placed within 

 his reach, and plenty of thick gruel ad- 

 ministered with the horn. 



The person that has to attend on cattle 

 that have the blain should take care that 

 none of the discharge from the mouth 

 comes in contact with any sore place, for 

 very troublesome ulcers have been pro- 

 duced by this means. If there is any fear 

 that a sore place has been thus inocu- 

 lated, the lunar caustic should be applied 

 to it. 



CATTLE, Blood, Blood-striking, Black- 

 leg, Quarter Evil, or Black Quarter. — The 

 disease which we are now to describe is 

 indicated by these curious names,' and a 

 great many more, in various parts of the 

 country. Very few of these names, how- 

 ever, are misplaced, for they indicate some 

 variety, or symptoms, or stage of this 

 dreadful malady. It would be much 

 better recognized by the title of Inflam- 

 matory fever.- 



Its attack is confined almost entirely to 

 animals that are in high condition, or 

 rapidly improving; we should say, too 

 high condition, and too rapidly improv- 

 ing. In some instances the disease will 

 give some warning of its approach, but, 

 generally, the beast appears to be to-day 

 perfectly well, and to-morrow he will be 

 found with his head extended, his flanks 

 heaving, his breath hot, his eyes protrud- 

 ing, his muzzle dry, his pulse quick and 

 hard — every symptom, in short, of the 

 highest state of fever. He utters a 

 low and distressing moaning ; he is al- 

 ready half unconscious ; he will stand for 

 hours together motionless, or if he moves, 

 or is compelled to move, there is a pecu- 

 liar staggering referrable to the hind limbs, 

 and generally one of them more than the 

 other : by and by he gets uneasy, he shifts 

 his weight from foot to foot, he paws 

 faintly, and then lies down. He rises, 

 but almost immediately drops again. He 

 now begins to be, or has already been, 



nearly unconscious of surrounding ob- 

 jects. 



There are many other symptoms from 

 which the different names of the disease 

 arose. On the back or loins, or over one 

 of the quarters, there is more or less swell- 

 ing; if felt when it first appears it is hot, 

 and tender, and firm, but it soon begins 

 to' yield to the touch, and gives a singular 

 crackling noise when pressed upon. One 

 of the limbs likewise enlarges, sometimes 

 through its whole extent, and that enor- 

 mously. It, too, is at first firm, and hot 

 and tender, but it soon afterwards be- 

 comes soft and flabby, or pits when press- 

 ed upon, /. e., the indentation of the finger 

 remains. When examined after death,, 

 that limb is full of red putrid fluid : it is 

 mortified, and seems to have been putre- 

 fying almost during the life of the beast. 

 Large ulcers break out in this limb, and 

 sometimes in other parts of the body, and 

 almost immediately become gangrenous; 

 pieces of several pounds in weight have 

 sloughed away; three-fourths of the udder 

 have dropped off, or have been so gan- 

 grenous that it was necessary to remove 

 them, and the animal has been one mass 

 of ulceration. The breath stinks horribly; 

 a very offensive, and sometimes purulent 

 and bloody fluid runs from the mouth ; 

 the urine is high-colored or bloody, and 

 the fasces are also streaked with blood, 

 and the smell from them is scarcely sup- 

 portable. 



In this state the beast will sometimes 

 continue two or three days, at other times 

 he will die in less than twelve hours from 

 the first attack. In a few instances, how- 

 ever, and when the disease has been early 

 and properly treated, all these dreadful 

 symptoms gradually disappear, and the 

 animal recovers. 



It is to a redundancy, or overflowing 

 of the blood, the consequence of the sud- 

 den change from bad to good living, that 

 this diease most commonly owes its origin. 

 It is most prevalent in the latter part of 

 the spring and in the autumn ; and very 

 often, at these seasons of the year, proves 

 destructive to great numbers of young 

 cattle in different parts of the States. It 

 is sometimes, however, seen in the winter 

 and the early part of spring, when the 

 cattle are feeding on turnips. Some situa- 

 tions are more subject to this complaint 

 than others. It is most frequent in low,. 



