CATTLE— CARE AND MANAGEMENT. 



i73 



parts have sloughed off, or the sore begins 

 to have a healthy appearance. The tinc- 

 ture of aloes or Friar's balsam may then 

 follow. 



Since so little can be done in the way 

 of cure, we next anxiously inquire wheth- 

 er there is any mode of prevention. The 

 account which we have given of the dis- 

 ease immediately suggests the prevention, 

 viz., to beware of these sudden changes 

 of pasture ; now and then to take a little 

 blood from, or to give a dose of physic 

 to, those beasts that are thriving unusu- 

 ally rapidly, and, whenever the disease 

 breaks out on the farm to bleed and to 

 purge, and remove to shorter and scan- 

 tier feed every animal that has been ex- 

 posed to the same exciting causes with 

 those that have been attacked. The far- 

 mer should be particularly watchful dur- 

 ing the latter part of the spring and the 

 beginning of the autumn ; he may thus 

 save many a beast, and the bleeding and 

 the physic will not arrest but rather assist 

 their improvement. He who will not at- 

 tend to a simple rule like this will de- 

 serve the loss that he may experience. 



CATTLE, Murrain, or Pestilential Fe- 

 ver. — The treatment would be, first, and 

 the most important thing of all, to sepa- 

 rate the diseased from the sound : to re- 

 move every animal that seemed to be in 

 the slightest degree affected to some iso- 

 lated portion of the farm where contact 

 Avith others would be impossible. It 

 would be imprudent to remove those that 

 appeared to be unaffected, because it 

 would be impossible to know that the 

 virus did not lurk in their veins, and 

 thus the poison might be conveyed to 

 other parts of the farm. The sick only 

 should be taken away, and that as speed- 

 ily as possible. 



In the early stage of the disease there 

 can be no doubt of the propriety of 

 bleeding. The fever which, according to 

 every account, characterizes the first at- 

 tack, should, if possible, be subdued; 

 otherwise its prolonged existence would 

 aggravate, if it did not cause, the subse- 

 quent debility. The animal should be 

 bled, in proportion to his size, condition, 

 and the degree of fever; he should be 

 bled, in fact, until the pulse began to 

 falter or he began to stagger. The blood 

 should be taken in as full a stream as 

 possible, that the constitution might be 



more speedily and beneficially affected. 

 When the blood flows slowly, a quantity 

 may sometimes be taken away before the 

 animal begins to feel it, the loss of which 

 would afterwards produce alarming de- 

 bility ; but if the blood flows freely, the 

 beast will show symptoms of faintness — 

 the effect we wish to produce — before 

 one-fourth ot the quantity is drawn that 

 would be lost if it ran in a slow stream. 

 We want to attack and subdue the fever, 

 without undermining the strength of the 

 frame. 



Then we should with great propriety 

 administer a brisk purgative. If fetid 

 and obstinate purging so soon follows, 

 we should be anxious to get rid, if we 

 can do so, of a portion of the offending 

 matter ; and therefore a pound or twenty 

 ounces of Epsom salts should be given 

 in a sufficient quantity of thin gruel. 



Next, as it is a disease so much and so 

 early characterized by debility, we should 

 attend to the diet. Green succulent grass 

 would scarcely be allowed, because it 

 would probably not a little increase the 

 purging ; but mashes of bran, with a little 

 bean-meal, carrots, or sweet old hay, 

 should be given in moderate quantities. 

 The animal should be coaxed to eat ; for 

 it is necessary that the constitution be 

 supported against the debilitating influ- 

 ence of such a disease. The animal 

 should not be at first drenched, for this 

 might produce nausea and disguSt for 

 food; but if two or three days should 

 pass, and the beast should obstinately re- 

 fuse to eat, plenty of warm thick gruel 

 must be forced upon him. As for medi- 

 cine, we scarcely know what to advise. 

 The fact stands too clearly upon record, 

 that nineteen animals out of twenty, 

 seized with the murrain, have died. That 

 on which we should put most dependence 

 would be the Drink for Murrain. (See 

 No. 33, Domestic Animals, Medicines 

 for.) 



This may be repeated every six hours, 

 until the purging is considerably abated ; 

 but should not be continued until it has 

 quite stopped. 



The purging being abated, we must 

 look about for something to recall the 

 appetite and recruit the strength, and we 

 do not know anything better than the 

 Tonic Drink for Murrain. (See No. 36, 

 Domestic Animals, Medicines for.) 



