174 



CATTLE— DISEASES AND REMEDIES. 



There cannot be a more proper means 

 adopted than a seton in the dewlap, made 

 with the black hellebore root. The mouth 

 should be frequently washed with a dilute 

 solution of the chloride of lime. The 

 ulcerated parts, if they are fetid, should 

 have the same disinfectant applied to 

 them, and the Avails ana ceiling, and 

 every part of the cow-house should be 

 washed with it. 



One caution should be used with re- 

 spect to the food ; while the beast should 

 be coaxed to eat, in order to support him 

 under the debilitating influence of the 

 disease, it is only on the supposition that 

 he ruminates his food. Until he begins 

 again to chew the cud, we are only inju- 

 riously overloading the paunch by enticing 

 the animal to eat. Until rumination is 

 re-established, the food should consist of 

 gruel, or any other nutritive fluid, and 

 should be so administered that the greater 

 part of it may pass on into the fourth 

 stomach, without entering the first. When 

 the animal appears to be recovering, he 

 should be gradually exposed to cool and 

 open air, and very slowly permitted to 

 return to his usual food. 



When the disease is quite subdued, the 

 cleansing of the cow-house should be 

 seriously undertaken, and thoroughly ac- 

 complished. Let every portion of filth 

 and dung be carefully removed, the walls, 

 and the wood-work, and the floor care- 

 fully washed with water, or soap and 

 water, and then every part washed again 

 with a lotion, in the proportion of a 

 quarter of a pound of the chloride of 

 lime, in powder, to a bucket of water. 

 This will be better than any fumigation 

 that can be possibly applied. Should, 

 however, the chloride of lime not be at 

 hand, then the simple and cheap Fumi- 

 gation (See No. 37, Domestic Animals, 

 Medicines for), on which very consider- 

 able dependence can be placed, may be 

 resorted to. 



The salt should be put in an earthen 

 vessel, and placed in the middle of the 

 cow-house, and the oil of vitriol gradu- 

 ally poured upon it. They should be 

 stirred well together with a stick, and the 

 person preparing the thing should retreat 

 as quickly as he can, to prevent himself 

 from suffering by the fumes of the chlo- 

 ride, closing the door carefully after him, 

 every window and aperture having been 



previously closed. In a few hours he 

 may enter the cow-house again, and re- 

 move the vessel without any serious in- 

 convenience. 



CATTLE, Horn Ail in, or Hollow Horn. 

 — If the animal is chill, shivering, or has 

 a rough, staring coat, and if the horn is 

 unnaturally cold, give an injection of 

 three quarts of warm water, repeating it 

 if it is thrown off. Administer by the 

 mouth several quarts of warm gruel, con- 

 taining six or eight ounces of whisky, 

 brandy or gin; or, if attainable, four 

 ounces of sweet spirits of nitre, or five 

 drachms of carbonate of ammonia. 

 Blanket the patient warmly from head to 

 tail, and actively hand-rub the limbs. A 

 good plan is to heat dry bran, salt, and 

 sand in a stove; put it in a long, 

 ljroad bag, and lay it along the beast's 

 spine from shoulder to rump; or wring a 

 thick rug out of very hot water, lay it over 

 the animal's back from head to tail, cover it 

 with several dry rugs or buffalo-skins, and 

 bind them closely to the skin with sur- 

 cingles, that the heat may be retained. 

 The limbs, meanwhile, may be actively 

 rubbed and then tied up in warm flannel 

 bandages, loosely applied, so as not to 

 impede the circulation. In half an hour 

 the patient will usually be in a glow of 

 warmth and covered with perspiration. 

 The coverings must be removed gradu- 

 ally, one by one, and the damp one 

 quickly replaced by an ample dry one, 

 after one and a half to two hours. Dan- 

 gerous inflammations in the chest, abdo- 

 men, etc., may often be warded off by 

 these measures, when taken in the initial 

 stage ; and though a little more trouble- 

 some than the gimlet surgery, it has the 

 compensating claims of being at once 

 rational and successful. 



Real horn-ail is a disease of very rare 

 occurrence, but it may sometimes exist. 

 Matter collects inside of the horn, and 

 even in the forehead, in larger quantity than 

 can be readily discharged through the 

 nostrils. It may be recognized by the 

 discharge from the nose of whitish or 

 yellowish matter, and sometimes pure 

 blood ; by the heat and tenderness of the 

 root of the horns and forehead ; by the 

 hanging head, the partially closed eyes, 

 great dullness and listlessness ; and by 

 the absence of a hollow sound when the 

 forehead is gently tapped with the tip of 



