CATTLE— DISEASES AND REMEDIES. 



hellebore root, or a cord well soaked in 

 turpentine. 



Of one circumstance the breeder of 

 cattle should be aware — that blindness is 

 an hereditary disease, and that the prog- 

 eny of a bull that has any defect of sight 

 is very apt to become blind. 



If the case is neglected, inflammation of 

 the eye will sometimes run on to cancer, 

 and not only the eye, but the soft parts 

 around it, and even the bones, will be af- 

 fected. 



When this termination threatens, the 

 globe of the eye will usually turn to a 

 bottle-green color, then ulceration will 

 appear about the center of it, and either 

 the fungous of which we have spoken 

 will sprout, and the eye will become of 

 three or four times its natural size, or it 

 will gradually diminish and sink into the 

 orbit. The fluid discharged from it will 

 be so acrid that it will excoriate the parts 



• over which it runs, and the lids will be- 

 i come swollen and ulcerated. 



The radical cure, and the most humane 

 method to be adopted with regard to the 

 animal, is to remove the eye. Here the 

 assistance of a veterinary practitioner will 

 be indispensable. 



If the owner does not think proper to 

 adopt this method, let him at least try to 

 make the poor beast as comfortable as he 

 can. The part should be kept clean, and 

 when there appears to be any additional 

 inflammation, or swelling, or pain, the 

 eye should be well fomented with a de- 



• coction of poppy-heads. Let none of 

 the stimulating ointments or washes of 

 ;the farrier be used. This would be 

 ^cruelly punishing the animal, when no 

 ;good purpose could possibly be effected. 



Sometimes the centre of the eye is not 

 150 much affected as the haw at the inner 

 corner of it. When that part merely 

 enlarges from the inflammation, or the 

 eye generally, the digitalis or the Goulard 

 wash will usually abate the swelling ; and 

 he would be both ignorant and cruel who 

 would remove it on account of simple 

 enlargement accompanying inflammation; 

 ibut when it becomes hard and schirrous, 

 and especially if fungous granulations 

 begin to spring from it, the case assumes 

 a different character. No sedative or 

 other lotion will lessen the schirrous or 

 the fungous tumor. It must be removed 

 by an operation — it must be cut away. 



The method of accomplishing this by a 

 skillful practitioner is not difficult. The 

 beast must be thrown, and the head held 

 firmly down by an assistant. The opera- 

 tor then passes a curved needle, armed 

 with a double strong silk, through the 

 body of the tumor, and, drawing a por- 

 tion of the silk through it, gives the 

 needle and the end of the silk to be held 

 by another assistant. He pulls the silk 

 gently, but firmly, until he draws the 

 tumor as far as possible from the corner 

 of the eye, so that the attachment of its 

 base may be seen. The operator then 

 with a knife dissects it out, or with a pair 

 of scissors snips it off. No bleeding of 

 any dangerous consequence will follow, 

 and the blood that is lost will abate the 

 inflammation, and ease the pain which 

 the animal had previously endured. The 

 removal by ligature is a slow and not 

 always effectual method of proceeding; 

 for it may not be possible to apply it 

 accurately around the very base of the 

 tumor, and then the enlargement will 

 probably be reproduced. It is also 

 necessary to tighten the ligature every 

 day, or every second day, and at each 

 time the contest with the beast must be 

 renewed if this mode of removing the 

 tumor is adopted. 



CATTLE, Choking. — Cattle are ex- 

 tremely liable to become choked when 

 feeding on turnips or other roots, and 

 many are in consequence destroyed. A 

 round object, such as a potato, is more 

 likely to occasion suffocation than a more 

 irregular body, as it produces greater 

 pressure on the windpipe, and is embraced 

 more closely by the oesophagus. The 

 appearances attending choking can 

 scarcely be mistaken. The animal evinces 

 great distress, tries to bring up the ob- 

 structing body, slavers at the mouth, pokes 

 its nose, and draws up the neck. After 

 awhile the abdomen swells from the in- 

 flation of the paunch with gas. Sometimes 

 the beast will die in a very short time, 

 but the urgency of the case depends 

 much on the situation and the size of the 

 obstructing body. 



If the rumen is so distended as to 

 threaten immediate suffocation, it will be 

 proper to puncture it ; but this, if possi- 

 ble, should be avoided. It will next be 

 desirable to ascertain the situation of the 

 obstruction. Sometimes it will be found 



