194 



CATTLE— DISEASES AND REMEDIES. 



tinued until the swelling breaks, or points 

 so decidedly that it may be opened with 

 a lancet. Poultices must then be applied 

 until the matter has fairly run out, after 

 which a little Friar's Balsam will usually 

 complete the cure. 



In consequeuce of the bleeding and 

 discharge of matter, the calf will some- 

 times be exceedingly reduced; some tonic 

 t medicine will then be necessary. The 

 'Tonic Drink, No. 3, given in half doses, 

 will be serviceable, and at the same time 

 the calf should be forced with good oat- 

 meal or pea-meal gruel. 



CALVES, Diarrhoea.— One of the most 

 frequent and fatal diseases to which young 

 calves are subject is diarrhoea, or violent 

 purging. It occurs most frequently when 

 the young animal is from a fortnight to 

 six weeks old, and is in the majority of 

 cases the consequence of neglect. The 

 calf has been too early exposed to cold 

 and wet, or has been half starved, and 

 then one full and hearty meal often dis- 

 arranges the whole alimentary canal. It 

 is bad policy to stint the calf too much in 

 its quantity of milk. The loss of two or 

 three calves in the course of a year will 

 more than swallow up the supposed sav- 

 ing resulting from a system of starvation. 



At the time of weaning, or when the 

 food is changed from milk to gruel or 

 porridge, diarrhoea and dysentery are very 

 apt to occur, and are subdued with great 

 difficulty. The weaning and change of 

 food should be effected slowly, and with a 

 great deal of caution. The new milk 

 should be mixed with the skim milk or 

 gruel which is afterwards to be substituted, 

 and the quantity of the one gradually 

 diminished, while the other is as cautious- 

 ly increased. • 



The symptoms of diarrhoea in calves 

 are, continual purging; the matter dis- 

 charged is covered with more than its 

 natural quantity of mucus ; sometimes it 

 is bloody, and often fetid; the animal 

 loathes its food, staggers as it walks, and 

 becomes rapidly thin. Towards the last 

 stage of the disease the dung is more and 

 t more fetid and bloody, a greater portion 

 of mucus mixes with it, and at length the 

 discharge seems to be composed of mucus 

 and blood, with scarcely any mixture of 

 natural foecal matter. When this occurs 

 there is little or no hope of cure. 



The principal thing is to treat these dis- 



eases in time, before the mucous coat of 

 the intestines becomes so inflamed that a 

 bloody discharge ensues which soon wears 

 the animal down. 



Much acidity in the stomach and bow- 

 els attends all these complaints; there- 

 fore, it is necessary to get rid of it, first of 

 all, by the administration of a mild purga- 

 tive, and afterwards by the exhibition of 

 chalk, or some other medicine with which 

 the acid will readily combine. Two 

 ounces of castor oil, or four of Epsom 

 salts, may be given. 



Opium in some form or other must 

 always be united with the chalk. It is of 

 no use to get rid of one complaint when 

 others are lurking and ready to appear. 

 It will not be sufficient to neutralize the 

 acidity of the stomach; the mouths of the 

 vessels that are pouring out all this mu- 

 cus and blood must be stopped ; and we 

 have not a more powerful or useful medi- 

 cine than this in our whole catalogue of 

 drugs. It acts by removing the irritation 

 about the orifices of the exhalent vessels, 

 and when this is effected they will cease 

 to pour out so much fluid. Other astrin- 

 gents may be added, and a carminative 

 mingled with the whole to recall the ap- 

 petite, and rouse the bowels to healthy 

 action. The Calves' Diarrhoea Medi- 

 cine (see No. 62, Domestic Animals v 

 Medicines for,) will present the best 

 combination of all these things. 



This will be the proper dose for a calf 

 from a fortnight to two months old. If 

 the animal is older, the dose may be in- 

 creased one-half. The common Dalby's 

 Carminative is not a bad medicine, al- 

 though a dear one, and may be given in 

 doses of half a bottle at a time, when it 

 happens to be at hand, and the case is 

 urgent, and the drugs which compose 

 Recipe No. 62 cannot be immediately 

 procured. 



When these preparations have been 

 given some time, and have failed to stop 

 the purging, we have known the Calves' 

 Purging to Stop (see No. 63, Domes- 

 tic Animals, Medicines for,) given 

 with very good effect. This may be given 

 morning and night. 



When constant and violent straining 

 accompanies the expulsion of the dung, 

 an injection of a pint of thick gruel, with 

 which half a drachm of powdered opium 

 has been mixed, will be very useful. 



