DISEASES OF CATTLE 85 



Treatment. Treatment should be preceded by a moderate 

 dose of purgative medicine: 1 pound of sulphate of magnesia 

 (Epsom salts) or sulphate of soda (Glauber's salts), half an ounce 

 of powdered Barbados aloes, 1 ounce of powdered ginger, and 1 

 pint of molasses. The salts and aloes should be dissolved by stir- 

 ring for a few minutes with 2 quarts of lukewarm water, then the 

 molasses should be added; and after all the ingredients have been 

 stirred together for about ten minutes, the dose should be admin- 

 istered. It will generally be necessary after the operation of the pur- 

 gative to give some tonic and antacid preparation to promote diges- 

 tion, which is imperfectly performed in such cases. The follow- 

 ing may be used: Powdered gentian, 3 ounces; powdered bicar- 

 bonate of potash, 3 ounces; powdered ginger, 3 ounces; powdered 

 capsicum, 1 ounce. Mix and divide into twelve powders, one of 

 which should be given three times a day before feeding, shaken up 

 with half a pint of whisky and a pint of water. It is also advan- 

 tageous in such cases to give two heaped teaspoonfuls of wood char- 

 coal, mixed with the animal's feed three times a day. The animal 

 should also go out during the day, as want of exercise favors the 

 continuance of this form of indigestion. If the dung is hard, the 

 constipation should be overcome by feeding a little flaxseed twice 

 daily or by giving a handful of Glauber's salts in the feed once or 

 twice daily, as may be necessary. Roots, silage, and other succu- 

 lent feeds are useful in this connection. If tuberculosis is suspected 

 as the cause of the chronic bloating, a skilled veterinarian should 

 be employed to make a diagnosis, using the tuberculin test if neces- 

 sary. Until it is settled that the cow has not tuberculosis, she should 

 be kept apart from the other members of the herd. 



Distention of Rumen, or Paunch, With Food. This form of 

 indigestion is caused by the animal gorging itself with food, and 

 arises more from the animal's voracious appetite than from any 

 defect in the quality of the food supplied to it. The condition is, 

 however, more severe if the food consumed is especially concentrated 

 or difficult of digestion. In cases of this kind there is com- 

 paratively no great formation of gas, and the gas which is formed 

 is diffused through the stomach instead of accumulating in a layer 

 in its upper part. On pressing the flank with the closed fist the 

 indent of the hand remains for a short time in the flank, as if the 

 rumen were filled with a soft, doughy mass. 



This form of indigestion should be treated by stimulants, such 

 as alcohol, wine, or aromatic spirits of ammonia. 



If the formation of gas is not great and the distention with solid 

 material is somewhat limited, the animal may be drenched through 

 a piece of ordinary garden hose, one end being inserted in the ani- 

 mal's mouth like the neck of a bottle, and the other end fitted with 

 a funnel, giving l 1 /^ pounds of Epsom or Glauber's salts, dissolved 

 in 2 gallons of water, at a single dose. Immediately after this treat- 

 ment the left side of the animal, extending below the median line 

 of the abdomen, should be powerfully kneaded with the fist, so that 

 the impacted food mass will be broken, allowing the water to sepa- 



