218 DISEASES OF CATTLE, SHEEP, GOATS, ETC. 



rary benefit may be obtained by giving a tablespoonful of vegetable 

 charcoal three or four times a day, but the only real remedy for 

 these is to cut open the paunch and extract them. At this early 

 age they may be found in the third or even the fourth stomach; 

 in the adult they are confined to the first two, and are comparatively 

 harmless. 



DIARRHEA ( SCOURING) IN CALVES (SIMPLE AND CONTAGIOUS). 



As stated in the last article, scouring is a common result of in- 

 digestion, and at first may be nothing more than an attempt of 

 nature to relieve the stomach and bowels of offensive and irritating 

 contents. As the indigestion persists, however, the fermentations 

 going on in the undigested masses become steadily more complex 

 and active, and what was at first the mere result of irritation or sus- 

 pended digestion comes to be a genuine contagious disease, in which 

 the organized ferments (bacteria) propagate the affection from ani- 

 mal to animal and from herd to herd. More than once I have seen 

 such epizootic diarrhea start on the headwaters of a creek, and, 

 traveling along that stream, follow the watershed and attack the 

 herds supplied with water from the contaminated channel. In the 

 same way the disease, once started in a cow stable, is liable to per- 

 sist for years, or until the building has been thoroughly cleansed and 

 disinfected. It may be carried into a healthy stable by the intro- 

 duction of a cow brought from an infected stable when she is closely 

 approaching calving. Another method of its introduction is by the 

 purchase of a calf from a herd where the infection exists. 



In enumerating the other causes of this disease we may refer 

 to those noted above as inducing indigestion. As a primary con- 

 sideration, any condition which lowers the vitality or vigor of the 

 calf must be accorded a prominent place among factors which, apart 

 from contagion, contribute to start the disease de novo. Other 

 things being equal, the strong, vigorous races are the least predisposed 

 to the malady, and in this respect the compact form, the healthy 

 coat, the clear eye, and the bold, active carriage are desirable. 

 Even the color of the hair is not unimportant, as in the same herd 

 I have found a far greater number of victims among the light colors 

 (light yellow, light brown) than among those of a darker tint. 

 This constitutional predisposition to indigestion and diarrhea is 

 sometimes fostered by too close breeding, without taking due ac- 

 count of the maintenance of a robust constitution, and hence ani- 

 mals that are very much inbred need to be especially observed and 

 cared for unless their inherent vigor has been thoroughly attested. 



The surroundings of the calf are powerful influences. Calves 

 kept indoors suffer to a greater extent than those running in the 

 open air and having the invigorating influences of sunshine, pure 

 air, and exercise; but close, crowded, filthy, bad-smelling buildings 

 are especially causative of the complaint. The condition of the nurs- 

 ing cow and her milk is another potent cause of trouble. 



Symptoms. The symptoms of diarrhea may appear so promptly 

 after birth as to lead to the idea that the cause already existed in the 

 body of the calf, and it usually shows itself before the end of the 



