220 DISEASES OF CATTLE, SHEEP, GOATS, ETC. 



exercised in the feeding of the oow to have sound and wholesome 

 food and water, so apportioned as to make the milk neither too rich 

 nor top poor, and to her health, so that the calf may be saved from 

 the evil consequences of poisonous principles that may be produced 

 in the body of the cow. The calves should be carefully kept apart 

 from all calving cows and their discharges. Similarly, each calf 

 must have special attention to see that its nurse gives milk which 

 agrees with it, and that this is furnished at suitable times. If al- 

 lowed to suck, it should either be left with the cow or it may be 

 fed three times a day. If it becomes hungry twice a day it is more 

 likely to overload and derange the stomach, and if left too long 

 hungry it is tempted to take in unsuitable and unwholesome food, 

 for which its stomach is as yet unprepared. So, if fed from the 

 pail, it is safer to do so three times daily than twice. The utmost 

 cleanliness of feeding dishes should be secured and the feeder must 

 be ever on the alert to prevent the strong and hungry from drink- 

 ing the milk of the weaker in addition to their own. In case the 

 cow nurse has been subjected to any great excitement by reason of 

 travel, hunting, or carrying, the first milk she yields thereafter 

 should be used for some other purpose and only the second allowed 

 to the calf. Indeed, one and all of the conditions above indicated 

 as causes should be judiciously guarded against. 



Treatment. Treatment will vary according to the nature and 

 stage of the disease. When the disease is not widespread, but iso- 

 lated cases only occur, it may be assumed to be a simple diarrhea 

 and is easily dealt with. The first object is to remove the irritant 

 matter from stomach and bowels, and for this 1 or 2 ounces of castor 

 oil may be given, according to the size of the calf. Reduce the milk 

 by one-half or two-thirds. If the stools smell particularly sour, it 

 may be replaced by 1 ounce calcined magnesia, and in any case a 

 tablespoonful or two of limewater must be given with each meal. 

 Great harm is often done by giving opium and astringents at the 

 outset. These merely serve to bind up the bowels and retain the 

 irritant source of the trouble. 



If the outbreak is general and evidently the result of contagion, 

 the first consideration is to remove all sources of such contamination. 

 Test the milk of the cow with blue litmus paper, and, if it reddens, 

 reject the milk of that cow until by sound, dry feeding, with per- 

 haps a course of hyposulphite of soda and gentian root, her milk 

 shall have been made alkaline. The castor oil or magnesia will 

 still be demanded to clear away the (now infecting) irritants, but 

 they should be combined with antiseptics, and, while the limewater 

 and the carminative mixture may still be used, a most valuable ad- 

 dition will be found in the following: Calomel, 10 grains; pre- 

 pared chalk, 1 ounce; creosote, 1 teaspoonful; mix, divide into ten 

 parts, and give one four times a day. Or the following may be 

 given four times a day: One dram Dover's powder, 6 grains pow- 

 dered ipecacuanha; mix, divide into ten equal parts. Injections of 

 solutions of gum arabic are often useful, and if the anus is red and 

 excoriated, one-half dram of copperas may be added to each pint 



