640 DISEASES OF THE BLADDER, ETC. 



parts of the country, namely, excision of the teat of the inflamed 

 quarter of the gland. This allows the milk to escape ; but it 

 can be equally effected by an incision at the superior part of the 

 teat, or in some cases by frequent frictions with belladonna. 



Acute mammitis seldom attacks the whole gland, but is con- 

 fined to one or more quarters, and is expressed by swelling, heat, 

 pain, and redness of the part inflamed, with an alteration in the 

 physical properties of the milk, which is curdled, whey-like, and 

 mixed with blood. There is generally much accompanying sys- 

 temic disturbance ; rigors, succeeded by increased heat of skin. 

 The bowels are generally disordered, being either constipated or 

 unnaturally loose. 



The exudation formed in the substance of the gland very fre- 

 quently destroys its secreting properties, blocking up the acini, 

 lactiferous ducts and sinuses, and leading to the conversion of 

 the glandular structure into a mass of fibrous tissue. This altera- 

 tion of structure is followed by wasting of the previously swollen 

 part, which becomes a hard, almost cartilaginous mass, smaller 

 than the healthy portions of the gland, and constitutes an un- 

 soundness. A cow with only three-quarters of the udder secret- 

 ing milk is of less value than when the whole is intact. In some 

 instances the secreting properties may return after the next 

 calving, but in others this desirable result is not obtained. The 

 other terminations are — (1.) Eesolution of the inflammation, and 

 restoration of the lactiferous structures to their natural condi- 

 tion ; (2.) Suppuration, the gland becoming hard in parts, which 

 afterwards suppurate and burst externally, or the pus may be 

 discharged through the teat ; and (3.) Gangrene of the inflamed 

 quarter. Tliis result is apt to occur in cows that are narrow 

 between the thighs — Alderneys and Guernsey, and other narrow 

 cows — and is caused by the pressure of the thighs upon the 

 swollen udder ; or it may result from the severity of the disease 

 in cows that are well formed in this respect. 



Treatment. — Eemoval of the exciting cause, attention to the 

 state of the digestive organs, and for the purpose of removing 

 any source of irritation which may be contained in them, gentle 

 cathartics and alkalies are usefuh The accompanying fever is 

 to be moderated by aconite and the nitrate of potash ; and should 

 the cow be inclined to eat, she must be fed upon food devoid of 

 much milk-producing constituents. This is essential to success, 

 as it gives rest to the inflamed structures. Soft food of any kind 



