DISEASES OF THE DIGESTIVE OKGANS. 29 



Treatment. — The aim in such cases must be to improve the process 

 of digestion and to supply the animal with a sufficiency of sound 

 and \Yholesome feed. The following should be given to the cow 

 three times a day, a heaping tablespoonful constituting a dose: 

 Carbonate of iron, 4 ounces; finely ground bone or "bone flour," 

 1 pound; powdered gentian, 4 ounces; common salt, 8 ounces; pow- 

 dered fenugreek, 4 ounces; mix. In addition to this, 3 tablespoon- 

 fuls of powdered charcoal may be mixed with the feed three times 

 a day, and a piece of rock salt should be placed where the animal 

 can lick it at will. German veterinarians have had brilliant results 

 from the treatment of this disease with subcutaneous injections of 

 apomorphin in doses of 1^ to 5 grains for three or four days. 



HAIR CONCRETIONS. 



Hair concretions, or hair balls, result from the habit which some 

 cattle have of licking themselves or other animals. As a result the 

 hairs Avhich are swallowed are carried around by the contractions of 

 the stomach and gradually assume the form of a small pellet or 

 ball. This increases in size as fresh quantities of hair are intro- 

 duced into the stomach and adhere to the surface of the ball. These 

 balls are found most frequently in the reticulum or second stomach 

 (PI. II, B), though sometimes in the rumen.. In calves hair balls 

 are generally foiuid in the fourth stomach. There are no certain 

 symptoms by which we can determine the presence of hair balls in 

 the stomach, and therefore no treatment can be recommended for 

 such cases. In making post-mortem examinations of cattle we have 

 sometimes found the walls of the reticulum transfixed with nails 

 or pieces of w^ire, and yet the animal had not shown any symptoms 

 of indigestion, but had died from maladies not involving the second 

 stomach. 



INDIGESTION (DYSPEPSIA, OR GASTROINTESTINAL CATARRH). 



Tympanites, alread}^ described, is a form of indigestion in which 

 the chief symptom and most threatening condition is the collection 

 of gas in the paunch. This symptom does not always accompany 

 indigestion, so it is well here to consider other forms under a sepa- 

 rate head. If indigestion is long continued, the irritant abnormal 

 products developed cause catarrh of the stomach and intestines — 

 gastrointestinal catarrh. On the other hand, however, irritant 

 substances ingested may cause gastrointestinal catarrh, which, in 

 turn, will cause indigestion ; hence, it results that these several con- 

 ditions are usually found existing together. 



Causes. — Irritant feed, damaged feed, overloading of the stomach, 

 or sudden chnnges of diet mav cause this disease. Want of exer- 



