DISEASES OF YOUNG CALVES. 259 



may result in one or two days from the combined drain on the sys- 

 tem and the poisoning by the absorbed products of the decomposi- 

 tion in the stomach and bowels. When the case is prolonged the 

 passages, at first 5 or 6 a day, increase to 15 or 20, and pass with 

 more and more straining, so that they are projected from the animal 

 in a liquid stream. The color of the feces, at first yellow, becomes a 

 lighter grayish yellow or a dirty white (hence the name white scour), 

 and the fetor becomes intolerable. 



At first the calf retains its appetite, but as the severity of the 

 disease increases the animals shows less and less disposition to suck, 

 and has lost all vivacity, lying dull and listless, and, when raised, 

 walking weakly and unsteadily. Flesh is lost rapidly, the hair stands 

 erect, the skin gets dry and scurfy, the nose is dry and hot, or this 

 condition alternates with a moist and cool one. By this time the 

 mouth and skin, as well as the breath and dung, exhale the peculiar, 

 penetrating, sour, offensive odor, and the poor calf has become an 

 object of disgust to all that approach it. At first, and unless inflam- 

 mation of the stomach and bowels supervenes (and unless the affec- 

 tion has started in indigestion and colic) , the belly is not bloated or 

 painful on pressure, symptoms of acute colicky pains are absent, and 

 the bowels do not rumble; neither are bubbles of gas mingled with 

 the feces. The irritant products of the intestinal fermentations may, 

 however, irritate and excoriate the skin around the anus, which 

 becomes red, raw, and broken out in sores for some distance. Simi- 

 larly the rectum, exposed by reason of the relaxed condition of the 

 anus, or temporarily in straining to pass the liquid dejection, is of 

 a more or less deep red, and it may be ulcerated. Fever, with rapid 

 pulse and increased breathing and temperature, usually comes on 

 with the very fetid character of the feces and is more pronounced 

 as the bowels become inflamed, the abdomen sore to the touch and 

 tucked up, and the feces more watery and even mixed with blood. 



Prevention. — The prevention of these cases is the prevention of 

 constipation and indigestion, with all their varied causes as above 

 enumerated, the selection of a strong, vigorous stock, and, above all, 

 the combating of contagion, especially in the separation of the sick 

 from the healthy, and in the thorough purification and disinfection 

 of the buildings. The cleansing and sweetening of all drains, the 

 removal of dung heaps, and the washing and scraping of floors and 

 walls, followed by a liberal application of chlorid of lime (bleaching 

 powder), 4 ounces to the gallon, are indicated. Great care must be 

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

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

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

 the evil consequences of poisonous principles that may be produced 



