24 DISEASE AMONG SWINE AND OTHER DOMESTIC ANIMALS. 



Hogs in the Western States do not have proper attention. Too many are allowed 

 to sleep together, when they get overheated and die of thumps, which is also called 

 cholera. If people would take better care of this stock, and use soap in slops as above 

 recommended, hog cholera would soon pass away. 



Chicken cholera is a dibcase of the liver. Ouly one cure is now in use in this 

 county, which, if taken in time, is a specific. Take May-apple root and boil a weak 

 solution. Add a teacupful to a quart of meal and feed. Corn lime is a good pre- 

 ventive 



Mr. J. Harbison, Charlestown, Clarke County, Missouri, says: 



I would have answered your letter sooner, but I have been waiting to see some of 

 my neighbors, one of whom has lost eight head of stock cattle in the last three weeks; 

 but he could not tell me much about them, only that they were covered with ticks, 

 that they would not eat or drink, and that they would stand for hours at a time with 

 their heads to the ground, in which position they would remain until they died. The 

 cattle were bought at the Louisville (Ky.) stock-yards by Mr. H. J. Crum. 



I have lost some fowls from roup and cholera. Of the two diseases I dread roup the 

 most, as it does not show as unmistakably as the cholera. A fowl with the roup will eat 

 heartily, and to all appearances look well, until the disease will break out among the 

 entire flock. They hardly ever die with it, but they lose their eyes and look so disgust- 

 ing, that I generally cut their heads otf as soon as I find them affected with it. In 

 fact, that is my remedy for all diseases, especially cholera. Cholera usually shows 

 itself by the fowl moping around, generally with a full crop, sometimes with nothing 

 in its craw ; will not eat, but drink often ; the comb and wattles become a dark red — 

 nearly a black color ; the discharges at first are a pale green color, then dark green, and 

 sometimes yellow, like the yolk of an uncooked egg. They are generally fat when 

 taken, and seem to die sooner than when in a lean condition, I have sometimes found 

 the fowls with their craws so full of dry grass that it would not pass beyond. By cut- 

 ting open the craw and taking out this food, washing with warm water and sewing 

 it up again, they will soon get over the disease and in a few days will begin to eat 

 heartily. 



Mr. James A. Lee, Dowagiac, Cass County, Michigan, says: 



Stock in Michigan is subject to but few diseases. Horses generally have th" dis- 

 temper when growing, which runs from one to two weeks. It commences with a slight 

 cough, watering of the eyes, and loss of appetite. As the disease progresses the cough 

 increases. The throat and jaws swell, gather and break, when the horse becomes 

 unable to swallow, and dies of suffocation. The disease will yield to mild treatment, 

 such as sweating of the head and throat with bitter herbs, viz: wormwood, catnip, 

 hops, &c., and smoking the head with sulphur and old shoe-leather. Take a ball of 

 good sweet butter as large as an egg and put it down the hoi'se's throat twice a day. 

 Give mild physic if the case needs it, and keep the horse warm. 



The most common complaint among horses is cholic. The sj'mptoms are extreme 

 uneasiness. The horse paws, lies down and rolls, gets up and lies down again, groans, 

 begins to bloat, and continues in this way until death ensues unless relieved. This 

 can invariably be eftected, if taken in time, by a dose of one-half pint of salt dissolved 

 in a quart of water. Ifc should be administered every ten minutes until relief is 

 afforded, which generally occurs after the third dose. 



Worms of different kinds alfect the horse and are very troublesome. The symptoms 

 are tight skin, rough coat, irregular appetite, and the appearance of a yellowish mucus 

 under the tail. The horse lifts one hind foot to the belly, draws himself up, partly lies 

 down — perhaps entirely down — on his belly, gets up immediately and goes to eating, 

 stops suddenlj', and does the same thing over again. Give a common tablespoonful of 

 copperas in a ball, followed by a bran-mash once a day until relieved; then give a 

 light physic or turn to grass. 



We have nine head of cattle affected with horn distemper to one aftected with any 

 other disease. I am well aware that there are many learned men who say there 

 is no such disease, yet I know by forty years' experience the truth of what I write. 

 The animal has a staring look and a yellowish deposit in the corners of the eyes next 

 the nose, grinds its teeth, hair stands up, tail soft two or three inches from the end, 

 bowels varying from costive to laxative. This continues sometimes for years, and is 

 attended at times with loss of ai)petite and strength. The pith of the horn decays 

 and is discharged at the nose, and finally the membrane over the brain gives way and 

 death ensues. Cure: Cut two inches off the end of the tail to start the blood, and the 

 bone will be found lacking. Take one-half pint of sharp cider vinegar, put in a table- 

 spoonful of black peper and same of salt ; dissolve well. Then take the animal by the 

 horn and nose while some one injects one-half gill of the liquid in each ear. If very 

 bad, so that the animal is down, bore the horns with a spike-gimlet, and inject some of 



