DISEASES OF THE OX AND SHEEP. 377 



He also says that oats are very similar in favourable results to 

 wheaten bran, and may be given in quantities of from one to one 

 and a half gallons with other food per day. It is best to have 

 them crushed. Bean and pea meals tend rather to improve the 

 condition of the animal than to increase the milk supply ; and as 

 also they may give an unpleasant flavour to the milk, they 

 should be used sparingly with other mixtures. Linseed cake is 

 rich in milk and in flesh-producing qualities. Cotton-cake, 

 when of good quality, is said to be even better; but other writers 

 do not altogether endorse this opinion. 



Regarding roots, Mr. Walker says they must be given with 

 caution. Swedes may be allowed in cases where the milk 

 is to be sold; but when butter is made, the flavour is not 

 pleasant if this regimen be adopted. Swedes must be well 

 matured if required for dairy, cows, and to accomplish this 

 they should be stored early. Mangel-wurzels are a somewhat 

 over-rated food; before Christmas they are unfit for cows; 

 during March, April, May, and June, they are the most nutri- 

 tious. Cabbages are good food for dairy cows, and even more 

 valuable are carrots, which are rich milk-producers, and most 

 wholesome. . . . We must now leave these interesting questions 

 and conclude our review of anaemia. 



The blood, when examined with the haemocytometer, shows in 

 ansemic animals a great reduction in the number of red blood 

 corpuscles, and these contain less haemoglobin, and are paler than 

 those of healthy blood ; the number of white corpuscles is 

 perhaps not altered, nor are the fibrin and salts of the serum 

 diminished in amount. The quantity of water in the blood in 

 proportion to the solid constituents is increased. 



An anaemic ox shows gradual wasting of the tissues, and 

 becomes thin and wan. The pulse is weak, and the volume of 

 blood passing along the arteries is diminished, while the arteries 

 themselves are contracted. There is gradually progressing 

 weakness, and the animal becomes languid and dull ; the appe- 

 tite is variable, sometimes being very indiff'erent, sometimes 

 being increased ; but it is always capricious and generally much 

 impaired ; the breathing is irregular and hurried on the slightest 

 exertion. Much gas is apt to accumulate in the bowels, and 

 indigestion is very often an accompaniment of this impoverished 

 state of the blood. The bowels are generally irregular, being 



