378 THE DISEASES AND DISORDERS OP THE OX. 



most often constipated, though they may be too freely 

 opened ; diarrhoea, indeed, is not at all uncommon. Dizziness 

 and general depression make the animal look the picture of 

 helplessness and despair. Even cows despair. 



Regarding the treatment of anaemia, we must say a few words. 

 In the first place the cause of the disorder should be ascertained. 

 The food supply should be judiciously regulated in accordance 

 with the requirements of the animal, and should be of an 

 easily digestible nutritious character. Linseed gruel and bran 

 mashes will at first be of great value. If there be any loss of 

 blood, this should receive attention and treatment. If there be 

 no ascertainable cause, tonics should be administered once or 

 twice daily. The most valuable are the salts of iron and vege- 

 table tonics such as nux vomica, or its alkaloid strychnine, 

 and bitters, such as gentian, calumba, and chiretta. The 

 general requirements of the animal must also receive attention; 

 the shed must be well ventilated and kept in a cleanly, whole- 

 some condition. If the place is damp and cold, plenty of 

 bedding should be used. An ordinary case of simple anaemia 

 is easily curable, when treated on these general lines. More 

 severe cases generally owe their cause to some internal disorder, 

 the nature of which must be carefully ascertained. 



The treatment of pre-parturient paralysis requires pretty 

 nearly the same management, but the medicinal treatment 

 must be more vigorous. With strychnine and carbonate of 

 ammonium the best results are to be obtained, and but seldom 

 need a case succumb, if it be well attended to. There is no fear 

 of abortion being caused by the administration of these tonics ; 

 on the contrary, unless these or other remedial measures be 

 taken, abortion will ensue in many instances. Abortion, indeed, 

 is commonly the result of under-feeding. 



GENERAL DISORDERS DUE TO DIETETIC 

 ERRORS. 

 When one contemplates how fertile is bounteous Nature in 

 resource, and how adaptable men and animals are to the varied 

 conditions to which they are subjected, one might at first, 

 perhaps, wonder that they sometimes battle so unsuccessfully 

 against those many and varied disorders which owe their causation 

 to dietetic errors. Yet, indeed, these diseases, especially common 



