DISEASES OF THE OX AND SHEEP. 665 



animal will refuse her food. If the cow is milked, a thin 

 yellowish fluid is obtained, and in it small floccoli are con- 

 tained. Later on, the milk becomes thick and very fetid, while 

 the swollen udder enlarges, and becomes white here and there, 

 abscesses being formed. These break and discharge, leaving 

 ^eep and ragged ulcers which often burrow by means of sinuses 

 into the deeper portions of the gland. Gangrene may next 

 ■supervene, and large diseased parts of the gland may become 

 separated, or require to be removed by the aid of the knife. At 

 this stage, or before it, a fatal issue may occur. 



Treatment should consist in the abstraction of blood and the 

 -administration of a cathartic dose. The udder should be 

 fomented with warm water, and be kept free of milk, both by 

 letting the calf suck and by regular drawing with the hand. 

 Mr. Dobson recommended the following powder: — 



Powered digitalis leaves ^ drachm, powdered tartarised 

 antimony 2 drachms, powdered nitre J ounce. To be given 

 once a day. 



In the Bovine Formulary we recommend a draught made of 

 one ounce of bicarbonate of potassium, and forty minims of 

 tincture of aconite given in a sufficient quantity of water every 

 four hours for a day, and then three times daily, so long as the 

 temperature remains high. 



Linseed poultices containing about four drachms of extract of 

 belladonna may be applied. In cases of chronic induration, a 

 lotion made up of one drachm of bicarbonate of potassium and 

 one ounce of water may be injected, while at a later stage acetic 

 liniment may be used. Also in chronic cases one ounce of 

 bicarbonate of potassium, together with two drachms of iodide 

 of potassium, may be given twice daily in a sufficiency of water. 

 If an abscess form, it should be opened with a lancet, and the 

 matter thereby set free. The wound may be dressed with the 

 ointment of turpentine. 



If mortification should ensue, powerful stimulants should be 

 given, such as brandy, and the diseased parts of the udder must 

 be cut away. 



Sometimes the disease becomes chronic, the udder becoming 

 hard. The compound iodine ointment will in these cases be 

 found useful, and compounds of iodine may also be administered 

 internally. 



