INJURIES TO THE TEATS, 715 



which have not been bred from for a long time, or which have brought 

 forth their first young, though themselves aged. This absence of secre- 

 tion may occur, even though pregnancy has been normal and has reached 

 its full limit. The udder is small and soft, and attempts at milking only 

 result in the production of some drops of yellowish fluid, followed some- 

 times by a few drops of white watery fluid. There appears to be a want 

 of development in the lacteal apparatus, which various causes concur in 

 producing. The principal of these causes are : previous or present 

 chronic disease in the mammae ; atrophy of these glands ; exhaustion fol- 

 lowing disease ; severe labor ; insufficient food, either during or immedi- 

 ately after pregnancy; natural debility, emaciation, etc. In some in- 

 stances the milk gradually appears some time after parturition, and a 

 tolerable quantity is secreted ; but in the majority of cases it is either 

 not produced at all, or only in very small quantity. This condition is 

 very unfortunate for its young, which must suffer from hunger if not 

 observed, and must either be artificially reared, or put to another animal 

 to be suckled. 



The treatment of this condition must frequently prove unsuccessful. It 

 must chiefly consist in giving good food, particularly of a leguminous 

 kind, with aniseed and fennel, fennel-seeds, water fennel, Mcum mutel- 

 linum, antimonials, and other agents which are likely to stimulate the 

 secretory function of the mammae. Great attention must be paid to the 

 digestive organs, and the teats should be frequently stripped and the 

 mammae rubbed, either dry, or with some stimulating application. 



Macorps (Canstatt's jfahresbericht, i860) records a case in which the 

 udder was rubbed with brandy, friction applied to the abdomen, and 

 warm milk and fennel-seeds administered ; in two days the milk began to 

 appear. 



When the absence of milk is due to disease of the gland, this must be 

 combated according to the indications. 



CHAPTER XI. 

 Injuries to the Teats. 



Fissures. 



The chief injuries to the teats consist of wounds, in the form of fissures 

 or " cracks," which are most frequently witnessed in the Cow a few days 

 after parturition ; and though apparently unimportant, they nevertheless 

 may become very troublesome and serious if neglected, and even lead to 

 mastitis and icorrhaemia or septikaemia ; while they render the animal 

 fidgety and averse to being milked or suckled — the latter being especially 

 inconvenient, particularly in the case of the foal. 



Causes. 

 These injuries are generally produced by the powerful traction of the 

 young creature on the teat while sucking, and mainly when the teat is 

 empty, the milk scanty, and the skin very thin and fine — as in primiparas. 

 Even when the milk is abundant, but the skin thin, these fissures may 

 occur. The teat is alternately distended by milk — when it is covered 

 and softened by the externally warm saliva and buccal secretions of the 



