736 DISEASES AND ABNORMALITIES. 



cable to the calf and foal, but in all care must be observed not to apply 

 the acid to the parts surrounding the umbilicus. 



Curative treatment must be chiefly of a disinfecting and antiseptic kind. 

 At the commencement it must be chiefly local, and the applications most 

 likely to prove beneficial are lotions of carbolic acid, salicylic acid (par- 

 ticularly if fever runs high), salicylate of soda, permanganate of potass, 

 borate of soda, alum, or other astringent. If the umbilical vein is readily 

 accessible, one of these lotions may be introduced into it, either by a fine 

 bone probe wrapped round with lint, or by a syringe. Franck states that a 

 five per cent, solution of carbolic acid may be passed in this way into the 

 abdominal portion of the vein of small calves ; this vessel can be pene- 

 trated to a distance of nearly ten inches. He does not approve of inject- 

 ing the solution, because of the danger of injuring the portal vein. 



If the suppuration is superficial, the same lotions may be used, or the 

 part may be cauterized with solid nitrate of silver. 



When the inflammation is very intense, several authorities recom- 

 mend recourse to vesicating agents ; others employ ammoniacal liniment, 

 and Rueff advocates tartarized antimony ointment. 



.When there is danger of general infection, or this has already oc- 

 curred, then the internal administration of antiseptic agents must be 

 resorted to. Franck recommends salicylate of soda in doses of about one 

 gramme every hour. Carbolic acid, sulphite of soda, or other agents of 

 this class may also be given with advantage. 



Constipation may be averted by castor-oil or a suitable diet — skimmed 

 milk alternately with new milk. Preparations of iron may also be ad- 

 ministered j and if the young creature is still at the teat, its dam should 

 be well fed. 



Franck notes that, during omphalitis, the most serious complication is 

 inflammation of the umbilical artery, the existence of which can gen- 

 erally only be detected on a post-mortem examination of an animal which 

 has died,' or has been killed because of the disease. This complication 

 is more frequent in the foal than the calf, probably because the vessel is 

 torn at the umbilical ring in the first, and in the abdomen in the second. 

 The peripheral portion is thickened, and contains a reddish-colored 

 thrombus, or is filled with a puriform breaking-up mass, and often the 

 vessel is surrounded by, or imbedded in, an abscess ; a sharp line of de- 

 marcation separates the inflamed from the healthy portion. General 

 infection or pyaemia rapidly follows umbilical arteritis. 



CHAPTER VII. 

 Arthritis. 



Disease of the joints of young animals, occurring soon after birth, has 

 been for a long time recorded in districts or regions where breeding is 

 largely carried on ; the animals affected belonging to the equine, bovine, 

 and ovine species — much less frequently are dogs and pigs attacked. In 

 France it is usually known as the " Arthrite " or " Paralysie des Jeunes 

 Animaux," in Germany as the " Fohlenlahme," " Kalblahme," and 

 " Lammerlahme," and in England — where it has evidently been but little 



