DIARRHCEA. 755 



unpleasant odor. The Ewes remain healthy. With regard to the cause, this was prob- 

 ably in the fodder, which consisted of damp oats, and also in the dwellings, which 

 were hot and steamy. The Ewes in lamb were therefore fed with maize and good fod- 

 der, sulphuric acid was put in the water they drank, and every week they received two 

 draughts of a solution of sulphate of iron with vegetable bitters, the dwelling was 

 changed, and the disease ceased. 



Prognosis. 

 The prognosis of this disease is generally unfavorable. Nearly all the 

 young animals seized with it perish ; and when a few recover, it is either 

 through energetic and appropriate treatment, being attacked in a less 

 severe manner, or from being endowed with greater vital tenacity. And 

 even those which recover are usually so reduced in strength and condi- 

 tion, and convalescence is so protracted and unsatisfactory, that there is 

 little if any profit in rearing them. As a rule, all those born about the 

 same period succumb ; but after the malady has prevailed for one or two 

 years in a shed, it assumes a milder form, and more recoveries are 

 recorded. When the disease appears in small cowsheds, where there are 

 fewer calves and comparatively more space, it is much less to be dreaded. 

 Sometimes it disappears from a cowshed for some months. Old calves 

 are not so readily affected, and recover more readily. Weaned calves 

 which are fed on fodder, appear to enjoy immunity from attack. 



Treatment. 



As with every other animal m3.]7idiy, preventive treatment is the most 

 important, with regard to this diarrhoea of young animals. Attention to 

 hygiene is very necessary at all times, and more so when the disease has 

 shown itself in a stable or shed. It is much the safer plan, however, to 

 remove all pregnant animals from the dwelling in which it has appeared, 

 and the longer the interval which elapses between their removal and 

 parturition, so the more likelihood there is of their progeny escaping. If 

 moved three to four, or four to six weeks before parturition, their safety 

 may be fairly assured. The stable or shed in which the malady has 

 occurred should be well disinfected, and if possible left unoccupied during 

 the grazing season. The floor particularly demands attention, as it is 

 not at all improbable that the infection is retained there ; if possible, the 

 floor should be renewed. Strong carbolic acid or chloride of lime-wash 

 must be freely employed, and especially where the excreta from the sick 

 animals have fallen. Thorough disinfection of the building with sulphuric 

 acid or chlorine gas is advisable. 



With regard to curative measures, but little, unfortunately, can be said. 

 The history of the outbreak may suggest the nature of predisposing 

 causes, and furnish indications for their removal. 



In the Milch Zeitung for 1877, is a good paper on the malady in calves, 

 by Kessel-Zeutsch, who says, with regard to treatment : 



" When only isolated cases occur among the sucking calves in a herd, they are usually 

 of a mild and tractable form, and due to cold or temporary unsuitability of the mother's 

 milk, or to a natural predisposition to weakness of digestion. The external symptoms 

 generally observed are the frequent passage of slimy motions, marked tenesmus, and a 

 disinclination to suck. Consequently the calves soon become weak, and the primary con- 

 sideration is, therefore, to support their strength while treating the attack. To this end 

 it is absolutely necessary that any calf having diarrhoea to an extent requiring medicinal 

 treatment should immediately be placed with the mother, so as to benefit by the animal 

 heat of the Cow, and by its own instinctive inclination to suck. Diarrhoea caused by 

 over-sucking is rarely met with except when the calves have been separated from the 

 mother shortly after birth, in which case they naturally feed too greedily when allowed 

 access to the teat, and so overburden their still immature digestive apparatus. 



