ABORTION. 



not shut our ey s to any other which accident 

 or investigation may reveal. In the meantime, 

 the number of abortions may be diminished by 

 carefully avoiding all those causes which are 

 known to be capable of producing it. Let the 

 cows be regularly fed ; let their food be good, 

 and in proper quantities ; let them have water 

 as often as they will take it; avoid sudden ex- 

 posure to cold or heat ; and, above all, let the 

 cow-house be well ventilated. Prohibit all 

 manner of rough usage on the part of those 

 who look after the cows, whether they be preg- 

 nant or not. If any of them accumulate flesh 

 too rapidly, gradually reduce their allowance; 

 and, on the other hand, if any become emaci- 

 ated, discover the cause, and remedy it, always 

 by slow degrees. Sudden changes in the 

 matter or mode of feeding should also be 

 avoided. The same sort of diet does not 

 agree equally well with all the cows; and this, 

 in general, is indicated by undue relaxation, 

 or constipation of the bowels; this should be 

 watched, and removed at once. Attention to 

 these, and many other minor circumstances, 

 will amply repay the proprietor for the little 

 additional trouble. 



" That improper or too little food," says Mr. 

 Lindsay, " is a prominent cause of abortion, is 

 strongly indicated by the following 1; 

 friend of mine, a respectable gra/ing farmer, 

 kept a dairy of twenty-two cows, ten of wlurh 

 slipped calf at different periods of parturition. 

 The summer had been very unfavourable in 

 every respect, both as p-iranli'M the ground 

 "where the cows were pastured, and in getting 

 in the hay crop. He had little or no hay of the 

 last year's growth, and the hay of that year 

 wheu cut into was in a very bad state ; but as 

 he had no other, he was obliged to give it to 

 his cattle. The consequence was as men- 

 tioned above ; and besides, many of his stock 

 died of various disorders ; and many of those 

 which recovered remained long weakly." 



"The most common cause of abortion in 

 cows," says White, " is improper feeding dur- 

 ing winter and spring, before they are turned 

 to pasture. The filthy pond-water they are 

 often compelled to drink, and feeding on 

 the rank fog-grass of October and Novem- 

 ber, especially when covered with hoar-fro^t, 

 are likewise frequent causes of miscarriage. 

 I remember a farm near Berkeley, in Glouces- 

 tershire, which afforded a striking proof of the 

 injuries of stagnant pond- water, impregnated 

 with dung an i urine. This r arm had been 

 given up by three farmers successively, in 

 consequence of the losses they sustained 

 through abortion in^their cattle, thoir not being 

 in season (that is, not conceiving), red water, 

 end other diseases. At length a Mr. Dimmery, 

 after suffering considerably in his live stock 

 for the first five years, suspected that the water 

 of his ponds, which was extremely filthy, 

 might be the cause of the mischief. He ther*- 

 fore dug three wells upon his farm, and having 

 fenced round the ponds to prevent his cattle 

 from drinking there, caused them to be sup- 

 plied with well-water, in stone troughs erected 

 for the purpose; and from this moment his 

 live stock begin to thrive, became uncom- 

 monly healthy, and the quality of the butter 



ABORTION. 



' and cheese made on his farm was greatly inv* 

 proved. It should be observed, that on thir, 

 farm the cattle were regularly i'cd with good 

 hay during the winter, and kept in good pas- 

 ture in summer: so that there cannot exist a 



j doubt that the losses sustained by Mr. Dim- 

 mery were entirely attributable to the un whole- 

 some water the animals were compelled to 

 drink." 



"In order," adds Mr. White, "to show that 

 the accident of warping may arise from a viti- 

 ated state of the digestive organs, I shall here 

 notice a few circumstances tending to corro- 

 borate this opinion. In January, 1782, all the 

 cows in the possession of farmer D'Euruse, 

 near Grandvilliers, in Picardy, miscarried. The 

 period at which they warped was about the 

 fourth or fifth month. The accident was attri- 

 buted to the excessive heat of the preceding 

 summer; but as the water they were in the 

 habit of drinking was extremely bad, and thc.y 

 had been kept upon oat, wheat, and rye stra,v, 

 it appears to me more probable that the great 

 quantity of straw they were obliged to eat in 

 order to obtain sufficient nourishment, and the 

 injury sustained by the third stomach in ex- 

 pressing the fluid parts of the masticated mass, 

 together with the large quantity of water they 

 probably drank w r hile kept upon this dry food, 

 was the real cause of their miscarrying. A 

 farmer at Charentin, out of a dairy of twenty- 

 eight cows, had sixteen slip calf at different 

 )>en.ls of gestation. The summer had been 

 very dry, and during the whole of this season 

 they had been pastured in a muddy place, 

 which was flooded by the Seine. Here the 

 COWS were generally up to their knees in mud 

 and water, and feeding on crowfoot, rushes, 

 and the like. Part of the stock had recently 

 been brought from Lower Normandy, where 

 they had all been affected with indigestion by 

 feeding upon lucerne, from the effects of which 

 they had been relieved by the operation of 

 paunching. In one, the opening made was 

 large enough to admit the hand for the purpose 

 of drawing out the food; the rest were ope- 

 rated on with a trocar. In 1789, all the cows 

 in the parish of Beaulieu, near Mantes, mis- 

 carried. All the land in this parish was so 

 stiff as to hold water for a considerable time; 

 and as a vast quantity of rain fell that year, 

 the pastures were for a long time, and at seve- 

 ral periods, completely inundated, on which 

 the grass became sour and rank. These, and 

 several other circumstances which have fallen 

 under my own observation, plainly show that 

 keeping cows on food that is deficient in nutri- 

 tion, and difficult of digestion, is one, if not 

 the principal, cause of their miscarrying. It 

 is stated by Mr. Handwin, that feeding in pas- 

 tures, when covered with white frost, has been 

 observed to occasion abortion in these ani- 

 mals." 



If there be any probability of a cow miscar- 

 rying from exposure to any of the common 

 causes already enumerated, let her by all 

 means be put apart from the others ; and let a 

 skilful person attend to the evil from which 

 she is expected to suffer. If the approach of 

 abortion be evident, bleeding may be had re- 

 course to; for if it do not check abortion, ir 



