POUND. 



PREGNANCY. 



of live-stock ; but those best known are the 

 game breed, the white or English breed, the black 

 or Poland breed, the Dorking breed, the large or 

 Shakebag breed, and the Malay breed. The two 

 first are much smaller breeds than the others. 

 This kind of stock affords profit in the eggs, as 

 well as the chickens ; therefore such as are the 

 best layers and sitters should be chosen, which 

 are in general the game and Poland breeds, but 

 the other breeds have probably the advantage 

 in rc-pect to the size of the eggs : as food, the 

 game and the white breeds are said to be the 

 most delicate. 



The care and management of the poultry- 

 yard usually devolves upon the farmer's wife, 

 and the industrious housewife will do well to 

 see to their food and rearing, &c., herself, and 

 not trust too much to servants. For the most 

 economical methods of keeping and managing 

 poultry, &c., I refer the reader to the different 

 heads of DOVECOTE, DUCKS, FOWLS, GOOSE, 

 TURKEY, &c. See also EROS, FEATHERS. 



The com parative value of the keep for domes- 

 He fowls is as follows: geese 5 per cent., ducks 

 7 ditto, pigeons 10 ditto, dunghill fowls 40 ditto, 

 turkeys and Guinea fowls 60 ditto. From a series 

 of observations made on the diseases of domes- 

 tic poultry, Mr. Flourens makes the following 

 conclusions : 1. In these animals cold exer- 

 cises a constant and determinate action on their 

 lungs. 2. The effect of this action is the more 

 rapid and more severe, the younger the animal is. 

 3. When cold does not cause acute jyid speedily 

 fatal inflammation of the lungs, it produces a 

 chronic inflammation, which is pulmonary 

 consumption itself. [This, however, is a mis- 

 take, as pulmonary consumption is the deposi- 

 tion of tubercles in, not inflammation of, the 

 lungs.] 4. Heat always prevents the attack of 

 pulmonary disease: when the latter has taken 

 place, heat suspends its progress, and even 

 sometimes arrests it entirely, and effects a com- 

 plete cure. 6. Pulmonary consumption in any 

 stage is never contagious : fowls affected with 

 that disease were not only all day along with 

 the healthy fowls, but at night roosted in the 

 same places, without communicating their dis- 

 ease to them. 6. Lastly, the action of too long 

 confined air exposes these animals to abscesses 

 of the cornea, and inflammation of the ball of 

 the eye. These abscesses and inflammations 

 are also caused in a still more cruel manner by 

 cold, especially when accompanied with mois- 

 ture. (Annales des Sci. Nat.') The reader will 

 find an interesting essay by Mr. England on the 

 rearing and management of domestic poultry, 

 in the fourth volume of the Trans, of the Highl. 

 Soc., to which a premium was awarded. There 

 is also a paper on the same subject in the 

 eighth volume of the Quart. Journ. of Jlgr. 

 p. 509. 



FOUND. In law, a place where cattle and 

 goods which have been distrained are to be 

 lodged and kept until redeemed. The common 

 meaning in the United States is, a place where 

 tattle are enclosed and kept. See DISTRESS. 



POVERTY GRASS, or Forked Aristida; 

 frequent in the Middle States, on dry, sterile 

 soils. 



PREGNAVCY. In cattle, the state of being 

 with young Under the heads ABORTION, 

 "932 



CALVING, GESTATION, &c., I have gone viry 

 fully into this subject. The following excellent 

 observations by Mr. Youatt, on the detection of 

 pregnancy in the mare and the cow, are highly 

 practical and useful. 



Among healthy animals, the impregnation 

 of the female rarely fails to be the result of an 

 intercourse between the sexes. The assurance, 

 however, of this having taken place, is, occa- 

 sionally, an affair of considerable interest, and 

 of no little difficulty; and the value and the 

 destiny of the female may very much depend 

 on the decision of the question. A certain time 

 having elapsed, the thing will speak for itself; 

 but are there any symptoms or circumstances 

 that will warrant the veterinary surgeon, or the 

 agriculturist, in giving a decided opinion on 

 the case in an early period of supposed preg- 

 nancy"? 



It occasionally happens that the fifth or the 

 sixth month arrives, and, even to the practised 

 eye, there are few or no indications of conception 

 having taken place. There are, also, but some- 

 what unfrequently, diseases which very closely 

 simulate this natural process. Can the vete- 

 rinary surgeon or the breeder decide 1 The 

 answer is in the affirmative, and plainly and 

 unequivocally. This is one of the boons which 

 the veterinary art can now confer on the agri- 

 culturist. The altered character of the female 

 is regarded, and very properly, as a circum- 

 stance of no little weight. She is compara- 

 tively calm and quiet; her appetite returns, and 

 she regains her former condition and her former 

 habits. Five or six weeks pass, and there is no 

 outbreak of any kind. The owner concludes, 

 and he is not often wrong, that she is impreg- 

 nated. He, however, has had little to do with 

 mares or with cows who has not witnessed tne 

 return of the most furious oestrum, after a much 

 longer period of time has elapsed. I have known 

 more than 3 months pass in this delusive qui- 

 etude, and then a salaciousness worse than at 

 first has indicated that no actual impregnation 

 had taken place. On the other hand, the 

 oastrum, but not with all its former fury, has 

 returned, 2, and 3, and 4 months after the con- 

 nection ; and yet, as the result finally shows, 

 impregnation had taken place at their first in- 

 tercourse. 



Many circumstances may cause the owner 

 to be anxious to know the truth of the matter. 

 He may wish to sell her, or he may be unusu- 

 ally desirous to breed from her. Let the animal 

 be examined per vaginam. Let the hand be 

 slowly and cautiously passed up the vagina 

 until it reaches the os uteri. Let there be nc 

 attempt to penetrate farther. No information 

 can be gained from introducing the fingers into 

 the uterus. It is simply wished to ascertain 

 the character of the os uteri. In its natural 

 and unimpregnated state it will be closed; but 

 it will not be tightly or spasmodically so, and 

 the contraction of the mouth of the womb will 

 form a kind of cup, with the base towards that 

 viscus. If she is impregnated, the entrance to 

 the uterus will be more firmly closed, and the 

 protrusion will be towards the vagina. This 

 is the only exploration per vaginam which I 

 would allow ; it is easily made, and it will be 

 satisfactory. If an exploration of this kind is 



