1855. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



125 



amination of an animal by hunting for a "soft 

 place" in the tail, and failing in that, go to the 

 other extremity, and examine the horns. If they 

 find the horns hot, they say that the animal has 

 the "horn ail," and commence curious operations 

 in boring the bonis. But heat in the horns is 

 only a symptom of disease, not disease itself. — 

 Like the tending of the circulation to the surface 

 in the human system, it indicates a want of equi- 

 librium. Sometimes on boring into a horn, pus 

 is exuded, and the operator immediately cries 

 "horn-ail." But this is nonsense. There is a 

 direct connection in the horns of animals with 

 the nostrils, and this matter which escapes is 

 caused by nasal gleets, or running of the nose, 

 and should be drawn off in a natural way. Upon 

 the inner surface of the horn is a membrane, and 

 if it is punctured by boring, a disease in the horns 

 will be likely to ensue. Hollowness is a charac- 

 teristic of horns in all cattle ; there is a perfect 

 channel, extending from the tip of the horns to 

 ■ the nose. There is a disease of the brain which 

 sometimes destroys cattle. He had put his hand 

 into the brains of cattle after death, and found 

 them as soft as sponge. This is owing to derange- 

 ments of the stomach. There is a great degree 

 of sympathj'- between the head and the stomach : 

 strike a man a blow on the head, and it will make 

 him feel sick ; strike him on the stomach, and it 

 will make him fall down from giddiness. Now 

 this "horn-ail" is indigestion. The speaker re- 

 lated the case of a cow which was driven ninety 

 miles, and on arrival home, was found to be suf- 

 fering from constipated bowels. Her owner was 

 ignorant of the projjcr measures to be taken, and 

 applied to his neighbors for advice ; they recom- 

 mended some one thing, and some another. He 

 gave her, throe days in succession, a pound of 

 salts, and these fiiiling to produce any effect, 36 

 drops of Croton oil, (enough to kill any but a sick 

 cow,) then a quarter of a pound of antimony, 

 and finayy, a quarter of a pound of gunjiowder. 

 The animal died, and he found, on a post-mortem 

 examination, that all this medicine had passed 

 into the paunch, and had consequently produced 

 no effect. If medicine is poured rapidly into a 

 cow, it will run directly into the paunch ; but 

 if administered gently, the cow will be enabled 

 to pass it away to the fourth or digestive stomach, 

 where it Avill operate. Horses, however, are so 

 constructed, that whatever is poured down the 

 throat is sure to pass into the stomach. Cattle 

 are subject to the same diseases as we are, and 

 should be treated in like manner, and with equal 

 skill. "We have a disease among cattle in this 

 country, called ■pleura pneuinnnid, which generally 

 takes the best of the herd. Veterinary science 

 will tell the fai-mer to inoculate the diseased ones 

 with the breath of the healtliy, and a cure will 



be the result. A horse taken witli the cholic, 

 which is produced by the gathering of carbonic 

 acid gas in the stomach, which cariiiot find vent, 

 cannot be cured by the ordinary remedies ; by in- 

 serting, with the help of instruments, a tube, a 

 passage is provided for the escape of the gas, and 

 the animal is relieved. When constriction of the 

 neck or the bladder is the difficulty, of wliich sci- 

 ence enables us easily to trace the symptoms, a 

 cure may be effected by a similar course of action 

 — letting off the urine with an inserted tube. 

 Spasmodic cholera is seated on the muscles, but 

 originates in the nerves, and consequently the ner- 

 vous system must be acted on. Ckanliness and 

 kindness in the treatment of cattle were urged by 

 the speaker as points of much importance. 



Mr. Sheldon, of Wilmington, spoke upon breed- 

 ing of cattle, remarking that he had l)een ac- 

 quainted with most breeds, except the Alderney, 

 and he was rather in favor of native stock. It 

 is said that they will not perpetuate their good 

 qualities, but the fault is more in the breeders 

 than in the cattle. He noticed that gentlemen 

 who advocated foreign breeds, recommended, after 

 all, that they should be crossed with the native 

 stock. But if foreign breeds are t!ic best, why 

 mingle them with an inferior stock ? Wliy not 

 keep them pure? He was unwilling to admit 

 that foreign breeds are any more reliable than 

 native stock, if it has been here twenty-one years. 

 He spoke highly of Durhams, yet considered 

 them inferior to natives, and expressed the opin- 

 ion that we shall yet be obliged to fall back up- 

 on the latter. 



Hon. Seth Sprague, of Duxbury, believed that 

 the comparisons made in favor of native stock 

 were based upon rare specimens which were se- 

 lected from lots of perhaps a thousand at Bright- 

 on, and therefore the comparison was unfair. 

 Again, the object of English breeders was lost 

 sight of. In England, tlie breeder aims at pro- 

 ducing the best animal for a specific purpose — as 

 for beef, milk or work — chiefly, however, for beef. 

 The Durhams, Devons and Ayrshires will make 

 more flesh on the same amount of food than any 

 native stock. If we pursue the course which the 

 English do, we can get just what we want. Now 

 we breed ani buy without any do'inite object. 

 Without concluding his remarks, Jlr. Sprague, 

 it being 9 o'clock, moved that the meeting ad- 

 journ, and that the subject of Farm Stock be 

 continued next Tuesday evening. The motion 

 was seconded by Mr. Flint, and carried. 



Ex.\MINATIOX OK A VETERINARY StIPT-NT.— Wc 



were present, by invitation, on Wediu.'Hday, at tlie 

 examination of a student oi"l)r. Geo. 11. Dadd. This 

 stuihmt isal)()ut to esta!)lish liimself as a physician 

 of domestic animals in Portland, IMaine. The 

 young man, Mr. Leonard Burnham, has attended 



