123 



chronic inflammation of this stomach, and of the bowels, with great 

 emaciation and diarrhoea, is the result, followed by a slow lingering 

 death, from inanition. Irritation and inflammation of this stomach is 

 at times also set up, by the irritating husks of castor or croton beans, 

 and other deleterious seeds having been incorporated in feeding cakes. 

 Moulded cakes, particularly undecorticated cotton cake, have also a 

 very injurious and frequently fatal action on this stomach. Small 

 Worms — Strongylus Contortus, and* other thread-like worms, 

 which infest the lining membrane of this stomach, and intestines of 

 both cattle and sheep, also cause great irritation, exhaustion, diarrhoea, 

 and extreme emaciation, and this is particularly the case in young 

 animals, in cold wet seasons (par. 312). Treatment : — First find out 

 the cause, and if possible remove it, and follow the recommendation 

 laid down in paragraph 250. The post mortem appearance of the stomach 

 resembles that exhibited in the horse, as noted in paragraph 251 . 



303. Lead Poisoning is sometimes met with, and is caused by the 

 animal picking up spent bullets near rifle ranges, or grazing on lands 

 near lead-smelting works, but it is most frequently seen on pastures 

 where town rubbish has been spread, or where the scrapings of paint 

 tins and tea lead have been deposited ; sometimes it is due to the 

 animal getting to tins of white lead and eating the contents. I have 

 seen three cases from this latter cause. The salts of lead are very 

 sweet, and cattle eat them with great relish. Lead poisoning is both 

 acute and chronic. In the acute cases the attack is sudden, and 

 resembles stomach staggers (par. 305) at first, or the latter stages of 

 milk fever, [Lecture X., Nervous System), accompanied by paralysis and 

 coma. Treat.ment is generally of very little avail ; sixty-drop doses 

 of sulphuric acid, largely diluted with cold water, might be pumped 

 into the stomach, to act on the lead chemically, and form the insoluble 

 sulphate of lead ; and this should be followed up by half-pint doses of 

 raw linseed oil, every six or eight hours. In chronic lead poisoning, 

 the animal just dwindles away, blue lines being noticed round the 

 gums. Thirty-drop doses of sulphuric acid, with one drachm of 

 sulphate of quinine, given in one pint of cold water twice a day, is in 

 such cases useful. 



