198 THE NATURE AND TREATMENT OF 



sufficient for the entire recovery of tone in the sexual organs ; 

 hence, so long as this practice continued, his cow would never 

 go her full time. I strongly urge the necessity of spaying 

 such an animal. She ought, at least, to be separated from the 

 breeding cows, and her fcetal calf, membranes, and placenta, 

 should be burnt in the open ^ir, for there is no safety in bury- 

 ing them a few inches under the earth's surface. 



It is very probable that many cases of abortion occur through 

 a deranged condition of the digestive organs ; therefore the 

 means most likely to prove effectual in keeping the stomach in 

 a healthy state should be adopted. 



What an immense amount of labor the digestive organs 

 have to perform ! They have to be almost constantly engaged 

 in converting the elements of good and bad food into chyme and 

 chyle, and they must not slacken much, else where are sixteen 

 quarts, more or less, per day of milk to come from ? How is 

 the foetus in utero to be nourished, and the wear* and tear of 

 the cow's organism to be provided for when the stomach is not 

 in working order ? 



The practice of milking cows to within a short period of 

 parturition, is highly injurious, yet some persons with whom I 

 have had conversations on this subject, contend that, in some 

 cases, it is impossible to " diy the cow." I advised them to re- 

 duce the animals food th less than one-half, or even one-fourth 

 if necessary ; in fact, there would be no harm in withholding 

 food altogether for a short time, and in substituting for food 

 a dose or two of aperient medicine. Tiiis course must neces- 

 sarily soon lessen the amount of blood in the system, and as 

 the milk is concocted from the blood it will decrease in the 

 same ratio, or rather be essentially lessened.; and in view of 

 reducing the quantity of milk, I also urge the necessity of 

 keeping the cow on a small quantity of water. This practice 

 may not on all occasions succeed in arresting the lacteal secre- 

 tion, still it is the qnly rational way of accomplishing the 

 object. 



Abortion is sometimes attributed to a debilitated state of the 

 animal ; this also arises from a derangement of the stom- 



