264 Diseases of Cattle, 



peculiarities in the diseases to which they are subject, and 

 the effect of medicines upon them. 



Unlike the horse, they are never prized for their speed, so 

 that lamenesses and disorders of the " wind ^' are much less 

 frequent and less important ; unlike him again, their food is 

 not regulated to insure the utmost muscular power with the 

 least accumulation of fat, but just the reverse.^ Cattle are 

 naturally plethoric, slow of motion, and averse to much ex- 

 ercise ; and as they are generally under a stimulating and 

 forcing system of diet, they become peculiarly subject to all 

 those diseases which are brought on by excessive richness of 

 the blood. 



Their tolerance of disease Is also much less than that of 

 the horse. They do not bear pain with nearly so much for- 

 titude as that nobler animal ; and when continued for some 

 time, it preys upon them speedily and injuriously, as may 

 constantly be seen in painful foot affections. Moreover, their 

 courage to bear suffering is but little, and they readily yield 

 to despair and become indifferent to life. Often they refuse 

 to rise w^hen perfectly able to do so, and require energetic 

 measures to force them on their feet. For this reason also 

 they demand tonic medicines more freely and earlier after 

 acute disease than is necessary in the horse. 



Another result of this lesser vitality is their proneness to 

 local disease-producing influences. It is well known that 

 they do not thrive well and are more subject to diseases when 

 pastured in low-lying, swampy fields, and on rank grass. 

 Epidemics are both numerous and destructive among them. 

 Indeed, contao-ious and infectious maladies of various kinds 

 are by far the most dreaded of all forms of disease with 

 them, and have repeatedly desolated the herds of whole con- 

 tinents. Even the accident of abortion in pregnancy puts 

 on an epidemic form in cows, and is a source of frequent 

 anxiety to possessors of dairies. 



