Hollow Horn, 289 



HOLLOW HORN— HORN- AIL— ANEMIA OF CATTLE. 



Definition. — A special diseased condition of the blood, in 

 which there is either a deficiency in the amount of blood in 

 the body, or a diminution of some of its important constitu- 

 ents, especially the red blood corpuscles. 



Causes. — Such a condition of the blood may follow an at- 

 tack of any acute disease where the recovery is slow and par- 

 tial ; but generally it is brought about by poor or insufHcient 

 food, exposure and neglect, foul air, lack of cleanliness and 

 other necessary conditions of health. The food may be 

 abundant in quantity, but contain an excess of water and 

 a deficiency of solid matter. Thus, instances are given in the 

 Country Gentleman's Magazine, 1874, where the exclusive 

 use of roots, or of green food grooving on damp soil, and even 

 the persistent use of one food only, resulted in this depraved 

 condition of the blood. Cattle fed winter and summer on 

 timothy hay have been known to suffer from it. Monotony 

 of diet in them, as in human beings, leads to the manufac- 

 ture by the digestive organs of an inferior quality of blood. 



Symptoms. — These are those of general debility and "poor 

 condition." The animal is scant of flesh, hide bound, and 

 with staring coat. The hair is often ragged and lousy. The 

 appetite is ravenous or irregular j the bowels either consti- 

 pated or too loose, generally the latter, the dung is foul- 

 smelling, and there is much wind passed. The pulse is 

 feeble, and the animal easily fatigued. On examining the 

 inside of the mouth, the lining membrane looks paler than 

 usual, and on feeling the horn it is colder than natural, some- 

 times almost " deathly cold.'' 



This last mentioned trait is what has given the disease its 

 common name, and the ordinary cowleech imagines the dis- 

 ease is a local one, originating in the horn. Hence he will 

 bore it with a gimlet and squirt some turpentine into the 



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