DAIRY INSPECTION 151 



Rough, bristling, lustreless hair and a dry, stiff skin (hide- 

 bound) indicates unthriftiness or lack of condition, which may 

 be due to disease or improper care. In stables in which the 

 cows are regularly groomed, fresh cows, especially heifers with 

 the first calf, may appear rough and thin in comparison with the 

 other cows for a week or two after they are placed in the milk 

 stable. This condition is due to the effects of parturition and 

 to not being regularly groomed previously ; it must not be con- 

 fused with unthriftiness. When associated with a good appe- 

 tite, unthriftiness and progressive emaciation are indications 

 of chronic disease, frequently of tuberculosis. Emaciation, 

 however, may be due to old age. Mere thinness must not be 

 mistaken for unthriftiness or emaciation; heavy milking cows 

 are often thin. The condition of the skin and hair is a better 

 indication of the actual physical condition than the degree of 

 fleshiness or leanness. 



Swellings may occur in or beneath the skin (local inflamma- 

 tions, oedemas, abscesses, enlarged lymph glands, actinomycosis, 

 etc.) and suppurating wounds may involve the skin and sub- 

 cutaneous structures. Distension of the left side of the abdomen 

 occurs in impaction and tympanites of the rumen. 



3. Vulva, Anus, and Tail. These should be ex- 

 amined for evidences of pathological discharges. Dis- 

 eases of the uterus, vagina, and digestive tract may be 

 discovered in this way. There are certain normal dis- 

 charges from the vulva which must not be mistaken for 

 pathological discharges. A small amount of glassy 

 mucous, frequently blood-stained, is discharged during 

 oestrum; a bloody or grayish albuminous discharge is 

 sometimes seen after breeding, while near the end of 

 pregnancy there is usually observed a glassy mucous dis- 

 charge which is often of a red color. 



A foul, chocolate-colored or reddish fluid containing frag- 

 ments of tissue is discharged from the vulva following retention 

 of the placenta. In metritis and vaginitis the discharge is either 



