358 VETERINARY LECTURES 



sensation when the eyeball is touched, its condition may be looked 

 upon as hopeless. 



586. Sometimes gangrene takes place in one of the hind-quarters 

 of the body, arising either from the rupture of a bloodvessel or from 

 extreme congestion. An animal thus affected may regain conscious- 

 ness, and even take food, but the breathing is very quick and 

 laboured, while the affected quarter swells up, and on being tapped 

 by the fingers has a rattling sound. Such cases almost always have 

 a fatal termination, though now and again an odd case survives the 

 attack, and so far recovers that it commences to feed, chew the cud, 

 and seems to do well for five or six days, after which it begins to 

 cough, loses its appetite, and finally dies from breaking up of the 

 lungs, or what may be termed acute consumption, caused by the 

 congested state of the vessels of the lungs during the coma, or from 

 matters that have been horned in falling into the windpipe and 

 bronchial tubes. 



587. From experience, I would recommend in all cases of milk 

 fever that occur after the fourth calving, if the animal is in prime 

 condition and the attack severe, that the butcher be called in. 



588. Prevention of Milk Fever. — In this respect I would note four 

 points. First, if possible, do not turn the cow out to grass until it 

 has calved, and give plain food of not too watery a nature. Second, 

 immediately the cow shows signs of calving, have it removed to a 

 loose-box for that purpose, and leave it there with the calf for four or 

 five days, or until the beastings are all cleaned out. This can be 

 easily ascertained by boiling the milk, when, if colostrum be present, 

 the milk will curdle. It is a good practice, also, to remove a little 

 milk from the udder occasionally by the hand. Third, five or six 

 days before the cow is due to calve give 2 pounds castor oil in treacle 

 gruel, and repeat the dose twenty-four hours prior to calving, or as 

 near that time as possible. This treatment I have found to be of 

 the greatest benefit. Salts do not answer in my district neither 

 before nor after calving. Fourth, if the calf and mother cannot be 

 left together for four or five days, then only small quantities of milk 



