MILKFEVER. 77 



sereral calves ; and it is stated that the short-horned breed is more 

 liable to it than others. Whenever it takes place, either at home or 

 in the field, it is distressing to the animal, as vi-ell as troublesome to 

 the owner; for the beast is seldom able to rise during- several days. 

 The puerperal or milk fever is most frequent during the hot weather 

 of summer. The cows most liable to be attacked by this fever have 

 large udders, that have been full of milk for several days before 

 calving. It is a very dangerous disease when severe, and often proves 

 fatal even under the most judicious treatment. 



The milk fever most commonly appears about the second or third 

 day after calving; but the cow is occasionally down Mithin a few 

 hours after partuntion. It is first recognized by the animal refusing 

 her food, looking dull and heavy ; then follows protrusion of the eye, 

 heaving of the flanks, restlessness, and every symptom of fever. In 

 a few hours, or on the next day at the latest, the cow begins to stag- 

 ger; is weak in the loins; palsy steals over the whole frame; and 

 she falls, unable to rise again. It is in this advanced stage that the 

 complaint is too often first observed ; the previous symptoms are not 

 taken notice of, and the beast is almost past cure before the owner is 

 aware of her illness. From this seeming palsy of the hinder limbs, 

 and sometimes of the whole frame, the disease is very appropriately 

 called dropping after calving. 



There are evidently two varieties of this disease, one being consi- 

 derably more dangerous than the other. In the severer kind, the 

 brain, as well as the spinal marrow, is affected, whilst the milder 

 disease is principally confined to the loins. 



In the former kind, we first notice a staggering gait, the breathing- 

 then becomes irregular and disturbed, the eyes full and glassy, and 

 the pupil dilated. The animal, after reeling about for some time, 

 falls, and frequently never rises again. She then becomes, in great 

 measure, unconscious; the head is turned on one side; sensation 

 appears partially lost, so that, if liquids are given with the horn, they 

 often enter the windpipe without occasioning coughing. The hind 

 legs become entirely paralyzed, and the fore ones are sometimes 

 affected in a similar manner. The pulse is generally very quick, but 

 weak; the appetite is altogether lost; rumination ceases; and the 

 bowels are obstinately constipated. If the animal dies, it is generally 

 within forty -eight hours from the commencement of the symptoms, 

 and -indeed sometimes only a few hours afterwards. In some cases, 

 the anim.al will lie in a state of insensibility ; in others, she exhibits 

 considerable pain and distress. The cow^ is unable to discharge either 

 her urine or dung, the nerves influencing these offices being paralyzed. 

 On examining the bodies of cows that have died from this disease, 

 the principal "mischief has been found in the brain and spinal cord : 

 in the latter, chiefly at the region of the loins. The womb, in the 

 greater number of instances, has been found in the same state as it 

 usually is after parturition; but, in some cases, it presents the ap- 

 pearance of the most intense inflammation. In such cases, it appears 

 7* 



