TIIEBLAIN,&C. 73 



BufFicicnt nutriment herself, some nutritious food should be horned in; 

 and there is nothing better than good thick gruel. Two or three quarts 

 given four times every day will be enough. All sweet things, which 

 farmers are so apt to give, should be omitted ; the food in the paunch 

 is sufficiently ready to ferment, without giving any sugar. 



A cow labouring under milk fever should scarcely ever be left. She 

 naturally g-ets very tired of coughing so long, and sometimes attemnt.a 

 to shift hel-self, and would get sadly bruised if assistance were not 

 atTorded; besides which, in the early stage of the disease, and occa- 

 ^onally afterwards, there is some affection of the brain, and tiie 

 animal" is half unconscious of what she does, and would beat herself 

 dangerously about if care were not taken of her. 



I must again repeat that prevention is better than cure ; and that 

 the best preventive of milk fever is not to let her be in too hi^h con- 

 dition, but to take four or five quarts of blood from her, and give her 

 a physic drink eight or ten days before the expected time of calving. 



CHAPTER XVIII. 



THE BLAIN, &C. 



This is b} no means an unfrequent disease, and is commonly known 

 by the name of hlain, hawkes, or gargi/se. 



The animal appears dull and languid, the eyes red and inflamed, 

 with tears trickling from them. A swelling begin* about the eyes, 

 and occasionally appears on other parts of the body ; but the charac- 

 teristic symptom is that there are generally blisters under the tongue, 

 or at the back part of the mouth Tthe pulse is quicker than natural; 

 there is more or less heavingr of the flanks ; and the bowels are some- 

 times constipated. When the complaint is not checked at the onset, 

 there is often a copious flow of saliva from the mouth, mixed often 

 with a purulent, bloody, stinking discharge ; the beast becomes ex- 

 tremely weak and reduced, and is in danger of being suffocated by 

 the great and rapid enlargement of the tongue. 



Causes. — Those cattle are the most subject to this complaint that 

 are in high condition, and feeding on rich pasture grounds. It ap- 

 pears in many cases to be brought on by a redundancy of blood in 

 the system, or from the beast taking cold while in that state. It is 

 most prevalent in the summer months, especially when the weather 

 is hot and sultry, but it occurs at all times of the year, and in pastures 

 of every kind, yet oftenest in low, marshy situations. 



This is a disease which must not be trifled with for a moment. I 

 have known it prove fatal in the course of one day ; and when ne- 

 glected at the beginning it has speedily assumed a malignant charac- 

 ter, which baffled every attempt to arrest its progress. 

 7 



