MILK FEVER— DROPPING AFTER CALVING. 407 



tion, and he will beware lest he kindles the fire afresh ; but if the 

 cow should continue in a low and weakly state, and especially if hei 

 remaining strength should seem to be gradually declining, gentian 

 and ginger may be administered twice in the day, in doses of half 

 an ounce of the first and a quarter of an ounce of the second ; but 

 the outrageous quantities of aromatics and bitters, and ardent spirits, 

 that are occasionally given, cannot fail of being injurious. 



It occasionally happens that the cow appears to recover a portion 

 of strength in her fore-quarters, and makes many ineffectual attempts 

 to rise, but tlie hind-quarters are comparatively powerless. This 

 partial palsy of the hind extremities is the natural consequence both 

 of inflammation of the womb and of the bowels. The best remedy 

 is a plaster. All embrocations are thrown away on the thick skin of 

 the cow, and the constant stimulus of a plaster and the mechanical 

 support afforded by it, will alone effect the desired purpose. A 

 week or ten days should be given to the animal, in order to see 

 whether the power of voluntary motion in these limbs will return ; 

 but should the paralytic affection then remain, a sling must be con- 

 trived, by which she may be supported, and during the use of which 

 she may be enabled gradually to thro's)? a portion of her weight 

 upon these legs, and re-accustom them to the performance of their 

 duty. 



A very singular variety of the disease has already been hinted at. 

 The cow is down, but there is apparently nothing more the mattei 

 with her than that she is unable to rise ; she eats, and drinks, and 

 ruminates as usual, and the evacuations are scarcely altered. In 

 this state she continues from two days to a fortnight, and then she 

 gets up well. 



There is a common consent amongst the different organs of the frame 

 both under healthy and diseased action. It has been stated that a 

 partial or total suppression of the secretion of milk is frequently an 

 early symptom, and, in some =stage or other, an almost invariable one, 

 of the disease. Experience Jkewise shows that if the secretion of 

 milk can be recalled, the restoration of the use of the limbs is not far 

 distant. The teats should be frequently drawn, and the discharge of 

 milk industriously solicited. This is a simple method of cure, but it 

 is a far more effectual one than many imagine. 



That milk-fever is sometimes epidemic, there is every reason to 

 suppose. The practitioner may, perhaps, be long without a case, 

 but if one comes under his notice, he has reason to suspect that it 

 will soon be followed by others. 



That there is a constitutional tendency to this complaint, cannot be 

 denied. Beasts in high condition are peculiarly subject to it ; and 

 an animal that has once experienced an attack of it becomes exceed- 

 ingly liable to the disease at her next, or at some future calving. 

 Agriculturists are perfectly aware of this ; and if a cow recovers 



