«28 CATTLE. 



of the lung. The means to be adopted when no other symptoms of 

 disease are observed, are : dulcaynara, in cough by cold ; bryonia (in 

 repeated doses,) in inveterate cough ; Belladonna and drosera, in 

 chronic cough ; hyoscyamus when the attacks are very frequent ; 

 sqiiilla, in cough which comes on after fatigue, and which interferes 

 with the respiration; O hamoinilla, in dry cough, with diarrhoea; 

 Pulsatilla, in frequent attacks of dry cough, with loss of appetite; 

 spiritus sulphuratis in very obstinate cough. When the cough is the 

 symptom of another disease, it yields to the treatment required by 

 the latter. 



CASTRATION. 



The period pretty generally selected is between the first and third 

 months. The nearer it is to the expiration of the first month, the 

 less danger attends the operation. 



Some persons prepare the animals by the administration of a dose 

 of physic ; but others proceed at once to the operation when it best 

 suits their convenience, or that of the farmer. Care, however, should 

 be taken that the young animal is in perfect health. The mode 

 formerly practised was simple enough : — a piece of whipcord was tied 

 as tightly as possible round the scrotum. The supply of blood being 

 thus completely cut off, the bag and its contents soon became livid 

 and dead, and were suffered to hang, by some careless operators, 

 until they dropped off, or were cut off on the second or third day. 



It is now, however, the general practice to grasp the scrotum in the 

 hand, between the testicles and the belly, and to make an incision on 

 one side of it, near the bottom, of sufificient depth to penetrate through 

 the inner covering of the testicle, and long enough to admit of its 

 escape. The testicle immediately bursts from its bag, and is seen 

 hanging by its cord. 



The careless or brutal operator now firmly ties a piece of small 

 string round the cord, and having thus stopped the circulation, cuts 

 through the cord half an inch below the ligature, and removes the 

 testicle. He, however, who has any feeling for the poor animal on 

 which he is operating, considers that the only use of the ligature is to 

 compress the blood-vessels and prevent after-hemorrhage, and there- 

 fore saves a great deal of unnecessary torture, by including them 

 alone in the ligature, and afterwards dividing the rest of the cord. 

 The other testicle is proceeded with in the same way, and the opera- 

 tion is complete. The length of the cord should be so contrived thai 

 It shall immediately retract into the scrotum, but not higher, while 

 the ends of the string hang out through the wounds. In the course 

 of about a week the strings will usually drop off, and the wounds 

 will speedily heal. It will be rarely that any application to the 

 scrotum will be necessary, except fomentation of it, if much swelling 

 should ensue. 



