276 CURIOUS EXPERIMENT. 



Neglected, the cow never recovers the perfect use of 

 her feet, and both her milking and feeding are thereby 

 reduced. In withering, or retention of the cleaning, 

 for any length of time, I have never known any re- 

 medy ; which shows the necessity of due care at the 

 time of calving. Malt-mashes, or half malt and half 

 fine pollard, warm, are excellent cordial medicines for 

 cows. In general, these useful animals will rarely 

 be troubled with disease, if constantly fed with a suf- 

 ficiency of proper and nourishing food, and well shel- 

 tered during the winter season from wet and cold, 

 and from the effects of those atmospheric vicissitudes, 

 to which our climate is so peculiarly liable. 



Some exceptions, however, may be made with re- 

 spect to preternatural cases in CALVING, arising either 

 from constitutional defects or accidents. But I do 

 not profess, in this small treatise, to engage, except 

 cursorily, with the extensive subject of veterinary 

 medicine and surgery ; with respect to the latter 

 particularly, I refer the reader to Mr. Skellet's really 

 practical work. In all difficult cases, more especially 

 of parturition, immediate recourse should be had to 

 an experienced practitioner, instead of trusting to the 

 rude and unskilful efforts of servants, by which many 

 a cow and calf have been lost. 



The following curious experiment proved successful, 

 some years ago. One of the fore-legs of a cow, the 

 property of Mr. Little, of Herseford, Cornwall, being 

 accidentally broken, and he being unwilling to kill 

 the animal, caused the leg to be amputated immedi- 

 ately below the knee joint. The wound being per- 

 fectly healed, a pad and wooden leg were braced upon 



