DISEASES OF COWS. 431 



cold rains which are especially injurious, squeezing or 

 crowding through narrow doorways, nervous excitement, 

 fear, and offensive odors. The results of these injuries 

 are mechanical, and are so obvious to an intelligent 

 reader that no comment upon them is required. 



The Internal Causes arise from bad or unwholesome 

 feeding, contributing disorders of other organs and 

 febrile diseases, and least frequently uterine diseases 

 which result in the death of the foetus. Unwholesome 

 feeding, including watering, very frequently produces 

 abortion. The use of frozen roots which chill the 

 stomach and so reduce the temperature of the adjacent 

 uterus as to kill the foetus ; the use of ice-cold water, 

 which has the same effect; feeding cotton-seed meal, 

 smutty corn fodder, or ergoted grasses or straw, or rye 

 bran from ergoted grain; innutritions food, or excessively 

 rich food, the former starving the animal, the latter caus- 

 ing too great plethora. All these and other closely related 

 circumstances are most effective causes of this disorder. 

 Acute fevers so increase the internal heat of the dam 

 as to destroy the foetus. Pleuro-xmeumonia causes its 

 death by affecting the condition of the blood ; anaemia, 

 anasarca, tuberculosis, anthrax, apththge, and other seri- 

 ous diseases of tlie dam, lowering her vital forces, have the 

 same fatal effect upon the immature young creature in 

 ntero. The only refuge from these forms of this disease 

 is prevention. 



Epizootic or Contagious Abortion is a disorder of 

 very frequent occurrence which has caused much dispute 

 and discussion among the veterinary profession. Pro- 

 fessor Saint Cyr, the eminent French veterinarian, after a 

 long and exhaustive discussion concludes that the prin- 

 cipal if not the only cause of this form of the disease is 

 contagion; but he has not as yet been able to explain or 

 describe the nature of the medium by which the disease 

 is communicated or spread, or its mode of action in the 



