102 DISEASES OF CATTLE. 



bility. Thus we liave the quick and slow, frequent and infrequent, hard 

 and soft, full and imperceptible, large and small pulses, the characters 

 of which may be determined from their names j also that form known 

 as the intermittent, either regular or irregular. We may have a di- 

 crotic or double pulse ; a thready pulse, which is extremely small and 

 scarcely perceptible; the venous pulse, the "running down" pulse, 

 and so on. (See p. 84.) 



In making an examination of an animal observe the depth, frequency, 

 quickness, facility, and the nature of the respiratory movements. They 

 may be quick or slow, frequent or infrequent, deep or imperfect, la- 

 bored, unequal, irregular, etc., each of which has its significance to the 

 educated and experienced veterinarian. 



Sleep, rumination, pregnancy in cows, etc., modify the respiratory 

 movements even in health. Respiration consists of two acts, inspira- 

 tion and expiration. The function of respiration is to take in oxygen 

 from the atmospheric air, which is essential for the maintenance of life, 

 and to exhale the deleterious gas known as carbon dioxide. 



Cough is a very important symptom, often being diagnostic in diseases 

 of the respiratory organs, but which can be more satisfactorily treated 

 in connection with the special diseases of the organs in question. 



The temperature should be taken in all cases of sickness. Expe- 

 rienced practitioners can approximate the patient's temperature with 

 remarkable accuracy, but I would strongly recommend the use of the 

 self-registering clinical thermometer, which is a most valuable instru- 

 ment in diagnosing diseases. (See Plate in, Fig. 1). It is important that 

 a tested instrument be secured, as some thermometers in the market are 

 inaccurate and are worse than useless. The best place to insert the 

 thermometer in the bovine is in the rectum, although it may be inserted 

 in the mouth, or in the vagina of the cow. The instrument should be 

 rested against the walls of the cavity for about three minutes. The 

 normal temperature of the bovine is 101 J F. to 102 F., which is higher 

 than that of the horse. A cow breathes faster, her heart beats faster, 

 and her internal temperature is higher than that of the horse. Ordi- 

 nary physiological influences, such as exercise, digestion, etc., give rise 

 to slight variations of internal temperature, but if the temperature 

 rises two or three degrees above the standard some diseased condition 

 is indicated. 



Auscultation and percussion are the chief methods employed to de- 

 termine the various pathological changes that occur in the respiratory 

 organs. Auscultation is the act of listening, and may be either mediate or 

 immediate. Mediate auscultation is accomplished by aid of an instru- 

 ment known as the stethoscope, one extremity of which is applied to 

 the ear and the other to the chest of the animal. In immediate aus- 

 cultation the ear is applied directly to the part. Immediate ausculta- 

 tion will answer in a large majority of cases. Auscultation is resorted 

 to in cardiac and certain abdominal diseases, but it is mainly employed 



