188 DISEASES OF CATTLE. 



ergots and smuts of certain years are far more injurious than those of 

 others. This may be attributed to the fact that they have grown under 

 different conditions, and therefore have developed somewhat different 

 properties, a habit of fungi which has been often observed; or that in 

 certain seasons the cows have been more powerfully predisposed by 

 other operative causes of abortion. 



Both ergot and sinut vary in potency according to the stage of growth. 

 Dr. Kluge found that the ergot gathered before the grain had fully 

 ripened was much more powerful than that from the fully ripened 

 grain. McGugen found the ergot of wheat more potent than that of 

 rye. It should be added that both ergot and smut are robbed some- 

 what of their deleterious properties if fed with an abundance of water, 

 so that it may prove harmless if fed with roots, ensilage, etc., whereas 

 it will prove hurtful when fed in the same amount with dry hay. It is 

 also more liable to injure if fed for a long time in succession in winter, 

 though it may be in smaller quantity. 



Eust is also charged with causing abortions.* That other cryptograms 

 found in musty fodder are productive of abortion has been well estab- 

 lished. In Germany and France the wet years of 1851, 1852, and 1853 

 were notorious for the prevalence of abortions.* Fodders harvested in 

 such seasons are always more or less musty, and musty hay and grain 

 have been long recognized as a prolific cause of digestive, urinary, and 

 cerebral disorders. Impactions and bloatings of the stomachs, exces- 

 sive secretion of urine (diuresis) and red-water are common results of 

 such musty fodder, and we have already seen that such disorders of 

 the digestive and urinary organs are very liable to affect the pregnant 

 womb and induce abortion. 



The riding one another by cows is attended by such severe muscular 

 exertion, jars, jolts, mental excitement, and gravitation of the womb 

 and abdominal organs backward that it may easily cause abortion in a 

 predisposed animal. 



Keeping in stalls that slope too much behind (over. 2 inches) acts in 

 the same way, the compression due to lying and the gravitation back- 

 ward proving more than a predisposed cow can safely bear. 



Deep gutters behind the stalls, into which one or both hind limbs 

 slip unexpectedly, strain the loins and jar the body and womb most 

 injuriously. Slippery stalls in which the flooring boards are laid longi- 

 tudinally in place of transversely, and on which no cleats nor other 

 device is adopted to giye a firm foothold, are almost equally dangerous. 

 Driving on icy ground, or through a narrow doorway where the abdo- 

 men is liable to be jammed, are other common causes. Offensive odors 

 undoubtedly cause abortion. To understand this one must take into 

 account the preternaturally acute sense of smell possessed by cattle. 

 By this sense the bull instantly recognizes the pregnant cow and 

 refrains from disturbing her, while man, with all his boasted skill and 



* Gerlach. Haselbacb. t Baumeister, Rueft", Rondaud, Trelut. 



