DISEASES OF THE SKIN. 329 



Causes. Erythema simplex, consisting of an inflammatory irritation, 

 is witnessed in very young calves, in which the navel leaks. The 

 discharge being urine, it causes an irritation of the surrounding 

 skin. Erythema intertrigo is that condition known as chafing, and is 

 occasionally seen on the udder of cows from chafing by the legs; chaf- 

 ing between the legs is not uncommon among fat steers. Erythema 

 chronicum, or mainmillarum, is found in the form of chapped teats of 

 cows and chapped lips in suckling calves. It frequently occurs in cows 

 when they are turned out in winter directly after milking, and in others 

 from chafing by the calf in sucking. Some cows are peculiarly subject 

 to sore teats. The fissures when neglected in the early stage of forma- 

 tion become deep, very painful, often bleeding at the slightest touch, 

 and cause the animal to become a kicker when milked in that condition. 

 Occasionally the lower portions of the legs become irritated and chapped 

 when cattle are fed in a muddy or wet yard in winter, or if they are 

 compelled to wade through water in frosty weather. 



Treatment. In ordinary cases of erythema, the removal of the cause 

 and the application of benzoated oxide of zinc ointment, carbolized 

 cosmoline, or a mixture of creolin, 1 ounce to a pint of water, applied 

 a few times, will restore the skin to a healthy condition. 



When there are fissures the zinc ointment is the best. If at the teats, 

 a milk syphon (Plate xxiv, Fig. 4) should be used instead of milking 

 by hand, and the calf, if there is one suckled, should be taken away. 

 When the calf s mouth is affected it should be fed by hand. When the 

 legs are irritated or chapped, dry stabling for a few days and the appli- 

 cation of tar ointment will soon heal them. 



URTICARIA NETTLE RASH SURFEIT. 



This is a mild inflammatory affection of the skin, characterized by 

 sudden development of patches of various sizes, from that of a nickel 

 to as large as the hand. The patches of raised skin are marked by an 

 abrupt border, and are irregular in form. All the swelling may disap- 

 pear in a few hours, or it may go away in one place and reappear on 

 another part of the body. It is always accompanied by a great desire 

 to rub the affected part. In its simplest type, as just described, it 

 is never followed by any serous exudation, or eruptions, unless the 

 surface oT the skin becomes abraded from scratching or rubbing. 

 Another typo of urticaria, known as lichen urtictitu*, by some writers 

 designated pruriyo rcrnalis or spring itch, is manifested by the erup- 

 tion of small vesicles upon the swollen parts of the skin. These dis- 

 appear more slowly and are followed by loss of the hair of the affected 

 areas. This form of the disease is more apt than the former to become 

 scattered over the whole body. Its duration greatly depends upon the 

 presence or the removal of the exciting cause*. Occasionally the 

 relapses are so frequent that it finally becomes a chronic disorder. 



Games. Derangements of the digestive organs are the most common 



