DISEASES OF THE GENEKATIVE OEGANS. 161 



kicking by vicious attendants, and fastening or throwing down for 

 operations. The diet should be good, not of a kind to fatten, but 

 with a generous amount of nitrogenous constituents which will favor 

 at once the yield of milk and the nourishment of the fetus. Aliments 

 rich in lime and phosphates, like wheat bran, middlings, etc., can be 

 used to advantage, as there is a constant drain of earthy salts for the 

 building of the body of the calf, and thereby the danger of undue 

 concentration of the urine is lessened. 



Hard, innutritious, and indigestible aliments, musty grain or hay, 

 partially rip>ened rye grass, millet, Hungarian grass, vetches, peas, or 

 maize are objectionable, as they are liable to cause indigestion or 

 even paralysis; and corn or hay affe<jt€d by smut or ergot, or that has 

 been spoiled by wet, overripened, and rendered fibrous and innutri- 

 tious, are equally objectionable. The food should be in the main 

 laxative, as costiveness and straining are liable to cause abortion. 

 Roots and green food that have been fi'osted are objectionable, as 

 being liable to cause indigestion, though in their fresh condition most 

 wholesome and desirable. Ice-cold water should be avoided, as cal- 

 culated to check the flow of milk, to derange digestion, and to cause 

 abortion. A good temperature for the drink of the dairy cow is 55° F. 



In the case of plethoric and heavy milking cows of mature age and 

 in the prime of life, the hitherto liberal diet must be changed at the 

 last week for the scantiest possible fare, and the bowels must be kept 

 open by laxatives, if need be, if the owner would avoid milk fever. 

 The pregnant cow should be kept away from the sight and odor of 

 dead carcasses, from the smell of decomposing animal matter, and 

 from stagnant and corrupting water. Her stall should not incline 

 downward from shoulder to croup, lest the pressure of the abdominal 

 organs should produce protrusion or abortion. She should be kept 

 aloof from all causes of acute diseases, and all existing diseases should 

 be remedied speedily and with as little excitement of the abdominal 

 organs as possible. Strong purgatives and diuretics are to be espe- 

 cially avoided, unless it be in the very last days of gestation in very 

 plethoric cows. 



Finally, in the case of pure breeds, close association with animals 

 of other breeds or crosses, or with animals of other colors, forms, or 

 with defects, is to be carefully guarded against. The effects shown 

 in the progeny may be exceptional, yet they are none the less sources 

 of preventable loss. 



PROTRUSIOX OF THE VAGINA (PROLAPSUS VAGIN^). 



This is common during pregnancy from chronic relaxation of the 



vaginal walls and from lying in stalls that are lower behind than in 



front. The protrusion is of a rounded form and smooth, and if it 



embraces both sides of the canal it is double, with a passage between. 



16923°— 12 11 



