264 DISEASES or cattle. 



cases death may result in one or two days from the combined drain 

 on the system and the poisoning by the absorbed products of the 

 decomposition in the stomach and bowels. When the case is pro- 

 longed, the passages, at first 5 or 6 per day, increase to 15 or 20, 

 and pass with more and more straining, so that they are projected 

 from the animal in a liquid stream. The color of the feces, at first 

 yellow, becomes a lighter grayish yellow or a dirty white (hence the 

 name white scour), and the fetor becomes intolerable. 



At first the calf retains its appetite, but as the severity of the disease 

 increases the animal shows less and less disposition to suck, and has 

 lost all \dvacity, lying dull and listless, and, when raised, walking 

 weakly and unsteadily. Flesh is lost rapidly, the hair stands erect, 

 the skin gets dry and scurfy, the nose is dry and hot, or this condition 

 alternates with a moist and cool one. By this time the mouth and 

 skin, as well as the breath and dung, exhale the peculiar penetrating, 

 sour, otfensive odor, and the poor calf has become an object of disgust 

 to all that approach it. At first, and unless inflammation of the 

 stomach and bowels supervene (and unle.'^s the affection has started in 

 indigestion and colic), the belly is not bloated or painful on pressure, 

 symptoms of acute colicky pains are absent, and the boAvels do not 

 rumble, neither are bubbles of gas mingled with the feces. The irri- 

 tant products of the intestinal fermentations may, however, irritate 

 and excoriate the skin around the anus, which becomes red, raw, and 

 broken out in sores for some distance. Similarly, the rectum, exposed 

 by reason of the relaxed condition of the anus, or temporarily in 

 straining to pass the liquid dejection, is of a more or less deep red, 

 and it may be ulcerated. Fever, with rapid pulse and increased 

 breathing and temperature, usually comes on with the veiT fetid char- 

 acter of the feces and is more pronounced as the bowels become 

 inflamed, the abdomen sore to the touch and tucked up, and the feces 

 more water^^ and even mixed with blood. 



Pi^evention. — The prevention of these cases is the prevention of con- 

 stipation and indigestion, with all their varied causes as above enu- 

 merated, the selection of a strong, vigorous stock, and, above all, the 

 combating of contagion, especially in the separation of the sick from 

 the healthy, and in the thorough i^urification and disinfection of the 

 buildings. The cleansing and sweetening of all drains, the removal 

 of dung heaps, and the w^ashing and scraping of floors and walls, fol- 

 lowed by a liberal application of chlorid of lime (bleaching powder), 

 4 ounces to the gallon, are indicated. Great care must be exercised 

 in the feeding of the cow to have sound and wholesome food and 

 water, so apportioned as to make the milk neither too rich nor too 

 poor, and to her health, so that the calf may be saved from the evil 

 consequences of poisonous principles that may be produced in the 

 body of the cow. The calves should be carefully kept apart from all 



