DISEASES OF ANIMALS 



127 



In preventing this trouble, the navel cord 

 may be washed with a one per cent so- 

 lution of carbolic acid. A simpler form 

 of scouring of a noncontagious nature 

 may be checked by the use of rye bran, 

 or still better by adding formalin to the 

 milk at the rate of 1 part to 4000. The 

 latter method has recently been recom- 

 mended by Klein as a very effective rem- 

 edy. 



Rickets, also known as rachitis, is an 

 inflammatory disease of the bones of 

 young calves and causes thickening of 

 the bones and lameness of the calves. 

 The existence of the disease indicates 

 an improper ration and may be corrected 

 by feeding more milk and adding lime 

 water or phosphate of lims to the ruilk. 



Creeps, r osteomalacia, is a condition 

 of brittleness or softening of the bone, 

 which occurs among adult cattle. It 

 may be recognized by the gradual ema- 

 ciation and depraved appetite of affected 

 cattle, combined with muscular weakness 

 and bone fractures. Tbe bones may be- 

 come broken in lying down or during 

 the ordinary movements of the animal. 

 Treatment should consist of a change of 

 food and the addition of more mineral 

 matter, such as lime and magnesium 

 salts. Cottonseed meal is also beneficial. 

 Tbe disease occurs chiefly in regions 

 where mineral matters are deficient in 

 the food. 



Fig. 81 — DEVICE FOR CASTING CATTLE 



Rheumatism, is a constitutional dis- 

 ease accompanied with lameness, fever, 

 inflammation and swelling of various 

 parts of the body, particularly the joints. 

 It may occur where cattle are kept in 

 damp, insanitary quarters. The treat- 

 ment for this disease should obviously 

 include the provision of a dry place to 

 lie. This need not be in warm stables, 

 but wherever the cattle are kept they 

 should not be compelled to lie in wet 

 bedding or muddy places. Hot applica- 

 tions, friction or blisters applied to af- 

 fected joints bring some relief. 



Minor ailments—Cattle are also af- 

 fected with foot rot, which may be 

 treated as in sheep; eczema, for which 

 Epsom salts may be given, followed by 

 an application of boric acid to affected 

 parts at the rate of 2 drams in 8 ounces 

 of water; and keratitis, or inflammation 

 of the cornea of the eye, to be treated by 

 placing the animal in a dark stable, ad- 

 ministering a purgative and dusting 

 calomel into the affected eye. 



DISEASES OF SWINE 



Swine are not any more extensively 

 afflicted with infectious and other dis- 

 eases than would be expected from the 

 conditions under which they are ordi- 

 narily raised. The hog in this respect 

 is at some disadvantage as compared 

 with our other domesticated animals. 

 Swine are naturally of cleanly habits, 

 if given an opportunity to keep out of 

 mudholes and filth, but on many farms 

 the hog houses and hog yards are kept 

 in the same place year after year, with 

 little effort to clean or drain the yards. 

 The inevitable result is the gradual ac- 

 cumulation of filth, and in case of an 

 outbreak of an infectious disease tbe 

 trouble spreads rapidly from one animal 

 to another. The rapidity with which in- 

 fection spreads among hogs is partly 

 due to the fact that they take much of 

 their food from the ground and the food 

 is therefore particularly subject to con- 

 tamination from the feces and other dis- 

 charges of diseased hogs in the same 

 yard. 



Swine diseases have received compar- 

 atively little attention from the ordinary 

 practicing veterinarian, partly for the 

 reason that be is not called upon to 

 diagnose hog diseases and prescribe rem- 

 edies as frequently as in the case of 

 horses and dairy cows. It therefore 

 comes about that most of the work in 

 the investigation of hog diseases in this 

 country has been done by the Bureau of 

 Animal Industry and the agricultural 

 experiment stations in states where hoc; 

 raising is an important business. The 

 experiment station in Indiana has given 

 much attention to the diseases of hogs 

 and a bulletin dealing exclusively with 

 this subject has been published by Craig 

 and Bitting. In this bulletin not only 

 the important infectious diseases of 

 swine are treated, hut also various lesser 

 troubles to which hogs are subject. At 

 other experiment stations, notably in 

 Nebraska, Kansas, Iowa and Missouri, a 

 great amount of work has been done, 



