l>ySEXTKi:V OF YOUXG AXIMALS. 737 



thought the infecting agent must be volatile, and gives instances which 

 he believed proved it to bo so. 



Franck admitted the possibility of intra-uterine infection through the 

 genital canal, and in this way he explained the appearance of the 

 tlisease in the young animal so soon after birth ; while Ellenberger and 

 Frohner' think it probable that this intra-uterine infection is realised 

 by tiie transmission of an infective catarrh of the vagina and uterus of 

 the parent to the digestive mucous membrane of the fcetus. In this 

 respect it is interesting to note, that wlien pregnant Cows are trans- 

 ferred from an infected to a healthy stable, and soon after calve there, 

 their progeny may still be attacked. But if the transfer has taken 

 place so long as six weeks or two months before parturition, then there 

 is indeed but little risk of the young creatures being seized with this 

 dysentery. 



The malady is most intense during permanent stabling ; with the 

 advent of grazing, when the cattle are driven to pasture, it begins to 

 disappear, and is no more heard of until the pregnant Cows are again 

 ^tabled and commence to calve. Bad food, cold and wet, and other 

 similar influences, will not cause the disease, though they may more 

 or less predispose to it. 



Diagnosis. 



The diagnosis of the disease is established by the very rapidly fatal 

 diarrhaa prevailing in an enzootic manner, and at or soon after birth. 



The only disorder it might be mistaken for is the gastro-intestinal 

 catarrh already described ; but, as will be seen, it is different to that 

 disease, which usually appears at a later period of life, and has a 

 milder course. 



Prognosis. 



The prognosis of this disease in generally unfavourable. Nearly all 

 the young animals seized with it perish ; and when a few recover, it is 

 either through energetic and appropriate treatment, from their being 

 attacked in a less severe manner, or from being endowed with greater 

 vital tenacity. And even those which recover are usually so reduced 

 in strength and condition, and convalescence is so protracted and 

 unsatisfactory, that there is little if any profit in rearing them. As a 

 rule, all those born about the same period succumb ; but after the 

 malady has prevailed for one or two years in a shed, it assumes a 

 milder form, and more recoveries are recorded. When the disease 

 appears in small cowsheds, where there are fewer calves and compara- 

 tively more space, it is much less to be dreaded. Sometimes it dis- 

 appears from a cowshed for some months. Old calves are not so 

 readily affected, and recover more readily. Weaned calves which are 

 fed on fodder, appear to enjoy immunity from attack. 



Treatment. 



As with every other animal malady, preventive treatment is the most 

 important with regard to this dysentery of young animals. Attention 

 to hygiene is very necessary at all times, and more so when the disease 

 has shown itself in a stable or shed. It is much the safer plan, how- 

 ever, to remove all pregnant animals from the dwelling in which it has 

 appeared, and the longer the inten'al which elapses between their 

 removal and the occurrence of parturition, so the more likeHhood there 

 > Op. cil., vol. ii., p. 391. 



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