DIARRHOEA, OR LOOSENESS 459 



In diarrhoea, it is not the object of the veterinarian 

 to stop the disease suddenly ; and he that knows his 

 profession will not prescribe strong astringents, and 

 these in large doses, as this mode of treatment may 

 produce worse effects than the disease itself. 



If the discharge becomes intermittent, and the 

 dung occasionally hard and difficult to pass, then it 

 will be necessary to have recourse to laxatives, to clear 

 out the exciting cause of this irregularity. The first 

 and most simple to try is a dose of half-a-pint of castor 

 oil, or half-an-ounce of the powder of bitter-apple, 

 either of which may be given in a pint of flour-gruel. 



Great attention is required to the different condi- 

 tions in diarrhoea, otherwise the disease may assume 

 that character which is termed rotten7tess or scouring- 

 rot, a disease which too often terminates fatally. The 

 system should not be allowed to become too low ; to 

 prevent which, nourishing mashes of oatmeal and malt 

 should be frequently given, and in small quantities at 

 a time ; for during the progress of this malady, it is 

 found, that so long as the animal is permitted to in- 

 dulge in a full meal, so long will the complaint continue. 



It will be found that cattle, when left to themselves 

 will seldom eat more than is proper to enable them to 

 perform the necessary function of chewing the cud. 

 It is only when they have been previously starved, or 

 removed from a poor to a rich pasturage, that they 

 exceed in this respect : so that, in those cases, they 

 ought to be allowed to remain only a short time at 

 first in such situations. 



A low condition of the system will induce diarrhoea, 

 and when it proceeds from this cause, there is more 

 danger to be apprehended, and the animal is, conse- 

 quently, less able to withstand any sudden transitions 

 from poor to rich living, or from heat to cold, or from 



