RURAL VETERINARY SECRETS 89 



symptoms of worms or of indigestion, follow the general treatment 

 advised for those troubles under their proper heads in this book. 

 If due to irritation caused by teething, the inflamed gums must be 

 lanced. Examination of the mouth often develops the fact that one 

 of the temporary teeth causes much irritation by remaining unshed, 

 and thereby interfering with the growth of a permanent tooth. The 

 offending tooth should be extracted. When the cause of epilepsy 

 cannot be discovered, it must be confessed that there is no prospect 

 of a cure. Some benefit may be expected from the occasional ad- 

 ministration of a purgative dose of medicine. A pound of Epsom 

 Salts dissolved in a quart of warm water, for a cow of average size, 

 may be given as a drench once or twice a week. In addition to the 

 purgative, 4 drams of Bromid of Potassium, dissolved in the drink- 

 ing water, three times a day, has proved very beneficial in some 

 cases. 



SUNSTROKE (Prostration from Heat) 



Owing to the fact that cattle are seldom put to work at which 

 they would have to undergo severe exertion, especially in collars, 

 they are not frequently prostrated by the extreme heat of the sum- 

 mer months. When at pasture they select the coolest places under the 

 shade trees, in water, etc., when the heat becomes oppressive, and 

 thereby avoid, as much as possible, the effects of it. Horses, how- 

 ever, are more subject to this trouble, because they are compelled 

 to work under the direct rays of the hot sun. 



It does happen, however, that cattle that have been kept up for 

 the purpose of fattening, when driven some distance in very hot 

 w^eather, are sometimes prostrated, but it must be remembered that 

 it is not really necessary for the animal to be exposed to the rays of 

 the sun, as those confined in hot, close places may suffer. This often 

 happens in shipping, when they are crowded close together in cars. 



SYMPTOMS 



The first stages are those of exhaustion — dullness, panting, 

 frothing at the mouth, tongue hanging out, irregular gait, uneasi- 

 ness, palpitation — when, if the circumstances which tend to the 

 prostration are not mitigated, the animal staggers or sways from 

 side to side, falls, struggles for a while, and then gradually becomes 

 quiet, or the struggles may continue, with repeated but ineffectual 



