THE OX AND THE DAIKY. 235 



portion also of the coarsely masticated contents besides ; after 

 which the process of rumination may go on, especially if the 

 stomach be roused by a pint of warm ale, with a few teaspoons - 

 ful of ginger. 



Mr. Youatt recommends in these cases, after the first relief 

 is obtained, that chloride of lime, in the proportion of two 

 drachms to two quarts of water, should be thrown into the ru- 

 men by means of the stomach-pump, (the horn will not answer, 

 for from the closure of the pillars to the cesophagean canal, the 

 fluid thus administered will pass into the third and fourth 

 stomach.) The modus operandi of this medicine is as follows: 

 Chlorine has a stronger affinity for hydrogen than for lime, 

 potass, or soda; consequently it separates from the lime, and 

 uniting with the hydrogen forms muriatic gas. This gas hav- 

 ing a strong affinity for water, is immediately absorbed by the 

 fluid contents of the stomach, and quitting its gaseous for a 

 fluid state is reduced to a very small volume, in the form of 

 a weak muriatic acid, while the lime is disengaged ; yet no 

 mischief will arise either from the corrosive acid or the caustic 

 lime, for there is an affinity between these again, so that they 

 combine and form an inert muriate of lime. 



This, says Mr. Youatt, is " not mere theory, but when 

 brought to the test of practice is found to be verified in every 

 particular; hence has resulted one of the most important im- 

 provements on cattle medicine that modern times have pro- 

 duced." Chloride of lime is, or ought to be, in the possession 

 of every farmer, and always at hand. It may be requisite to 

 repeat this injection into the paunch in the course of a couple 

 of hours, should a fresh evolution of gas take place. 



It often happens that urgent cases of hoove occur at a dis- 

 tance from the farm-house, or under circumstances in which 

 neither an cesophagus-tube nor a stomach-pump is accessible, 

 and something must be done immediately. Let the farmer 

 mark the prominence of the left flank, and plunge a sharp- 

 pointed knife into the distended rumen which there presents 

 itself so conspicuously. This will be followed by a rush of 

 gas, steam, fluid, and even portions of food. It is, however, 

 necessary to introduce a tube, for the wound will otherwise 

 close ; or, if this be not attainable, the orifice must be kept 

 open by means of a smooth piece of stick, or any other mode 

 that suggests itself at the time, until all the gas is liberated. 

 In this operation the danger does not arise from the wound of 

 the paunch, which is comparatively insensible, but from other 



