68 BOVINE PATHOLOGY. 



system. Its temperature and odour vary. Thus^ it may 

 be cold in later stages of asthenic disorders, warm in acute 

 attacks, foetid in gangrenous disease of the lungs. 



Our prognosis, when medically attending the lower 

 animals, does not hold in view simply the chances of a fatal 

 result ; we have to consider our cases from a pecuniary point 

 of view, and to determine promptly for the owner the length 

 of time which will elapse before return to health, and also 

 whether the value of the animal after recovery will be such 

 as to make treatment an advantage to the owner. Prompt 

 decision is especially called in a case of disease in the ox, 

 for the flesh of an animal slaughtered in the early stages of 

 some diseases, before the system has been interfered with 

 by medicinal agents, may be used for human food. This 

 seems to lessen our opportunities of tracing cases of dis- 

 ease in the ox from commencement to termination, and 

 proves a very sharp test as to the correctness of our dia- 

 gnoses. We often have an animal brought under our 

 notice in sufficiently good condition to fetch a good price 

 from the butcher. The owner propounds the following 

 questions in order : — What is the matter with this animal ? 

 Will it be likely to die ? How soon will it recover ? 

 Will it be reduced considerably ? and, if so, how long will 

 it take to regain its present state of flesh ? If it seems 

 likely to die, it is at once killed, and our diagnosis verified 

 or the reverse. If it is allowed to live, the prognosis is 

 subjected to similar smart scrutiny. With milch cows 

 the interference with milk supply is the source of the 

 owner's solicitude ; while animals kept for breeding pur- 

 poses necessitate considerations of the bearings of various 

 disorders on the reproductive functions. In no branch 

 of medical study does the practitioner require skill more 

 than in cattle practice. 



The milk varies in quality and quantity, and its production 

 has been much increased by artificial selection. The first 

 milk, colostrum or beastlings, is rich in fatty matter and 

 worn-out, tough, epithelial cells filled with fat globules. 

 It acts as a natural cathartic, freeing the bowels of the 

 newly-born calf from the accumulation of biliary and other 



