314 CATTLB. 



water, and this should be given night and morning until a relaxed condi- 

 tion of the bowels is produced, as the object is not to cause a strong pur- 

 gation, but a laxative effect which should be continued for some days. 

 The diet should be similar to that which has been recommended in 

 speaking of congestion of the liver. After the treatment with laxatives 

 has been continued for several days, a dram of sulphate of cinchonidia 

 and a dram of nitro-muriatic acid should be shaken up in a quart of cold 

 water, and this dose should be given three times a day until the animal 

 has regained its strength. Oil of turpentine should be rubbed in well 

 once a day over the region of the liver. The skin on which it should be 

 applied extends from the false ribs on the right side to six inches in 

 front of the last one, and from the backbone to twelve inches on the 

 right side of it. Extreme heat and pasturing animals on low lying 

 ground are conditions favorable to the production of this disease. 



Dropsy of the Abdomen or Ascites. In this disease there is a 

 serous or watery effusion in the cavity of the abdomen. 



Causes. When old animals are worked and fed on innutritions food 

 they become what is termed anaemic; or, in other words, their blood be- 

 comes impoverished and dropsy is a common result of such treatment. 

 An innutritions and iusuflScient treatment will produce the same effect 

 in young animals. The exposure of cattle to sudden changes of temper- 

 ature and the chilling effect of cold and wet acting on the skin may de- 

 velop this disease. It is one of the results of peritonitis, and may also 

 arise from acute or chronic inflammation of the liver, such as is of com- 

 mon occurrence when flukes are present in the liver in large numbers. 

 When dropsy depends on disease of the liver it develops very gradually, 

 and this may also be said in regard to it when its occurrence is asso- 

 ciated with an insufficient amount of nutriment having been supplied to 

 the animal. 



Symptoms. A gradual increase in the size of the abdomen at its 

 lower part, while the flanks become hollow; pallor of the mucous mem- 

 brane of the mouth and eye; weak and sluggish gait; want of appetite, 

 and irregularity in ruminating. On percussion or tapping the surface 

 of the abdomen with the fingers a dull sound is produced. If the hand 

 and arm are oiled and passed into the rectum as far as possible, on mov- 

 ing the hand from one side to the other, the fluctuation caused by the 

 presence of fluid in the abdomen may be felt. 



Treatment. The diet should be nutritious, and in those cases 

 where we have merely to deal with anaemia (the bloodless state) arising 



