DISEASES OF THE DIGESTIVE ORGANS. 15 



attended with considerable depression, -which may terminate in stu- 

 por, it is advisable to give occasional doses of whisky. Half a pint 

 of whisky mixed with a pint of water should be given, and the dose 

 should be repeated in half an hour if the animal is sinking into a 

 stupefied and unconscious condition. The repetition of the dose 

 must depend on the symptoms which the animal shows. It must be 

 borne in mind that the object of treatment is to ward off the stupor, 

 which is one of the results of snake bite, and that in administering 

 whislv}' the object is to produce a stimulating and not an intoxicating 

 or stupefying effect. The swelling from an insect bite should be 

 bathed with ammonia water as soon as noticed and then treated with 

 frequent applications of hot water. 



SALIVATION. 



Salivation is a symptom of some general or local disorder. It may 

 be a symptom of a general disease, such as rabies or foot-and-mouth 

 disease, or it may be a purely local trouble, as when copious secretion 

 of the salivary glands is produced by the eating of irritating plants, 

 such as wild mustard. When saliva is observed to dribble from the 

 mouth, that part should be carefully examined by introducing into 

 the mouth an instrument like a balling iron, or, if one is not at hand, 

 by grasping the tongue and partially withdrawing it from the mouth, 

 and by placing a block of wood between the back teeth, while all 

 parts of the mouth are exposed to a good light, so that the presence 

 of any foreign substance may l^e detected. The cause is sometimes 

 found to be a short piece of wood becoming fixed on the palate, its 

 two ends resting on the uj^per molar teeth of each side ; or it may be 

 a needle, thorn, or splinter of wood embedded in the tongue. Some- 

 times a sharp piece of tin or other metal may become partially em- 

 bedded in the inner surface of the cheek. Hay occasionally possesses 

 some quality, usually dependent upon its having heated in the mow 

 or having become moldy, which produces salivation. Second-crop 

 clover and some irritant weeds in the pasture or forage may cause 

 salivation. Cattle rubbed with mercurial ointment may swallow 

 enough mercury in licking themselves to luring about the same result. 

 (See " Mercury poisoning," p. 57.) Such cases, of course, arise from 

 the constitutional action of mercury, and, on account of the comnlon 

 habit which the animals have of licking themselves, indicate the 

 danger of using such preparation externally. Mercury is also readily 

 absorbed through the skin, and as cattle are very susceptible to its 

 action it is thus easy for them to be poisoned by it even without lick- 

 ing it from the surface. Cases of mercurial poisoning sometimes 

 follow disinfection of cattle stables with the usual 1 to 1,000 solution 

 of mercuric chlorid. 



