240 DISEASES OF CATTLE. 



there may be a reddish tinge or sediment when madder or l(lg^vood 

 has been eaten. 



In milk which becomes red after it is drawn it may be from the 

 presence in it of the Micrococcus prodlgiosus. This also grows on 

 bread, and is the explanation of the supposed miracle of the " bleed- 

 ing host." 



The treatment will vary with the cause. In congested glands give 



1 pound of Epsom salt, and daily thereafter one-half oimce salt- 

 peter, with a dram of chlorate of potassium ; the bag should be bathed 

 with hot or cold water, and rubbed with camphorated lard. If the 

 feed is too rich or abundant it must be reduced. If from acrid 

 plants, they must be removed from pasture or fodder. Induration 

 of the udder may be met by rubbing with a combination of iodin 

 ointment 1 part, soft soap i parts; mercurial ointment and soap also 

 may be used. Careful milking is imperative. 



BLUE MILK. 



Watery milk is blue, but the presence of a germ [Bacillus cya- 

 nogenes) causes a distinct blue shade even in rich milk and cream. 

 It may reach the milk after it has been drawn, or it may find its way 

 into the opening of the milk ducts and enter the milk as it is drawn. 

 In the latter case frequent milking and the injection of a solution of 



2 drams of hyposulphite of soda in a pint of water into the teats will 

 serve to destroy the germs. 



STRINGY MILK. 



This may be caused by fungi developing in the liquid, and that the 

 spores are present in the system of the cow may be safely inferred 

 from the fact that in a large herd two or three cows only will yield 

 such milk at a time, and that after a run of 10 days or a fortnight 

 they will recover and others will be attacked. I have found that 

 such affected cows had the temperature raised one or two degrees 

 above the others. Like most other fungi this does not grow out into 

 filaments within the body of the cow, but in five or six hours after 

 milking the surface layers are found to be one dense network of fila- 

 ments. If a needle is dipped in this and lifted the liquid is drawn 

 out into a long thread. In one case which I investigated near 

 Ithaca, N. Y., the contamination was manifestly from a spring 

 which oozed out of a bank of black-muck soil and stood in pools 

 mixed with the dejections of the animals. Inoculation of pure milk 

 with the water as it flowed out of this bank developed in it the 

 fungus and the stringy characters. By fencing the spring in and 

 giving the affected cows each 2 drams bisulphite of soda daily, the 

 trouble was arrested promptly and permanently. 



