diseases' oe the digestive organs. 27 



or sulphate of soda (Glauber's salts), half an ounce of powdered 

 Barbados aloes, 1 ounce of powdered ginger, 1 pint of molasses. The 

 salts and aloes should be dissolved by stirring for a few minutes in 

 2 quarts of lukewarm water, then the molasses should be added, 

 and after all the ingredients have been stirred together for about 

 ten minutes the dose should be administered. It will generally be 

 necessary after the operation of the purgative to give some tonic 

 and antacid preparation to promote digestion, which is imperfectly 

 performed in such cases. The following may be used: Powdered 

 gentian, 3 ounces; powdered bicarbonate of potash, 3 ounces; pow- 

 dered ginger, 3 ounces; powdered capsicum, 1 ounce. Mix and 

 divide into twelve powders, one of which should be given three 

 times a day before feeding, shaken up with half a pint of whisky 

 and a pint of water. It is also advantageous in such cases to give 

 two heaped teaspoonfuls of wood charcoal, mixed with the animal's 

 feed three times a day. The animal should also go out during the 

 day, as want of exercise favors the continuance of this form of 

 indigestion. If the dung is hard, the constipation should be over- 

 come by feeding a little flaxseed twice daily or by giving a handful of 

 Glauber's salts in the feed once or twice daily, as may be necessary. 

 Roots, silage, and other succulent feeds are useful in this connection. 

 If tuberculosis is suspected as the cause of the chronic bloating, a 

 skilled veterinarian should be employed to make a diagnosis, using 

 the tuberculin test if necessary. Until it is settled that the cow has 

 not tuberculosis, she should be kept apart from the other members of 

 the herd. 



DISTENTION OF RUMEN, OR PAUNCH, WITH POOD. 



This form of indigestion is caused by the animal gorging itself with 

 food, and arises more from the animal's voracious appetite than from 

 any defect in the quality of the food supplied to it. The condition 

 is, however, more severe if the food consumed is especially concen- 

 trated or difficult of digestion. In cases of this kind there is com- 

 paratively no great formation of gas, and the gas which is formed is 

 diffused through the stomach instead of accumulating in a layer in 

 its upper part. On pressing the flank with the closed fist the indent 

 of the hand remains for a short time in the flank, as if the rumen 

 were filled with a soft, doughy mass. 



This form of indigestion should be treated by stimulants, such as 

 alcohol, wine, or aromatic spirits of ammonia. 



If the formation of gas is not great and the distention with solid 

 material is somewhat limited, the animal may be drenched through 

 a piece of ordinary garden hose, one end inserted in the mouth, like 

 the neck of a bottle, and the other end fitted with a funnel, giving 

 1£ pounds of sulphate of magnesia, or sulphate of soda, dissolved in 



