DISEASES OP THE DIGESTIVE ORGANS. 31 



vidual in a herd suffers though all are fed alike; in such cases the 

 disease must arise from an imperfect assimilation by the affected ani- 

 mal of the nutritive elements of the food which is supplied to it. 



Treatment. — The aim in such cases must be to improve the process 

 of digestion and to supply the animal with a sufficiency of sound and 

 wholesome food. The following should be given to the cow three 

 times a day, a heaping tablespoonful constituting a dose: Carbonate 

 of iron, 4 ounces; finely ground bone or "bone flour," 1 pound; pow- 

 dered gentian, 4 ounces; common salt, 8 ounces; powdered fenugreek, 

 4 ounces; mix. Iu addition to this, 3 tablespoonfuls of powdered 

 charcoal may be mixed with the animal's food three times a day, and 

 a piece of rock salt should be placed where the animal can lick it at 

 will. German veterinarians have had brilliant results from the treat- 

 ment of this disease with subcutaneous injections of apomorphine in 

 doses of 1£ to 5 grains for three or four days. 



HAIR CONCRETIONS. 



These concretions, or hair balls, result from the habit which some 

 cattle have of licking themselves or other animals. As a result the 

 hairs which are swallowed are carried round by the contractions 

 of the stomach and gradually assume the form of a small pellet, or 

 ball. This increases in size as fresh quantities of hair are introduced 

 into the stomach, which become adherent to the surface of the hair 

 ball. These hair balls are found most frequently in the reticulum, or 

 second stomach (PI. II), though sometimes in the rumen. In calves 

 hair balls are generally found in the fourth stomach. There are no 

 certain symptoms by which we can determine the presence of hair 

 balls in the stomach, and therefore no treatment can be recommended 

 for such cases. In making post-mortem examinations of cattle, we 

 have sometimes found the walls of the reticulum transfixed with nails 

 or pieces of wire, and yet the animal during life had not shown any 

 symptoms of indigestion, but had died from maladies not involving 

 the second stomach. 



INDIGESTION (DYSPEPSIA, OR GASTRO-INTESTINAL CATARRH). 



Tympanites, already described, is a form of indigestion in which the 

 chief symptom and most threatening condition is the collection of gas 

 in the paunch. This symptom does not always accompany indiges- 

 tion, so it is well here to consider other forms under a separate head. 

 If indigestion is long continued the irritant abnormal products devel- 

 oped cause catarrh of the stomach and intestines — gastro-intestinal 

 catarrh. Or, on the other hand, irritant substances ingested may 

 cause gastro-intestinal catarrh, which, in turn, will cause indigestion. 

 Hence it results that these several conditions are usually found 

 existing together. 



