500 GENERAL DISEASES. 



CAUSES. — Improper forage, such as musty hay and corn ; 

 feeding on boiled food for a considerable time ; debility ; ex- 

 posure. It may accompany indigestion, tuberculosis, and other 

 disorders. 



SYMPTOMS. — Both the thirst and the amount staled are ex- 

 cessive; the urine is watery and of low specific gravity; the pulse 

 weak ; coat, rough ; gums, pale ; breath, sour-smelling ; appetite, 

 depraved, and often voracious ; bowels, costive ; dung, usually, dark 

 in colour and of a bad smell ; and the animal is prone to sweat 

 after slight exertion. There is rapid loss of condition, and general 

 debility. Sometimes, there are dropsical swellings. 



TREATMENT. — Give a mild dose of aloes; change the nature 

 of the food ; instead of water, allow the animal a copious supply of 

 linseed tea to drink ; mix in the food 2 oz. of bicarbonate of soda 

 daily. If these simple measures do not succeed, give daily in a 

 ball, soon after feeding, 2 drachms of iodine for six or seven days, 

 exercising judgment in diminishing the iodine as the thirst and. 

 amount staled decrease, and mix in the food or water, daily, 1 oz.. 

 of the hyposulphite of soda. Owing to the irritating effect of 

 iodine, it should not be administered when the stomach is in ani 

 empty condition. The animal's drink should on no account b& 

 curtailed in this disease. 



I'he use of clay water is advocated. It is made by mixing; 

 yellow clay with water, and after the sediment has been deposited, 

 give the solution to the animal to drink, instead of plain water. 

 Bicarbonate of soda, however, seems to act equally well, and is the 

 cleaner and more manageable agent of the tAO. 



Iodine appears to act, here, as a powerful diffusible antiseptic in 

 checking the development, in the blood, of morbid material; and, 

 also, as an eliminative. Its almost specific (if I may use the term) 

 action, in this disease, was first discovered Isy Dick. Bicarbonate 

 of soda and linseed act as sedatives. Hyposulphite of soda checks, 

 to a marked degree, putrefactive changes in the blood ; and, also, 

 during constipation, neutralizes the foul gas given off by the 

 residue of the food which is in the intestines. 



A dangerous form of diabetes insipidus is described, in which 

 the urine is dark coloured, thick, and of high specific gravity, 

 owing to the presence of a' peculiar form of albumin. There is 

 rapid wasting, followed by paralysis and coma. 



Excessive urination after diseases of the organs of breathing, 

 should not be interfered with ; for it is an effort of nature to get 

 rid of the effete matter which is taken -up by the blood, on th& 



