Rearing of Calves. 
155 
can cause .any uneasiness. My custom, on an appearance of 
laxness, is to reduce the allowance of milk and keep the calf 
warm and quiet. An astringent drink of starch 2 ozs., 1 drachm 
of laudanum, 1^ drachm of gins^er, is also recommended. Should 
it assume a threatening app(>arance, or the evacuations be white 
and tinged with blood, 5 grains of sulphate of copper and two 
of opium, given four tiuies a day, will be found an excellent 
remedy. 
Mr. Francis Clater treats this disease very simply, and his 
valuable book, ' Eveiy Man his own Cattle Doctor,' is much 
prized, and should be in the hands of all stock-masters, as it is 
written in a style quite free from pedantry and proiessional 
technicalities. 
I have found the acrid nature of the firces to cause great irri- 
tation and uneasiness about the anus ; this is greatly relieved by 
sponging with warm water and keeping the parts clean ; too 
much care cannot be taken, after a cure has been made, so to 
regulate the diet as to guard against a new attack. 
Uoose or Catarrh. — This disease, to which calves are very 
liable, is most dangerous when neglected, and runs its course 
with them even quicker than with grown cattle ; it also suggests 
a special reason for vigilance, because it occasionally becomes an 
epidemic. It is very prevalent in early spring and in the " fall," 
owing, doubtless, to the extremes of temperature experienced at 
those seasons of the year. Even temperature in the houses, 
proper ventilation, nourishing food, and a fair share of it, are 
the best preventives ; whereas, where there is cold, wet, and 
insufficiency of provender, the disease is almost sure to be pre- 
sent. The first time the herdsman hears a beast cough he should 
stop and examine it closely ; the neglect may prove fatal to the 
animal affected. Mr. Youatt's advice cannot be too often re- 
peated : — " There is no disease of a chronic nature by which 
cattle are so seriously injured, or which is 'eventually so fatal to 
them, as hoose ; yet not one herdsman in twenty, and very few of 
those whose interest is more at stake, pay the slightest attention 
to it. The cow may cough on from week to week, and no one 
takes notice of it, until the quantity of milk is seriously decreas- 
ing, or she is rapidly losing flesh, and then medical treatment is 
generally unavailing-. The disease has now reached the chest, 
the lungs are seriously affected, and the foundation is laid for 
confirmed consumption." And, again, how plainly and simply 
does he point out the means of ascertaining the exact condition 
oi the animal, so that proper measures may be adopted for its 
relief! " Let her be taken up and examined. Does she feed as 
well as ever ? Does the dew stand upon her muzzle ? Are her 
flanks perfectly quiet ? Then one or two nights' housing, and a 
