Deceases  of  Cattle  and  Sheep. 
543 
sometimes  swallow  as  much  milk  in  a couple  of  minutes  as  would 
occupy  a quarter  of  an  hour  in  the  operation  of  sucking. 
It  should  be  understood  that  the  complicated  digestive  appa- 
ratus which  is  requisite  for  the  ox  is  not  called  into  action  in  the 
calf.  The  first  and  second  stomachs  are  nearly  closed,  and  the 
folds  of  the  third  adhere  together,  so  as  to  form  a narrow  tube  for 
ithe  passage  of  milk  direct  into  the  fourth  stomach.  But  this  pas- 
sage not  admitting  the  milk  as  quickly  as  it  is  swallowed,  it  gets 
transmitted  from  time  to  time  into  the  small  but  imperfectly  formed 
rumen,  which,  becoming  distended  according  to  the  amount  col- 
lected, acts  as  an  irritant,  inflammation  quickly  follows,  and  death 
is  the  invariable  consequence.  In  cases  of  this  kind  the  rumen 
is  found  loaded  with  a mass  of  coagulated  cheesy-like  substance. 
Aliment  unfit  in  quality  is  also  a very  common  cause  of  disease, 
producing  diarrhoea. 
From  the  preceding  account  of  the  peculiar  organization  of  the 
digestive  organs  of  calves,  it  must  be  evident,  that  many  articles 
of  food,  which  in  older  animals  become  digested  and  nutritious, 
are  likely  to  embarrass  the  stomach  of  the  calf.  Many  of  the 
substitutes  used  for  milk,  such  as  the  meal  of  oats,  wheat,  barley, 
and  linseed,  sometimes  act  in  this  manner;  when  given  at  too 
early  an  age,  or  in  too  great  a quantity  at  the  commencement, 
proving  indigestible,  and  more  or  less  irritating,  and  causing  in- 
creased action  of  the  alimentary  canal,  with  secretions  augmented 
by  the  efforts  made  to  get  rid  of  the  offensive  matters.  Calves 
are  sometimes  tempted  to  eat  grass  and  other  vegetable  matters 
at  a fortnight  old,  which  is  very  certain  to  excite  diarrhoea.  Careful 
feeders  seldom  give  them  any  other  than  liquid  food  during  the 
first  six  weeks  or  two  months. 
These  examples  are  sufficient  to  show  the  immediate  ill  effects 
of  insufficient  food  in  the  rearing  of  calves  ; the  future  consequences 
will  be  alluded  to  hereafter. 
The  word  “ insufficient  ” is  here  considered  in  its  broadest  sense 
— food  being  insufficient  when  it  is  incapable  of  producing  healthy 
nutritious  chyle  to  the  growing  animal.  The  practice  of  rearing 
calves  on  skim  milk,  or  cheese  whey,  is  a very  common  but  re- 
prehensible one,  and  the  feeder,  if  he  does  not  suffer  directly  by 
incurring  disease,  is  certain  to  lose  indirectly  in  the  quality  of  his 
stock.  Milk  contains  casein,  butter,  sugar,  and  salts.  The 
casein  supplies  the  various  muscular  tissues,  and  the  butter  and 
sugar  are  used  up  in  respiration,  in  preserving  the  animal  tem- 
perature, and  in  the  production  of  fat,  which  exists  more  or  less 
abundantly  in  the  bodies  of  young  healthy  animals,  whilst  the 
saline  ingredients,  containing  the  phosphates,  supply  the  osseous 
structures.  But  by  depriving  the  milk  of  its  cream,  the  greater 
part  of  the  muscle  and  fat  forming  principles  are  removed,  whilst 
2 N 2 
