PRACTICAL THOUGHTS ON PLENALVUS. 333 
of the means of relief. Again, we ought never to have 
recourse to rumenotomy unless every other means has failed, 
and the case will, it is feared, resolve itself into alvitis, or 
when a sufficient time has elapsed, and there is no diminu- 
tion of the contents of the rumen. 
In this disease we must have patience, and as the result 
of that patience cases which at first presented alarming 
appearances will often recover. 
The contents of the rumen may consist of almost any- 
thing of which the animal partakes; but if there is an 
accumulation of wheat, oats, or barley, chaff or straw, there 
will be little or no gaseous eliminations. In such cases it 
will be good practice to give good bold cathartic doses, to 
withhold all food of any description, and to place cold or 
tepid water for the animal to drink. Afterwards, providing 
no inflammatory symptoms are present, we may give stimu- 
lants and vegetable and mineral tonics. 
In most cases this treatment will be eminently successful. 
In other cases a considerable amount of gas is present with 
the ingesta ; the practitioner will have to base his treat- 
ment upon his diagnosis ; he will now give with the saline 
aperient some ammoniacal compound. 
Distension of the rumen may be due to acorns, as in the 
following case : — On the 4th of December last, at 4 p.m., I 
was requested to attend a cow, the property of a dairyman, 
in the immediate vicinity, which was reported as very unwell. 
The visible mucous membranes were slightly blanched; 
there was not much distension of the rumen ; no desire to 
lie down, which was very unusual in her. There was fre- 
quent grunting, especially when I manipulated the right 
side ; pulse wiry (about 65) ; extremities cold ; back arched ; 
coat dry and sticking to the ribs ; and suppression of the 
secretion of the milk ; diminished secretion of the urine ; 
alvine excreta normal in consistency, but black. I was in- 
formed that, as the cow had proved barren, she was on the 
point of being fattened, and an allowance of two gallons of 
acorns, about the same of meal, with some oilcake, cut chaff, 
and oat straw, constituted the daily provender. Prior to my 
arrival she had shown symptoms of indisposition for the last 
twenty-four hours, but was rapidly getting worse. 
The treatment consisted of a saline aperient with Tr. 
Ferri Mur. Jj ; Spts. Ammon. Aromat. ^iij, in about a quart 
of warm ale ; friction to the extremities. All food was 
withheld. 
7 p.m. — Some gas expelled. The cow grunts still, but 
not so often ; she still keeps looking to the right side. 
xliv. 24 
