ON RED-WATER IN CATTLE. 
93 
mals would suffer from their poisonous qualities; or, in the absence 
of poisonous plants, a superabundance of rich pasture might occasion 
that species of red-water which is consequent on plethora. 
In the second case there had been very little more moisture than 
was necessary for producing a healthy pasture. On the withdrawal 
of that moisture the plants were removed from their natural state 
to a soil much too dry for them, and, until they became naturalized 
to their new condition, or other plants suited to that soil had filled 
it up, they would be stunted, hard, and woody — not easily di- 
gested, and tending to give rise to that species of red-water conse- 
quent on indigestion. 
As regards the cattle, they have the same transition from a 
damp, sweet pasture, to a dry and stunted one. As a proof of the 
correctness of the above position it is well known that cattle, re- 
moved from one farm or district to another farm or district, are 
much more liable to attacks of this disease than those who con- 
tinue on the farms on which they were raised. Not only is there 
a tendency to the production of this disease on farms where the 
pastures are generally of a dry and stunted character, but, 
during seasons that are peculiarly dry and cold, or wet and cold, 
there are always many more cases of red-water than in seasons 
that are mild, and no wonder ! for we have one cause acting 
in two ways — the weather, as its effects are felt on the animals 
and on their food. In the lower parts of our country, more particu- 
larly in the south, this disease is consequent on very hot and dry 
weather, and is supposed to arise from an increased quantity of 
carbon in the blood, by which the bile becomes acrid, and the 
liver and its functions are deranged. 
Many cases are also recorded, that were supposed to arise from 
the animals drinking freely of peat pit- water; but as I have 
seen none of them, I shall not attempt to describe the manner or 
nature of the affection. Another cause is found in the removal of 
cattle from a poor and sterile pasture to a rich and luxurious one. 
Considering the complicated and delicate nature of the digestive 
system in cattle, it is no wonder that disease is the consequence of 
this transition. 
From what has been said, it will at once be seen that the causes 
divide themselves naturally into three stages — remote, mediate, 
and immediate. 
1. Remote ; Any thing that produces constitutional weakness, 
or induces a plethoric state of the animal ; the former tending 
towards derangement of the digestive organs, and the latter pro- 
ducing inflammatory diathesis. Here may be ranked moulting, 
and over-feeding, with over-heated and badly ventilated houses. 
2. Mediate ; Exposure to sudden blasts of cold wind or rain, 
VOL. XVIII. O 
