176 
THE COW- HER DISEASES AND MANAGEMENT. NO. 2 
THE COW—HER DISEASES AND MANAGE¬ 
MENT.—No. 2. 
Blest cow ! thy praise shall still my notes employ, 
Great ie of health, delightful source of joy ! 
flow oft I’ve fed thee with my fav rite grain . 
And roar’d like thee, to find thy children slam. 
Ye swains, who know her various worth to prize, 
Ah ! house her well from winter's angry skies. 
Potatoes, pumpkins, should her sadness cheer, 
Corn from your crib, and mashes from your beer , 
When spring returns she’ll well acquit the loan, 
And nurse your infants and her own.-Barlow. 
Fevers .—This class of diseases, in the cow, 
arises from similar causes as those of the human 
race, such as extremes of heat and cold, excess in 
feeding, &c„ and often the origin cannot be ascer- 
ta The symptoms which generally distinguish fever, 
are! the animal is seized with a trembling over the 
whole body; she then becomes hot and restless, 
with loss of appetite, but is continually anxious to 
drink • her eyes look dull and heavy, her head 
hangs’down, with foam and froth issuing from the 
mouth ; and she seems, at the same time, to be op¬ 
pressed, now and then uttering a heavy and mourn- 
On examining the pulse, at the necic, if the cir 
culation of the blood is found to be very mllch tT; 
ried, the first step, in order to lessen this, is to let 
blood in a quantity in proportion to the violence of 
the fever; and this, at first should not be less than 
threeorVour pints. In the course of 24 hours, . 
the symptoms do not appear relieved, but rather 
seem to increase, the operation may be repeated. 
After bleeding, the cow should be placed in a situa¬ 
tion moderately warm; but she should not be 
tempted to eat before there a PPf rs ®, real ,f esir ^ I?* 
food In the mean time, she should be allowed the 
use of warm diluent drinks such as gruel, warm 
water, &c.; and, along with these drinks, a dose 
of medicine may be given, to keep the body open, 
prepared according to the first formula prescribed 
for a cold at p 142, of the present volume. This 
treatment’is to be followed up by the use of medi¬ 
cines, which have a tendency to open the pores of 
the skin ; and the following prescription will best 
answer this purpose, given at one dose, ma quait 
or three pints of ale, with a little allspic . 
Gum of myrrh, S of an ounce ; powdered vale¬ 
rian i oz.; assafeetida, 3 drachms, safron, 3 
drachms; camphor, i drachm ; opium, 4 drachm, 
mustard, | oz.; saltpetre (nitre), 4 oz. 
These means are to he regularly continued ac¬ 
cording to the judgment of the practitioner, till a 
turn of the fever takes place, which ma y b ® know ^ 
by the return of the appetite of the animal. The 
dfet. most suitable for her recovery, should consist 
of sweet hay, malt mashes, Indian meal, 01 any¬ 
thing else of a restorative nature. 
Fevers, in cows, are never to he accounted fatal, 
and if timely attended to, will always yieid to treat- 
This disease which is 
also termed “hide bound,” “joint yellows, and 
“ constitutional rheumatic weakness,” 
quently caused by heats and colds 5 and tjje dra^h 
OX is more subject to it than the cow The effect 
of this cause, is to produce obstructed peispira 10 , 
which, if it does not occasion inflammation of the ( 
lungs, liver, or bowels., induces a general stiffness 
of the surface, particularly in the joints, where mo¬ 
tion takes place. This disease is more ready to 
occur when the animal is in a bad or morbid state 
of the body, from improper feeding, &c. 
The first symptoms of the disease are exactly the 
same as those which appear on the early attack of 
a common cold (see p. 142). These indications are 
succeeded by those peculiar to the distemper ; the 
coat of the animal soon appears of a rusty color ; 
the hair stands on end; the hide adheres to the 
body so tight, that it is moved with some difficulty 
from the ribs, and even will crack in the attempt; 
when pinched on the back, in order to raise the cow 
up, it gives her great pain, which she shows by 
bending almost to the ground, attended with moan¬ 
ing or grunting. At the same time, motion is 
equally disliked; and if forced to walk, it is done 
with great difficulty, from the stiffness of the 
limbs; and the exertion even causes a violent 
heaving or working of the flank. Where the dis- 
ease has been of long standing, the limbs, on at- 
tempting to walk, seem to crack like the breaking 
of sticks; and not unfrequently, there prevails a 
swelling of the joints, and also of the udder In 
this disease, the appetite is much impaired, and lit¬ 
tle or nothing is eaten ; fever comes on in its pro¬ 
gress, marked by strong pulse, dryness of the nose, 
and frequent grinding of the teeth. And during the 
whole period of the malady, the body is in a cos¬ 
tive state. , _ , 
The natural effect which attends the above symp¬ 
toms, is to excite inflammation ; bleeding, therefore, 
is thought to be absolutely necessary; In spite oi 
the appearance of the animal seeming low and lean 
in flesh, a circumstance always conspicuous where 
the malady has continued long, the bleeding should 
consist of a pint and a half to a quart at a me 
and if the fever continue, it may occasionally be 
repeated. When the bleeding is over, the follow¬ 
ing dose may be mixed together and given, milk- 
warm, in two quarts of water gruel and half a pint 
of molasses:— . » „ ,■ 
Sulphur, from 9 oz. to 1 lb.; grains of Paradise 
(cardamoms), 3 drachms; saltpetre I 5 oz.; tu¬ 
meric, | oz.; cummin seed, | oz. 
This medicine generally operates briskly, and 
will sometimes continue for 10 or 12 hours. After 
its operation is over, the following combination 
will be proper, mixed together and given at one 
dose to the animal, in three pints of good ale, with 
the addition of a handful of chopped rue : 
Flour of sulphur, 3 oz.; saltpetre, 1 3 oz.; grams 
of Paradise, 3 drachms; valerian, I oz.; cummin 
seed, I oz.; anise seed, 3 oz.; gentian, ? oz 
This mixture may be repeated every day till re¬ 
covery takes place, which seldom requires more 
than five or six doses. 
Pegging with garget or poke-berry root {Phyto¬ 
lacca decandra), it is believed has been tried with 
success, as will be seen by referring to p. 159. 
This operation is confined to the dewlap, and con 
sists either in one large incision, or several small 
ones, through the skin, which requires to oe raised 
from the cellular substance on each side. Ibe 
wounded part, or parts, is then to be filled with 
some irritating matter, either in the form of pow¬ 
der, ointment, leaves, or roots, which, in e ^ cl ^S 
inflammation, will form matter, or pus, and thus 
