ON PUERPEIIAL FEVER IN COWS, &C. 299 
singular good fortune never to have lost one with this disease, 
I can with the greatest confidence recommend the particular 
medicines that I employ. They are Epsom salts and sulphur. 
Sulphur in this case I consider as decidedly a specific remedy. 
I have cured several cases with other diuretic drugs, combined 
with strong cathartics, but have found them in some instances 
fail altogether. I once tried to do without sulphur in one par¬ 
ticular case, and proceeded with the experiment to the very 
threshold of death ; and then succeeded in reclaiming the animal, 
when the bony hand of the grim tyrant appeared stretched forth 
to seize him. I have never seen sulphur fail. 
This is a case where the judgment of the practitioner in appor¬ 
tioning the quantity of the medicines necessary, must stand him 
in the stead of any definite measure thereof. The age and strength 
of the animal, the nature of the food previously eaten, the degree 
of peritoneal inflammation already existing, are all circumstances 
to be taken into consideration before fixing upon the precise quan¬ 
tity requisite. I have found it necessary to give from half a 
pound to upwards of a pound of sulphur, and from one pound 
to two pounds of salts at one time. Never under do it: your 
only chance of success, in some cases, is your first dose. It is 
frequently the case that the veterinary surgeon is not called in 
here until disease has made sad inroads in the animal’s constitu¬ 
tion : recollect, the longeT the animal has suffered, the more need 
for stronger purgative remedies. You will, perhaps, be told by 
the attendant, that the animal is loose enough in the body. 
Heed him not; nay, if you even see the beast void a small 
quantity of nearly liquid faeces, distrust the evidence of your 
own eyesight; use feeling, and you will find faeces hard enough 
coming forward; and even if this is not convincing (as it pos¬ 
sibly might not be in a very recent case), rest assured it will 
come, and prepare to remedy it. They never die of this com¬ 
plaint without peritoneal inflammation having proceeded to a 
very great extent. “ Sir,” said a farmer once to me (alluding 
to his having lost one with this disease), ‘Hhe farrier cured the 
beast of his staling blood well enough, but somehow his drinks 
dried his body up, and killed him.” I need only hint at linseed 
gruel as a vehicle for your remedies in this case particularly, to 
ensure its adoption ; and every one will at once see the necessity 
of warmth to the region of the kidneys, of raking, clystering, &c., 
with soft and cooling, -and in most instances of a total change, 
of diet. 
In the attempt successfully to combat with the diseases of 
cattle, much more is necessary than the bare knowledge of what 
particular medicines are suitable to particular cases. The pre- 
