238 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
August, 
Hoven in Cattle. 
Mr. Dun, the well-known and able lecturer on Ve¬ 
terinary Medicine at the Edinburg Veterinary College, 
and author of the excellent Treatise on Veterinary 
Medicines, their actions and uses, has lately published 
an article on the above subject which we will attempt 
to abridge and condense for the benefit of our readers. 
The stomachs of cattle being large, complicated, 
and adapted for the thorough digestion of food, are 
greatly more liable to derangement and disease than 
the small and simple stomach of the horse. The ru¬ 
men, paunch, or first stomach of cattle is liable to un¬ 
due distention from gas, food, or foreign bodies. Dis¬ 
tention of the rumen from gas, constituting hoven or 
blown, is produced by the eating of w r et clover, of tur¬ 
nip tops, or even of a few mouthfuls of any rich suc¬ 
culent food to which the animal has been unaccustom¬ 
ed. Such improper or strange food irritates, and then 
paralyzes the stomach. It resists the solvent action of 
the digestive fluids and arrests the digestion of the 
natural food with which it mingles. Fermentation, 
with the consequent evolution of gas, is thus establish¬ 
ed. Choking is another cause of hoven. The irrita¬ 
tion produced by the obstruction of the gullet deranges 
the nervous influence which presides over digestion; 
and the functions of the stomach being thus arrested, 
its contents- undergo chemical change. Many diseases 
which disturb digestion also give rise to hoven. This 
is often observed in diseases of the liver and in inflam¬ 
mation of the bowels. Such cases of hoven are ex¬ 
tremely troublesome. They come on slowly, and usu¬ 
ally continue until the disease on which they depend is 
relieved. 
The symptoms of hoven often supervene with great 
rapidity. An elastic swelling rises on the left side; 
and, in bad cases, may even be perceived on the light 
side. The back is arched, the hind limbs brought un¬ 
der the body, and the tongue hung out. Saliva drivels 
from the mouth. The breathing is quick and labored 
from the distended stomach pressing forward upon the 
lungs. The rectum is often protruded; and in preg¬ 
nant cows abortion not uncommonly takes place. Un¬ 
less the animal be speedily relieved, death will some¬ 
times occur in eight or ten hours, and usually results 
from the immense swelling arresting respiration, or 
rupturing the stomach and abdominal muscles. 
Treatment. —Many eases recover spontaneously ; 
but it is never advisable to trust to such a result. The 
means of cure should always be used. These are nu¬ 
merous and various, according to the cause, degree of 
severity, &c., &c. In a slight case the animal may 
be driven about, when the S3 T mptoms will generally 
disappear. If, however, there be much distention, dul- 
ness and disinclination to move, the driving about may 
do more harm than good. The introduction of the 
probang, with the small end downwards, is often use¬ 
ful, the gas making its escape with a prolonged hiss. 
If it does good at all, it will be at once; and if not, 
the probang should be immediately withdrawn. All 
the internal medicines of acknowledged value for the 
cure of hoven are stimulants. They rouse the paraly¬ 
zed organ, and thus expel its gaseous contents. Stim¬ 
ulants are generally given in too small doses. An egg 
shell full of turpentine, a glass of whisky, or a drachm 
or two of ginger, are absurdly small closes in case of ho¬ 
ven. Ten times these doses may be given, not only with 
impunity, but with advantage. There is no fear here 
of causing inflammation, and no hope of success but in 
the full action of an active stimulant. If turpentine 
is most convenient, give six ounces with a pint of lin¬ 
seed oil. Half a bottle (pint or quart not stated) of 
whisky, brandy or gin, with two or three ounces of gin¬ 
ger, is also a good medicine. So also are 2 or 3 oz of 
sweet spirits of nitre, or 1 oz. of carbonate of ammonia, 
in some gruel. Such doses should be repeated evey 
hour until the swelling yields. Friction of the abdo¬ 
men assists the action of the medicine. When the 
above prove fruitless, and the symptoms are severe, it 
will be advisable to fracture the stomach. This is at¬ 
tended w ith scarcely any danger. It is best performed 
with a trocar and canula, which is thrust in at a point 
as nearly as possible equidistant from the prominence 
of the haunch, the lumbar vertebree and the false ribs. 
The trocar being withdrawn the gas rushes through 
the canula. The operation may be performed, how- 
fever, with a large pocket or table knife, either of which 
is preferable to a pen-knife. The wound heals readily, 
requiring nothing but a pitch-plaster. A dose of phy¬ 
sic should then be given, as 1 lb. of common salt and 
2 ozs. of ginger, or a pint of linseed oil. Cattle subject 
to hoven should be fed carefully, and may be benefited 
by taking 3 of 4 drachms of green vitriol occasionally. 
They should also have salt always within their reach. 
Andalusian Fowls. 
Friend Tucker — I enclose you a description of 
my Andalusian fowls, for the Poultry department of 
your valuable paper. They are not fully described in 
any work on Poultry that 1 have ever seen. The ori¬ 
ginal stock Was imported in the bark Asa Fish, by 
Capt. Isaac Gates of Mystic, Ct, from Leghorn, Italy, 
in the fall of 1851, and they have been bred in that 
vicinity since. The cock3 are red, with a large single 
upright comb, deeply serrated, and of the most bril¬ 
liant scarlet, with wattles of proportionate size. The 
hens resemble the black Spanish fowls in size and ap¬ 
pearance, with a large, deeply serrated, but drooping 
comb. Plumage of a grey to a mealy white ; end of 
the tail, tipt with black; legs of a bluish white to a 
slate color. 
The importer calls them Leghorns, from the port of 
exportation, under which name I exhibited them at our 
county fair last fall, although I was convinced that 
that they were identical with the fowls mentioned in 
Dixon and Kerr’s Ornamential and Domestic Poultry, 
pages 210 and 211. as Andalusian fowls, imported from 
Andalusia, Spain, by Mr. Leonard Barber in 1846 At 
the suggestion of Gen. K. U. Sherman, Chairman of 
the Committee on Fowls, I have adopted the name of 
Andalusian Fowls, believing as I do that they came 
originally from Spain. As layers they are equal, if 
not superior, to the black Spanish fowls. They are a 
m«st valuable as well as beautiful addition to our 
poultry yards. E. H. Bltven. Hope Farms Bridge- 
water, N. Y. June 12, 1854. 
