624 
OBSERVATIONS ON THE DISEASE OE THE COW, COM- 
MONEY KNOWN AS DROPPING AFTER CALVING. 
By James Beart Simonds, Principal of the Royal Veterinary College. 
Continued from p. 583. 
We may here state that it is of the first importance, nay, 
imperatively necessary, that whatever is given either as medi¬ 
cine or as a dietetic agent, it should be administered by the 
stomach-pump. Before coma sets in, the power of deglutition 
is impaired, and afterwards it is lost, and even when consci¬ 
ousness is returning it is barely restored. Fluids poured into 
the mouth will under such circumstances often pass into the 
windpipe instead of the stomach. Again and again, in mak¬ 
ing post-mortem examinations, have we found medicine, gruel, 
&c., in the bronchial tubes, and we repeat that many an 
animal has been sacrificed—fatal as may be the disease—to a 
want of precaution in the administration of remedial agents. 
With reference to the exhibition of stimulants it must be 
borne in mind that one of the earliest symptoms after the 
animal falls is the rapid fermentation of the ingesta in the 
rumen, producing that distended state of the abdomen before 
alluded to. This condition of the rumen adds greatly to the 
animal’s sufferings, being accompanied with painful eructa¬ 
tions. The gaseous matter evolved from the fermenting 
ingesta practically consists of carbonic anhydride, to neutra¬ 
lise which ammonia is required. Aromatic spirit of ammonia, 
in one-ounce to two-ounce doses, with a somewhat larger 
quantity of tincture of ginger, should be given, and repeated 
according to circumstances. The tympany may also be 
relieved, and indeed should be, by occasionally passing the 
tube of the stomach-pump into the rumen, thus mechanically 
effecting the removal of the gaseous matter. This procedure 
will not unfrequently be beneficial in another and no less 
important way, for by it ingesta wdll be detected in the 
oesophagus, which by moderate pressure, as in cases of 
choking, can be thrust back into the rumen, affording con¬ 
siderable relief to the animal. 
The list of stimulating tinctures and mixtures which are 
admissible is great, and for the most part they may be 
advantageously mixed with ordinary spirits, such as brandy, 
whisky, gin, wine, &c. Good w r ine is to be preferred to 
spirit, especially in those cases where agents of this kind 
have frequently to be administered. Its effects are more 
lasting than those of spirit; besides which much less irritation 
