b= Sete SoeeS: resiseeeed +35 43% Baers # = 23 ore inSes ts sy ie robe eR: ‘ %, me siars i au Poh hee Vint TIVES. Document is Seat NO. (44. ee S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE, _ BUREAU OF ANIMAL INDUSTRY. | DE. SALMON, D. V. M., Chief of Bureau, #9, f= SPECIAL REPORT <2 rs, PEARSON, MURRAY, ATKINSON, LOWE, HARBAUGH, LAW, DICKSON, “ _ MOHLER, TRUMBOWER, SALMON, SMITH, AND STILES. — one ING OFFICE. 58ru Coneress, | HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES. DocuMENT 2d Session. No. 44 is, DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE, BUREAU OF ANIMAL INDUSTRY. D. E. SALMON, D.V. M., Chief of Bureau. Seed KEPORT. ON Sot ASeS OF CATTEE. BY Drs. PEARSON, MURRAY, ATKINSON, LOWE, HARBAUGH, LAW, DICKSON, MOHLER, TRUMBOWER, SALMON, SMITH, AND STILES. REVISED EDITION. WASHINGTON: GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE. RHO'4. ‘ one v 904 a ee i LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL. U.S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE, BUREAU OF ANIMAL INDUSTRY, Washington, D. C., May 9, 1904. Str: I have the honor to transmit herewith the manuscript of a revised edition of the Special Report on Diseases of Cattle in accord- ance with the following resolution, approved April 28, 1904: Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That there be printed and bound in cloth fifty thousand copies of the Special Report on the Diseases of Cattle, with accompany- ing illustrations, the same to be first revised and brought to date, under the super- vision of the Secretary of Agriculture, thirty thousand for the use of the House of Representatives, fifteen thousand for the use of the Senate, and five thousand for the use of the Department of Agriculture. Since this volume was first issued several editions have been pub- lished by order of Congress, thus showing its great popularity. This report has been prepared, as was stated in transmitting the manu- script of the first edition, for the farmer and stock owner rather than for the student or veterinarian. As much practical information as possible has been brought together on the subjects treated, but it has been stated in brief and plain language. Readers who desire a more detailed account of any subject discussed herein are referred to the various special treatises. Notwithstanding the popular character of this work, there is no doubt that it will be found useful to the veteri- narian as well as to the farmer. Very respectfully, D. E. SALMON, Chief of Bureau of Animal Industry. Hon. JAMES WILSON, Secretary of Agriculture. ‘ a Th 4A w , OP Our, Seca UC .. abt . A t - ; _ Pair Ser Na ¥ coe matt) 7 Ae we r¢ Pa eid ae } aS ae ) be i ont ‘ a. PMA hii Oe ae nt oa ] _ ms : Pees Pa is * a7 ‘| 5 ba oe rr . nek if ie 7 Fr : ’ . 4 v 2 ne ‘ ot tie bo / fe YA A ’ f ' Li ' i . i i ae Ve oe m YK init oe cy ! : rae Paria me mi ) Gi f rey a? wii ve iT ie hI ot eee ES i par: ey ‘sees Y is RP tah Pal: Ew “tht Peghioy heel a Gil Sa A ia, eta Mi oh INDE; et Met CAT ig en ee saratnks Pai, be an i, Payers | Be one a ” i + Maes ater 8 yy. tie eed See ah Pia te ‘7 coal FONG fo AMOUR Segal 68 apaly Wien pete at hte a ‘ rh fale” ust F iy pa oe if ; a“ vet i auf) 2 ; wet cg ie tace Met paneila Ror oneal nice bai hy eas Wi ied pay wutif fears i a Wd cos erga miley; ‘1K vi bee Rite THCY Yat ‘ i AO 11h Eon yy RE eat re 4 wikia ; TS Jee WS aT pitas BME rt \ ay Mien Wndivcn th. sag Lelie est, Spr i Aberin His Las. OT ah DE aed ne a 7 ee iP dents, labeehidy tule ih TABLE OF CONTENTS. Administration of medicines: Page. FES yap EIEIO INGAUES Tix ED VAGESS © INicpe Feve 9 sry Vite nol) Lice LD) ayes areal eee eye eee 9 Diseases of the digestive organs: vat cee WVEUIRFUASY; IVI Eure Oc) Vi nccce ace mite ee eee eee et ae eS 14 Poisons and poisoning: VeVi MASDICIN GONG Veo -2 AS. free OES (el ee ee he eget 53 Diseases of tie heart, blood vessels, and lymphatics: By RONARD PRARSON, B.S., V.M. D2... elt e- se iy UR apes area 70 Noncontagious diseases of the organs of respiration: Pee WD LOMO LIM RE MET WOW! 2. 208502 sleek. PAE wk 85 Diseases of the nervous system: EVR ee Hie EPA RIAU GI Vis neu eee ae ees oe SL SU I oe ee 99 Diseases of the urinary organs: TES LUANG peal ena aed SEN YEA Ne fa ee Semen = Ss ae ON = 111 Diseases of the generative organs: BEAMS A Wer Ebi. Ou, Mace. aaa ase sk Suan aac Sun eta eae ane 144 Diseases following parturition: TE SLL TRS yea] EMR 8 Ht OLR VER eae ee eee es Se A a 210 Diseases of young calves: Rare PE rhino V ose ae an am Ee ss ee oc ye eee 244 Bones: Diseases and accidents: Bee bee ACLIN SONT EVE OEe Le seat: J ee a ee 261 Surgical cperations: HSyAA VELIS IODA TORS ON ee Sees rs rare ee ees SP es os Bs 285 Tumors affecting cattle: Pag OHNer IM OHEmE, A. IMs. Vic Mi DL elo ooo et. ee koe 304 D‘seases of the skin: PG PE MBO WEY. De Vigo aoe ane eo eo Seen 320 Diseases of the foot: ye Mest eR UMBOWER sa arwe se 2. eens ke Ne ee Sis Tene 335 Diseases of the eye and its appendages: Nr ea UMBONMH MIDs Wr. 22-2 oS os oe See ee 340 Diseases of the ear: Eve Ves ee MR UMB OMIM Res Visiter: oes eee oe Son Sis ce Lee yaa eee 354 Infectious diseases of cattle: By D: fh. SALMON, D. V. M., and Dr. THEOBALD SMITH-_—~___-_._____- 357 The animal parasites of cattle: Bye CH ever DELI) OmibHS. vAs Mente Mi. Sra leh) sees eee So ee ee 473 Mycotic stomatitis in cattle: yp OHNG Ks lOHLER = -AGe Maen) Semen ser nee ese ke 495 ur a co. ah } * ro fe = 4 . ; So Se ‘ " be . te 7 ; i » 4 - : ; > i} : ; Vag a ‘ f t y a vd 5 a é. ae _ - s P = a; ’ = i" . 2 iz, = ad \ eis ‘ w/ * as a f ; Fe ' : ¢ ny 8 i hve 7 Pdi Bs r \ 4 . = : v2 a , ‘ , a . . ~ . er #4 j Mi Res : =. ra Ri kage bg Sis : ; at Roar LW IBA. « 3c ) ee ny eed , : Re a eas TS eee y * ’ ,
arrested it can not be done until considerable and,
perhaps, irreparable damage has been done. The mucous membrane
with which the acid has come in contact in the esophagus may be
destroyed by its corrosive action and carried away, leaving the mus-
cular tissues exposed. The raw surface heals irregularly, the cica-
trice contracting causes stricture, and an animal so injured is likely
to die of starvation. In the stomach even greater damage is likely to
be done. The peristaltic action of the esophagus carries the irritant
along quickly, but here it remains quiet in contact with one surface,
destroying it. It is likely to perforate the organ, and coming in
contact with the abdominal lining or other organ of digestion soon
sets up a condition that is beyond repair. In a less concentrated
form, when the acid is not sufficiently strong to be corrosive, it exerts
an irritant effect. In this form it may not do much harm unless taken
in considerable quantity. When it is, the mucous membrane of the
stomach and intestines becomes inflamed; pain and diarrhea are
likely to result.
Treatment.—Any of the alkalies may be used as an antidote. Most
convenient of these are chalk, baking soda, marble dust, magnesia,
lime, soap, or plaster from a wall. Mucilaginous drinks should be
given in large quantities.
VEGETABLE ACIDS.—Oxalie acid in particular is corrosive in its
action when taken in concentrated solution, losing its corrosive effect
and becoming irritant when more dilute. It also exerts a specific
effect on the heart, frequently causing death from syneope. Taken
in the form either of the crystals or solution, it is likely to cause death
in a very short time. Failure of heart action and attendant small
pulse, weakness, staggering, and convulsions are the more noticeable
symptoms.
Treatment.—Limewater or lime or plaster should be given promptly.
Acetie acid is irritant to the gastro-intestinal tract, and may cause
sudden paralysis of the heart. It should be counteracted by the use
of alkalies, as advised above, by protectives to the digestive tract, and
by stimulants.
POISONING BY ALKALIES.
The carbonates of potash and soda and the alkalies themselves in
concentrated form cause symptoms of intestinal irritation similar to
those produced by mineral acids. Ammonia, caustic soda, and caus-
tie potash (lye) are those to which animals are most exposed. The
degree of their caustic irritant effects depends on their degree of con-
centration. When they reach the stomach the symptoms are nearly
as well marked as in the ease of the acids. The irritation is even more
noticeable, and purgation is likely to be a more prominent symptom.
POISONS AND POISONING. 61
If death is not caused soon, the irritation of the gastro-intestinal tract
and malnutrition will last for a long time. Treatment consists in
neutralizing the alkali by an acid, such as dilute sulphuric acid (1
per cent) or strong vinegar. The administration of such an antidote
and its action must be carefully watched during administration. In
the chemical change which takes place when the acid and alkali are
combined, carbonic-acid gas is liberated, which may be to an extent
sufficient to cause considerable distention of the abdomen, even to
asphyxia from pressure forward on the diaphragm. Should this dan-
ger present itself, it may be averted by opening the left flank, permit-
ting the gas to escape. (See ‘‘Acute tympanites, or Bloating,” p. 36.)
Treatment.—Flaxseed or slippery-elm decoction must be given to
soothe the inflamed mucous surface. Opium may be used to allay
pain.
COAL-OIL POISONING.
Coal oil is sometimes administered empirically as a treatment for
intestinal parasites. If given in large doses it produces poisonous
effects, which are likely to be manifest some time after the adminis-
tration. It acts as an irritant to the digestive tract, causing dribbling
of ropy saliva from the mouth, diarrhea, tenesmus, and loss of appe-
tite, with increased temperature and cold extremities. Visible mucous
membranes are injected, pupils of the eyes contracted, watery dis-
charge from the eyes and nostrils. Remotely it exerts a depressing
influence on the functions of the brain and slight coma, and oceasion-
ally convulsions, from which the animal is easily aroused. The
kidneys also suffer. The urine is dark colored and has the charac-
teristic odor of coal oil. Death may result from gastro-enteritis or
convulsions.
Treatment.—The patient's strength should be fostered by the fre-
quent administration of mild stimulants, of which aromatic spirits of
ammonia is perhaps the best. The animal should be encouraged to
eat soft food and given mucilaginous drinks.
Crude coal oil is sometimes applied to the skin to kill parasites. If
too much is used, especially in hot weather, great weakness and depres-
sion may be caused and in some cases death may result.
CARBOLIC-ACID POISONING.
Although one of the most valuable antiseptic remedies, carbolic acid
in a concentrated form, when taken internally or used over a large
surface externally, is likely to produce poisonous effects. It causes
whitening, shrinking, and numbness of the structures with which it
comes in contact, and, besides its irritant effect, exerts a powerful
influence on the nervous system. Being readily absorbed, it produces
its effect whether swallowed, injected into the rectum, inhaled, or
applied to wounds, or even to a large tract of unbroken skin. Used
62 DISEASES OF CATTLE.
extensively as a dressing, it may produce nausea, dizziness, and smoky
or blackish colored urine. The last symptom is nearly always notice-
able where the poisonous effect is produced. In more concentrated
form, or used in larger quantities, convulsions, followed by fatal coma,
are likely to take place. Even in smaller quantities, dullness, trem-
bling, and disinclination for food often continues for several days.
In a tolerably concentrated solution it coagulates albumen and acts
as an astringent.
Treatment.—As an antidote internally, a solution of sulphate of
soda or sulphate of magnesia (Glauber’s or Epsom salts) may be given.
The white of egg is also useful. Stimulants may be given if needed.
When the poisoning occurs through too extensive applications to
wounds or the skin, as in treatment of mange, cold water should be
freely applied so as to wash off any of the acid that may still remain
unabsorbed. As a surgical dressing a 3 per cent solution is strong
enough for ordinary purposes. Water will not hold more than 5 per
cent in permanent solution. No preparation stronger than the satu-
rated solution should be used medicinally under any circumstances.
SALTPETER POISONING.
Both nitrate of soda and nitrate of potash are poisonous to cattle.
These substances are used for manure and for preserving meats.
They may be administered in a drench by error in place of Glauber’s
salts, or they may be exposed within reach of cattle and thus be eaten.
The toxic dose depends upon the condition of fullness of the stomach.
If in solution and given on an empty stomach, as little as 3 ounces of
saltpeter (nitrate of potash) may be fatal toa cow. More of the Chile
saltpeter (nitrate of soda) is required. to cause serious trouble.
Symptoms.—Severe gastro-enteritis, colic, tympanites, diarrhea,
excessive urination, weakness, trembling, convulsions, collapse.
Treatment.—Same as for poisoning by common salt.
POISONING BY COMMON SALT.
A few pounds (3 to 5) of common salt will produce well-marked
signs of poisoning in cattle. So much salt as this will not be taken
by cattle except under unusual conditions. If the food is poor in
salt, and if none has been given for a long time, an intense “‘salt hun-
ger” may occur that may lead an animal to eat a poisonous quantity
if it is not restricted; or an overdose of salt may be given by error as
a drench.
Herring and mackerel brine and pork pickle are also poisonous, and
are especially dangerous for hogs. In these substances there are, in
addition to salt, certain products extracted from the fish or meat
which undergo change and add to the toxicity of the solution. Some-
times saltpeter is present in such brines.
POISONS AND POISONING. 63
Symptoms.—The symptoms are great thirst, abdominal pain, diar-
rhea, poor appetite, redness and dryness of the mouth, increased uri-
nation, paralysis of the hind legs, weak pulse, general paralysis, coma,
and death in from six to eight hours.
‘Treatment.—Allow as much warm water as the animal will drink.
Give protectives, such as linseed tea, etc. Linseed or olive oil may
be given. ‘To keep up the heart action give ether, alcohol, camphor,
digitalis, or coffee. To allay pain, give opium.
VEGETABLE POISONS.
These may be divided into two classes—those that are likely to be
adininistered to the animal as medicine or such as may be taken in
the food, either in the shape of poisonous plants, or as plants or foods
of vegetable origin that have been damaged by fungi or by bacterial
action, producing fermentation or putrefaction.
VEGETABLE POISONS USED AS MEDICINE.
OPIUM POISONING,
Opium and its alkaloid, morphia, are so commonly used in the
practice of medicine that the poisonous result of an overdose is not
uncommon. The common preparations are gum opium, the inspis-
sated juice of the poppy; powdered opium, made from the gum;
tincture of opium, commonly called laudanum, and: the alkaloid or
active principle, morphia. Laudanum has about one-eighth the
strength of the gum or powder. Morphia is present in good opium
to the extent of about 10 per cent. In medicine it is a most useful
agent in allaying pain. It has an effect of first producing a stimulat-
ing action, which is followed by drowsiness, a disposition to sleep or
complete anesthesia, depending on the quantity of the drug used.
In poisonous doses a state of exhilaration is well marked at first.
This is particularly noticeable in cattle and in horses. The animal
becomes much excited, and this stage does not pass into insensibility
unless an enormous dose has been given. If the dose is large enough,
a second stage sometimes supervenes, in which the symptoms are
those of congestion of the brain. The visible membranes have a blu-
ish tint (cyanotic) from interference with the air supply. The breath-
ing is slow, labored, and later stertorous; the pupils of the eyes are
very much contracted; the skin dry and warm. Gas accumulates in
the stomach, so that tympanites is-a prominent symptom. The
patient may be aroused by great noise or the infliction of sharp pain,
when the breathing becomes more natural. | D =| . | Bad a | BE
2 q iy cS = eee rate We a= Men | Bite
il ere y | ANE resin RS SR Beste leas
San om = VO A = MD Net Ws La Sl Be |b |i
Lbs. | Lbs. Pr.ct.|Pr.ct.|Pr.ct.| Per ct.|Pr.ct.| Ozs. | Ozs.
16.90 wheat straw, and 1.30 bean
Pn eileen Seen eee Pome ee 46.46 | 7.40 | 1,036 | 8.41 | 2.66 | 1.33 0.83 | 0.94 | 1.63 | 3.28
14.70 0at straw, and 2.30 bean meal.| 61.10 | 15.26 | 1,039 | 6.98 | 2.09 | 0.84 O55 | 0:49") 252) | bs3.
10.4 wheat straw, 10.4 clover hay,
0.6 bean meal, and 2.6 starch ___| 71.76 | 12.36 | 1,043 | 8.05 | 0.95 | 1.85 0.93 | 0.94 | 3.83 | 1.96
10.4 wheat straw, 10.4 clover hay,
2.7 bean meal, 1.4 starch, and 0.8
USAT See a teks eee PL eh See ee 80.54 | 12.46 | 1,044 | 8.29 | 8.07 | 2.41 A LS be Se eaivaek
10.4 wheat straw, 10.4 clover hay,
5 bean meal, and 0.8 sugar __----- 78.96 | 17.62 | 1,043 | 8.41 | 0.74 | 3.12 1.45 | 1.24 | 9.17 | 2.17
10 wheat straw, 10 clover hay, 6.4
bean meal, 1.7 starch, 4 sugar,
andi04 rapeioilie- tes 2-2 110.12 | 25.86 | 1,038 | 7.00 | 0.31 | 2.49 1.19 | 1.25 |10.9 | 1.33
10 wheat straw, 10 clover hay, 9.4
bean meal, 3.1 sugar, and 0.4
TADS OU ee ee ee 101.80 | 27.04 | 1,037 | 7.14 | 0.20 | 2.95 1539) 158: 11353 029
10 wheat straw, 10 clover hay, 11.7
bean meal, 2.8 starch, and 0.6
He 0 SY (010 seen er ear || 119.00 | 23.20 | 1,038 | 7.74 | 0.21 | 4.06 1.91 | 1.69 |15.4 | 0.8
17.86 bean straw, and 1.6 bean meal} 54.84 | 12.60 | 1,043 | 7.06 | 0.40 | 2.53 1521 | Webb se lOl8s
J4.88 bean: straw «222205222 <2 2-2. 55.76 | 16.34 | 1,036 | 5.45 | 0.11 | 1.41 0.67 | 0.64 | 3.83 | 0.3
16: Q0imea dow, hay, 2.228222. 36.26 | 15.14 | 1,042 | 7.91 | 1.30 | 1.73 0.91 | 0.92 | 4.37 | 3.3
The varying amount of urea (from 1.6 to 15.4 ounces) is most sug-
gestive as to the action of the more or less nitrogenous food and the
resulting concentration of the urine and blood. Hippuric acid, on
the other hand, is most abundant when the animal is fed on hay and
straw.
The specific gravity of the urine of cattle varies from 1,030 to 1,060
in health, water being 1,000. Itis transparent, with a yellowish tinge,
and has a characteristic musky smell. The chemical reaction is alka-
line, turning red litmus paper blue. The quantity passed in twenty-
four hours varies greatly, increasing not only with the amount of
water drunk, but with the amount of albuminoids taken in with the
food and the amount of urea produced. If a solution of urea is
injected into the veins the secretion of urine is greatly augmented.
Similarly the excess of salts like carbonate of potash in the food, or
of sugar, increases the action of the kidneys. Only about 20 per cent
of the water swallowed escapes in the urine, the remaining 80 per cent
passing mostly from the lungs, and toa slight extent by the bowels.
The skin of the ox does not perspire so readily nor so freely as that
of the horse; hence the kidneys and lungs are called upon for extra
8267—04——8
114 DISEASES OF CATTLE.
work. The influence of an excess of water in the food is most remark-
able in swill-fed distillery cattle, which urinate profusely at frequent
intervals and yet thrive and fatten rapidly.
Among the other conditions that increase the flow of urine is over-
filling of (internal pressure in) the blood vessels of the kidneys.
Hence the contraction of the blood vessels of the skin by cold drives
the blood inward, tends to dilate the blood vessels of the kidneys,
and to increase the secretion of urine. Nervous disorders, such as
excitement, fear, congestions, or structural injuries to the back part
of the base of the brain have a similar result. Hence, doubtless, the
action of certain fungi growing in musty hay or oats in producing
profuse flow of urine, whereas other forms of musty fodder cause
stupor, delirium, or paralysis. Bacteria and their products are mainly
expelled by the kidneys, and become sources of local infection, irrita-
tion, and disease.
The amount of urine passed daily by an ox on dry feeding averages
7 to 12 pints, but this may be increased enormously on a watery diet.
The mutual influence of the kidneys and other important organs
tends to explain the way in which disease in one part supervenes on
preexisting disorder in another. The introduction of albuminoids in
excess into the blood means the formation of an excess of urea, and a
more profuse secretion of urine, of a higher specific gravity, and with
a greater tendency to deposit its solid constituents, as gravel, in the
kidneys or bladder. A torpid action of the liver, leaving the albumi-
noids in transition forms, less soluble than the urea into which they
should have been changed, favors the onset of rheumatism or nervous
disorder, the deposit of such albuminoid products in the kidneys, the
formation of a deep-brown or reddish urine, and congestion of the
kidneys. Any abnormal activity of the liver in the production of
sugar—more than can be burned up in the circulation—overstimulates
the kidneys and produces increased flow of a heavy urine with a
sweetish taste. This increased production of sugar may be primarily
due to disease of the brain, which, in its turn, determines the disorder
of the liver. Disease of the right side of the heart or of the lungs,
by obstructing the onward flow of blood from the veins, increases the
blood pressure in the kidneys and produces disorder and excessive
secretion. Inactivity of the kidneys determines an increase in the
blood of waste products, which become irritating to different parts,
producing skin eruptions, itching, dropsies, and nervous disorders.
Sprains of the loins will produce bleeding from the kidneys and dis-
ease of the spinal cord, and determine sometimes albuminous or
milky-looking urine.
The kidney of the ox (Pl. IX, fig. 1) is a compound organ made up
of fifteen to twenty-five separate lobules like so many separate kid-
neys, but all pouring their secretion into one common pouch (pelvis)
situated in an excavation in the center of the lower surface. While
DISEASES OF THE URINARY ORGANS. 115
the ox is the only domesticated quadruped which maintains this
divided condition of the kidney after birth, this condition is common
to all while at an early stage of development in the womb. The
cluster of lobules making up a single kidney forms an ovoid mass flat-
tened from above downward, and extending from the last rib back-
ward beneath the loins and to one side of the solid chain of the back-
bone. The right is more firmly attached to the loins and extends
farther backward than the left. Deeply covered in a mass of suet,
each kidney has a strong outer white, fibrous covering, and inside
this two successive layers of kidney substance, of which the outer is
that in which the urine is mainly separated from the blood and poured
into the fine microscopic urinary ducts. (Pl. X, fig. 1.) These lat-
ter, together with blood vessels, lymph vessels, and nerves, make up
the second, or internal, layer. The outer layer is mainly composed of
minute globular clusters of microscopic intercommunicating blood
vessels (Malphigian bodies), each of which is furnished with a fibrous
capsule that is nothing else than the dilated commencement of a
urine tube. These practically microscopic tubes follow at first a
winding course through the outer layer (Ferrein’s tubes), then form
a long loop (doubling on itself) in the inner layer (Henle’s loop), and
finally pass back through the inner layer (Bellini’s tubes) to open
through a conical process into the common pouch (pelvis) on the
lower surface of the organ. (Pl. X, figs. 1, 2, 3.)
The tube that conveys the urine from the kidney to the bladder is
like a white, round cord, about the size of a goose quill, prolonged from
the pouch on the lower surface of the kidney backward beneath the
loins, then inward, supported by a fold of thin membrane, to open
into the bladder just in front of its neck. The canal passes first
through the middle (muscular) coat of the bladder, and then advances
perceptibly between that and the internal (mucous) coat, through
which it finally opens. By this arrangement in overfilling of the
bladder this opening is closed like a valve by the pressure of the
urine, and the return of liquid to the kidney is prevented. The blad-
der (Pl. IX, fig. 2) is a dilatable egg-shaped pouch, closed behind by
a strong ring of muscular fibers encircling its neck, and enveloped by
looped muscular fibers extending on all sides around its body and
closed anterior end. Stimulated by the presence of urine, these last
contract and expel the contents through the neck into the urethra.
This last is the tube leading backward along the floor of the pelvie
bones and downward through the penis. In the bull this canal of the
urethra is remarkable for its small caliber and for the S-shaped bend
which it describes in the interval between the thighs and just above
the scrotum. This bend is due to the fact that the retractor muscles
are attached to the penis at this point, and in withdrawing that organ
within its sheath they double it upon itself. The small size of the
canal and this S-shaped bend are serious obstacles to the passing of a
116 DISEASES OF CATTLE.
catheter to draw off the urine, yet by extending the penis out of its
sheath the bend is effaced, and a small gum-elastic catheter, not over
one-fourth of an inch in diameter, may with care be passed into the
bladder. In the cow the urethra is very short, opening in the median
line on the floor of the vulva about 4 inches in front of its external ori-
fice. Evenin the cow, however, the passing of a catheter is a matter
of no little difficulty, the opening of the urethra being very narrow
and encircled by the projecting membranous and rigid margins, and on
each side of the opening is a blind pouch (canal of Gartner) into which
the catheter will almost invariably find its way. In both male and
female, therefore, the passage of a catheter is an operation which
demands special skill.
General symptoms of urinary disorders.—These are not so promi-
nent in cattle as in horses, yet when present they are of a similar kind.
There is a stiff or straddling gait with the hind limbs and some diffi-
culty in turning or in lying down and rising, the act drawing forth
agroan. The frequent passage of urine in driblets, the continuous
escape of the urine in drops, the sudden arrest of the flow when in
full stream, the rhythmie contraction of the muscles under the anus
without any flow resulting, the swelling of the sheath, the collection
of hard, gritty masses on the hair surrounding the orifice of the sheath,
the occurrence of dropsies in the limbs, under the chest or belly, or
in either of these cavities, and finally the appearance of nervous
stupor, may indicate serious disorder of the urinary organs. The
condition of the urine passed may likewise lead to suspicion. It may
be white, from crystallized carbonate of lime; brown, red, or even
black, from the presence of blood or blood-coloring matter; yellow,
from biliary coloring matter; it may be frothy, from contained albu-
men; cloudy, from phosphates; glairy, from pus; or it may show
gritty masses, from gravel. In many cases of urinary disorder in the
ox, however, the symptoms are by no means prominent, and unless
special examination is made of the loins, the bladder, and the urine
the true nature of the malady may be overlooked.
DIURESIS (POLYURIA, DIABETES INSIPIDUS, EXCESSIVE SECRETION OF
URINE).
A secretion of urine in excess of the normal amount may be looked
on as disease, even if the result does not lead to immediate loss of
condition. Cattle fed on distillery swill are striking examples of such
excess caused by the enormous consumption of a liquid food, which
nourishes and fattens in spite of the diuresis; but the condition is
unwholesome, and cattle that have passed four or five months in a
swill stable have fatty livers and kidneys, and never again do well on
ordinary food. Diuresis may further occur from increase of blood
pressure in the kidneys (diseases of the heart or lungs which hinder
the onward passage of the blood, the eating of digitalis, English broom,
DISEASES OF THE URINARY ORGANS. 117
the contraction of the blood vessels on the surface of the body in cold
weather, etce.); also from acrid or diuretic plants taken with the food
(dandelion, burdock, colchicum, digitalis, savin, resinous shoots,
ete.); from excess of sugar in the food (beets, turnips, ripe sorghum);
also from the use of frozen food (frosted turnip tops and other vege-
tables), and from the growths of certain molds in fodder (musty hay,
mow-burnt hay, moldy oats, moldy bread, etec.). Finally, alkaline
waters and alkaline incrustations on the soil may be active causes.
In some of these cases the result is beneficial rather than injurious,
as when cattle affected with gravel in the kidneys are entirely freed
from this condition by a run at grass, or by an exclusive diet of roots
or swill. In other cases, however, the health and condition suffer,
and even inflammation of the kidneys may occur.
Treatment.—The treatment is mainly in the change of diet to a more
solid aliment destitute of the special offensive ingredient. Boiled flax-
seed is often the best diet or addition to the wholesome dry food, and,
by way of medicine, doses of 2 drams each of sulphate of iron and
iodide of potassium may be given twice daily. In obstinate cases, 2
drams ergot of rye or of eatechu may be added.
BLOODY URINE (RED WATER, MOOR-ILL, WOOD-ILL, HEMATURIA,
HEMAGLOBINURIA).
This is a common affection among cattle in certain localities, above
all on damp, undrained lands, and under a backward agriculture. It
is simply bloody urine or hematuria when the blood is found in clots,
or when under the microscope the blood globules can be detected as
distinctly rounded, flattened disks. It is smoky urine—hemaglobinu-
ria—when no such distinet clots nor blood disks ean be found, but
merely a general browning, reddening, or blackening of the urine by
the presence of dissolved blood coloring matter. The bloody urine is
the more direct result of structural disease of the kidneys or urinary
passages (inflammation, stone, gravel, tumors, hydatids, kidney worms,
sprains of the loins), while the stained urine (hemaglobinuria) is usu-
ally the result of some general or more distant disorder in which the
globules are destroyed in the circulating blood and the coloring mat-
ter dissolved in and diffused through the whole mass of the blood and
of the urine secreted from it. As in the two forms, blood and the ele-
ments of blood escape into the urine, albumen is always present, so
that there is albuminuria with blood-coloring matter superadded. If
due to stone or gravel, gritty particles are usually passed, and may
be detected in the bottom of a dish in which the liquid is caught. If
due to fracture or severe sprain of the loins, it is likely to be associ-
ated not only with some loss of control over the hind limbs and with
staggering behind, but also with a more or less perfect paralysis of
the tail. The blood-stained urine without red globules results from
specific diseases—Texas fever (Pl. XLVI, fig. 3), anthrax, spirillosis,
118 DISEASES OF CATTLE.
and from eating irritant plants (broom, savin, mercury, hellebore,
ranunculus, convolvulus, colchicum, oak shoots, ash, privet, hazel,
hornbeam, and other astringent, acrid, or resinous plants, ete.). The
may bug or Spanish fly taken with the food or spread over a great extent
of skin as a blister has a similar action. Frosted turnips or other roots
will bring on the affection in some subjects. Among conditions which
act by the direct destruction of the globules in the circulating blood
may be named an excess of water in that fluid; the use of water from
soils rich in decomposing vegetable matter and containing alkaline
salts, particularly nitrites; and the presence in the water and food of
the ptomaines of bacteria growth. Hence the prevalence of ‘‘red
water” in marshy districts and on clayey and other impervious soils.
Hence, too, the occurrence of bloody urine in the advanced stages of
several contagious diseases. Some mineral poisons—such as iodine,
arsenic, and phosphorus taken to excess—may cause hematuria, and
finally the symptoms may be the mere result of a constitutional predis-
position of the individual or family to bleeding. Exposure of the body
to cold or wet will cause the affection in some predisposed subjects.
The specific symptom of bloody or smoky water is a very patent one.
It may or may not be associated with fever, with the presence or absence
of abdominal tenderness on pressure, with a very frothy state of the
milk.or even a reddish tinge, with or without marked paleness of the
mucous membranes, and general weakness. When direct injury to
the kidneys is the immediate cause of the disease the urine will be
passed often, in small quantity at a time, and with much straining.
When there is bloodlessness (a watery blood) from insufficient nourish-
ment, fever is absent and the red water is at first the only symptom.
When the active cause has been irritant plants, abdominal tenderness,
colics, and other signs of bowel inflammation are marked features.
Treatment.—Treatment will vary according as the cause has been
a direct irritant operating on a subject in vigorous health or a micro-
bian poison acting on an animal deficient in blood and vigor. In the
first form of red water a smart purgative (1 pound to 14 pounds
Glauber’s salts) will clear away the irritants from the bowels and allay
the coexistent high fever. It will also serve to divert to the bowels
much of the irritant products already absorbed into the blood, and
willthus protect the kidneys. In many such eases a liberal supply of
wholesome, easily digestible food will be all the additional treatment
required. In this connection demulcent food (boiled flaxseed, wheat
bran) is especially good. If much blood has been lost, bitters (gen-
tian, one-half ounce) and iron (sulphate of iron, 2 drams) should be
given for a week.
For cases in which excess of diuretic plants has been taken, it may
be well to replace the salts by 1 to 2 pints olive oil, adding 1 ounce
laudanum and 2 drams gumeamphor. Also to apply fomentations or
a fresh sheepskin over the loins. Buttermilk or vinegar, one-half
DISEASES OF THE URINARY ORGANS. 119
pint, or sulphuric acid, 60 drops in a pint of water, may also be
employed at intervals as injections. In cases due to sprained or
fractured loins, to inflamed kidneys, or to stone or gravel, the treat-
ment will be as for the particular disease in question.
In hematuria from anemia (watery blood), whether from insuffi-
cient or badly adjusted rations or from the poisonous products of
fermentations in impervious or marshy soils, the treatment must be
essentially tonic and stimulating. Rich, abundant, and easily diges-
tible food must be furnished. The different grains (oats, barley,
wheat, bran, rye) and seeds (rape, linseed, cotton seed) are especially
ealled for, and may be given either ground or boiled. As a bitter,
sulphate of quinia, one-half dram, and tincture of muriate of iron, 2
drams, may be given in a pint of water thrice a day. In some cases
1 or 2 teaspoonfuls of oil of turpentine twice daily in milk will
act favorably.
But in this anemic variety prevention is the great need. The drain-
age and cultivation of the dangerous soils is the main object. Until
this can be accomplished young and newly purchased cattle, not yet
inured to the poisons, must be kept from the dangerous fields and
turned only on those which are already drained naturally or artificially.
Further, they should have an abundant ration in which the local prod-
uct of grass, hay, etc., is supplemented by grain or other seeds.
Another point to be guarded against is the supply of water that has
drained from marshes or impervious soils, rich in organic matter, as
such is charged with nitrites, ptomaines, ete., which directly conduce
to the disorder. Fence out from all such waters, and supply from liv-
ing springs or deep wells only.
ALBUMEN IN THE URINE (ALBUMINURIA).
In bloody urine albumen is always present as an important con-
stituent of the blood, and in congested and inflamed kidneys it is
present as a part of the inflammatory exudate. Apart from these,
albumen in the urine represents in different cases a variety of diseased
conditions of the kidneys or of distant organs. Among the additional
causes of albuminuria may be named: (1) An excess of albumen in the
blood (after easy calving with little loss of blood and before the secre-
tion of milk has been established, or in cases of sudden suppression
of the secretion of milk); (2) under increase of blood pressure (after
deep drinking, after doses of digitalis or broom, after transfusion of
blood from one animal to another, or in disease of the heart or lungs
causing obstruction to the flow of blood from the veins); (3) after
cutting (or disease) of the motor nerves of the vessels going to the
kidneys, causing congestion of these organs; (4) violent exertion,
hence long drives by road; the same happens with violent muscular
spasms, as from strychnia poisoning, lockjaw, epilepsy, and convul-
sions; (5) in most fevers aud extensive inflammations of important
120 DISEASES OF CATTLE.
organs, like the lungs, or liver, the escape of the albumen being vari-
ously attributed to the high temperature of the body and disorder of
the nerves, and to resulting congestion and disorder of the secreting
cells of the kidneys; (6) in burns and some other congested states of
the skin; (7) under the action of certain poisons (strong acids, phos-
phorus, arsenic, Spanish flies, carbolie acid, and those inducing bloody
urine); (8) in certain conditions of weakness or congestion of the
secreting cells of the kidneys, so that they allow this element of the
blood to escape; (9) when the food is entirely wanting in common
salt, albumen may appear in the urine temporarily after a full meal
containing an excess of albumen. It can also be produced experi-
mentally by puncturing the back part of the base of the brain (the
floor of the fourth ventricle close to the point the injury to which
causes sugary urine). Inabscess, tumor, or inflammation of the blad-
der, ureter, or urethra, the urine is albuminous.
It follows, therefore, that albumen in the urine does not indicate
the existence of any one specific disease, and excepting when due to
weakness or loss of function of the kidney cells, it must be looked on
as an attendant on another disease, the true nature of which we must
try to find out. These affections we must exclude one by one until
we are left to assume the noninflammatory disorder of the secreting
cells of the kidney. It is especially important to exclude inflamma-
tion of the kidney, and to do this may require a microscopic examina-
tion of the sediment of the urine and the demonstration of the entire
absence of casts of the uriniferous tubes. (See ‘‘Nephritis,” p. 121.)
To detect albumen in the urine, the suspected and frothy liquid
must be rendered sour by adding a few drops of nitric acid and then
boiled in a test tube. If a solid precipitate forms, then add a few
more drops of nitric acid, and if the liquid does not clear it up it is
albumen. A precipitate thrown down by boiling and redissolved by
nitric acid is probably phosphate of lime.
Treatment.—Treatment will usually be directed to the disease on
which it is dependent. In the absence of any other recognizable dis-
ease, mucilaginous drinks of boiled flaxseed, slippery elm, or gum
may be given, tannic acid one-half dram twice daily, and fomenta-
tions or even mustard poultices over the loins. When the disease is
chronic and there is no attendant fever (elevation of temperature),
tonics (hydrochloric acid, 6 drops in a pint of water; phosphate of
iron, 2 drams, or sulphate of quinia, 2 drams, repeated twice daily)
may be used. In all cases the patient should be kept carefully from
cold and wet; a warm, dry shed, or in warm weather a dry, sunny
yard or pasture, being especially desirable.
SUGAR IN URINE (DIABETES MELLITUS).
This is a frequent condition of the urine in parturition fever, but is
practically unknown in cattle as a specific. disease, associated with
DISEASES OF THE URINARY ORGANS. ibd
deranged liver or brain. As a mere attendant on another disease it
will demand no special notice here.
INFLAMMATION OF THE KIDNEYS (NEPHRITIS).
This has been divided according as it affects the different parts of
the kidneys, as: (1) Its fibrous covering (perinephritis); (2) the
secreting tissue of its outer portion (parenchymatous); (3) the con-
nective tissue (interstitial); (4) the lining membrane of its ducts
(catarrhal); and (5) its pelvis or sae receiving the urine (pyelitis).
It has also been distinguished according to the changes that take
place in the kidney, especially as seen after death, according to the
amount of albumen present in the urine, and according as the affec-
tion is acute or chronic. For the purposes of this work it will be con-
venient to consider these as one inflammatory disease, making a
distinction merely between those that are acute and those that are
chronic or of long standing.
The causes are in the main like those causing bloody urine, such as
irritant and diuretic plants, Spanish flies applied as a blister or other-
wise, exposure to cold and wet, the presence of stone or gravel in the
kidneys, injuries to the back or loins, as by riding each other, the
drinking of alkaline or selenitious water, the use of putrid, stagnant
water, or of that containing bacteria and their products, the consump-
tion of musty fodder, etc. (See ‘‘Hematuria,” p. 117.)
The length of the loins in cattle predisposes these to mechanical
injury, and in the lean and especially in the thin working ox the kid-
ney is very liable to suffer. In the absence of an abundance of loose
connective tissue and of fat, the kidneys lie in close contact with the
muscles of the loins, and any injury to these may tend to put the kid-
ney and its vessels on the stretch, or to cause its inflammation by direct
extension of the disease from the injured muscle to the adjacent kidney.
Thus, under unusually heavy draft, under slips and falls on slippery
ground, under sudden unexpected drooping or twisting of the loins
from missteps or from the feet sinking into holes, under the loading
and jarring of the loins when animals ride each other in eases of
‘‘heat,” the kidneys are subject to injury and inflammation. A hard
run, as when chased by a dog, may be the occasion of such an attack.
A fodder rich in nitrogénous or flesh-forming elements (beans, peas,
vetches ( Vicia sativa), and other leguminous plants) has been charged
with irritating the kidneys through the excess of urea, hippuric acid,
and allied products eliminated through these organs and the tendency
to the formation of gravel. It seems, however, that these foods are
most dangerous when partially ripened and yet not fully matured, a
stage of growth at which they are apt to contain ingredients irritating
to the stomach and poisonous to the brain, as seen in their inducing
so-called ‘‘stomach staggers.” Even in the poisoning by the seeds of
ripened but only partially cured rye grass (Loliwm perenne), and
L292 . DISEASES OF CATTLE.
darnel (Loliwm temulentum), the kidneys are found violently con-
gested with black blood. Also in the indigestions that result from
the eating of partially ripened corn and millet some congestion of
the kidneys is an attendant phenomenon.
Cruzel claims that the disease as occurring locally is usually not
alone from the acrid and resinous plants charged with inducing hema-
turia, but also from stinking chamomile (Anthemis cotula) and field
poppy when used in the fresh, succulent condition; also from the great
prevalence of dead caterpillars on the pasture, or from dead Spanish
flies in the stagnant pools of water. The fresh plants are believed to
be injurious only by reason of a volatile oil which is dissipated in dry-
ing. In the case of the stagnant water it may be questioned whether
the chemical products of the contained ferments (bacteria) are not
more frequently the cause of the evil than the alleged Spanish flies,
though these are hurtful enough when present.
Inflammation of the kidneys may further be a form or an extension
of a specific contagious disease, such as erysipelas, rinderpest, septi-
cemia, or even of poisoning by the spores of fungi. Rivolta reports
the case of a cow with spots of local congestion and blood staining in
the kidney, the affected parts being loaded with bacteria. Unfortu-
nately he neither cultivated the bacteria nor inoculated them, and
thus the case stands without positive demonstration that these were
the cause of disease.
The symptoms of nephritis are in certain cases very manifest, and
in others so hidden that the existence of the affection can only be cer-
tainly recognized by a microscopic examination of the urine. In vio-
lent cases there is high fever, increase of the body temperature to
103° F. and upward; hurried breathing, with catching inspiration;
accelerated pulse; dry, hot muzzle; burning of the roots of the horns
and ears, loss of appetite, suspended rumination, and indications of
extreme sensitiveness in the loins. The patient stands with back
arched and hind legs extended backward and outward, and passes
water frequently, in driblets, of a high color and specific gravity, con-
taining albumen and microscopic casts. (Pl. XI, fig. 5.) When made
to move, the patient does so with hesitation and groaning, especially if
turned ina narrow circle; and when pinched on the flank, just beneath
the lateral bony processes of the loins, especially on that side on which
the disease predominates, it flinches and groans. If the examination
is made with the oiled hand introduced through the last gut (rectum),
the pressure upward on the kidneys gives rise to great pain and
efforts to escape by moving away and by active contractions of the
rectum for the expulsion of the hand. Sometimes there is a distinct
swelling over the loins or quarter on one or both sides. In uncas-
trated males the testicle on the affected side is drawn up, or is alter-
nately raised and dropped. In all there is a liability to tremors of
the thigh on the side affected.
DISEASES OF THE URINARY ORGANS. 133
In some severe cases colicky pains are as violent as in the worst
forms of indigestion and spasms of the bowels. The animal fre-
quently shifts from one hind foot to the other, stamps, kicks at the
belly, looks anxiously at its flank at frequent intervals, moans plain-
tively, lies down and quickly gets up again, grinds its teeth, twists
its tail, and keeps the back habitually arched and rigid and the hind
feet advanced under the belly. The bowels may be costive and the
feces glistening with a coat of mucus, or they may be loose and irri-
table, and the paunch or even the bowels may become distended with
gas (bloating) as the result of indigestion and fermentation. In some
animals, male and female alike, the rigid arched condition of the back
will give way to such undulating movements as are sometimes seen
in the act of coition.
The disease does not always appear in its full severity; but for a
day, or even two, there may be merely loss of appetite, impaired rumi-
nation, a disposition to remain lying down; yet when the patient is
raised, it manifests suffering by anxiously looking at the flanks, shift-
ing or stamping of the hind feet, shaking of the tail, and attempts to
urinate, which are either fruitless or lead to the discharge of a small
quantity of high-colored or perhaps bloody urine.
In some recent slight cases, and in many chronic ones, these symp-
toms may be absent or unobserved, and an examination of the urine
will be necessary to reach a safe conclusion. The urine may contain
blood, or it may be cloudy from contained albumen, which coagulates
on heating with nitric acid (see Albuminuria); it may be slightly
glairy from pus, or gritty particles may be detected in it. In seeking
for casts of the uriniferous tubes, a drop may be taken with a fine
tube from the bottom of the liquid after standing and examined under
a power magnifying 50 diameters. If the fine cylindroid filaments
are seen they may then be examined with a power of 200 or 250 diam-
eters. (Pl. XI, fig. 5.) The appearance of the casts gives some clue to
the condition of the kidneys. If made up of large rounded or slightly
columnar cells, with a single nucleus in each cell (epithelial), they
imply comparatively slight and recent disease of the kidney tubes,
the detachment of the epithelium being like what is seen in any
inflamed mucous surface. If made up largely of the small disk-
shaped and nonnucleated red-blood globules, they imply escape of
blood, and usually a recent injury or congestion of the kidney—it may
be from sprains, blows, or the ingestion of acrid or diuretic poisons.
If the casts are made of a clear, waxy, homogeneous substance (hya-
line), without any admixture of opaque particles, they imply an
inflammation of longer standing, in which the inflamed kidney tubules
have been already stripped of their cellular (epithelial) lining. If the
-easts are rendered opaque by the presence of minute spherical granu-
lar cells, like white-blood globules, it betokens active suppuration of
he kidney tubes. In other cases the casts are rendered opaque by
124 DISEASES OF CATTLE.
entangled earthy granules (carbonate of lime), or crystals of some other
urinary salts. In still other cases the casts entangle clear, refran-
gent globules of oil or fat, which may imply fatty degeneration of the
kidneys or injury to the spinal cord. The presence of free pus giv-
ing a glairy, flocculent appearance to the urine is suggestive of inflam-
mation of the urinary pouch at the commencement of the excretory
duct (pelvis of kidney) (Pl. IX, fig. 1), especially if complicated with
gritty particles of earthy salts. This condition is known as pyelitis.
In the chronic cases swelling of the legs or along the lower surface of
chest or abdomen, or within these respective cavities, is a common
symptom. So, also, stupor or coma, or even convulsions, may super-
vene from the poisonous action of urea and other waste or morbid
products retained in the blood.
Treatment.—In the treatment of acute nephritis the first considera-
tion is the removal of the cause. Acrid or diuretic plants in the
food must be removed, and what of this kind is present in the stom-
ach or bowels may be cleared away by a moderate dose of castor or
olive oil; extensive surfaces of inflammation that have been blistered
by Spanish flies must be washed clean with soapsuds; sprains of the
back or loins must be treated by soothing fomentations or poultices,
or by a fresh sheepskin with its fleshy side applied on the loins, and
the patient must be kept in a narrow stall in which it can not turn even
itshead. The patient must be kept in a warm, dry building, so that
the skin shall be kept active rather than the kidneys. Warm blan-
keting is equally important, or even mustard poultices over the loins
will be useful. Blisters of Spanish flies, turpentine, or other agent
which may be absorbed and irritate the kidneys must be avoided. The
active fever may be checked by 15 drops tincture of aconite every four
hours, or by one-third ounce acetanilid. If pain is very acute 1 ounce
laudanum or 2 drams solid extract of belladonna will serve to relieve.
When the severity of the disease has passed, a course of tonics
(quinia, 2 drams, or gentian powder, 4 drams, daily) may be given.
Diuretics, too, may be cautiously given at this advanced stage to
relieve dropsy and give tone to the kidneys and general system (oil
of turpentine, 2 teaspoonfuls; bicarbonate of soda, 1 teaspoonful,
repeated twico a day). Pure water is essential, and it should not be
given chilled; warm drinks are preferable.
In the chronic forms of kidney inflammation the same protection
against cold and similar general treatment are demanded. Tonics,
however, are important to improve the general health (phosphate of
iron, 2drams; powdered nux vomiea, 20 grains; powdered gentian root,
4 drams, daily). In some instances the mineral acids (nitric acid, 60
drops, or nitro-muriatic acid, 60 drops, daily) may be employed with the
bitters. Mustard applied to the loins in the form of a thin pulp made
with water and covered for an hour with paper or other impervious
envelope, or water hotter than the hand can bear, or cupping may be
DISEASES OF THE URINARY ORGANS. 195
resorted to as a counterirritant. In cupping shave the loins, smear
them with lard, then take a narrow-mouthed glass, expand the air
within it by smearing its interior with a few drops of alcohol, setting
it on fire and instantly pressing the mouth of the vessel to the oiled
portion of the skin. As the air within the vessel cools it contracts,
tending to form a partial vacuum, and the skin, charged with blood,
is strongly drawn up within it. Several of these being applied at once
a strong derivation from the affected kidneys is secured. In no case
of inflamed or irritable kidney should Spanish flies or oil of turpentine
be used upon the skin.
PARASITES OF THE KIDNEY.
As the kidney is the usual channel by which the bacteria leave the
system, this organ is liable to be implicated when microphytes exist
in the blood, and congestions and blood extravasations are produced.
In anthrax, Southern cattle fever (Texas fever), and other such affee-
tions bloody urine is the consequence. Of the larger parasites attack-
ing the kidney may be specially named the cystic form of the echino-
coccus tapeworm of the dog, the cystic form of the unarmed or beef
tapeworm of man, the diving bladderworm—the cystic form of the
marginate tapeworm of the dog, and the giant strongyle—the largest
of the roundworms. These give rise to general symptoms of kidney
disease, but the true source of the trouble is only likely to be detected,
if the heads or hooklets of the tapeworm or the eggs of the round-
worm are found on microscopic examination of the urine.
TUMORS OF THE KIDNEY (HYPERTROPHY OR ATROPHY).
The kidney may be the seat of cancerous or simple tumors, and it
may be unnaturally enlarged or reduced in size, but though there may
be signs of urinary disorder the true nature of the disease is seldom
manifest until after death. The passing of blood and of large multi-
nucleated cells in the urine (to be detected under the microscope) may
betray the existence of an ulcerated cancer of the kidney. The pres-
ence of cancerous enlargement of (superficial) lymphatic glands may
further assist and confirm the decision.
RETENTION OF URINE.
Inability to pass urine may come from any one of three conditions—
first, spasm of the neck of the bladder; second, paralysis of the body
of the bladder; third, obstruction of the channel of outlet by a stone
(calculus) (see Pl. XI) or other obstacle.
In spasm of the neck of the bladder the male animal may stand with
the tail slightly raised and making rhythmical contractions of the
muscle beneath the anus (accelerator urine) (see Pl. LX, fig. 2), but
without passing a drop of liquid. In the female the hind legs are
126 DISEASES OF CATTLE.
extended and widely parted, and the back is arched as if to urinate,
but the effort is vain. If the oiled hand is introduced into the rectum
or vagina in the early stages of the affection, the bladder may be felt
beneath partially filled, but not overdistended with liquid, and its neck
or mouth firmand rigid. In the more advanced stages of the affection
the organ is felt as a great, tense, elastic bag, extending forward into
the abdomen. In this condition the overdistended muscular coat of
the bladder has lost its power of contraction, so that true paralysis has
set in, the muscle closing the mouth of the sack alone retaining its
contractile power.
In paralysis of the body of the bladder attention is rarely drawn to
the urinary disorder until the bladder has been distended to full reple-
tion and is almost ready to give way by rupture and to allow the
escape of the contained liquid into the abdomen. Overdistention is
the most common cause of the paralysis, yet it may occur from inflam-
mation of the muscular wall of the bladder, or even from injury to
the terminal part of the spinal marrow. In this last condition, how-
ever, the tail is likely to be powerless, and the neck of the bladder
may also be paralyzed, so that the urine dribbles away continuously.
Causes.—Among the causes of spasm of the neck of the bladder may
be named the lodgment of small stones or gravel, the feeding on irri-
tant diuretics (see ‘‘ Bloody urine, or nephritis”), the enforced reten-
tion of urine while at work or during a painful or difficult parturition.
The irritation attendant on inflammation of the mucous membrane
of the bladder may be a further cause of spasm of the neck, as may
also be inflammation of the channel (urethra) back of the neck. Exten-
sive applications of Spanish flies to the skin, the abuse of diuretics,
and the occurrence of indigestion and spasms of the bowels are
further causes. So long as spasmodic colic is unrelieved, retention of
water from spasm of the neck of the bladder usually persists.
Treatment.—Treatment will depend largely on thecause. In indiges-
tion the irritant contents of the bowels must be got rid of by laxatives
and injections of warm water; Spanish-fly blisters must be washed from
the surface; a prolonged and too active exertion must be intermitted.
The spasm may be relaxed by injecting one-half ounce solid extract
of belladonna in water into the rectum or by a solution of tobacco.
Chloroform or ether may be given by inhalation, or chloral hydrate (1
ounce) may be given in water by the mouth. Fomentations of warm
water may be made over the loins and between the thighs, and the
oiled hand inserted into the rectum may press moderately on the
anterior part of the bladder, which can be felt as an elastic fluctuat-
ing bag of an oval shape just beneath.
All other measures failing, the liquid must be drawn off through a
tube (catheter). This is, however, exceedingly difficult, alike in male
and female, and we can not expect an amateur to succeed in accom-
plishing it. In the cow the opening into the bladder is found in the
DISEASES OF THE URINARY ORGANS. 127
median line of the floor of the generative entrance, about 4 inches in
front of the external opening, but it is flanked on either side by a blind
pouch, into which the catheter will pass, in ninety-nine cases out of a
hundred, in the hands of any but the most skilled operator. In the
bull or steer the penis, when retracted into its sheath, is bent upon
itself like the letter S, just above the scrotum and testicles (see Pl. LX,
fig. 2), and unless this bend is effaced by extending the organ forward
out of its sheath it is quite impossible to pass a catheter beyond this
point. When, however, the animal can be tempted by the presenta-
tion of a female to protrude the penis so that it can be seized and
extended, or when it can be manipulated forward out of the sheath, it
becomes possible to pass a catheter of small caliber (one-third inch or
under) onward into the bladder. Youatt advised to lay open the
sheath so as to reach and extend the penis, and others have advocated
opening the urethra in the interval between the thighs or just beneath
the anus, but such formidable operations are beyond the stock owner.
The incision of the narrow urethra through the great thickness of mus-
cular and erectile bleeding tissue just beneath the anus is especially an
operation of extreme delicacy and difficulty. Drawing off the liquid
through the tube of an aspirator is another possible resort for the pro-
fessional man. The delicate needle of the aspirator is inserted in
such cases through the floor of the vagina and upper wall of the
bladder in the female, or through the floor of the rectum (last gut)
and roof of the bladder in the male, or finally through the lower and
back part of the abdominal wall, just in front of the bones of the
pelvis (pubic bones), and thence through the lower and anterior part
of the bladder near its blind anterior end. After relief has been
obtained the administration of belladonna in 2-dram doses daily for
several days will tend to prevent a recurrence of the retention.
When the body of the bladder has become benumbed or paralyzed
by overdistention, we may seek to restore its tone by doses of one-half
a dram of powdered nux vomica repeated daily, and by mustard plas-
ters applied over the loins, on the back part of the belly inferiorly,
or between the thighs. Small doses (2 drams) of balsam of copaiba are
sometimes useful in imparting tone to the partly paralyzed organ.
INCONTINENCE OF URINE (PALSY OF THE NECK OF THE BLADDER).
This may occur from disease or injury to the posterior part of the
spinal cord or from broken back, and in these cases the tail is likely
to be paralyzed, and it may be also the hind limbs. In this case the
urine dribbles away constantly, and the oiled hand in the vagina or
rectum will feel the half-filled and flaccid bladder beneath and may
easily empty it by pressure.
Treatment.—Treatment is only successful when the cause of the
trouble can be remedied. After these (sprains of the back, ete.) have
recovered, blisters (mustard) on the loins, the lower part of the abdo-
128 DISEASES OF CATTLE.
men, or between the thighs may be resorted to with success. Two
drams daily of copaiba or of solid extract of belladonna or 2 grains
Spanish flies may serve to restore the lost tone. These failing, the
use of electric currents may still prove successful.
URINARY CALCULI (STONE, OR GRAVEL).
[P1. XI, figs. 1, 2, 3.]
Stone, or gravel, consists in hard bodies mainly made up of the solid
earthy constituents of the urine which have crystallized out of that
liquid at some part of the urinary passage, and have remained as
small particles (gravel), or have concreted into large masses (stone,
ealeulus). In cattle it is no uncommon thing to find them distending
the practically microscopic tubes in the red substance of the kidney,
having been deposited from the urine in the solid form almost as soon
as that liquid has been separated from the blood. These stones appear
as white objects on the red ground formed by cutting sections of the
kidney, and are essentially products of the dry feed of winter, and
most common in working oxen, which are called upon to exhale more
water from the lungs and skins than are the slop-fed and inactive
cows. Little water being introduced into the body with the food, and
a considerable amount being expelled with the breath and perspira-
tion in connection with the active life, the urine becomes small in
amount, but having to carry out all waste material from the tissues
and the tissue-forming food, it becomes so charged with solids that it
is ready to deposit them on the slightest disturbance. If, therefore,
a little of the water of such concentrated urine is reabsorbed at any
point of the urinary passages, the remainder is no longer able to hold
the solids in solution, and they are at once precipitated in the solid
form as gravel or commencing stone. In cattle, on the other hand,
which are kept at pasture in summer, or which are fed liberally on
roots, potatoes, pumpkins, apples, or ensilage in winter, this concen-
trated condition of the urine is not induced, and under such cireum-
stances, therefore, the formation of stone is practically unknown.
Nothing more need be said to show the controlling influence of dry
feeding in producing gravel and of a watery ration in preventing it.
Calculus in cattle is essentially a disease of winter, and of such cattle
as are denied succulent food and are confined to dry fodder as their
exclusive ration. While there are exceptions, they are so rare that
they do not invalidate this generalrule. It is true that stone in the kid-
ney or bladder is often found in the summer or in animals feeding at
the time on a more or less succulent ration, yet such masses usually date
back to a former period when the animal was restricted to a dry ration.
In this connection it should be noted that a great drain of water
from the system by any other channel than the kidneys predisposes
to the production of gravel or stone. In case of profuse diarrhea, for
example, or of excessive secretion of milk, there is a corresponding
DISEASES OF THE URINARY ORGANS. 129
diminution of the water of the blood, and as the whole amount of the
blood is thus decreased, and as the quantity of urine secreted is largely
influenced by the fullness of the blood vessels and the pressure exerted
upon their walls from within, it follows that with this decrease of the
mass of the blood and the lessening of its pressure outward there
will be a corresponding decrease of urine. The waste of the tissues,
however, goes on as before, and if the waste matter is passed out
through the kidneys it must be in a more concentrated solution, and
the more concentrated the urine the greater the danger that the solids
will be deposited as small erystals or calculi.
Again, the concentrated condition of the urine which predisposes
to such deposits is favored by the quantity of lime salts that may be
present in the water drunk by the animal. Water that contains 20
or 30 grains of carbonate or sulphate of lime to the gallon must con-
tribute a large addition of solids to the blood and urine as compared
with soft waters from which lime is absent. In this connection it is a
remarkable fact that stone and gravel in the domesticated herbivora
are notoriously prevalent on many limestone soils, as on the limestone
formations of central and western New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio,
and Michigan; on the calcareous formations of Norfolk, Suffolk, Der-
byshire, Shropshire, and Gloucestershire, in England; in Landes in
France, and around Munich in Bavaria. It does not follow that the
abundance of lime in the water and fodder is the main cause of the
calculi, since other poisons which are operative in the same districts
in causing goiter in both man and animal probably contribute to the
trouble, yet the excess of earthy salts in the drinking water can hardly
fail to add to the saturation of both blood and urine, and thereby to
favor the precipitation of the urinary solids from their state of solution.
The known results of feeding cattle a generous or forcing ration in
which phosphate of lime is present to excess adds additional force to
the view just advanced. In the writer’s experience, the Second Duke
of Oneida, a magnificent product of his world-famed family, died as
the result of a too liberal allowance of wheat bran, fed with the view
of still further improving the bone and general form of the Duchess
strain of Shorthorns. Lithotomy was performed and a number of
stones removed from the bladder and urethra, but the patient sue-
cumbed to an inflammation of the bowels, induced by the violent
purgatives given before the writer arrived, under the mistaken idea
that the straining: had been caused by intestinal impaction. In this
case not only the Second Duke of Oneida, but the other males of the
herd as well, had the tufts of hairs at the outlet of the sheath encased
in hard, eylindroid sheaths of urinary salts, precipitated from the
liquid as it ran over them. The tufts were in reality resolved into a
series of hard, roller-like bodies, more or less constricted at intervals,
as if beaded.
8267—04——9
130 DISEASES OF CATTLE.
When it is stated that the ash of the whole grain of wheat is but 3
per cent, while the ash of wheat bran is 7.3 per cent, and that in the
‘ase of the former 46.38 per cent of the ash is phosphorie acid, and in
that of the latter 50 per cent, it can easily be understood how a too
liberal use of wheat bran should prove dangerous if fed dry. The
following table shows the relative proportion of ash and phosphorie
_acid in wheat bran and in some common farm seeds:
Ash and phosphoric acid in bran and some common farm seeds.
Kind of grain. Ash. | E Hesphore ae 6s)
~"" | entire food.
Per ct Per cent. Per cent.
Wihteabibram, 2 oe sao eee eS os te ae ee 7.3 50 3.65
Wiha Snail = 2 ona ae meee Serio = See ene 2 een eee 3 46.38 1.3914
Oats! ovains-- ts 222) eee ea ee a ee eee eee sees 2.50 26.5 . 6625
PSaleiys rin eee LS ae yo ee Se he An SES Se eee eee 3.10 39.6 1.2276
Bean Merain! 262 0 oe nS Heda oo eee eee eee 3.10 31.9 9864
IESEYS) Fan Us ea ee ee a a Pe ee dee ess 2 eee Soe eee 2.75 34.8 957
NERO WTA oie eee oe ure se oes Oe es, See eee eee areal 3 36.2 1.086
veer C Ort STAIN oS es Mee SN I see eee ee eee iO) GEE es Lee Se ee eee
wes Svan 2. 2225525 chet eas eee. aad ee aga ae EG 39.9 . 6384
Wheat bran, it will be observed, contains three times as much phos-
phoriec acid as is found in any of the other grains, and four times as
much as oats, beans, pease, or rye; so that if fed in excess it will
readily overcharge the urine with phosphates,
There is another point to be considered, however, in estimating this
danger. Wheat bran contains a far greater amount of albuminoids
and other nitrogen-containing constituents than the common grains
(these being made up mainly of starch, which contains no nitrogen);
and, all nitrogen-bearing products contained in the blood and tissues
being expelled from the body mainly through the kidneys in the form
of urea and (in eattle) hippurie acid, it follows that the excess of
urea formed when such food is consumed must load the urine with
solids and bring it constantly nearer to the point of saturation, when
such solids (or the least soluble of them) must be deposited.
The following table will show the relative amounts of the nitrogen-
bearing products in wheat bran and some of our common grains:
Nitrogenous matter in wheat bran and some common farm seeds.
rie
Albuminoids Woody fibér | Total nitrog
Kind of grain. (nitroge- (nitroge- ine conse
nous). nous). nrents:
Percent. Per cent. Per cent.
Wilealinbranmeseser orate Set hee A Os Eee eee 16.1 8 24.1
IW heats sorminiy seca ses 8 ey key le wb) ue eas aoe 12.5 1.8 14.3
Barley. orir = 5 eee 2 12.4 2.1 45.1
ORES (STAID 2. ~ ee ee Re see 8 Seas oe ee 11.8 9.5 21.3
Ve, cvain': 55a eae ee een) we, oka ee ee 10.6° t 12.3
Tmedian Corn. -...225 see ee ee Ae we ey a eee 10.1 Lv, 11.8
DISEASES OF THE URINARY ORGANS. 131
It will be observed that, with the exception of oats, none of the
grains contain more than two-thirds of the nitrogenous material
present in the wheat bran, while in the case of rye and maize there is
practically but one-half. Even in the case of oats the albuminoids,
which are the more digestible prineiples, and therefore those that
are the most easily and speedily converted into urea, are present only
to the amount of two-thirds of that which exists in the wheat bran.
With such an excess of ash, of phosphates, and of nitrogenous (urea-
forming) constituents in wheat bran, its tendency to favor the forma-
tion of ealeuli is fully explained. It must not, however, be inferred
that wheat bran is not a valuable foodstuff. The inference is only
that it should be fed with an abundance of water, as a sloppy mash,
or in combination with an abundance of roots, potatoes, pumpkins,
or other succulent aliment.
In this connection the presence of magnesia in the food or water
must be named as favoring calculous formations in the urinary pas-
sages. The explanation is that while the phosphate of magnesia
thrown out in the urine is soluble in water, the compound phosphate
of ammonia and magnesia is insoluble, and, accordingly, if at any
time ammonia is introduced into urine containing the phosphate of
magnesia, there is instantly formed the ammonio-magnesium phos-
phate, which is as promptly deposited in the solid form. The com-
mon souree of ammonia in such eases is from decomposition of the
urea in fermenting urine. But in order to produce this a ferment is
necessary, and therefore, as an additional prerequisite, the presence
of bacteria, or fungi, in the urine is essential. These ferments may
make their way from without along the urinary passage (urethra),
and their propagation in the bladder is greatly favored by the pro-
longed retention of urine, as in case of. spasm of the neck of the
bladder or obstruction by an already existing stone. Another mode
of entrance of the ferment is an uncleanly catheter used to draw off
the urine. Still another is the elimination through the kidneys of
the bacteria of infectious diseases, or of such as, without producing
a general infection, yet determine fermentation in the urine. The
precipitation is favored not only by the production of ammonia, but
also by the formation of viscid (colloid) products of fermentation. In
this sense bacteria are most important factors in causing gritty
deposits in the urine.
Another insoluble salt which enters largely into the composition of
many urinary ealeuli of the ox is carbonate of lime. This is derived
mainly from the lime in the food and water and from the carbon diox-
ide formed by the oxidation of the organie acids in the fodder. These
organic acids, being composed of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen (with-
out nitrogen), are resolved by the addition of oxygen into earbon
dioxide (CO,) and water (H,O). The carbon dioxide unites with the
lime in the blood to form carbonate of lime, and in this state passes
E32 DISEASES OF CATTLE.
into the urine. Now, carbonate of lime is soluble in water containing
free or uncombined carbon dioxide, but is precipitated whenever the
latter is withdrawn. It is only necessary, therefore, to have in the
urine sufficient lime or other available base to unite with all the free
carbon dioxide in order to bring about the precipitation of the dis-
solved carbonate of lime in the solid crystallized form. Hence it is
that, of all sediments in the urine of herbivora, this is the most fre-
quent and usually the most abundant.
A less common constituent of urinary calculi is the insoluble oxalate
of lime. In this ease the lime is derived as before from the food or
water, or both, while the oxalic acid is a product of the oxidation of
organic acids of the food, less oxygen having been used than in the
formation of carbon dioxide. The final product of the complete oxida-
tion of these acids is carbon dioxide, but when less oxygen is furnished
owing to some disease of the lungs or a disease of the nerve centers,
which lessens the activity of the breathing, then oxalic acid may be
produced. Then if this oxalic acid comes in contact with lime, it is
instantly precipitated as crystals of oxalate of lime.
Another inorganic substance at times found in urinary calculi is
silica (SiO,). This contributes largely to giving stiffness to the stems
of growing plants, and in most of our cereals and grasses makes up a
large proportion of the ashes of the burnt plant. It is found in the
soluble form in combination as silicate of potash, but at times is dis-
placed by oxalie or other acid and then appears as gritty, sandy par-
ticles in the stem. This gritty, insoluble silica is especially noticeable
among the horsetails (Hquisetacew), bamboos, and sedges. The per-
centage of silica in the ash of several common fodder plants is given
below:
Silica in ash of various fodder plants.
Ash of— Silica. Ash of— Silica.
Per cent. Per cent.
WIRECADISLER Wee. oon bo aoe eee eetaes ) (6756) || Riye-eh ass thane. aoe on eee eee 64.57
Oats and husizaa) ese e- eee 88.16: || Wiheatichaft:. 222-4. 22 See eee 81.2
Ostistraw sec: 2ccscs) oe 8524) l .Oatichatti <2 eee ee ee en eee 59.9
Barley: Straw as.25S- cere aeenee eee 3d lBatley: aime. e525! Se eee Tones On
IVO\SULEW i= -- = Sennen ee ere 64, 4
It is only soluble silica that is taken up into the system, and it is in
this form (usually as silicate of potash or soda) that it enters the urine,
but all that is wanted to precipitate it in crystalline form as a gritty
sand is the presence of oxalic or other acid having a stronger affinity
for its base (potash or soda).
Other conditions, however, enter largely into the causation of stone,
or gravel. A high density of urine resulting from a highly saturated
condition is often present for a length of time without any precipita-
tion of solid materials. Urea and carbonates may be present in
DISEASES OF THE URINARY ORGANS. 1338
excess, the food may be given dry, and drinking water may be deficient
in amount without any deposition of stone, or gravel. The presence
of nonerystalline organic matter in the urine becomes in such cases an
exciting cause. Rainey and Ord have shown experimentally that col-
loid (nonerystallizable) bodies like mucus, epithelial cells, albumen,
pus, blood, hyaline casts of the kidney tubes, etc., not only determine
the precipitation of crystallizable salts from a strong solution, but they
determine the precipitation in the form of globular masses, or minute
spheres, which, by further similar accessions, become stones, or calculi,
of various sizes. The salts that are deposited by mere chemical reac-
tion without the intervention of colloids appear in the form of sharply
defined angular crystals, and hence the rough, jagged erystals of oxa-
late of lime or ammonio-magnesium phosphate. Heat intensifies the
action of the colloids in causing precipitation of the dissolved salts, so
that the temperature of the kidneys and bladder constitute favorable
conditions. Colloids that are undergoing decomposition are also spe-
cially powerful, so that the presence of bacteria, or fungi, causing fer-
mentation is an important factor.
In looking, therefore, for the immediate causes of urinary calculi we
must accord a high place to all those conditions which determine the
presence of excess of mucus, albumen, pus, blood, kidney casts, blood-
coloring matter, ete., in the urine. A catarrhal inflammation of the
peivis of the kidney, of the ureter, or of the bladder, generating excess
of mucus or pus; inflammation of the kidneys, causing the discharge
into the urinary passages of blood, albumen, or hyaline casts; inflam-
mation of the liver, lungs, or other distant organ, resulting in the
escape of albumen in the urine; disorders of the liver or of the blood-
forming functions, resulting in hematuria or hemoglobinuria; sprains
or other injuries to the back, or disease of the spinal marrow, which
cause the escape of blood with the urine; the presence in the bladder
of a bacterian ferment, which determines the decomposition of the
mucus and urea, the evolution of ammonia and the consequent
destruction of the protecting cellular (epithelial) lining of the blad-
der, or the irritation caused by the presence of an already formed
calculus, may produce the colloid or uncrystallizable body that proves
so effective in the precipitation of stone or gravel. It has long been
known that calculi will almost infallibly form around any foreign
body introduced into the kidney or bladder, and I have seen a large
calculous mass surrounding a splinter of an arrow that had penetrated
and broken off in the body of a deer. The explanation is now satis-
- factory—the foreign body carries in with it bacteria, which act as fer-
ments upon the urine and mucus in addition to the mechanical injury
caused by its presence. If such a body has been introduced through
the solid tissues, there is, in addition, the presence of the blood and
lymph derived from the wounded structures.
1384 DISEASES OF CATTLE.
CLASSIFICATION OF URINARY CALCULI.
Urinary caleuli are most conveniently divided according to the local-
ity in which they are found. Thus we find first renal calcul, formed
in the kidney (Pl. XI, fig. 1), and which for cattle must be again
divided into calculi of the uriniferous tubes and calculi of the pelvis.
The second class are named wreteral calculi, because they are found in
the duct leading from the kidney to the bladder (ureter). The third
class are the vesical calculi, from the bladder or vesicle in which they
are found. The fourth class are the wrethral calculi, and are found in
the duct leading outward from the bladder through the penis (urethra).
The fifth and last class are the preputial calculi, since they are found
within the sheath of the penis (prepuce).
Caleuli may also be classed according to their chemical composition,
and this has the advantage of suggesting the special cause of each as
found in the food, water, soil, or general condition of health. This
classification affords no guide to their location or symptoms, as caleuli
of the same chemical composition may be found at any partof the uri-
nary passages, as those formed in the kidney may pass on through all
the various passages outward, unless it is found at any point of their
progress that they have grown so large that the passage will not admit
them. The following are among the concretions found in the various
parts:
(1) Coralline calceuli.—These are of a dull-white color and irregular
surface, like coral. They are made up of hard and resistant layers
evenly deposited around a central nucleus. (Pl. XI, fig. 3.) Their
specific gravity is 1,760, water being 1,000, and they contain 74 per cent
of carbonate of lime with some carbonate of magnesia, organic matter,
and a trace of carbonate of iron. Yellowish white, smooth, round eal-
culi of the same chemical composition are met with.
(2) Pearly calculi.—These are more frequent than the first-named
variety. They are very hard and smooth on the surface, reflecting a
play of various colors after the fashion of a pearl. This peculiarity
appears to be caused by the thinness and semitranspareney of the
superposed layers. They have a specific gravity of 2,109 to 2,351, and
nearly the same chemical composition as the coralline variety. Gold-
ing Bird found a specimen of this kind formed of carbonate of lime
and organic matter only. ,
(3) Green calculi (metalloid calculi).—These are usually small and
numerous, as they are exceedingly common. They are of a very hard
consistency, and have a clear, polished, greenish surface of almost
metallic brilliancy. They have a specifie gravity of 2,301, and a com-
position almost identical with the second variety.
(4) White calculiiwPure, white, smooth, lustrous ecaleuli are rare.
They have a specifie gravity of 2,307, and contain as much as 92 per
cent of carbonate of lime with carbonate of magnesia and organic
matter. ;
DISEASES OF THE URINARY ORGANS. LSS
(5) Ammonio-magnesium calculi.—These are of a grayish color and
a very rough erystalline surface, which proves very irritating to the
mucous membrane. They have a specific gravity of 1,109 to 1,637,
and are composed chiefly of ammonio-magnesium phosphate, oxalate
of lime, and organic matter, with some little carbonate of lime and
magnesia.
(6) Siliceous caleuli.—These are clear, smooth, and hard, and usu-
ally spherical. They have a specific gravity of 1,265 to 1,376, and
contain 57 per cent of silica with carbonates of iron and magnesia,
organic matter, and traces of iron. In other specimens of siliceous
caleuli there was a specific gravity of 3,122, and there was 79 to 85
per cent of carbonate of lime together with carbonate of magnesia,
and iron, silica, and qgganic matter. Others are almost exclusively
made of silica.
(7) Oxalate of lime calculi (mulberry cateult) (Pl. XI, fig. 2).—These
are characterized by their extremely rough, angular surface, formed
by the octahedral crystals of oxalate of lime. Their specific gravity
may be 3,441, and they contain oxalate of lime to the extent of 81
per cent, together with carbonates of lime and magnesia and organic
matter. .
(8) Gravel ( pultaceous deposits).—Simple crystals may be met with
at any point from the kidneys to the external opening at the end of
the prepuce (sheath), and they may appear singly, as crystals, or they
may accumulate in masses of fine spherical crystals almost like dirty
powdered chalk suspended in water. In the ox this is especially com-
mon as a collection in the sheath, distending that into a soft, doughy
swelling.
FORMS OF CALCULI IN DIFFERENT SITUATIONS.
Apart from the rough crystalline surfaces of the caleuli of oxalate
of lime and ammonio-magnesium phosphate, the general tendency is
to a smooth, round outline. At times, however, they show more or
less flattening with rounded angular edges, caused by the contact and
mutual friction of two caleuli. Sometimes two or more stones lying
together become united into one by a new external deposit, and the
resulting mass then shows rounded swellings on opposite sides. The
large caleuli occupying the pelvis of the kidneys usually shows a
central part having the outline of the main cavity of the pelvis and
two or more projections that have been molded into corresponding
branches or channels which lead to corresponding lobes of the kidney.
In winter and spring small concretions in the form of plates are often
met with in the branches of the pelvis, having been formed and
molded in the confined space between the projecting papilla and the
surrounding cup-like branch of the pelvis. Finally, the pulp-like
deposits in the sheath and elsewhere are made up of globular masses,
individually so small as to be often practically microscopic.
136 DISEASES OF CATTLE.
STONE IN THE KIDNEY (RENAL CALCULI).
[Pl. XI, fig. 1.]
In an animal leading the quiet, uneventful life of the ox, stones of
large size may be present in the kidney without producing any dis-
order appreciable to the people about him. In cattle fattened on dry
food in winter, on our magnesian limestone of New York, it is excep-
tional to find the substance of the kidney free from calculi about the
size of a grain of wheat or less, and standing out as white objects in
the general red of the cut surface of the organ. Similarly around the
papille in the cup-like arms of the pelvis we find minute flattened or
more or less rounded yellowish white concretions. Even the large
concretions may prove apparently harmless. ,I have a calculus sey-
eral ounces in weight which filled the entire pelvis of the kidney, which
was found by accident in a fat carcass while being dressed. In work
oxen, however, such concretions may give rise to symptoms of kidney
disease, such as stiffness of the loins, shown especially in the acts
of rising or turning, weakness of the hind parts when set to pulla
heavy load, an irritability of the kidneys, shown by the frequent pas-
sage of urine in small quantity, tenderness of the loins, shown when
they are pinched or lightly struck, and it may be the passage of blood
or minute gritty masses with the urine. If the attack is severe, what
is called ‘‘ renal colic” (kidney colic) may be shown by frequent uneasy
shifting of the hind limbs, shaking or twisting of the tail, looking
round at the flanks, and lying down and rising again at short inter-
vals without apparent cause. The frequent passage of urine, the
blood or gritty masses contained in it, and perhaps the hard, stony
eylinders around the tufts of hair of the sheath, show that the source
of the suffering is the urinary organs. In bad cases active inflamma-
tion of the kidneys may set in. (See ‘‘ Nephritis,” p. 121.)
URETERAL CALCULI.
These are small stones which have passed from the pelvis of the :
kidney into the canal (ureter) leading from the kidney to the bladder,
but, being too large to pass on easily, have blocked that canal and
forced the urine back upon the kidney. The result is the production
of symptoms more violent than in renal calculi, though not varying,
save in intensity, from those of renal colic. In case of complete and
unrelieved obstruction, the secretion of the kidney on that side is
entirely abolished, and it becomes the seat of passive congestion, and
it may even be absorbed in greater part or as a whole, leaving only a
fibrous sac containing fluid with a urinous odor. In small eattle, in
which the oiled hand introduced into the last gut may reach the
affected part, the distended ureter may be felt as a tense, elastic cord,
extending forward from the point of obstruction on the lateral wall of
the pelvis and beneath the loins toward the kidney. If relief is
DISEASES OF THE URINARY ORGANS. 137
obtained by the onward passage of the stone a free flow of urine
usually follows, in the midst of which may often be found gritty
masses. If the outlets from both kidneys are similarly blocked, the
animal becomes poisoned by the retention in the blood of the elements
of the urine, and by their reabsorption after secretion.
Treatment of renal and ureteral calculi.—Treatment is not very suc-
cessful, as only the smallest calculi can pass through the ureter and
enter the bladder, and even if they should do so they are liable to a
progressive increase there, so that later they may cause the symptoms
of stone in the bladder. Fortunately, ordinary dairy, growing, or
fattening cattle rarely show evident symptoms of illness, and though
they should do so they ean usually be fattened and slaughtered before
the health is seriously impaired. In work oxen the case is different, and
acute symptoms may develop, but even then the animal may often be
fitted for the butcher. When treatment is demanded it is primarily
soothing and antispasmodic. Fomentations with warm water over the
loins should be persisted in without intermission until relief has been
secured. The soothing effect on the kidney will often relieve inflam-
mation and irritation, should the stone be in that situation, while if in
the ureter the warm fomentations will at once soothe irritation, relax
spasm of the muscular coat of the canal, and favor an abundant secre-
tion from the kidney, which, pressing on the obstructing stone, may
slowly push it on into the bladder. Large doses of laudanum (2
ounces) or of solid extract of belladonna (2 drams) will not only soothe
the pain but relax the spasm and favor the onward passage of the
ealeulus. The animal should be encouraged to drink large quantities
of cool water to favor the free secretion of a very watery urine, which
will not only serve to obviate irritation and continued deposit caused
by a highly concentrated urine, but will press the stone onward toward
the bladder, and even in certain cases will tend to disintegrate it by
solution of some of its elements, and thus to favor its crumbling and
expulsion. This is a principle which must never be lost sight of in
the treatment of calculi. The immersion of the stone in a liquid of a
lower specific gravity than that in which it has formed and growntends
to dissolve out the more soluble of its component parts, and thus to
destroy its density and cohesion at all points, and thereby to favor its
complete disintegration and expulsion. This explains why eattle
taken from a herd on our magnesian limestone in spring, after the
long dry feeding of winter, usually furnish renal calculi, while cattle
from the same herd in the fall, after a summer’s run on a succulent
pasture, are almost always free from concretions. The abundance of
liquid taken in the green food and expelled through the kidneys and
the low density or watery nature of the urine have so opened the
texture and destroyed the density of the smaller stones and gravel
that they have all been disintegrated and removed. This, too, is the
main reason why benefit is derived from a prolonged stay at mineral
138 DISEASES OF CATTLE.
springs by the human victims of gravel. If they had swallowed the
same number of quarts of pure water at home and distributed it at
suitable intervals over each day, they would have benefited largely
without a visit to the springs.
It follows from what has been just said that a sueculent diet, includ-
ing a large amount of water (gruels, sloppy mashes, turnips, beets,
potatoes, apples, pumpkins, ensilage, succulent grasses), is an impor-
tant factor in the relief of the milder forms of stone and gravel.
Prevention.—Prevention of calculus especially demands this supply
of water and watery rations on all soils and in all conditions in whieh
there is a predisposition to tl is disease. It must also be sought by
attempts to obviate all those conditions mentioned above as causative
of the malady. Sometimes good rain water can be furnished in lime-
stone districts, but putrid or bad smelling rain water is to be avoided
as probably more injurious than that from the limestone. Unsuecess-
ful attempts have been made to dissolve calculi by alkaline salts and
mineral acids, respectively, but their failure as a remedy does not
necessarily condemn them as preventives. One dram of caustic
potash or of hydrochloric acid may be given daily in the drinking
water. In diametrically opposite ways these attack and decompose
the less soluble salts and form new ones which are more soluble
and therefore little disposed to precipitate in the solid form. Both
are beneficial as increasing the secretion of urine. In cases where
the diet has been too highly charged with phosphates (wheat bran, |
etc.), these aliments must be restricted and water allowed ad libitum.
Where the crystals passed with the urine are the sharp angular
(octahedral) ones of oxalate of lime, then the breathing should be
made more active by exercise, and any disease of the lungs subjected
to appropriate treatment. If the crystals are triangular prisms of
ammonia-magnesium phosphate or star-like forms with feathery rays,
the indications are to withhold the food or water that abounds in
magnesia and check the fermentation in the urine by attempts to
destroy its bacteria. In the latter direction plenty of pure water,
diureties, and a daily dose of oil of turpentine in milk, or a dose thrice
a day of a solution containing one-tenth grain each of biniodide of
mercury and iodide cf potassium would be indicated.
In considering the subject of prevention, it must never be forgotten
that any disease of a distant organ which determines the passage from
the blood into the urine of albumen or any other colloid (unerystalliz-
able) body is strongly provoeative of caleulus, and should, if possible,
be corrected. Apart from eases due to geological formation, faulty
feeding, and other causes, the grand preventive of ealeulus is a long
summer’s pasturage of succulent grasses, or in winter a diet of ensilage
or other succulent food.
The ealeuli formed in part of silica demand special notice. This
agent is secreted in the urine in the form of silicate of potash and is
DISEASES OF THE URINARY ORGANS. 1389
thrown down as insoluble silica when a stronger acid displaces it by
combining with the potash to its exelusion. In eases of siliceous
ealeuli, accordingly, the appropriate chemical prevention is caustic
potash, which being present in the free state would attract to itself
any free acid and leave the silica in its soluble condition as silicate of
potash.
STONE IN THE BLADDER (VESICAL CALCULUS, OR URETHRAL CALCULUS).
Stone in the bladder may be of any size, but in the ox does not
usually exceed half an inch in diameter. There may, however, be a
number of small caleuli; indeed, they are sometimes so small and
numerous as to form a small pulpy magma by which the bladder is
considerably distended.
Symptoms.—The symptoms of stone in the bladder may be absent
until one of the masses escapes into the urethra, but when this occurs
the escape of urine is prevented, or it is allowed to pass in drops or
driblets only, and the effect of such obstruction becomes manifest.
The point of obstruction is not always the same, but it is most fre-
quently at the S-shaped curve of the penis, just above the testicles or
serotum. In cows and heifers the urethra is so short and becomes so
wicely dilated during the urination that the caleuli easily escape in
the flow of liquid and dangerous symptoms practically never appear.
Even in the male the signs of illness are at first very slight. A
close observer may notice the cylinders of hard, earthy materials
encircling the tufts of hair at the opening of the prepuce. It may
further be observed that the stall remains dry and that the animal has
not been seen to pass water when out of doors. The tail may at times
be gently raised and contractions of the muscle (accelerator urine)
beneath the anus (PI. IX, fig. 2) may take place in a rhythmical or
pulsating manner. But asa rule no symptom is noticed for a couple
of days, only the animal is lacking in his usual spirits. By this time
the constantly accumulating urine has distended the bladder beyond
its power of resistance and a rupture occurs, allowing the urine to
escape into the cavity of the abdomen. Then dullness increases; the
animal lies down most of his time; he becomes stupid and sometimes
drowsy, with reddish brown congestion of the lining membrane of the
eyelids; pressure on the abdomen causes pain, flinching, and perhaps
groaning, and the lowest part of the belly fluctuates more and more as
the escaping urine accumulates in greater and greater amount. If at
this stage the oiled hand is introduced into the rectum (last gut), the
animal flinches when pressure is made downward on the floor of the
pelvis, and no round, distended bladder is felt. If the same examina-
tion is made prior to the rupture the rounded, tense, elastic bladder
is felt extending forward into the abdomen, containing one or two
gallons of liquid. There may be uneasy shifting of the hind limbs
140 DISEASES OF CATTLE.
and twisting of the tail, also frequent lying down and rising, but
these symptoms are exceptional.
When the obstruction is low down between the thighs (at the S-
shaped flexure), the line of the pulsating urethra from the anus down-
ward may be felt distended with liquid, and though it is seldom easy
to distinguish the exact seat of the stone by the hard swelling of the
urethra, yet there is usually tenderness at the point of obstruction,
and from this it may be accurately located.
Treatment.—The treatment of stone in the bladder or urethra con-
‘sists in the removal of the stone by incision and the use of forceps.
(Pl. XI, fig. 4.) When the stone has been arrested at the S-shaped
flexure just above the scrotum, the patient being lean, the thickened
tender part of the penis may be seized between the fingers and thumb
of the left hand, while the calculus is exposed by a free incision with
the knife held in the right. If there is no otber obstruction between
this point and the bladder, and if the latter has not yet ruptured, a
flow of urine should take place from the opening. If there is no escape
of liquid a catheter or sound, one-fourth of an inch in diameter, must
be passed up through the canal (urethra) until it is arrested by the
next stone, on which a similar incision should then be made to effect
its extraction. In case the stone has been arrested in the portion of
the urethra which is in front of the arch of the hip bone and inside
the pelvis, it can only be reached by making an opening into the ure-
thra beneath the anus and over the arch of the hip bone, and from
this orifice exploring the urethra with fine forceps to the neck of the
bladder or until the stone has been reached and extracted. The opera-
tion requires a very accurate knowledge of the parts, owing to the
small size of the canal (urethra) to be opened and the great thickness
of erectile tissue to be cut through, while the free flow of blood is
blinding to the operator.
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CALCULI OF KIDNEY AND BLADDER.
DISEASES OF THE URINARY ORGANS. 143
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PLATE X—Continued.
‘ glomeruli (12) and also form networks around the secreting tubules (11, 9).
The urine and salts pass from these vessels through the cells lining the
tubules into the latter, and are discharged as described above. The blood
is again collected in veins drawn black in the figure.
Fig. 2. Illustrates the manner in which the blood is distributed in the glom-
erulus f, and also to the secreting tubules (e).
Fig. 3. Shows the relation between the blood vessel in the glomerulus (e) and
the tubule which conducts the urine therein secreted from the blood ves-
sel; (c) represents a glomerulus from which the urinary tubule has been
removed.
PLATE XI:
Fig. 1. Calculus, or stone, from the kidney. These are located in the pelvis or
portion of the ureter receiving the urine. The prolongations are casts of
the branches of the pelvis. See the plates of the kidney for further
description.
Fig. 2. Calculus made up of oxalate of lime magnified 215 times.
Fig. 3. Phosphatic calculus containing a nucleus of uric acid, sawn through
to show concentric layers.
Fig. 4. Straight forceps used in removing stones*from the bladder.
Fig. 5. Casts of the minute tubules of the kidney found in the urine in various
kinds of kidney disease. Highly magnified.
DISEASES OF THE GENERATIVE ORGANS.
By JAMES Law, F. R. C. V.S&.,
Professor of Veterinary Science, etc., in Cornell University.
Diseases of the generative organs are practically confined to animals
which are kept for reproduction and the dairy. The castration of
the bull condemns these organs to inactivity and protects them from
the many causes of injury attendant on the engorged blood vessels
in the frequent periods of sexual excitement, on the exposure to
mechanical violence, and on the exposure to infective inoculation.
In three respects the castrated male is especially subject to disease:
(1) To inflammation and tumefaction of the cut end of the cord that
supported the testicle afd of the loose connective tissue of the sero-
tum; (2) to inflammation of the sheath and penis from the accumu-
lation of gravel in the former, from which the penis is not usually
protruded in passing water; and (3) to bruising, abrasion, and inflam-
mation of the sheath and penis during suspension in the stocks for
the purpose of shoeing. Apart from these, the ox is practically almost
exempt from the inflammations and injuries of the genital organs.
The same applies to the castrated heifer. Inflammation may occur in
the broad ligament of the womb whence the ovary has been removed,
or infective inflammation in the abdominal cavity (peritonitis) in case
the operation has been performed through the flank, as it usually is
in the young heifer. Apart from these, the castrated heifer is prac-
tically immune from any trouble of the generative apparatus. Even
the virgin heifer is little subject to such troubles, though she is not
exempt from inflammations, and above all, morbid growths in the
ovaries which are well developed and functionally very active after
the first year, or in precocious animals after the first few months of
life. The breeding cow, on the other hand, is subjected to all the
disturbances attendant on the gradual enlargement of the womb, the
diversion of a large mass of blood to its walls, the constant drain of
nutrient materials of all kinds for the nourishment of the fetus, the
risks attendant and consequent on abortion and parturition, the dan-
gers of infection from the bull, the risks of sympathetic disturbance
in case of serious diseases of other organs, but preeminently of the
urinary organs and the udder, and finally the sudden extreme
derangements of the circulation and of the nervous functions which
attend on the sudden revulsion of a great mass of blood from the
walls of the contracting womb into the body at large immediately
after calving.
144
DISEASES OF THE GENERATIVE ORGANS. 145
In reviewing this class of diseases, therefore, we have to note, first,
that they are almost exclusively restricted to breeding animals; and,
second, that in keeping with the absolute difference of the organs in
the male and female we find two essentially distinct lists of diseases
affecting the two sexes.
EXCESS OF VENEREAL DESIRE (SATYRIASIS IN MALE, OR NYMPHO-
MANIA IN FEMALE).
This may occur in the male from too frequent sexual intercourse, or
from injury and congestion of the base of the brain (vaso-dilator cen-
ter in the medulla), or of the posterior end of the spinal cord, or it
may be kept up by congestion or inflammation of the testicles or of
the mucous membrane covering the penis. It may be manifested by
a constant or frequent erection, by attempts at sexual connection,
and sometimes by the discharge of semen without connection. In bad
cases the feverishness and restlessness lead to loss of flesh, emacia-
tion, and physical weakness.
It is, however, in the female especially that this morbid desire is
most noticeable and injurious. It may be excited by the stimulating
quality of the blood in cows fed to excess on highly nitrogenous food,
as the seeds of the bean, pea, vetch, and tare, and as wheat bran,
middlings, cotton seed, gluten meal, ete., especially in the case of such
as have no free exercise in the fields, and are subject to constant asso-
ciation with a vigorous young bull. A more frequent cause is the
excitation or congestion of some part of the genital organs. Disease
of the ovaries is preeminently the cause, and this may be by the forma-
tion of cysts (sacs containing liquid) or of solid tumors or degenera-
tions, or, more commonly than all, the deposition of tubercle. Indeed,
in case of tuberculosis attacking the abdominal organs of cows, the
ovaries or the serous membranes that support and cover them (the
broad ligaments of the womb) are peculiarly subject to attack and
the animal has constant sexual excitement, incessantly riding or
being ridden by other cattle, having no leisure to eat or chew the cud,
but moving restlessly, wearing the flesh off its bones, and gradually
wasting. In some localities these cows are known as ‘‘bullers,”
because they are nearly always disposed to take the bull, but they do
not conceive, or, if they do, they are subject to early abortions. They
are, therefore, useless alike for the dairy and for the feeder, unless
the removal of the ovaries subdues the sexual excitement, when, in
the absence of tuberculous disease elsewhere, they may be fattened
for the butcher.
Among the other sources of irritation charged with causing nympho-
mania are tumors and cancers of the womb, rigid closure of the neck of
the womb so that conception can not occur and the frequent services
by the male stimulate the unsatisfied appetite, and inflammation, and
a purulent discharge from the womb or vagina.
8267—04——10
146 DISEASES OF CATTLE.
Treatment.—The treatment in each case will vary with the cause
and is most satisfactory when that cause is a removable one. Over-
feeding on richly-nitrogenous food can be stopped, exercise in the open
field secured, diseased ovaries may be removed (see ‘‘ Castration,” p.
300), catarrhs of the Womb and passages overcome by antiseptic
astringent injections (see ‘‘Leucorrhea”), and tumors of the womb may
often be detached and extracted, the mouth of that organ having been
first dilated by sponge tents or otherwise. The rubber dilator (impreg-
nator) though sometimes helpful in the mare is rarely available for
the cow, owing to the different condition of the mouth of the womb.
DIMINUTION OR LOSS OF VENEREAL DESIRE (ANAPHRODISIA).
This will occur in either sex from low condition and ill health.
Long standing chronic diseases of important internal organs, leading
to emaciation and weakness, or a prolonged semistarvation in winter
may be sufficient cause. It is, however, much more common as the
result of degeneration or extensive and destructive disease of the
secreting organs (testicles, ovaries) which elaborate the male and
female sexual products, respectively. Such diseases are, therefore, a
common cause of sterility in both sexes. The old bull, fat and lazy,
becomes sluggish and unreliable in serving, and finally gets to be use-
less for breeding purposes. This is not due to his weight and clum-
siness alone, but largely to the fatty degeneration of his testicles and
their excretory ducts, which prevents the due formation and matura-
tion of the semen.
If he has been kept in extra high condition for exhibition in the
show ring, this disqualification comes upon him sooner and becomes
more irremediable.
Similarly the overfed, inactive cow, and above all the show cow,
fails to come in heat at the usual intervals, shows little disposition to
take the bull, and fails to conceive when served. Her trouble is the
same in kind, namely, fatty degeneration of the ovaries and of their
excretory ducts (Fallopian tubes), which prevents the formation or
maturation of the ovum or, when it has formed, hinders its descent
intothe womb. Another common defect in such old fat cows is a rigid
closure of the mouth of the womb, which prevents conception, even
if the ovum reaches the interior of that organ and even if the semen
is discharged into the vagina.
Preventive.—The true preventive of such conditions is to be found
in a sound hygiene. The breeding animal should be of adult age,
neither overfed nor underfed, but well fed and moderately exercised;
in other words, the most vigorous health should be sought, not only
that a strong race may be propagated, but that the whole herd, or
nearly so, may breed with certainty. Fleming gives 79 per cent as
the general average of cows that are found to breed in one year.
Here more than a fifth of the progeny is sacrificed and a fifth of the
DISEASES OF THE GENERATIVE ORGANS. 147
*
product of the dairy. With careful management the proportion of
breeders should approach 100 per cent. The various local and gen-
eral obstacles to conception should be carefully investigated and
removed. The vigorous health which comes from a sufficiently lib-
eral diet and abundant exercise should be solicited, and that compara-
tive bloodlessness and weakness which advances with undue fattening
should be sedulously avoided. In bull or cow which is becoming
unduly fat and showing indications of sexual indifference, the treat-
ment must be active. Turning out on a short pasture where it must
work hard for a living will often suffice. The bull which ean not be.
turned out to pasture may sometimes be utilized in the yoke or tread
power, or he may be kept a part of his time in a field or paddock
chained by the ring in his nose te a strong wire extending from one
side of the lot to the other, and attached securely to two trees or posts.
The wire should be higher than the back of the bull, which will move
from end to end at frequent intervals. If he is indisposed to take
sufficient exercise in this way he may be safely driven. An instance
of the value of exercise in these incipient cases of fatty degeneration
is often quoted. The cow Dodona, condemned as barren at Earl
Spencer’s, was sold cheap to Jonas Webb, who had her driven by road
a distance of 120 miles to his farm at Wilbraham, soon after which
she became pregnant. Inadvanced cases, however, in which the fatty
degeneration is complete, recovery is impossible.
In ease of rigid closure of the mouth of the womb the only resort is
dilatation. This is far more difficult and uncertain in the cow than in
the mare. The neck of the womb is longer, is often tortuous in its
course, and its walls so approximated to each other and so rigid that
it may be all but impossible to follow it, and there is always danger
of perforating its walls and opening into the cavity of the abdomen,
or short of that of causing inflammation and a new rigid fibrous for-
mation which, on healing, leaves matters worse than before. The
opening must be carefully made with the finger, and when that has
entered the womb further dilatation may be secured by inserting a
sponge tent or by careful stretching with a mechanical dilator. (PI.
XX, fig. 6.)
STERILITY FROM OTHER CAUSES.
The questions as to whether a bull is a sure stock getter and whether
a cow is a breeder are so important that it would be wrong to pass
over other prominent causes of sterility. Breeding at too early an age
is a common source of increasing weakness of constitution which has
obtained in certain breeds. Jerseys have especially been made the
victims of this mistake, the object being to establish the highest milk-
ing powers in the smallest obtainable body which will demand the
least material and outlay for its constant repair of waste. With suc-
cess in this line there has been the counterbalancing disadvantage of
148 DISEASES OF CATTLE.
impaired vigor, with too often lessened fertility as well as increased
predisposition to disease. When the heifers of the race have for gen-
eration after generation been bred under a year old, the demand for
the nourishment of the fetus is too great a drain on the immature
animal, which accordingly remains small and stunted. As it fails to
develop in size, so every organ fails to be nourished to perfection.
Similarly with the immature bull put to too many cows; he fails to
develop his full size, vigor, or stamina, and transfers his acquired
weakness to his progeny. An increasing number of barren females
and an increasing proclivity to abortions are the necessary results of
both courses. When this early breeding has occurred accidentally it
is well to dry up the dam just after calving, and to avoid having her
served again until full grown.
Some highly fed and plethoric females seem to escape conception by
the very intensity of the generative ardor. The frequent passage of
urine, accompanied by contractions of the womb and vagina and a
profuse secretion from their surfaces, leads to the expulsion of the
semen after it has been lodged in the genital passages. This may be
remedied somewhat by bleeding the cow shortly before putting to the
bull, so as to diminish the richness and stimulating quality of the
blood; or better by giving 14; pounds of Epsom salts a day or two
before she comes in heat, and subjecting her at the. same time to a
spare diet. Should the excessive ardor of the cow not be controlla-
ble in this way, she may be shut up for a day or two, until the heat is
passing off, when under the lessened excitement the semen is more
likely to be retained.
The various diseases of the ovaries, their tubes, the womb, the tes-
ticles and their excretory ducts, as referred to under ‘‘ Excess of gen-
erative ardor,” are causes of barrenness. In this connection it may
be named that the discharges consequent on calving are fatal to the
vitality of semen introduced before these have ceased to flow; hence
service too soon after calving, or that of a cow which has had the
womb or genital passages injured so as to keep up a muco-purulent
flow until the animal comes in heat, is liable to fail of conception.
Any such discharge should be first arrested by repeated injections as
for leucorrhea, after which the male may be admitted.
Feeding on a very saccharine diet, which greatly favors the deposi-
tion of fat, seems to have an even more direct effect in preventing
conception during such regimen. Among other causes of barrenness
are all those that favor abortion, ergoted grasses, smutty wheat or
corn, laxative or diuretie drinking water, and any improper or musty
feed that causes indigestions, colics, and diseases of the urinary
organs, notably gravel; also savin, rue, ecantharides, and all other
irritants of the bowels or kidneys.
Hermaphrodites are barren, of course, as their sexual organs are
not distinctively either male or female. The heifer born as a twin
DISEASES OF THE GENERATIVE OEGANS. 149
with a bull is usually hermaphrodite and barren. But the animals
of either sex in which development of the organs is arrested before
they are fully matured remain as in the male or female prior to
puberty, and are barren. Bulls with both testicles retained within
the abdomen may go through the form of serving a cow, but the serv-
ice is unfruitful; the spermatozoa are not fully elaborated. So Ihave
examined a heifer with a properly formed but very small womb and
an extremely narrow vagina and vulva, the walls of which were very
muscular, that could never be made to conceive. A postmortem
examination would probably have disclosed an imperfectly formed
ovary incapable of bringing ova to maturity.
A bull and cow that have been too closely inbred in the same line for
generations may prove sexually incompatible and unable to generate
together, though both are abundantly prolific when coupled with ani-
mals of other strains of blood.
Finally a bull may prove unable to get stock, not from any lack of
sexual development, but from disease of other organs (back, loins, hind
limbs), which renders him unable to mount with the energy requisite
to the perfect service.
CONGESTION AND INFLAMMATION OF THE TESTICLES (ORCHITIS).
This usually results from blows or other direct injuries, but may be
the result of excessive service or of the formation of some new growth
(tumor) in the gland tissue. The bull moves stiffly, with straddling
gait, and the right or left half of the scrotum in which the affected
testicle lies is swollen, red, and tender, and the gland is drawn up
within the sac and dropped down again at frequent intervals. It may
be treated by rest; by 13 pounds Epsom salts given in 4 quarts of water;
by arestricted diet of some succulent food; by continued fomentations
with warm water by means of sponges or rags sustained by a sling
passed around the loins and back between the hind legs. The pain
may be allayed by smearing with a solution of opium or of extract of
belladonna. Should a soft point appear, indicating the formation of
matter, it may be opened with a sharp lancet and the wound treated
daily witha solution of a teaspoonful of carbolic acid in a half pint of
water. Usually, however, when the inflammation has proceeded to
this extent the gland will be ruined for purposes of procreation and
must be cut out. (See ‘‘Castration,” p. 300).
INFLAMMATION OF THE SHEATH.
While this may oceurin bulis from infection during copulation and
from bruises, blows, and other mechanical injuries, the condition is
more common in the ox in connection with the comparative inactivity of
the parts. The sheath has avery small external opening, the mucous
membrane of whichis studded with sebaceous glands secreting athick,
unctuous matter of a strong, heavy odor. Behind this orifice is a dis-
150 DISEASES OF CATTLE.
tinet pouch, in which this unctuous matter is liable to accumulate when
the penisis habitually drawn back. Moreover, the sheath has two mus-
cles (protractors) which lengthen it passing into it from the region of
the navel, and two (retractors) that shorten it passing into it from the
lower surface of the pelvie bones above. (Pl. IX, fig. 2.) The pro-
tractors keep the sheath stretched so that it habitually covers the
penis, while the retractors shorten it up in the act of service, so that
the penis ean project to its full extent. In stud bulls the frequent
protrusion of the erect and enlarged penis and the retraction and
dilatation of the opening of the sheath serve to empty the pouch and
prevent any accumulation of sebaceous matter or urine. In the ox,
on the other hand, the undeveloped and inactive penis is usually
drawn back so as to leave the anterior preputial pouch empty, so that
the sebaceous matter has space to accumulate and is never expelled by
the active retraction of the sheath and protrusion of the erect penis
in service. Again, the ox rarely protrudes the tip of the penis in
‘urination, the urine is discharged into the preputial pouch and lodges
and decomposes there, so that there is a great liability to the precipi-
tation of its earthy salts in the form of gravel. The decomposing
ammoniacal urine, the gritty crystals precipitated from it, and the
fetid, rancid, sebaceous matter set up inflammation in the delicate
mucous membrane lining the passage. The membrane is thickened,
reddened, rendered friable, and ultimately ulcerated, and the now
narrowed sheath is blocked by the increasing mass of sebaceous and
urinous material and the decomposing mucus and pus. The penis
ean no longer be protruded, the urine escapes in a small stream
through the narrowing sheath, and finally the outlet is completely
blocked and the urine distends the back part of the sheath. This
will fluctuate on being handled, and soon the unhealthy inflammation
extends on each side of it, causing a thick, doughy, tender swelling
under the belly and between the thighs. The next step in the morbid
course is overdistention of the bladder, with the occurrence of col-
icky pains, looking at the flanks, uneasy movements of the hind
limbs, raising or twisting of the tail, pulsatory contractions of the
urethra under the anus, and finally a false appearance of relief, which
is caused by rupture of the bladder. Before this rupture takes place
the distended bladder may press on the rectum and obstruct the pas-
sage of the bowel dejections. Two mistakes are therefore probable—
first, that the bowels alone are to be relieved, and, second, that the
trouble is obstruction of the urethra by a stone. Hence the need of
examining the sheath and pushing the finger into its opening to see
that there is no obstruction there, in all eases of retention of urine, over-
distended bladder, or blocked rectum in the ox. The disease may be
acute or chronic—the first by reason of acute adhesive inflammation
blocking the outlet, the second by gradual thickening and ulceration
of the sheath and blocking by the sebaceous and calculous accretions.
DISEASES OF THE GENERATIVE ORGANS. 151
Treatment.—The treatment of this affection will depend on the
stage. If recent and no instant danger of rupture of the bladder, the
narrow opening of the sheath should be freely cut open in the median
line below, and the sac emptied out with a finger or spoon, after
which it should be thoroughly washed with tepid water. To make
the cleansing more thorough a catheter or a small rubber tube may
be inserted well back into the sheath, and water may be forced
through it from a syringe or a funnel inserted into the other end of
the tube and considerably elevated. Baumeister, Rueff, Rondaud, Trelut.
“h64. DISEASES OF CATTLE.
Keeping in stails that slope too much behind (over 2 inches) acts in
the same way, the compression due to lying and the gravitation back-
ward proving more than a predisposed cow can safely bear.
Deep gutters behind the stalls, into which one or both hind limbs
slip unexpectedly, strain the loins and jar the body and womb most
injuriously. Slippery stalls in which the flooring boards are laid
longitudinally in place of transversely, and on which no cleats or
other device is adopted to give a firm foothold, are almost equally
dangerous. Driving on icy ground or through a narrow doorway
where the abdomen is liable to be jammed are other common causes.
Offensive odors undoubtedly cause abortion. To understand this one
must take into account the preternaturally acute sense of smell pos-
sessed by cattle. By this sense the bull instantly recognizes the
pregnant cow and refrains from disturbing her, while man, with all
his boasted skill and precise methods, finds it difficult to come to a
just conelusion. The emanations from a cow in heat, however, will
instantly draw the bull from a long distance. Carrion in the pas-
ture fields or about slaughterhouses near by, the emanations from
shallow graves, dead rats or chickens about the barns, and dead
calves, the product of prior abortions, are often chargeable with the
occurrence of abortions. Aborting cows often fail to expel the after-
birth, and if this remains hanging in a putrid condition it is most
injurious to pregnant cows in the near vicinity. So with retained
afterbirth in other cows after calving. That some cows kept in filthy
stables or near-by slaughterhouses may become inured to the odors and
escape the evil results is no disproof of the injurious effects so often
seen in such cases.
The excitement, jarring, and jolting of a railroad journey will often
cause abortion, especially as the cow nears the period of calving, and
the terror or injury of railway or other accidents prove incomparably
worse.
All irritant poisons cause abortions by the disorder and inflamma-
tion of the digestive organs, and if such agents act also on the kidneys
or womb, the effect is materially enhanced. Powerful purgatives or
diuretics should never be administered to the pregnant cow.
During pregnaney the contact of the expanding womb with the
paunch, just beneath it, and its further intimate connection through
nervous sympathy with the whole digestive system, leads to various
functional disorders, and especially to a morbid craving for unnatural
objects of food. In the cow this is shown in the chewing of bones,
pieces of wood, iron bolts, articles of clothing, lumps of hardened
paint, ete. .An unsatisfied craving of this kind, producing constant
excitement of the nervous system, will strongly conduce to abortion.
How much more so if the food is lacking in the mineral matter, and
especially the phosphates necessary for the building up of the body of
both dam and offspring, to say nothing of that drained off in every
/
DISEASES OF THE GENERATIVE ORGANS. 165
milking. This state of things is present in many old dairy farms, from
which the mineral matters of the surface soil have been sold off in the
milk or cheese for generations and no return has been made in food
or manure purchased. Here is the craving of an imperative need, and
if it is not supplied the health of the cow suffers and the life of the
fetus may be sacrificed.
Among other causes of abortion must be named the death or the vari-
ous illnesses of the fetus, which are about as numerous as those of the
adult; the slipping of a young fetus through a loop in the navel string
so as to tie a knot which will tighten later and interrupt the flow of
blood with fatal effect, and the twisting of the navel string by the
turning of the fetus until little or no blood ean flow through the con-
torted cord. There is in addition a series of diseases of the mucous
membrane of the womb, and of the fetal membranes (inflammation,
effusion of blood, detachment of the membranes from the womb, fatty
or other degenerations, ete.), which interfere with the supply of blood
to the fetus or change its quality so that death is the natural result,
followed by abortion.
CAUSE OF CONTAGIOUS ABORTION,
While any one of the above conditions may concur with the con-
tagious principle in precipitating an epizootic of abortion, yet it is
only by reason of the contagium that the disease can be indefinitely
perpetuated and transferred from herd to herd. When an aborting
cow is placed in a herd that has hitherto been healthy, and shortly
afterwards miscarriage becomes prevalent in that herd and continues
year after year, in spite of the fact that all the other conditions of life
in that herd remain the same as before, it is manifest that the result
is due to contagion. When a bull, living in a healthy herd, has been
allowed to serve an aborting cow, or a cow from an aborting herd, and
when the members of his own herd subsequently served by him abort
in considerable numbers, contagion may be safely inferred. Mere
living in the same pasture or building does not convey the infection.
Cows brought into the aborting herd in advanced pregnancy carry
their calves to the full time. But cows served by the infected bull, or
that have had the infection conveyed by the tongue or tail of other
animals, or by their own, or that have had the external genitals brought
in contact with wall, fence, rubbing post, litter, or floor previously
soiled by the infected animals, will be liable to suffer. The Scottish
abortion committee found that when healthy, pregnant cows merely
stood with or near aborting cows they escaped, but when a piece of
cotton wool lodged for twenty minutes in the vagina of the aborting
cow was afterwards inserted into the vagina of a healthy, pregnant
cow orsheep, these latter invariably aborted within a month. So Roloff
relates that in two large stables at Erfurt, without any direct inter-
communication, but filled with cows fed and managed in precisely
166 DISEASES OF CATTLE.
the same way, abortion prevailed for years in the one, while not a sin-
gle ease occurred in the other. Galtier finds that the virus from the
aborting cow causes abortions in the sow, ewe, goat, rabbit, and
guinea pig, and that if it has been intensified by passing through
either of the two last-named animals it will affect also the mare, bitch,
and eat.
It does not appear that it is always the same organism which causes
contagious abortion. In France, Nocard found in the aborting mem-
branes and the mucous membrane cocci, or globular bodies, singly
or in chains, and a very delicate rod-shaped organism by which the
disease was propagated and which survived in the womb through the
interval between successive pregnancies. (The Scottish commission
found as many as five separate kinds of bacteria. Bang, in Denmark,
found a very delicate rod-shaped organism showing its most active
growth at two different depths in nutrient gelatin, and which produced
abortion in twenty-one days when inoculated on the susceptible preg-
nant cow. In America, Chester, of Delaware, and Moore, of New
York, constantly found organisms differing somewhat in the two
States, but evidently of the same group with the colon germ (Bacterium
coli commune). These were never found in the healthy pregnant
womb, but in the cow that had aborted they continued to live in that
organ for many months after the loss of the fetus.
We may reasonably conclude that any microorganism which can
live in or on the lining membrane of the womb producing a catarrhal
inflammation, and which can be transferred from animal to animal
without losing its vitality or potency, is of necessity a cause of con-
tagious abortion. As viewed, therefore, from the particular germ
that may be present, we must recognize not one form only of conta-
gious abortion, but several, each due to its own infecting germ, and each
differing from others in minor particulars, like duration of incubation,
infection of the general system, and the like. In Europe the germs
discovered seem to affect the general system much more than do those
found in America. Bang’s germ caused abortion in twenty-one days;
the New York germ, inoculated at service, often fails to cause abor-
tion before the fifth or seventh month. q
Symptoms of abortion.—As occurring during the first two or three
months of gestation, symptoms may escape detection, and unless the
aborted product is seen the fact of abortion may escape notice. Some
soiling of the tail with mucus, blood, and the waters may be observed
or the udder may show extra firmness, and in the virgin heifer or dry
cow the presence of a few drops of milk may be suggestive, or the
fetus and its membranes may be found in the gutter or elsewhere as
a mere clot of blood or as a membranous ball in which the forming
body of the fetus is found. In water the villi of the outer membrane
(chorion, Pl. XII) float out, giving it a characteristically shaggy
appearance.
ae
DISEASES OF THE GENERATIVE ORGANS. 167
In advanced pregnancy abortion is largely the counterpart of par-
turition, so that a special description is superfluous. The important
thing is to distinguish the early symptoms from those of other dis-
eases, so that the tendency may be arrested and the animal carried
to full time if possible. A cow is dull, sluggish, separate from the
herd, chewing the eud languidly, or there may be frequent lying down
and rising, uneasy movements of the hind feet or of the tail, and
slightly aecelerated pulse and breathing, and dry muzzle. The im-
portant thing is not to confound it with digestive or urinary disor-
der, but in a pregnant cow to examine at once for any increase of
mucus in the vagina, or for blood or liquid there or on the root of the
tail; for any enlargement, firmness, or tenderness of the udder; or in
dry cows examine for milk; and above all for any slight straining
suggestive of labor pains.
In many eases the membranes are discharged with the fetus; in
others, in advanced pregnancy, they fail to come away, and remain
hanging from the vulva, putrefying and falling piecemeal, finally
resulting in a fetid discharge from the womb. According to the size
of the herd, contagious abortions will follow one another at intervals
of one to four or more weeks, in the order of their infection or of the
recurrence of the period of activity of the womb which corresponds
to the occurrence of heat.
Prevention.—Weakness and bloodlessness are to be obviated by
generous feeding, and especially in aliments (wheat bran, rape cake,
cotton seed, oats, barley, beans, pease, ete.), rich in earthy salts,
which will also serve to correct the morbid appetite. This will also
regenerate the exhausted soil if the manure is returned to it. In the
same way the application of ground bones or phosphates will correct
the evil, acting in this case through the soil first and raising better
food for the stock. The ravages of worms are to be obviated by
avoiding infested pastures, ponds, streams, shallow wells, or those
receiving any surface leakage from land where stock go, and by feed-
ing salt at will, as this agent is destructive to most young worms.
The tendency to urinary caleuli in winter is avoided by a succulent
diet (ensilage, steamed food, roots, pumpkins, apples, potatoes, slops),
and by the avoidance of the special causes named under ‘‘ Gravel.”
(See p. 128.) Furnishing water inside the barn in winter in place of
driving once a day to take their fill of ice-cold water will obviate a
common evil. Putrid and stagnant waters are to be avoided. Sud-
den changes of food are always reprehensible, but much more so in
the pregnant animal. Let the change be gradual. Carefully avoid
the use of spoiled or unwholesome food.
In case of prevalence of ergot in a pasture it should be kept eaten
down or cut down with a mower so that no portion runs to seed.
(See Pl. V.) In case of a meadow the grass must be cut early before
the seeds have filled. The most dangerous time appears to be between
168 DISEASES OF CATTLE.
the formation of the milky seed and the full ripening. Yet the ergot
is larger in proportion to the ripeness, so that the loss of potency is
made up in quantity. The ripe seed and ergot may be removed by
thrashing and the hay safely fed. It may also be noted that both
ergot and smut may be safely fed in moderate quantity, provided it
is used with succulent food (ensilage, roots, ete.) or with free access
to water, and salt is an excellent accessory as encouraging the animal
to drink. Both ergot and smut are most injurious in winter, when the
water supply is frozen up or accessible only at long intervals. The
ergoted seed when thrashed out can not be safely sown, but if first
boiled it may be fed in small amount or turned into manure. The
growth of both ergot and smut may be to a large extent prevented by
the time-honored Scotch practice of sprinkling the seed with a satu-
rated solution of sulphate of copper before sowing.
Fields badly affected with ergot or smut may be practically renewed
by plowing up and cultivating for a series of years under crops (tur-
nips, beets, potatoes, buckwheat, ete:) which do not harbor the fungus
and which require much cultivation and exposure of the soil. Drain-
age and the removal of all unnecessary barriers to the free action of
sunshine and wind are impor tant provisions. x
Other precautions concerning separation from cows in heat—a
proper construction of stalls, the avoidance of carrion and other
offensive odors, protection from all kinds of mechanical injuries,
including overdriving and carrying by rail in advanced pregnancy,
the exclusion of all irritants or strong purgatives and diureties from
food or medicine, and the guarding against all causes of indigestion
and bloating—have been sufficiently indicated under ‘‘ Causes”
(p. 165). For protection of the womb and fetus against the various
causes of disease, available methods are not so evident. For cows
that have aborted in the last pregnaney, chlorate of potash, 3 drams
daily before the recurrence of the expected abortion, has been held
to be useful.
TREATMENT OF NONCONTAGIOUS ABORTION.
Although the first symptoms of abortion have appeared, it does not
follow that it will go on to completion. So long as the fetus has not
perished, if the waters have not been discharged, nor the water bags
presented, attempts should be made to check its progress. Every
appreciable and removable cause should be done away with, the cow
should be placed in a quiet stall alone, and agents given to check the
excitement of the labor pains. Laudanum in doses of 1 ounce fora
small cow or 2 ounces for a large one should be promptly administered
and repeated in three or four hours, should the labor pains recur.
This may be kept up for days or even weeks if necessary, though that
is rarely required, as the trouble either subsides or abortion occurs.
If the laudanum seems to lack permanency of action, use bromide of
DISEASES OF THE GENERATIVE ORGANS. 169
potassium, or, better, extract of Viburnum prunifolium (40 grains),
at intervals of two or three hours until five or six doses have been
given.
PREVENTION AND TREATMENT OF CONTAGIOUS ABORTION,
So far as this differs from the treatment of sporadic abortion, it
consists in separation and the free use of germicides or disinfectants.
(1) Separate all aborting cows in isolated building, yard, and pas-
ture, allowing no other cows to have access even to their manure,
liquid or solid. Not even breeding ewes, goats, sows, rabbits, or
mares should be allowed to go from the isolated to the noninfected
premises. Separate attendants and utensils are desirable.
(2) Serape and wash the back part of the stall and gutter and water
it with a solution of 5 ounces sulphate of copper (bluestone) in 1 gal-
lon pure water. Repeat this cleaning and watering at least once a
week. This should in all cases be applied to every stall where an
aborting cow has stood and to those adjacent. To treat the whole in
the same way would be even better, as it is impossible to say how
many of the cows harbor the germ. This is the more needful as that
in one to three years, if the aborting cow is kept on, she becomes
insusceptible and carries her calf to full time. A cow may therefore
be infecting to others though she herself no longer aborts.
(3) Dissolve 1 dram corrosive sublimate, 1 ounce each of alcohol and
glycerine, and shake this up ina gallon of water, to use as an injection
into the vagina and a wash for the parts about the vulva and root of
the tail. Being very poisonous, it should be kept in a wooden barrel
out of the way of animals or children. Every morning the vulva,
anus, back of the hips, and root of the tail should be sponged with this
liquid, and this is best applied tothe whole herd.
Veo.
DISEASES OF THE GENERATIVE ORGANS. 191
the movable segment is bent down on the farther side of the neck,
and is pushed on until if can be felt at its lower border. The hand
now seizes the knotted end of the cord beneath the lower border of
the neck and pulls it through while the carrier is withdrawn, the cord
sliding through itsrings. The cord, pushed up as near to the head as
possible, is furnished with a running noose by tying the knotted end
round the other, or, better, the two ends are twisted around each other
so as to give a firm hold on the neck without dangerously compress-
ing the blood vessels. By pushing on the opposite shoulder with
the repelier, and assisting with the hand on shoulder, breastbone, or
lower border of the neck, such a change of position will be secured
as will speedily bring the head within reach. Afterwards proceed as
described above.
These cases are always trying, but it is very rarely necessary to
resort to embryotomy. When absolutely required, first remove one
fore limb, and then, if still unsuccessful, the other, after which the
head can easily be secured. (See ‘‘Embryotomy,” p. 198.)
HEAD TURNED UPWARD AND BACKWARD
In this case the face rests upon the spine; the fore feet appear alone
in the passage, but fail to advance, and on examination the rounded
inferior border of the neck can be felt, extending upward and back-
ward beneath the spine of the dam, and if the ealf is not too large the
hand may reach the lower jaw or even the muzzle. (Pl. XVI, fig. 5.)
A repeller is planted in the breast and the body of the calf pushed
backward and downward so as to make room and bring the head
nearer to the passage; or in some cases the body may be pushed
back sufficiently by the use of the fore limbs alone. Meanwhile the
head is seized by the ear or the eye socket, or, if it can be reached,
by the lower jaw, and pulled downward into position as space is
secured for it. If the hand alone is insufficient, the blunt hooks may
be inserted in the orbits or in the angle of the mouth, or a noose may
be placed on the lower jaw, and by traction the head will be easily
advanced. In case of a large fetus, the head of which is beyond
reach, even when traction is made on the limbs, a rope may be passed
around the neck and pulled, while the breastbone is pressed down-
ward and backward by the repeller, and soon the change of position
will bring the orbit or lower jaw within reach. With the above posi-
tion the standing position is most favorable for success. But if the
ealf is placed with its back down toward the udder, and if the head
is bent down under the brim of the pelvis, the best position for the
cow is on her back, with her head downhill.
In neglected cases, with death and putrefaction of the fetus and
dryness of the passages, it may be necessary to extract in pieces. (See
‘‘Embryotomy,” p. 198.)
192 DISEASES OF CATTLE.
OUTWARD DIRECTION OF THE STIFLES—ABDUCTION OF HIND LIMBS.
As an obstacle to parturition, this is rare in cows. It is most likely
to take place in cows with narrow hip bones, and when the service
has been made by a bull having great breadth across the quarter.
The calf, taking after the sire, presents an obstacle to calving in the
breadth of its quarters, and if at the same time the toes and stifles
are turned excessively outward and the hocks inward the combined
breadth of the hip bones above and the stifles below may be so great
that the pelvis will not easily admit them. After the fore feet, head,
and shoulders have all passed out through the vulva, further progress
suddenly and unaccountably ceases, and some dragging on the parts
already delivered does not serve to bring away the hind parts. The
oiled hand introduced along the side of the calf will discover the
obstacle in the stifle joints turned directly outward and projecting
on each side beyond the bones which cireumscribe laterally the front
entrance of the pelvis. The evident need is to turn the stifles inward,
and this may be attempted by the hand introduced by the side of the
ealf, which is meanwhile rotated gently on its own axis to favor the
change of position. To correct the deviation of the hind limb is, how-
ever, very difficult, as the limbs themselves are out of reach and can
not be used as levers to assist. If nothing can be done by pushing
back the body of the calf and rotating it and by pressure by the hand
in the passages, the only resort appears to be to skin the calf from
the shoulder back, cut it in two as far back as can be reached, then
push the buttocks well forward into the womb, bring up the hind
feet, and so deliver.
THE HIND LIMBS EXCESSIVELY BENT ON THE BODY AND ENGAGED IN
THE PELVIS.
In this case the presentation is apparently a normal anterior one;
fore limbs and head advance naturally and the parturition proceeds
until half the chest has passed through the external passages, when
suddenly progress ceases and no force will secure farther advance.
An examination with oiled hand detects the presence in the passages
of the hind feet and usually the hind legs up to above the hocks.
(PL XVil stig. 1.)
The indications for treatment are to return the hind limbs into the
body of the womb. If they have not advanced too far into the pelvis,
this may be done as follows: A rope with running noose is passed over
each hind foot and drawn tight around the lower part of the hock;
the ropes are then passed through the two rings in the small end of
the rotating instrument (Pl. XX, fig. 5) which is slid into the passages
until it reaches the hocks, when the ropes, drawn tight, are tied round
the handle of the instrument. Then in the intervals between the
pains the hocks are pushed forcibly back into the womb. If by this
DISEASES OF THE GENERATIVE ORGANS. 193
means flexion can be effected in hocks and stifles, success will follow;
the hind feet will pass into the womb and clear of the brim of the
pelvis, and the body may now be advanced without hindrance, the
hind limbs falling into place when the hip joints are extended. At.
the same time the pressure upon hind limbs must not be relaxed until
the buttocks are engaged in the pelvis, as otherwise the feet may
again get over the brim and arrest the progress of delivery.
When the hind limbs are already so jammed into the pelvis that it
is impossible to return them, the calf must be sacrificed to save the
mother. Cords with running nooses are first put on the two hind feet.
The body must be skinned from the shoulders back as far as can be
reached, and is to be then cut in two, if possible, back of the last rib.
The remainder of the trunk is now pushed back into the body of the
womb, and by traction upon the cords the hind feet are brought up
into the passages, and the extraction will be comparatively easy.
HIND PRESENTATION WITH ONE OR BOTH LEGS BENT AT THE HOCK.
After the bursting of the water bags, though labor pains continue,
no part of the fetus appears at the vulva unless it be the end of the
tail. On examination the buttocks are felt wedged against the spine
at the entrance of the pelvis, and beneath them the bent hock joints
resting on the brim of the pelvis below. (Pl. XVII, fig. 3-) The calf
had been caught by the labor pains while the limb was bent beneath
it, and has been jammed into or against the rim of the pelvis so that
extension of the limb became impossible. With the thigh bent on the
flank, the leg on the thigh, and the shank on the leg, and all at once
wedged into the passage, delivery is practically impossible.
The obvious remedy is to push the croup upward and forward and
extend the hind legs, and in the early stages this ean usually be accom-
plished in the cow. A repeller (Pl. XX, fig. 7) is planted across the
thighs and pointed upward toward the spine of the cow, and pushed
forcibly in this direction during the intervals between labor pains.
Meanwhile the oiled hand seizes the shank just below the hock and
uses if as a lever, pushing back the body and drawing forward the
foot, thus effectually seconding the action of the repeller. Soon a
distinet gain is manifest, and as soon as the foot can be reached it is
bent back strongly at the fetlock, held in the palm of the hand and
pulled up, while the repeller, pressing on the buttocks, assists to make
room forit. In this way the foot may be brought safely and easily
over the brim of the pelvis without any risk of laceration of the womb
by the foot. After the foot has been lifted over the brim, the whole
limb can be promptly and easily extended. In eases presenting
special difficulty in raising the foot over the brim, help may be had
by traction on a rope passed around in front of the hock, and later
still by a rope with a noose fastened to the pastern. In the worst
8267—04——13
194 DISEASES OF CATTLE.
cases, with the buttocks and hocks wedged deeply into the passages,
it may prove difficult or impossible to push the buttocks back into the
abdomen, and in such a ease the extension of the hind limb is practi-
cally impossible without mutilation. In some roomy cows a calf may
be dragged through the passages by ropes attached to the bent hocks,
but even when this is possible there is great risk of laceration of the
floor of the vagina by the feet. The next resort is to cut the ham-
string just above the point of the hock and the tendon on the front of
the limb (flexor metatarsi) just above the hock, and even the sinews
behind the shank bone just below the hock. This allows the stifle
and hock te move independently of each other, the one undergoing
extension without entailing the extension of the other; it also allows
both joints to flex completely, so that the impacted mass can pass
through a narrower channel. If now, by dragging on the hocks and
operating with the repeller on the buttocks, the latter can be tilted
foiward sufficiently to allow of the extension of the stifle, the jam will
be at once overcome, and the calf may be extracted with the hock
bent, but the stifle extended. If even this ean not be accomplished,
it may now be possible to extract the whole mass with both hocks and
stifies fully bent. To attempt this, traction may be made on the rope
around the hocks and on a sharp hook (Pl. XX, fig. 2) passed forward
between the thighs and hooked on to the brim of the pelvis. Every-
thing else failing, the offending limb or limbs may be cut off at the
hip joint and extracted, after which extraction may proceed by drag-
ging on the remaining limb, or by hooks on the hip bones. Very little
is to be gained by cutting off the limb at the hock, and the stifle is
less accessible than the hip, and amputation at the stifle gives much
poorer results.
HIND LIMBS BENT FORWARD FROM THE HIP—BREECH PRESENTATION.
This is an exaggeration of the condition last described, only the
hoeks and stifles are fully extended and the whole limb carried for-
ward beneath the belly. (Pl. XVII, fig. 2.) The water bags appear
and burst, but nothing presents unless it may be the tail. Examina-
tion in this case deteets the outline of the buttocks, with the tail and
anus at its upper part.
The remedy, as in the ease last deseribed, consists in pushing the
buttock upward and forward with a repeller, the cow being kept stand-
ing and headed down hill until the thigh bone can be reached and
used asa lever. Its upper end is pushed forward and its lower end
raised until, the joints becoming fully flexed, the point of the hock
can be raised above the brim of the pelvis. If necessary a noose may
be passed around the leg as far down toward the hock as possible and
pulled on foreibly, while the hand presses forward strongly on the
back of the leg above. When both hocks have been lodged above the
DISEASES OF THE GENERATIVE ORGANS. 195
brim of the pelvis the further procedure is as described under the last
heading.
If, however, the case is advanced and the buttocks wedged firmly
into the passages, it may be impossible to safely push the fetus back
into the womb, and the calf must either be dragged through the pas-
sage as it is or the limbs or the pelvis must be cut off. To success-
fully extract with a breech presentation the cow must be large and
roomy and the calf not too large. The first step in this case is to
separate the pelvic bones on the two sides by cutting from before
backward, exactly in the median line below and where the thighs
come together above. This may be done with a strong embryotomy
knife, but is most easily accomplished with the long embryotome.
(Pl. XX, fig. 3.) The form which I have designed (Pl. XX, fig. 1),
with a short cutting branch jointed to the main stem, is to be pre-
ferred, as the short cutting piece may be folded on the main stem so
that its cutting edge will be covered, and it can be introduced and
extracted without danger. This is pushed forward beneath the calf’s
belly, and the cutting arm opened and inserted in front of the brim
of the pelvis and pulled forciby back through the whole length of the
pelvic bones. The divided edges are now made to overlap each other
and the breadth of the haunch is materially reduced. One end of the
cord may then be passed forward by means of a cord carrier (Pl. X XI,
fig. 5) on the inner side of one thigh until it can be seized at the stifle
by the hand passed forward on the outer side of that thigh. This end
is now pulled back through the vagina, and the other end passed
through the cord carrier and passed forward on the inner side of the
other thigh until it can be seized at the stifle by the hand passed for-
ward outside that thigh. This end is drawn back through the vagina
like the first, and is tied around the other so as to form a running
noose. The rope is now drawn through the ring until it forms a tight
loop, encircling the belly just in front of the hind limbs. On this
strong traction can be made without interfering with the full flexion
of the limbs on the body, and if the case is a suitable one, and the
body of the fetus and the passages are both well lubricated with oil or
lard, a successful parturition may be accomplished. A less desirable
method is to put a rope around one thigh or a rope around each and
drag upon these, but manifestly the strain is not so directly on the
spine, and the limbs may be somewhat hampered in flexion.
This method being inapplicable, the next resort is to cut off one or
both hind limbs at the hip joint. Free incisions are made on the side
of the haunch so as toexpose the hip joint, and the muscles are cut away
from the head of the thigh bone down to its narrow neck, around which
a rope is passed and firmly fixed with a running noose. The joint is
now cut into all around, and while traction is made on the cord the
knife is inserted into the inner side of the joint and the round ligament
severed. The cord may now be dragged upon forcibly, and the muscles
196 DISEASES OF CATTLE.
and other parts cut through as they are drawn tense, until finally the
whole member has been extracted. Traction on the rope round the
other thigh will now suffice to extract, in the majority of cases, but if it
should fail the other limb may be cut off in the same manner, and then
hooks inserted in front of the brim of the pelvis or in the openings in
the bones of its floor (obturator foramina) will give sufficient purchase
for extraction. Another method is to insert a knife between the bone
of the rump (sacrum) and the hip bone and sever their connections;
then cut through the joint (symphysis) between the two hip bones in the
median line of the floor of the pelvis, and then with a hook in the open-
ing on the pelvic bones (obturator foramen) to drag upon the limb and
cut the tense soft parts until the limb is freed and extracted.
PRESENTATION OF THE BACK.
In this presentation straining may be active, but after the rupture of
the water bags no progress is made, and the hand introduced will
recognize the back with its row of spinous processes and the springing
ribs at each side pressed against the entrance to the pelvis. (Pl. XVII,
fig. 6.) The presence or absence of the ribs will show whether it is
the region of the chest or the loins. By feeling along the line of spines
until the ribs are met with we shall learn that the head lies in that
direction. If, onthe contrary, we follow the ribs until they disappear,
and a blank space is succeeded by hip bones, it shows that we are .
approaching the tail. The head may be turned upward, downward,
to the right side, or to the left.
The object must be to turn the fetus so that one extremity or the
other can enter the passage, and the choice of which end to bring for-
ward will depend on various considerations. If one end ismuch nearer
the outlet than the other, that would naturally be selected for extrac-
tion, but if both ends are equidistant the choice would fall on the hind
end, as having only the two limbs to deal with, without any risk of
complication from the head. When the head is turned upward and
forward it will usually be preferable to bring up the hind limb, since,
owing to the drooping of the womb into the abdomen, rotation of the
fetus will usually be easier in that direction, and if successful the
resulting position will be a natural posterior presentation, with the
back of the calf turned toward the rump of the cow. Similarly with
the croup turned upward and forward, that should be pushed on for-
ward, and if the fore feet and head ean be secured it will be a natural
anterior presentation, with the back of the calf turned upward toward
the rump of the cow.
The womb should be injected with warm water or oil, and the turn-
ing of the calf willdemand the combined action of the repeller and the
hand, but in all such cases the operator has an advantage that the
body of the fetus is wholly within the body of the womb, and there-
fore movable with comparative ease. No part is wedged into. the
DISEASES OF THE GENERATIVE ORGANS. 197
pelvic passages as a complication. The general principles are the
same as in faulty presentation fore and hind, and no time should be
lost in making the manipulations necessary to bring the feet into the
pelvis, lest they get in bent or otherwise displaced and add unneces-
sary complications. °
With a transverse direction of the calf, the head being turned to
one side, the pressure must be directed laterally, so that the body will
glide around on one side of the womb, and the extremities when
reached must be promptly seized and brought into the passages.
Sometimes a fortunate struggle of a live fetus will greatly aid in ree-
tifying the position.
BREAST AND ABDOMEN PRHSENTED—ALL FOUR FEET IN THE PASSAGES.
In this form the calf lies across the womb with its roached-back
turned forward and its belly toward the pelvis. All four feet may be
extended and engaged in the passages, or one or more may be bent
on themselves so as to lie in front of the pelvis. The head, too, may
usually be felt on the right side or the left, and if detected it serves
to identify the exact position of the fetus. The position may further
be decided upon by examination of the feet and limbs. With the
limbs extended the front of the hoofs and the convex aspect of the
bent pasterns and fetlocks will look toward that flank in which lie the
head and shoulders. On examination still higher the smooth, even
outline of the knee and its bend, looking toward the hind parts, char-
acterize the fore limb, while the sharp prominence of the point of the
hock and the bend on the opposite side of the joint, looking toward
the head, indicate the hind limb. (PI. XVII, fig. 5.)
The remedy for this condition is to be sought in repelling into the
womb those limbs that are least eligible for extraction, and bringing
into the passages the most eligible extremities. The most eligible will
usually be those which project farthest into the passages, indicating
the nearer proximity of that end of the calf. An exception may,
however, be made in favor of that extremity which will give the most
natural presentation. Thus if, owing to obliquity in the position of
the fetus, the hind extremities promised a presentation with the back
of the fetus turned down toward the udder, and the anterior extremi-
ties one with the back turned up toward the spine, the latter should
be selected. Again, if the choice for the two extremities is evenly
balanced, the hind may be chosen as offering less risk of complication,
there being no head to get displaced.
Treatment.—The first step in the treatment is to place a running
noose on each of the four feet, marking those of the fore limbs to dis-
tinguish them from those of the hind. In case it is proposed to bring
the anterior extremities into the passage, a noose should also be placed
on the lower jaw. Thenrun the ropes attached to the two feet that are
to be pushed back through the ring of a cord carrier (Pl. X XI, fig. 5),
passing the rings down to the feet, and by the aid of the carrier push
198 DISEASES OF CATTLE.
them well back into the womb and hold them there. Meanwhile drag
upon the ropes attached to the two other feet so as to bring them into
the passage (or in ease of the anterior extremity on the two foot ropes
and the head one). The other feet must be pushed back into the
womb until the body of the calf is fully engaged in the passages.
After this they can no longer find an entrance, but must follow as the
body escapes.
NEGLECTED AND AGGRAVATED CASES.
In laying down the above rules for giving assistance in critical cases
of calving it is not intimated that all cases and stages can be success-
fully dealt with. Too often assistance is not sought for many hours
or even days after labor pains and the escape of the waters intimate
the danger of delay, and not seldom the long delay has been filled up
with unintelligent and injurious attempts at rendering assistance, vio-
lent pulling when resistance is insurmountable without change of posi-
tion, injuries to the vagina and womb by ill-considered but too forcibly
executed attempts to change the position, the repeated and long-con-
tinued contact with rough hands and rougher ropes and hooks, the
gashes with knives and lacerations with instruments in ignorant hands,
the infecting material introduced on filthy hands and instruments, and
the septic inflammations started in the now dry and tender passages
>and womb, and not infrequently the death, putrefaction, and bloating
of the calf in the womb, rendering the case extremely unpromising, and
making it impossible to apply successfully many of the measures above
recommended. Thelabor pains of the cow may have practically ceased
from exhaustion; the passages of the vagina may be so dry, tender,
friable, red, and swollen that it requires considerable effort even to
pass the oiled hand through them, and the extraction of the calf or
any portion of it through such a channel seems a hopeless task; the
womb may be equally dry and inflamed and swollen, so that its lining
membrane or even its entire thickness is easily torn; the fetal mem-
branes have lost their natural unctuous and slippery character, and
eling firmly to the dry walls of the womb, to the dry skin of the ealf,
or to the hands of the operator; the dead and putrefying calf may be
so bloated with gases that the womb has been overdistended by its
presence, and the two adhere so closely that the motion of the one on
the other is practically impossible. In other cases reckless attempts
to cut the calf in pieces have left raw surfaces with projecting bones
which dangerously scratch and tear the womb and passages.
In many cases the extreme resort must be had of cutting the fetus
to pieces (embryotomy), or the still more redoubtable one of Ceesarean
section (extraction through the flank).
DISSECTION OF THE UNBORN CALF (EMBRYOTOMY).
In some eases the dissection of the calf is the only feasible means
of delivering it through the natural passages; and while it is espe-
DISEASES OF THE GENERATIVE ORGANS. 199
cially applicable to the dead calf, it is also on occasions called for in
the case of the living. As a rule, the living calf should be preserved,
if possible, but if this threatens to entail the death of the cow it is
only in the case of offspring of rare value that its presentation is to
be preferred. To those acquainted with the toil, fatigue, and disecom-
fort of embryotomy, no dissuasion is necessary so long as there is a
prospect of suecess from the simple and generally easier method of
rectifying the faulty position of the calf. But when the correction of
the position is manifestly impossible, when distortions and monstrosi-
ties of the fetus successfully obstruct delivery, when the pelvic pas-
sages are seriously contracted by fractures and bony growths, when
the passages are virtually almost closed by swelling, or when the calf
is dead and excessively swollen, no other resort may be available. In
many cases of distortion and displacement the dismemberment of the
entire calf is unnecessary, the removal of the offending member being
all that is required. It will be convenient, therefore, to describe the
_various suboperations one by one and in the order in which they are
usually demanded.
AMPUTATION OF THE FORE LIMB.
In cutting off a fore limb it is the one presenting that should be
selected, since it is much more easily operated on, and its complete
removal from the side of the chest affords so much more space for
manipulation that it often makes it easy to bring the other missing limb
or the head into position. The first consideration is to skin the limb
from the fetlock up and leave the skin attached to the body. The rea-
sons for this are: (a) That the skin is the most resistant structure of
the limb, and when it has been removed the entire limb can be easily
detached; (0) the tough skin left from the amputated limb may be
used as a cord in subsequent traction on the body of the ealf; (c) the
dissection and separation of the limb are far more safely accomplished
under the protection of the enveloping skin than if the operator’s
hands and instruments were in direct contact with the walls of the
passages or womb; (d) the dissection can be much more easily effected
while the skin is stretched by the left hand, so as to form a compara-
tively firmer resistant point for the knife, than when it is attempted
to cut the soft, yielding, and elastic tissues which naturally offer little
solid resistance, but constantly recede before the cutting edge of the
instrument. The preservation of the skin is therefore a cardinal
principle in the amputation of all parts in which it is at all
feasible.
The presenting foot is inclosed in a noose and drawn well out of the
passages. ‘Then a circular incision through the skin is made around
the limb just above the fetlock. From this the skin is slit up on the
inner side of the limb to the breast. Then the projecting part of the
limb is skinned up to the vulva, traction being made on the foot by
an assistant so as to expose as much as possible. The embryotomy
200 DISEASES OF CATTLE.
knife may now be taken (Pl. XXI, fig. 2), and a small hole having
been cut in the free end of the detached portion of skin, that is seized
by the left hand and extended while its firm connections with the
deeper structures are cut through. The looser connections can be
more quickly torn through with the closed fist, or the tips of the four
fingers held firmly together in a line, or with the spud, of which there
are several kinds. Much of the upper part of the limb can be skinned
more speedily without the knife, but that must be resorted to to eut
across tough bands whenever these interrupt the progress. The skin-
ning should be carried upward on the outer side of the shoulder blade
to the spine, or nearly so. Then with the knife the muscles attach-
ing the elbow and shoulder to the breastbone are cut across, together
with those on the inner side of the shoulder joint, and in front and
behind it so far as these can be reached. Steady traction is now made
upon the foot, the remaining muscles attaching the shoulder blade to
the trunk are torn through with a crackling noise, and the whole
limb, including the shoulder blade and its investing muscles, comes
away. If the shoulder blade is left the bulk of the chest is not dimin-
ished, and nothing has been gained. Before going further it is well
to see whether the great additional space thus secured in the passages
will allow of the missing limb or head to be brought into position.
If not, the other presenting part, limb or head, is to be amputated
and extracted. For the limb the procedure is a repetition of that
just described.
AMPUTATION OF THE HEAD,
The head is first seized and drawn well forward, or even outside the
vulva, by a rope with a running noose placed around the lower jaw
just behind the incisor teeth, by a sharp hook inserted in the arch of
the lower jaw behind the union of its two branches and back of the
incisor teeth, or by hooks inserted in the orbits, or, finally, in case
the whole head protrudes, by a halter. (Pl. XXI, fig. 4a and 4b.)
In case the whole head protrudes, a circular incision through the
skin is made just back of the ear, and the cut edge being held firmly
by the left hand, the neck is skinned as far as it can be reached.
Then the great ligamentous cord above the spine is cut across at the
farthest available point, together with the muscles above and below
the spine. Strong traction on the head will then detach it at this
point and bring it away, but should there still be too much resistance
the knife is inserted between the bodies of two vertebrze just behind
one of the prominent points felt in the median line below, and their
connecting fibrous cartilage is cut through, after which comparatively
moderate pulling will bring it away. The detached neck and body
at once slip back into the womb, and if the fore limbs are now brought
up and pulled they are advanced so far upon the chest that the trans-
verse diameter of that is greatly diminished and delivery correspond-
ingly facilitated.
DISEASES OF THE GENERATIVE ORGANS. 201
If the head is still inclosed in the vagina two methods are avail-
able: (1) The removal of the lower jaw and subsequent separation of
the head from the neck; (2) the skinning of the whole head and its
separation from the neck.
To remove the lower jaw the skin is dissected away from it until
the throat is reached. Then the muscles of the cheeks and side of
the jaw (masseters) are cut through and those connecting the jaw
with the neck. When traction is made on the rope round the lower
jaw it will usually come away with little trouble. Should it resist,
its posterior extremity on each side (behind the grinding teeth) may
be cut through with bone foreeps or with a guarded bone chisel.
(Pl. XX, fig. 8.) After the removal of the lower jaw the way will be
open to separate the head from the neck, the knife being used to cut
into the first or second joint from below, or the bone forceps or chisel
being employed to cut through the bones of the neck. Then traction
is made on the head by means of hooks in the orbits, and the hand,
armed with an embryotomy knife, is introduced to cut through the
tense resisting ligament and muscles above the bones. The skin and
the strong ligamentous cord attached to the poll are the essential
things to cut, as the muscles can easily be torn across. Unless there
are great difficulties in the way it is well to skin the head from the
eyes back, and on reaching the poll to cut through the ligament and
then bring the head away by pulling.
If it is decided to remove the entire head at once, it may be skinned
from the front of the eyes back to behind the lower jaw below and
the poll above, then cut through the muscles and ligaments around
the first joint and pull the head away, assisting, if need be, in the
separation of the head by using the knife on the ligament of the
joint.
If the calf is a double-headed monster, the skinning of the head
must be carried backward until the point has been reached where
both heads branch from the single neck, and the separation must be
made at that point. The muscles and ligaments are first to be cut
through; and if the part can not then be detached by pulling, the
bodies of the vertebrae may be separated by passing the knife through
the joint. The second head may now be secured by a noose round
the lower jaw or hooks in the orbits and brought up into place, the
body being pushed back toward the other side by a repeller, so as to
make room.
It should be added that, excepting in the ease of a double-headed
monster, or in case of the head protruding or nearly so, and one or
both fore limbs presenting, it is rarely desirable to undertake ampu-
tation of the head. The space desirable in the passages can usually
be secured by the much simpler and easier procedure of removing
one or both fore limbs.
202 DISEASES OF CATTLE.
AMPUTATION OF THE HIND LIMBS.
This is sometimes demanded on the one extended limb when the
other can not be brought up and delivery can not be effected; also in
ease of monsters having extra hind limbs; in cases where the calf is
dead, putrid, and bloated with gas, and in some cases of breech
presentation, as described under that head.
When the limb is extended the guiding principles are as in the case
of the fore limbs. The skin is cut through circularly above the fet-
lock and slit up to beneath the pelvic bones on the inner side of the
thigh. It is then dissected from the other parts as high as it has been
slit on the inner side and to above the prominence (trochanter major)
on the upper end of the thigh bone on the outer side of the joint. In
this procedure the hands and spud ean do much, but owing to the
firmer connections the knife will be more frequently required than in
the case of the fore limb. The muscles are now cut through all.
around the hip joint, and strong traction is made by two or three men
on the limb. If there is still too much resistance, a knife is inserted
into the joint on the inner side and its round ligament cut through,
after which extraction will be comparatively easy. This accom-
plished, it will often be possible to extract the fetus with the other
leg turned forward into the womb. If the calf is bloated with gas, it
may be necessary to remove the other leg in the same way, and even
to cut open the chest and abdomen and remove their contents before
extraction can be effected. In the case of extra limbs it may be pos-
sible to bring them up into the passages after the presenting hind
limbs have been removed. If this is not practicable, they may be
detached by cutting them through at the hip joint, as described under
‘*Breech presentation,” page 194.
Another method of removing the hind limb is, after having skinned
it over the quarter, to cut through the pelvic bones from before back-
ward, in the median line below, by knife, saw, or long embryotome
(Pl. XX, fig. 1), and then disjoint the bones of the spine (sacrum)
and the hip bone (iiwm) on that side with embryotome, knife, or
saw, and then drag away the entire limb, along with all the hip bones
on that side. This has the advantage of securing more room and
thereby facilitating subsequent operations. Both limbs may be re-
moved in this way, but on the removal of the second the operator is
without any solid point to drag upon in bringing away the remainder
of the fetus.
DIVISION ACROSS THE MIDDLE OF THE BODY.
In eases of extra size, monstrosity, or distortion of one end of the
body it may be requisite to eut the body in two and return the half
from the passages into the womb, even after one-half has been born.
The presenting members are dragged upon forcibly by assistants to
bring as much of the body as possible outside. Then cut through the
DISEASES OF THE GENERATIVE ORGANS. 203
skin around the body at some distance from the vulva, and with hand,
knife, and spud detach it from the trunk as far back into the passages
as can be reached. Next cut across the body at the point reached,
beginning at the lower part (breast, belly) and proceeding up toward
the spine. This greatly favors the separation of the backbone when
reached, and further allows of its being extended so that it can be
divided higher up. “When the backbone is reached, the knife is
passed between the two bones, the prominent ridges across their ends
acting as guides, and by dragging and twisting the one is easily
detached from the other. With an anterior presentation the separa-
tion should, if possible, be made behind the last rib, while with a
posterior presentation as many of the ribs should be brought away as
can be accomplished. Having removed one half of the body, the
remaining half is to be pushed back into the womb, the feet sought
and secured with nooses, and the second half removed in one piece
if possible; and if not, then after the removal of the extra limb or
other cause of obstruction.
REMOVAL OF THE CONTENTS OF CHEST OR ABDOMEN.
If the body of the calf sticks fast in the passages by reason of the
mere dryness of its skin and of the passages, the obstacle may be
removed by injecting sweet oil past the fetus into the womb through
a rubber or other tube, and smearing the passages freely with lard.
When the obstruction depends on exeess of size of the chest or abdo-
men, or thickening of the body from distorted spine, much advantage
may be derived from the removal of the contents of these great cavi-
ties of the trunk. We have already seen how the haunches may be
narrowed by cutting the bones apart in the median line below and
causing their free edges to overlap each other. The abdomen ean be
eut open by the embryotomy knife or the long embryotome in the
median line, or at any point, and the contents pulled out with the
hand, the knife being used in any case when especial resistance is
encountered. If the abdomen is so firmly impacted that it can not be
dealt with in this way, one hind limb and the hip bone on the same
side may be removed as described under ‘‘Amputation of the hind
limbs,” page 202. This will allow the introduction of the hand into
the abdomen from behind, so as to pull out the contents. By intro-
ducing an embryotomy knife in the palm of the hand and cutting
through the muscle of the diaphragm the interior of the chest can
be reached in the same way and the heart and lungs removed.
When, in dealing with an anterior presentation, it becomes neces-
sary to remove the contents of the chest, the usual course is to cut
through the connections of the ribs with the breastbone (the costal
cartilages) close to the breastbone on each side, and from the abdo-
men forward to the neck. Then cut through the muscles connecting
the front of the breastbone with the neck and its hinder end with the
204 DISEASES OF CATTLE.
belly, and pull out the entire breastbone. Having torn out the heart
and lungs with the hand, make the rib cartilages on the one side over-
lap those on the other, so as to lessen the thickness of the chest, and
proceed to extract the body. If it seems needful to empty the abdo-
men as well, it is easy to reach it by cutting through the diaphragm,
which separates it from the chest.
DELIVERY THROUGH THE FLANK (CZSAREAN SECTION, OR
LAPAROTOMY).
This is sometimes demanded, when the distortion and narrowing of
the hip bones are such as to forbid the passage of the calf, or when
inflammation has practically closed the natural passages and the
progeny is more valuable and worthy of being saved than the dam;
also in cases in which the cow has been fatally injured, or is ill beyond
possibility of recovery and yet carries a living calf. It is too often a
last resort after long and fruitless efforts to deliver by the natural
channels, and in such eases the saving of the calf is all that can be
expected, the exhausted cow, already the subject of active inflamma-
tion, and too often also of putrid poisoning, is virtually beyond hope.
The hope of saving the dam is greatest if she is in good health and
not fatigued, in cases, for example, in which the operation is resorted
to on account of broken hip bones or abnormally narrow passages.
The stock owner will not attempt such a serious operation as this.
Yet, where the mother has just died or is to be immediately sacrificed,
no one should hesitate at resorting to it in order to save the calf. If
alive it is important to have the cow perfectly still. Her left fore leg
being bent at the knee by one person, another may seize the left horn
and nose and turn the head to the right until the nose rests on the
spine just above the shoulder. The cow will sink down gently on her
left side without shock or struggle. One may now hold the head
firmly to the ground, while a second, carrying the end of the tail from
behind forward on the inside of the right thigh, pulls upon it so as to
keep the right hind limb well raised from the ground. If time presses
she may be operated on in this position, or if the cow is to be sacri-
ficed a blow on the head with an ax will secure quietude. Then the
prompt cutting into the abdomen and womb and the extraction of the
calf requires no skill. If, however, the cow is to preserved, her two
fore feet and the lower hind one should be safely fastened together
and the upper hind one drawn back. Two ounces chloral hydrate,
given by injection, should induce sleep in twenty minutes and the
operation may proceed. In ease the cow is to be preserved, wash the
right flank and apply a solution of 4 grains of corrosive sublimate in
a pint of water.
Then, with an ordinary scalpel or knife dipped in the above solu-
tion, make an incision from 2 inches below and in front of the outer
angle of the hip bone in a direction downward and slightly forward to
a distance of 12 inches. Cut through the muscles, and more carefully
DISEASES OF THE GENERATIVE ORGANS. 205
through the transparent lining membrane of the abdomen (perito-
neum), letting the point of the knife lie in the groove between the first
two fingers of the left hand as they are slid down inside the membrane
and with their back to the intestines. An assistant, whose hands, like
those of the operator, have been dipped in the sublimate solution,
may press his hands on the wound behind the knife to prevent the
protrusion of the intestines. The operator now feels for and brings
up to the wound the gravid womb, allowing it to bulge well through
the abdominal wound, so as to keep back the bowels and prevent any
escape of water into the abdomen. This is seconded by two assistants,
who press the lips of the wound against the womb. Then an incision
12 inehes long is made into the womb at its most prominent point,
deep enough to penetrate its walls, but not so as to cut into the water
bags. In cutting, carefully avoid the cotyledons, which may be felt
as hard masses inside. By pressure the water bags may be made to
bulge out as in natural parturition, and this projecting portion may
be torn or cut so as to let the liquid flow down outside of the belly.
The operator now plunges his hand into the womb, seizes the fore or
hind limbs, and quickly extracts the calf and gives it to an attendant
to convey to a safe place. The womb may be drawn out, but not until
all the liquid has flowed out, and the fetal membranes must be sepa-
rated from the natural cotyledons, one by one, and the membranes
removed. The womb is now emptied with a sponge, which has been
boiled or squeezed out of a sublimate solution, and if any liquid has
fallen into the abdomen it may be removed in the same way.
SSSA.
pep
NELIOTYPE PRIFTING CO, BOSTOK
INSTRUMENTS USED IN DIFFICULT LABOR.
DISEASES OF THE GENERATIVE ORGANS. 20%
PLATE XX—Continued.
Fig. 8. Cartwright’s bone chisel. Including the handle this instrument is
about 32 inches in length, the chisel portion is a little more than 2 inches
long and 1 to 14 broad. Only the middle portion is sharp, the projecting
corners are blunt and the sides rounded. This instrument is used for
slitting up the skin of a limb and as a bone chisel when it is necessary to:
mutilate the fetus in order to effect delivery.
PLATE XXI:
Fig. 1. Embryotome, an instrument used when it is necessary to reduce the
size of the fetus by cutting away certain parts before birth can be effected.
This instrument may be long or short, straight or curved.
Fig, 2. Alsoan embryotome. The blade can be made to slide out of or into
the handle. The instrument can thus be introduced into or withdrawn
from the genital passage without risk of injury to the mother.
Fig. 3. Schaack’s traction cord. This is merely a cord with a running noose
at one end and a piece of wood at the other, to offer a better hold for the
hand.
Figs. 4a and 4b. Reuff’s head collar for securing the head of the fetus.
Fig. 5. Curved cord-carrier, used in difficult parturition to carry a cord inta
regions which can not be reached by the arm.
Fig. 6. Blunt hook, used in difficult parturition.
Fig. 7. Short hook forceps, used in difficult parturition.
Fig. 8. Blunt finger hook.
8267—04——14
DISEASES FOLLOWING PARTURITION.
By James Law, F. RB. C. V.S.,
Professor of Veterinary Science, etc., in Cornell University.
FLOODING (BLEEDING FROM THE WOMB).
Though not so common in the cow as in the human female, flooding
is sufficiently frequent to demand attention. It may depend on a too
rapid calving, and a consequent failure of the womb to contract when
the calf has been removed. The pregnant womb is extraordinarily
rich in blood vessels, and especially in large and tortuous veins,
which become compressed and all but obliterated under contraction,
but remain overfilled and often bleed into the cavity of the womb
should no contraction take place. Cox records cases in which the
labor pains had detached and expelled the fetal membranes, while
the calf, owing to large size or wrong presentation, was detained in
the womb, and the continued dilatation of the womb in the absence
of the fetal membranes led to a flow of blood which accumulated in
clots around the calf. Other causes are laceration of the cotyledons
of the womb, or from an antecedent inflammation of the placenta, and
the unnatural adhesion of the membranes to the womb, which bleeds
when the two are torn apart. Weakness of the womb from overdis-
tention, as in dropsy, twins, etc., isnot without its influence. Finally,
eversion of the womb (casting the withers) is an occasional cause of
flooding. The trouble is only too evident when the blood flows from
the external passages in drops or in a fine stream. But when it is
retained in the cavity of the womb it may remain unsuspected until
it has rendered the animal almost bloodless. The symptoms in such
a case are paleness of the eyes, nose, mouth, and of the lips of the
vulva, a weak, rapid pulse, violent and perhaps loud beating of the
heart (palpitations), sunken, staring eyes, coldness of the skin, ears,
horns, and limbs, perspiration, weakness in standing, staggering
gait, and finally inability to rise, and death in convulsions. If these
symptoms are seen, the oiled hand should be introduced into the
womb, which will be found open and flaccid and containing large
blood clots.
Treatment.—Treatment consists in the removal of the fetal mem-
branes and blood clots from the womb (which will not contract while
they are present), the dashing of cold water on the loins, right flank,
and vulva, and if these measures fail the injection of cold water into
210
DISEASES FOLLOWING PARTURITION. 211
the womb through a rubber tube furnished with a funnel. In obsti-
nate cases a good-sized sponge soaked in tincture of muriate of iron
should be introduced into the womb and firmly. squeezed, so as to
bring the iron in contact with the bleeding surface. This is at once
an astringent and a coagulant for the blood, besides stimulating the
womb to contraction. In the absence of this agent astringents (solu-
tion of copperas, alum, tannic acid, or acetate of lead) may be thrown
into the womb, and one-half-dram doses of acetate of lead may be
given by the mouth, or 1 ounce powdered ergot of rye may be given
in gruel. When nothing else is at hand, an injection of oil of tur-
pentine will sometimes promptly check the bleeding.
EVERSION OF THE WOMB (CASTING THE WITHERS).
Like flooding, this is the result of failure of the womb to contract
after calving. If that organ contracts naturally, the afterbirth is
expelled, the internal cavity of the womb is nearly closed, and the
mouth of the organ becomes so narrow that the hand can not be
forced through, much less the whole mass of the matrix. When,
however, it fails to contract, the closed end of one of the horns may
fall into its open internal cavity, and under the compression of the
adjacent intestines, and the straining and contraction of the abdomi-
nal walls, it is forced farther and farther, until the whole organ is
turned outside in, slides back through the vagina, and hangs from
the vulva. The womb can be instantly distinguished from the pro-
truding vagina or bladder by the presence over its whole surface of
fifty to one hundred mushroom-like bodies (cotyledons), each 2 to 3
inches in diameter, and attached by a narrow neck. (Pls. XII,
XIII.) When fully everted, it is further recognizable by a large,
undivided body hanging from the vulva, and two horns or divisions
which hang down toward the hocks. In the imperfect eversions the
body of the womb may be present with two depressions leading into
the two horns. In the cases of some standing the organ has become
inflamed and gorged with blood until it is as large as a bushel basket,
and its surface has a dark-red, blood-like hue, and tears and bleeds
on the slightest touch. Still later lacerations, raw sores, and even
gangrene are shown in the mass. At the moment of protrusion the
general health is not altered, but soon the inflammation and fever
with the violent and continued straining induce exhaustion, and the
cow lies down, making no attempt to rise.
Treatment.—Treatment will vary somewhat, according to the degree
of the eversion. In partial eversion, with the womb protruding only
slightly from the vulva and the cow standing, let an assistant pinch
the back to prevent straining while the operator pushes his closed fist
into the center of the mass and earries it back through the vagina,
assisting in returning the surrounding parts by the other hand. In
_ more complete eversion, but with the womb as yet of its natural bulk
ode DISEASES OF CATTLE.
and consistency, and the cow standing, straining being checked by
pinching the back, a sheet is held by two men so as to sustain the
everted womb and raise it to the level of the vulva. It is now sponged
clean with cold water, the cold being useful in driving out the blood
and reducing the bulk, and finally it may be sponged over with
laudanum or with a weak solution of carbolic acid (1 dram to 1 quart
water).
The closed fist may now be planted in the rounded end of the largest
horn and pushed on so as to turn it back within itself and carry it on
through the vagina, the other hand being used meanwhile to assist in
the inversion and in pushing the different masses in succession
within the lips of the vulva. In case of failure, resort should be had
at once to a plan which I have successfully followed for many years,
but which has never been described save by a short notice in my
Farmers’ Veterinary Adviser, eighth edition. Take a long linen or
cotton bandage, 5 or 6 inches wide, and wind it around the protrud-
ing womb as tightly as it can be drawn, beginning at the free end
and gradually covering the entire mass up to the vulva. By this
means the greater part of the blood will be forced out of the organ
and its bulk greatly reduced, so that its reduction is much facilitated.
An additional advantage is found in the protection given to the womb
by its investing bandage while it is being pushed forward into the
vagina and abdomen. In manipulating the exposed womb there is
always danger of laceration, but when the organ is covered with a
sheet it is next to impossible to tear it. The subsequent manipula-
tion is as in the other case, by pushing the blind end forward within
itself with the closed fist and carrying this on through the vagina
into the abdomen with the constant assistance of the other hand. It
will often be found convenient to use the edge of the left hand to
push the outer part of the protruding mass inside the lips of the vulva,
while the right hand and arm are carrying the central portions for-
ward through the vagina. An intelligent assistant, pushing with the
pablns of both hands on the outer portion of the mass, will also afford
material assistance. As the womb is turned within itself the wrap-
ping bandage will gradually loosen, but once the great mass has
entered the passages it is easy to compel the rest to follow, and the
compression by the bandage is no longer so important. When the
womb is fully replaced the bandage is left in its interior in a series of
loose folds, and ean be easily withdrawn. It is well to meve the hand
from side to side to insure that the two horns of the womb are fully
extended and on about the same level before withdrawing the arm
and applying a truss.
When the womb has been long everted and is gorged with blood,
inflamed, and friable there is often the additional disadvantage that
the animal is unable or unwilling to rise. When lying down the
straining can not be controlled so effectually, and the compression of
DISEASES FOLLOWING PARTURITION. 213
the belly is so great as to prove a serious obstacle to reduction, even
in the absence of straining. The straining may be checked by 2 or 3
ounces of laudanum or 2 ounces of chloral hydrate, or by inhalation
of chloroform to insensibility, and then by raising the hind parts on
straw bundles the gravitation of the abdominal organs forward may
be made to lessen the resistance. If success can not be had in this
way, the cow may be further turned on her back, and if return is still
impossible, the hind limbs may be tied together and drawn up to a
beam overhead by the aid of a pulley. In this position, in place of
the pressure backward of the bowels proving a hindrance, their gravi-
tation forward proves a most material help to reduction. In seeking
to return the womb the sponging with ice-cold water, the raising
on a sheet, and the wrapping in a tight bandage should be resorted
tc. Another method which is especially commendable in these
inflamed conditions of the womb is to bring a piece of linen sheet,
30 by 36 inches, under the womb, with its anterior border close up to
the vulva, then turn the posterior border upward and forward over
the organ, and cross the two ends over this and over each other above.
The ends of the sheet are steadily drawn, so as to tighten its hold on
the womb, which is thus held on the level of the vulva or above, and
cold water is constantly poured upon the mass. The reduction is
further sought by compression of the mass with the palms applied
outside the sheet» Fifteen or twenty minutes are usually sufficient
to cause the return of the womb, provided straining is prevented by
pinching of the back or otherwise.
In old and aggravated cases, with the womb torn, bruised, or even
gangrenous, the only resort is to amputate the entire mass. This is
done by tying a strong waxed cord around the protruding mass close
up to the vulva, winding the cord around pieces of wood, so as to draw
it as tightly as possible, cutting off the organ below this ligature,
tying a thread on any artery that may still bleed, and returning the
stump well into the vagina.
Retention of the returned womb is the next point, and this is most
easily accomplished by a rope truss. Take two ropes, each about 18
feet long and an inch in thickness. Double each rope at its middle,
and lay the one above the other at the bend so as to form an ovoid of
about 8 inches in its long diameter. Twist each end of the one rope
twice around the other, so that this ovoid will remain when they are
drawn tight. (Pls. XXIITand XXIII.) Tie a strap or rope around the
back part of the neck and a surcingle around the body. Place the rope
truss on the animal so that the ovoid ring shall surround the vulva,
the two ascending ropes on the right and left of the tail and the two
descending ones down inside the thighs on the right and left of the
udder. These descending ropes are carried forward on the sides of
the body and tied to the surecingle and to the neck collar. The
ascending ropes proceed forward on the middle of the back, twisting
214 DISEASES OF CATTLE.
over each other, and are tied to the surcingle and collar. the upper
and lower ropes are drawn so tightly that the rope ring is made to
press firmly all around the vulva without risk of displacement. This
should be worn for several days, until the womb shall have closed
and all risk of further eversion is at an end. Variations of this
device are found in the use of a narrow triangle of iron applied
around the vulva and fixed by a similar arrangement of ropes, sur-
cingle, and collar (Pl. XXIII, fig. 3), a common crupper similarly
lield around the vulva (Pl. XXII, fig. 1), stitches through the vulva,
_and wires inserted through the skin on the two hips (PI. XXIII, fig..2),
so that they will cross behind the vulva; also pessaries of various
kinds inserted in the vagina. None of these, however, presents any
advantage over the simple and comparatively painless rope truss
described above. Such additional precautions as keeping the cow in
a stall higher behind than in front, and seeing that the diet is slightly
laxative and nonstimulating may be named. If straining is persistent,
ounce doses of laudanum may be employed twice a day, and the same
may be injected into the vagina.
If the womb has been cut off, injections of a solution of a teaspoon-
ful of carbolic acid in a quart of water should be employed daily, or:
more frequently, until the discharge ceases. ‘
EVERSION OF THE BLADDER. -
A genuine eversion of the bladder is almost unknown in the cow,
owing to the extreme narrowness of its mouth. The protrusion of the
bladder, however, through a laceration in the fioor of the vagina sus-
tained in calving, and its subsequent protrusion through the vulva, is
sometimes met with. In this case the protruding bladder contains
urine, which can never be the case in a real eversion, in which the
inner surface of the bladder and the openings of the ureters are both
exposed outside the vulva. The presence of a bag containing water,
which is connected with the floor of the vagina, will serve to identify
this condition. If the position of the bladder in the vulva renders it
impracticable to pass a catheter to draw off the urine, pierce the
organ with the nozzle of a hypodermic syringe, or even a very small
trocar and canula, and draw off the water, when it will be found an
easy matter to return the bladder to its place. The rent in the vagina
ean be stitched up, but as there would be risk in any subsequent
calving it is best to prepare the cow for the butcher,
RUPTURE OF THE BLADDER.
This has been known to occur in protracted parturition when the
fetus finally passed while the bladder was full. The symptoms are
those of complete suppression of urine and tenderness of the abdo-
men, witha steady accumulation of liquid and fluctuation on handling
DISEASES FOLLOWING PARTURITION. 915
its lower part. If the hand is introduced into the vagina it is felt to
be hot and tender, and perhaps slightly swollen along its floor. Asa
final test, if the lower fluctuating part of the abdomen is punctured
with a hypodermic needle, a straw-colored liquid of an urinous odor
flows out. The condition has been considered as past hope. The
only chance for recovery would be in opening the abdomen, evacuat-
ing the liquid, and stitching up the rent in the bladder, but at such
a season and with inflammation already started there would be little
to hope for.
RUPTURE OF THE WOMB.
When the womb has been rendered friable by disease this may occur
in the course of the labor, but much more frequently it occurs from
violence sustained in attempting assistance in difficult parturition.
It is also liable to occur during eversion of the organ through efforts
to replace it.
If it happens while the calf is still in the womb, it will usually bleed
freely and continuously until the fetus has been extracted, so that the
womb can contract on itself and expel its excess of blood. Another
danger is that in case of a large rent the calf may escape into the cav-
ity of the abdomen and parturition become impossible. Still another
danger is that of the introduction of septic germs and the setting up of
a fatal inflammation of the lining membrane of the belly (peritoneum).
Still another is the escape of the small intestine through the rent and
on through the vagina and vulva, so as to protrude externally and
receive perhaps fatal injuries. In case of rupture before calving, that
act should be completed as rapidly and carefully as possible, the fetal
membranes removed and the contraction of the womb sought by dash-
ing cold water on the loins, the right flank, or the vulva. If the calf
has escaped into the abdomen and can not be brought through the
natural channels it may be permissible to fix the animal and extract
it through the side, as in the Cesarian section. If the laceration has
happened during eversion of the womb it is usually less redoubtable,
because the womb contracts more readily under the stimulus of the
cold air sorecently applied. In ease the abdomen has been laid open
it is well to stitch up the rent, but if not it should be left to nature, and
will often heal satisfactorily, the cow even breeding successfully in
after years.
LACERATIONS AND RUPTURES OF THE VAGINA.
Rupture of the floor of the vagina has been already referred to as
allowing the protrusion of the bladder. Laceration of the roof of this
passage is also met with as the result of deviations of the hind limbs
and feet upward when the ealf lies on its back. In some such cases
the opening passes clear into the rectum, or the foot may even pass
out through the anus, so that that opening and the vulva are laid open
into one.
216 DISEASES OF CATTLE.
Simple superficial lacerations of the vaginal walls are not usually
serious, and heal readily unless septic inflammation sets in, in which
case the cow is likely to perish. They may be treated with soothing
and antiseptic injections, such as carbolic acid, 1 dram; water, 1
quart.
The more serious injuries depend on the complications. Rupture
of the anterior part of the canal, close to the mouth of the womb, may
lead to the introduction of infecting germs into the cavity of the abdo-
men, or protrusion of the bowel through the rent and externally, either
of which is likely to prove fatal. If both these conditions are escaped
the wound may heal spontaneously. Rupture into the bladder may
lead to nothing worse than a constant dribbling of urine from the
vulva. The cow should be fattened if she survives. Rupture into
the rectum will entail a constant escape of feces through the vulva,
and, of course, the same condition exists when the anus as well has
been torn open. I have successfully sewed up an opening of this
kind in the mare, but in the cow it is probably better to prepare for
the butcher.
CLOTS OF BLOOD IN THE WALLS OF THE VAGINA.
During calving the vagina may be bruised so as to cause escape of
blood beneath the mucous membrane and its coagulation into large
bulging clots. The vulva may appear swollen, and on separating its
lips the mucous membrane of the vagina is seen to be raised into
irregular rounded swellings of a dark-blue or black color, and which
pit on pressure of the finger. If the accumlation of blood is not
extensive it may be reabsorbed, but if abundant it may lead to irri-
tation and dangerous inflammation, and should be incised with a
lancet and the clots cleared out. The wounds may then be sponged
twice a day with a lotion made with 1 dram sulphate of zinc, 1 dram
earbolie acid, and 1 quart water.
RETAINED AFTERBIRTH.
The cow, of all our domestic animals, is especially subject to this
accident. This may be partly accounted for by the firm connections
established through the fifty to one hundred cotyledons (Pl. XIII,
fig. 2) in which the fetal membranes dovetail with the follicles of the
womb. It is also most liable to occur after abortion, in which prepa-
ration has not been made by fatty degeneration for the severance of
these close connections. In the occurrence of inflammation, causing
the formation of new tissue between the membranes and the womb,
we find the occasion of unnaturally firm adhesions which prevent the
spontaneous detachment of the membranes. Again, in low conditions
of health and an imperfect power of contraction we find a potent
cause of retention, the general debility showing particularly in the
indisposition of the womb to contract, after calving, with sufficient
DISEASES FOLLOWING PARTURITION. eb lit
energy to expel the afterbirth. Hence we find the condition common
with insufficient or innutrious food, and in years or localities in which
the fodder has suffered from weather. Ergoted (Pl. V), smutty, or
musty fodder, by causing abortion, is a frequent cause of retention.
Old cows are more subject than young ones, probably because of
diminishing vigor. A temporary retention is sometimes due to a too
rapid closure of the neck of the womb after calving, causing strangu-
lation and imprisonment of the membranes. Conditions favoring this
are the drinking of cold (iced) water, the eating of cold food (frosted
roots), and (through sympathy between udder and womb) a too
prompt sucking by the calf or milking by the attendant.
Symptoms.—The symptoms of retention of the afterbirth are usu-
ally only too evident, as the membranes hang from the vulva and rot
away gradually, causing the most offensive odor throughout the build-
ing. When retained within the womb by closure of its mouth and
similarly in cases in which the protruded part has rotted off, the
decomposition continues and the fetid products escaping by the vulva
appear in offensively smelling pools on the floor, and mat together the
hairs near the root of the tail. The septic materials retained in the
womb cause inflammation of its lining membrane, and this, together
with the absorption into the blood of the products of putrefaction,
leads to ill health, emaciation, and drying up of the milk.
Treatment.— Treatment will vary according to the conditions.
When the cow is in low condition or when retention is connected
with drinking iced water or eating frozen food, hot drinks and hot
mashes of wheat bran or other aliment may be all sufficient. If,
along with the above conditions, the bowels are somewhat confined,
an ounce of ground ginger, or half an ounce of black pepper,
given with a quart of sweet oil, or 13 pounds of Glauber’s salts,
the latter in at least 4 quarts of warm water, will often prove effect-
ual. A bottle or two of flaxseed tea, made by prolonged boiling,
should also be given at frequent intervals. Other stimulants, like
rue, savin, laurel, and carminitives like anise, cumin, and coriander
are preferred by some, but with very questionable reason, the more
so that the first three are not without danger. Ergot of rye, 1 ounce,
or extract of the same, 1 dram, may be resorted to to induce contrac-
tion of the womb. The mechanical extraction of the membranes is,
however, often called for; of this there are several methods. The
simplest is to hang a weight of 1 or 2 pounds to the hanging portion,
and allow this, by its constant dragging and by its jerking effect
when the cow moves, to pull the membranes from their attachments
and to stimulate the womb to expulsive contractions. But in the
neglected cases, when the dependant mass is already badly decom-
posed, it is liable to tear across under the added weight, leaving a
portion of the offensive material imprisoned in the womb. Again,
this uncontrolled dragging upon a relaxed womb will (in exceptional
218 DISEASES OF CATTLE.
cases only, it is true) cause it to become everted and to protrude
in this condition from the vulva.
A second resort is to seize the dependant part of ine afterbirth
between two sticks, and roll it up on these until they lie against the
vulva; then, by careful traction, accompanied by slight jerking move-
ments from side to side, the womb is stimulated to expulsive contrac-
tions and the afterbirth is wound up more and more on the sticks
until finally its last connections with the womb are severed and the
remainder is expelled suddenly en masse. It is quite evident that
neglected cases with putrid membranes are poor subjects for this
method, as the afterbirth is liable to tear across, leaving a mass in
the womb. During the progress of the work any indication of tear-
ing is the signal to stop and proceed with greater caution or alto-
gether abandon the attempt in this way.
The third method (that with the skilled hand) is the most promptly
and certainly successful. For this the operator had best strip and
dress as for a parturition case. Again, the operation should be under-
taken within twenty-four hours after calving, since later the mouth
of the womb may be so closed that it becomes difficult to introduce
the hand. The operator should smear his arms with earbolized lard
or vaseline to protect them against infection, and particularly in
delayed cases with putrid membranes. An assistant holds the tail to
one side while the operator seizes the hanging afterbirth with the left
hand, while he introduces the right along the right side of the vagina
and womb, letting the membranes slide through his palm until he
reaches the first cotyledon to which they remain adherent. In ease
no such connection is within reach, gentle traction is made on the
membranes with the left hand until the deeper parts of the womb are
brought within reach and the attachments to the cotyledons can be
reached. Then the soft projection of the membrane, which is attached
to the firm fungus-shaped cotyledon on the inner surface of the womb,
is seized by the little finger, and the other fingers and thumb are closed
on it soas to tear it out from its connections. To explain this it is
only necessary to say that the projection from the membrane is coy-
ered by soft conical processes, which are received into cavities of a
corresponding size on the summit of the firm mushroom-shaped cotyle-
don growing from the inner surface of the womb. To draw upon the
former, therefore, is to extract its soft villous processes from within
the follicles or cavities of the other. (PI. XII, fig. 2.) If it is at
times difficult to start this extraction it may be necessary to get the
finger nail inserted between the two, and once started the finger may
be pushed on, lifting all the villi in turn out of their eavities. This
process of separating the cotyledons must be carefully eonducted, one
after another, until the last has been detached and the afterbirth
comes freely out of the passages. I have never found any evil result
from the removal of the whole mass at one operation, but Shaack
DISEASES FOLLOWING PARTURITION. VAL,
mentions the eversion of the womb as the possible result of the nee-
essary traction, and in cases in which those in the most distant part
of the horn of the womb ean not be easily reached, he advises to attach
a cord to the membranes inside the vulva, letting it hang out behind,
and to cut off the membranes below the cord. Then, after two or
three days’ delay, he extracts the remainder, now softened and easily
detached. If carefully conducted, so as not to tear the cotyledons of
the womb, the operation is eminently successful; the cow suffers little,
and the straining roused by the manipulations soon subsides. Keep-
ing in a quiet, dark place, or driving a short distance at a walking
pace, will serve to quiet these. When the membranes have been with-
drawn, the hand, half closed, may be used to draw out of the womb
the offensive liquid that has collected. If the case is a neglected one,
and the discharge is very offensive, the womb must be injected as for
leucorrhea.
INFLAMMATION OF THE VAGINA (VAGINITIS).
This may occur independently of inflammation of the womb, and
usually as the result of bruises, lacerations, or other injuries sustained
during calving. It will be shown by swelling of the lips of the vulva,
which, together with their lining membrane, become of a dark-red or
leaden hue, and the mucous discharge increases and becomes whitish
or purulent, and it may be fetid. Slight cases recover spontaneously,
or under warm fomentations or mild astringent injections (a teaspoon-
ful of carbolie acid in a quart of water), but severe cases may go on
to the formation of large sores (ulcers), or considerable portions of the
mucous membrane may die and slough off. Baumeister records two
eases of diphtheritic vaginitis, the second case in a cow four weeks
calved, contracted from the first in a newly calved cow. Both proved
fatal, with formation of false membranes as far as the interior of the
womb. In all severe cases the antiseptic injections must be applied
most assiduously. The carbolic acid may be increased to one-half
ounce to a quart, or chlorine water, or peroxide of hydrogen solution
may be injected at least three times a day. Hyposulphite of soda, 1
ounce to a quart of water, is an excellent application, and the same
amount may be given by the mouth.
LEUCORRHEA (MUCOPURULENT DISCHARGE FROM THE PASSAGES).
This is due to a continued or chronic inflammation of the womb, or
the vagina, or both. It usually results from injuries sustained in ealv-
ing, or from irritation by putrid matters in connection with retained
afterbirth, or from the use of some object in the vagina (pessary) to
prevent eversion of the womb. Exposure to cold or other cause of
disturbance of the health may affect an organ so susceptible as this
at the time of parturition so as to cause inflammation.
Symptoms.—The main symptom is the glairy white discharge flow-
220 DISEASES OF CATTLE.
ing constantly or intermittently (when the cow lies down), soiling the
tail and matting its hairs and those of the vulva. When the lips of
the vulva are drawn apart the mucous membrane is seen to be red,
with minute elevations, or pale and smooth. The health may not suffer
at first, but if the discharge continues and is putrid the health fails,
the milk shrinks, and fiesh is lost. If the womb is involved the hand
introduced into the vagina may detect the mouth of the womb slightly
open and the liquid collected within its cavity. Examination with the
oiled hand in the rectum may detect the outline of the womb beneath,
somewhat enlarged, and fluctuating under the touch from contained
fluid. In some cases heat is more frequent or intense than natural,
but the animal rarely conceives when served, and, if she does, is likely
to abort.
Treatment.—Treatment with the injections advised for vaginitis is
successful in mild or recent eases. In obstinate ones stronger solu-
tions may be used after the womb has been washed out by a stream
of tepid water until it comes clear. A rubber tube is inserted into
the womb, a funnel placed in its raised end, and the water, and after-
wards the solution, poured slowly through this. If the neck ef the
womb is so close that the liquid can not escape, a second tube may
be inserted to drain it off. As injections may be used chloride of
zine, one-half dram to the quart of water, or sulphate of iron, 1 dram
to the quart. Three drams of sulphate of iron and one-half ounce
ground ginger may also be given in the food daily.
INFLAMMATION OF THE WOMB (METRITIS, INFLAMMATION OF WOMB
AND ABDOMEN, OR METROPERITONITIS).
Inflammation of the womb may be slight or violent, simple or asso-
ciated with putrefaction of its liquid contents and general poisoning,
or it may extend so that the inflammation affects the lining membrane
of the whole abdominal cavity. In the last two cases the malady isa
very grave one.
Causes.—The causes are largely the same as those causing inflam-
mation of the vagina. Greater importance must, however, be attached
to exposure to cold and wet and septic infection.
Symptoms.—The symptoms appear two or three days after calving,
when the cow may be seen to shiver, or the hair stands erect, espe-
cially along the spine, and the horns, ears, and limbs are cold. The
temperature in the rectum is elevated by one or two degrees, the pulse
is small, hard, and rapid (70 to 100), appetite is lost, rumination
ceases, and the milk shrinks in quantity or is entirely arrested, and
the breathing is hurried. The hind limbs may shift uneasily, the tail
be twisted, the head and eyes turn to the right flank, and the teeth
are ground. With the flush of heat to the horns and other extremi-
ties, there is redness of the eyes, nose, and mouth, and usually a dark
redness about the vulva. Pressure on the right flank gives manifest
——
DISEASES FOLLOWING PARTURITION. 221
pain, causing moaning or grunting, and the hind limbs are moved
stiffly, extremely so if the general lining of the abdomen is involved.
In severe cases the cow lies down and can not be made to rise. There
is usually marked thirst, the bowels are costive, and dung is passed
with pain and effort. The hand inserted into the vagina perceives
the increased heat, and when the neck of the womb is touched the
cow winces with pain. Examination through the rectum detects
enlargement and tenderness of the womb. The discharge from the
vulva is at first watery, but becomes thick, yellow, and finally red or
brown, with a heavy or fetid odor. Some cases recover speedily and
may be almost well in a couple of days; a large proportion perish
within two days of the attack, and some merge into the chronic form,
terminating in leucorrhea. In the worst cases there is local septic
infection and ulceration, or even gangrene of the parts, or there is
general septicemia, or the inflammation involving the veins of the
womb causes coagulation of the blood contained in them, and the
washing out of the clots to the right heart and lungs leads to blocking
of the vessels in the latter and complicating pneumonia. Inflamma-
tions of the womb and passages after calving are always liable to
these complications, and consequently to a fatal issue. Franek
records three instances of rapidly fatal metritis in cows, all of which
had: been poisoned from an adjacent cow with retained and putrid
afterbirth. Others have had similar cases.
Treatment.—Treatment in the slight cases of simple inflammation
does not differ much from that adopted for vaginitis, only care must
be taken that the astringent and antiseptic injections are made to
penetrate into the womb. After having washed out the womb a solu-
tion of chloride of lime or permanganate of potash (one-half ounce to 1
quart of water), with an ounce each of glycerin and laudanum to ren-
der it more soothing, will often answer every purpose. It is usually
desirable to open the bowels with 15 pounds Glauber’s salts and 1
ounce ginger in 4 quarts of warm water and to apply fomentations of
warm water or even mustard poultices or turpentine to the right flank.
In the violent attacks with high temperature and much prostration,
besides the salts agents must be given to lower the temperature and
counteract septic poisoning. Salicylate of soda one-half ounce, or
quinia 2 drams, repeated every four hours, will help in both ways, or
ounce doses of hyposulphite of soda or dram doses of carbolie acid
may be given at equal intervals until six doses have been taken.
Tincture of aconite has often been used in 20-drop doses every six
hours. If the temperature rises to 106° or 107° F., it must be met by
the direct application of cold or iced water to the surface. The animal
may be covered with wet sheets and cold water poured on these at
intervals until the temperature in the rectum is lowered to 102° F.
In summer the cow may be allowed to dry spontaneously, while in
winter it should be rubbed dry and blanketed. Even in the absence
229 DISEASES OF CATTLE.
of high temperature much good may be obtained from the soothing
influence of a wet sheet covering the loins and flanks and well cov-
ered at all points by a dry one. This may be followed next day by a
free application of mustard and oil of turpentine. When the animal
shows extreme prostration alcohol (1 pint) or carbonate of ammonia
(1 ounce) may be given to tide over the danger, but such cases usually
perish.
In this disease, even more than in difficult and protracted parturi-
tion or retained placenta, the attendants must carefully guard agaimst
the infection of their hands and arms from the diseased parts. The
hand and arm before entering the passages should always be well
smeared with lard impregnated with carbolic acid.
MILK FEVER (PARTURITION FEVER, PARTURIENT APOPLEXY, OR PAR-
TURIENT COLLAPSE).
This disease is not only peculiar to the cow, but it may be said to
be virtually confined to the improved and plethoric cow. It further
occurs only at or near the time of calving. Indeed, these two factors,
calving and plethora, may be set apart as preeminently the causes of
this disease. It is the disease of cows that have been improved in
the direction of early maturity, power of rapid fattening, or a heavy
yield of milk, and hence it is characteristic of those having great
appetites and extraordinary power of digestion. The heavy milking
breeds are especially its victims, as in these the demand for the daily
yield of 50 to 100 pounds of milk means even more than a daily increase
of 2 to 3 pounds of body weight, mainly fat. The victims are not
always fat when attacked, but they are cows having enormous powers
of digestion, and which have been fed heavily at the time. Hence
the stall-fed, city dairy cow, and the farm cow on a rich clover pas-
ture in June or July, are especially subject. The condition of the
blood globules in the suffering cow attests the extreme richness and
density of the blood, yet this peculiarity appears to have entirely
escaped the notice of veterinary writers. I have never examined the
blood of a victim of this disease without finding the red-blood globules
reduced to little more than one-half their usual size. Now, these
globules expand or contract according to the density of the liquid in
which they float. If we dilute the blood with water they will expand
until they burst, whereas if solids, such as salt or albumen, are added
they shrink to a large extent. Their small size, therefore, in parturi-
tion fever indicates the extreme richness of the blood, or, in other
words, plethora.
Confinement in the stallis an accessory cause, partly because stabled —
cattle are highly fed, partly because the air is hotter and fouler, and
partly because there is no expenditure by exercise of the rich prod-
ucts of digestion.
High temperature is conducive to the malady, though the extreme
se
DISEASES FOLLOWING PARTURITION. 293
colds of winter are no protection against it. Heat, however, conduces
to fever, and fever means lessened secretion, which means a plethoric
state of the circulation. The heats of summer are, however, often
only a coincidence of the real cause, the mature rich pastures, and
especially the clover ones, being the greater.
Electrical disturbances have an influence of a similar kind, disturb-
ing the functions of the body and favoring sudden variations in the
circulation. A succession of cases of the malady often accompany or
preeede a change of weather from dry to wet, from a low to a high
barometric pressure. .
Costiveness, which is the usual concomitant of fever, may in a case
of this kind become an accessory cause, the retention in the blood of
what should have passed off by the bowels tending to inerease the
fullness of the blood vessels and the density of the blood. :
Mature age is avery strong accessory cause. The disease never
occurs with the first parturition, and rarely with the second. It
appears with the third, fourth, fifth, or sixth—after the growth of the
cow has ceased and when all her powers are devoted to the produe-
tion of milk.
Calving is an essential condition, as the disturbance of the circula-
tion consequent on the contraction of the womb and the expulsion
into the general circulation of the enormous mass cf blood hitherto
circulating in the walls of the womb fills to repletion the vessels of
the rest of the body and very greatly intensifies the already existing
plethora. If this is not speedily counterbalanced by a free secretion
from the udder, kidneys, bowels, and other exeretory organs, the most
dire results may ensue. Calving may thus be held to be an exciting
eause, and yet the labor and fatigue of the act are not active factors.
It is after the easy calving, when there has been little expenditure of
muscular or nervous energy, and no loss of blood, that this malady is
seen. Difficult parturitions may be followed by metritis, but they are
rarely connected with parturition fever.
All these factors coincide in intensifying the one condition of pleth-
ora, and point to that as a most essential cause of this affection. It
is needless to enter here into the much-debated question as to the
mode in which the plethora brings about the characteristic symptoms
and results. As the results show disorder or suspension of the nery-
ous functions mainly, it may suffice to say that this condition of the
blood and blood vessels is incompatible with the normal functional
activity of the nerve centers. How much is due to congestion of the
brain and how much to bloodlessness may well be debated, yet in a
closed box like the cranium, in which the absolute contents can not
be appreciably increased or diminished, it is evident that, apart from
dropsical effusion or inflammatory exudation, there can only be a
given amount of blood; therefore, if one portion of the brain is con-
gested another must be proportionately bloodless, and as congestion
294 DISEASES OF CATTLE.
of the eyes and head generally, and great heat of the head are most
prominent features of the disease, congestion of the brain must be
accepted. This, of course, implies a lack of blood in certain other
parts or blood vessels.
The latest developments of treatment indicate very clearly that the
main cause is the production of poisonous metabolie produets (leuco-
mains and toxins) by secreting cells of the follicles of the udder, act-
ing on the susceptible nerve centers of the plethoric, calving cow.
Less fatal examples of udder poisons are found in the first milk (colos-
trum), which is distinctly irritant and purgative, and in the toxie
qualities of the first milk drawn from an animal which has been sub-
jected to violent overexertion or excitement. Still more conclusive as
to the production of such poisons is the fact that the full distention
of the milk ducts and follicles, and the consequent driving of the
blood out of the udder and arrest of the formation of depraved prod-
ucts, determines a speedy and complete recovery from the disease.
This does not exclude the other causes above named, nor the influ-
ence of a reflex nervous derangement proceeding from the udder to
the brain.
Synptoms.—There may be said to be two extreme types of this dis-
ease, with intervening grades. In both forms there is the characteris-
tie plethora and more or less sudden loss of voluntary movement and
sensation, indicating a sudden collapse of nervous power; but in one
there is such prominent evidence of congestion of head and brain that
it may be called the congestive form, par excellence, without thereby
intimating that the torpid form is independent of congestion.
In the congestive form there is sudden dullness, languor, hanging
back in the stall, or drooping the head, uneasy movements of the hind
limbs or tail; if the cow is moved, she steps unsteadily, or even stag-
gers; she no longer notices her calf or her food; the eyes appear red
and their pupils dilated; the weakness increases and the cow lies
down or falls and is thenceforward unable to rise. At this time the
pulse is usually fulland bounding and the temperature raised, though
not invariably so; the head, horns, and ears being especially hot and
the veins of the head full, while the visible mucous membranes of
nose and eyes are deeply congested.
The cow may lie on her breastbone with her feet beneath the body
and her head turned sleepily round, with the nose resting on the right
flank; or, if worse, she may be stretched full on her side, with even
the head extended, though at times it is suddenly raised and again
dashed back on the ground. At such times the legs, fore and hind,
struggle convulsively, evidently through unconscious nervous spasm.
By this time the unconsciousness is usually complete; the eyes are
glazed, their pupils widely dilated, and their lids are not moved when
the ball of the eye is touched with the finger. Pricking the skin with
a pin also fails to bring any wincing or other response. The pulse,
DISEASES FOLLOWING PARTURITION. DON
at first from 50 to 70 per minute, becomes more accelerated and
weaker as the disease advances. The breathing is quickened, becom-
ing more and more so with the violence of the symptoms, and at first
associated with moaning (in exceptional cases, bellowing), it may,
before death, become slow, deep, sighing, or rattling (stertorous).
The temperature, at first usually raised, tends ‘to become lower as
stupor and utter insensibility and coma supervene. The bowels,
which may have moved at the onset of the attack, become torpid or
completely paralyzed, and, unless in case of improvement, they are not
likely to operate again. Yet this is the result of paralysis and not of
induration of the feces, as often shown by the semiliquid pultaceous
condition of the contents after death. The bladder, too, is paralyzed
and fails to expel its contents. A free action of either bladder or
bowels, or of both, is always a favorable symptom. The urine con-
tains sugar, in amount proportionate to the severity of the attack.
In nearly all cases the torpor of the digestive organs results in gas-
tric disorder; the paunch becomes the seat of fermentation, produe-
ing gas, which causes it to bloat up like a drum. There are frequent
eructations of gas and liquid and solid food, which, reaching the par-
alyzed throat, pass in part into the windpipe and. cause inflammations
of the air passages and lungs.
In the torpid form of the disease there is much less indication of
fever or violence. There may be no special heat about the horns,
ears, or forehead, nor any marked redness or congestion of the eyes
or nose, nor engorgement of the veins of the head. The attack comes
on more slowly, with apparent weakness of the hind limbs, dullness,
drowsiness, suspension of rumination and appetite, and a general
indifference to surrounding objects. Soon the cow lies down, or falls:
and is unable to rise, but for one or two days she may rest on the
breastbone and hold the head in the flank without showing any disor-
derly movements. Meanwhile there is is not only loss of muscular
power and inability to stand, but also considerable dullness of sensa-
tion, pricking the skin producing no quick response, and even touch-
ing the edge of the eyelids causing no very prompt winking. Unless
she gets relief, however, the case develops all the advanced symptoms
of the more violent form, and the animal perishes.
In advanced and fatal eases of either form the insensibility becomes
complete; no irritation of skin or eye meets any response; the eye
becomes more dull and glassy; the head rests on the ground or other
object; unless prevented, the cow lies stretched fully on her side; the
pulse is small, rapid, and finally imperceptible; the breathing is slow,
deep, stertorous, and the expirations accompanied by puffing out of
the cheeks, and death comes quietly or with accompanying struggles.
For such fatal disease prevention is of far more consequence than
treatment. Among the most efficient preventives may be named a
8267—04——15
226 DISEASES OF CATTLE.
spare diet (amounting to actual starvation in very plethoric, heavy-
milking cows) for a week before calving and at least four days after.
A free access to salt and water is most important, as the salt favors
drinking and the water serves to dilute the rich and dense blood.
Iced water, however, is undesirable, as a chill may favor the onset of
fever. A dose of Epsom salts (1 to 2 pounds) should be given twelve
to twenty-four hours before calving is due, so that it may operate at
or just before that act. In case calving has occurred unexpectedly
in the heavy milker, lose no time in giving the purgative thereafter.
A most important precaution in the fleshy, plethorie cow, or in one
that has been attacked at a previous calving, is to avoid drawing any
milk from the bag for twelve or twenty-four hours after calving.
Breeders on the island of Jersey have found that this alone has almost
abolished the mortality from milk fever. If Epsom salts is not at
hand use saltpeter (1 ounce) for several days. Daily exercise is also of
importanee, and, excepting in midsummer, when the heat of the sun
may be injurious, the value of open air is unquestionable. Even in
summer an open shed or shady grove is incomparably better than a
close, stuffy stall. A rich pasture (clover especially), in late May,
June, or July, when at its best, is to be carefully avoided. Better
keep the cow indoors on dry straw with plenty of salt and water than
to have access to such pastures.
Old treatment.—lf the cow is seen before she goes down, the
abstraction of blood is demanded, and may usually be earried to the
extent of 4 or even 6 quarts. The fullness and force of the pulse
must determine the amount; if it is weak and rapid or searcely per-
ceptible the vein must be instantly closed, and it may even be neces-
sary to give ammoniacal stimulants. If the cow is lying down,
unable to rise, and, above all, if no winking is caused by touching the
eyeball, bleeding must be done, if at all, with great precaution.
drawn back. This may be passed again and again to sufficiently.
8267—04-—_16
949 DISEASES OF CATTLE.
enlarge the passage, and then the passage may be kept open by wear-
ing a long dumb-bell bougie, a thick piece of carbolized catgut, or a
spring dilator. If the passage can not be sufficiently opened with the
sound it may be incised by the hidden bistoury. (Pl. XXIV, fig. 2.)
This is a knife lying alongside a flattened protector with smooth
rounded edges, but which can be projected to any required distance
by a lever on the handle. The incisions are made in four directions
and as deep as may be necessary, and the walls can then be held
apart by the spring dilator until they heal. In case the constriction
and thickening of the canal extend the whole length of the teat, it is
practically beyond remedy, as the gland is usually involved so as to
render it useless.
CLOSURE OF THE MILK DUCT BY A MEMBRANE.
In this form the duct of the teat is closed by the constriction of its
lining membrane at one point, usually without thickening. The clos-
ure usually takes place while the cow is dry; otherwise its progress is
gradual, and for a time the milk may still be pressed through slowly.
In such a ease, if left at rest, the lower part of the teat fills up and the
milk flows in a full stream at the first pressure, but after this it will
not fillup again without sufficient time for it to filter through. Thisis
to be eut open by the hidden bistoury (Pl. XXIV, fig. 2), which may
be first passed through the opening of the membrane, if such exists.
If not it may be bored through, or it may be pressed up against the
membrane at one side of the teat and opened toward the center, so as
to eut its way through. Incisions should be made in at least two
opposite directions, and the edges may be then held apart by wearing
the spring dilator until healing has been completed.
In all eases of operations on the teats the instruments must be thor-
oughly disinfected with hot water, or by dipping in carbolic acid and
then in water that has been boiled.
OPENING IN THE SIDE OF THE TEAT (MILK FISTULA).
This may occur from wounds penetrating the milk duct and failing
to close, or it may be congenital, and then very often it leads to a dis-
tinet milk duct and an independent portion of the gland. In the first
form it is only necessary to dissect away the skin leading into the open-
ing for some distance down, to close the orifice with stitches, and to
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DISEASES OF CATTLE PLATE XL
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INFECTIOUS DISEASES OF CATTLE. 495
should estimate the extent of infection by the milk and flesh of tuber-
cular cattle and the butter made of their milk as hardly greater than
that of hereditary transmission, and that he therefure did not deem
it advisable to take any measures against it, he went far beyond what
was justified by any experiments or observations which he reported,
and he did an immense amount of harm, which will be manifested for
years to come to those who endeavor to guard the human race from
the dangers of animal tuberculosis. The researches which have been
alluded to make these dangers more definite and certain than they
have appeared before, and sanitarians should therefore most ear-
nestly endeavor to counteract the erroneous and harmful impression
which was made by Koch’s address at London and his subsequent
address at the International Conference on Tuberculosis at Berlin.
VARIOLA.
Variola of cattle, commonly known as ‘‘cowpox,” is a contagious
disease of cattle which manifests its presence through an elevation of
temperature, a shrinkage in milk production, and by the appearance
of characteristic pustular eruptions, especially upon the teats and
udders of dairy cows. Although this is a contagious disease strictly
speaking, it is so universally harmless and benign in its course that
it is robbed of the terrors which usually accompany all spreading dis-
eases, and is allowed to enter a herd of cattle, run its course, and dis-
appear without exciting any particular notice.
The disease is quite common in this country, especially in the
eastern States.
The contagion of cowpox does not travel through the air from animal
to animal, but is only transmitted by actual contact of the contagious
principle with the skin of some susceptible animal. It may be carried
in this manner, not alone from cattle to cattle, but horses, sheep,
goats, and man may readily contract the disease whenever suitable
conditions attend their inoculation.
An identical disease frequently appears upon horses, attacking their
heels, and thence extending upward along the leg, producing, as it
progresses, inflammation and swelling of the skin, followed later by
pustules, which soon rupture, discharging a sticky, disagreeable secre-
tion. Other parts of the body are frequently affected in like manner,
especially in the region of the head, where the eruptions may appear
upon lips and nostrils, or upon the mucous surfaces of the nasal cay-
ities, mouth, or eyes.
Variola of the horse is readily transmitted to cattle, if both are
eared for by the same attendant, and, conversely, variola of cattle may
be earried from the cow to the horse on the hands of a person who
has been milking a cow affected with the disease.
The method of vaccination with material derived from the eruptions
of cowpox as a safeguard against the ravages of smallpox in members
426 DISEASES OF CATTLE.
of the human family is well known. The immunity which such vac-
cination confers upon the human subject has led many writers to
assert that cowpox is simply a modified form’ of smallpox, whose
harmless attack upon the human system is due to a certain attenua-
tion derived during its passage through the system of the cow or
horse. The result of numerous experiments, which have been ear-
ried out for the purpose of determining the relationship existing
between variola of the human and bovine families, seems to show,
however, that although possessing many similar characteristics, they
are nevertheless distinct, and that in spite of repeated inoculations
from cattle to man, and vice versa, no transformation in the real
character of the disease ever takes place.
Symptoms.—The disease appears in four to seven days after natural
infection, or may evince itself in two or three days as the result of
artificial inoculation. Young milech cows are most susceptible to an
attack, but older cows, bulls, or young cattle are by no means immune.
The attack causes a slight rise in temperature, which is soon followed
by the appearance of reddened, inflamed areas, principally upon the
teats and udder, and at times on the abdominal skin or the skin of
the inner surface of the thighs. In a few eases the skin of the throat
and jaws has been found similarly involved. If the affected parts are
examined on the second day after the establishment of the inflamma-
tion numerous pale red nodules will be found, which gradually expand
until they reach a diameter of one-half inch or even larger within
afew days. At this period the tops-of the nodules become trans-
formed into vesicles which are depressed in the center and contain a
pale serous fluid. They usually reach their maturity by the tenth
day of the course of the disease and are then the size of a bean.
From this time the contents of the vesicles become purulent, which
requires about three days, when the typical pox pustule is present,
consisting of a swelling with broad, reddened base, within which is an
elevated, conical abscess varying from the size of a pea to that of a
hazelnut.
The course of the disease after the full maturity of the pustule is
rapid where outside interference has not caused a premature rupture
of the small abscess at the apex of the swelling. The pustules gradu-
ally become darker colored and dryer until nothing remains but a
thick seab, which at last falls off, leaving only a slight whitish sear
behind. The total duration of the disease covers some twenty days
in each animal, and, owing to the slow spread of the infection from
animal to animal, many weeks may elapse before a stable can be fully
freed from it. The fallen scabs and crusts may retain their conta-
gious properties for several days when mixed with litter and bedding
upon the floor of the stable, and during this period they are at any
time capable of producing new outbreaks should fresh cattle be
brought into the stalls and thus come into actual contact with them.
INFECTIOUS DISEASES OF CATTLE. ; 497
Again, the pustules may appear, one after another, ona single animal,
in which ease the duration of the disease is materially lengthened.
Treatment.—In herds of cattle that regularly receive careful han-
dling, no special treatment will be found necessary beyond the appli-
eation of softening and disinfecting agents to such vesicles upon the
teats as may have become ruptured by the hands of the milker. Car-
bolized vaseline or iodoform ointment will be found well suited to this
work. In more persistent cases it may be found desirable to use a
milking tube in order to prevent the repeated opening of the pustules
during the operation of milking. Washing the sores twice daily with
a weak solution of zine chloride (24 per cent solution) has been found
to assist in checking the inflammation and to cleanse and heal the
parts by its germicidal action. When the udder is hard, swollen, and
painful, support it by a bandage and foment frequently with hot
water. If calves are allowed to suckle the cows the pustules become
confluent, and the ulcerations may extend up into the teat, causing
garget and ruining the whole quarter of the udder.
As young cows are most susceptible to variola, the milker must
exercise constant patience with these affected animals so long as their
teats or udders are sore and tender, else the patient may contract
vicious habits while resisting painful handling. The flow of milk is
usually lessened as scon as the fever becomes established, but returns
to normal with the return of perfect health.
The practice of therough cleanliness in handling or milking affected
cattle may, in many instances, prevent the dissemination of the
trouble among the healthy portion of the herd, but even the greatest
care may prove insufficient to check the spread until it has attacked
each animal of the herd in turn.
ACTINOMYCOSIS.
(Pls. XLI to XLII, inclusive.)
Actinomycosis, also known as lumpy jaw, big jaw, wooden tongue,
ete., is a chronic infectious disease characterized by the formation of
peculiar tumors in various regions of the body, more particularly the
head, and due to the specific action of a certain fungus (actinomyces).
This fungus is an organism which occurs in the tissues in the form
of rosettes, and it has therefore been termed the ‘“‘ray fungus.” The
disease is not directly transmitted from one animal to another, but it
seems apparent that the fungus is conveyed into the tissues by vari-
ous foodstuffs through slight wounds of the mucous membrane of the
mouth, decayed teeth, or during the shedding of milk teeth. The
ray fungus is found in nature vegetated on grasses, on the awns of
barley, the spears of oats, and on other grains. Quantities of the
fungi have been found between the vegetable fibers of barley which
had penetrated the gums of cattle and on the awns of grain embedded
in the tongues of cows.
428 DISEASES OF CATTLE.
Although actinomycotic tumors. on cattle had been the object of
study for many years, it was not until 1877 that the constant presence
of actinomyces was pointed out by Bollinger, of Munich, and since
that time considered the cause. This fungus has been observed in
these tumors as early as 1860 by Rivolta, and by others subsequently,
without having been suspected as causing them.
Since Bollinger’s publication a large amount of work has been done,
many observations made, and many hitherto obscure disease proc-
esses brought into relation with this fungus. Furthermore, a similar
disease in man was first definitely shown to be associated with the
same fungus in 1878 by Israel, and in the following year Ponfick
pointed out that the disease described by Bollinger in animals and
that found by Israel in man were due to the same cause; that is, that
the fungi described by these observers were one and the same.
The tumors and abscesses wherever they may be situated are all found
to be the same in origin by the presence of the actinomyces fungus.
When they are incised, a very close scrutiny with the naked eye, or at
most a hand lens, will reveal the presence of minute grains which vary
from a pale-yellow to a sulphur-yellow color. They may be very abun-
dant or so few as to be overlooked. They are embedded in the soft
tissue composing the tumor or in the pus of the abscess. Withaneedle
they are easily lifted out from the tissue,and then they appear as
roundish masses about one-half millimeter (;4 inch) in diameter. To
anyone familiar with the use of a microscope the recognition of these
grains or particles without any previous preparation is a compara-
tively easy task.
W hen examined in the fresh condition under a microscope magnify-
ing up to 250 diameters the general structure is made out without
much difficulty. These grains consist of collections of minute round-
ish masses. Their outer surface is made up of club-shaped bodies all
radiating from the center of the mass (see Pl. XLI, fig. 2), some-
what like a rosette. If the fungus is crushed, the interior is found
made up of bundles of very fine filaments, which are probably con-
tinuous into the club-shaped bodies. The addition of a dilute solu-
tion of caustic soda or potash greatly aids the examination, sinee it
removes the layer of cells adhering to the fungus, which obscures the
structure. Now and then these grains are found to be in a calcified
condition. The exterior is incrusted in lime salts, which are dis-
solved by adding some weak dilute acid, like acetic acid. Only by
this procedure can the fungus be definitely recognized when in amum-
mified condition.
These are the bodies whose presence causes sufficient irritation in
the tissues into which they find their way to set up inflammatory
growths. These growths increase as the fungus continues to multiply
until they reach enormous dimensions, if the affected animal is per-
mitted to live long enough. The true nature of this parasite is not
INFECTIOUS DISEASES OF CATTLE. 429
yet definitely settled, although many excellent observers have occu-
pied themselves with it. According to earlier observers it is a true
fungus. Later ones are inclined to place it among the higher bac-
teria. Further investigations will be necessary to clear up this
subject.
Whatever be the situation of the disease caused by actinomyces,
its nature is fundamentally the same and peculiar to the fungus.
The pathological details which make this statement clear can not be
entered upon in this place, nor would they be of any practical value
to the farmer. We will simply dwell upon a few obvious characters.
The consistency of the tumor varies in different situations accord-
ing to the quantity of fibrous or connective tissue present. When
very little of this is present the tumor is of a very soft consistency.
As the quantity of connective tissue is increased the tumor is firmer
and of a more honeyecombed appearance. The individual actino-
myces colonies are lodged in the spaces or interstices formed by the
meshwork of the connective tissue. There they are surrounded by
a mantle of cellular elements which fill up the spaces. By seraping
the cut surface of such a tumor these cell masses inclosing the fungi
come away, and the latter may be seen as pale-yellow or sulphur-
yellow specks, as described above.
Location of the disease.—In eattle the disease process may be located
both externally, where it is readily detected, and in internal organs.
Its preferred seat is on the bones of the lower and upper jaw, in the
parotid salivary gland in the angle of the jaw, and in the region of
the throat. It may also appear under the skin in different parts of
the body. Internally it may attack the tongue and appear in the
form of a tumor in the mouth, pharynx, and larynx. It may cause
extensive disease of the lungs, more rarely of the digestive tract.
It appears, furthermore, that in certain districts or countries the
disease seems to attack by preference certain parts. Thus in Eng-
land aetinomycosis of the tongue is most prevalent. In Denmark the
soft parts of the head are most prone to disease, while in Russia the
lips are the usual seat. In certain parts of Germany actinomycotie
tumors of the throat (pharynx), in others disease of the jawbones, is
most frequently encountered.
A description of actinomycosis of the jaw (lumpy jaw) and of the
tongue has already been given in a previous chapter, and hence they
will be dealt with here only very briefly. When the disease attacks
the soft parts of the head a rather firm swelling appears, in which are
formed one or more smaller projecting tumors, varying from the size
of a nut to that of anegg. These push their way outward and finally
break through the skin as small, reddish, fungus-like bodies covered
with thin sloughs. Or the original swelling, in place of enlarging in
the manner described, may become transformed into an abscess which
finally bursts to discharge creamy pus. The abscess cavity, however,
430 DISEASES OF CATTLE.
does not disappear, but is soon filled with fungus-like growths which
force their way outward through the opening.
When the tumors are situated within the cavity of the pharynx
they have broken through from some gland, perhaps beneath the
mucous membrane, where the disease first appeared, and hang or pro-
ject into the eavity of the pharynx, either as pendulous masses with
a slender stem or as tumors with a broad base. Their position may
be such as to interfere with swallowing and with breathing. In either
case serious symptoms will soon appear.
The invasion of the bones of the jaws by actinomycosis must be
regarded as one of the most serious forms of the disease (Pls. XLI,
XLII, fig. 1.) It may start in the marrow of the bone and by a slow
extension gradually undermine the entire thickness of the bone itself.
The growth may continue outward and after working its way through
muscle and skin finally break through and appear externally as stink-
ing fungoid growths. The growth may at the same time work its way
inward and appear in the mouth. The disease may also begin in the
periosteum, or covering of the bone, and destroy the bone from without
inward.
Actinomycosis of the lungs is occasionally observed, and it is not
improbable that it has been mistaken at times for tuberculosis. The
actinomyces grains are, however, easily observed if the diseased tissue
* be carefully examined. The changes in the lungs as they appear to
the naked eye vary considerably from case to case. Thus, in one
animal the lungs were affected as in ordinary broncho-pneumonia as
to the location, extent, and appearance of the disease process. The
affected lobes had a dark-red flesh appearance, with yellowish areas
sprinkled in here and there. (See Pl. XLII, figs. 1,2.) These latter
areas were the seat of multiplication of the actinomyces fungus. In
another case, of which only a small portion of the lungs were sent to
the laberatory, these were completely transformed into a uniformly
grayish mass, very soft and pulpy to the touch, and appearing like
very soft and moist dough. (Pl. XLII, fig. 3.) The actinomyces
grains were exceedingly abundant in this tissue, and appeared when
the tissue was incised as minute sulphur-yellow grains, densely
sprinkled through the tissue, which readily came away and adhered
to the knife blade. In still another case a portion of the lung tissue
was converted into large, soft masses from 1 to 3 inches in diameter,
each partly inclosed in very dense connective tissue. These soft,
grayish-yellow masses likewise resembled moist dough in their consist-
ency, and the actinomyces grains, though neither very distinct nor at
all abundant, were easily fished out and identified as such. A portion
of this growth, which was as large as a child’s head, was converted
into an abscess filled with creamy semiliquid pus.
This case differed from the preceding in that all appearance of lung |
tissue had disappeared from the diseased mass. Only on the exterior
INFECTIOUS DISEASES OF CATTLE. 431
the lung tissue could be recognized, although even there it had been
largely converted into very dense, whitish, connective tissue inelosing
the fungoid growth. In the other case the external form of the lung
and the shape and outline of the lobules were preserved, but the lung
tissue itself was not recognizable as such. In the case first mentioned
the changes were still less marked, and actinomycosis would not have
been suspected by asimple inspection. These few illustrations suffice
to show that actinomycosis of the lungs may appear under quite dif-
ferent forms, and that the nature of the disease can be accurately
determined only by finding the fungus itself. Rarely actinomycosis
attacks the body externally in places other than the head and neck.
Crookshank describes the case of a bull in which the flank was
attacked and subsequently the scrotum became diseased. A large
portion of the skin of the flank was destroyed and covered with a
leathery crust. When this was pulled away the pus beneath it showed
the actinomyces grains to the naked eye.
Actinomycosis may also involve the udder, the spermatic cord of
castrated animals, vagina, and, when it becomes generalized, the brain,
liver, spleen, and muscular tissue.
Actinomycosis may in some cases be confounded with tuberculosis.
The diagnosis does not offer any difficulties, since the presence of the
actinomyeces fungus at once removes any existing doubts. As has
already been intimated, these grains, simulating sulphur balls, are
visible to the naked eye, and their nature is readily determined with
the aid of a microscope.
The course of the disease is quite slow. As the tumors grow they
may interfere with the natural functions of the body. According to
their situation, mastication, rumination, or breathing may be inter-
fered with, and in this way the animal may become emaciated. Acti-
nomycosis of the jawbones leads to destruction of the teeth and
impedes the movements necessary to chewing the food. Similarly,
when the disease attacks the soft parts of the head obstructions may
arise in the mouth by an inward growth of the tumor. If tumors
exist in the pharynx they may partially obstruct the movements
necessary to breathing, or close the air passages and cause partial
suffocation. Actinomycosis of the tongue, in interfering with the
many and varied movements of this important organ, is also a serious
matter. There is no reason to suppose that the localized disease
interferes with the general health in any other way than indirectly
‘until internal organs, such as the lungs, become involved.
A very small proportion of the cases may recover spontaneously,
the tumors being encysted or undergoing calcification. In most cases
the disease yields readily to proper treatment, and about 75 per cent
of the affected animals may be cured.
Prevention.—The question as fo how and where animals take this
disease is one concerning which we are still in the stage of conjecture,
432 DISEASES OF CATTLE.
because we possess as yet very little information concerning the life
history of the actinomyces itself. The quite unanimous view of all
observers is that animals become infected from the food. The fungus
is lodged upon the plants and in some way enters the tissues of the
head, the lungs, and the digestive tract, where it sets up its peculiar
activity. It is likewise generally believed that the fungus is, as it
were, inoculated into the affected part. This inoculation is performed
by the sharp and pointed parts of plants which penetrate the mucous
membrane and carry with them the fungus. The disease is therefore
inoculable rather than contagious. The mere presence of the diseased
animal will not give rise to disease in healthy animals unless the acti-
nomyees grains pass directly from the diseased into some wound or
abrasion of the healthy or else drop upon the food which is consumed
by the healthy. Not only are these views deducible from clinical
observation, but they have been proved by the positive inoculation of
calves and smaller animals with actinomyces. The danger therefore
of the presence of actinomyces for healthy animals is a limited one.
Nevertheless an animal affected with this disease should not. be
allowed to go at large or run with other animals. If the fungus is
being scattered by discharging growths we certainly can not state at
this stage of our knowledge that other animals may not be infected by
such distribution, and we must assume, until more positive informa-
tion is at hand, that this actually occurs.
It is, however, the opinion of the majority of authorities that when
actinomycosis appears among a large number of animals they all con-
tract it in the same way from the food. Much speculation has there-
fore arisen whether any particular plant or group of plants is the
source of the infection and whether any special condition of the soil
favors it. Very little positive information is at hand on these ques-
tions. It would be very desirable for those who live in localities
where this disease is prevalent to make statistical and other observa-
tions on the occurrence of the disease with reference to the season of
the year, the kind of food, the nature of the soil (whether swampy or
dry, recently reclaimed or cultivated for a long time) tpon which the
animals are pastured or upon which the food is grown.
It is highly probable that such investigations will lead to an under-
standing of the source of the fungus and the means for checking
the spread of the disease itself. Veterinarian Jensen, of Denmark,
made some observations upon an extensive outbreak of actinomycosis,
a number of years ago, which led him to infer that the animals
were inoculated by eating barley straw harvested from pieces of
ground just reclaimed from the sea. While the animals remained
unaffected as long as they pastured on this ground or ate the hay
obtained from it, they became diseased after eating the straw of
cereals from the same territory. Others have found that cattle grazing
upon low pastures along the banks of streams and subject to inunda-
INFECTIOUS DISEA3ES OF CATTLE. 433
tions are more prone to the disease. It has also been observed that
food gathered from such grounds may give rise to the disease even
after prolonged drying. Actinomycosis is not infrequent in south-
western cattle and is generally supposed to be the result of eating
the prickly fruit of the eactus plant, causing wounds of the mucous
membrane and subsequent infection with the parasite. Much addi-
tional information of a similar kind must be forthcoming before the
source and manner of infection in this disease and its dependence
upon external conditions will be known. It is not at all improbable
that these may vary considerably from place to place.
Treatment.—This has been until recently almost entirely surgical.
When the tumors are external and attached to soft parts only, an
early removal may lead to recovery. This, of course, can only be
undertaken by a trained veterinarian, especially as the various parts
of the head and neck contain important vessels, nerves, and ducts
which should be injured as little as possible in any operation. Unless
the tumor is completely removed it will reappear. Disease of the
jawbones is at best a very serious matter, and treatment is likely to
be of no avail.
In Mareh, 1892, an important contribution to our knowledge of this
subject was made by M. Noeard, of the Alfort Veterinary School, in a
communication to the French Central Society of Veterinary Medicine.
He showed clearly that the actinomycosis of the tongue, a disease
which appears to be quite common in Germany, and is there known
as ‘‘ wooden tongue,” could be quickly and permanently cured by the
administration of iodide of potassium. M. Noeard calls attention to
the suecess of M. Thomassen, of Utrecht, who recommended this treat-
ment as long ago as 1885, and who has since treated more than 80 cases,
all of which have been cured. A French veterinarian, M. Godbille,
has treated a number of cases of actinomycosis in the tongue with the
same remedy, all of which have been cured. M. Nocard also gives
details of a case which was cured by himself.
All of the cases referred to were of actinomycosis of the tongue, and
no one appears to have attempted the cure of actinomycosis of the
jaw until this was undertaken by Doctor Norgaard, of the Bureau of
Animal Industry. He selected a young steer in April, 1892, in fair
condition, which had a tumor on the jaw measuring 153 inches in cir-
cumference and from which a discharge had already been established.
This animal was treated with iodide of potassium, and the result was
a complete cure.
The iodide of potassium is given in doses of 13 to 23 drams once
a day, dissolved in water, and administered as a drench. ‘The dose
should vary somewhat with the size of the animal and with the
effects that are produced. If the dose is sufficiently large there appear
signs of iodism in the course of a week or ten days. Theskin becomes
seurfy, there is weeping from the eyes, catarrh of the nose, and loss of
8267—04—— 28
434 DISEASES OF CATTLE.
appetite. When these symptoms appear the medicine may be sus-
pended for a few days and afterwards resumed in the same dose. ‘The
cure requires from three to six weeks’ treatment. Some animals do
not improve under treatment with iodide of potassium, and these are
generally the ones which show no signs of iodism.
If there is no sign of improvement after the animals have been
treated four or five weeks, and the medicine has been given in as large
doses as appear desirable, it is an indication that the particular animal
is not susceptible to the curative effects of the drug, and the treatment
may therefore be abandoned.
It is not, however, advisable to administer iodide of potassium to
milch cows, as it will considerably reduce the milk secretion or stop it
altogether. Furthermore, a great part of the drug is excreted through
the milk, making the milk unfit for use. It should not be given to ani-
mals in advaneed pregnancy, as there is danger of producing abortion.
The best results are obtained by pushing the drug until you see its
effect. The many tests to which this treatment has been subjected
have proved with few exceptions its specific curative value. In addi-
tion to this the tumor should be painted externally with the tineture
of iodine or Lugol’s solution, or one of these solutions should be injeeted
subeutaneously into the tumor.
M. Godbille has given as much as £ drams of potassium iodide in
one day to a steer, decreasing the dose one-fourth dram each day until
the dose was 1} drams, which was maintained until the twelfth day
of treatment, when the steer appeared entirely cured.
M. Noeard gave the first day 1} drams in one dose to a cow; the
second and succeeding days a dose of 1 dram in the morning and even-
ing, in each case before feeding. This treatment was continued for
ten days, when the animal was cured.
Actinomycosis and the public health.—The interest which is shown
concerning this eattle disease is largely due to the fact that the same
disease attacks human beings. Its slow progress, its tendency to
remain restricted to certain loealities, and the absence of any direetly
contagious properties have thus far not aroused any anxiety in other
countries as to its influence on the eattle industry, not even to the
point of placing it among the infectious diseases of which statisties
are annually published. Its possible bearing on public health has,
however, given this disease a place in the public mind which it hardly
deserves.
It has already been stated that the actinomyces fungus found in
human disease is considered by authorities the same as that occurring
in bovine affections. It is therefore of interest to conclude this article
with a brief discussion of the disease in man and its relation to acti-
nomycosis in cattle. :
In man the location of the disease process corresponds fairly well
with that in cattle. The majority of cases which have been reported
INFECTIOUS DISEASES OF CATTLE. 435
in different parts of the world—and they are now quite numerous—
indicate disease of the face. The skin, tongue, or the jawbones may
become affected, and by a very slow process it may extend downward
upon the neck and even into the cavity of the chest. In many cases
the teeth have been found in a state of more or less advanced decay
and ulceration. In a few eases disease of the lungs was observed
without coexisting disease of the bones or soft parts of the head. In
such cases the fungus must have been inhaled. The disease of the
lungs after a time extends upon the chest wall. Here it may corrode the
ribs and work its way through the muscles and the skin. An abscess
is thus formed discharging pus containing actinomyces grains. Dis-
ease of the digestive organs caused by this fungus has also been
observed in a few instances.
tranting the identity of the disease in man and cattle, the question
has been raised whether cattle are responsible for the disease in man.
Any transmission of the infectious agent may be conceived of as taking
place during the life of the animal and after slaughter from the meat.
That human beings have contracted actinomycosis by coming in con-
tact with diseased cattle is not shown by the cases that have hitherto
been reported, for the occupations of most of the patients did not bring
them into any relation whatever with eattle. Whilethe possibility of
such direct transmission is not denied, nevertheless it must be consid-
ered extremely rare. Practically the same position is maintained at
present by most authorities as regards the transmission of the disease to
man by eating meat. Israel, who has studied this question carefully,
found the disease in Jews who never ate pork” and who likewise were
protected by the rigorous meat inspection practiced by their sect from
bovineactinomycosis. Furthermore, it must be borne in mind that acti-
nomycosis is a local disease, causing great destruction of tissue where
the fungus multiplies, but very rarely becoming generally disseminated
over the body from the original disease focus. The fungus is only found
in places where the disease process is manifest to the eye or becomes
so in a very short time after the lodgment of the fungus. Only the
greatest negligence would allow the actually diseased parts to be sold
and consumed. Finally, this parasite, like all others, would be
destroyed in the process of cooking. The majority of authorities thus
do not believe that actinomycosis in man is directly traceable to the dis-
ease in animals, but are of the opinion that both man and animals are
infected from a third source. This source has already been discussed
above. How far these views may be modified by further and more
telling investigations of the parasitic fungus itself no one can predict.
There are still wide gaps in our knowledge, and. the above presenta-
tion simply summarizes the prevailing views, to which there are, of
course, dissenters. An attempt to give the views of both sides on this
question would necessitate the summarizing and impartial discussior.
«Hogs are subject to actinomycosis.
436 DISEASES OF CATTLE.
of all the experiments thus far made—a task entirely beyond the
scope of the present work.
Whether an animal affected with actinomycosis should be used for
human food after all diseased organs and tissues have been thoroughly
removed is a question the answer to which depends on a variety of
circumstances. Among these may be mentioned the thoroughness
of the meat inspection itself, which allows no really diseased animal
to pass muster; the extent of the disease, and the general condition
of the animal affected.
If the tumors in the carcass are small, and not generalized, the
affected parts should be destroyed and the remainder may be used
for human food. When, however, the disease is sufficiently developed
to cause large swellings and abscesses which are freely discharging
pus into the alimentary canal, and when the general health of the
animal is affected, the carcass should be condemned, as the meat is
not in a proper condition for food. The careass should also be
destroyed when the lungs or internal lymphatic glands are affected, or
when there are a large number of centers of disease scattered through-
out the body.
ACTINOMYCOSIS.
[Description of plates. |
PiaTe XLI. Fig. 1. Actinomycosis of the jaw. The lower jawbone has been
extensively eaten away by the diseas2, Fig.2. Actinomyces fungus from a tumor
of the jawbone in cattle, magnified 550 times. Both figures are taken from Jéhne
(Encyklopadie d. ges. Thierheilkunde).
PLATE XLII. Actinomycosis of the lungs. Fig. 1. Transverse section of the
ventral lobe of the right lung, from a case studi din the laboratory. The yellow-
ish dots represent the places where the actinomyces fungus is lodged. The larger
yellowish patches are produced by the confiuence of a number of isolated centers.
The entire lobe is of a dark flesh-red color, due to collapse and broncho-pneumonia.
Fig. 2. The cut surface of a portion of the principal lobe of the same lung, show-
ing the recent invasion of antinomycosis from the other lobe: a, large air tube;
b, artery; c, a pneumonic lobule; d, lobule containing minute yellowish dots. In
these the actinomyces fungus is lodged. Fig. 3. Cut surface of a small portion of
another lung, showing a few lobules'a. The fungus is sprinkled throughout the
lung tissue in the form of yellowish grains, as shown in the illustration. The
pleural covering of the lung tissue is shown in profile above.
PLate XLII. Actinomycosis of the jaw (lumpy jaw, etc.), reduced one-half.
(From Jéhne, in Encyklopiidie d. gesammt. Thierheilkunde.) The lower jaw is
sawn through transversely, i. e., from right to left, and shows the disease within
the jawbone itself; a, within the mouth, showing the papillz on the mucous mem-
brane of the cheek; b, front view of a molar tooth; c, the skin covering the lower
surface of the jawbone; d, the jawbone hollowed out and enlarged by the forma-
tion of cavities within it, which are filled with the soft growth of the actinomy-
cotic tumor, The section makes it appear asif the bone were broken into fragments
and these forced apart; e, a portion of the tumor which has broken through the
bone and the skin and appears as a tumor on the cheek. The little roundish masses
represent the granulomata (minute tumors) in which the fungus vegetates.
PLATE XLI.
Diseases oF CATTLE.
ACTINOMYCOSIS.
HELIOTYPE PRINTING CO, BOSTON,
PLATE XLII
DISEASES OF CATTLE
ACTINOMYCOSIS OF THE LUNGS.
JULIUS BIEN & CO.N-Y
Haines del
in
>}
Diseases oF CATTLE.
ACTINOMYCOSIS OF THE JAW.
PLATE XLIIL
MELIOTVPE PRINTING CO, BOSTON,”
INFECTIOUS DISEASES OF CATTLE. 437
ANTHRAX.
Anthrax, or charbon, may be defined as an infectious disease which
is caused by specific bacteria, known as anthrax bacilli, and which is
more or less restricted by conditions of soil and moisture to definite
geographical localities. While it is chiefly limited to cattle and sheep,
it may be transmitted to goats, horses, cats, and certain kinds of
game. Smaller animals, such as mice, rabbits, and guinea pigs,
speedily succumb to inoculation. Dogs and hogs are slightly sus-
ceptible, while fowls are practically immune. The variety of domes-
ticated animals which it may attack renders it one of the most dreaded
scourges of animal life. It may even attack man. Of this more will
be stated farther on.
Cause.—The cause of anthrax is a microscopic organism known as
the anthrax bacillus. (See Pl. XXIX, fig. 7.) In form it is eylindri-
eal or rod-like, measuring +,/55 to x55 inch in length and ;;},,5 inch in
diameter. Like all bacteria, these rod-like bodies have the power of
indefinite multiplication, and in the body of infected animals they
produce death by rapidly increasing in numbers and producing sub-
stances which poison the body. In the blood they multiply in num-
ber by becoming elongated and then dividing into two, each new
organism continuing the same process indefinitely. Outside of the
body, however, they multiply in a different way when under condi-
tions unfavorable to growth. Ovai bodies, which are called spores,
appear within the rods, and remain alive and capable of germina-
tion after years of drying. They also resist heat to a remarkable
degree, so that boiling water is necessary to destroy them. The
bacilli themselves, on the other hand, show only very little resistance
to heat and drying. It has long been known that the anthrax virus
thrives best under certain conditions of the soil and on territories
subject to floods and inundations. The particular kinds of scil
upon which the disease is observed are black, loose, warm, humous
soils, also those containing lime, marl, and clay, finally peaty, swampy
soils resting upon strata which hold the water, or, in other words, are
impervious. Hence fields containing stagnant pools may be the
source of infection. The infection may be limited to certain farms,
or even to restricted areas on such farms. Even in the Alps, over
3,009 feet above sea level, where such conditions prevail in secluded
valleys, anthrax persists among herds.
Aside from these limitations to specifie conditions of the soil, anthrax
is a disease of world-wide distribution. It exists in most countries of
Europe, in Asia, Africa, Australia, and in our own country in the
lower Mississippi Valley, the Gulf States, and in some of the Eastern
and Western States. It seems to be gradually spreading in this coun-
try and occurs in new districts every year.
Meteorological conditions also have an important share in determin-
ing the severity of the disease. On those tracts subject to inunda-
438 - DISEASES OF CATTLE.
tions in spring a very hot, dry summer is apt to cause a severe outbreak.
The relation which the bacillus bears to these conditions is not posi-
tively known. It may be that during and immediately after inunda-
tions or instagnant water the bacilli find enough nourishment in the
water here and there to multiply and produce an abundant crop of
spores, which are subsequently carried, in a dry condition, by the
winds during the period of drought and disseminated over the vege-
tation. Animals feeding upon this vegetation may contract the dis-
ease if the spores germinate in the body.
Another source of the virus, and one regarde’ by many authorities
as perhaps the most important, is the body of an animal which has
died of anthrax. It will be remembered that in such bodies the
anthrax bacilli are present in enormous numbers, and wherever blood
or other body fluids are exposed to the air on the surface of the carcass
there the formation of spores will go on in the warm season of the year
with great rapidity. It will thus be readily understood how this dis-
ease may become stationary in a given locality and appear year after
year and even grow in severity if the carcasses of animals which have
succumbed to it are not properly disposed of. These should be buried
deeply, so that spore formation may be prevented and no animal have
access to them. By exercising this precaution the disease will not be
disseminated by flies and other insect pests.
We have thus two agents at work in maintaining the disease it in any
locality—the soil and meteorological conditions and the carcasses of
animals that have died of the disease. Besides these dangers, which
are of immediate consequence to cattle on pastures, the virus may be
carried from place to place in hides, hair, wool, hoofs, and horns, and
it may be stored in the hay or other fodder from the infected fields and
cause an outbreak among stabled animals feeding upon it in winter.
In this manner the affection has been introduced into far distant
localities.
How cattle are infected.—We have seen above that the spores of the
anthrax bacilli, which correspond in their functions to the seeds of higher
plants,and which are the elements that resist the unfavorable conditions
in the soil, air, and water longest, are the chief agents of infection. They
may be taken into the body with the food and produce disease which
begins in the intestinal tract; or they may come in contact with
scratches, bites, or other wounds of the skin, the mouth, and tongue,
and produce in these situations swellings or earbuncles. From such
swellings the bacilli penetrate into the blood and produce a general
disease.
It has likewise been claimed that the disease may be transmitted by
various kinds of insects which carry the bacilli from the sick and inoc-
ulate the healthy as they pierce the skin. When infection of the blood
takes place from the intestines the carbuncles may be absent. It has
already been stated that since the anthrax spores live for several years,
INFECTIOUS DISEASES OF CATTLE. 439
the disease may be contracted in winter from food gathered on per-
manently infected fields.
The disease may appear sporadically, i. e., only one or several ani-
mals may be infected while the rest of the herd remain well, or it may
appear as an epizodtic attacking a large number at about the same
time.
Symptoms.—Tke symptoms in cattle vary considerably, according as
the disease begins in the skin, in the lungs, orin the intestines. They
depend also on the severity of the attack. Thus we may have what is
ealled anthrax peracutus or apoplectiform, when the animal dies very
suddenly as if from apoplexy. Such cases usually occur in the begin-
ning of an outbreak. The animal, without having shown any signs of
disease, suddenly drops down in the pasture and dies in convulsions,
or an animal apparently well at night is found dead in the morning.
The second type (anthrax acutus), without any external swellings, is
the one most commonly observed in cattle. The disease begins with
a high fever. The temperature may reach 106° to 107° F. The pulse
beats from 80 to 100 per minute. Feeding and rumination are sus-
pended. Chills and muscular tremors may appear and the skin show
uneven temperature. The ears and base of the horns are cold, the coat
staring. Theanimalsare dulland stupid and manifest great weakness.
To these symptoms others are added in the course of the disease.
The duliness may give way to great uneasiness, champing of the jaws,
spasms of the limbs, kicking and pawing the ground. The breathing
may become labored. The nostrils then dilate, the mouth is open, the
head raised, and all muscles of the chest are strained during breath-
ing, while the visible mucous membranes (nose, mouth, rectum, and
vagina) become bluish. If the disease has started in the bowels, there
is much pain, as shown by the moaning of the animal; the discharges,
at first firm, become softer and covered with serum, mucus, and blood.
As the disease approaches the fatal termination the weakness of the
animal inereases. It leans against supports or liesdown. Blood ves-
sels may rupture and give rise to spots of blood on the various mucous
membranes and bloody discharges from nose, mouth, rectum, and
vagina. The urine not infrequently contains blood (red-water).
Death ensues within one or two days.
A third type of the disease (anthrax subacutus) includes those
cases in which the disease is more prolonged. It may last from three
to seven days and terminate fatally or end in recovery. In this type,
which is rarely observed, the symptoms are practically as deseribed
in the acute form, only less marked.
In connection with these types of intestinal anthrax, swellings may
appear under the skin in different parts of the body, or the disease
may start from such a swelling, caused by the inoculation of anthrax
spores in one of the several different ways already described. If the
disease begins in the skin it agrees in general with the subacute form
440 DISEASES OF CATTLE.
in prolonged duration, and it may occasionally terminate in recovery
if the swellings are thoroughly incised and treated.
Lesions.—These swellings appear as edemas and carbuncles. The
former are doughy tumors of a more or less flattish form passing grad-
ually into the surrounding healthy tissue. They are situated as a rule
beneath the skin in the fatty layer, and the skin itself is at first of
healthy appearance, so that they are often overlooked, especially when
covered with a good coat of hair. When they are cut open they are
found to consist of a peculiar jelly-like mass of a yellowish eclor and
more or less stained by blood. The carbuneles are firm, hot, tender
swellings, which later become cool and painless and undergo mortifi-
eation. The edemas and carbunecles may also appear in the mouth,
pharynx, larynx, in the tongue, and in the rectum.
The bodies of cattle which have died of anthrax soon lose their:
rigidity and become bloated, because decomposition sets in very rap-
idly. From the mouth, nose, and anus blood-stained fluid flows in
small quantities. When such carcasses are opened and examined, it
will be found that nearly all organs are sprinkled with spots of blood
or extravasations of various sizes. The spleen is enlarged from two
to five times, the pulp blackish and soft and occasionally disinte-
grated. The blood is of tarry consistency, not firmly coagulated, and
blackish in color. In the abdomen, the thoracic cavity, and in the
pericardium, or bag surrounding the heart, more or less blood-stained
fluid is present. In addition to these characteristic signs, the car-
bunecles and swellings under the skin, already deseribed, will aid in
-determining the true nature of the disease. The most reliable method
of diagnosis is the examination of the blood and tissues for anthrax
bacilli. This requires a trained bacteriologist. The fatal cases of
anthrax number from 70 to 90 per cent, and are usually more numer-
ous at the first outbreak of the disease.
Differential diagnosis.—The diagnosis from blackleg may be made
by noting the subcutaneous swellings which appear upon the patient.
Those of blackleg are found to crackle under pressure with the finger,
owing to the presence of gas within the tissues, while the tumors of
anthrax, being due to the presence of serum, are entirely free from
this quality and have a somewhat doughy consistence. The tumors
of blackleg usually locate on the shoulder or thigh and are not found
so frequently about the neck and side of the body as are the swellings
of anthrax. The blood of animals dead of blackleg is normal, and
the spleen does not appear swollen or darkened, as in animals affected
withanthrax. The chief differences between anthrax and Texas fever
are that the course of the former is more acute and the blood of the
animal is dark and of a tar-like consistence, while in the case of Texas
fever it will be found thinner than normal. The presence of Texas
fever ticks on the cattle would also lead one to suspect Texas fever in
regions where cattle are not immune from this disease.
INFECTIOUS DISEASES OF CATTLE. 441
Treatment.—This is as arule ineffectual and useless, excepting per-
haps in cases which originate from external wounds. The swellings
should be opened freely by long incisions with a sharp knife and
washed several times daily with carbolic acid solution (1 ounce to a
quart of water). Care should be taken to disinfect thoroughly any
fluid discharge that may follow such incision. When suppuration has
set in, the treatment recommended in the chapter on wounds should bs
earried out.
Prevention.—Since treatment is of little or no avail in this disease,
prevention is the most important subject demanding consideration.
The various means to be suggested may be brought under two heads:
(1) The surroundings of the animal, and (2) protective inoculation.
(1) What has already been stated in the foregoing pages on those
conditions of the pastures which are favorable to anthrax will suggest
to most minds, after a little thought, some of the preventive measures
which may be of service in reducing losses in anthrax localities. All
that conduces to a better state of the soil should be attempted. The
State or Nation should do its share in preventing frequent inundations,
by appropriate engineering. If pools of stagnant water exist on the
pastures, or if any particular portions are known by experience to give
rise to anthrax, they should be fenced off, Efforts should likewise be
made toward the proper draining of swampy lands frequented by cat-
tle. Sometimes it has been found desirable to abandon for a season
any infected and dangerous pastures. This remedy can not be carried
out by most farmers, and it is liable to extend the infected territory.
In some instances withdrawal of cattle from pastures entirely and
feeding them in stables is said to have reduced the losses.
It is of the utmost importance that carcasses of animals which have
died of anthrax should be properly disposed of, since every portion of
such animal contains the bacilli, ready to form spores when exposed to
the air. Perhaps the simplest means is to bury the carcasses deep,
where they can not be exposed by dogs or wild animals. It may be
necessary to bury them on the pasture, but it is better to remove them
to places not frequented by susceptible animals and to a point where
drainage from the graves can not infect any water supply.
If they are moved some distance it must be borne in mind that the
ground and all objects which have come in contact with the carcass
should be disinfected. This is best accomplished with chloride of
lime. For washing utensils, ete., a 5 per cent solution may be pre-
pared by adding 3 ounces to 2 quarts of water. This should be pre-
pared fresh from the powder, and it is but little trouble to have a
small tin measure of known capacity to dip out the powder, to be added
to the water whenever necessary. The carcass and the ground should
be sprinkled with powdered chloride, or, if this be not at hand, an
abundance of ordinary unslaked lime should be used in its place.
The removal of carcasses to rendering establishments is always
449 DISEASES OF CATTLE.
fraught with danger, unless those who handle them are thoroughly
aware of the danger of seattering the virus by careless handling in
wagons which are not tight. As a rule, the persons in charge of such
transfer have no training for this important work, so that deep burial
is to be preferred. Burning large carcasses is not always feasible.
It is, however, the most certain means of destroying infectious mate-
rial of any kind, and should be resorted to whenever practicable and
economical. All carcasses, whether buried, rendered, or burned,
should be disposed of without being opened. When stables have
become infected they should be thoroughly cleaned out, and the solu-
tion of chloride of lime freely applied on floors and woodwork. The
feed should be carefully protected from contamination with the
manure or other discharges from the sick.
(2) Preventive tnoculation.—One of the most important discoveries
in connection with this disease was made by Louis Pasteur in 1881,
and consisted in the new principle of producing immunity by the
inoculation of weakened cultures of the bacillus causing the disease.
This method has been quite extensively adopted in France, and to
some extent in other European countries, and in the United States.
The fluid used for inoculation consists ef bouillon in which modified
anthrax bacilli have multiplied and are present in large numbers.
The bacilli have been modified by heat so that they have lost toa
certain degree their original virulence. Two vaccines are prepared.
The first or weaker for the first inoculation is obtained by subjecting
the bacilli to the attenuating effects of heat for a longer period of time
than is the case with the second or stronger vaccine for a second
inoculation some tweive days later.
These vaccines have been used for cattle and sheep. Their power
to prevent a subsequent attack of anthrax has been the subject of
controversy ever since their use began. The French claim that the
vaccines are successful in protecting cattle and sheep and that the
losses from anthrax in France have been much reduced by their per-
sistent application. According to other observers there are several
difficulties inherent in the practical application of anthrax vaeccina-
tion. Among these may be mentioned the variable degree of attenua-
tion of different tubes of the vaccine and the varying susceptibility
of the animals to be inoculated. Nevertheless, the use of this vac-
cine is increasing and has reduced the mortality in the affected dis-
tricts from an average of 10 per cent with sheep to less than 1 per
cent, and from 5 per cent with eattle to less than one-half of 1 per cent.
It is very important to call attention to the possibility of distribut-
ing anthrax by this method of protective inoculation, since the bacilli
themselves are present in the culture liquid. It is true that they have |
been modified and weakened by the process adopted by Pasteur, but
it is not impossible that such modified virus may regain its original
virulence after it has been scattered breadeast by the inoculation of
INFECTIOUS DISEASES OF CATTLE. 443
large herds. No vaccination should therefore be permitted in locali-
ties free from anthrax. It is also obviously unsafe to have such yae-
cine injected by a layman; instead, it should be handled only by a
competent veterinarian.
Anthrax is an entirely different disease from blackleg, and there-
fore blackleg vaccine does not act as a preventive against anthrax.
ANTHRAX IN MAN (MALIGNANT PUSTULE, OR CARBUNCLE).
Anthrax may be transmitted to man in handling the carcasses and
hides of animals which have succumbed to the disease. The infection
usually takes place through some abrasion or slight wound of the
skin into which the anthrax spores, or bacilli, find their way. The
point of inoculation appears at first as a dark point or patch, com-
pared by some writers to the sting of a flea. After afew hours this
is changed into a reddened pimple, which bears on its summit, usually
around a hair, a yellowish blister, or vesicle, which later on becomes
red or bluish in color. The burning sensation in this stage is very
great. Later on, this pimple enlarges, its center becomes dry, gan-
grenous, and is surrounded by an elevated discolored swelling. The
center becomes drier and more leather-like, and sinks in as the whole
increases in size. The skin around this swelling, or carbunele, is
stained yellow or bluish, and is not infrequently swollen and doughy
to the touch. The carbuncele itself rarely grows larger than a pea or
a small nut, and is but slightly painful.
Anthrax swellings, or edemas, already described as occurring in cat-
tle, may also be found in man, and they are at times so extensive as to
produce distortion in the appearance of the part of the body on which
they are located. The color of the skin over these swellings varies
according to the situation and thickness of the skin and the stage of
the disease, and may be white, red, bluish, or blackish. .
As these carbuncles and swellings may lead, sooner or later, to an
infection of the entire body, and thus be fatal, surgical assistance
should at once be called if there is well-grounded suspicion that any
swellings resembling those deseribed above have been due to inocula-
tion with anthrax virus. Inasmuch as physicians differ as to treat-
ment of such accidents in man, it would be out of place to make any
suggestions in this connection.
To show that the transmission of anthrax to man is not so very
uncommon, we take the following figures from the report of the German
Government for 1890: One hundred and eleven cases were brought to
the notice of the authorities, of which 11 terminated fatally. The
largest number of inoculations were due to the slaughtering, opening,
and skinning of animals affected with anthrax. Hence the butchers
suffered most extensively. Of the 111 thus affected, 36 belonged to
this craft.
In addition to anthrax of the skin (known as malignant pustule),
444 DISEASES OF CATTLE.
human beings are subject, though very rarely, to the disease of the
lungs and the digestive organs. In the former case the spores are
inhaled by workmen in establishments in which wool, hides, and rags
are worked over, and it is therefore known as wool-sorter’s disease.
In the latter case the disease is contracted by eating the flesh of dis-
aased animals which has not been thoroughly cooked. These forms
of the disease are more fatal than those in which the disease starts
from the skin.
BLACKLEG.“@
Blackleg, blackquaiter, quarter-ill, symptomatic anthrax, charbon
symptomatique of the French, Rauschbrand of the Germans, is a
rapidly fatal infectious disease of young cattle, associated with external
swellings which emit a crackling sound when handled. This disease
was formerly regarded identical with anthrax, but investigations car-
ried out by various scientists in recent times have detinitely proved
the entire dissimilarity of the two affections, both from a clinical and
causal standpoint. The disease is produced by a specific bacillus,
readily distinguishable from that causing anthrax. (Pl. X XIX, fig. 4.)
Cattle between 6 months and 2 years of age are the most susceptible.
Sucking calves under 6 months are rarely attacked, nor are they as
susceptible to inoculation as older animals. Cattle over 2 years of
age may become affected, but such cases are infrequent. Sheep and
goats may also contract the disease, but man, horses, hogs, dogs,
eats, and fowls appear to be immune.
Like anthrax, blackleg is more or less restricted to definite localities.
There are certain pastures upon which the disease regularly appears
in the summer and fall of the year. As to any peculiarities of the
soil nothing is definitely known. Some authors are inclined to regard
moist, undrained, and swampy pastures favorable to this disease, but
these theories will hardly hold, as it is found in all kinds of soils, in
all altitudes, at all seasons of the year, and under various climatic
conditions. It occurs in this country from the Atlantic to the Pacific
and from Mexico to Canada, but it is more prevalent in the Western
and Southwestern States. In Europe it exists in France, various
parts of Germany, in Belgium, Norway, Denmark, Italy, and on the
Alps of Switzerland. In Africa it occurs in Algeria and to some
extent in Natal and bordering countries. In South Ameriea it pre-
vails quite extensively throughout Argentina. Cattle in Cuba and
Australia also suffer.
The cause of the disease is a bacillus resembling in some minor
respects the anthrax bacillus and differing but little from it in size.
It also possesses the power of forming within itself a spore. In
«For detailed information regarding blackleg and the free distribution of black-
leg vaccine, write to this Department for Bureau of Animal Industry circvlars
Nos. 23 and 81.
INFECTIOUS DISEASES OF CATTLE. ay
Plate X XIX, fig. 4, this is represented as an uncolored spot located in
one end of the rod, which is enlarged so that the rod itseif appears
more or less club-shaped. What has already been stated concerning
the significance of the spore of the anthrax bacillus applies equally
well to these bodies. They resist destructive agents for a consider-
able length of time, and may still produce disease when inoculated
after several years of drying. This fact may account for the ocea-
sional appearance of blackleg in stables. In order to meet the
requirements for the development of the spores, which only takes
place in the absence of the atmosphere, it is necessary that the wound
be very small and deep enough to penetrate the subcutaneous tissue.
Several observers have found this organism in the mud of swamps.
By placing a little of this mud under the skin the disease has been
called forth.
Since the disease may be produced by placing under the skin mate-
rial containing the specific bacilli and spores, it has been assumed
that cattle contract the disease through wounds, principally of the
skin, or very rarely of the mouth, tongue, and throat. Slight wounds
into which the virus may find access may be caused by barbed wire,
stubbles, thorns, briers, grass burs, and sharp or pointed parts of food.
The symptoms of blackleg may be either of a general or a local
nature, though more frequently of the latter. The general symptoms
are very much like those belonging to other acute infectious or bac-
terial diseases. They begin from one to three days after the infec-
tion has taken place with loss of appetite and of rumination, with
dullness and debility, and a high fever. The temperature may rise to
107° F. To these may be added lameness or stiffness of one or more
limbs, due to the tumor or swelling quite invariably accompanying
the disease. After a period of disease lasting from one to three days
the affected animal almost always succumbs. Death is preceded by
increasing weakness, difficult breathing, and occasional attacks of
violent convulsions.
The most important characteristic of this disease is the appearance
of a tumor or swelling under the skin of the affected animal a few
hours after the setting in of the constitutional symptoms described
above. In some cases it may appear first. This tumor may be
located on the thighs (hence ‘‘ blackleg,” ‘‘ blackquarter”’), the neck,
the shoulder, the breast, the flanks, or the rump; never below the
carpal (or knee) and the hock joint. It more rarely appears in the
throat and at the base of the tongue. The tumor, at first small and
painful, spreads very rapidly both in depth and extent. When it is
stroked or handled a peculiar crackling sound is heard under the
skin. This is due to a collection of gas formed by the bacilli as they
multiply. At this stage the skin becomes dry, parchment-like, and
cool to the touch in the center of the tumor. If the swelling is cut
into, a frothy, dark-red, rather disagreeably smelling fluid is dis-
446 DISEASES OF CATTLE.
charged. The animal manifests little or no pain during the
operation.
As it is frequently desirable to know whether the disease is anthrax
or blackleg, a few of the most obvious postmortem changes may
here be cited. The characteristic tumor with its crackling sound
when stroked has already been described. If after the death of the
animal it be more thoroughly examined, it will be noted that the tissue
under the skin is infiltrated with blood and yellowish, jelly-like mate-
rial and gas bubbles. The muscular tissue beneath the swelling may
be brownish or blaek, shading into dark red. (Pl. XLIV.) It is soft
and easily torn and broken up. The muscle tissue is distended with
numerous smaller or larger gas-filled cavities, often to such an extent
as to produce a resemblance to lung tissue. Upon incision it does
not collapse perceptibly, as the gas cavities are not connected with
each other. ,
In the abdomen and the thorax blood-stained fluid is not infre-
quently found, together with blood-staining of the lining membrane of
these cavities. Blood spots (or eechymoses) are also found on the heart
and lungs. The liver is congested, but the spleen is always normal.
Differential diagnosis.—Among the features of this disease which
distinguish it from anthrax may be mentioned the unchanged spleen
and the ready clotting of the blood. It will be remembered that in
anthrax the spleen (milt) is very much enlarged, the blood tarry,
coagulating feebly. The anthrax carbuneles and swellings differ from
the blackleg swellings in not containing gas, in being hard and solid,
and in causing death less rapidly.
It is difficult to distinguish between the swellings of blackleg and
malignant edema, since they resemble each other very closely and
both are distended with gas. Malignant edema, however, generally
starts from a wound of considerable size; it usually follows surgical
operations, and does not result from the small abrasions and pricks
to which animals are subjected in pastures. Inoculation experiments
of guinea pigs, rabbits, and chickens willalso disclose the differences
between the above three diseases, since all of these species are killed
by the germ of malignant edema, only the first two species by the
anthrax bacillus, while the guinea pigs alone will succumb to the
blackleg infection. Hemorrhagie septicemia may be differentiated
from blackleg by its affecting cattle of all ages, by the location of the
swelling usually about the region of the throat, neck, and dewlap, by the
soft, doughy character of these swellings without the presence of gas
bubbles, and finally by the characteristic hemorrhages widely dis-
tributed throughout the body. Other means of diagnosis, which have
referenee to the specifie bacilli, to the inoeculable character of the
virus upon small animals, and which are of decisive and final impor-
tance, ean be utilized only by the trained bacteriologist and veteri-
narian.
ee
INFECTIOUS DISEASES OF CATTLE. 447
Treatment.—In this disease remedies have thus far proved una-
vailing. Some writers recommend the use of certain drugs, which
seem to have been beneficial in a few cases, but a thorough trial has
shown them to be valueless. Others advise that the swelling be
opened by deep and long incisions and a strong disinfectant, such as
a 5 per cent solution of carbolic acid, applied to the exposed parts, but
this procedure can not be too strongly condemned. Since nearly all
those attacked die in spite of every kind of treatment, and in view of
the fact that the germs of the disease are scattered over the stables or
pastures when these tumors are opened, thus becoming a source of
danger to other cattle, it is obvious that such measures do more harm
than good and should be put aside as dangerous. Bleeding, nerving,
roweling, or setoning have likewise some adherents, but the evidence
indicates that they have neither curative nor preventive value and
therefore should be discarded for the method of vaccination which
has been thoroughly tried out and proved to be efficacious in prevent-
ing the disease.
Prevention.—The various means suggested under “Anthrax” to pre-
vent the spread or recurrence of this disease are equally applicable to
blackleg, and henee do not need to be repeated here in full. They
consist of the removal of the animals from the infected pasture to a
noninfected field, the draining of the swampy ground, the burial or
burning of the careasses to prevent the dissemination of the germs
over vast areas through the ageney of dogs, wolves, buzzards, and
crows, the disinfection of the stables and the ground where the ani-
mals lay at the time of death, and, if possible, the destruction of the
germs on the infected pastures. One of the most effective methods
for freeing an infected pasture from blackleg is to allow the grass to
grow up high, and, when sufficiently dry, to burn it off. One burn-
ing off, however, is not sufficient to redeem an infected pasture, but
the process should be repeated several years in succession. This
method, however, is in many instances impracticable, as few cattle
owners can afford to practice it, and the only means left for the pro-
tection of the animals is vaccination.
Immunization by vaccination.—Three French veterinarians, Arlo-
ing, Cornevin, and Thomas, were the first to discover that cattle may
be protected against blackleg by inoculation with virulent material
obtained from animals which have died of this disease. Later they
devised a method of inoculation with the attenuated or weakened
blackleg spores which produced immunity from natural or artificial
inoculation of virulent blackleg germs. Their method has undergone
various modifications both in regard to the manufacture of the vac-
cine and in the mode of its application. Kitt, a German scientist,
modified the method so that but one inoculation of the vaccine was
required instead of two, as was the case with that made by the French
investigators. The vaccine prepared and distributed by the Bureau
448 DISEASES OF CATTLE.
of Animal Industry combines the principle of Arloing, Cornevin, and
Thomas and the modification of Kitt.
By vaccination we understand the injection into the system of a
minute amount of attenuated—that is, artificially weakened—blackleg
virus. This virus is obtained from animals which have died from
blackleg, by securing the affected muscles, cutting them into strips,
and drying them in the air. When they are perfectly dry they are
pulverized and mixed with water to form a paste, smeared in a thin
layer on flat dishes, placed in an oven, and heated for six hours at a
temperature close to that of boiling water. The paste is then trans-
formed into a hard erust, which is pulverized and sifted and distrib-
uted in packages containing either 10 or 25 doses. This constitutes
the vaccine, the strength of which is thoroughly tested on experiment
animals before it is distributed among the cattle owners. This vac-
cine, which is in the form of a brownish dry powder, is mixed with
definite quantities of sterile water, filtered, and the filtrate injected by
means of a hypodermie syringe under the skin in front of the shoul-
der of the animal te be vaccinated. The inoculation is usually fol-
lowed by insignificant symptoms. In a few cases there is a slight
rise of temperature, and by close observation a minute swelling may
be noted at the point of inoculation. The immunity conferred in
this way may last for eighteen months, but animals vaccinated before
they are 6 months old and those in badly infected districts should be
revaccinated before the following blackleg season.
The effect of the vaccine prepared by this Bureau in preventing
outbreaks of the disease and in immediately abating outbreaks already
in progress has been highly satisfactory, and it is not to be doubted
that thousands of young cattle have been saved to the stock owners
during the six and a half years in which the vaccine has-been dis-
tributed. More than 7,700,000 doses have been sent out during this
period, and from reports received it is safe to conclude that more than
one-half of this quantity has actually been injected, whereby the per-
centage of loss from blackleg has been reduced from 10, 15, or 20 per
eent, which annually occurred before using, to less than 1 per cent per
annum. With these figures before us it is plain that the general
introduction of preventive vaccination must be of material benefit to
the cattle raisers in the infected districts. Moreover, there is every
reason to believe that with the continued use of blackleg vaccine in
all districts where the disease is known to occur.and an earnest effort
on the part of the stock owners to prevent the reinfection of their
pastures by following the directions given, blackleg may: be kept in
cheek and gradually eradicated.
NECROTIC STOMATITIS (CALF DIPHTHERIA).
Necrotie stomatitis is an acute, specific, highly contagious inflam-
mation of the mouth, occurring in young eattle and characterized,
DISEASES OF CATTLE PLATE XLIV
Haines del
SECTION OF MUSCLE FROM A BLACKLEG SWELLING.
a,GAS BUBBLES.
b, CAVITIES DUE TO GAS FORMATION.
JULIUS BIEN & CO-NY
DISEASES OF CATTLE PLATE XLV
Haines del . JULIUS BIEN & CO.N.Y
: NECROTIC STOMATIT!S (CALF DIPHTHERIA)
+ WITH LESIONS INVOLVING TONGUEAND CHEEK.
INFECTIOUS DISEASES OF CATTLE. 449
locally, by the formation of ulcers and caseo-necrotie patches and by
constitutional symptoms, chiefly toxic.
This disease has also been termed calf diphtheria, gangrenous
stomatitis, ulcerative stomatitis, malignant stomatitis, tubercular
stomatitis, and diphtheric patches of the oral mucous membrane.
History.—During the last few years farmers and cattlemen in this
country, especially in Colorado, Texas, and South Dakota, have
increasingly noted the occurrence of enzootics of ‘‘sore mouth” among
the young animals of their herds. Instead of healing, like the usual
forms, of themselves, these cases, if untreated, die. Careful study of
some of them has resulted in their identification with cases reported
in 1877 by Dammann, from the shore of the Baltic; in 1878 by Blaze-
kowie, in Slavonia; in 1879 by Vollers, in Holstein; in 1880 by Leng-
len, in France; in 1881 by Macgillivray, in England, and in 1884 by
Léffler, who isolated and described the microorganism which produces
the disease. Bang obtained this organism from the diphtheritic lesions
of calves in 1890, and Kitt likewise recovered the bacillus from similar
lesions of the larynx and pharynx of calves and pigs in 1893.
Etiology.—TYhe cause of necrotic stomatitis, as demonstrated by
Loffler and since confirmed by other investigators, is Bacillus necro-
phorus, often spoken of as the bacillus of necrosis. This organism
varies in form from a coccoid rod to long, wavy filaments, which may
reach a length of 100 “; the width varies from 0.75 4 to 1“. Hence
it is described as polymorphic. It does not stain by Gram, but takes
the ordinary aniline dyes, often presenting, especially the longer forms,
a beaded appearance. A characteristic of the organism, of great
moment when we come to treatment, is that it grows only in the
absence of oxygen, from which fact it is described as an obligate
anaerobe.
Very few organisms exhibit a wider range of pathogenesis. Accord-
ing to clinical observation up to the present time, Bacillus necrophorus
is pathogenic for cattle, horses, hogs, sheep, reindeer, kangaroos, ante-
lope, and rabbits. Experimentally it has been proved pathogenie for
rabbits and white mice. The dog, cat, guinea pig, pigeon, and chicken
appear to be absolutely immune. It is not pathogenic for man.
The importance of this bacillus is far beyond even its relation to
necrotic stomatitis. Besides this disease it has been demonstrated as
the causative factor in foot rot, multiple liver abscesses, disseminated
liver necrosis, embolic necrosis of the lungs, necrosis of the heart, in
cattle; gangrenous pox of the teats, diphtheria of the uterus and
vagina, in cows; diphtheritic inflammation of the small intestine of
ealves. Among horses it is the agent in the production of necrotic
malanders, quittor, and diphtheritie inflammation of the large intes-
tine. In hogs it has caused necrotic or diphtheritice processes in the
mucous membrane of the mouth, necrosis of the anterior wall of the
8267—04 29
450 DISEASES OF CATTLE.
nasal septum, and pulmonary and intestinal necrosis, accompanying
hog cholera. Abscesses of the liver, gangrenous processes of the lips
and nose, and gangrenous affections of the hoof have all been caused
in sheep by this organism.
Pathology.—The principal lesions in necrotic stomatitis occur in the
mucous membrane of the mouth and pharynx. The alterations may
extend to the nasal cavities, the larynx, the trachea, the lung, the
esophagus, the intestines, and to the hoof. The oral surfaces affected
are, in the order of frequency, tongue, cheeks, hard palate, gums,
lips, and pharynx. In the majority of cases the primary infection
seems to oceur in the tongue. (Pl. XLV.)
Infection takes place by inoculation. Some abrasion or break in
the continuity of the mucous membrane of the mouth occurs. Very
likely the origin may be connected with the eruption of the first teeth
after birth, or, in animals somewhat older, the entrance of a sharp-
pointed particle of food. Gaining an entrance at this point, the bacilli
begin to multiply. During their development they elaborate a toxin,
or poisonous substance, which causes the death, or necrosis, of the epi-
thelial, or superficial, layer of the mucous membrane and also of the
white blood cells which have sallied forth through the vessel walls to
the defense of the tissues against the bacillary attack. This destrue-
tion of the surface epithelium seems to be the essential factor in the
production of the caseous patch, often called the false membrane.
From the connective tissue framework below is poured forth an inflam-
matory exudate highly albuminous or rich in fibrin-forming elements.
When this exudate and the necrosed cellular elements come in con-
tact, the latter furnish a fibrin ferment which transforms the exudate
into a fibrinous mass. This process is known as coagulation necrosis,
and the resulting fibroid mass, containing in its meshes the necrosed
and degenerated epithelium and leucocytes, constitutes the diphtherie
or false membrane. Did the process cease at this point it would be
properly called a diphtherie inflammation. But it does not.
) os
“ wet
a
Fig. 4
aU
YULIUS BIEN A CO.NLY
TEXAS FEVER.
ae .
¢
A an 1 af
kal
“7h
va
DISEASES OF CATTLE PLATE XLVIII
Fis. 7
BIEN & CO.N.Y
Haines del
THE CATTLE TICK-THE CARRIER OF TEXAS FEVER.
DISEASES OF CATTLE. PLATE XLIX.
PoRTION OF A STEER’S HIDE, SHOWING THE TEXAS-FEVER TICK (BOOPHILUS ANNULA-
TUS) OF THE UNITED STATES. NATURAL SIZE. ORIGINAL.
DISEASES OF CATTLE PLATE L
Haines del ; 4 JULIUS BIEN & CO.NY
Figs.l}and 2 DORSAL AND VENTRAL VIEWS OF MALE
TEXAS FEVER TICK.{( BOOPHILUS ANNULATUS )
Figs.3 and4 DORSAL AND VENTRAL VIEWS OF REPLETE FEMALE
TEXAS FEVER TICK.( BOOPHILUS ANNULATUS )
DISEASES OF CATTLE
PLATE LI.
JULIUS BIEN & CO. LITH.N.Y.
BOUNDARY LINE OF THE DISTRICT INFECTED WITH TEXAS OR SOUTHERN CATTLE, FEVER.
il
INFECTIOUS DISEASES OF CATTLE. 469
bred cattle into infected districts that they may be used to improve
the quality of the native cattle already there. Previous to the dis-
covery of the cause of Texas fever it was found to be well-nigh impos-
sible to introduce purebred cattle from the North into any of the
infected regions without suffering great loss, sometimes as high as 90
per cent, within a few months of their arrival at their Southern desti-
nation. At first it was thought that the fatalities were due to climatic
changes, but later the discovery was made that Texas fever was in
reality causing these numerous deaths.
It has now been found practicable to immunize this class of cattle
so perfectly that the losses which follow their transportation to a tick-
infested region are reduced toa minimum. Young animals 8 to 12
months old should, so far as possible, be selected for this purpose,
as they are more readily immunized than adults, are more easily
handled, and the dangers which may arise from pregnaney while
undergoing the immunizing treatment are thus avoided.
Immunity in these cattle is obtained by introducing the micro-
parasite of the blood into their systems. It may be done by direct
artificial inoculation, or by placing virulent young ticks upon
the animals and allowing them to perform the inoculation in the nat-
ural manner. The subcutaneous injection of a small amount of
defibrinated virulent blood has been found, by means of prolonged
experiment the preferable method, as the number of microorganisms
introduced can be more accurately gaged from the syringe than by
allowing the infection to be produced by the bites of ticks. Two or
three inoculations if repeated at intervals of three weeks are accom-
plished with greater safety to the animal than would be possible by
means of a single inoculation. The amount first injected should be
small, and then gradually increased in the following treatments:
The late summer or fall months have been proved to be the most
suitable seasons of the year for making these inoculations, and the
eattle should then be shipped South in December or January, for the
reason that natural infection with the ticks of the region will be less
severe at that season of the year than at any other.
The inoculation always results in a more or less serious attack of
Texas fever upon the animal treated. There is fever, great diminu-
tion of red-blood corpuscles, and at times a fatal termination, but the
proportion of deaths resulting from the inoculation is small when
compared with the fatalities among animals taken directly into
infected districts. Instead of a loss of 90 per cent among breeding
stock taken South it has been shown that by this method of immuniza-
tion 90 per cent can be saved. In no case should treatment of this
nature be undertaken by a person who is not fully versed in the
pathology and clinical course of the disease.
Treatment.—Wren the disease has broken out, all animals, the sick
as well as the healthy, should at once be removed to another non-
470 DISEASES OF CATTLE.
infeeted pasture. While this may not cut short the disease, it may
save the lives of some by removing them from the possibility of being
attacked by more young ticks. Removalfrom infected pastures like-
wise prevents a second later attack in October or early in November,
which is eaused by another generation of ticks. It is true that sick
natives infeet with a new generation of ticks the pasture to which
they are removed, but these usually appear so late that they have but
little opportunity to do any damage. Hence, sick natives do not, as
a rule, cause visible disease in other natives.
It is of importanee to remove all ticks, as far as this is possible,
from sick animals, since they abstract a considerable amount of
blood and thereby retard the final recovery.
Medical treatment of the sick has generally been unsatisfactory,
although in chronie cases and those occurring late in the fall bene-
ficial results have followed. If the animal is constipated, a drench
containing 1 pound of Epsom salts dissolved in 1 quart of water
should be administered, followed by the sulphate of quinine in doses
of 30 to 90 grains, according to the size of the animal, four times a
day until the system is well saturated with it. Tincture of digitalis
one-half ounee and whisky or alcohol 2 ounees may be combined with
the quinine, according to indications of individual cases. An iron
tonie containing reduced iron 2 ounces, powdered gentian 4 ounces,
powdered nux vomica 2 ounces, powdered rhubarb 2 ounces, and potas-
sium nitrate 6 ounces will be found beneficial in the convalescent
stage when the fever has run its course. This tonie should be given
in heaping-tablespoonful doses three times a day in the food. Good
nursing is essential in treating these cases, and the animal should be
given a nutritious laxative diet, with plenty of clean and cool drinking
water.
Sanitary regulations.—The disease, outside of the infected district,
may be prevented by proper regulations governing the movement of
cattle from that district during the season of the year that infection
is possible. Such regulations are now made yearly by the Secretary
of Agriculture. They define the boundary of the infected district,
and this year provide that no cattle shall go out of it except for
immediate slaughter during that portion of the year included between
the dates of February 1 and October 31. At the present time cattle
may be moved from said quarantined district for purposes other than
immediate slaughter from November 1 to January 31, inclusive, into
the noninfected area within the States of Virginia, North Carolina,
Tennessee, Texas, and California, and to the States of Missouri and
Kansas, and the Territories of Arizona and New Mexico, as may be
provided for in the regulations of these States and Territories, and
after inspection and upon written permission by an inspector of the
Bureau of Animal Industry, or a duly authorized inspector of the
State or Territory to which the cattle are destined. From November
_—
INFECTIOUS DISEASES OF CATTLE. A471
1 to December 31, inclusive, cattle from said district may be moved
to the noninfected area in the Territory of Oklahoma after inspection
and upon the written permission of an inspector of the Bureau of
Animal Industry.
All eattle from the quarantined district destined to points outside
of the States and Territories above named may be shipped without
inspection between November 1 and January 31, inclusive (the open
season), without restrictions other than may be enforced by local
regulations at point of destination. Cattle from the infected district
going to slaughter during the closed season can not be driven, but
must be shipped by rail or boat. The waybills and cars are marked
“Southern cattle” when they cross the boundary line, and when they
are unloaded for feeding, watering, or sale they are placed in pens
set apart for such animals and into which native stock is not allowed
to go. The ears and boats which have transported such cattle must
be cleaned and disinfected before native stock can be carried.
By these simple regulations the disease has been practically pre-
vented in the noninfected district during the past several years, and
little or no hardship has been caused to those shipping or handling
cattle from the infected district. This suecess is one of the best
illustrations of the value of proper regulations made in accordance
with the principles of veterinary science and intelligently adminis-
tered.
NAGANA.
Nagana, also called tsetse fly disease, is an infectious fever occur-
ring chiefly in horses and cattle, characterized by alternating par-
oxysms and intermissions and produced by a specific flagellate proto-
zoan (Trypanosoma Bruce?) in the blood. It is probably transmitted
from animal to animal solely by the bites of the tsetse fly. This
insect is something like a large house fly, and when it settles on a
diseased animal sucks the blood and infects its proboscis, it is enabled
on biting a second animal to infect the latter by direct inoculation.
This disease is found throughout a large portion of Central and
Southern Africa, along the low-lying and swampy valleys. It has
never occurred in the United States, nor is it known to be present in
the Philippines, but its relation to surra and the possibility of its
“appearance in one of our island dependencies are the reasons for
including a few remarks at this time.
Symptoms.—The chief symptoms in addition to the fever, which is
usually about 104° to 105° F., are the muscular wasting, progressive
anemia, and loss of power, together with the edema most marked
about the head, legs, abdomen, and genital organs. The urine is
yellow and turbid, and occasionally contains albumen and blood.
There is paralysis of one or both of the hind legs, difficult urination
and defecation, labored breathing, discharge from the eyes and nose,
472 DISEASES OF CATTLE.
extreme thirst, and gradual extension of paralysis to other parts of
the body. The disease runs a chronic course, lasting from three to
six weeks in horses, and from one to six. months inecattle. Besides
these animals, the mule, ass, buffalo, antelope, hyena, camel, and dog
contract the disease naturally, and sheep, goats, cats, and small
laboratory animals succumb to artificial inoculation.
Lesions.—The spleen and lymphatic glands are enlarged. There
are sero-fibrinous exudates in the body cavities, the liver is enlarged
and engorged, heart flabby, and a catarrhal condition is present in the
respiratory passages. Pathological changes occur in the spinal cord.
The finding of the trypanosoma by microscopic examination of the
blood will be conclusive evidence for diagnosis.
Treatment.—Treatment has not proved satisfactory. Quinine,
arsenic, methylene blue, and other drugs have been used, but without
success. Endeavors thus far made to produce immunity from this
disease have likewise been unavailing.
CATTLE FARCY.
This is a chronic disease of cattle occurring in France and the
island of Gaudeloupe, West Indies. It is characterized by caseating
nodular swellings, first of the skin and afterwards of the superficial
lymphatic vessels and glands, finally proving fatal within a year by
extension to the viscera. The swellings rupture and discharge a
purulent yellowish fluid, which contains the causative organism.
This affection, called farcin du boeuf by the French, resembles
cutaneous glanders or farey of horses, but is caused by an entirely
different organism, the streptothrix of Nocard. Moreover, cattle are
immune from glanders and for this reason the name, unfortunately
applied to this disease, should not lead to any confusion with the
cutaneous glanders or farey of horses. Although the disease has
only been described as occurring in Gaudeloupe and France, the pos-
sibility of its occurrence in our new possessions warrants its mention
in this chapter.
Treatment.—Treatment consists in making incisions into the swell-
ings and syringing them out with 5 per cent ecreolin or ecarbolic acid.
The cavities may then be packed with cotton soaked in 5 per cent
zine chloride solution. The swollen lymphatics may also be bathed or
covered with cloths wrung out in this solution.
NOTE.
The following are also infectious diseases of cattle, a discussion of
which will be found in previous chapters:
Page.
Tetanus oii eel es Be eh ee eerert id allel ca A 9 areas Seana 000
White scour of Galyess-c8. 6 et i ee 000
Contagious:abortion! .2 2340.62 es ee eee 000
Infectious ophthalmia (pink eye). -jc<2. .. a. tno eee ee ee ee eee 000
THE ANIMAL PARASITES OF CATTLE.
By Cu. WARDELL STILES, Pu.D.¢
In a short article of this kind it will be best to arrange the para-
sites according to the organs they infest, rather than according to
their zoological order. It is, however, necessary to state that the
parasites of cattle belong to different groups in the animal kingdom,
which may be distinguished as follows:
(1) The protozoa are minute animals which are usually not visible to the naked
eye. In cattle parasitic protozoa are reported from the stomach, intestine, liver,
vagina, muscles, and blood. In some cases the farmer will be able to recognize
the diseases which these small organisms cause, but he will seldom be able to
recognize the parasites themselves unless he understands how to use a microscope.
(2) Flukes, or trematodes, occur chiefly in the liver, stomach, lungs. and blood.
They are visible to the naked eye and look like a leaf or a leech. It will be a rare
exception if the farmer is able to recognize them unless he examines the organs of
a dead animal.
(8) Larval tapeworms, larval cestodes, or bladder worms, are bladder-like struc-
tures and may occur in any organ except the intestinal canal; they are found
more particularly, however, in the muscles, lungs, liver,and attached to the caul
(omentum) in the abdominal cavity. The farmer will be able to recognize them
only by examining the organs of a dead animal.
(4) Adult tapeworms (adult cestodes) look like a piece of tape and are seg-
mented. They live in the small intestine, and are sometimes found in the drop-
pings.
(5) Roundworms, or threadworms (nematodes), look like a piece of thread or
wire, and some of the larger forms look something like a white or yellow lead
pencil. They occur especially in the stomach, intestine, and lungs, but are also
found in the abdominal cavity, eye, spleen,and elsewhere. They are occasionally
seen in the droppings.
(6) Bloodsuckers are elongate worms, much like earthworms, but possess a
sucking disk at one end. They are occasionally parasitic in the mouth, nose,
pharynx, and larynx.
(7) Tongue worms are not true worms, but are related to the ticks. They
occur in cysts in the mesenteric glands and in the lungs, but will probably rarely
be recognized by farmers.
(8) Mites are small animals which possess three pairs of legs when young, but
four pairs when older. They are parasitic on the skin and cause mange. Some
forms are found in the ear.
(9) Ticks are similar to mites, but much larger. They are parasitic on the
skin or in the ear.
«Formerly zoologist, Bureau of Animal Industry, but transferred, August 16,
1902, to United States Public Health and Marine-Hospital Service, as Chief of
Division of Zoology.
473
474 DISEASES OF CATTLE.
(10) Insect larvx, grubs, or bots, are young stages of flies and are found
encysted in the esophagus or under the skin and in other parts of the body.
(11) Adult insects have three pairs of legs, and are usually provided with wings,
except in the case of lice and fleas.
TREATMENT OF PARASITIC DISEASES OF CATTLE.
We may lay down the following general rules regarding treatment:
(1) External parasites, except ticks and hair follicle mites, can usu-
ally be killed by dipping. (2) Parasites which are free in the stomach
ean be killed or expelled with drenches of a 1 per cent solution of
creosote, or with gasoline. Drenching tubes (fig. 1) are more con-
venient than drenching bottles, and, when administering a dose, it is
better to have the animal standing or kneeling than lying down. (3)
Fic. 1.—A drenching tube, made from an ordinary 10-cent tin funnel, a piece of rubber hose, and
a piece of brass pipe, one-fourth natural size (original).
Some of the parasites which are free in the intestine can be expelled
_ with powdered thymol or with drenches. (4) There is no satisfactory
medical treatment for any of the animal parasites found in the mus-
cles, bones, nervous system, lungs,@ liver, spleen, panereas, or kid-
neys, or for the parasitic worms which are encysted in the wall of the
stomach or of the intestine. (See Stiles, 1901b.) (5) In connection
with the parasitic diseases of cattle, therefore, we must rely chiefly
upon prevention.
PREVENTION OF PARASITIC DISEASES OF CATTLE.
Parasitie diseases may be greatly lessened if certain general
hygienic rules are followed as indicated below: .
(1) Every ranch should have a hospital pasture situated on high,
dry ground, well drained, and without any pools or ponds; it should
aSee, however, Verminous bronchitis, p. 492.
=
ANIMAL PARASITES OF CATTLE. AT5
be supplied with raised troughs for watering and feeding, and the
water supply should come from a well or a spring. This pasture
should not drain into any pasture in which healthy stock are feeding.
(2) As soon as any sick animal is noticed in the large pasture it
should immediately be separated from the healthy stock and taken
to the hospital pasture. To allow sick animals to run at large with
healthy stock means deliberately to permit the spread of infection in
the pastures and thus to endanger the healthy animals.
(3) Proper watering places should be supplied in the large pastures
by digging wells and erecting windmills to pump the water into tanks.
These tanks should be raised above the ground, so that they can not
become contaminated by the washing of animal droppings into them
by rains and floods.
(4) Select high, sloping ground for pasture when this is possible.
Low pastures should be properly drained.
(5) Burn the pastures regularly, thoroughly, and systematically.
The heat from the burning grass will kill many of the eggs and young
worms on the grass, the ground, and in the droppings.
(6) As parasites are more fatal to young animals than to old stock,
a liberal supply of oats or some similar food will aid in giving to
young animals strength, which will enable them to withstand the
infection. A daily allowance of, say, half a pound of oats per lamb
ought to reduce the mortality. At first the animals may not be
inclined to eat it, but they will soon become accustomed to it. This
simple precaution is reported as very effectual in New Zealand.
(7) Keep plenty of salt accessible to animals. Some men add slaked
lime to the salt. Asa matter of experience, salt kills many young
worms.
(8) Kill all stray and ownerless dogs, and kill all wolves, coyotes,
and other wild canines. These animals transmit several serious
diseases to live stock as well as to man.
(9) Prevent the fodder and drinking water from contamination
with human feces, and never build privies near stock pens or stock
yards.
(10) Encourage the breeding of toads, frogs, and carp in districts
which are subject to floods and overflows. These animals will
decrease liver fluke disease by destroying the parasites in their young
i
stage and by feeding on snails, which serve as intermediate hosts.
LITERATURE ON ANIMAI PARASITES OF CATTLE PUBLISHED BY THE
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE.
As this article is necessarily very short, references for the more
important parasites are given to other publications issued by the
Department of Agriculture and:in which the parasites in question
are described in more detail. Some ef these publications are now out
A6 DISEASES OF CATTLE.
of print, but can be consulted in the State experiment stations and
various libraries.
CURTICE, COOPER.
1890.—The animal parasites of sheep. 222 pp., 36 pls. 8°. (U. S. Dept.
Agric.) [W*.]¢ [Edition exhausted. ]
HICKMAN, RICHARD WEST.
1902a.—Description and treatment of scabies in cattle