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THE FARMER’S
VETERINARY ADVISER
A GUIDE TO THE
PREVENTION AND TREATMENT OF DISEASE
IN DOMESTIC ANIMALS
By JAMES LAW
Professor of Veterinary Science in Cornell University ; Veterinary Alumnus of the Higk
land and A gricultural Society of Scotland ; Fellow of the Royal College of Vetert-
nary Surgeons of Great Britain; Consulting Veterinarian to the New
York Agricultural Society; Member of the American Public
Health Association, Former Professor in the Albert Vet-
erinary College, London, and the New Veteri-
nary College, Edinburgh; Author of
General and Descriptive Anat-
omy of the Domestic
Animals, etc.
WITH NUMEROUS ILLUSTRATIONS
SEVENTH EDITION
ITHACA
PUBLISHED BY THE AUTHOR
1885
i
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ay aay
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Lo
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COpvRIGHT, 1876,
By JAMES LAW.
Right of Translation Reserves.
TROW'S:
PRINTING AND BOOKBINDING COMPANY
NEW YORK,
PREFACE.
This work is especially designed to supply the need of
the busy American farmer who can rarely avail of the ad-
vice of a scientific veterinarian. The Author is deeply sen-
sible of the low estimate placed upon Veterinary Medicine
and Surgery in the United States, and of the necessity of
educating the public up to a better appreciation of its
value. We have a property in live stock estimated at
$1,500,000,000, and rapidly increasing in value, consisting
of at least six different genera of mammals, besides birds,
and therefore affording an almost unlimited field for the
practical exercise of humanity, political economy and
scientific research in the pursuit of Veterinary Medicine.
In the Old World millions are saved yearly to each of the
Western European Nations in the exclusion and extinction
of animal plagues, and many instances can be adduced of
an intelligent veterinary supervision saving at the rate of
$30,000 per annum on a stud of 400 horses. But in the
Western Hemisphere, apart from the larger cities, the
great pecuniary interest in live stock is largely at the
mercy of ignorant pretenders whose barbarous surgery is
only equaled by their reckless and destructive drugging.
Thd constantly recurring instances of absolute and painful
poisoning, and cruel and injurious vivisections practiced
under the name of remedial measures are almost sickening
to contemplate. To give the stock owner such informa-
iv Preface.
tion as will enable him to dispense with the unprofitable
and perilous services of such pretenders, and to apply
rational means of cure when he happens to be beyond the
reach of the accomplished veterinarian, is the aim of thie
book, and this it is confidently hoped it will accomplish
for all who will intelligently study its pages.
To secure this object and yet to place the book within
the reach of all, it was necessary to sacrifice all extended
discussion of diseased processes, and questions in pathol-
ogy, and therefore the reader who may discover deviations
from current opinions is requested to suspend his decision
until he has consulted the Author’s larger work, in which
the reasons for these positions will be given.
With this view of still further condensing the work, the
doses of medicines for the different animals are rarely
given in the text, but one or more agents are named as ap-
plicable to every distinct stage or phase of the disease and
species of patient, and the reader must turn to the list of
drugs given at the end to find the amount required for
each animal. In doing this he must note particularly for
what purpose the agent is given and select the dose ac-
cordingly, as the effect of large doses is usually essentially
different from that of small ones. Thus common salt given
in large doses to cattle is purgative and reducing, while in
small ones it is alterative and tonic. Sulphur in large
doses is laxative but in small ones alterative, expectorant
and diaphoretic. Oil of turpentine in large doses is
purgative, diuretic and vermifuge, in small ones stimulant
and antispasmodic. Attention must also be given to the
age and size of the patient as more fully set forth in the
Appendix.
Illustrations have been freely introduced to render the
text more lucid, and, being selected from those prepared
for the Author’s larger work, may be implicitly relied on.
Preface. v
Tn the list of contagious diseases are included not only
those that are habitually developed on American soil and
those already introduced from abroad, but also such as
prevail in Europe, and are liable at any time to be brought
into our midst by importation. It is no less imperative
that the American farmer should be forewarned of pesti-
lences that threaten him from abroad, than of those that
beset him at home. For all such affections the principles
that should guide us in preventing and extinguishing the
disease are concisely but clearly set forth.
All the important parasites are introduced and their
conditions of life and individual metamorphoses in and
out of the bodies of domestic animals referred to, as well
as their migrations from man to animals and from animals
to man wherever such exists. The vast importance of
animal parasites is only beginning to be realized in con-
nection with their frightful ravages in countries (England,
Australia, Buenos Ayres, Egypt, Abyssinia, Iceland, India,
etc.,) into which they have been introduced or where they
have been allowed to increase unchecked, and a concise
statement of their forms, habits and results is therefore
imperatively necessary for the protection of the stock
owner. This subject has accordingly been brought up to
the date of present observations, and though short enough
for the perusal of the busiest it will furnish a sound basis
for the limitation and destruction of each of these noxious
psts.
JAMES LAW,
Cornell University.
fruaca, May, 1876.
CONTENTS.
ConTacious AND Eprzooric Diszasrs, - - 1
DIsINFECTION, - - - ‘ =
PaRAsIrEs, - - - - - 51
DIETETIC AND ConsTITUTIONAL D1sEaszs, - 63
DISEASES OF THE RESPIRATORY ORGANS, - - 72
Heart, - - - 106
—_ BLOoD-VESSELS AND LyMPHaTics, 117
—_— DIGESTIVE ORGANS, = - - 125
—- Liver, - - - 182
— PANCREAS AND SPLEEN, - 199
—- URINary ORGANS, - - 201
—_——_ GENERATIVE ORGANS, - - 218
—- Mammary GLaNps (UDDER AND TEaTs), 236
— Eyz, - - - - 240
—_— Nervous System, - - 247
SKIN, - - - - 264
GENERAL DisEAsEs OF Bones, Jomnts anpD Muscizs, 293
SprcraL DisEases OF Bones, JOINTS AND MUSCLEs, 815
DIsEASES OF THE Foot, - - - - 365
DISEASED GROWTHS, - - - - 392
APPENDIX, Drugs AND DosEs, - - - 396
INDEX, - - - - : 407
THE
FARMER’S VETERINARY ADVISER.
CHAPTER IL
CONTAGIOUS AND EPIZOOTIC DISEASES.
Their importance and classification. Disinfection. Horse-pox. Cows
pox. Sheep-pox. Goat-pox. Swine-pox. Dog-pox. Bird-pox. Aphs
thous fever, foot and mouth disease. Rinderpest, Russian cattle-plague.
Lung-fever of cattle, contagious pleuro-pneumonia. Strangles. Influenza,
Typhoid or bilious fever of horses. Distemper of dogs and cats. Malignant
(Asiatic) cholerain animals. Intestinal fever in swine, hog-cholera. Texan
fever incattle. Canine madness. Malignant anthrax. Glanders and farcy.
Venereal disease of solipeds. Tuberculosis, consumption.
These are among the most important of the whole
range of diseases of animals, being the most destructive
to the animals themselves and in many cases to man, and
being at the same time, as a rule, preventible by a rigid
adherence to sanitary laws. Of their devastations we
have the most appalling accounts in the records of antiq-
uity as well as in recent times. In the time of Moses they
ravaged Egypt until, says the record, “all the cattle of
Egypt died ;” nor was man spared, for “boils and blains”
broke out on man and beast.—LHx. LX. 3. At the siege
of Troy the Grecian army was decimated by a similar in-
fliction, animals and men perishing in 2 common destruc-
tion—Iliad. So it has been down through the ages, the
great extension of the plagues being usually determined
2 The Farmer's Veterinary Adviser.
by general wars and the accumulation of cattle drawn
from all sources, (infected and sound), into the commis-
sariat parks. In the first half of the eighteenth century,
it is estimated that 200,000,000 head of cattle perished in
Furope in connection with the Austrian wars. These
plagues again entered Italy in 1793 with the Austrian
troops and in three years carried off 3,000,000 to 4,000,000
cattle in that peninsula. More recently rapid railroad
and steamboat traffic and extended commerce have taken
the place of war in favoring their diffusion. Free trade
between England and the Continent since 1842 has cost
the former $450,000,000 in thirty years, and as much as
$40,000,000 in 1865-6 during the prevalence of the Rinder-
pest. A similar importation cost Egypt 300,000 head of
cattle (nearly the whole stock of the country), in 1842,
and others have caused ruinous but unestimated losses in
Australia, Cape of Good Hope, and South America. On
the other hand, some of the most exposed countries of
Europe, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Schleswig-Holstein,
Oldenburg, Mecklenburg, and Switzerland have long kept
clear of these plagues by the simple expedient of excluding
all infected animals or their products, and promptly
stamping out the disease by the slaughter of the sick, fol-
lowed by thorough disinfection, when they have been acci-
dentally introduced. Exclusively breeding districts, in
Spain, Portugal, Normandy, and the Scottish Highlands,
into which no strange cattle are ever imported, also keep
clear of nearly all of these destructive pestilences.
It is unquestionable that the animal plagues are propa-
gated, in Western Europe and America, only by the dis-
ease germs produced in countless myriads in the body of
a diseased animal and conveyed from that to the healthy.
It follows that the destruction of the infected subjects
and the thorough disinfection of the carcass, manure,
buildings, etc., is the most economical treatment of all the
more fatal forms of contagious disease in live stock. For
the loss fatal forms, the most perfect separation and seclu-
Contagious and Epizootic Diseases. 3
sion, and the thorough disinfection of all with which they
have come in contact is still imperative.
To the first class of exotic maladies beloug : Small-pox,
in sheep and bigds ; the lung-fever or contagious plewro-pneu-
monia of cattle; the Rinderpest or cattle-plaque ; the mo-
lignant disease of the generative organs in solipeds ; and ma-
lignant cholera in all animals. These demand separation,
destruction and disinfection. To the second or less fatal
class of exotic maladies belongs: the Aphthous fever or foot
and mouth disease. This demands seclusion and disinfec-
tion.
Beside these maladies, that are foreign to our soil and
which are not to be feared except as the result of impor-
tation from abroad and subsequent transmission by conta-
gion, there is a very important class which are apparently
generated in America and thereafter spread by contagion.
Among these may be named: Glanders and farcy, canine
madness, contagious foot-rot, tuberculosis, malignant anthra.r,
Texan-fever, intestinal fever of swine or hog-cholera, influ-
enza, strangles, canine distemper, and perhaps the variola or
pox of horse, cow, goat, pig, and dog. All of these down to
intestinal fever of swine, like foreign contagious affections,
demand separation, and disinfection, with destruction or not
of the diseased, according to the severity and diffusibility
of the particular malady. The remainder, from influenza
onward, are either too mild to warrant such measures, or
too easily spread to be satisfactorily controlled by them.
It is beyond the purpose of this work to enter into the
special legislative enactments necessary to prevent the
importation of foreign plagues, or the spread of native
or imported ones. For this the reader is referred to the
author’s larger work. A few words on disinfection are,
however, indispensable.
DISINFECTION.
The first and main object in disinfection is to secure
perfect cleanliness. From the buildings, cars, loading:
4 The Farmer’s Veterinary Adviser.
banks, ships, quays, yards, manure-pits, drains, cess-pools,
harness, clothing, utensils, etc., all decaying organic mat-
ter should be removed, by scraping, washing, emptying,
etc., as such decomposing organic matter is the food which
sustains and preserves the disease germs out of the body.
Kven the water and air must be carefully seen to, since in
close places they are usually charged with invisible par-
ticles of organic matter in a state of decay, the most
suitable field for the growth of contagious principles.
These, too, tend to purify themselves in a free circulation
of air, and ventilation may be largely relied upon for this
purpose, unless the deleterious supplies are too abundant
from some adjacent putrid accumulation, as dung-heaps,
cess-pools, leaky drains, or soil saturated with filth. Pu-
rity of the surroundings kills many contagious elements on
the principle of starvation. ‘
Of agents reputed to be disinfectants, some act merely
by changing the physical condition of organic mat-
ter, without any abstraction from, or addition to its con-
stituents. Thus, heating to the boiling point (212° F.), co-
agulates albuminous matters and destroys infectious prop-
erties generally. But it must be prolonged for a variable
time according to the size of the object to allow of the
heat penetrating to all parts alike. Clothing may be
heated in an oven to 300° F., or safer, boiled, and even
the prolonged application of hot transparent steam di-
rected from a hose, upon wood-work, ete., previously well
cleaned, is found very effectual. _Some poisons, like that
of Texas-fever, are destroyed by freezing, while others are
unaffected.
Other disinfectants act by changing the chemical re-
lations of organic matter, and hence of contagious princi-
ples, by uniting with them to form new compounds, by ab-
stracting some of their constituent elements or by adding
a new one. Thus the alotropic state of oxygen called
ozone, produced abundantly during thunder-storms, is sup-
posed to be one of nature’s most potent disinfectants, act-
Contagious and Epizootic Diseases. 5
ing by hastening the oxidation of organic matter. Yet, at
times, its excess seems to be without effect as in the in-
fluenza of horses in 1872. Camphor and mary of the odor-
ous essential oils are supposed to be of some slight use by
reason of their developing ozone.
Burning is an effectual mode of disinfecting organic
matter, old rotten wood-work, clothing, fodder, manure,
etc. It may even be used on the air by moving a plumb-
er’s charcoal-stove from place to place over the entire in-
fected building. It may be equally used over the open-
ings of drains, or as a lamp in the ventilating outlets of in-
fected buildings.
Chlorine, set free from common salt, by adding oil of
vitriol and a little black oxide of manganese, is an excel-
lect disinfectant of the air, but can only be used in vaca-
ted buildings, and is most effectual in a full light.
Luchlorine, a compound of chlorine and oxygen, may be
obtained by adding, at frequent intervals, a little chlorate
of potassa to a glass of strong muriatic acid. It may be
used in occupied buildings.
Sulphurous acid is another excellent disinfectant for the
air, and can easily be produced in any amount by burning
flowers of sulphur on a slip of paper laid on an iron
shovel. Like chlorine, it is most efficient in daylight. In
occupied buildings it may be burned carefully pinch by
pinch without inconveniencing the stock.
Carbolic acid may also be used in occupied buildings,
being allowed to evaporate from shallow basins, alone or
mixed with ether or alcohol, from saturated rugs hung up
at intervals, or from cloth-lined ventilating inlets, kept
saturated with the acid, or, finally, it may be diffused
through the air of a building by an atomizer. Carbolic
and cresylic acids may also be used for disinfecting solids
and liquids, being poured into drains or sprinkled on the
floors, walls and other parts of the building. For the lat-
ter purpose, the strong acid may be diluted with one
hundred times its weight of water. The cheap impure
6 The Farmer's Vetermmary Adviser.
acid is usually preferred for dung-heaps, yards and other
outside purposes, but is disagreeable indoors. Coal-tar
and wood-tar, from their contained carbolic acid and allied
products, are also good for out-door uses.
The following are especially applicable to solids and
liquids :
Chloride of lime sprinkled on floors, yards, dung-heaps,
etc., or applied to walls, wood-work, etc., or poured into
drains, as a solution of 1b. to a gallon of water.
Chloride of zine is equally efficient but more expensive,
and chloride of aluminium (choralum) is somewhat less po-
tent.
Sulphate of iron (copperas) is one of the most efficient
and cheapest disinfectants for drains, manure, floors,
yards, etc., and may be applied either in fine powder or in
solution.
The sulphates of copper and zinc and perchloride of iron
are efficient but much more expensive.
Saturated solutions of caustic potassa and soda are satis-
factory for wood-work, harness and utensils, but they are
useless if diluted. Lime is useful in graves by absorbing
the water and uniting with the organic debris, but is very
unsatisfactory as a general disinfectant.
Permanganate of potassa promptly changes putrefying
organic matter rendering it sweet and wholesome, but it is
questionable how far it can destroy living organic germs
of which many of the contagious principles are probably
composed. The same remarks apply to charcoal, animal
and vegetable, and to earth, especially that containing a
considerable proportion of clay or marl.
HORSE-POX,
This is probably identical with cow-pox, being indis-
tinguishable when inoculated on men or cattle. Tt most
frequently attacks the limbs, but may affect the face or
other parts of the body. There is usually some little
fever which, however, passes unnoticed by the owner.
Contagious and Epizvotic Diseases. 1
Then swelling, heat and tenderness supervene commonly
in a heel, and firm nodules form, increasing to one-third
or one-half an inch in diameter, the hair bristles up, and
the skin reddens unless previously colored. On the ninth
to the twelfth day, a limpid fluid oozes from the surface
and agglutinates the hairs in yellowish scabs, on the re-
moval of which a red, raw depression is seen with the
scab fixed in its centre. In three or four days the secre-
tion ceases, the scabs dry up and the parts heal sponta-
neously. It is easily transmitted from horse to horse, to
man or to the cow. No treatment is required.
COW-POX.
This is the same disease appearing in the cow. There
is a preliminary slight fever, usually overlooked, succeeded
by some diminution and increased coagulability of the
milk and the appearance of the pox on the udder and
teats. The-udder is hot and tender for a day or two, then
little pale-red nodules, about as big as peas appear,
growing to three-fourths to one inch in breadth by the
eighth or tenth day, acquiring liquid contents, and often
a central depression on the summit. The liquid in each
pock is contained in several distinct sacs and cannot be
all extracted without a succession of punctures on differ-
ent parts. The liquid, at first clear, changes to yellowish
white (pus) and soon dries up, the whole forming a hard
crust which is gradually detached. On the teats the blis-
ters are early ruptured and raw sores form, often proving
very obstinate, and even leading to inflammation of the
udder, abortion, or death.
Treatment is scarcely ever demanded further than to
obviate sores on the teats. A mild laxative of Epsom
salts is, however, usually desirable. The teats may be
smeared with an ointment formed of an ounce each of
spermaceti and almond oil and half a drachm of myrrh.
Milking tubes may be necessary to avoid injury by draw-
ing the teats.
8 The Farmer's Veterinary Adviser.
In many localities the disease appears to all newly-
calved heifers on particular farms, in which case it would
be well to purify the barns by a thorough disinfection.
SHEEP-POX.
Though unknown in America, there is no improbability
of this disease reaching us, through importations of
sheep, hides or wool. Like small-pox of man, it is only
known as a contagious disease. The incubation or latent
period of the poison after it enters the system, 1s from
three to six days in summer, and from ten to twelve in
winter. Then there is loss of appetite, dullness, dropping
behind the flock, and stiffness of the hind parts. This is
followed by trembling, increased temperature, very mani-
fest on the bare and delicate parts of the skin on which
the eruption usually takes place, loss of appetite and
rumination, costiveness, red, weeping eyes, a discharge
from the nose, and the appearance of red patches inside
the limbs and along the abdomen. Soon minute red
points appear and increase to papules with a firm base,
extending into the deeper parts of the skin. These are
flat on the summit, (rarely pointed or indented), and be-
come pale or clear in the centre, from the effusion of liq-
uid beneath the scurf skin, with a red margin. With the
appearance of the eruption, the fever moderates, but in-
creases again in three or four days with the development
and irritability of the vesicles. These may remain indi-
vidually distinct (discrete) in which case the attack is mild,
or they may run together into extensive patches (conflu-
ent) and the result is likely to be serious. The pocks will
even appear on the digestive or respiratory mucous mem-
brane. ‘The eruption passes through the same course of
exudation, suppuration, drying and dropping off as in
cow-pox. The duration of the disease is three weeks or
a month. The mortality in the milder forms may not
exceed seven per one hundred, in the more severe it
may destroy almost the whole flock. But the losses of
Contagious and Epizootic Diseases. 9
lambs by abortion, of wool, sight, hearing, hoofs, digits,
flesh, and general vigor often render recoveries anything
but unmixed blessings.
Treatment.—Keep in cool, dry, well-aired and littered
sheds, shelter from rain, and feed roots, or, if very weak,
oat and bean meal gruels, with a drachm of saltpetre tc
cach sheep. Common salt may be supplied to be licked,
and the drinking water may be slightly acidulated with
vinegar. The bowels should be opened by injections of
milk-warm soapsuds, or 30z. sulphate of soda if necessary.
Avoid heating agents. In the advanced stages support
by quinia, gentian, nitric acid, and nutritious gruels, even
animal broths. The pustules may be treated with the
ointment advised for cow-pox, or, if unhealthy, with weak
solutions of chloride of zinc.
Prevention.—Nothing short of general infection will
justify the treatment of this disease. It should be ex-
cluded from our country by the most stringent supervision ‘
over the importation of sheep and their products, and
when it does appear should be promptly stamped out by
the destruction and disinfection of the sick and the pu-
rification of all with which they have come in contact.
Inoculation as a measure of prevention is unwarrantable
except in the case of wide-spread infection, a contingency
which ought never to arise in this country.
GOAT-POX.
This is a rare and mild affection with an eruption on
the udder and teats closely resembling that of Cow-por.
It has been thought to be spontaneous in the goat but is
known to be derived from sheep suffering from Sheep-pox.
It follows a mild course and requires the same care as Cow
pow. Seclusion or destruction and disinfection, are, how-
ever, imperative when danger is likely to arise for sheep.
SWINE-POX.
This is more freqvent than Goat-Pox. It is communica-
10 The Farmer’s Veterinary Adviser.
ble to man and goat. Young pigs are thought to be most li-
able. The eruption appears inside the forearm and thighs
and is usually preceded by considerable fever. It is discrete
or confluent like Sheep-pox and the severity corresponds.
The duration of the mild forms is twelve to fifteen days.
Treatment is similar to that of Sheep-pox and the same
precautions should be taken to prevent its dissemination.
DOG-POX.
These animals sometimes contract Small-pox or Sheep-pox
and have been supposed to have their own specific form
besides. The young suffer most frequently and severely.
There is the usual preliminary fever with an eruption on
the sides and belly, passing from pimples to vesicles and
pustules, and finally drying up into crusts which drop off.
The eruption may be discrete or confluent, the latter being
very fatal. Similar preventive measures are demanded as
in the other forms of pow.
BIRD-POX.
Birds seem susceptible to different forms of variola, hay-
ing contracted the disease from man in some cases, and in
others conveyed it to the sheep. Chickens failed to con-
tract Cow-pox in the experiments of Roll and myself. It
has proved very fatal in chickens, but very slightly so in
pigeons, turkeys and geese. The eruption appears mainly
on the head, under the wing, on the tongue, or in the
pharynx. In fatal cases death ensued in four or five days.
Treatment would rarely be desirable, the great point being
to stamp out the malady by destroying the diseased and
disinfecting the place.
APHTHOUS FEVER.—FOOT AND MOUTH DISEASE.
A contagious eruptive fever, attacking cloven-footed ani-
nals and communicable to other warm-blooded animals,
including even man. Its special feature is the eruption
of blisters in the mouth, on the udder and teats and on the
Contagious and Epizootic Diseases. 11
feet. It is only known as communicated by contagion,
whether in western Europe, in Great Britain and Ireland,
where it was introduced in 1839-42, or in North and
South America, which it reached in 1870 by imported
stock. Like the other animal plagues it follows in tho
track of great armies and in the channels of commerce.
The contagion does not readily spread on the air, a river
or common road being often sufficient to limit it, but no
poison is more certainly transmitted by contact, direct or
through the medium of human beings, tame or wild ani-
mals, fodder, litter, manure, clothing, drinking-troughs,
etc., etc. Milk is one of the most frequent sources of con-
tagion to pigs, dogs, and even to infants, producing the
most dangerous intestinal irritation and diarrhea.
Synyptoms.—The poison may remain latent in the sys-
tem for one or two days, or, in exceptional cases, perhaps
as many as six. Then there is roughness of the coat or
shivering, increased temperature, dry muzzle, hot red
mouth, teats, and interdigital spaces, lameness, inclination
to lie, and shrinking from the hand in milking. The sec-
ond or third day blisters arise, on any part of the whole
interior of the mouth one-half to one inch in breadth, or on
the teats and between the digits about one-half inch across.
Saliva drivels from the mouth, collecting in froth around
the lips, and a loud smacking is made with the lips and
tongue. Swine champ the jaws. Sheep and swine suffer
more especially in the feet, often losing the hoofs or even
the digital bones, a contingency not unknown in neglected
cattle.
Among the consequences may be named the loss of
milk, inflamed udders, blind teats, a habit.of vicious kick-
ing, abortions, permanent lameness, aud a lengilened in-
capacity for the dairy, for feeding or work. If well cared
for, the disease passes in fifteen days, leaving no ill conse-
quences, excepting the poison hidden away in the building
The average loss in flesh is $5 to $10; in dairy cows, it is
much more.
12 The Farmer's Veterinary Adviser.
Treatment.—A laxative (Epsom salts); astringent
mouth-wash (Borax and tincture of myrrh, 1 oz. each;
water 1 qt., or carbolic acid 1 dr., honey 2 oz., vinegar 1
pt., water 1 pt.); a lotion for the teats (carbolic acid + dr.,
glycerine 10 oz.); and a dressing for the feet (oil of vitriol
1 0z., water 4 0z., to be applied with a feather after clean-
ing the space between the hoofs by drawing a cloth
through it). After dressing, tie up the feet in a tar band-
age. The hind feet are easily dressed if two men raise
each separately with a long stout fork handle passed
in front of the hock. In dressing the feet, all detached
horn should be removed and a poultice applied if inflam-
mation runs high. Soft cold mashes or thinly sliced or
pulped roots are the best food throughout.
Prevention—Importation of diseased animals should be
sufficiently guarded against. Diseased stock should be
rigidly secluded from all but the necessary attendants who
ought to be disinfected on leaving the enclosure. Wild ani-
mals, even birds, should be excluded. Every place where
the diseased have been, should be closed for a winter or
disinfected, the milk should be buried in a safe place, or
boiled and given to pigs, manure, infected litter, ete., may
be burned, or disinfected, removed and plowed under by
horses. No diseased animal should be moved until fifteen
days after full recovery, and it should first be sponged
over with a carbolic acid wash.
RUSSIAN CATTLE PLAGUE. RINDERPEST.
A contagious fever of cattle communicable to other rumi-
nants and characterized by a general congestion of the
mucous membranes, but, above all, those of the stomach
and intestines, and an excessive growth and shedding of
the superficial layers of cells on the skin and mucous mem-
branes. It is only propagated by contagion, at least, out
of the Kirghiz Steppes and Kherson district in Southern
Russia, but spreads further on the air than Aphthous Fever.
Symptoms. Incubation lasts about two days until the
Contagious and Epizootic Diseases, 13
temperature of the body is elevated, or four days until
the appearance of outward signs of illness. By this time
the mouth, inside the lips, on the dental pad of the upper
jaw or around the gums of the lower front teeth, shows
minute white elevations, like the aphtha of the mouths of
children, calves and lambs suffering from thrush (muguet).
This may be exceedingly slight and transient but is most
characteristic. The other mucous membranes, (eye, vulva,
rectum, nose,) show a more or less dark flush, and concre-
tions may appear around these and on other parts of the
skin, especially the teats. These are solid aggregations
of epithelial cells, not vesicles nor pustules. In twenty-
four hours they undergo fatty softening and are easily de-
tached, leaving small pink erosions, and by the sixth day
a great part of the mouth and muzzle may have become
raw, and the surrounding mucous membrane of a deep
red, About the fourth day, the skin feels greasy, and
dullness, and impaired appetite and rumination appear.
In cows the milk is diminished, richer in cream, and even
slightly coagulable. Urine becomes scanty and of a high
color and density. These signs increase until the sixth
day, when the mouth is often raw, saliva drivels, appetite
and rumination are gone, bowels relaxed, the dung
passed with much straining and pain, the everted gut
appearing of a deep red or port-wine hue, the ears are
drawn back, head pendent, eyes half-closed and watery,
back arched and often insensible to pinching, abdominal
muscles tense and resistant, and there is a peculiar check
in the act of expiration, the breath being suddenly ar-
rested with a flapping sound and concussion of the entire
body, to be exhaled a second or two later with a grunting
noise. Sighing and whistling sounds are heard in the
chest and it becomes unnaturally drum-like to percussion.
A sudden lowering of temperature is usually the precur-
sor of death, which happens on the seventh or eighth day,
Nervous symptoms appear in some outbreaks, with de-
lirium, butting, shivering, and tenderness of the loins,
2 ae
14 The Farmer's Veterinary Adviser.
while in the milder cases the peculiar eruption may be
almost altogether confined to the skin.
The symptoms in other ruminants are essentially the
same as in the ox, and in the peccary there is sufficient
resemblance for recognition.
The mortality out of its native habitat usually amounts
to forty per cent. and upward.
Treatment. The treatment of this plague should be
legally prohibited under all circumstances. All the at-
tempts of the different schools of medicine and of em-
piricism have only increased its ravages, while nations
and even countries and districts that have vigorously
stamped it out and excluded it have saved their property.
Prevention. The advent of this plague should be pre-
vented by a sufficient Supervision of our ports and fron-
tiers and a quarantine of stock. If admitted, the victims
should be ruthlessly destroyed, deeply buried, and all
places and things with which they have come in contact
disinfected in the most perfect manner.
THE LUNG-FEVER OF CATTLE. CONTAGIOUS PLEURO-PNEU-
MONIA.
A specific contagious fever of cattle, with extensive ex-
' udations into the chest and lungs.
Like the other plagues already noticed, this is only
known in Europe and America as a contagious disease.
Its importation into the different countries of Europe has
always been traceable to the introduction of diseased
beasts or their products. The assertion of the immortal
Haller, more than a century ago, that it is propagated by
contagion, has received the amplest confirmation in recent
times. It invaded Ireland in 1839-40 by Dutch cattle,
England in 1842 by Irish and Dutch cattle, Sweden and
Denmark in 1847 by English stock, and later again by
English and Dutch, Norway in 1860 by infected Ayrshires,
Oldenburg in 1858, and Schleswig in 1859, in each case
by Ayrshires, the Cape of Good Hope in 1854, Australia
Contagious and E'pizootic Diseases. 16
in 1858 by an English cow, Brooklyn, L. I., in 1843 by a
Dutch cow, and again in 1850 by an English one, New
Jersey in 1847 by English stock, and Boston, Mass., by
Dutch cattle in 1859. In Sweden, Norway, Denmark,
Oldenburg, Schleswig, Massachusetts and New Jersey, it
was stamped out, in the last case by the importer, Mr.
Richardson, sacrificing his whole herd and voluntarily as-
suming the loss, but in the other places named it was left
to itself and spread disastrously.
Symptoms. The period of latency of the poison in the
system is from four to six weeks, and in exceptional cases
perhaps two or three months or as short as ten days. In-
creased temperature of the body usually appears a week
or two before other symptoms. Then there is a slight
cough, erection of hair along the back, sometimes shiver-
ing and always tenderness of the back to pinching, the
animal crouching and groaning. Soon breathing and pulse
become accelerated, bowels costive, urine scanty and high-
colored, milk diminished, appetite impaired, rumination
irregular, nose alternately moist and dry, and legs and
horns cold and hot. If in the field, the sick leave the herd.
The cough increases in harshness, depth and painfulness,
and all thesymptons are aggravated until the animal stands
in one posture, with head extended on the neck, mouth
open, and every breath accompanied by a loud moan.
From the earliest stages the ear applied to the sides of
the chest detects an absence of murmur over particular
parts of the lung, or lungs, with a line of crepitation (fine
crackling) around it, and occasionally rubbing, wheezing,
and other unnatural sounds. On percussion over the si-
lent parts the natural resonance is found to have given
place to dullness, and the animal winces andgroans. Other
peculiar sounds may follow later, into which we cannot en-
ter here, and exhausting liquid discharges from the bowels
and kidneys, tympanies and abortions are frequent results.
Death may take place early, from suffocation, when both
lungs are involved, or may be delayed six weeks or more.
16 The Farmer's Veterinary Adviser
The percentage of deaths and permanent destruction to
health is fifty or sixty, or when all the more susceptible
animals have perished it may be reduced much lower.
Treatment. This disease is much more amenable to
treatment than Rinderpest, but to preserve the sick is no
less reprehensible, as the poison is more subtle, more dif-
fusible through the atmosphere, is hidden unsuspected
for a greater length of time in the body of its victim, and
when manifested is far more liable to be mistaken for other
diseases (pneumonia, pleurisy, bronchitis). No treatment
should ever be allowed, except in perfectly secluded build-
ings, far from roads, where no strange men or animals
can get access, and in a constantly disinfected atmosphere.
In the early stages, refrigerant and diuretic salts (liquor
of the acetate of ammonia, nitre, bisulphite of soda) with
aconite may be given; injections of warm water or mild
laxatives (Epsom salts) used to regulate the bowels, and
blisters applied to the sides of the chest (mustard and oil
of turpentine). Later, when prostration sets in, stimulants
(sweet spirits of nitre, wine, aromatic ammonia, etc.) and
tonics (gentian, cinchona, cascarilla, boneset, sulphate of
iron, or copper, mineral acids, ete.) are called for. Anti-
septics are useful, especially such as can be inhaled in the
air (sulphur fumes, carbolic acid vapor or spray) and thus
reach the seat of disease.
The hydropathic treatment, by a rug wrung out of
water applied next the skin and covered by several dry
ones kept closely applied by elastic surcingles for an hour
and followed by a cold douche and active rubbing till
dry, has proved very successful, but demands intelligence,
enthusiasm and activity on the part of the attendants.
The pack is repeated as often as the temperature rises.
Prevention. Importation should only be allowed from
countries free from the plague, in ships that have carried
no suspected stock for at least three months, and after
inspection and, if thought necessary, quarantine, at the
port of entry. But the disease already exists in New
- Contagious and Epizootie Diseases. 17
York, (Connecticut,) New Jersey, Delaware, Pennsylvania,
Maryland, Virginia and District of Columbia. This ought
to be rooted out by measures executed by the central goy-
ernment and defrayed out of the public treasury. Little
good must be looked for from isolated action by States,
counties, townships, or individual owners; the danger
threatens the entire country, and for the general safety all
must pay. Itis absurd to expect the unfortunate possessor
of sick animals to beggar himself for the public good.
There should be destruction of the sick, partial remunera-
tion of the owners, thorough disinfection under professional
supervision, and the most perfect control and constant in-
spection of all suspected herds and places until the malady
has been eradicated from the land. This is the most in-
sidious of all our animal plagues, the one which now most
urgently presses for active interference, and which, if neg-
lected, will bring a terrible retribution in the future.
Inoculation, as a preventive, like medical treatment, is
suicidal unless where a country is very generally infected.
STRANGLES. DISTEMPER IN YOUNG HORSES.
A specific fever of young solipeds usually attended with
swellings and formations of matter between the bones of
the lower jaw, or elsewhere in groups of lymphatic glands.
Causes. Early age, change from field to stable, from
grass to dry feeding, from idleness to exciting work, the
irritation of teething, and, above all, change of locality and
climate. Repeated attacks will occur in the same horse
under the influence of the last named cause. Exposure
to cold and wet, impure air, sudden thaws, etc., contribute
to hasten its development. Lastly, contagion is a com-
mon cause, and, in some cases, the malady may even be
conveyed to man.
Symptoms. The disease is often preceded by a period
of unthriftiness, staring coat, loss of condition, dullness
and. languor. Then there appear cough, redness of the
nasal membrane, and watery flow from the nose and eyes;
ox
18 Lhe Farmer's Veterinary Adviser.
slavering, accelerated breathing and pulse, costiveness,
scanty high-colored urine, and increased thirst. Soon a
swelling rises between the bones of the lower jaw, hot,
tender and uniformly rounded and smooth, at first hard
with soft, doughy margins, later soft and fluctuating in the
centre from the formation of matter. Water is often re-
turned from the nose in drinking and food dropped after
chewing. The throat may even be closed so as to make
breathing laborious, difficult and noisy or quite impossible.
With rupture of the abscess and escape of the matter,
relief is obtained and a steady recovery may usually be
counted on.
Irregular Forms. The swelling may harden in place of
softening, and maintain the disease for an indefinite time,
or it may disappear and be followed by the formation of
matter in other and more vital organs. Thus matter may
form in the groups of lymphatic glands about the shoul-
der, groin, the roots of the lungs, the mesentery, the
brain, etc. Sometimes no swelling nor suppuration takes
place beyond the discharge from the nose while at others
a pustular eruption on the skin is the manifestation of the
disease.
The disease may be over in ten days, or, in cases of in-
dolent action in the swelling, it may be protracted for
months. If properly treated, the regular form generally
does well, but the crregular is fatal in proportion to the
vitality of the organ affected. In protracted cases and in
those subjected to impure air and weakening treatment.
dropsical and sanguineous swellings in the dependent parts
of the body (purpura hemorrhagica) is a frequent result.
Treatment. Sustain the strength of the patient by
abundance of soft, nourishing mashes and pure air, and
promote the formation of matter between the jaws by fo-
mentations, poultices, and steaming of the nostrils. A
poultice may be applied by a square of calico with holes
for the ears and eyes, tied down the middle of the face
and sewed up a little at the chin to prevent any from
Contagious and Eprzootic Diseases 19
dropping out. Bran or oil meal may be used along with
hot water. Steaming may be done by feeding hot bran
mashes from a nose bag hung on the head. When matter
points it should be freely evacuated with the lancet, and
_the poultices continued to complete the softening. If sut-
focation is threatened, the windpipe must be opened in
the middle of the neck and a tube inserted to breathe
through.
Medicine is rarely required. Yet costiveness may be
counteracted by warm water injections, and weakness by
stimulants (muriate and carbonate of ammonia) and tonics
(gentian, columba, willow-bark). Complications must be
treated according to their nature.
INFLUENZA.
A specific epizootic fever of a low type associated with
inflammation of the respiratory mucous membrane, or less
frequently of other organs. It has prevailed at intervals
over different parts of the world in man, horses, dogs and
even cats.
Causes. Nothing can be definitely stated as to the pri-
mary cause of its development, as all peculiar conditions
of soil, volcanic action, atmospheric electricity, serial
moisture or dryness, density or levity, season, tempera-
ture, winds, calms, ozone, and antozone fail to account
for its appearance. The great American epizootic of 1872
was preceded and accompanied in Michigan by an excess
of ozone, but the excess did not determine its appearance
in other States, which it invaded by a gradual progress
and with a rapidity proportional to the celerity of com-
munication. Again insular and sequestrated places es-
caped, as Prince Edward’s Island, (frozen out), Vancou-
yer’s Island, (quarantined), Key West, Hayti, St. Do-
mingo, Jamaica, La Paz, by the non-importation of
horses (Cuba suffered through imported American horses).
Tt stopped at Panama, where there is no horse traffic ow-
ing to the state of the country. (See the author's report
to Government, and report of New York Board of Health).
20 The Farmer's Veterinary Adviser.
Symptoms. The disease comes on suddenly with ex-
treme weakness and stupor. ‘There is often pendent
head, half-closed, lustreless eyes, great disinclination to
move, with swaying gait, and cracking joints. Appetite is
lost, mouth hot, clammy, bowels costive, urine scanty and.
high-colored, pulse accelerated and weak (sometimes
hard), a cough, deep, painful and racking comes on, crep-
itation or harsh blowing sounds are heard in the chest,
and the membrane of the nose assumes a bright pink or
dull leaden hue. The ears and limbs are alternately cold
and hot, the hair rough, the skin tender and frequently
trembling.
Soon the nose discharges a white, yellowish, or greenish
matter, and the animal may recover, or an increasingly
heavy breathing, depth and painfulness of cough, and
changed or absent respiratory sounds in the chest, with
dullness on percussion show that the lungs are seriously
involved. Thus there may be the symptoms of pneumonia,
pleurisy, bronchitis, hydrothorax, pericarditis, hydroperi-
cardium, ete. Clots sometimes form in the heart, modify-
ing the heart sounds and proving rapidly fatal.
In other cases the abdominal organs suffer, and with
great torpor, stupor, tension and tenderness of the abdom-
inal walls there are colicky pains, ardent thirst, coated
tongue, yellowness of the membranes of nose and eyes,
yellow or reddish urine, costive bowels and dung in pellets
thickly coated with mucus.
Sometimes rheumatic swelling and tenderness take place
in the muscles and joints of the limbs, and may even last
for months. At others, paralysis or delirium will ensue,
or, finally, severe inflammation of the eyes.
Treatment. Overcome costiveness by injections of
warm water, or by one-third the usual doses of linseed oil or
aloes. Give mild febrifuge diuretics (liquor of acetate of
ammonia, spirit of nitrous ether,) with anodynes (extract
of belladonna), and when fever subsides or great prostra-
tion comes on, stimulants (nitrous ether, aromatic am-
Contagious and Epizootic Discases. a
monia, carbonate of ammonia,) and even tonics, (gentian
calumba, quassia).
Counter-irritants (ammonia and oil, equal parts, mus-
tard, etc.,) may be used from the first to the throat, sides,
or abdomen according to the seat of the inflammation.
Soft mashes, roots, or green food, pure air, without
draughts, and warm clothing are essentials of treatment
throughout.
If the abdominal organs are the main seat of disease,
supplement the medicines above named by demulcents
(slippery elm, mallow, boiled linseed,) and anodynes
(opium, hydrocyanic acid,) with, in some cases, a gentle
laxative (olive oil). Nervous symptoms may demand wet
cloths to the head, blisters to the sides of the neck, purga-
tives, unless contra-indicated, and bromide of potassium.
The rheumatic complication must be treated like ordinary
rheumatism, with colchicum, propylamine, acetate of po-
tassa, turpentine, warmth, counter-irritants, ete.
TYPHOID, GASTRIC OR BILIOUS FEVER.
This strongly resembles the abdominal form of influenza
and sometimes occurs in the same place at the same time.
Jt also appears independently in horses weakened by
snedding their coats in spring and autumn, in those kept
in a hot, close, impure and unwholesome atmosphere, fed
insufficiently or on badly-preserved, musty or otherwise
injured aliment, supplied with water containing an excess
of decomposing organic matter, fed irregularly, subjected
to overwork, etc. Finally it proves contagious in confined
insalubrious buildings, and, to a less extent, in those that
are wholesome and well aired. Some unknown generally
acting influence makes it more virulent at one season than
another.
Symptoms. There are a few days of dullness and lassi-
tude followed by the general signs of fever : —Staring coat,
shivering, alternate heat and coldness of the surface, rest-
lessness, hot dry mouth, and elevation of the internal tem-
22 The Farmer’s Veterinary Adviser.
perature of the body. There is a yellowish tinge of the
mucous membranes, costiveness, colicky pains, full, tense,
tender belly, passage of a few dark, hard pellets of dung
covered with a mucous film, urine scanty, reddish and de-
positing a sediment, pulse rapid and weak, and there may
or may not be sore-throat, excited breathing and discharge
from the nose. In the more favorable cases, signs of
improvement are noticeable in eight or nine days, and a
perfect recovery is made. In the unfavorable, the pulse
becomes small, weak and rapid (eighty to ninety per min-
ute), the mouth hotter, more clammy and covered by yel-
lowish, brownish, or greenish blotches, the abdominal
walls more tender, the bowels more irritable, sometimes
with a foetid diarrhoea, and the strength is rapidly ex-
hausted. The head is constantly pendent, the eye
sunken, the expression of the countenance stupid and
haggard, and the stupor or insensibility may become so
great that pinching or even pricking of the skin may pass
unnoticed by the animal. Death usually takes place from
the tenth to the twentieth day.
Treatment. English veterinarians rely much on calo-
mel, and with a firm full pulse, not too rapid, a general
warmth of surface and extremities, a bright eye, cheerful
countenance, whitish foetid dung, and much yellowness of
the eye, nose, or mouth, a few doses of calomel (10 ers.)
and opium (80 grs.), repeated twice daily, may be useful
in stimulating the liver and throwing off injurious agents
from the blood. But it is to be avoided when there is a
weak, rapid pulse and great prostration and debility, and
in no case should it be given over two or three days, or
until the system is saturated with the drug. Severe cos-
tiveness may be obviated by 2 or 8 drs. of aloes and a
drachm of calomel, or by a daily dose of 2 or 3 ozs. of
Glauber salts until relaxation occurs. Soft feeding and
copious injections of warm water must be continued to
maintain the bowels in a healthy state. A drachm each
of chlorate or nitrate of potassa and muriate of am-
Contagious and Epizootic Diseases. 23
monia may be given three or four times daily with the
water drunk, or in case of great dullness and debility an
ounce of oil of turpentine, sulphuric ether, sweet spirits of
nitre, or carbonate of ammonia may be given as well.
Great tenderness of the belly may be met by persistent
hot fomentations, and mustard poultices, and if necessary
by half drachm doses of opium. Tympany is treated
by hand rubbing and by aromatic ammonia or oil of pep-
permint. During recovery 3 or 4 ozs. of tincture of gen-
tian or cinchona may be given twice daily with muriate of
iron and stimulants. Feed throughout on soft bran mashes,
sliced roots, boiled oats or barley, green grass, oil-cake,
ete., giving from the hand if necessary. Secure pure air
and water, cleanliness, warm clothing and general comfort
until restored to health.
CANINE DISTEMPER.
A specific fever of the young domestic carnivora, affect-
ing the respiratory organs, and it may be the abdominal
viscera, the brain, the muscular system and joints, or the
skin. One attack usually protects from a second.
Causes. Connected, like strangles, with domestication,
it is most severe on pet dogs kept in hot, close rooms on
spiced food, or confined in kennels. Change of climate,
teething, and contagion are other causes.
Symptoms. Dullness, peevishness, loss of appetite, dry
nose, watery eyes, elevated temperature, increased pulse
(110 to 120), sensitiveness to cold, shivering, cough and
glairy or yellowish discharge from the nose. The cough
becomes paroxysmal and often followed by vomiting, the
matter not being licked up again, the breathing is dis-
turbed, and the chest sounds on auscultation and percus-
-sion imply disease there. The animal is weak, debil-
itated and emaciated, and diarrhcea, ulceration of the
mouth, and nervous symptoms usually precede death.
The complications are marked by symptoms of bronchi-
tis, pneumonia, enteritis, hepatitis, conjunctivitis, phre.
24 The Farmer's Veterinary Adviser.
nitis and skin-disease. Diseases of the brain (cramps,
convulsions, chorea, paralysis,) and skin-eruption are ex
ceedingly common in the advanced stages. The eruption
is peculiar, consisting of small blisters, containing often a
reddish or purple fluid.
Treatment. A warm, comfortable bed, pure air, and a
milk, or bread and milk diet are important. The diet
should not be so exclusive in dogs having had animal food
only.
ji mild emetic, (antimonial wine), or a slight laxative,
(castor oil), may be followed by tonics, (gentian, quinia,)
febrifuges, (saltpeter), and expectorants, (ipecacuanha),
with perhaps an anodyne, (belladonna). As fever subsides,
tonics must be given freely (wine, quinia, sulphate of iron,
Fowler’s solution). In all the various complications treat
as for the different diseases, but avoid weakening reme-
dies, and keep up tonics, stimulants, and a rich diet.
MALIGNANT CHOLERA. ASIATIC CHOLERA.
This attacks the domestic quadrupeds and birds simul-
taneously with man, and has been produced experiment-
ally by feeding the dried bowel discharges. These were
found to increase in virulence from the first to the third
day, and to decrease to the fifth day, after which they
were harmless, (Sanderson).
Symptoms. Muscular cramps, great prostration, partial
loss of motor power and excitability, great lowering of the —
body temperature (80° F.), deathly-cold bloodless ex-
tremities, viscid tardily-flowing blood, and lastly, violent
abdominal pains and fluid bowel dejections, often having
the specific rice-water appearance.
Treatment. The disease is mainly important as propa-
gating a poison so fatal to the human being, hence the
most perfect disinfection of all bowel dejections is imper-
ative, together with the seclusion and burial of the sick
and dead. Asan example of current treatment may be
named, aromatics, (oil of anise, oil of cajeput, oil of juni-
Contagious and Epizootic Diseases. 25
per, tincture of cinnamon,) stimulants, (ether), and acids,
(sulphuric acid), mixed and given every quarter of an
hour. In the early stages add opium to check diarrhea.
To overcome surface coldness and collapse, use hot fo-
mentations, rubbing, inhalation of nitrate of amyle; to
sheath the intestines, demulcent drinks, (linseed tea,
mallow, slippery elm,) and to meet other states according
to indications. Every separate case would demand special
treatment.
In birds, change of the yard, and sulphate of iron and
carbolic acid in the water are especially reliable to check.
INTESTINAL FEVER IN SWINE. HOG-CHOLERA.
A specific contagious fever of swine, attended by con-
gestion, exudation, blood extravasation, and ulceration of
the membrane of the stomach and bowels, by liquid fetid
diarrhoea, by general heat and redness of the surface and
by the appearance on the skin and mucous membranes
of spots and patches of a scarlet, purple, or black color.
It is fatal in from one to six days, or ends in a tedious,
uncertain recovery.
Symptoms. Incubation ranges from a week or fortnight
in cold weather to three days in warm. It is followed by
shivering, dullness, prostration, hiding under the litter,
unwillingness to rise, hot, dry snout, sunken eyes, unsteady
gait behind, impaired or lost appetite, ardent thirst, in-
creased temperature (103.2° to 105° F.) and pulse. With
the occurrence of heat and soreness of the skin, it is suf-
fused with red patches and black spots, the former disap-
pearing on pressure, the latter not. The tongue is thickly
furred, the pulse small, weak and rapid, the breathing ac-
celerated and a hard dry cough is frequent. Sickness
and vomiting may be present, the animal grunts or
screams if the belly is handled, the bowels may be cos-
tive throughout but more commonly they become re-
laxed about the third day and an exhausting fuetid diar-
rhoea ensues. Lymph and blood may pass with the dung
3
26 The Farmer's Veterinary Adviser.
Before death the patient loses control of the hind limbs,
and is often sunk in complete stupor, with muscular
trembling, jerking, and involuntary motions of the bowels.
Causes. It is mainly propagated by contagion, though
faults in diet and management may serve to develop it.
The poison will blow half a mile or more on the
wind, and is with difficulty destroyed in hog-pens, fodder,
ete.
Treatment ought not to be permissible, unless in a con-
stantly disinfected atmosphere. Feed, well-boiled gruel
of barley or rye, or in case these raise the fever, corn-
starch made with boiling water; give to drink fresh cool
water, slightly acidulated with sulphuric acid. For the
early constipation give a mild laxative (castor oil, rhu-
barb,) and injections of warm water, following up with
fever medicine (nitrate of potassa and bisulphite of soda).
If the patient survives the first few days and shows signs
of ulceration of the bowels (bloody dung, tender belly,)
give oil of turpentine fifteen to twenty drops night and
morning. Follow up with tonics, and careful soft feeding.
Prevention. Kill and bury the diseased; thoroughly
disinfect all they have come in contact with; watch the
survivors for the first sign of illness, test all suspicious
subjects with the thermometer in the rectum, and sepa-
rate from the herd if it shows more than 103° F., destroy-
ing as soon as distinct signs of the disease are shown.
Feed vegetable or animal charcoal, bisulphite of soda,
earbolic acid, or sulphate of iron to the healthy, and avoid
all suspected food, places, or even water which has run
near a diseased herd. All newly purchased pigs should
be placed at a safe distance in quarantine under separate
attendants until their health has been proved.
TEXAN FEVER.
A specific fever, rising in the low, malarious grounds of
the States bordering on the Gulf of Mexico, and commu-
nicable to the cattle of the elevated lands of the same and
Contagious and Epizootic Diseases. at
other States in a more fatal form. It is characterized by
enlarged spleen, profound changes in the blood, escape of
the blood elements into the substance of the various tissues
and with the urine, causing bloody discharges from tha
kidneys, yellowness of the mucous membranes and fat,
~great prostration and debility.
Symptoms. ‘There seems to be an incubation of four or
five weeks, ending in elevated temperature (103° to 107°)
and followed in five to seven days by dullness, languor,
drooping head till the nose reaches the ground, arched
back, hind legs advanced under the belly and bent at the
fetlocks, cough more or less frequent, muscular trembling
about the flanks, jerking of the’neck muscles, heat of horns,
ears and general surface (limbs cold—in exceptional
cases) and impaired appetite and rumination. Soon weak-
ness compels lying down, by choice in water, eyes are
glassy and fixed, secretions lessened, dung hard and
coated with mucus, or with clots of blood, and the urine
changes to a deep red or black and coagulates on boiling.
The mucous membranes are of a deep yellow or brown,
that of the rectum seen in passing dung is of a dark red,
as in Rinderpest.
All these symptoms become aggravated, weakness be-
comes extreme, and the patient dies in a state of stupor,
or sometimes in convulsions.
The disease usually passes unnoticed in the Texan cat-
tle, but is exceedingly fatal in northern beasts.
Contagion takes place through the bowel discharges,
and roads, pastures, water-courses, etc., become efh-
cient bearers of the virus. It is destroyed at once by
frost, and has never been satisfactorily demonstrated to be
conveyed from one northern animal to another. Sucking
calves rarely suffer. One attack does not protect against
another.
‘Prevention. Itshould be enforced by United States law
that no Gulf-coast cattle should be moved north excepting
after the first frosts of autumn, or before the last frosts of
28 The Farmer's Veterinary Adviser.
spring. Then would the traffic be safe for all the North.
The time would vary for the different States, but the ear-
lier or later traffic for the extreme north should be by di-
rect route without intermediate unloading. A general re-
striction of this sort, with the expense levied on all the
States, would be more economical and satisfactory than a
supervision by each State of its own frontier.
Treatment should never be called for. It may, however,
be resorted to with less danger than in the case of a true
plague. In some cases emollient drinks and enemas, soft
food, and stimulating fever medecines have been followed
by recovery. Chlorate of potassa, nitre, iodide of potassi-
um, and carbolic acid have evidently been of advantage.
Wet-sheet packing, as for Lung-fever, should be beneficial,
and refrigerant or stimulating diuretics (digitalis, nitre, or
nitrous ether,) according to the indications of the partic-
ular case. Peculiarities in different cases would demand
a variation of treatment. The diet throughout should be
of soft mashes, and a return to ordinary fibrous aliment
made slowly and carefully, as being lable to cut off by
gastro-entritis.
CANINE MADNESS. RABIES. (HYDROPHOBIA).
A specific disease supposed to arise spontaneously in the
genus canis (dog, wolf, fox,) and in the cat, but transmis-
sible by inoculation to all the domestic animals and to
man. It is marked by disorders of intellectual, emotion-
al, and nervous functions, altered habits, irritable temper,
optical delusions, spasms of the muscles of the eyeballs
and throat, paralysis, and more or less fever.
Causes. Ynoculation by bite is the usual (almost inva-
riable) cause, yet cases manifestly arise spontaneously in
most countries. Season, climate, abuse, privation of wa-
ter, improper food, muzzling, etc., have no effect further
than they serve to produce a febrile state and hasten the
development of the disease when the seeds are already
implanted in the system. A constantly increasing mass
Contagious and Ivpizootic Diseases. 29
of testimony points to the conclusion that the restraint of
an ungovernable sexual desire is one cause of the genera-
tion of the malady, and it is even supposed that the ma-
ternal instinct has had a similar effect after the puppies
have been removed. Males chiefly suffer, partly, no doubt,
from their special lability to natural exciting causes, but
mainly because the rabid dog is far more likely to bite a
male than a female.
The poison is resident in the saliva and blood, but not
in the milk. The saliva of rabid herbivora, omnivora, and
men is equally virulent with that of carnivora, though in
all animals it varies in intensity according to the stage of
the disease. Of animals bitten by a violently rabid dog
nearly all contract the disease, whereas among men the
proportion is five to fifty-five per cent. This apparent
immunity is largely due to the cleaning of the teeth on the
dress before they reach the skin.
Incubation varies in dogs from five to eighty days, the
majority showing symptoms thirty to forty days after the
bite ; in the horse fifteen to ninety days (usually thirty) ;
in cattle twenty to thirty days; sheep twenty to seventy-
four days; swine twenty to forty-nine days. In man it
ranges about the same, exceptional cases extending over
years being manifestly instances of disease resulting from
fear, a common occurrence in the human being.
Symptoms. In the Dog. Any sudden change of habits,
or instincts—dullness, restlessness, watchfulness, tenden-
cy to pick up and swallow straws and other small objects
constant desire to smell or lick the anus or generative or
gans of themselves or others, to lick a stone or other smooth,
cold object, to rub the throat or chops with the fore paws,
silent endurance of pain, rubbing or licking of a scar, the
seat of the bite, liability to sudden passion and attempts
to bite at sight of another dog or cat, may be looked on as
very suspicious, if rabies exists in the country. ‘Soon the
characteristic howl is omitted. The voice is hoarse, low
and muffled, and there is one loud howl followed by three
Qe
30 The Farmer’s Veterinary Adviser.
or four more successively diminishing in force and uttered
without closing the mouth. Some dogs appear unusually
fond of their owners and fatally inoculate them by licking
their hands and face. Others turn the head and eyes as
if following imaginary objects and snap as if at flies.
Barking without object, a constant searching, or tearing
of wood, ete., to pieces, a seeking of darkness and seclu-
sion and a disposition to resent disturbance, or a pilgrim-
age of several days’ absence from home are among the most
common precursors of the disease.
Furious Rabies. Following some of the above symptoms
there is a redness and fixed glare in the eyes, squinting,
yolling of the eyes after fancied objects, more frequent
howling, and increasing irritability with a tendency to
worry all animals that come in their way, the respect for,
and immunity of former friends being lost in the violence
of a paroxysm. The victim can no longer rest, but under-
takes long journeys at a slouching trot, ready to fly at all
that cross his path, especially if they make any noise or
outcry. He may die during one of these journeys, or re-
turn dirty, careworn and sullen, with the rabid glare in
his eye and ready to resent any inteference. Each parox-
ysm of violence or wandering is followed by a period of
depression and torpor proportionate to the preceding es-
citement, during which dark and seclusion are preferred,
though any disturbance will arouse to violence. From the
fourth to the cighth day paralysis sets in, first in the hind
limbs then in the jaw and the whole body, the certain pre-
cursor of approaching death.
Paralytic Rabies. In this case paralysis with dropping
of the lower jaw is shown at the outset, and gradually ex-
tends to the whole body. The animal cannot bite, eat, nor
drink, rarely barks, and dies early.
Lethargie (Tranquil) Rabies. Palsy of the jaw is:less
marked, but there is complete apathy, the patient remaining
curled up in one position, and is not to be roused by
any effort. He becomes daily more emaciated and dics‘in
ten to fifteen days.
Contagious and Epizootic Diseascs. 31
In addition to these typical forms there are others hold
ing an intermediate place. The furious form is especially
common in bulldogs, hounds, and the less domesticated
varieties, the paralytic and tranquil in the house and pet
dogs.
Popular Fallacies. I name these because of the evil re-
sults of entertaining them. 1. Mad dogs have no fear
of water (hydrophobia). On the contrary, they swim
rivers, plunge their noses in water or lap their urine with-
out hesitation. 2. Appetite is not lost, only depraved, and
the stomach after death is found to contain an endless va-
riety of improper objects. 3. There is rarely froth at the
mouth, though saliva may run from it when the jaw is par-
alyzed. 4. The tail ts not carried between the legs but is
rather held erect during a paroxysm.
Foxes and wolves have symptoms like those of the dog,
the animals losing their natural shyness or fear, and at-
tacking man and beast indiscriminately. Cats attack with
claws and teeth, flying at the face and hands, and utter
hoarse loud cries as in heat. The horse bites, kicks, neighs,
draws his yard, rolls his eyes, jerks his muscles, and dies
paralyzed. The mischievous propensity distinguishes
from delirium. The ox is restless, excitable, everts the
upper lip, grinds his teeth, bellows loudly and as if in
’ terror, scrapes with his fore feet, and butts and kicks all
who approach. There is jerking of the muscles and
finally paralysis. Sheep are similarly excited, show sexual
appetite, stamp, butt, and bleat hoarsely. They die para-
lytic. Swine are excitable, restless, grunt hoarsely, champ
the jaws, bite intruders, tear objects to pieces, gape,
yawn, become weak and die para‘ytic.
Recoveries are so rare as to be extremely questionable.
Treatment. This can only be warranted in the lower
animals in hope of discovering a curative method for man,
and then with extreme precautions and in iron cages.
Theoretically, vapor baths, with sulphites and antispas-
modics (datura, atropia, chloral-hydrate, etc.,) would
32 The Farmer's Veterinary Adviser.
promise the best results. The boasted curative agents have
all broken down when tried on well-marked cases in the
lower animals, in which diseases of the imagination are not
to be looked for.
Prevention. When bitten, at once check the flow ot
blood from the part, in the limb by a handkerchief or
cord with a piece of wood through it twisted tightly
around the member a little higher than the wound,—in
other parts by sucking, or by cutting open the wound to
its depth and squeezing or wringing as if milking to keep
up a free flow of blood, soaking it meanwhile in warm
water if available. Drinking liquids to excess will also
retard absorption. But as soon as caustics can be had
apply them thoroughly to all parts of the wound, making
sure that its deepest recesses are reached. The compres-
sion by handkerchief or fingers should not be relaxed
until this operation is completed. A hot skewer, nail or
poker, serves admirably, and if at a white heat is less
painful. But oil of vitriol, spirit of salt, nitric acid, caus-
tic potassa or soda, butter of antimony, chloride of zinc,
nitrate of silver, blue stone, copperas, indeed any caustio
at hand should be at once employed. The wound should
be thoroughly cauterized, though some time has elapsed
since the bite, as absorption does not always take place at
once.
All dogs should be registered, taxed, and furnished with
a collar bearing their own and their owner’s names and
that of their residence. During the existence of rabies in
a country all dogs found at large unmuzzled should be de-
stroyed. Suspected dogs should be shut up under super-
vision for three months unless rabies is developed earlier.
Dogs that have bitten human beings should be similarly
shut up for a week to test the existence of the disease or
otherwise.
MALIGNANT ANTHRAX.
A constitutional disorder, arising in rich, damp lo
Contagious and Epizootic Diseases. 38
calities, in herbivora, swine and birds, and communica-
ble by inoculation to other animals and to man. It
shows itself by many different forms, all characterized by
extreme changes in the chemical and vital properties ot
the blood, breaking down of the blood-globules, extrava-
sations of blood or albuminous fluids in different parts of
the body, with a tendency to gangrene, yellow or brown
mucous membranes, enlargement or even rupture of tho
spleen (milt), and a very high mortality.
Causes. It is propagated by contagion but tends to die
out when produced in this way only. It is transmitted by
contact with the blood, liquid exudations, portions of the
diseased carcass, fat, skins, hair, wool, bristles, feathers,
and bowel evacuations, and rarely or not at all through
the atmosphere. Simple contact of these matters with the
healthy skin of a susceptible subject is enough to produce
the disease. The virus is most potent when received from
an animal still living or only recently dead, and yet may
be preserved for months in all conditions of climate, tem-
perature and humidity.
Eating of the flesh of animals killed while suffering in
this way has often conveyed the disease in spite the cook-
ing to which it was subjected. Fifteen thousand of the
inhabitants of St. Domingo once perished in six weeks
from this cause, and a whole family was poisoned a few
years ago in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. The Tartars perish
in great numbers from eating their anthrax horses. Mos-
quitoes and other insects with perforating apparatus to the
mouth probably help to communicate it as nearly all cases
in man occur on exposed parts of the body.
Its development in a locality is determined: 1. By the
rich surface soil abounding in organic matter, and the im-
pervious subsoil preventing natural drainage. 2. The fre-
quent inundations of banks of rivers flowing through level
countries and the drying up of ponds and lakes leaving
much organic deposit in their basins. 3. A continuation of
warm, dry weather which favors organic emanations fror
34 The Farmer's Veterinary Adviser.
such places as the above. 4. A condition of the sys-
tem of the animal predisposing to the reception and
erowth of the poison, and consisting in the loading ot
the blood with plastic or waste organic matter, as in over-
fed plethoric animals, in those making flesh most rapidly,
in the young and rapidly growing, in those rendered un-
healthy by overwork, impure air, unsuitable food or
water. 5. Sudden chills when the poison is already pres-
ent; hence, extreme variations in the temperature of night
and day. 6. A close, still atmosphere.
General characters. In the typical cases the blood is
black, tarry and incoagulable, and in all it shows broken-
up globules, and microscopic rod-like bodies and clear, re-
frangent spherules (bacteria) such as appear in putrefying
liquids. The spleen, lymphatic glands and liver are en-
larged, the mucous membranes of the stomach and intes-
tines are usually reddened, thickened, and softened, and
any other part of the body may be the seat of bloody or
albuminous effusion with a tendency to death, decomposi-
tion, the extrication of gases in the tissues and a crackling
sound when handled. When it commences in one point
on the surface (malignant pustule) there is first an un-
healthy eruption of minute blisters which burst, dry up
and become gangrenous, while new blisters appear around
as the unhealthy action spreads.
Divisions. The malignant anthrax may be manifested
by external disease, or swelling, or without such appear-
ances. To the first class belong the carbuncular erysip-
elas of sheep and swine, malignant sore-throat of hogs,
gloss-anthrax or black-tongue, black-quarter or bloody
murrain, the boil plague of Siberia, and the malignant pus-
tule of man. To the second belong all those forms of the
disease in which there are the specific changes in the blood,
with engorgement of the spleen, blood-staining and exu-
dations into internal organs, only.
Contagious and Epizootic Diseases. 35
Malignant Anthrax with External Lesions.
(A) In Horsrs.—(1) Siberian Boil Plague. This is un.
questionably an anthrax disease, and though named from
Siberia is not unknown in other lands. A slight shiver
ing and fever are followed by a swelling on the udder,
sheath, breast, throat, or elsewhere, which rapidly in-
creases sometimes to the size ofaninfant’shead. Atfirstsoft,
it hardens, assuming a yellow, bacon-like appearance, with
red streaks and spots. The animals die in twelve or twenty-
four hours, rarely surviving three days. The blood is in
the state so characteristic of anthrax, with bacteria, enlarged
spleen and sanguineous effusions. In cattle similar tumors
appear, mainly on the throat, neck, or dewlap, in sheep
and goats on the bare surfaces and in pigs around the
throat. In all cases the disease, when conveyed to man,
produces the blue-pox (malignant pustule). At the outset
all cases prove fatal, later recoveries occur under the local
use of cold water, or the hot iron or other caustics pushed
to the depth of the tumor, and mineral acids internally.
(2) Malignant Anthrax with Diffused Local Swellings.
Typhus. This is usually confounded with the propura hem-
orrhagica, which is in no sense a contagious affection, but
occurs in weak conditions of the body, as a sequel of de-
bilitating diseases (influenza, bronchitis, pneumonia, etc.)
Our limits forbid extended treatment, hence the general
symptoms will be named, and the observer left to distin-
guish the two diseases according to their origin, commu-
nicability and prevalence.
Symptoms. Shivering, lassitude, stupor, impaired appe-
tite, whitish discharge from the nose, accelerated pulse
and breathing, costiveness with slimy dung or scouring,
high-colored, odorous or bloody urine, swellings the size of
a walnut or closed fist on different parts of the body, or a
continuous swelling beneath the chest and belly, or extreme
engorgement of the limbs or head. These are at first hot
and tender, and easily indented with the finger, but soon
become hard, ihe skin gets rigid and exudes drops of a
36 The Farmer's Veterinary Adviser.
yellow serum or pure blood. They may render the patient
unable to walk, see, feed, drink, urinate, or breathe ac-
cording to situation. The mucous membranes become
swelled, puffy, dusky or yellow, with red spots and streaks,
and a viscid, bloody and finally foetid discharge flows from
the nose. Breathing may become labored and quick in
connection with exudations into the chest, or violent colics
may supervene from effusions in the abdomen. With inter-
nal effusions death ensues in forty-eight hours, with exter-
nal only, the effects may last for weeks or months before
ending in recovery or death. In the latter case the swellings
may suddenly disappear to reappear elsewhere, they may
subside permanently in connection with free action of the
bowels or kidneys, or they may slough, leaving extensive
and sluggish sores and scars.
(B) In tue Ox.—(1) Black Tongue. Also in the Horse.
This is manifested by the eruption of blisters, red, purple
or black, on the tongue, palate and cheeks, increasing in-
dividually often to the size of a hen’s egg, bursting, dis-
charging an ichorous irritating fluid, and forming un-
healthy sores with more or less tumefaction. There is a
bloody discharge from the mouth, active fever sets in and
death ensues in twenty-four to forty-eight hours.
(2) Black-Quarter. Bloody Murrain. This is malig-
nant anthrax, with extensive engorgement of a shoul-
der, quarter, neck, breast or side. It is most frequent in
young and rapidly thriving stock, attacking first the finest
of the herd or those thriving most rapidly, and runs its
course so quickly that its victims are usually found dead
in the field as the first indication of anything amiss. It
seen during life there are the general symptoms of pleth-
ora, fever, with halting on one limb, stiffness, and excessive
tenderness of some parts of the skin, to be promptly fol-
lowed by swelling of such parts, with yellow or bloody
oozing from the surface, and crackling when pressed.
These swellings become firm, tense, insensible-and even
cold, and if the subject survives may finally slough open
Contagious and Epizootic Diseases. 37
and leave large, unsightly and inactive sores. Recoveries
are the exception and too often slow and tedious.
(C) InSsrep. Carbuncular Erysipelas. This strongly
resembles black-quarter of cattle. Like that it attacks
the finest of the flock and the bodies of its victims are
found dead in the field. There is first halting on a limb,
then a red or violet swelling beginning inside the leg and
rapidly extending over the body. The feeling, appearance
and course of the swelling agree with those of black-quarter
and death occurs in a few hours, or in exceptional cases in
two days.
(D) InSwinz. These suffer from Anthrax of the Mouth,
comparable to black-tonque, carbuncular erysipelas, like that
of the sheep, pharyngeal anthrax and tumors about the throat,
which sometimes at least have the anthrax characters.
(1) The Carbuncular Evrysipelas has been constantly con-
founded in systematic veterinary works with intestinal fe-
ver but is a distinct disease, being derivable from other
anthrax patients and communicable to other genera of an-
imals and to man, whereas hog-cholera is absolutely con-
fined to swine.
(2) Malignant Sore-throat. Pharyngeal Anthrax. This
is perhaps the most frequent form of the disease in
swine, often appearing to arise from eating the carcasses
or excretions of other anthrax animals. There is active
fever with redness and swelling of the throat, neck, breast
and even the fore limbs. This is at first hard, elastic,
warm and tender, but becomes purple, cool, insensible and
pits on pressure. There is loss of appetite, retching, vom-
iting, purple patches and black spots on the eyes, snout
and skin, difficult breathing through the mouth, livid
tongue, decreasing temperature, great weakness and death
in one or two days.
(3) In the guttural tumors the swelling is circumscribed
to the size of a kidney-bean or egg, on one or both sides
of the throat, extending to involve the throat generally,
causing vomiting, difficult breathing and swallowing, the
4
38 The Farmer's Veterinary Adviser.
gencral symptoms of anthrax, and death from suffocation
often under twenty-four hours. It attacks pigs of five or
six months.
(E) Docs anp Cats. These suffer when they have eaten
the carcasses of anthrax victims. The disease usually lo-
calizes itself in the mouth, throat and digestive organs,
giving rise to bloody vomiting and purging, with high fe-
ver and often death.
(F) Bmps—Suffer from the primary disease and more
frequently from eating the debris of anthrax victims. In
addition to the fever, characteristic swellings appear
mainly on the comb, beak and feet.
(G) Man. Malignant Pustule. There is itchiness of the
affected part, with a minute red spot, increasing in twelve
or fifteen hours to the size of a millet-seed, bursting and
drying with a livid appearance in thirty-six hours. Next
day a new crop of vesicles surround the seat of the first
and pass through the same course to be succeeded by an-
other and still wider ring. The whole is surrounded by a
puffy, shining swelling, the central dry part passes through
the shades of red, blue, brown and black, becomes gan-
grenous and insensible and in case of recovery is sloughed
off. At first the disease is quite local, but as it advances
a violent fever sets in, which too often proves fatal.
Malignant Anthrax without External Swellings.
Apoplectic Form. In all animals there is a form in which
the victim is cut off after a few minutes’ illness with or
without discharge of blood from the natural openings of
the body and before time has been allowed for any of
those changes in the blood and internal organs which
characterize the disease. These are often to be distin-
guished from apoplectic seizures and sunstroke only by
their occurrence simultaneously with other forms of an-
thrax and in the same places.
Anthrax Fever in Horses. Vigorous health is replaced
by dullness, muscular weakness, stupor, hanging on the
Contagious and Epizootic Diseases. 39
halter, leaning on the side of the stall, if at work unsteady
movement, colicky pains, lying down and rising, turning
the head towards the flank. The hair is dry and erect,
the hide tense, and may even crepitate on handling; it
trembles or sweats about the ears, elbows or thighs. The
eyes and nose assume a yellow or reddish or brownish-
yellow tinge, with oftentimes dark red or black spots.
The pulse is weak, the heart’s impulse behind the left
elbow strong, breathing labored or quick and catching.
A frothy, bloody fluid may appear at the nose. The
bowels are costive, the dung covered with mucus, or loose
with streaks of blood. The rectum, everted, is of a dark
red and puffy. Great weakness comes on and the patient
dies in convulsions or during the subsequent calm. Death
usually occurs in twelve to twenty-four hours.
Anthrax Fever in Oxen. Splenic Apoplexy. The patient
ceases feeding and ruminating or does so irregularly,
trembles, has partial sweats, staring coat, varying heat of
the body, arched back, quarters rested on the stall or
fence, or lies with the head turned to the flank. A high
temperature (105° to 107°) precedes the outward symp-
toms by hours or days. The eye is sunken, dull, watery
with the shades of brown and yellow, and dark spots, re-
marked in the horse; breathing hurried, heart’s action
violent, pulse weak, loins and back tender or even crepi-
tating, urine bloody, bloody liquids escape from nose,
anus or eyes, and the dung is streaked with blood. As the
disease advances the temperature of the body decreases
and the patient dies in convulsions or quietude, or makes
a rapid recovery. The fatal result usually takes place in
from twelve to twenty-four hours.
Anthrax Feverin Sheep. Blood-Striking. Braxy. Isvery
promptly fatal, the dead and already foetid carcasses being
usually found in the morning taough the flock was appar-
ently wellat night. The black, tarry blood brightening very
slowly on exposure, the enlarged spleen and mesenteric
glands, the red, puffy, softened membrane of the bowels and
*
40 The Farmer's Veterinary Adviser.
the bloody and gelatinous exudations show the true nature
of the disease. When seen during life there are signs of
plethora, fever, red eyes, costiveness, bloody, mucous
dung, bloody urine, colicky pains, unsteady gait, breath-
lessness when driven, flattened fleece, deep-sunken eyes,
stupor, convulsions and speedy death. Many cases of so-
called braxy are not communicable to other animals, hence
not genuine anthrax.
Anthrax Fever in Swine. There are dullness, thirst, in-
appetence, a tardy, unsteady gait, hot, pendent ears,
drooping tail, deep, dull brownish-red eyes, hurried
breathing, small pulse, violent heart’s action, and tense,
tender abdomen. Nervous tremors, twitching or cramps
come on, the body cools, bloody urine is passed and some-
times bloody dung. Dark or black spots appear on the
skin and mucous membranes, as in hug-cholera, and if the
animal survives, these are sloughed off, often leaving sores
If swelling appears externally it is often a herald of im-
provement.
Anthrax Fever in Birds. There is inappetence, ruffling
of plumage, sinking of the head in the shoulders, foetid
diarrhoea, drooping, trailing wings, tenderness to the
touch, muscular weakness, unsteady walk, inability to
perch, livid or black comb and wattles. Sometimes the
feathers drop off and swellings appear about the head,
throat or feet.
Treatment of Malignant Anthrax.
This is unsatisfactory owing to the rapidly fatal action
of the poison. The first cases usually die, the later ones
may often be treated with fair success.
General Treatment. In very plethoric subjects bleeding
may prove beneficial at the outset, but in advanced stages,
in poor and weak subjects, and in those with feeble con-
stitutions, like sheep, it is to be strongly condemned. Act
on the bowels, kidneys and skin to eliminate the poison
(sulphates of soda, or magnesia, acetate, nitrate, or tar-
Contagious and [pizootic Diseases. 4]
trate of potassa, common salt, oil of turpentine). Sponge
with cold water and rub actively till dry. Rub with cam-
phorated spirit or oil of turpentine. Give tonics (quinia,
salacin, etc.,) antiseptics (mineral acids, nitro-muriatic
acid, tincture of the muriate of iron, chlorate of potassa,
carbolic acid, bisulphite of soda, tincture of iodine, iodide
of potassium, bichromate of potassa). In the Genesee out-
break of 1875, I had admirable results from the use of
nitro-muriatic acid sixty drops, bichromate of potassa
three grs., and chlorate of potassa two drachms, twice daily
by the mouth, and two or three drachms of a saturated
solution of sulphate of quinia, iodide of potassium and bi-
sulphite of soda injected at equal intervals beneath the
skin. Of fifty very sick oxen only four died.
In the advanced and weak conditions stimulants (alco-
hol, turpentine, ether, valerian, angelica, camphor, etc.,)
are useful.
Local Treatment. This is very successful with inocu-
lated forms of the disease, (malignant pustule, boil-plague,
gloss-anthrax, malignant sore-throat) if employed before
the poison has passed into the system and produced fever.
For these, free cauterization and especially with the anti-
septic caustics (crystallized carbolic acid, the mineral acids,
chloride of zine, chloride of iron, sulphate of iron or cop-
per) is successful. But the whole diseased tissue must be
reached, and in the case of the tongue the blisters must be
first laid open and the agent applied in small quantity with
a brush, or more freely in a diluted condition. In some
external cases the hot iron is used with advantage. Such
treatment may still be applied to circumscribed tumors ac-
companied by the fever, being followed by poultices to en-
courage suppuration.
For extensive engorgements use astringents (cold water,
vinegar, etc.,) weak antiseptic lotions, and, above all, in-
jections with a hypodermic syringe of antiseptics (diluted
tincture of iodine, diluted carbolic acid—1-100, etc.) The
hypodermic treatment is equally applicable to the circum-
4*
42 The Farmer's Veterinary Adviser.
seribed tumors, but we must saturate their whole sub-
stance, otherwise absorption of the poison will lead to gen-
eral disorder.
Prevention. 1. Drain the soil thoroughly. 2. When a
soil cannot be drained, soil the stock in-doors or on other
pastures rather than graze them. 3. Remove the stock
from pastures known to be dangerous as soon as summer
heat and dryness of the soil favor malarious emanations,
(late summer and autumn). 4. Shelter the stock at night
and secure the shade of trees or sheds during the day,
when, after a hot, dry season, there comes an extreme
difference between the day and night temperature. 5.
Secure abundance of pure water, avoiding such as is stag-
nant or putrid. 6. Keep always in good thriving condi-
tion, and avoid sudden accessions of plethora. Artificial
feeding in dry times is often necessary to secure this, or
in case of an over-luxuriant pasture, seclusion in a barn-
yard for four or five hours a day. Sheep may be shut up
on moonlight nights, to prevent feeding, in dangerous
localities. 7. Overwork, exhaustion, close-aired build-
ings, ill-health, or whatever tends to load the blood with
waste matter should be avoided. 8. Exposed animals
may have a little nitro-muriatic, sulphuric or carbolic
acid daily in the water or food. 9. Diseased animals
must be separated from the healthy. 10. Carcasses, secre-
tions, dung, litter, etc., of diseased animals should be
deeply buried or otherwise perfectly destroyed. Build-
ings, yards, sheds, etc., occupied by the diseased should
be thoroughly disinfected. Pastures should be aban-
doned for that season, and graves fenced safely from tres-
pass for two years. 11. None but the attendants should
approach the diseased. 12. Before handling, cauterize all
raw sores on hands or face with lunar caustic and wash
the hands in a weak solution of carbolic acid both before
and after. 13. Shut up all dogs, cats and pigeons. 14
Never allow the flesh or milk to pass into consumption.
Contagious and Eipizootic Diseases. 43
GLANDERS AND FARCY.
A specific febrile disorder originating in solipeds, and
transmissible by contagion or inoculation to dogs, goats,
sheep and men. Glanders is characterized by a peculiar
deposit with ulceration, on the membrane of the nose,
and in the lungs, etc., and farcy by deposits of the same
material and ulcerations of the lymphatics of the skin.
Hach has its acute and chronic form. The acute form
usually results from inoculation, or in weak and worn-out
systems. Besides the common cause—contagion, over-
work, exhausting diseases, and impure air are especially
injurious.
Symptoms- of Acute Glanders. Languor, dry, staring
coat, red, weeping eyes, impaired appetite, accelerated
pulse and breathing, yellowish-red or purple streaks or
patches in the nose, watery nasal discharge, with some-
times painful dropsical swellings of the limbs or joints.
Soon the nasal flow becomes yellow and sticky, causing
the hairs and skin of the nostrils to adhere together, and
upon the mucous membrane appear yellow elevations
with red spots, passing on into erosions and deep ulcers
of irregular form and varied color and with little or no
tendency to heal. The lymphatic glands inside the lower
jaw where the pulse is felt, become enlarged, hard and
nodular, like a mass of peas or beans, and are occasion-
ally firmly adherent to the skin, the tongue, or the jaw-
bone. The lymphatics on the face often rise as firm
cords. An occasional cough is heard and auscultation
dutects crepitation or wheezing in the chest. The ulcers
increase in number and depth, often invading the gristle
or even the bone, the glands also enlarge but remain hard
and nodular, the discharge becomes bloody, fcetid and so
abundant and tenacious as to threaten or accomplish suf-
focation, and the animal perishes in the greatest distress.
Symptoms of Chronic Glanders. This is characterized
by the same unhealthy deposits and ulcers in the nose,
varying extremely in size and number, often indeed situ-
44 The Farmer's Veterinary Adviser.
ated too high to be seen; by the same viscid discharge,
but usually much less tenacious than in the acute form ;
by the same hard, comparatively insensible nodular glands
on the inner side of the jaw-bone; and a cough, which,
however, is much more rare. Excepting at the very out-
set, the animal usually appears to be in the best of health,
with the apparently insignificant drawback of the nasal
discharge, and hence he is often kept and used till he con-
taminates a number of horses or even men. The case is
easily recognized unless where the ulcers are invisible or
the enlarged glands removed. It is sometimes needful to
inoculate a useless animal to decide as to the nature of
the malady. It usually proves fatal to the inoculated
animal in about ten days.
Symptoms of Acute Farcy. The premonitory symp-
toms resemble those of acute glanders, of which it is but
another manifestation. The local symptoms consist in
thickening of the lymphatic vessels, which feel like stout
cords, painful to pressure ; and the formation of rounded
inflammatory swellings (farcy-buds) along the course of
these corded lymphatics. There follow ulceration of these
buds, raw sores, discharging a glairy, unhealthy pus, and
dropsical engorgement of the limb or other part affected.
It is usually seen to follow the line of the veins on the
inner side of the hind or fore imb, but may appear on any
part. The cording usually extends from the feet toward
the body, and is most likely to be confounded with lym-
phangitis in which the swelling begins high up in the
groin. It usually proves fatal, becoming complicated with
glanders before death.
Symptoms of Chronic Farcy. This may follow the acute
form or come on insidiously. First there is some swelling
of a fetlock, usually a hind one, and a round, hard, nut-like
mass may be felt which gradually softens, bursts and dis-
charges the characteristic serous or glairy matter. The
lymphatics leading up from it meanwhile become corded,
and farcy-buds appear along their course. Or the round,
Contagious and Epizootic Diseases. 45
pea-like buds appear first on the inner side of the hock,
or on some other part of the body, soften, burst and dis-
charge before any cording of the lymphatics can be felt.
By-and-by, dropsical swellings appear in the limbs and
elsewhere, at first soft and removable by exercise, later,
hard and permanent. Sometimes the farcy-buds fail to
soften but remain hard and indolent for months.
Glanders in the dog is a comparatively mild affection,
but as deadly if it is conveyed back to the horse or to
man. Glanders in man presents the same general symp-
toms as in the horse, and need not be further described.
Treatment of Glanders. The acute disease is fatal.
The chronic form occasionally appears to recover, though
more commonly the symptoms are covered up to reappear
whenever the animal is put to hardwork. The treatment ot
glanders in all its forms and of acute farcy with open sores
should be legally prohibited because of the danger to man
as well as animals.
For glanders the most successful agents have been ar-
seniate of strychnia (5 grs.), bisulphite of soda (2 drs.),
biniodide of copper (1 dr.), cantharides (5 grs.) with veg-
etable tonics, sulphate of copper (6 drs. in mucilage), sul-
phate of iron (4 drs.), chloride of barium, copaiva,
cubebs, ete. Pure air and rich food are perhaps even
more important. To the nose may be applied sulphur
fumes, fumes of burning tar, carbolic acid solution in
spray, etc. The enlarged glands may be treated with as-
tringent solutions, and later with iodine injections, or may
even be excised with the knife.
Treatment of Chronic Farcy. Active local inflammation
may demand purgatives (aloes), diuretics (iodide of potas-
sium) with warm fomentations or astringent lotions, exer-
cise and a soft non-stimulating diet. In the absence of
such indication use the tonics advised for glanders, choos-
ing in the order named. The corded lymphatics and un-
broken farey-buds may be blistered or rubbed with iodine
or mercurial ointment. The raw sores should be treated
46 The Farmer's Veterinary Adviser.
with caustics (carbolic acid, nitrate of silver, corrosive:
sublimate, chloride of zinc, or even the hot iron). Use
iodine, diuretics, exercise, rubbing, etc., to reduce the
swelling, and feed liberally.
Prevention. 1. Destroy all glandered horses, and all
with acute farcy and open sores, and bury deeply. 2.
There should be a high penalty attached to the exposing
of glandered horses in public places. 8. Suspected ani-
mals should be secluded under veterinary supervision un
til they can be pronounced sound, or destroyed. 4. The
stable, manure, litter, harness, clothing, utensils, etc., with
which the diseased has come in contact should be thor-
oughly disinfected. 5. Neither strange animals nor men
should be admitted, and attendants should disinfect before
leaving. 6. Horses should be protected as far as possible
from exhausting work, chronic wearing-out affections and
above all impure and rebreathed air.
VENEREAL DISEASE OF SOLIPEDS.
This is a curious disease of unknown origin, existing in
Arabia, North Africa and Continental Europe, bearing a
strong resemblance in many points to Syphilis, and pro-
pagated by copulation. I name it here because of the
probability of its importation with European or Arabian
horses.
Symptoms. From one to ten days after copulation, or
in the stallion sometimes after some weeks, there is irri-
tation, swelling, and a livid redness of the external organs
of generation, (in stallions the penis may shrink) followed
by unhealthy ulcers which appear in successive crops, of-
ten with considerable interval. In mares these are near
the clitoris, which is frequently erected, with switching
and rubbing of the tail; in horses on the penis and sheath.
In the milder forms there is little constitutional disturb-
ance and the patients recover in a time varying from a
fortnight to two months. In the severe forms the local
swelling increases by intermittent steps. The vulva is the
Contagious and Epizootic Diseases. Aq
seat of a deep violet congestion and extensive ulceration,
pustules appear on the perineum, tail and between the
thighs, the lips of the vulva are parted, exposing the irreg-
ular, nodular, puckered, ulcerated and lardaceous-looking
mucous membrane, abortion ensues, with emaciation, lame-
ness, paralysis and death after a wretched existence of five
months to two years. In horses swelling of the sheath
may be the only symptom for a year, then there may follow
dark spots of extravasated blood, or swellings of the penis,
the testicles may swell, a dropsical engorgement extends
forward beneath the abdomen and chest, the lymphatic
glands in different parts of the body may swell, pustules
and ulcers appear on the skin, the eyes and nose run, a
weakness and vacillating movement of the hind limbs
gradually increases to paralysis, and in a period varying
from three months to three years death puts an end to the
suffering.
It is needless to speak of treatment. Should this dis-
ease ever reach America it ought to be stamped out at
once as its insidious nature would enable it to spread to
the great destruction of stock.
TUBERCULOSIS. CONSUMPTION. PINING.
This is a hereditary constitutional affection, character-
ized by a specific deposit of cells, large and small, in a
special network, but without blood-vessels. It is situated
by preference in the groups of lymphatic glands, or in the
microscopic gland-like tissue of the different organs, and
may be seen in all stages from the simple redness and con-
gestion in which the deposit is only commencing, through
‘the solid grayish tubercle to the soft yellowish, cheese-like
mass resulting from the softening of the latter. There are
also the open cavities (vomice) resulting from their rup-
ture and the discharge of the tuberculous matter, and
chalky masses from the deposit of earthy salts within
them. They may be no larger individually than a millet-
seed (miliary tuberculosis), or in the chest of cattle one
48 The Farmer’s Veterinary Adviser.
may measure a foot long and five or six inches in thickness,
They are most common in cattle, especially heavy milkers,
with long legs, narrow chest, attenuated neck and ears,
and horns set near together. Sheep and swine with a
corresponding conformation are next in order of liability,
while horses, dogs and fowls are comparatively exempt.
Oft-repeated experiment has shown that tubercle is com-
municable to healthy animals by inoculation, or by eating
the raw, diseased product, and that it is superinduced in
any predisposed individual by setting up a local inflamma-
tion. It has also been transmitted by the warm, fresh
milk, but probably only when the disease has invaded the
mammary glands; in many experiments, including those
conducted by the author, the milk has proved harmless.
Close, badly-aired buildings (as town cow-sheds) are among
the most prolific causes of the disease, as are also changes
to a colder climate, to a cold, exposed locality, or from a
dry to a low, damp, undrained region. Finally, any cause
which tends to wear out the general health tends to tuber-
culosis in a predisposed subject.
Tubercles may be developed in any part of the body as
the lungs, their serous covering, the membrane supporting
the bowels, the coats of the intestines, the throat, the
spleen, the liver, the pancreas, the ovaries, the kidneys,
the bones, especially the ends of long bones, and in rare
cases, the muscles and connective tissue.
Symptoms vary according to the seat of the deposit, yet
there is a constitutional condition common to all, and the
lungs are almost always involved in the later stages, giving
rise to a great similarity of symptoms. The disease may
be acute but is usually chronic. The onset is insidious
and easily overlooked, tubercles being often found in ani-
mals killed in prime condition, and I have seen them in
parturition fever, which is always attributed to plethora.
‘There is some dullness, loss of vivacity, tenderness of the
withers, back and loins, and of the walls of the chest, oc-
casional dryness of the nose, heat of the horns and ears,
Contagious and Epizootic Diseases. 49
want of pliancy in the skin, slightly increased tempera-
ture (102°), weak, accelerated pulse, mawkish breath, stiff-
ness of the limbs, wandering perhaps from one to another,
slight, infrequent, dry cough, and blue, watery milk, often
abundant but with cheesy matter, fat and sugar decreased
and soda and potassa in excess. The lymphatic glands
about the throat are often manifestly enlarged. Swellings
of the joints may appear, or a murmur harsher than natu-
rai may be heard over the lower end of the windpipe or in
the chest. With deposits in the abdomen and especially in
or near the ovaries of cows the desire for the male is often
constant (bullers) though conception and the completion
of gestation are usually impossible. Working oxen are
easily overdone and become visibly emaciated from day to
day. As the disease advances the eyes sink in their
sockets and lose all animation, the skin is hidebound,
harsh, dry and seurfy, the hair dull, dry and erect, the
membranes of the eyes, nose and mouth of a pale, yellow,
bloodless aspect, though often streaked with pink vessels,
a whitish discharge often takes place from the nose,
and with it an increased repulsiveness and often distinct
foetor of the breath ; if the bowels are involved scouring is
common, and if the bones, swelling and lameness increase.
Tixhaustion with profuse perspiration and labored breath -
ing occur on the slightest exertion, the appetite fails, tym-
pany follows each meal, and the milk is at once poorer
and lessened in quantity. The cough increases, becomes
rattling, the discharge profuse, foetid, mixed with cheesy-
like or chalky particles, crepitating, wheezing, gurgling
and other abnormal noises are heard in the chest, and
"percussion shows dullness in particular parts with winc-
ing. All of the symptoms become steadily aggravated
and the animal usually perishes from the difficulty of re-
spiration or the profuse foetid diarrhoea. In cases affect-
ing the bones, the patient may be unable to stand and
the bony prominences may make their way through the
skin or even crumble under the pressure thrown upon
5
50 The Farmer's Veterinary Adviser.
them. If the tubercle is deposited in liver, pancreas oy
kidneys, there are symptoms of disease of these respec-
tive organs.
Recoveries sometimes ensue in connection with healing
of vomice or calcification of the tubercles in strong sub-
jects, but more frequently the disease progresses to a
fatal issue.
Treatment. This is unsatisfactory as being rarely suc-
cessful and even then in preserving an animal which is
dangerous as a breeder for producing a progeny predis-
posed to this disease, and for slaughter and dairy pur-
poses as possibly conveying the malady to man.
The most promising course is to secure dry, pure air,
sunshine, a genial temperature, rich and easily digestible
food, containing abundance of fat, (linseed, corn, beans,
peas, potatoes,) a course of tonics, (linseed or cod-liver
oil in small doses, sulphate of iron, hypophosphite of iron,
quinia, gentian, etc.,) and antiseptics, (fumes of burning
sulphur, bisulphite of soda, sulpho-carbolate of iron, etc.)
Prevention. This would include drainage, shelter of
pastures by trees, avoidance of changes to cold or damp
localities, a warm, sunny location for farm buildings, suit-
able feeding and watering, the prevention and cure of all
debilitating, and especially chronic diseases, protection
against overwork, or excessive secretion of milk on a
stimulating but insufficiently nutritious diet, securing
young, undeveloped animals against breeding and milking
at the same time, rejection of tuberculous subjects from
breeding, the prompt removal of all such animals from
pastures or buildings used for the healthy, and the thor-
ough disinfection of all places where they have been kept
The flesh and milk of tuberculous animals are always to
be viewed with suspicion, but this poison, like others, can
be destroyed by the most thorough cooking.
CHAPTER IL.
PARASITES.
Parasites—their numbers. Tapeworms. Tzenia Coenurus. Ccenurus Cer-
elralis and their effects, Staggers, Turnsick, Gid, Sturdy, Water-brain in
calves and lambs. Tenia Echinococcus, Echinococcus Veterinorum (Hom-
inis), Echinococcus disease. Tzenia Solium. Cysticercus Cellulosa, Para-
sitic measles in swine. Teenia Mediocanellata, Cysticercus Mediocanellata,
Parasitic Measles in cattle. Tzenia Expansa, tapeworm in shecp and cattle.
Lard Worm, Kidney Worm of hogs. Eustrongylus Gigas, Kidney Worm.
Trichina Spiralis, Trichinosis.
PARASITES.
The domestic animals harbor no less than two hundred
species of parasites which will be found treated in the au-
thor’s larger work, but the limits of the present book will
restrict us to a few of the more injurious. For convenience
of reference most of these are noticed in connection with
the organs (skin, bowels, liver, air-passages,) which they
infest, and here we will only name such as having a more
general diffusion through the body cannot well be referred
to any one organ.
TAPE-WORMS.
These are flat-bodied worms made up of small segments
joined end to end, and when full grown varying in length
from one inch to one hundred feet. The narrow end ter-
minates in a small globular head furnished with circular
sucking discs, and a proboscis usually encircled by one or
more rows of hooklets. From the other end the ripe seg-
ments are continually detached and expelled from the
body, and may be recognized as little, white, flattened,
52 The Farmer's Veterinary Adviser.
oblong objects progressing over soil and vegetables by a
worm-like movement, and depositing an endless number
of microscopic eggs with which they are literally filled.
Some tape-worms are estimated to lay as many as 25,000,-
000 eggs. Taken with the food or water into the body of
a suitable host these eggs open and set free an ovoid six-
hooked embryo, which bores its way through the tissues
until it reaches that organ or tissue which is the natural
habitat of its species in the young or larval state and there
encysts itself. It may survive indefinitely or even die in
this situation or if its host is eaten by a carnivorous ani-
mal it may develop in its bowels into a mature tape-worm
and reproduce its species as before. Fortunately nearly
all the eggs perish from failing to be taken into the body
of a suitable animal in which they can develop into the
cystic form, or this peril escaped, because the first animal
host is not devoured by the right species of animal in
which the young cystic worm can grow into its mature
tape-worm form. But from the enormous fecundity of
these tape-worms in eggs it is manifest that there may be
scarcely any limit to their increase when the different ani-
mals which form their hosts in the cystic and mature con-
dition abound together in the same locality.
STAGGERS. TURN-SICK. GID. STURDY. WATER-BRAIN IN
LAMBS AND CALVES.
The Tenia Ceenwrus of the bowels of the dog, a tape-
worm of one to three feet long, has its cystic form—Cenu-
rus Cerebralis—in the brain and spinal cord of sheep and
cattle, giving rise to nervous disease, varying much in
character according to the exact site of the cyst.
Symptoms. Great nervousness and fear without appar-
ent cause, or dullness, stupor and aberration of the
senses, and disorderly muscular movements. The sheep
is found apart from the flock with red eyes, dilated pupils,
blindness and unsteady gait, but with a tendency to move
restlessly in one direction. Left to itself, it neglects to
Parasites. 53
eat or drink and wastes daily. But, if well-fed and ex-
citement avoided, it may even gain flesh. If the cyst is
situated on one side of the brain, the lamb turns to that
side, moving in a circle and making a beaten track. The
limbs on the opposite side of the body act in a disorderly
manner, being partially paralyzed. If there is one on
each side of the brain, the sheep will turn to one side or
the other, according to the relative activity of the para-
sites at any given moment. When the cyst is directly in
the median line, the sheep elevates its nose and advances
in a straight line until stopped by some obstruction.
When located in +he back part of the brain, (cerebellum),
Fig. 1.
Fig. 1—Ccenurus Cerebralis. Showing the sac with its many heads (re-
duced). Also a single head magnified.
the host lifts its limbs in a jerking, uncertain manner, sets
them down in a hesitating way, stumbles perpetually, falls
and struggles for some time ineffectually in its efforts to
rise. If situated in the spinal cord, difficult breathing and
paralysis are marked symptoms. The disorders are often
extreme at first, and afterwards undergo a temporary im-
provement, the rémissions and aggravations being proba-
bly due to the varying activity of the parasite at different
periods. Simple tumors, maintaining a steadily increasing
pressure rarely give rise to such intermittent symptoms.
The ccenurus mostly affects sheep under two years old
5*
54 The Farmer's Veterinary Adviser.
and those that are out of condition. Yet the finest ani-
mals, kept for show, will sometimes suffer. So it is in
cattle, the young, weak and ill-thriven are the most ex-
posed, but all may suffer. For the same reason, poor,
damp and exposed localities suffer more than the rich,
dry and sheltered.
Prevention. Destroy the dogs, or, if they must be kept,
deny them sheep’s heads until cooked. Examine them at
frequent intervals and expel all tape-worms by vermifuges,
(oil of turpentine, male-fern, kousso, areca nut, etc.)
Keep the young sheep at all times in good, thriving con-
dition. Drain all wet pastures, shelter exposed ones.
Treatment. In rare cases, spontaneous recovery may
follow rupture of the cyst in connection with a blow on
the head or a fall. Hogg passed a long knitting wire
through the nose into the brain, and Youatt advises a
small trocar for the same purpose. But the cyst is more
easily punctured and extracted through the upper part of
the skull. In advanced cases, the internal pressure of
the cyst has sometimes caused absorption of the bones
and the formation of a soft spot on the upper part of the
skull. This should be laid open with a sharp lancet or
penknife, just enough to introduce a trocar and cannula
one-eighth inch in diameter, through which the liquid
may escape slowly. The animal may be turned on
its back to complete the evacuation, but held firmly so
that no struggling can take place. As the cyst is emptied,
a membrane will be found projecting through it, and
should be slowly drawn out. This is the parasitic cyst,
and from its inner surface will be found projecting one
hundred to two hundred little elevations like pin-heads,
each representing the head of a tape-worm and being ca-
pable of development into the mature parasite if swal-
lowed by a dog. The wound should be covered with a
pitch plaster and a leather hood, and the patient placed
in a dark, quiet, secluded box, on soft, laxative diet for a
week.
Parasites. 55
If the bones are not softened the point to be perforated
must be ascertained from the symptoms. If the sheep
turns to one side, open a little in front of the correspond-
ing ear and about half an inch from the median line of
the skull. Ifthe head is elevated and the walk straight
forward without much terror or disorderly movement, open
at the same level but in the median line. 1f there is awk-
ward, hesitating movement, much terror, flurry and
stumbling, open in the median line further back. A flap
of skin is to be dissected up from the bone, large enough
to admit a trephine one-eighth inch in diameter (in an
emergency a gimlet will do) with which the bone is to be
perforated. After this the cannula and trochar is used as
above advised.
If more than one cyst should be present the operation
may require repetition, and with care recoveries often
ensue.
ECHINOCOCCUS DISEASE.
The Tenia EL hinococcus, a tapeworm of the dog, not ex-
Fig. 2.
Fig. 3.
Fig. 3—Portion of cyst and heads of Echinococcus.
ceeding one inch in length, lives in its cystic form as
56 The Farmer's Veterinary Adviser.
Echinococcus (E. Hominis, E. Veterinorum), in the most
varied internal organs of men and animals. As the cystic
form of this parasite has the power of increasing its num-
bers almost indefinitely, and growing into enormous mul-
tilocular cysts, it becomes extremely injurious and even
deadly to its brute, and, above all, to its human victims,
One-sixth of the human mortality in Iceland has been at-
tributed to this parasite, and a fatal case in a child has re-
cently come under my notice in Tompkins Co.,N.Y. Many
of the cysts of water found in the liver and other internal
organs of the domestic animals are specimens of echino-
corcus, and that they are not more frequently fatal may be
attributed largely to the shortness of the lives of animals
raised for slaughter. They may inhabit almost any organ
(liver, lungs, spleen, abdominal walls, kidneys, brain, eye,
etc.,) and the symptoms will vary accordingly.
Treatment. Spontaneous recovery may take place from
death or rupture of the sac. Otherwise the true nature
of these fluctuating tumors can rarely be recognized, but
if they should, they may be punctured with a very fine
needle-shaped nozzle, the liquid evacuated with a syringe,
and compound tincture of iodine injected into the sac.
Prevention. Destroy all superfluous dogs. Keep others
from slaughter-houses and deny raw flesh and especially
offal. Examine frequently and if segments of tape-worm
are passed, clear them away with vermifuges (see gid).
Burn the dung of all dogs suffering from tape-worms, the
contents of evacuated hydatids and all offal containing
cysts.
MEASLES IN SWINE.
The bladder-worm of pork, (Cysticercus Cellulosa, Fig.
Parasites. 52
5), is the immature form of a tape-worm of man, ( Tvenia
solium), and is only caused by pigs having access to hu-
Fig. 5.
Fig. 5—Cysticercus Cellulosa, magnified.
man excrement, or to places near privies, etc., from which
the segments of the human tape-worm may travel. The
cysts, respectively about the size of a grain of barley, are
found in the muscles, in the loose connective tissue be-
tween them and under the skin, in the serous membranes,
in the eye, under the tongue, in the brain, etc., of swine.
They are also found in this undeveloped form in the mus-
cles, brain, etc., of man, causing disease and death. To
man the parasite is usually conveyed by eating under-
done pork, or in the cystic form he receives it as the
egg in his food (salads, etc.,) and water.
Symptoms. In pigs the cysts can usually be seen under
the tongue or in the eye. In man there are the general
symptoms of intestinal worms and the passage of the ripe
segments. Other symptoms may attend the presence of
the cysts according to the organ which they invade. Thus
when passing into the muscles there are pains and stiffness
resembling rheumatism, when into the brain, coma, stupor,
imbecility, delirium, but when they have once become en-
cysted they may continue thus indefinitely without further
injury.
Treatment. The cysts scattered through the body are
beyond the reach of medicine.
Prevention. Human beings harboring tape-worms should
be compelled to take measures to expel them. Their stools
should be burned or treated with strong mineral acids.
Swine should be kept far apart from all deposits of human
excrement; no such manure should be used as a top-dress-
58 The Farmer’s Veterinary Adviser.
ing on pastures open to swine, or on land (market gardens,
orchards, etc.,) devoted to the raising of vegetables to be
eaten raw. Avoid raw meat, especially pork, even if
salted and smoked, and underdone meat and sausages,
also well-water from gravelly soils in the vicinity of habi-
tations.
MEASLES IN CATTLE.
This consists in the presence in the muscles of cattle,
especially young ones, of a cystic parasite two to four lines
in length, ( Cysticercus Mediocanellata) which as a mature
tape-worm (Tenia Mediocanellata) inhabits the human
Fig. 6.
Fig. 6—Head of Tzenia Mediocanellata, magnitied.
bowels. When the eggs were given experimentally to calves
they caused stiffness, wasting and death in three weeks.
Or improvement began at the end of a fortnight and ter-
minated in apparent recovery, the live cysts of course re-
maining in the muscles and ready to develop into their
adult form when eaten by man.
Under prevention and treatment might be repeated what
is stated under measles of swine, merely substituting the
word cattle for pigs. The current practice of eating raw
beef ham is especially reprehensible.
TAPE-WORM OF SHEEP AND CATTLE.
Tenia Expansa is the name of this worm, which causes
great loss in some localities in America, as well as in Aus-
tralia, Germany, etc. Its cystic form is unknown, there-
fore we can only check its increase by watching what
Parasites. 59
sheep pass the ripe, detached segments, shutting them up,
expelling the worm by vermifuges (oil of turpentine in
milk, male-fern, etc.,) and burning both it and the sheep’s
droppings.
LARD-WORM OF THE HOG.
This worm (Stephanurus Dentatus) is from one to one and
Fig. 7.
Tig. 7—Stephanurus Dentatus ; a, male; d, female; ¢, head, magnified. Ver-
rill,
three-fourths inches long by one-thirteenth inch broad,
and is found in almost all parts of the body of swine. It
Fig. 8.
Fig. 8—Eustrongylus Gigas. Cuvier.
is frequent in the liver, kidney and the fat about the spare-
>
60 The Farmer's Veterinary Adviser.
rib, but has been found in the air-passages, the heart, the
veins, the mesentery and elsewhere. In many cases no
impairment of the health is observed. But irritation of
important organs like the kidney or liver may lead to weak-
ness of the hind parts, diarrhcea, or even blood-poisoning
and sudden death. It seems not improbable that the at-
tacks of this worm in the liver may produce a disorder
which is confounded with Hog Cholera. Its presence in
the kidney may sometimes be recognized by the existence
of microscopic eggs in the urine. The same results from
another worm—Lustrongylus Gigas. But without the ob-
servation of such eggs weakness of the hind parts cannot
be ascribed to the kidney-worm.
Treatment is unsatisfactory. Small doses of salt and oil
of turpentine may be given with no great hope of success.
The favorite dose of arsenic only escapes killing the hog
because he rejects it all by vomiting. If beneficial at all
it must be in small doses, one-eighth to one-sixth grain, so
that it may be taken up into the system.
Prevention is to be sought by keeping the healthy and
diseased apart, and especially by raising young pigs apart
from the ground occupied by the old.
TRICHINA SPIRALIS.
This worm, which is capable of being reared in all the
domestic animals, is especially common in man, the hog
Fig. 9.
Fig. 9—Adult Intestinal Trichina Spiralis, magnified.
and the rat. Trichine are almost microscopic, vary-
Parasites. 61
ing from one-eighteenth to one-sixth inch in length, yet
they are among the most deadly worms known. The ma-
ture and fertile worm lives in the intestines of animals, the
immature in minute cystsin the muscle. The latter can only
Fig. 10.
Fig. 10—Muscle Trichina encysted, magnified.
reach maturity and reproduce their kind when the animal
which they infest is devoured by another and they are set
free by the digestion of their cysts. When thus introduced
into the bowels they grow and propagate their kind, giy-
ing rise to much irritation for the first fortnight, diarrhea,
enteritis or peritonitis. The symptoms caused by their bor-
ing through the bowels and into the muscles last from the
eighth to the fiftieth day. There are violent muscular
pains like rheumatism but not affecting the joints, a stiff,
semiflexed condition of the limbs and sometimes swellings
on the skin. In man the affection is often mistaken for
rheumatism or typhoid fever, in the lower animals the
symptoms are usually less marked but are the same in kind.
There are loss of appetite, indisposition to move, pain
when handled and stiffness behind. If the patient sur-
vives six weeks recovery may be expected because the
worms no longer irritate after becoming encysted in the
niuscle.
Treatment. In the first six weeks, but especially for the
first fortnight, use laxatives and vermifuges. Glycerine,
benzine, Duippel’s animal oil, chloroform, alcohol and pic-
ric acid are fatal to them in about the order named.
Prevention. Never eat underdone meat. Trichina sur-
i .
62 The Farmer's Veterinary Adviser.
vive 140° F. Hams thoroughly smoked are safe. Slightly-
smoked hams and those steeped in creosote or carbolic
acid are most dangerous. Pigs should not be kept near
slaughter-houses and especially should the waste of these
places be forbidden them. Such hog-pens, indeed all pig-
geries, should be kept scrupulously clean and clear of rats
and mice. Thecarcasses of swine fed near slaughter-houses
or where rats abound should be subjected to a thorough
microscopic examination before passing into consumption.
Whenever a case of trichinosis occurs in a human subject
the pork should be traced to its source if possible, and the
pigs reared in the same place killed and subjected to pro-
longed boiling. The rats and mice should be eradicated
and the hog-pens and manure burned.
CHAPTER III.
DIETETIC AND CONSTITUTIONAL DISEASES.
Ergotism. Goitre. Rheumatism. Acute Anasarca. Purpura Hemor-
rhagica. Anzemia.
ERGOTISM.
From time immemorial animals and men have suffered
from eating the cereal grains which have been attacked
with ergot. This was especially the case when agriculture
was in its infancy, for then a damp, cloudy season would
cause this affection to spread after the manner of a plague.
The same holds still to a less extent, and in the New
World as well as the Old. Not only the ergot but even the
smut of maize will bring about untoward effects. These
results may be divided into three categories according as
the poison acts on the brain producing convulsions, paraly-
sis or profound lethargy ; on the womb tending to abortion ;
or on the extremities causing dry ganqrene.
Symptoms of the Nervous Form. Unsteady gait, a great
tendency to lie down and to remain in a torpid state little
conscious of what is passing around, loss of lustre of hair
or feathers, coldness of skin, dilatation of the pupils of the
eyes, and dullness of the special senses mark the early
stages. This may go on to paralysis or deep lethargy
without any active nervous excitement. Or paroxysms
supervene, during which the special senses become more
acute, the animal very excitable, and twitching of the mus-
cles or spasms like those of lockjaw or epilepsy convulse
the patient. Then there is a relapse into the former stupor
and drowsiness, with palsy of the hind limbs or knuckling
64 The Farmer's Veterinary Adviser.
forward at the fetlocks. Death may ensue in a few hours
or days, or the affection may become chronic, the patient
remaining with variable appetite, but getting no good of
his food, with spasms of the pharynx, vomiting or diar-
rhoea. He usually passes off in a convulsion.
Symptoms of the Abortion Form co not differ from those
af wbortion from other causes. (See Abortion).
Symptoms of the Gangrenous Form. Nervous symptoms
may or may not usher in the disease. Then follow swell-
ing, heat and tenderness of the extremities, usually the
hind feet but sometimes the fore, or the tail, ears or roots
of the horns. Lameness usually first draws attention to
this condition. Soon the extremity becomes cold, insen-
sible, of a deep brownish-red appearance and dry, hard or
almost horny. The swelling, heat and tenderness persist
higher up, but the lower part is dead including even the
bone up to a given point, At this level a red, circular
crack appears in the skin separating the dead from the
living, and if the patient should survive long enough the
whole gangrenous part drops off.
It usually occurs in winter from the dry hay fodder but
is distinguished from frost-bite by implicating the deep as
well as the superficial parts and attacking the feet in pref-
erence to the more exposed tail and ears.
Treatment is only successful in the mildest cases, and
the earliest stages. Change to wholesome diet, including
plenty of roots or potatoes. Clear offensive matter from
the bowels by laxatives, and give tonics (cinchona, gen-
tian,) stimulants (ammonia, valerian, angelica, musk,) and
antispasmodics (opium, chloral-hydrate, chloroform, or
nitrite of amyle). Use soft, warm poultices containing
camphor.
Prevention. Ergoted hay, known by the black, spur-like
growths out of the husks, should be withheld, or fed only
in limited quantity in conjunction with roots and potatoes.
Be careful in selecting seed clear of ergot. Seed may be
protected to a large extent by sprinkling with a strong
Dietetic and Constitutional Diseases. 65
solution of blue-stone or bisulphite of soda before sowing,
and drying with quicklime. Contaminated soil should be
used for other crops. Drainage, and cpen sunshine are
conducive to healthy growth. Hay from affected pastures
must be cut early, before it has run to seed.
GOITRE.
This is a diseased enlargement of the thyroid body, sit-
uated beneath the throat, and is common in animals and
in man wherever the water is charged with the products
of magnesian-limestone. Hence, its frequency on the
limestone formations of New York and Pennsylvania.
Weakness, from any disease, poor feeding, abuse, over-
work, etc., aggravates the affection. In solipeds there
are two distinct swellings, one on each side, but in other
animals and, above all, in swine, the swelling is single and
in the median line. At first it is soft and even doughy,
but afterwards it is firm, tense and resistant, and if cut into
may even be gritty. In lambs it may form a great en-
gorgement from the jaw to the breast-bone, and the whole
produce of the year may be still-born or die soon after
birth.
Treatment. Give rain-water and use iodine freely,
both internally, on an empty stomach, and over the swell-
ing. Persist in this for months. Weak solutions of iodine
may be thrown into the tumor by a hypodermic syringe,
or the nutrient blood-vessels may be tied.
The destruction of lambs by goitre may be obviated by
giving the ewes rain-water, good feeding and plenty of ex-
ercise in the open air during the winter.
RHEUMATISM.
This is a peculiar form of inflammation attacking the
fibrous structures of the body (muscles, tendons, joints,
burse, etc.,) and dependent on a constitutional predispo-
sition transmitted from parent to offspring. It often
shifts from place to place, rarely results in suppuration,
Ce
66 The Farmers Veterinary Adviser.
and shows a great tendency to implicate fatally the valves
and other fibrous structures of the heart. Besides the
constitutional predisposition, it owes its development to
accessory causes, such as cold and wet, cold draughts, and
disorders, especially those of the digestive or respiratory
organs which load the blood with abnormal and probably
acid elements.
Symptoms. Acute Form. Dullness, languor or indispo-
sition to move is followed by extreme lameness in one or
more limbs, and heat, swelling and tenderness of a joint,
tendon or group of muscles. If this tenderness moves
from joint to joint or muscle to muscle it is very charac-
teristic. The swelling is at first soft and afterward hard
and resistant ; it may fluctuate from excess of synovia in a
joint, but rarely from the formation of matter. With the
onset of the inflammation comes active fever, with full,
hard pulse, increased temperature, hot, clammy mouth,
dry muzzle, hurried breathing, costiveness, and scanty,
high-colored urine, sometimes with a neutral or even acid
reaction. Cattle often remain down and refuse to rise.
If the disease extends to the heart, the pulse has a sharp,
often intermittent or irregular beat, and one or other of
the heart sounds may be accompanied by a hissing or
sighing murmur. (See diseases of the heart.)
Chronic Form. This resembles the acute, excepting that
it is less severe, usually unattended by fever, and may
even appear only on exposure, and disappear in the warm
sunshine. It is liable to induce fibrous and even bony en-
largements, and in cattle suppuration, especially about the
joints, and in such cases the disease is more stable and
less inclined to shift from place to place.
Treatment. Give a laxative (horse, aloes; ox or sheep,
Epsom salts; pig or dog, castor oil,) with anodynes
(opium) if pain is extreme, and follow up with alkalies
(bicarbonate of potassa or soda; acetate of potassa or
ammcnia ; cream of tartar,) and diuretics (coichicum, mu-
riate of ammonia, nitrate of potassa). Sudorifics (hot
Dietetic and Constitutional Diseases. 67
room; warm clothing; rugs wrung out of boiling water
closely applied to the skin and covered with dry ; bags of
dry grain, bran or sand ; rubbing with hot smoothing-irons
over a thin covering; hot air or steam baths; aconite;
acetate of ammonia; guarana, etc.,) are in the highest de-
gree beneficial. Some agents, like propylamine and muri-
ate of iron, have “been very serviceable in certain hands.
Local treatment consists in the application of warmth,
etc., as above indicated, and also blisters (strong aqua
ammonia and olive oil) which may be applied several
times a day and the inflammation followed up as it re-
cedes from structure to structure.
ACUTE ANASARCA. PURPURA HASMORRHAGICA,
The affection to be described here is altogether different
in its nature from the dropsies which result from obstruc-
tion of veins, in phlebitis, or because of pressure by a dis-
eased structure, as also from those dependent on suppres-
sion of the secretion of urine, on heart-disease or a watery
state of the blood with deficiency of blood globules. It is
not at all inflammatory nor of the nature of malignant an-
thrax as is generally assumed. It is exceedingly common
after influenza and other affections of the respiratory organs,
in ill-ventilated stables where animals are compelled to use
rebreathed air, and in very open, cold barns where they
are liable to be chilled after being heated at work. Sud-
den excessive lowering of temperature or exposure to cold
rain or wind storms, especially when hot and perspiring,
are efficient causes by reason of the sudden check to the
secretions of the skin. The disease is much more fre-
quent under the extreme vicissitudes of temperature of the
Northern States than in the more equable climate of the
British Isles.
Symptoms. The disease is manifested abruptly by ap-
pearance of tense, painful, rounded or diffuse swellings on
the nose, lips, face, neck, inner sides of the limbs, belly or
indeed anywhere over the body. These tend to enlarge,
68 The Farmer's Veterinary Adviser.
to run together and to gravitate downwards into the limbs
and the lower parts of the trunk, where they form extend-
ed, tolerably smooth swellings, pitting on pressure and
subsiding abruptly into the sound skin at their upper mar-
gins. The membrane lining the nose usually shows dark
blood spots and patches, ineffaceable by pressure, even at
this early stage, sometimes indeed before any swelling of the
skin, but always asthe disease advances. Similarspotsmay
be seen on the skins of white animals. The urine is usu-
ally dense, thick, ammoniacal and often brownish-red.
Shivering often marks the period of effusion but there is
at first little change of pulse, temperature, breathing or
appetite. As the swellings increase, the animal becomes
unable to see, to eat, or even to move, almost, and breath-
ing may be carried on only with the greatest difficulty,
through the swollen and closed nostrils. Transverse
cracks and yellowish liquid oozing, appear in the bends of
the joints; little blisters with yellowish or bloody con-
tents rise, especially in the hollow of the heel behind the
pastern, and, bursting, continue to discharge. Yellowish
serum or dark blood may ooze from the general surface of
the swelling; patches of skin die, drop off and leave un-
healthy, weak sores with a serous discharge; the exuda-
tions may even soften the muscles, and loosen and detach
the tendons from the bones leading to turning up of the
toe or other distortions. Sometimes the superficial swell-
ings suddenly subside, and unless a critical diarrhcea or
diuresis occurs, serous infiltration of some internal organ
like the lungs or bowels is apt to ensue, cutting off the pa-
tient suddenly, with great oppression of breathing or vio-
lent and persistent colicky pains, and, at times, a bloody
foetid diarrhcea.
The symptoms and dangers vary with the seat of the
effusion. The result is most favorable when this is under
the skin, the main danger then being from suffocation, ex-
tensive death and sloughing of skin, and softening and de-
tachment of tendons and ligaments. Unless improvement
Dietetic and Constitutional Diseases. 69
is shown by the third or fourth day the disease will usually
last over twelve or fourteen days, and the resulting sores
even for months.
Prevention. Keep in strong, vigorous health, and avoid
the various causes (exposure, etc.,) known to precipitate
the malady. Drainage of damp localities is not without
its influence. Lastly, avoid weakening treatment in dis-
eases of the respiratory organs, especially such as are at-
tended with a low type of fever like influenza, and, above
all, avoid exercising such animals to fatigue, or exposing
to inclement weather.
Treatment. Give a mild laxative (olive oil, linseed oil,
aloes,) and follow up by diuretics (sweet spirits of nitre, oil
of turpentine, buchu, nitrate of potassa,) carefully gradua-
ted in amount to the strength of the patient, and use
freely agents calculated to increase the viscidity of the
blood (tincture of muriate of iron 1 dr., chlorate of potassa
2 to 4 dr., bichromate of potassa 1 grain,) with bitter
tonics (quinia, cascarilla, camomile,) and, if necessary to
moderate suffering, anodynes (belladonna) or in very pros-
trate conditions stimulants (alcoholic liquors, oil of tur-
pentine). Locally, the swellings should be often bathed
with tepid lotions of tincture of muriate of iron, carbolic
acid, or chloride of zine diluted so as to be non-irritating.
Astringent solutions should be assiduously employed
about the head, and, if suffocation is threatened, tubes of
gutta-percha may be inserted in the nostrils to keep them
open. 'Tracheotomy is to be avoided if possible, together
with scarifying of the swellings, because of the risk of un-
healthy sores resulting.
Modified Forms. The mild forms of this affection have
been described as scarlatina, the distinction being based
on the punctiforn vature of the blood-staining, the sever-
ity of the sore-throat and the more moderate exudation.
But there is no contagion nor, indeed, anything that seems
to warrant the distinction claimed. This form may be es-
pecially benefited by poultices and counter-irritants to the
70 The Farmer's Veterinary Adviser.
throat, by the inhalation of warm water vapor, and by as-
tringent electuaries (chlorate of potassa, 2 02. ; vinegar, 2
oz.; linseed meal, 5 oz.; syrup, sufficient to form a pasty
mass. Smear one-eighth of the mass on the back teeth
twice a day). Otherwise, the treatment is the same as for
purpura.
ANAIMIA.
This term is used to imply a deficiency of red globules
in the blood, a result which may be determined by a vari-
ety of causes described in other parts of this work. Among
these may be named: profuse bleeding, excessive secretions
from the udder, kidneys, bowels, etc., chronic diseases of
digestion, or of the mesenteric glands, feeding on aliment
deficient in some essential element, on what has been grown
on poor, sandy soils, restriction for a length of time to one
kind of food, starvation, diseases of the jaws or teeth,
damp, dark, badly-aired buildings, seclusion from sunlight,
etc. Some cases, however, are not traceable to any defi-
nite cause, and it appears that they set in and progress, in
spite of good hygienic arrangements, and in the absence
of any obvious disease of structure.
Symptoms. Great and increasing paleness of the mu-
cous membranes, and in white animals of the skin (paper
skin); lack of fullness or roundness of the veins; slow,
weak pulse; heart’s beat slow and heard with difficulty,
but excited to palpitation when the patient is subjected to
violent exertion; there is great lack of life and energy,
and hurried breathing, perspiration and fatigue are easily
induced. As the blood becomes poorer all these symp-
toms are aggravated, movement becomes unsteady, the
hair or wool is easily detached, appetite fails, the dung is
passed in small quantities and very hard, and a very clear
urine of a low density is secreted in excess. In the ad-
vanced stages the pale, dull, sunken eye, the puffy appear-
ance of the membrane of the eyelids, the dropsical swell-
ings beneath the jaws or body or in the limbs, the inability
Dietetic and Constitutional Diseases. 71
or disinclination to rise, the staggering gait, the hurried
breathing becoming quick and wheezing on the least exer-
tion, and the palpitations are highly characteristic. Towards
the end the urine may pass involuntarily or diarrhoea may
supervene. Death sometimes occurs early, before there is
much emaciation, and horses will even die in harness.
Prevention. Avoid everything calculated to reduce the sys-
tem unduly. Severe depletive treatment of disease (bleed-
ing, purging, diuretics,) should only be resorted to under
necessity. Hard work, excessive yield of milk, etc., can only
be warranted under a rich, abundant food, and in an animal
of great powers of digestion and assimilation. Regularity in
feeding, watering and work are essential.
The effect of a spare diet, even in idleness, must be care-
fully watched, as well as a long-continued feeding on one
variety of plant. If evil effects are shown there should be
a prompt change to natural hay or grass, consisting of a
variety of plants grown on a dry soil, and a liberal supply of
grain.
in cases due to parasites or other removable cause, atten-
tion to these is manifestly the first step to prevention.
Treatment. Atter removal of the causes, support by nour-
ishing, easily-digested food in small bulk to avoid exhausting
the powers of the stomach. Ground oats, barley, oil-cake,
and a little natural hay may be especially mentioned, though,
for weak subjects, thick, well-boiled gruels and beef tea
(even for herbivora) nay be resorted to. Tonics are all-im-
portant (iron, gentian, quassia, cascarilla, cinchona, common
salt, pepsin,) but should be given in small doses to the weaker
subjects. Iron and gentian, given as tinctures, are espe-
cially useful. In extreme cases, health may be speedily re-
vived by the transfusion of blood from a healthy animal. In
all cases, the patient should be allowed rest in a dry, warm,
well-aired place, and should have light, sunshine, and groom-
ing.
CHAPTER IV.
DISEASES OF THE RESPIRATORY ORGANS.
General causes of diseases of the breathing organs. Physical examination
of these organs :—Auscultation, percussion. Bleeding from the nose. Nasal
Catarrh. Cold in the head. Collection of matter in the nasal sinuses, Abs
scess of the false nostril. Abscess in the guttural pouches, Tumors in the
nose, Malignant catarrh of cattle. Sore-throat. Croup. Roup. Diphthe-
ria. Chronic roaring, Bronchitis. Chronic bronchitis, Glander heaves.
Acute congestion of the lungs. Pneumonia. Inflammation of the lungs.
Pleurisy. Inflammation of the membrane lining the chest. Pleuro-pneu-
monia, Broncho-pneumonia, Broncho-pleuro-pneumonia. Hydro-thorax,
Water in the chest. Pneumo-thorax. Air or gas in the chest, Abscess of
the intercostal spaces. Dropsy of the lung. Apoplexy of the lung. Pleu-
ro-dynia. Rheumatism of the walls of the chest. Asthma in dogs, Heaves.
Broken-wind. Bleeding from the lungs. Hzemoptysis, Parasites in the
upper air-passages, Grub in the head, Larva of Céstrus Ovis, Pentasto-
ma Teenioides. Parasites in the lower air-passages. Lung-worms of sheep,
etc. Lung-worms of horses and cattle, Gape-worm of fowls, Verminous
bronch.tis in calves, sheep, swine and birds.
DISEASES OF THE RESPIRATORY ORGANS.
These are of the first importance in domestic animals
alike as regards their frequency and the mortality and
other serious consequences they entail. In young horses
especially they are far more common and more destructive
than any other class of diseases. Among the general
causes of diseases of this class of organs the following may
be stated in brief: 1. The great extent of the respiratory
surface in the lungs = 200 to 500 square feet. 2. The ex-
treme tenuity and delicacy of the membrane covering this
surface, protective cells (epithelium) being almost wanting
in the air cells, contrary to what exists on every other mu-
cous surface in the body. 38. The extraordinary work te
Discases of the Respiratory Organs. Ts
which the lungs are subjected in the rapid paces and se-
vere efforts made by the horse. 4. The close, impure air
of the stable in contrast to the clear bracing air of the fields
to which the colt has been accustomed. 5. The effect of
the hot relaxing air of the stable is not only on the lungs
directly but on the skin with which the lungs and all in-
ternal organs so closely sympathize. 6. The heats and
chills, and violent nervous excitement to which young
horses are subjected in passing into training and work.
7. The changes of locality, feeding and management to
which young horses are subjected on leaving the breeder.
8. The variable weather and sudden, extreme changes of
spring and autumn. 9. The susceptibility which results
from the want of habitude of bearing extreme heat and
cold, and which tells especially at the above seasons. 10.
The draughts of cold air to which animals are often sub-
jected, and particularly when warm and perspiring. 11.
The frequent exposure to cold drenching rains, night dews
and the like, after the excitement and relaxation consequent
ona hard day’s work. 12. The arrest of circulation through
the lungs owing to imperfect wration of the blood when an
animal out of condition is driven at a pace beyond his
power of endurance.
Modes of Physical Exploration of the Respiratory Organs.
Auscultution and percussion are the most essential. The
first is the application of the ear alone or with a stetho-
scope to the surface over some part of the respiratory or-
gans (nose, throat, windpipe, chest,) to listen to the natural
sounds of breathing and to detect any unnatural change
or absence of these sounds. The natural sounds must be
studied on the healthy animal, and then the different mod-
ifications followed on the diseased. In general terms there
is a blowing sound to be heard in health over the nose,
throat, windpipe, and between the upper and middle
thirds of the chest. In the rest of the chest is a soft, rus-
tling murmur which has been compared to the gentlest
zephyr stirring dry leaves. Just behind the left elbow is
7
74 The Farmer's Veterinary Adviser.
horses this murmur is absent and replaced by the sounds
of the heart. Between the upper and middle thirds of the
chest it mingles with the blowing sound anteriorly, but is
unaccompanied by that over the few last ribs. Percussion
consists in drawing out the resonance of any part by strik-
ing it gentle taps with a hard object, the blows falling per-
pendicularly to its surface, and of a force proportioned to
the depth of the organ itis meant tosound. Thus, for the
surface, the gentlest taps with the tip of the finger are
wanted, while for the centre of the chest in large animals,
the closed fist may be advantageously used. For inter-
inediate depths the four fingers and thumb may be brought
together, in a straight line at their tips, and the surface
tapped with this. When a cavity, enclosed by a hard
bony surface, such as the nose, is being sounded, it is well
enough to tap this direct, but if the surface is soft, as in
the chest of fat and fleshy animals, a hard, solid body
should be pressed firmly upon it and the taps delivered
upon this. As the different parts of the right hand may
be used for delivering the taps, so may the two middle fin.
gers of the left hand be employed to compress the soft
parts and receive them. The front of the fingers should
be applied against the surface and the hard bony backs
turned out to receive the taps. If percussion is made over
a hollow space, like the nose or windpipe, the sound is
drum-like ; if over an open, spongy tissue, like the lung, it
is much less so but still full and clear, but if over a solid
body, like the thigh, it is dull, dead, or quite wanting in
resonance. Behind the left elbow such dull sound is met
with in the horse and, to a less extent, in cattle; and on
the last ribs on the right side in cattle, sheep and pigs a
sumilar dullness is found in accordance with the position
of the liver. Any increase, diminution or loss of reso-
nance over particular parts thus becomes of great value as
indicating the healthy or unnatural state of the parts.
But the observer must learn this matter by experience on
the healthy and diseased. These hints are merely thrown
out to inake what will follow intelligible.
=I
Reid
Diseases of the Respiratory Organs.
BLEEDING FROM THE NOSE.
Bleeding from the nose is rather rare in animals, an*
csually results from disease or injury to the mucous mem
brane or to violent exertions in coughing, sneezing, draw-
ing heavy loads uphill, or with a tight collar, and espe-
cially in animals with a plethoric habit.
Symptoms. Bleeding in drops (rarely in a stream) from
one nostril only, accompanied by sneezing, and without
frothing or sour odor. Bleeding from the lungs comes
from both nostrils, is bright-red, frothy and accompanied
by acough. Bleeding from the stomach also comes from
both nostrils, and is black, clotted, sour, and attended by
retching.
Treatment. Tie the head short up to a high rack or beam
sover head and neck with bags of ice or rugs wrung out of
cold water, and blow matico powder or strong alum water
in spray into the nose during inspiration. In obstinate
cases, the nose may be plug: aed with pledgets of tow, tied
with a soft cord by which they may be withdrawn when
the bleeding subsides. Both nostrils must not be plugged
in horses unless tracheotomy has first been performed.
Internally, may be given gallic acid, acetate of lead, per-
chloride of iron or ergot of rye.
NASAL CATARRH. COLD IN THE HEAD.
This results from the general causes above mentioned
and from irritant gases, vapors, etc.
Symptoms. Sneezing, redness and watering of the eyes,
and redness of the membraxe of the nose which is at first
dry, afterwards discharges a clear watery fluid and finally a
yellowish-white muco-purulent matter. In mild cases
there is little or no fever, in the more severe fever may
run high.
Treatment. In mild cases rest in a clear, airy, warm
building with suitable clothing and warm bran mashes is
all that is necessary. In the more severe steam the nose
as for strangles, and slightly charge the air with the fumes
76 Lhe Farmer's Veterinary Adviser.
of burning sulphur, give warm water injections or even
a mild laxative, (horse, ox or sheep, Glauber salts; dog or
pig, castor oil), followed by refrigerant diuretics (nitre,
acetate of potassa, etc.). If debility ensues feed well and
Fig. 11.
Fig. 11—Syphon for injecting the nose.
give tonics (gentian, etc.,) and stimulants (spirits of nitrous
ether). Chronic discharges may usually be promptly
checked by injecting the nose with a weak astringent
solution (sulphate of zinc }$ dyr., glycerine 1 oz., tepid
water 1 qt.) This is thrown in with a syphon having one
arm sixteen inches long and the other leaving that at an
angle of 45°, three and a half inches long and narrowing to
half an inch at the point. The short limb is inserted into
the nostril, having first been passed through a hole in the
centre of a piece of sole leather intended to prevent the
return of the fluid from the nose. The adaptation is
perfected by pledgets of tow, and the head being brought
into a vertical position the liquid is poured into the long
end of the syphon until it rises in that nasal chamber
and escapes by the opposite nostril. One or two such in-
jections are usually sufticient.
COLLECTION OF MATTER IN THE NASAL SINUSES.
This is common after severe colds in the horse; and as
the result of blows on the forehead or horns in oxen, of
. injuries from the yoke, etc.; in sheep from grub in the
bead (larva of @strus Ovis); in dogs and horses from the
pentastomata, and in all animals from diseases of the upper
back teeth.
Symptoms. A more or less constant discharge from
Diseases of the Respiratory Organs. TT
the nose, foetid if long retained, and above all if from a dis-
eased tooth, a dullness on percussion on that side of the
face between the eyes or just beneath the eyes, and occa-
sionally heat, tenderness and even swelling of these parts,
" especially below the eye.
Treatment. Trephine the bone to one side of the
median line of the forehead, in the interval between the
eyes, and again, an inch above the end of the bony ridge
which extends down beneath the eye, and wash out daily,
at first with tepid water and finally with the injection
recommended for the nose. In the case of parasites
these must be rinsed out. Sometimes a slight collection
of this kind will recover under injections for the nose
and the persistent use of sulphate of iron or copper,
or other tonic. If there is a diseased tooth it will be
recognized by the dropping of food half-chewed, by
the swelling and tenderness around the fang of the
tooth and by the intolerable foetor which clings to the
fingers when a balling iron has been placed in the mouth
and the tooth examined with the hand. Such a tooth
must be extracted with large forceps, if already loosened,
or if not, an opening should be made upon its fang with a
trephine and the offending tooth driven out with a punch
and mallet. But there is much danger of injuring impor-
tant vessels and nerves unless the operator is thoroughly
conversant with anatomy.
ABSCESS OF THE FALSE NOSTRIL.
This is common in young horses and appears as a slowly
increasing, inactive, tense, round swelling in the outer
part of the nostril. It is so firm as to feel solid but col-
lapses at once when opened. It should be laid open from
within the nose along its whole length and plugged with
tow till the raw edges have skinned over.
ABSCESS IN THE GUTTURAL POUCHES.
These are two cavities situated above the throat and pe-
T*
78 The Farmer's Veterinary Adviser.
culiar to solipeds. Each has a small opening at its ante-
rior part through which any liquid within them can escape
only when the head is depressed. Hence a collection of
matter in these sacs, consequent on a sore throat, escapes
and is discharged through the nose intermittently when
the head is down drinking, or still more in grazing or nib-
bling roots. The discharge comes from both nostrils and
there may or may not be swelling beneath the ear. Many
such cases will recover if sent to grass or fed from the
ground and treated with some of the tonics recommended
for chronic catarrh or glanders. But should these fail the
sac must be laid open, setoned and washed out daily with
a weak astringent lotion. This operation requires the
most accurate knowledge of the parts to avoid the many
important structures in the region. (See tbe author’s lar-
ger work.)
TUMORS IN THE NOSE.
Tumors of almost every kind grow in the nose and must
be removed by surgical means.
MALIGNANT CATARRH OF CATTLE.
This appears mainly in cold, damp, marshy situationg
where the vitality is impaired, or in unusual seasons. Iz
the cold early summer of 1875 I met with it in cows
in several marshy places. Low, damp river-bottoms are
most subject to it and probably it is due to deleterious
agents taken in with the food and water as well as to chills
and exposure.
Symptoms. A slight diarrhoea may be followed by cos-
tiveness, the dung being black, firm and scanty. The
hair is rough and erect, shivering ensues, the head is de-
pressed, the roots of the horns and fcrehead hot, eyes
sunken, red, watery, with turbidity in the interior and in-
tolerance of light, muzzle dry and hot, mouth hot with
much saliva, the membranes of mouth, nose and vagina
bluish-red, pulse rapid, impulse of heart weak, breathing
Diseases of the Respiratory Organs. 79
hurried, cough, urine scanty and high-colored anid surface of
the body alternately hot and cold. In twenty-four hours
all the symptoms are aggravated, the nose discharges a
slimy fluid, the forehead is warmer, and duller on percus-
sion, the mouth covered with dark-red blotches from which
the cuticle soon peels off leaving raw sores, appetite is
completely lost, dung and urine passed with much pain
and straining and there is general stiffness and indisposi-
tion to move. From the fourth to the sixth day ulcers
appear on the nose and muzzle, swellings take place be-
neath the jaws, chest and abdomen, and on the legs, the
skin may even slough off in patches, a foctid saliva drivels
from the mouth and a stinking diarrhcea succeeds the cos-
tiveness. Death usually ensues from the eighth to the
tenth day, preceded perhaps by convulsions or signs of
suffocation. The disease strongly resembles the Russian
Catile Plague but is rarely contagious.
Treatment. Clear out the bowels by a laxative (olive
oil and laudanum), following this up by slightly stimulat-
ing diuretics (sweet spirits of nitre, liquor of acetate of
ammonia,) with antiseptics (chlorate of potassa, bichro-
mate of potassa, hydrochloric acid). Wet cloths may be
kept on the head, the mouth and nose sponged with very
weak solutions of carbolic acid, and only soft mashes and
sliced or pulped roots allowed.
SORE-THROAT.
This may be confined to the larynx or upper end of the
windpipe (laryngitis), or the pharynx or membranous
pouch through which air and food both pass at the back
of the mouth (pharyngitis), or the whole may be involved
(laryngo-pharyngitis). There are, besides, the sore-throats
connected with specific diseases (croup, diphtheria, in-
tuenza, strangles, distemper and purpura).
The causes of simple sore-thrvat are the same as those
of nasal catarrh. Bots in the throat may cause it ip
horses,
80 The Farmer's Veterinary Adviser.
Symptoms. The nose is raised and protruded, the head
being carried stiffly and more in a line with the neck than
usual, and there is swelling of the throat or beneath the
roots of the ears. There is cough, hard in laryngitis, and
dry and husky in pharyngitis, and, later, loose and gur-
gling in both diseases. With laryngitis there is much ten-
derness to touch, and, in the early stages, a loud, harsh
blowing sound which may become loose and rattling as
the disease advances. With pharyngitis there is a little
tenderness, but difficulty in swallowing, chewed morsels
being often dropped again and water rejected through the
nose. The discharge from the nose is more glairy than in
nasal catarrh or bronchitis, and on its appearance the act-
ive fever usually subsides in great part. If there is much
redness of the membrane of the nose, and high fever, the
case is likely to be severe, and the same is true of cases with
a painful, paroxysmal cough.
In Chronic Sore-throat there may appear to be general
good health, but a cough comes on in paroxysms when the
patient comes into the cold air, drinks cold water, eats dry
oats or dusty hay or undergoes active exertion. There are
also more or less tenderness and wheezing or rattling in
the throat, and sometimes slight swelling.
Treatment. Rest in a clean, dry, airy stable or box.
Clothe warmly and flannel bandage the legs if cold or
tending to shiver. Tie a rug or sheep-skin with wool in
around the neck. Steam the nose as for strangles. Unless
the fever and pulse are low or the affection of an influenza
type, a laxative is usually beneficial (horse, aloes; ox
and sheep, Glauber salts; dog and pig, castor oil ;) following
up with nitre or acetate of potassa in the water, and ano-
dynes as electuaries. Solid extract of belladonna 4 drs. ;
tannic acid 1 dr.; bisulphite of soda 4 drs.; honey or
syrup 5 oz.; mix. Dose—horse and ox a piece as large as
a hickory nut; sheep one-fourth, dog one-tenth of this bulk,
thrice daily. To be smeared on the back teeth and swal-
lowed at leisure.
Diseases of the Respiratory Organs. 81
In most cases, a thin pulp, made with mustard and
water, should be well rubbed in around the throat as soon
as the bowels respond, and covered up for two hours, but,
in the most severe, this may be preceded for a day or twc
by a linseed poultice. The diet throughout must be
green, soft mashes or roots.
CROUP.
Especially seen in young animals (calves, lambs, foals,)
in cold and damp or high exposed localities. The symp-
toms are those of severe sore-throat (laryngitis) coming on
very suddenly with hard croupy cough and dry wheezing
breathing, worse at one time than another or heard only
at particular times of the day (morning, night,) when
spasms of the larynx come on. But the most characteris-
tic symptom is the formation of albuminoid false mem-
branes as white films or pellicles in the throat, and which
are discharged in shreds on the second or third day.
Fever runs very high, pulse ninety to one hundred, tem-
perature 107°, and even higher.
Treatment. Give a warm, well-aired building, with
water-vapor set free in the atmosphere, if possible; warm
clothing, a laxative (sulphate of soda) with antispasmodic
(laudanum, aconite, chloral-hydrate, lobelia); follow up
with small doses of sulphate of soda, chlorate of potassa
and antispasmodics, giving each dose in well-boiled linseed
tea, slippery elm or marsh-mallow. Blister the neck ac-
tively (mustard, with or without oil of turpentine,) and, if
necessary, swab out the throat with a solution of nitrate
of silver ten grs., water one oz., applied by a small sponge
immovably tied on a piece of whalebone. In the worst
eases suffocation must be obviated by opening the wind-
pipe in the middle of the neck and inserting a tube to
breathe through. In horses a ring must not be completely
cut across, but a semicircular piece cut out of each of two
adjacent ones. Sometimes stimulants (wine whey, car-
bonate of ammonia,) and tonics (gentian, cinchona,) must
be used to sustain the failing strength.
82 The Farmer's Veterinary Adviser.
CROUP OR ROUP IN FOWLS.
Causes. Probably similar to those acting on quadru-
peds. Exciting diet (wheat, buckwheat, oats,) seems at
times injurious. Newly-arrived fowls are most liable to
contract it, yet it does not seem contagious in the ordi-
nary sense, but rather inherent in soil, locality or condi-
tions of life.
Symptoms. Dullness, sleepiness, neglect of food, ruffled
feathers, unsteady walk, quickened breathing, with a
hoarse wheeze, and an occasional loud crowing noise. On
the tongue, at the angle of union of the beak, or in the
throat appear yellowish white films (false membranes)
firmly adherent to a reddened surface, and raw sores
where these have been detached. The nostrils may be
completely plugged with swelling and discharge so that
breath can only be drawn through the open bill. The in-
flammation may extend along the windpipe to the erial
cavities and lungs, or along the gullet to the intestines. In
the first case, death may take place from suffocation, and
in the second, from diarrhcea, and as early as in twenty-four
hours. Toward the end of an outbreak, the malady may
last twenty days and still prove fatal. False membranes
may form on other distant parts of the body, but espe-
cially the comb, wattles, eye, or on accidental sores.
Treatment. Disuse raw grain, and feed on vegetables,
and puddings made of well-boiled oat, barley or Indian
meal. Dissolve carbonate or sulphate of soda, or chlo-
rate of potassa freely in the water drunk, remove the
false membranes with a feather or forceps and apply to
the surface with a feather the nitrate of silver lotion ad-
vised for croup in quadrupeds. If diarrhoea supervenes,
give a teaspoonful of quinia wine thrice a day. It is all-
important to change the run of the chickens for a time at
least.
DIPHTHERIA.
This is seen in pigs and it is even claimed to occur in
aorses, but the false membranes in the latter animals
rarely amount to more than thickened mucus. It appears
Diseases of the Respiratory Orguns. 83
to be due to the locality rather than contagion. Close,
filthy pens, and want of care have appeared injurious in
some cases.
Symptoms. Sudden illness, with sore-throat and ex-
treme weakness and stiffness of back and loins. The pig
moves slowly and crouchingly with raised head, open dry
mouth, hoarse nasal grunt, livid tongue, and red swollen
throat with grayish-white patches of false membranes.
The eyes are dull and sunken and the appetite gone. In
a few hours all the structures of throat and nose are in-
volved, there is much swelling and threatened suffocation
and shreds of false membrane are coughed up. The pa-
tient remains down, sits on his haunches, or leans on the
fence and usually perishes in a fit of coughing.
Treatment. Must be early to succeed, hence, examine
the throat for false membranes in all cases of sore-throat
in pigs, holding the animal with a noose around the upper
jaw. If white patches are seen, apply at once and freely
the nitrate of silver lotion advised for croup, and repeat
as often as may seem necessary to keep the diseased
growths in check. The bowels may be freely opened by
a purgative (jalap) and twenty drops of tincture of the mu-
riate of iron, and ten grains nitre given thrice a day ina
table-spoonful of cold water. Great attention must be
given to the comfort and to secure soft, easily-digestible
food for some time.
CHRONIC ROARING IN HORSES.
This is a wheezing, whistling or hoarse rasping sound
made in the upper part of the windpipe (larynx) in breath-
ing and especially when excited. It is usually due to
paralysis and wasting of the muscles on the left side ot
the larynx and which open the channel for the air, and in
such eases the noise is only made in drawing air in. But
any obstruction in the large air tubes will give rise to
roaring, heard most commonly in both inspiration and
expiration. Thus palsy of the nostrils, fracture and de-
84 The Farmer's Veterinary Adviser.
pression of the bones of the nose, tumors in the nose,
throat, windpipe or bronchi, false membranes extending
across the air passages, dropsical swelling about the
throat, and in stallions undue accumulations of fat, may
give rise to it. In the typical form with palsy of the
laryngeal muscles the animal grunts (groans) when led up
to a wall and a feint is made to strike him on the ribs.
If galloped up a steep hill or over a newly-plowed field,
or even for some distance on level ground, the roaring
is strikingly brought out. The same holds good if made
to draw a heavy load or one with the wheels dragged.
Treatment. In incipient cases with simple thickening
of the mucous membrane, benefit may arise from swabbing
out the larynx with nitrate of silver solution, as recom-
mended for crowp, or firing the skin over the throat with
a red-hot iron. But if the muscles are wasted and fatty
these means will be fruitless, and we must look to mechan-
ical or surgical measures for help. Pads attached to the
nose-band of the bridle and so arranged that they will
lie on the false nostrils and check somewhat the ingress of
air will enable many roarers to do moderate work
with comparative comfort. In the worst cases, in which
the animal is rendered useless, tracheotomy may be per-
formed and the animal made to breathe through a tube
inserted in the middle of the neck. Or finally, the larynx
may be laid open with the knife, and the flap of gristle
(arytenoid), which is drawn in, valve-like, over the opening
by the current of air, cut off.
Some cases of roaring due to feeding on vetches, (Lath-
yrus Sativa or Cicera) may be cured by changing the
feed, and giving some doses of nux vomica. Others due
to dropsical effusions appear intermittently and may be
benefited by tonics and iodide of potassium, with hard,
dry feeding and exercise. Tumors and other mechanical
obstructions must be removed with the knife.
Finally roaring is often hereditary in horses with a nar-
row space between the jaws and thick short neck, witk
Diseases of the Respiratory Organs. 85
badly set on head, and such should be rejected for breed-
ing purposes.
BRONCHITIS.
Inflammation of the large air tubes within the lungs
St may be looked upon as an extension downward of nasal
catarrh or sore-throat and frequently supervenes on one
or the other of these. Otherwise it owns the same gen-
eral causes with these affections. It may also attend on
influenza, strangles, contagious pleuro-pneumonia, dis-
temper in dogs, tuberculosis, and parasitic diseases of the
lungs.
Symptoms. In mild cases there are dullness, impaired ap-
petite, hot dry mouth, red membrane of nose, accelerated
pulse and breathing, and a cough at first hard but becom-
ing soft and rattling as discharge is established from the
nose. Such may recover in a few days without treatment.
In severe cases there is dullness, inappetence, hot dry
mouth, increased temperature, rapid pulse, labored breath-
ing with loud blowing sounds over the lower end of the
windpipe and behind the middle of the shoulder-blade.
The cough is dry, hard, sonorous and painful (barking),
often occurring in fits and seeming to come from the depth
of the chest. Percussion detects no change of resonance
at any part of the chest, as in prewmonia. The membrane
of the nose has a dark red or violet hue, varying in pro-
portion to the general implication of the bronchial tubes
and especially the smaller ones, and there is drowsiness
and drooping of the head in the same ratio.
From the second to the fourth day a whitish discharge
sets in from the nose, the cough becomes soft and rattling,
the noise over the windpipe and behind the shonalder-
blade less harsh and blowing, but with a slight rattle from
bursting bubbles, and the symptoms of fever abate. From
this time improvement dates, and recovery may be com-
plete in two or three weeks.
8
86 The Farmer's Veterinary Adviser.
Solipeds stand obstinately throughout the disease,
other animals may lie. There is no tenderness on punch-
ing the ribs, as in pleurisy.
Treatment. Rest in a warm, dry, airy building, clothe
warmly, bandage the limbs in cold weather and give warm
sloppy mashes of wheat bran. A laxative is often useful
but if there is weakness, small pulse, prostration or any
yellowish tinge of the mucous membranes, is to be rejected
and warm water injections used in place to move the
bowels. Give frequent diuretics (nitre, sweet spirits of
nitre,) anodynes (belladonna, lobelia, aconite,) and expec-
torants (liquor ammonia acetatis, oxymel of squill, guaia-
cum, ipecacuanha, antimony). The nose should be fre-
quently steamed, as if for strangles, and inhalations of sul-
phur fumes mixed with the air, and not too strong, may
be added. Mustard or other blisters should be applied to
the sides of the chest, and repeated if any renewed access
of disease seems to demand it. When fever has nearly
subsided and there is left only a white discharge from the
nose tonics should be used. (See those recommended for
glanders. )
When there is much prostration and weakness, stimu-
lants (aromatic ammonia, carbonate of ammonia, wine,
etc.,) may be required, even in the early stages.
GLANDER HEAVES. CHRONIC BRONCHITIS IN HORSES.
This arises from the same causes as the acute disease
and often follows it. It is characterized by a frequent
weak wheezing, husky, almost inaudible cough, often oc-
curring in fits; a white discharge from the nose, with
white floceuli, like buttermilk ; great shortness of breath
in exertion ; and a mucous rattle in the lungs. Percussion
shows increased resonance over the lower and posterior
borders of the lungs. The right side of the heart may be
enlarged and easily felt beating behind the right elbow.
Treatment is not very satisfactory in cases of old stand-
ing. Feeding should be mainly of soft mashes, roots and
Diseases of the Respiratory Organs. 87
other laxative agents, but never bulky. Linseed, oat, bar-
ley or corn meal may be given wet and hay replaced by
zorn-stalks or good fresh grass. Finally give tonics,
mainly arsenite of strychnia, or sulphate of iron or copper
and tannic acid.
ACUTE CONGESTION OF THE LUNGS IN HORSES.
This is always the first stage of Pnewmonia but may oc-
cur in a sudden and fatal form from overexertion in fat
or otherwise ill-conditioned horses. An animal that has
stood idle in the stable or has been rapidly fattened for
sale, when taken out and driven or ridden at the top of his
speed soon hangs heavily on the bit, slackens his speed,
and if not stopped, staggers and falls; or the exertion is
passed through but the animal is seized when returned to
the stable. He then stands with dilated nostrils, quick,
labored, convulsive, wheezy breathing, extended head,
staring bloodshot eyes, agonized expression, deep red or
blue nasal membrane and rapid, weak pulse often almost
imperceptible at the jaw. Auscultation detects a loud
respiratory murmur and the finest possible crepitating
sound. The heart is felt behind the left elbow beating
tumultuously and the limbs are cold, though perspiration
may break out at different parts of the body. If blood
is drawn it flows in a dark, tarry-looking stream and the
lungs after death might be compared to a dark-red jelly.
Treatment. Remove girths, saddles and whatever may
hamper breathing, turn the head to the wind, give an act-
ive stimulant (alcohol or alcoholic liquors, ammonia or
any of its compounds, oil of turpentine, ether, sweet spir-
its of nitre, ginger, pepper,) the first that comes to hand,
in a full dose, following wp with warm water injections and
active hand rubbing. In extreme cases prompt relief may
often be obtained by bleeding from the jugular, but this
should not replace the measures already advised but
should be added to them. An excellent resort when avail-
able is to wrap from head to tail in rugs wrung out of hot
88 The Farmer's Veterinary Adviser.
water and cover thickly with dry ones, the limbs being
meanwhile actively hand-rubbed to bring the blood to this
part of the skin which the rug cannot reach.
If the patient survives and does not at once entirely re-
cover the case becomes one of pneumonia.
PNEUMONIA. INFLAMMATION OF THE LUNGS.
Causes. The same as in other acute diseases of the
chest. Also the result of overexertion and acute conges-
tion, or of parasites in the lung.
Symptoms. Tf not following an acute congestion as
above described there is shivering, more or less severe ac-
cording to the gravity of the attack, and usually a dry
cough. This is followed by hot skin, with increased tem-
perature, quick but deep labored breathing and a full but
oppressed rolling pulse, redness of the membranes of the
eye, nose and mouth; the cough is deep as if from the
depth of the chest but not so hard nor so painful as in bron-
chitis. The horse always, and the ox, in bad cases, obstinate-
ly stands with legs apart, elbows turned out, nose extended
andusually approached to a door or window. In cattle expi-
ration is generally accompanied by amoan. With the fever
there is costiveness, high-colored, scanty urine, in cattle,
heat of horns and ears and dryness of muzzle, and hide-
bound. Auscultation detects a very fine crackling (crepi-
tation) over the affected part of the lung or there may be
an area of no sound encircled by a line of crepitation and
beyond that by the normal murmur slightly increased.
Or over the dull spot the blowing sounds from the larger
tubes or the beating of the heart may be detected. Per-
cussion causes flinching or even groaning when the affected
part is reached; the space where sound was wanting in
auscultation sounds dull and solid and the remainder of
the chest retains its healthy resonance. There is no ten-
derness on merely pinching the spaces between the ribs.
By auscultation and percussion the increase or decrease
of solidification (hepatization) of the lung may be followed
Diseases of the Respiratory Organs 89
from day to day excepting in the parts covered by the
thick, muscular shoulder. In this way aggravation and
improvement can be noticed. A yellowish or whitish dis-
charge from the nose comes on as the disease advances.
Lreatment. Give a pure, dry, airy box with windows
or doors turned to the sun or away from the direction of
prevailing winds, clothe warmly, and flannel-bandage the
limbs, or even rub them with ammonia and oil. The hot
rugs advised for congested lungs may be applied, and
when removed let it be done a little at atime, and the
part rubbed dry and covered by a dry blanket. Or a
mustard poultice may be applied to the sides of the chest.
Large injections of warm water and drinks of warm gruel
may also be given. A laxative is often beneficial in the
more active forms of the disease, but should be given cau-
tiously as in bronchitis, and rejected when there is low
fever, and much depression. Neutral salts (nitre, acetate
of potassa, bicarbonate of soda,) should be given with
sedatives (belladonna, henbane, tincture of aconite, digi-
talis or white hellebore ; in pigs and dogs, tartar emetic,)
or if there is much prostration, or when the fever has in
the main subsided, stimulant diuretics (sweet spirits of
nitre, liquor of acetate of ammonia,) repeated three or four
times a day. The sides should be blistered with a pulp
of the best ground mustard in water, or Spanish flies, or
in cattle and swine, mustard and turpentine, and the blis-
ter may be repeated with advantage in protracted cases.
When in severe cases the blister refuses to rise, the skin
may be first warmed with rugs wrung out of boiling water
and then the application of the blister made. Or a hot
shovel held near the blistered surface may determine an
active flow of blood to the skin and the rising of the blis-
ter. When well risen the surface must be kept soft by
sweet oil or fresh lard to favor healing. In chickens it is
advised to open the bowels by a teaspoonful of castor-oil,
and shake one-twelfth grain of tartar emetic on the tongue
twice a day. If very weak or prostrate give a teaspoonful
of sherry thrice a day.
90 The Farmer's Veterinary Adviser.
PLEURISY. INFLAMMATION OF THE MEMBRANE LINING THE
CHEST AND COVERING THE LUNGS.
This is common in all domestic animals and particularly
in cold, exposed localities, which suffer at the same time
from rheumatism. Otherwise it owns the general causes
of chest disease.
Symptoms. Shivering, followed by heat of the skin and
even of the limbs, and partial sweats of the surface, un-
easy movements, pawing and sometimes looking at tha
flanks, lying down and rising. If one side of the chest
only is involved that fore limb is often advanced in front
of the other. The pulse is rapid, hard and incompressible,
and the breathing highly characteristic. It is hurried,
carried on chiefly by the abdominal muscles, and has the
inspiration short and suddenly checked, while the expira-
tion is slow and prolonged. This character of the breath-
ing may be well observed with the ear placed on the false
nostril, on the windpipe or on the side of the chest.
There is a prominent ridge on the abdomen from the outer
angle of the hip bone to the lower ends of the last ribs.
By handling the spaces between the ribs a point is
reached which is exceedingly tender, the patient flinching
and even groaning when it is touched. The ear applied
to the same spot detects a soft, rubbing sound during the
movements of inspiration and expiration. There is at
first no other change in auscultation or percussion. The
animal often changes his posture or place as if seeking
an easier position, and emits a short, hacking, painful
cough. There is much less redness of the nose than in
pneumonia or bronchitis, less heat of the expired air and
no nasal discharge.
In twenty-four to thirty-six hours effusion ensues in
the cavity of the chest, the rubbing sound ceases, the
catching breathing and ridge on the belly disappear, the
pulse becomes soft, the anxiety of countenance passes
away, and the patient may begin to feed as if well. But
soon the pulse loses its fullness, and gains in rapidity,
Diseases of the Respiratory Organs. 91
breathing becomes labored and attended with a lifting of
the flank and loins, the nostrils are widely dilated, the
nose protruded, the elbows turned out, the skin sweats,
and there may be signs of imminent suffocation. Auscul-
tation detects no sound over the lower part of the chest up
to a given horizontal line, and up to the same level there
is dullness on percussion. This shows the extent of wa-
tery effusion. The pulse becomes weak, with a peculiar
thrill at each beat, the limbs and lower aspect of the
chest swell, the patient moves unsteadily and falls sud-
denly to die.
In other cases the effusion is re-absorbed and a good
recovery is made. In others it ceases to increase but fails
to be taken up and remains as a cause of short wind; it
may even give off gases, in which case a gurgling sound
may be heard in the chest, or a sound as of drops falling
into a half-empty barrel, after the patient rises from the
recumbent position. In other cases still there remain
false membranes attaching the lung to the inner sides of
the ribs, or enveloping the lung in whole or in part, and in
either case impairing respiration.
Treatment. Give the same general care as in bronchitis
and pneumonia. In the early stages of chill treat as for
congested lungs. Later give a laxative (horse, aloes ; ox
and sheep, Glauber salts ; swine and dogs, eastor-oil,)
following it up with neutral salts (nitre, acetate of potassa,
liquor of the acetate of ammonia,) in full doses, and ano-
dynes (digitalis, aconite). These may be used in the
fullest doses after effusion has taken place, and in weak
subjects stimulants (sweet spirits of nitre, ether, alcoholic
liquids, tincture of gentian,) should be added. Iodide of
potassium may also be given internally and tincture of
iodine rubbed on the chest.
In very severe cases, a large linseed poultice may be
applied over the chest, or it may be shaven and subjected
to dry cupping, or an active blister may be applied as for
pneumonia.
92 The Farmer's Veterinary Adviser.
If there is extreme effusion threatening suffocation the
liquid must be drawn off by a small cannula and trocar
(see Tympany) inserted at the anterior border and near
the lower end of the ninth rib, the skin having first been
drawn aside to form a valvular wound, and great care
being taken to prevent the entrance of air. The liquid
should be drawn off only in part at first to avoid shock,
and the operation repeated in a day or two. Itshould be
followed by tonics (sulphate of iron, tincture of gentian,)
stimulants (sweet spirits of nitre) and diuretics (iodide of
potassium),
PLEURO-PNEUMONIA, BRONCHO-PNEUMONIA, AND BRONCHO-
PLEURO-PNEUMONIA
Are common complications of the three diseases, bronchitis,
pneumona and plewrisy and their respective symptoms
and treatment may be inferred from the description of the
uncomplicated affections.
HYDROTHORAX. WATER IN THE CHEST.
Beside the effusion of liquid into the cavity of the chest
in pleurisy, dropsical effusions may take place into it in
connection with weak, bloodless conditions, as in flukes in
the liver, disease of the heart, enlarged bronchial lym-
phatic glands and other morbid states. The symptoms re-
semble those of hydrothoraa following pleurisy, only there
is no fever, and there are the indications of those other
diseases on which it is dependent. The treatment is es-
sentially the same after the morbid condition which has
caused the effusion has been removed. If that is incur-
able neither can this be remedied.
PNEUMOTHORAX. AIR OR GAS IN THE CHEST.
This often attends on hydrothorax when the contained
liquid has undergone some decomposition. More fre-
quently it is the result of a wound penetrating the walls
of the chest with its edges pressed inward so that they ad-
Diseases of the Respiratory Organs. 93
mit the air from without while the chest is dilating, but
close like a valve when it is contracting. A little thus
entering with each breath and none escaping, the lung
is soon compressed into a small solid mass against the
lower end of the windpipe. The same may happen from
a broken rib having torn the surface of the lung even
without any external wound. A little air escaping from
the lung with each respiration the cavity soon becomes
filled and the lung compressed and collapsed.
Treatment is limited to the prevention of the introduc-
tion of air through an external wound, should such exist ;
the relief of pain by opium and other anodynes ; the man-
agement of the resulting pleurisy on ordinary principles;
and the drawing off of the accumulated air by a needle-
like tube and aspirator, or even by a small cannula and
trocar. Spontaneous recovery often takes place, the
wound being closed by inflammatory exudation and the
air absorbed. In cases dependent on decomposition of
the products, both gas and liquid should be drawn off and
a weak solution of carbolic acid (one part to two or three
hundred water) thrown in, in small quantity.
ABSCESS OF THE INTERCOSTAL SPACES.
This occurs especially in the horse as a result of pleu-
risy, a diffuse swelling appearing at some part of the walls
of the chest, tender and pitting on pressure, and, finally,
softening in the centre, bursting and discharging a yellow-
ish or whitish matter. The patient should be well fed,
and poultices or warm fomentations continuously applied
to the part until there is softening in the centre, when it
may be freely laid open. Continue to support the patient
by nourishing food, stimulants and tonics.
DROPSY OF THE LUNG.
This is mainly a result of valvular and other diseases of
the heart. To percussion and auscultation it gives nearly
the same symptoms with pneumonia, but there is an entire
94 The Farmer's Veterinary Adviser.
absence of fever. The coexisting heart-disease alse
serves to reveal its true nature. Its cause being usually
incurable, it terminates fatally in the majority of cases.
Treatment must be altogether directed to the disease of
the heart.
APOPLEXY OF THE LUNG.
In the lower animals extravasation of blood into the
substance of the lung is usually the result of profound al-
terations in that liquid as in Malignant Anthrax, Purpura
Hemorrhagica, Typhoid Fever or Intestinal Fever. A por-
tion of the lung tissue gives way and the blood escaping
raises the membrane covering it (pleura) from a half to
three inches above the natural level. The extravasation
has the appearance ofa fine jelly and often preserves the
shape of the pulmonary lobules—a cone with the apex
turned in. Being usually a complication of another dis-
ease, treatment must be directed to that rather than the
lucal lesion.
PLEURODYNIA.
This is a term applied to rheumatism of the muscles be-
tween the ribs, which bears a strong resemblance to pleu-
risy. It may be distinguished by the coexistence of rheu-
matism in other parts and by the comparative absence of fe-
ver, cough, rubbing sounds and effusion. Treat it like
other forms of rheumatism.
ASTHMA IN DOGS.
A spasmodical affection of the circular muscular fibres
of the bronchial tubes, occurring in paroxysms with irreg-
ular intervals and associated with corpulence and disordered
digestion, distended or ruptured air-cells, mucous dis-
charges from the air-passages and dilatation of the right
side of the heart.
Causes. Usually in pet dogs pampered with highly sea-
soned articles of food, in excessive quantity, and deprived
Discases of the Respiratory Organs. a6
of exercise. A change of food or temperature, a smart
walk or run or indeed any exercise will bring it on.
Symptoms. Corpulence is a constant condition at the
outset though the subject may be emaciated and worn out
in the advanced stages. A slight cough becomes frequent,
hard and sonorous, with habitually labored breathing ag-
gravated at intervals so as to threaten suffocation. Then
the patient stands with open mouth, pendent tongue and
staring eyeballs panting for breath and having his condi-
tion rendered still more threatening by every change of
position or cause of excitement. The frequency and se-
verity of the attacks serve as a means of estimating the
danger of the patient. In the intervals between these
paroxysms may be noticed signs of indigestion, in a varia-
ble appetite, perhaps vomiting, a tumid tympanitic (bloated)
abdomen, constipation and piles. The skin is dry, harsh
and bald in patches, the teeth covered with tartar and the
breath foetid.
Treatment. 1. During a paroxysm. Cause to inhale
ether, chloroform, the fumes of burning stramonium or
of burning paper which has been steeped in a strong so-
lution of nitre ; or one or two teaspoonfuls of landanum
with 2 oz. castor-oil may be thrown into the gut as an in-
jection. Or if there is reason to suspect overloading of
the stomach shake a grain of tartar emetic on the tongue.
2. In the intervals between the paroxysms. Check any ex-
isting bronchitis or pneumonia as advised in the eavrlier
pages of the book, and restrict to a very moderate diet of
oat meal or corn meal mush, with skim-milk or buttermilk.
Exercise well but in no case for three hours after feeding.
Give a laxative of castor-oil twice a week. Wash fre-
yuently with soap, drying afterward by rubbing, and brush
daily. A daily sedative (stramonium, tartar emetic,) is
beneficial, but in advanced stages and weak conditions,
vegetable tonics (quinia, gentian,) will be demanded.
96 The Farmers Veterinary Adviser.
HEAVES. BROKEN WIND.
This is closely allied to asthma, but is more continuous
in its symptoms, and less paroxysmal.
Causes. Overfeeding on clover hay, sainfoin, lucern and
allied plants: on chaff, cut straw and other bulky and in-
nutiitious food. In Arabia, in Spain, and in California
where there is no long winter feeding on hay, and in our
Territories where lower is not one heaves is virtually
unknown; it has advanced westward just in proportion as
clover hay has been introduced as the general fodder for
horses, and it has disappeared in England and New En-
gland in proportion as the soil has become clover sick and
as other aliment had to be supplied. The worst condi-
tions are when a horse is left in the stable for days and
weeks eating clover hay, or even imperfectly cured, dusty
hay of other kinds, to the extent of thirty pounds and up-
wards daily, and is suddenly taken out and driven at a
rapid pace. Violent exertions of any kind, and diseases
of the lungs are also potent causes. It is mainly a disease
of old horses but may attack the colt of two years old.
Finally, horses with small chests are most liable and thus
the disease proves hereditary.
Symptoms. There is a double lift of the flank with each
expiratory act, there being first a falling in of the abdom-
inal walls and then, after a perceptible interval, a rising
of the posterior part of the belly to complete the emptying
of the chest; also a short, dry, weak, almost inaudible
cough, followed by wheeze in the throat, and occurring
in paroxysms when violently exercised, when brought
from the stable into the cold air, or after a drink of cold
water. The breathing is accompanied by a wheezing noise
above all evident when the patient is excited by work, or
when the ear is applied on the side of the chest. In-
digestion is also a prominent symptom and manifested
by a ravenous appetite, even for filthy litter, by the fre-
quent passage of wind from the bowels, and often by
swelling and drum-like resonance of the abdomen. When
The Farmer's Veterinary Adviser. 97
starting on a journey the subjects pass dung very frequently
at first and after traveling some distance may go much
better. Their muscular systems are soft and flabby and
they run down rapidly in active work. Frequent aggrava-
tions of the symptoms may be seen in connection with
overloaded stomach, costiveness, a hot close stable, a
thick muggy atmosphere, or a very severe day’s work.
The symptoms may be temporarily masked or hidden
by restriction in diet, abstinence from water and the use
of sedatives, but there remains an unnatural action of the
nostrils, and a full drink of water, and above all a free
supply of water and hay will bring back the symptoms in
all their intensity.
Treatment. Turning out on natural pastures or feeding
cornstalks or other laxative food will relieve, and even
cure mild and recent cases. Feeding on dry grain with
carrots, turnips, beets, or potatoes and a very limited
supply of water will enable many broken-winded horses to
do a fair amount of work in comfort. Hay should never be
allowed except at night and then only a handful clean
and sweet. The bowels must be kept easy by laxatives
(sulphate of soda 2 or 3 oz.), the stable well aired, and
sedatives (digitalis, opium, belladonna, hyoscyamus, stra-
monium, lobelia,) used to relieve the oppression. If a
white discharge from the nose coexists tonics should be
given as for chronic bronchitis, to which wild-cherry bark
may be added. ‘Tar water as the exclusive drink is often
useful and a course of carminatives (ginger, caraway,
cardamoms, fennel, foenugrec,) may be added with advan-
tage. But nerve tonics and above all arsenic in 5 grain
doses daily, and continued for a month or two, are espe-
cially valuable.
No broken-winded horse should have food or water for
from one to two hours before going to work.
BLEEDING FROM THE LUNGS.
May occur in any of our domestic animals as a result of
9
98 The Farmer's Veterinary Adviser.
excessive plethora, overexertion, disease of the heart or
tuberculosis. If in limited quantity, the blood comes from
the nostrils and mouth of a light red and frothy and with
coughing. If in greater amount it may fill the bronchial
tubes and cause death suddenly by stffocation without
much escape by the nose.
Treatment. When brought on by severe exertion per-
fect rest and quiet will check. Keeping the head elevated,
cold applied to the head and neck, iced drinks acidulated
with vinegar or mineral acids, are useful. Opium benefits
by checking the cough, and in obstinate cases acetate of
lead, ergot of rye, matico, tincture of muriate of iron, or
oil of turpentine may be given internally three times a
day. Remove costiveness with Glauber salts and keep in
a cool airy place at rest for at least a fortnight.
PARASITES IN THE UPPER AIR PASSAGES.
The Grup IN THE Heap of Sheep is the larva of a small
gadfly (distrus Ovis) which deposits the live embryo on the
Fig. 12. Fig. 13.
Fig. 12—Céstrus ovis, Clark. Fig. 13—Larva of ditto.
margin of the nostril, whence it creeps up into the nasal si-
nuses. It stays there during the winter and spring, often
proving harmless but sometimes causing much irritation,
redness of the nostrils, and a white, muco-purulent dis-
charge, with dullness and stupor from sympathetic disease
of the brain. To prevent the attacks of the fly the sheep
should be fed salt from two-inch augur holes bored in a
log, the surface of which is smeared with tar, so that they
get a dressing every time they partake. A less satis-
Diseases. of the Respiratory Organs. og
factory method is to turn up a furrow in the pasture so
that the sheep may push their noses into the ground when
attacked.
Treatment. Place in a warm building to tempt the
larvee from the sinuses and introduce snuff, solutions of
galt, vinegar or tobacco, weak solutions of turpentine, etc.,
into the nose to kill them or cause their expulsion by sneez-
ing. For such as remain in the sinuses the only success
ful treatment is to trephine the bones of the face between
the front of the eye and the median line of the face, or
just in front of the root of the horn should that be present.
The sinus is then to be syringed out freely with tepid
water until the parasites are washed out.
The PENTASTOMA TANIOIDES is a species of acarus which
Fig. 14.
Fig. 14—Pentastoma Tenioides,
lives in the nasal sinuses of horses and dogs, and in the
mesenteric glands of sheep and other herbivora. If pro-
ductive of much irritation in the nose it must be expelled
by a current of water after trephining the sinus.
PARASITES IN THE LOWER AIR PASSAGES.
The most common are the different forms of round
worms which in certain animals (lambs, calves, pigs,
birds,) may assume the dimensions of a plague and cause
enormous yearly losses to a country.
The sheep, goat, dromedary and camel harbor two round
worms in their air passages and lungs: the small Stron-
gylus Fila ia, a thread-like worm of one to three and one-
100 The Farmers Veterinary Adviser.
half inches long, and S. Rufescens of considerably greater
length. The calf, horse, ass and mule have the Strongylus
Micrurus of from one and one-half to three inches long.
The pig, the Stronyylus Elongatus of eight lines to one
and one-half inches long. Finally the bird (hen, turkey,
pheasant, black stork, magpie, hooded crow, green wwood-
Fig. 15.
D [=e
Fig. 15—Strongylus Filaria, male, enlarged, Thudicum. When adult,
should be at least five times the length for this thickness.
pecker, starling, swift, etc.,) have the Syngamus Trachealis,
male one-eighth inch, and female one-half to five-eighths
inch in length, always found united together, so that the
male appears like a process from the neck of the female.
The Strongyli in their mature condition inhabit the air
passages within the lungs but they may be reproduced
either in or out of the body. In the first mode the female
worm creeps into an air cell and there encysts her-
self and produces eggs or young worms already hatched,
or she dies and the myriad eggs, hatching out amid the
debris, the young worms finally migrate into the adja-
cent air passages, grow to maturity and reproduce their
kind. In the second mode the impregnated female worm
is expelled by coughing, and perishes in water or in
moist earth or on vegetables, and the eggs, escaping from
her decomposing remains, may lie unhatched for months
or even a year, or, in genial weather, may rapidly open
and allow the. escape of the almost microscopic embryo
worms. These, in their turn, may live an indefinite
length of time in the water, or moist soil, or on vegetables,
and only begin to grow to their mature condition when
taken in by a suitable host with food or water. This is
true of those of the sheep, goat and camel, of that of the
ox, horse and ass, and of that of the pig. Only those of
Diseases of the Respiratory Organs. 101
the sheep, once introduced into the system, will maintain
their place in the lungs for the whole lifetime of the host,
though no more young worms should be taken in. That
of the ox, ete., on the other hand, is more likely to be ex-
pelled, and, therefore, often infests its host but for a lim-
ited period.
The Syngamus of the bird has probably the same history
out of the body, but this has not been so carefully studied.
Within the chest the Strongyli live in the small terminal
air passages in their young or embryo state, in the larger
air tubes when mature, and in cysts in the lung substance
when laying their eggs or when about to die that the eggs
may be set free and hatched. In the air passages they
give rise to bronchitis, in the lungs to pneumonia and
deposits resembling tubercles but distinguishable under
the microscope by the presence of the elliptical eggs and
the embryo worms.
The Syngamus of birds inhabits the air passages and
gives rise to bronchitis.
In all cases the parasites are most fatal to the young.
Although old animals continue to harbor them they prove
much less destructive and are often unsuspected.
SYMPTOMS IN CALVES AND FOALS. VERMINOUS BRONCHITIS.
HOOSE. HUSK.
These are essentially those of bronchitis, with the dif-
ference that the whole herd is affected and mucus
coughed up, containing worms either singly or rolled up
in bundles. There is at first only a slight rather husky
cough repeated at irregular intervals.s There follows dry
staring coat, embarrassed breathing and advancing ema-
ciation. Soon the cough becomes frequent, paroxysmal
and suffocating, with expectoration of mucus and worms.
Or the cough is soft, loose and wheezing, and the patient
is weak, hide-bound, with sunken eyes and pale, thin or
puffy membranes, dropsical swellings beneath the jaws,
chest or belly, and no appetite; the sufferer may be found
102 The Farmer's Veterinary Adviser.
—
apart from its fellows in a corner or under a tree, covered
with flies and sinking rapidly into extreme debility and
death. Intestinal worms (in cattle, Strongylus Radiatus,
Sclerostomum Hypostomum, Ascaris Lumbricoides, Teenie
Expansa, ete., in foals, Sclerostomum Equinum, S. Tetra-
canthum, Ascaris Megalocephala, Oxyuris Curvula, etc.,)
usually coexist to a most injurious extent, causing diar-
rhcea and other irregularities of the bowels.
In the worst cases death may result ten or fifteen days
after the onset, though more commonly it is delayed two
or three months and recovery may take place.
Prevention. In localities and countries to which the
disease is new the parasites should be killed out by the
continuous medical treatment of the diseased animals, or
if necessary their destruction, and the separation of all
horses, asses, mules and cattle, from the infested pasture
or its vicinity and from any stream of water running
through or close to it; as well as from all fodder, roots,
grain, etc., grown on such land, for several years after.
In infested localities calves and foals should never be
pastured on land recently occupied by older stock of the
same kind or allowed access to water used by such stock.
Sheep, goats or pigs may be safely fed on such land.
Avoid overstocking. Drain the land to clear off pools or
wet spots. Keep the young stock from infested or sus-
pected pastures while wet with dew and rain, and from
clover and allied plants which by their moisture are liable
to harbor the worm. Suspected beasts should be kept
apart from the healthy and from healthy pastures until
subjected to thorough and continuous treatment. The
carcasses of the dead should be very deeply buried, or
better, the lungs and windpipe removed and burned to
ashes. All exposed animals should be well fed on a diet
including dry grain, and should be allowed salt to lick at
will, this being destructive to the young worms.
Treatment. Feed liberally on linseed cake, rape cake,
cotton cake, roots, maize, oats, beans or other sound nu-
Diseases of the Respiratory Organs. 103
tritious diet to which may be added a mixture in equal
parts of sulphate of iron, gentian and ginger, in proportion
of four ounces to every ten calves of three months. To
destroy the intestinal worms, give every morning, fasting,
a tablespoonful of table salt or an equal amount of oil of
turpentine shaken up with milk. For the lung parasites,
place the affected animals in a close building and burn
pinch after pinch of flowers of sulphur on a piece of pa-
per laid on an iron shovel, until the air is as much charged
with the fumes as they can bear without coughing vio-
lently. The administrator must stay with them-in the
building to avoid accidents and keep up the application
for half an hour at a time. It should be repeated several
days in succession, and at intervals of a week for several
weeks, so as to kill the young worms as they are hatched
out in successive broods, and not until all cough and ex-
citement of breathing have passed should the animal be
considered as safe to mix with others or to go on a healthy
pasture.
SYMPTOMS IN SHEEP, GOAT AND CAMEL. VERMINOUS BRONCHITIS.
These are the exact counterpart of those in the calf.
There is a short, dry, sonorous cough, with a frothy dis-
charge from the nose containing worms or their eggs, loss
of appetite, rapid wasting, diarrhoea, shedding or drying
and flattening of the wool, excessive thirst and irregular
or depraved appetite, there being a disposition to eat
earth. In the advanced stages the cough becomes very
harassing and death may ensue from suffocation. Intes-
tinal parasites (Strongylus Contortus, S. Radiatus, S. Filr-
colis, Sclerostomum Hypostomum, Tenia Expansa, and per-
haps Sclerostomum Duodenale,) are even more numerous
and injurious than in calves. ;
Prevention. All the measures advised for the disease In
calves will apply equally well here, with this proviso, that
the parasites only affect sheep, goat, dromedary and camel,
so that they only must be kept apart, while infested past-
104 The Farmer's Veterinary Adviser.
ures may be safely grazed by cattle, horses, asses ot
mules. Nathusius obviated the attacks by keeping the
early lambs in sheds and boxes until May, and the late
ones until autumn, and by feeding in the same places on
roots and hay in wet weather. Abundant dry feeding and
a free access to salt are especially desirable.
Treatment. This is precisely the same as for calves.
The tonic mixture (iron, ginger and gentian,) may be giv-
en to the extent of two ounces to every ten three months
lambs daily. For the intestinal parasites, a teaspoonful
each of salt and oil of turpentine may be given in milk
every second day, before eating if possible. Fumigate
precisely as for the calf.
SYMPTOMS OF VERMINOUS BRONCHITIS IN PIGS.
Rayer and Bellingham supposed these parasites to be
harmless to pigs, but my experience agrees with that of
Deguileme, that they will accumulate in such numbers as
to cause bronchitis and death. The symptoms are essen-
tially the same as in other animals—the coughing up of
worms and eggs being the only reliable evidence of the
disease.
Privention and treatment are essentially the same as for
lamhs and calves.
SYMPTOMS IN BIRDS. GAPES.
Young turkeys or chickens a few days old frequently
open the mouth wide and gasp for breath, sneeze and
make efforts at swallowing. These movements become
more :onstant and severe, breathing is oppressed and
wheezing, and the little patients grow languid and dispir-
ited, droop and die. It is especially prevalent on old-es-
tablished farms with large flocks of fowls.
Treatment. The worms may be partly removed by a
feather stripped of all its plumes except at the tip, or still
better by a horse-hair twisted up so as to have a very fine
loop. The mouth being opened the feather or hair is
Diseases of the Respiratory Organs. 105
passed into the opening seen in the middle of the tongue.
pushed to the lower end of the windpipe, turned round
several times and withdrawn, when a few worms will be
found attached. It may be repeated at intervals and is
still more effectual if the instrument is first dipped in oil,
salt water, or a weak solution of carbolic acid, tobacco or
sulphurous acid. The treatment is only partially success-
ful as it fails to remove worms lodged in the bronchial
tubes or air sacs. Cobbold made an incision in the wind-
pipe and extracted the worms with forceps, while Bartlett
succeeds with turpentine smeared on the neck and which
Fig. 16.
Fig. 16—Syngamus Trachealis. Gape-worm, nat. size, and enlarged.
is of course inhaled. A removal from the contaminated
ground, the supply of pure water (boiled if necessary) and
an abundance of nourishing diet are essential elements of
treatment.
Prevention. Burn all the worms extracted from the air
passages. Keep fows from ground and houses which are
known to be infested, until they have been soaked in a
strong solution of salt or with crude carbolic acid or pe-
troleum. Suspected water must be withheld or boiled.
Avoid all green food from an infested locality. The car-
casses of the dead must be burned. Young fowls may be
raised safely indoors on the worst infested farms.
CHAPTER V.
DISEASES OF THE HEART.
Frequency in different animals. General symptoms. Palpitation, thumps
Displacement of the heart. Cyanosis. Enlargement, hypertrophy. Wast-
ing, atrophy. Dilatation. Pericarditis, inflammation of the heart-sac. En.
docarditis, inflammation of the lining membrane of the heart. Carditis, in-
fJammation of the structure of the leart. Chronic disease of the valves.
Fatty degeneration of the heart. Tumors and parasites of the heart. Rupt-
are of the heart.
These are much more common in domestic animals than
is generally supposed. Though protected in animals from
the strain consequent on the upright position of man and
excessive mental efforts, the heart suffers from the severe
physical exertions of dogs and horses and in all animals
from its contiguity to diseased lungs and pleura, from the
increased force necessary to propel the blood through the
lungs or general circulation when disease offers mechan-
ical obstructions, and above all from the settling of rheu-
matism on its valves and other fibrous textures. Dairy
cows suffer greatly from pins, needles and other sharp-
pointed bodies swallowed with the food and afterward di-
rected toward the heart by its movements. High-bred
oxen, sheep, pigs and even pampered horses are very sub-
ject to fatty degeneration of the muscular substance of the
heart and consequent dilatation of its cavities.
GENERAL SYMPTOMS OF HEART-DISEASE.
1. The pulse in full grown animals at rest may be set
lown as follows per minute :—horse 36 to 46; ox 38 to 42,
yw in a hot building or with full paunch, 70; sheep, goat
Diseases of the Heart. 107
and pig 70 to 80; dog 80 to 100; cat 120 to 140; goose
110; pigeon 136; chicken 140. In old age it may be five
less in large quadrupeds and twenty or thirty in small
ones. Youth and small size imply a greater rapidity :
The new-born foal has a. pulse three times as frequent as
the horse, the six-months colt double and the two-year
old one and a quarter. It is increased by hot, close build-
ings, exertion, fear, a nervous temperament and pregnancy.
In large quadrupeds there is a monthly increase of four to
five beats per minute after the sixth month. Independently
of such conditions a rapid pulse implies fever, inflamma-
tion or debility. The fore of the pulse varies in the dif-
ferent species in health, thus it is full and moderately tense
in the horse; smaller and harder in the ass and mule;
full, soft and rolling in the ox; small and quick in sheep ;
firm and hard in swine; and firm and with a sharp (quick)
beat in dogs and cats. Jn disease it may become more /re-
quent, slow, quich (with sharp impulse), tardy (with slow,
rolling movement), /wll, strong, weak, small (when thread-
like but quite distinct), hard (when with jarring sensation),
soft (when the opposite), oppressed (when the artery is full
and tense but the impulse jerking and difficult as if the
flow were obstructed), jerking and receding (when with
empty, flaccid vessel it seems to leap forward at each beat),
intermittent (when a beat is missed at regular intervals),
unequal (when some beats are strong and others weak), ir-
regular (when without any distinct intermission for a pe-
riod equal to an entire beat the intervals between success-
ive beats vary in length). Beside these a peculiar thrill
is usually felt with each beat in very weak, bloodless
states.
1The pulse may be felt wherever a considerable artery passes over a super-
ficial bone: thus on the cord felt running across the border of the lower jaw
just in front of its curved portion: beneath the bony ridge which extends up-
ward from the eye: in horses inside the elbow: in cattle over the middle of
the first rib or beneath the tail: in dogs in a groove running down the inne
side of the thigh.
108 The Farmer’s Veterinary Adviser.
Of these the jerking, intermittent, unequal and irregular
pulses are especially indicative of heart-disease. The
jerking pulse is associated with disease of the valves at
the commencement of the great aorta which carries blood
from the left side of the heart, and is accompanied by a
hissing or sighing noise with the second heart sound.
The intermittent pulse implies functional derangement of
the heart but not necessarily disease of structure. The
unequal and irregular pulse is met in cases of fatty degen-
eration, disease of the valves on the left side, cardiac dila-
tation, ete. A retarded pulse in which the beat of heart
and pulse follow each other with a perceptible interval
implies imperfect closure of the valves at the commence-
ment of the aorta, or an aneurism on the aorta. A venous
pulse seen in the jugular veins in the furrow near the
lower border of the neck attends imperfect valves between
the auricle and ventricle on the right side of the heart, or
congested lungs but may exist in health.
Palpation. The application of the hand over the chest
behind the left elbow will detect any violent and tumultu-
ous beating, irregularity in the force of successive beats, etc.
Auscultation. The ear applied to the same part will
detect a slight rubbing sound with each heart-beat in the
early stages of pericarditis. It will also detect any mod-
ification of the heart sounds. In health each beat of the
heart is characterized by two distinct successive sounds,
the first somewhat dull and prolonged, the second short,
sharp and abrupt. The first sound is simultaneous with
the contraction and emptying of the ventricles, the closure
of the valves between the ventricles and auricles and the
flow of blood into the arteries. The second corresponds
to the completion of these acts, the recoil of blood in the
arteries and the closure of the valves between them and
the heart. The following table will show the significance
of the various superadded sounds (blowing, sighing, purr-
ing or hissing murmurs,) to any one who will acquaint
himself with the course of blood through the heart :
Diseases of the Heart. 109
BLOWING. HEART SOUNDS.
Narrowing of the
Blowing murmur auriculo - ventricular
before the first > orifice. Clots or
sound, growths on _ the
valves.
the heart. Heard along the< opening of the aorta.
1 Strongest toward the base of { Narrowing of the
large arteries.
Blowing murmur { Narrowing of the
with the first sound. Strongest toward the left of | pulmonary artery, or
the heart. Not heard over the) imperfect action of
great arteries. the auriculo-ventric-
q ular valves.
with the second over the great arteries at each of the valves at the
sound. heart beat. opening of the aorta.
Blowing murmur [irc rushing sound in the { Aneurism (dilata-
Blowing murmur { Double rushing sound heard { Imperfect action
after the second arteries with each beat of the¢ tion) of the aorta.
sound. heart.
Besides these the second sound may be doubled in hy-
pertrophy of one ventricle of the heart.
The sounds are like whispered who, awe, ss, or 7, very
low but exceedingly characteristic.
Other Symptoms. Besides the fever attendant on in-
flammatory affections there are characteristic phenomena
present in the chronic form of heart-disease. These are
shown at rest or only developed under exercise. There are
habitually cold extremities, dropsies in the limbs, and be-
neath and within the chest and abdomen, difficult breath-
ing especially during exertion, unsteady gait when hurried,
vertigo, partial paralysis or cramps of thelimbs. In most
cases there is sluggishness, dullness and a tendency to lay
on fat. Patients may be lively when at rest, but flag at
work and are liable to sudden fainting or death.
PALPITATION. THUMPS.
This is sudden violent convulsive beating of the heart
not connected with structural disease. Palpitations also
accompany most acute diseases of the heart. The func-
tional disorder comes on very abruptly, usually under
10
110 The Farmer's Veterinary Adviser.
some excitement, has perfect intermissions, is manifested
by abrupt knocking and visible jerking of the abdomen
with the heart-beats, by regularity in force and intervals
of successive beats, and by the absence of redness of the
mucous membranes, abnormal sounds of the heart and
dropsy of the limbs. If connected with structural heart
(lisease it comes on more slowly, is. constant though ag-
gravated at intervals, with a heavy, prolonged or irregular
and unequal impulse of the heart, with red mucous mem-
branes and dropsy of the limbs. The first form is bene-
fited by gentle exercise, stimulants and tonics, the latter
aggravated by them. Some excitable horses and dogs
suffer under any cause of fear, and pigs as a result of
many acute diseases, (inflammations, intestinal worms, etc.)
Treatment. Quiet, avoidance of all excitement, and
sedatives (digitalis) thrice a day will usually arrest. Then
the weak excitable condition should be overcome by exer-
cise, tonics and substantial feeding. In structural dis-
eases these must be attended to as well.
DISPLACEMENTS OF THE HEART.
These are not very infrequent in the newly-born, the
heart being sometimes lodged altogether out of the chest.
There is no remedy.
COMMUNICATION BETWEEN THE TWO AURICLES. CYANOSIS.
This is the natural condition before birth, but some-
times the directing of the blood through the lungs fails to
secure its closure, or some obstruction to the circulation
in these organs (tuberculosis, congestion, ete.,) leads to
its reopening and the arterial and venous blood mix. The
blood being equally unfit for nutrition and the mainte-
nance of animal heat, there is surface coldness, staring
coat, puny growth, blue mucous membranes, and op-
pressed breathing and irregular heart’s action when sub-
jected to exertion. A murmur usually precedes the first
heart sound. The subjects die young or prove worthless
Diseases of the Heart. 11)
when mature. Nothing can be done to remedy unless the
disease is due to some remediable affection of the lungs.
ENLARGEMENT (HYPERTROPHY) OF THE HEART.
This is a simple increase of the muscular substance and
may be confined to one side of the heart or to one ventri-
ele. It is usually caused by some obstruction to the cir-
culation through the arteries, or in horses or dogs by-ha-
bitual violent work.
Symptoms. The heart’s beats are more forcible and
prolonged and the interval of silence shortened ; the pulse
is full and rolling; the first sound is low, muffled and pro-
longed, the second sound unnaturally loud, and sometimes
repeated if one ventricle only is affected ; the heart sounds
may be heard over an unusually large area, the lungs be-
ing sound, and the dullness on percussion is equally ex-
tended. The pulse is usually regular and if excited to ir-
regularity or intermission soon returns to its normal stand-
ard if the patient is left at rest.
Pure hypertrophy rarely implies imminent danger and
many hard-worked horses survive to an old age with
greatly enlarged hearts. Butif associated with dilatation,
impaired strength, livid mucous membranes, blowing mur-
murs with the first heart sound, and paroxysms of difli-
cult breathing it may prove fatal at any time.
Treatment. Tf possible remove the obstacle to the cir-
culation. Then adopt a restricted, gently laxative diet,
perfect rest in fattening animals or only light work in
horses, and the daily use of digitalis or aconite, unless
there is extreme dilatation. Arsenic is also given with
benefit, but in advanced cases, or those due to irremedi-
able obstruction, no treatment is of any avail.
WASTING (ATROPHY) OF THE HEART.
This is much less frequent than hypertrophy. It may
be due to compression of the heart and its nutrient vessels
hy effusion into the pericardium, or the formation of false
112 The Farmer's Veterinary Adviser.
membranes, or it may coexist with a general wasting ana
imperfect nutrition of the body.
The Symptoms are the opposite of those of hypertrophy.
There are the general signs of chronic heart-disease, but
percussion which gives satisfactory results only over the
breast-bone and in carnivora gives almost the sole reliable
symptom—a decreased area of dullness. Little can be
done to relieve, and that little directed to the removal of
its causes. By keeping fattening animals quiet they may
be preserved for slaughter.
DILATATION OF THE HEART.
This like hypertrophy usually results from some ob-
struction to the circulation, but especially from a sudden
extreme obstruction, whereas hypertrophy results from a
slowly increasing obstacle. It is also exceedingly common
in cases of fatty degeneration in overfed stock (cattle,
sheep, pigs).
Symptoms. Loss of appetite, spirit and endurance,
faintness and difficulty of breathing on the slightest exer-
tion, habitual coldness of the limbs, dropsy, unsteady
gait, venous pulse, palpitations, weak tremulous heart
impulse, murmur with the first sound, small weak irregu-
ular and often intermittent pulse, and lividity of the
membrane of the nose,
Treatment. Unless the causes can be put a stop to in
the early stages no treatment will be satisfactory. Ar-
senic is sometimes useful in horses. Fattening animals
should be kept very quiet and their progress hastened if
possible.
PERICARDITIS.
This is inflammation of the fibrous covering of the
heart and its reflection on the pleurs, and is due to similar
causes with diseases of the lungs. It is also induced by
influenza, pleuro-pneumonia, rheumatism, and wounds
with sharp-pointed bodies (pins, needles, nails, broken
ribs, ete.)
Diseases of the Heart. 113
Symptoms. General fever, staring coat, hot dry mouth
(muzzle, snout,) dilated nostrils, excited, difficult breath-
ing, double lifting of the flank with each expiration, the
formation of a ridge on the abdomen as in pleurisy, ten-
derness when pinched or percussed behind the left elbow
(in ruminants and small quadrupeds over the breast-bone),
a rubbing sound with each beat of the heart and the im-
pulse of the heart strong. Soon, effusion takes place, the
rubbing sound is lost, the impulse of the heart and its
sounds are weakened and the area of dullness in percussion
is increased. This dullness does not maintain a horizontal
line along the chest as in hydrothorax, but is like an in-
verted cone and changes its position with a change of pos-
ture which is easily effected in small animals. Difficulty
and oppression of breathing, protruded nose, staring eye-
balls, pinched, haggard countenance, venous pulse and
obstinate standing mark the advanced stages. Dropsies
of the limbs and other dependent parts are also frequent.
A painful cough is sometimes though not constantly pres-
ent throughout the disease. Death may ensue in five
days to three weeks, or the disease may become chronic
or end in recovery.
The chronic form is seen in the ox without any preced-
ing acute attack. There is slight fever, oppressed breath-
ing aggravated by exertion, weak, irregular, intermittent
pulse, distant heart sounds, absence of respiratory mur-
mur, dullness on percussion over an increased, cone-like
area behind the left elbow, venous pulse and general
dropsy.
Treatment. In the preliminary shivering, treat as for
congested lungs. Later, bleeding may sometimes be ben-
eficial in strong subjects by relieving extreme difficulty of
breathing and high nervous excitement. Usually it would
be injurious. Give a purgative (horse, aloes; ox and
sheep, Glauber salts; dog and pig, castor-oil ) foment the
walls of the chest and envelop in a large mustard poultice
until the skin is well thickened, moderate the heart’s ac-
10*
114 The Farmers Veterinary Adviser.
tion by digitalis four times a day: and follow the action of
the purgative by diuretics (nitre, acetate of potassa, etc.)
Ointment or tincture of iodine may be applied to the walls
of the chest. In cases of extreme danger from effusion
the liquid should be drawn off with cannula and trocar
or needle-like tube, as in hydrothorax, the puncture in the
horse or ox being made between the cartilages of the fifth
and sixth ribs.
In case of rheumatic complication use alkalies, colchi-
cum, acetate of potassa and other agents advised for rheu-
matism.
ENDOCARDITIS.
Inflammation of the serous membrane lining the cham-
bers and covering the valves of the heart.
Causes. Inflammation of the valves in connection with
undue strain in severe exertions or obstructions to the flow
of blood, the rheumatic constitution or certain other un-
healthy states of the blood.
Symptoms. The general symptoms resemble those of
pericarditis. There are besides, violent but unequal im-
pulse of the heart against the left side, accompanied by a
metallic tinkling, a blowing murmur with the first, or even
the second sound, as soon as the contraction of the valves,
or the clots formed on them, render them insufficient to
close the orifices, and, if the disease exists on the right
side of the heart, venous pulse, general venous congestion
and dropsical swellings. The pulse, at first strong and
sharp, becomes weak with the imperfection of the valves,
in marked contrast with the continued strong impulse of
the heart. The patient may perish from obstruction to
she heart’s action by clots on the valves, or from such
clots carried on with the circulation and blocking arteries
at a distance ; or diseases of other organs may supervene
from the latter cause, or a recovery may take place with
or without permanent alterations which render the valves
unable to close their respective orifices.
Diseases of the Heart. 115
Treatment is in the main the same as for pericarditis,
rest, laxatives, sedatives and blisters being mainly relied
upon. As there is less danger from effusion diuretics need
not be pushed to the same extent. In rheumatic cases,
adopt antirheumatic treatment, and in case of clots on
the valves use iodide of potassium and alkalies.
CARDITIS.
Inflammation of the muscular substance of the heart
can only take place to a limited extent in connection
with endocarditis and pericarditis, or with punctures from
sharp bodies and the like. Were the entire organ involved
death would be prompt. The symptoms are those of acute
heart-disease generally, modified by the exact seat of the
injury, and treatment need not differ materially from that
adapted to the two diseases just described.
CHRONIC VALVULAR DISEASE.
With the general symptoms of chronic heart-disease,
there are blowing murmurs as described in the table under
auscultation of the heart. This is a very common result of
endocarditis and is irremediable. Yet affected cattle,
sheep and pigs may often be prepared for the butcher by
liberal feeding and perfect quiet.
FATTY DEGENERATION OF THE HEART.
This is most frequent in high-bred stock (Shorthorns,
Berkshire and Essex pigs, Leicester and Southdown
sheep,) but may exist in any pampered animal. Some-
times it is complicated by degeneration of the entire
muscular system, especially in pigs. There are the gen-
eral phenomena of chronic heart-disease and dilatation, and
the condition is irremediable, though it rarely kills animals
kept in perfect quiet.
RUPTURE OF THE HEART.
If from severe exertion this usually takes place througl.
116 The Farmer's Veterinary Adviser.
the fibrous structure at the base of the ventricles connect-
ing them with the large arteries. If from a fall or violent
concussion the muscular walls usually give way, when found
in a relaxed condition, or the laceration happens at the
point of connection with the veins (vena azygos). Perfo-
ration from ulceration is seen in cows in connection with
sharp-pointed bodies that have been taken into the stom-
ach. Death is sudden in all such cases.
OTHER HEART-DISEASES.
The heart is further subject to a great variety of dis-
eased growths and deposits and to parasites—Echinococcus,
Cysticercus Tenuicollis (sheep and calf), Cysticercus Cellulosa
and Trichina Spiralis (pig), Rainey’s Cysts (cattle), and
Filaria Immitis (dog).
CHAPTER VL
DISEASES OF BLOOD-VESSELS AND LYM-
PHATICS.
Wounds of arteries—punctured, cut, torn. Arteritis, inflammation of ar.
teries. Embolism, plugging. Aneurism, dilatation. Wounds of veins.
Phlebitis, inflammation of veins—circumscribed, diffuse. Varicose—dilated
veins. Lymphangitis, inflammation of lymphatics. Weed. Poisoned and
irritated wounds.
DISEASES OF ARTERIES.
WOUNDS OF ARTERIES.
Punctured wounds are rarely dangerous, as the walls
quickly close and the few drops of blood which escape
help to plug the orifice ; but there is danger of inflamma-
tion and plugging of the vessel, and cold or warm fomen-
tations with rest are desirable.
Cut wounds, if only implicating the outer coats, soon
‘heal and are rarely followed by dilatations as in man. If
all the thickness of the wall is incised the result will be
according to the direction. If in a line with the course of
the vessel there is little risk and slight pressure will usu-
ally check bleeding. If transverse or oblique the elastic-
ity of the walls of the vessel holds the orifice open and
bleeding is severe, the blood flowing in jets and of a bright
rcd color. If cut completely across, the arterial coats re-
tract and curl within themselves and in small vessels will
often close the opening.
To check bleeding the end of the vessel may be sought
and tied, or a piece of silver wire may be passed through
to the soft parts beneath it by the aid of a curved needle,
118 The Farmer's Veterinary Adviser.
and tied over a cork placed on the surface of the skin. It
may be untwisted and drawn out in twenty-four hours.
Or a pad of tow may be made with a sharp firm point and
gradually increasing to a considerable bulk (graduated
compress) and tied over the wound with the narrow point
pressing on the vessel. Or the orifice may be seared with
an iron at a dull red heat.
Tearing, stretching, twisting, aud scraping through arteries
usually lead to retraction of their coats and complete clos-
ure and these measures are sometimes adopted to check
hemorrhage.
ARTERITIS.
Inflammation of an artery may be external or internal
according as it affects the fibrous sheath or the inner lin-
ing membrane. In the external inflammation there may be
little danger, even if matter is formed, as the vessel will
continue to transmit the blood so long as its inner coat is
sound. But in internal inflammation the blood coagulates,
layer after layer, on its inner surface until the channel be-
comes impervious. This may cut off the blood entirely
from the part to which the artery was distributed, leading
to loss of power and substance, and in the case of the
limbs to a lameness, which comes on whenever the animal
is exercised, and increases with the exertion, but disap:
pears with a short rest of ten or twenty minutes. Or
small clots may be loosened from the mass and passing
on block smaller trunks, causing circumscribed inflamma-
tion at distant parts.
Causes. Over-stretching of arteries. Plugging by clots
from the heart in endocarditis, or from inflamed veins.
Wounds, parasites, etc.
Symptoms. Loss of muscular power and coldness of
the parts beyond the seat of plugging, extreme tenderness
over the line of the vessel at the inflamed point, and
sometimes general fever.
Treatment. Perfect rest, warm fomentations, laxatives,
Diseases of Blood-vessels and Lymphatics 119
‘horse, ox and sheep, linseed oil or Glauber salts; pig and
dog, castor oil,) and afterward diuretics and sedatives.
The persistence of the plugging and lameness must be
met by patience, the animal being turned into a small
yard or paddock where he can take gentle exercise and
live well, until the collateral vessels have had time to en-
large and carry on the circulation. Three or four months
will sometimes secure a tolerable recovery.
DILATATIONS OF THE ARTERIES. ANEURISMS.
These are mostly seen in the horse among domestic an-
imals, and even in him much more rarely than in man.
The causes are generally severe strains in the vicinity of
an artery, or over-stretching of the vessel itself. They
are also common in the mesenteric arteries of horses from
the presence of immature worms (Sclerostomum Lquinnne)
in the circulating blood. Injuries to the walls of the ves-
sels are much less liable to be followed by aneurism than
in man, because of the greater plasticity of the blood, and
the speedy formation of a covering of coagulable lymph.
They are soft, fluctuating, pulsating tumors, effaceable by
pressure, but reappearing at once. Being usually situated
internally, treatment can rarely be adopted. But when
superficial, compression has been most successful alike in
the horse and dog. It is needless to recount the many
other modes of treatment for such an unusual affection.
DISEASES OF VEINS.
WOUNDS OF VEINS.
These give rise to the escape of a dark red blood in a
steady stream. This-is commonly to be arrested by pin-
ning up the lips of the wound evenly, taking hold of each
by one-eighth inch and tying them together by a little
tow, twisted round the two ends of the pin in the form of
the figure 8. Or several pins may be placed near each
other and the tow twisted round them and from pin to pin
in the same manner. Veins may be tied but this risks the
120 The Farmer's Veterinary Adviser.
occurrence of dropsy unless you know that there is a free
circulation by other collateral trunks. They may be com-
pressed for a time until the wound is closed with lymph,
a simple pad and compress being used, or the silver wire
and cork as advised for arteries.
PHLEBITIS. INFLAMMATION OF VEINS.
This usually results from opening a vein with a rusty
fleam or lancet, making the incision at the dilated part,
just above a valve, pulling out the skin in inserting the pin
so as to cause a flow of blood into the tissues beneath, leav-
ing hairs or other iritants in the wound, or pinning the
lips awry.
Symptoms. Swelling of the wound, gaping and redness
of the lips, and the formation of a hard painful cord along
the line of the vein in an upward direction where the blood
is necessarily stagnant and in contact with the clot al-
ready formed. The exudation may be fibrinous with a
tendency to contraction and obliteration of the vein, or
suppuration may occur, in which case the matter must es-
cape externally. Clots may be detached and washed on
to plug the arteries in the lungs, and rouse pneumonia.
or perfect recovery may take place with loss of the vein,
and a tendency to swelling of the part from which it comes,
when that is in a dependent position.
Treatment. If from an inflamed wound after bleeding,
take out the pin, remove hair, pus, clotted blood or other
irritant, and foment with warm water. Then rub in, at an
inch distant from the wound and along the course of the
hardened vein, an active blister (Spanish flies 2 drs., lard
1 oz.,) and tie the animal to the two sides of the stall, so
that he cannot rub the part. If a vein is lost in the neck,
never again turn out to grass.
DIFFUSE PHLEBITIS
Resulting from an irritated or poisoned external wound,
or in the womb after parturition, is usually fatal, the clots
Diseases of Blood-vessels and Lymphatics. 121
forming on the inflamed lining membrane being washed
on in greater or less amount, to set up inflammation in the
lungs and elsewhere.
DILATED (VARICOSE) VEINS.
These are common over the distended hock joint in bog
spavin and I have seen them in the posterior tibial and
other veins but they are rarely or never injurious.
ENTRANCE OF AIR INTO VEINS.
If veins are opened in the lower part of the neck or else-
where in the vicinity of the chest the suction-power may
draw in air in such quantity as to work the blood in the
heart into a frothy mass, and block the minute vessels in
the lungs, causing sudden death. There is heard a gurg-
ling sound as it enters the vein and afterward tumultuous
heart’s action and a fine squeaking sound in the lungs,
while the animal falls in a faint. The danger is not so
great as is usually supposed, as it takes several quarts
suddenly introduced to kill a horse. Care is requisite,
however, to close promptly all large veins opened in the
vicinity of the chest.
DISEASES OF THE LYMPHATICS.
LYMPHANGITIS. INFLAMMATION OF THE LYMPHATICS.
This occurs in two forms, one a constitutional disease
and the other a simple local affection due to irritation of
a wound or the absorption of poisonous matter.
CONSTITUTIONAL FORM. WEED. SHOT OF GREASE.
This is seen mainly in heavy lymphatic fleshy-lcgged
horses, kept at hard work on heavy feeding, and in the
midst of this left in the stall for two or three days without
any exercise or change of feed. Thus it is common on
Monday morning or after one or two stormy days that
have kept the horses indoors. It is the result of a
sudden access of plethora, but it may occur in similar
11
122 The Farmer's Veterinary Adviser.
circumstances in over-worked and rather reduced horses.
In either case it is due to an accumulation in the blood of
deleterious products that should have been worked off by
exercise.
Symptoms. There is shivering to a variable extent, but
very severe in the worst cases, greatly accelerated breath-
ing, rapid hard pulse, general fever and stiffness in one or
both limbs. Examination high up in the groin, by the
side of the sheath or udder, detects enlargement and
great tenderness of the inguinal glands, the patient usu-
ally raising and drawing out his limb till he seems ready
to fall over on the other side. Soon the shivering gives
place to the hot stage, the surface burns and sweats, and
the limb swells, the swelling extending cord-like down the
course of the vessels on its inner side, and its lower part
becoming the seat of an excessive exudation, which may
fill it up to the body, and of two, three, or four times its
natural size. If allowed to go on, abscess, sloughing and
unhealthy sores may result, the patient may perish, or the
fever may subside leaving the limb permanently thickened
to almost any extent, and correspondingly liable to future
attacks.
Treatment. Mild cases may be entirely restored by
giving the animal a fair amount of exercise. In those
that are somewhat more severe, a smart purgative (aloes
6 to 8 drs.) must be given, warm fomentations applied
continuously to the limb, and walking exercise enforced as
soon as the patient can be made to move. The purgation
should be followed up by active diuretics (nitre, iodide of
potassium,) and when the inflammation has somewhat
subsided tincture of iodine may be applied over the swol-
len glands. In the worst cases in vigorous plethoric
subjects a prompt effect should be secured by a free bleed-
ing from the jugular, until the pulse is softened, and the
same treatment followed out as in other cases. Diet
should be light and laxative (bran-mashes, roots, scalded
hay, ete.,) and the water given with the chill off.
For the chronic thickening of the leg, regular feeding
Diseases of Blood-vessels and Lymphatics. 128
and exercise, a bandage smoothly applied from the foot up
when in the stable, the application of tincture of iodine
every four days to the limb, and the internal use of tonics
(iron, Peruvian bark, columba, gentian, nux vomica, etc.,)
and diuretics (iodide of potassium, liquor of acetate of
ammonia,) will be beneficial. Some use veratrum.
LOCAL FORM.
This results mainly from wounds, bruises (saddle or
shoulder scalds), from injuries of unyielding parts (pricked
foot, tendon or fascia,) and above all from the absorption
of putrefying animal matter or other poison by these ves-
sels. The same occurs from the specific poisons of gland-
ers, farcy, etc. There are slightly swollen cords (red in
white skins) extending along the course of the lymphatics
and veins from the point of irritation or poisoning; nod-
ular, painful enlargement of the lymphatic glands along
their course, and more or less surrounding pasty swelling,
or even erysipelas. It may go on to abscess or diffuse
suppuration, it may leave induration of the glands, or
even the vessels and surrounding parts, or a perfect re-
covery may be made,
Treatment. Rest, a purgative, and astringent lotions
(acetate of lead 1 dr., opium } dr., carbolic acid 1 dy., wa-
ter 1 qt.) If the inflammation runs very high it may be
expedient to use warm poultices to hasten suppuration.
In case it arises from a poisoned wound, cauterize the
sore thoroughly with lunar caustic or crystallized carbolic
acid, and keep the affected parts wrapped in cloths con-
stantly wet with a saturated solution of bisulphite or hy-
posulphite of soda, and enough carbolic acid to give a
sweetish taste. The bisulphite may also be taken inter-
nally. In case of suppuration, open early and freely with
the lancet. If the affection becomes chronic and threat-
ens permanent induration use iodine ointment or tincture,
well applied bandages, giving an equable pressure, and
aven blisters. Iodide of potassium, or in weak subjects,
iodide of iron may be given internally.
CHAPTER VII.
DISEASES OF THE DIGESTIVE ORGANS.
Their frequency and gravity in different animals. Stomatitis. Inflamma-
tion of the mouth,—of the palate,—of the gums,—of the tongue. Thrush,
Aphthous Stomatitis. Mercurialism. Warts on the lips. Laceration of the
tongue. Cysts under the tongue. Tumors of the mouth. Cancroid of the
lips. Cancer of the tongue. Supernumerary teeth. Wolf-teeth. Parrot-
mouth. Crib-biting, wind-sucking. Displaced teeth. Overgrown and une-
ven teeth. Carious teeth. Disease of the membranes of the teeth. Tartar
on teeth. Dentition-fever. Salivation, slobbers. Salivary calculi. Salivary
fistula. Inflammation of the parotid gland. Choking. Stricture and dila-
tation of the gullet. Impaction of the crop. Tympany in cattle. Hoove.
Bloating. Overloaded paunch. Impaction of the third stomach. Gastritis
in cattle. Indigestion in oxen. Indigestion in calves, lambs and foals.
White scour. Acute gastric indigestion in the horse. Acute intestinal indi-
gestion in the horse. Windy colic. Impaction of the large intestines in
horses. Chronic indigestion—catarrh of the stomach and bowels in horses.
Vomiting. Depraved appetite. Foreign bodjes in the stomach and intes-
tines. Spasmodic colic. Acute hemorrhagic enteritis. Acute muco-enteri-
tis. Croupous enteritis. Inflammation of the rectum. Diarrhoea, scour-
ing. Dysentery. Obstruction of the bowels,—impaction, invagination,
volvulus, etc. Hernia,—diaphragmatic, mesenteric, umbilical, inguinal, fem-
oral, ventral, vaginal. Eversion of the rectum. Piles. Fistula in anus.
Imperforate anus. Peritonitis. Ascites. Gastric and intestinal parasites.
DISEASES OF THE DIGESTIVE ORGANS.
The importance of these diseases in the domestic ani-
mals follows an ascending series from the carnivora,
through the omnivora and solipeds to the rummants.
The small capacity of the digestive organs in carnivora
(dog and cat), the completion of the greater part of the
digestive process in the stomach, and the facility with
which vomiting is accomplished sufficiently account for
their comparative immunity. Pigs stand next in these re-
Diseases of the Digestive Organs. 125
spects and last come the herbivora with their enormously
long and capacious digestive organs, the slow digestion as
the food passes through the bowels and the difficulty o1
impossibility of getting quit of irritating agents by vomit-
ing. In the ox and sheep there is the further complica-
tion of the four stomachs, the first three of which are lit-
tle more than macerating and triturating cavities, and in
which an enormous bulk of food is continually stowed
away. From their rapid collection and swallowing of food
poisonous, irritating and unnatural objects appear more
liable to be taken in by oxen, while horses suffer more
from hurried feeding and from hard work immediately
after feeding. Horses, too, suffer much from faults in wa-
tering, as excess of cold water when hot and fatigued,
causing stomachic and intestinal congestions, an excess
after feeding grain, washing that on undigested to ferment
in the bowels, ete. Again, all of the herbivora are espe-
cially subject to digestive disorders from food that is un-
naturally grown, or spoiled in harvesting, so that in unfa-
vorable seasons affections of the stomach and bowels may
spread like an epizootic.
INFLAMMATION OF THE MOUTH.
Causes. Mechanical and chemical irritants. There
may be wounds, bruises, injuries with bit or twitch, irri-
tant vegetables, scalding food, snake and leech bites, stings
of insects, injuries from ropes tied round the lower jaw
and tongue, from giving “weak lye” and other irritants,
especially to the horse, which can resist swallowing liquids
as long as he chooses, from pricks with thorns, needles
and other sharp-pointed bodies, from cutting, decay, over-
growth or irregularity of the teeth, from rough dragging
upon the tongue, from the use of mercury and other sali-
yating drugs, from parasitic growths, and from some spe-
cific fevers (aphthous fever, Rinderpest, etc.)
Symptoms of General Inflammatior of the Mouth. Diffi-
ulty in taking in food and water; swollen, rigid tender
11*
126 The Farmer's Veterinary Adviser
lips and cheeks ; red membrane of the mouth; slavering ;
saliva often foetid; swelling between the bones of the
lower jaw; the formation of blisters or sores inside the
mouth ; and sometimes swelling of the glands beneath the
ears. Abscess or even gangrene may result.
Treatment. Remove the cause whether irritants in food,
drugs, sharp bodies lodged in the tissues, injuries by the
bit, twitch or otherwise. If injured by lye, wash with
weak vinegar; if by acids, with calcined magnesia, lime
water or bicarbonate of soda; if by caustic salts, white of
egg, boiled linseed, slippery elm or the gluten of wheat
flour. Give the same agents as a draught. If from
the bite or sting of venomous animals apply ammonia
to the part and give it internally. In all the severer
animal poisons the wound should be cauterized (see ca-
nine madness). In simple inflammations open the bowels
by injections of warm water with soap or other laxa-
tives, or, if it can be done, give a mild laxative (olive
oil). Wash the mouth frequently with cool astringent
lotions (vinegar and water; vinegar and honey; borax,
alum or tannic acid, honey and water; water slightly
sweetened with carbolic acid, etc.) Have fresh cool water
constantly present to drink at will, and feed with boiled
gruels, or soft mashes cold, or pulped or thinly sliced
roots. Poultices beneath the throat and lower jaw are
often very useful. If erosions and ulcers appear touch
them repeatedly with a feather dipped in a solution of 10
grains lunar caustic to 1 oz. distilled water. If fluctua-
tion shows the presence of matter lance at once. If
sloughing takes place wash with a solution of permanga-
nate of potassa 1 dr., water 1 pint. If there is much swell-
ing keep the head tied up.
CONGESTED PALATE. JAMPAS.
A red swollen state of the soft parts behind the upper
front teeth, attendant in young animals on shedding of the
teeth, or in older ones on digestive disorder. The taking
Diseases of the Digestive Oryans. 127
in of food may be painful and awkward from the tender
palate projecting beyond the teeth.
Treatment. Feeding hard unshelled Indian corn has
often a good effect. Scarify shghtly with knife or lancet,
for half an inch back from the teeth. Follow with astrin-
gent lotions if necessary. If with costiveness or disorder
of the stomach give a dose of physic.
INFLAMMATION OF THE GUMS.
If connected with the shedding and cutting of teeth, re-
move those that hang partly detached and scarify the
gums. For the other causes—diseased teeth and mercurial
poisoning—see below.
INFLAMMATION OF THE TONGUE.
There are the signs of general inflammation of the
mouth, with great difficulty in taking in food, chewing and
drinking, and a swollen red tender state of the tongue
which often hangs out of the mouth.
Treatment. Search carefully for any sharp irritant
body that may have penetrated the organ and remove it.
Support the tongue within the mouth in a bag with tapes
tied behind the ears. Otherwise treat as for general in-
flammation of the mouth.
THRUSH OF THE MOUTH. APHTHOUS STOMATITIS. MUGUET
Is mostly seen in sucking animals. In addition to the
signs of ordinary inflammation, there appear on the lips,
cheeks and tongue, firm white patches, which on micro-
scopic examination show the presence of a vegetable
growth (oidium albicans). Wash the mouth frequently
with a solution of bisulphite of soda or even of borax.
MERCURIALISM.
Inflammation of the mouth, ulceration of the gums,
loosening of the teeth and free salivation were formerly
common results of the abuse of mercurials but are now
128 The Farmer's Veterinary Adviser.
fortunately rare. There is likely to be disorder of stomach
and bowels, loss of appetite, bloating, rumbling in the
belly, badly digested, foetid stools and great languor and
depression. Use washes containing tincture of iodine or
chlorate of potassa, and iodide of potassium internally.
WARTS ON THE LIPS
Are very common in dogs. Remove with scissors and
cauterize the roots thoroughly with a pointed stick of lunar
caustic.
LACERATION OF THE TONGUE.
Causes. Especially common in horses from hard bits,
nooses of ropes, or rough dragging with the hand. The
lacerated tongue may hang from the mouth. Sew up the
wound with catgut previously softened in water; feed
thick gruels only, and wash out the mouth frequently
with a lotion of permanganate of potassa. Any dead por-
tion must be removed with the knife, but it must not en-
croach on the living. The whole organ may often be
saved when almost entirely torn off.
CYSTS UNDER THE TONGUE.
These are tense elastic rounded swellings and are easily
remedied by a free incision with the knife.
TUMORS IN THE MOUTH.
These mostly grow from the gums and tongue, and may
attain the size of the closed fist in the horse. Small ones
may be removed with scissors, the larger with the ecraseur’,
CANCROID OF THE LIPS. CANCER OF THE TONGUE.
The former of these attacks the angle of the mouth in
horses and cats as an eroded unhealthy sore with hard
thickened margins; the latter appears in horses and
cattle as an increasing hard swelling with unhealthy open
sore and giant cells. It should be excised when very
limited. Later it is inenrable.
Diseases of the Digestive Organs. 129
SUPERNUMERARY TEETH.
Tn the case of nippers or grinding teeth these should be
extracted or pinched out as they are liable to injure the
gums, palate, cheek or tongue.
Wolf-teeth cannot be looked on as superfluous, being
natural and harmless. They are insignificant teeth situ-
ated directly in front of the upper, and less frequently of
the lower grinders. Being present during the shedding
and cutting of the teeth, when recurring inflammation of
the eyes is most frequent, they are in very bad odor with
people who cannot see the distinction between the mere
coincidence and the cause and effect. They are useless,
however, and may be extracted without injury, though if
broken they may irritate the gums.
PARROT MOUTH.
Abnormal length of the upper jaw may lead to inordi
nate length of the upper front teeth which project over
the lower like a parrot’s bill. If this interferes with graz-
ing the extra length should be removed with a saw or with
tooth-shears. But parrot-mouthed horses usually do well
fed in-doors.
CRIB-BITING.
This is a distortion rather than a disease of the teeth,
these being worn away on their anterior edge so as to
show more or less of the yellow dentine in place of the
clear pearly enamel. It is associated with the serious vice
of wind-sucking (swallowing), and eructation, which leads
to tympany, digestive disorder, and rapid loss of condi-
tion. The horse seizes the manger or other solid object
with his teeth, arches and shortens the neck and makes a
grunting noise. The wivd-sucking may, however, exist
without crib-biting. It may be learned by standing idle
near a crib-biter, and alway goes on to disease and loss of
condition.
Treatment. Smear the front of the manger with aloes
130 The Farmers Veterinary Adviser.
or other bitters. Cover all exposed woodwork with sheet-
iron. Place a small revolving roller above the front of the
manger so that the teeth may at once slide off. Apply
the muzzle shown in the adjoining cut. In pure wind-
Fig. 17.
Fig. 17—Muzzle for crib-biter.
suckers a strap may be tied tightly round the upper part
of the neck, though at the risk of inducing roaring.
DISPLACED TEETH.
Though loosened and partially displaced, teeth will
often grow firm if at once replaced in their sockets and
the animal fed for some time on soft mashes. If they
cannot be returned to their natural situation they should
be at once extracted, as any faulty direction will be a
source of after trouble.
OVERGROWN AND UNEVEN TEETH.
The teeth of herbivora are liable to become overgrown
into sharp hurtful processes along the outer margin of. the
upper grinders or the inner border of the lower, because
the lower jaw is always narrower than the upper. In old
animals aud those having broken teeth, extensive over:
Diseases of the Digestive Organs. 131
growth will ensue from the absence of wear. In other
cases a tooth is displaced and failing to meet with a tooth
in the other jaw gets overgrown, cuts the soft parts and
sets up disease of these or of the jaw-bone. There ensue
the usual symptoms of disease of the teeth, with swelling
of cheek or tongue, tumefaction of the jaw or evea run-
ning sore, or a foetid discharge from the nose. The over-
grown teeth must be reduced with the tooth-rasp, cut with
Fig. 18.
Fig. 18—Tooth-rasp.
tooth-shears, or with a guarded tooth-chisel.
CARIOUS TEETH.
Caries is quite common in the grinding teeth but rare in
the incisors.
Symptoms. Slow, careful mastication, and dropping
from the mouth of half-chewed food (hay, green fodder,)
which, impelled by hunger, the animal takes in but fails to
swallow. Greedy swallowing of soft food, indigestions
and colics from imperfectly chewed aliment irritating the
stomach and bowels. The presence in the dung of undi-
gested grain which has been swallowed whole. Un-
thrifty, staring coat, hide-bound, pale mueous membranes,
weak pulse, weakness, emaciation, and liability to sweat-
ing, and swelling of the legs are marked features. The
more specific symptoms are: swelling of the jaw-bone
over the diseased fang or even a running sore if in the
lower jaw, the accumulation of partially chewed food
around the tooth, and especially between it and the cheek,
tenderness of the tooth when touched or gently tapped
with the finger, the presence of a black spot on some part
of its surface, or of an excavated channel, leading from
the wearing surface down to the fang, or between the
132 The Farmer’s Veterinary Adviser.
tooth and the jaw-bone, this cavity being filled with putrid
elements and giving out a most offensive and persistent
odor. In some cases the tooth is broken in pieces.
In examining the mouth draw out the tongue and turn it
up between the jaws, or better keep the jaws apart with a
balling iron. If the diseased tooth belongs to the upper
jaw and is behind the first grinder there may be a very
feetid discharge from the nose, which with its attendant
nodular enlargement of the glands beneath the jaw have
led to the destruction of many such horses as glandered.
Treatment. When there is much inflammation of the
gums clear out the cavity of the tooth with the aid of a
bent flattened wire and a syringe with bent nozzle, feed
soft bran mashes only, and give a dose of laxative medi-
cine (horse, aloes; ox or sheep, sulphate of magnesia; dog
and pig, jalap ;) lance the gums and protect from cold for
a few days. When inflammation is less severe, scrape
from the diseased cavity all black, softened or diseased
tooth, and plug it with gutta-percha softened by heat,
moulded into the cavity and hardened by a stream of cool
water. If there is a tender spot from exposure of the
nerve this should first be deadened by caustic (crystallized
carbolic acid and powdered opium). Where the destruc-
tion is too great to allow of success by stuffing, the tooth
must be extracted, and the cavity syringed out after each
meal, until it heals up, and then filled with gutta-percha to
prevent the adjacent teeth deviating from their proper di-
rection. If very loose, the grinding teeth of large quadru-
peds may be extracted with large tooth forceps, but if at all
firm an opening must be made over the fang and the tooth
driven into the mouth with a mallet and punch. This oper-
ation requires accurate anatomical knowledge, especially
in young animals. In small animals the teeth may be re-
anoved by ordinary dentist’s forceps. After the removal of
a tooth in herbivora the opposing teeth on the other jaw
must be occasionally cut or rasped down to prevent injury
from overgrowth.
Diseases of the Digestive Orguns. 133
DISEASE OF THE MEMBRANES OF THE TEETH.
The membrane surrounding the fang or that lining the
pulp cavity may become the seat of disease. There may
be loosening, suppuration or shedding of the tooth, devia-
tion from its true direction so that the outer edge of the
upper grinder or the inner edge of the lower may get
overgrown and injurious, or a hard deposit may fill up the
pulp cavity, or surround the fang wedging it into its socket
and setting up disease and swelling of the adjacent jaw-
bone. These conditions may often be relieved in the
early stages by soft feeding, protection from cold, lancing
the gums, a dose of physic, and daily sponging of the
gums with tincture of myrrh.
DENTINAL TUMORS.
These occur from the action of any irritant applied to
the tooth ivory. Some years ago I removed a large mass
of this kind attached to the second upper temporary
grinder of the horse. It is usually necessary to remove
the teeth from which they grow.
TARTAR ON TEETH.
This is common in dogs and may be removed by a
wooden probe with a small pledget of tow dipped in water
rendered slightly acid with spirit of salt.
DENTITION FEVER.
Considerable irritation and fever often attend on the
cutting of the teeth in animals. Horses are most liable to
suffer in the third year when they cut four front teeth and
eight back ones, and in the fourth year when they cut
four front, eight back, and four tushes. Cattle suffer less
and mainly from the second to the third year. One of
the first grinders which come up at this period is some-
times entangled with the crown of its predecessor, causing
much loss of appetite and condition and foetid breath,
Pigs usually cut thirty-six teeth from the sixth to the
12
134 The Farmer's Veterinary Adviser.
twelfth month and are most liable to suffer at this age.
Puppies and kittens suffer even to convulsions, between
the third and the sixth months. The temporary tushes
should always be extracted if not shed before the perma-
uent ones come up.
The redness, swelling and tenderness of the gums in
such cases may extend to the throat, causing fits of cough-
ing, and retained temporary teeth are to be sought for and
removed. Otherwise treatment consists in a slight lancing
of the gums, washing with tincture of myrrh, using soft
food, keeping the bowels open, and avoiding hard work in
horses and dogs.
SALIVATION. SLOBBERS.
This is often a symptom of some other affection (aph-
thous fever, dumb rabies, epilepsy, stomatitis, pharyngitis,
dentition, caries and other diseases of the teeth, wounds
and ulcers of the mouth, gastric catarrh, etc.,) or caused
by irritant food and drugs (rank aqueous rapidly-grown
grass, musty mow-burnt fodder, lobelia, wild mustard,
colchium, pepper, garlic, ginger, irritants, caustic alkalies,
acids and salts, and the compounds of mercury used in-
ternally and externally). Mercurials are especially hurtful
to cattle. Paralysis of the lips will cause a free flow of
saliva, as will also irritation with the bit, and especially
from chemical agents attached in bags to the bit.
Symptoms. Free discharge of saliva in stringy filaments
or frothy masses, frequent deglutition, increased thirst
and disordered digestion. For mercurial salivation see
stomatitis.
Treatment. Discover and remove the cause, use astrin-
gent washes as advised for stomatitis, and give access to
cold water. In obstinate cases give a course of tartar
emetic, opium, chlorate of potassa, or iodide of potassium.
Rub the glands beneath the ears and between the jaws
with iodine ointment.
Diseases of the Digestive Organs. 135
SALIVARY CALCULI.
These are small concretions of earthy and organic mat-
ter usually around some foreign body (a grain of oats or
barley, or a particle of sand) which has accidentally en-
tered the canal. They obstruct the ducts and give rise
to the feeling as of a tense elastic cord extending round
the border of the lower jaw and upwards on the side of
the cheek, or forward along the inner side of the jaw-bone.
The pea-like concretion may be felt at the anterior end of
the cord, and if there is more than one they may be made to
rattle on each other. Sometimes matter forms and bursts
and the concretion may be felt in the depth of the wound.
Difficulty in chewing and swallowing, and indigestions
arise from the lack of saliva.
Treatment. Pass the calculus onward to the mouth by
manipulation with the fingers, or this failing lay open the
duct and extract it from within the mouth if possible.
If it must be opened through the skin, first shave the part,
make a small incision with a sharp knife, extract the mass
and cover the wound with layer after layer of collodion,
allowing as little exposure to the air as possible. Allow
no food whatever for twelve hours and then only soft
mashes and gruels until healing is completed.
SALIVARY FISTULA.
This is found wherever a wound penetrates a duct of
any of the salivary glands. It is especially lable to oc-
cur from opening abscesses in strangles and from wounds
about the lower jaw.
Symptoms. A free discharge from the wound during
feeding, of a clear, slightly glairy liquid, especially abun-
dant where the food is dry and fibrous. Chewing is slow,
difficult, and carried on on the opposite side of the mouth
only. Digestion and general health are gradually im-
paired.
Treatment. If recent, shave the edges of the wound,
bring accurately together and cover with collodion, layer
136 The Farmer's Veterinary Adviser.
after layer, until strong enough to prevent it from burst-
ing open. If of older standing, a smart blister over and
around the wound will often close it. Should this fail,
the edges must be made raw by paring and the wound
firmly closed by carbolated catgut or twisted suture. If
the channel between the wound and the mouth has be-
come impervious, a new one must be made and kept open >
by a thread passed through it and retained by being fixed
to a flat button outside and in, until the walls are no
longer raw and likely to adhere. Then the thread is to be
withdrawn and the external wound closed by stitching,
blister or collodion.
In all such cases the patient must be tied to both sides
of the stall, high up, so that he cannot possibly rub the
wound, and diet must be restricted absolutely to soft
mashes and gruels.
In obstinate cases a forcible injection into the duct of
the gland of a solution of 2 grs. lunar caustic in 1 oz. of
alcohol, will usually destroy its secreting power.
INFLAMMATION OF THE PAROTID GLAND.
This gland, situated behind the ear, is liable to inflam-
mation from mechanical injury and obstruction of its duct,
as well as in strangles and other specific diseases.
Symptoms. A hard but painful tumefaction beneath
the ear, with more or less soft doughy feeling at its mar-
gins, stiff carriage of the head, slow difficult chewing, and
more or less general fever.
Treatment. First remove any obstruction in the duct
or mechanical cause of irritation, then purge (Glauber
salts), wash the mouth with weak solutions of vinegar or
chlorate of potassa, and cover the affected gland with a
soft poultice, with a little sugar of lead added. Feed soft
cool mashes and sliced or pulped roots only, and when
the bowels have settled give cooling diuretics (nitrate of
potassa). If matter forms let-< approach the surface and
point before opening, to avoid cutting any of the ducts
Diseases of the Digestive Organs. 137
and establishing a fistula. If it gets hard and insensible
use iodine externally and internally.
CHOKING.
This is especially common in cattle feeding on rovts,
potatoes, apples, pears and the like, because of the habit
of jerking up the head to get the object back between the
grinders. Pieces of leather, bone, etc., chewed wantonly
often slip back in the same way. Horses suffer mainly
from badly shaped balls or sharp-pointed bodies, dogs
from bones. Ravenous feeders will choke on dry chaff,
cut hay, etc., being imperfectly mixed with saliva, and the
same will happen in cases of diseased teeth or salivary
fistula or calculus.
Symptoms of pharyngeal and cervical choking. When the
object is arrested in the throat or neck there is great dis-
tress, staring eyes, slavering, violent coughing with expul-
sion of dung or urine, continuous efforts at swallowing,
and in cattle tympany of the first stomach, which may
suffocate the animal in fifteen or twenty minutes. I have
seen an animal die in five minutes when the object was
lodged directly over the opening of the windpipe. In
horses there is in addition an occasional shriek, and wa-
ter returns by the nose when drinking is attempted. In
omnivora and carnivora retching and vomiting are promi-
nent symptoms. A careful examination along the furrow
on the left side of the neck will usually detect the offend-
ing object.
Symptons of thoracic choking. If the object is lodged
in that part of the gullet which hes within the chest,
cough, slavering and gulping may be absent, but there
are efforts at regurgitation and the discharge of liquids
by the mouth (in horses the nose). This, with the inabil-
ity to swallow solid food, is very characteristic. Tympany
is usually slight, and there may be tremors at intervals.
Symptoms of choking withyinely divided dry food. These
are the same as for solid masses, according to the situa-
125
1338 The Farmer's Veterinary Adviser.
tion, but in addition there is in the groove on the left side
of the neck, a diffuse soft yielding swelling, provided the
obstruction is situated above the chest.
Treatment. Sharp-pointed bodies lodged in the throat
must be carefully sought for and extracted. Solid objects
in this region can usually be withdrawn with the hand.
Have the animal held with the head elevated into a line
with the neck and the mouth held open with a balling
iron; then the tongue being drawn out with the left hand,
the right is passed through the mouth into the throat and
the middle finger hooked over the offending body so as
to withdraw it. If lodged still lower it may often be
worked up into the throat by pressure beneath it with one
hand in each furrow along the lower border of the neck.
A vigorous jerk at the last seconded by the action of the
pharynx will often lodge it in the mouth, but if not it is
easily extracted as above advised.
Should this fail and tympany prove threatening lose no
time in gagging the animal. A smooth roller of wood
two inches in diameter is tied into the mouth by cords
carried from its ends around the top of the head—behind
the horns in cattle. Swelling never increases dangerously
with this applied, and in a few hours the obstruction
usually passes on.
More prompt relief may be obtained by using a probang
of leather or other material with a spiral spring wire in-
ternally, the whole two-thirds of an inch in diameter, six
feet long, and with one end enlarged to one and a half
inches in diameter and cup-shaped. This is oiled and
the head having been brought into a line with the neck,
the balling iron introduced and the tongue drawn out,
the cup-shaped end is introduced and pushed on until the
obstruction is reached. Steady pressure must be kept up
on this for a few seconds, when it will yield and should be
passed into the stomach by introducing the probang to its
whole length. Ifit resists leave the animal for an hour
or two gagged, and try again. In the horse the probang
Diseases of the Digestive Organs. 189
cannot be safely passed without casting, and it should
never be passed on until by examination in the furrow on
the side of the neck, the operator has ascertained that it
has entered the gullet and is clear of, and above the
windpipe. For the small animals the probang must be
made correspondingly small.
The use of whips and such like objects is very repre-
hensible as being lable to tear the gullet. An effective
probang may be constructed out of a piece of stiff new
rope, a few of the bundles of the end of which have been
opened out and tied back so as to form a cup-shaped
extremity. After being used this may be hung up straight
on several nails driven into the wall and will be ready
for the next occasion.
In choking with finely divided food the probang only
packs it firmer, and gagging and time will rarely dislodge
it. Pour water or well-boiled gruel down, and seek by
manipulation to break up the mass and allow it to pass on
little by little. Instruments have also been devised for
extracting the obstructing mass. Failing otherwise, the
gullet must be laid open, the offending matter extracted,
the wounds sewed up, and the animal fed for a time on
liquids only.
Horses are sometimes choked by eggs given by foolish
grooms. These may be punctured with a needle and then
crushed between two solid bodies on different sides of the
neck.
Prevention. Besides the more obvious resort of with-
holding dangerous articles, the mere tying down of the
head will prevent choking in cattle feeding on turnips,
apples, ete. A loop of rope fixed to the ground is to
be hung over the horn when such food is supplied. Solid
food should be to a large extent withheld for a week after
the relief of choking, until the slight irritation or inflam-
mation has subsided.
140 The Farmer's Veterinary Adviser.
STRICTURE AND DILATATION OF THE GULLET.
These usually coexist, the first giving rise to the second,
because of habitual accumulation of food above the nar-
row part. The narrowing results from mechanical injury
in choking, etc., or from the presence of a worm (spirop-
tera) which lives in galleries on the mucous membrane.
The symptoms are the formation of an extended diffuse
soft swelling along the furrow on the left side of the neck,
when the animal feeds or drinks, and the subsidence of
this swelling during abstinence. The only permanent
treatment is by bougies or probangs passed daily, begin-
ning with those that will just pass the stricture, and using
them larger as the former ones begin to pass easily. The
food must be restricted to soft mashes and gruels.
Cattle are usually slaughtered when attacked in good
condition.
IMPACTION OF THE CROP IN BIRDS.
Symptoms. Want of appetite, dullness, sinking of the
head between the wings, ruffled plumage, and enormous
and firm distension of the crop, easily recognized when
the bird is handled.
Treatment consists in pouring down tepid water and
moulding the crop so as to force its contents a little at a
time back into the mouth. This failing, cut the crop open,
empty it, sew up the wound, and feed gruels or soft
mush for a few days,
TYMPANY OF THE IFIRST STOMACH IN RUMINANTS. HOOVE.
BLOATING.
Causes. It is especially common in weak, ailing, or under-
fed stock when put on rich luxuriant food, especially green
food, in spring. Some food is dangerous, such as clover
(white and red) ; green food covered with dew or hoar frost,
soaked by inundations or drying after a shower; diseased
or frosted potatoes or turnips (roots or tops) ; partially
ripened but uncured grain and crowfoots and other acrid
Diseases of the Digestive Organs. 141
plants. It may be caused by overloading the stomach
with sound fodder, by the presence of hair-balls and other
foreign bodies in the stomach, by fever, choking, stricture
or parasites in the gullet, tuberculosis, ete.
Symptoms. Swelling of the whole left
Fig. 19. side of the belly, often rising above the
level of the hips and backbone, tense and
elastic recoiling at once when pressed in,
and drum-like on percussion. There is
great difficulty of breathing, distended nos-
trils, bloodshot eyes, open mouth, driveling
of saliva, occasional belching of gas with
loud noise, and frequent passage of dung
and urine. The patient stands to the last
and falls to die with ruptured diaphragm,
or stomach, congested lungs and profound
nervous shock.
Treatment. Gagging is alleged to suc-
ceed as in choking, but I have not tried
it. Dashing a bucket of cold water on the
body may give temporary relief by condens-
ing the gas and favoring eructation. The
hollow probang passed into the storaach
as for choking will allow the escape of
the gas. In urgent cases the paunch
must be punctured with the first instru-
ment that comes to hand, and the open-
ings in the stomach and the skin kept in
apposition until the gas flows out. The
most suitable instrument is a cannula and
trocar at least six inches long which may
be plunged without fear into the left sideina
downward and inward direction, from a
Fig. 19 -Trocar and point equidistant from the hip bone, the
eanmila: last rib and the lateral processes of the
backbone. The trocar being withdrawn the cannula
may be tied in and left for hours or days. In the absence
142 The Farmer's Veterinary Adviser.
of these a pocket-knife may be used, and should be kept
in the wound until a large quill can be obtained and held
in its place. A smaller trocar like that used for hydro-
thorax in horses is suitable for sheep and goats.
When urgent cases have been relieved in this way, and
in milder cases without any such surgical resort, antifer-
ments and antacids must be given; aromatic spirit of am-
monia, (ox 3 oz., sheep 1 oz.,) crystalline sesquicarbonate
of ammonia (ox 1 oz., sheep 3 drs.,) oil of turpentine, (ox
2 oz., sheep % oz. in oil, milk or eggs well mixed,) whisky,
brandy or gin, (ox 1 to 2 pts., sheep 1 pt.,) ether, pepper,
ginger, oil of peppermint, etc., in full doses, wood tar (ox
2 oz., sheep }$-0z.,) carbolic acid or creosote, (ox 2 drs.,
sheep $ dr. in a pint of water,) sulphite, hyposulphite or
bisulphite of soda, (ox 1 oz., sheep 2 drs.,) chloride of lime
or chlorate of potassa. Antacids (potassa, soda, ammonia,
and their carbonates ; soapsuds and lime-water,) check the
fermentation by neutralizing the acidity. Care should be
taken to see (by tasting) that they are not used in too
strong and irritating solutions.
A dose of physic is usually necessary to clear off the
offensive food, and should be accompanied by a stimulant
(sulphate of soda and ginger).
Chronic tympany due simply to indigestion may be
remedied by careful dieting and a course of tonics, (foenu-
grec, oxide of iron, carbonate of soda and common galt in
equal parts, nux vomica 2 drachms to every pound of the
inixture. Dose: ox 1 oz., sheep 2 drs., daily in food).
Por chronic tympany due to foreign bodies in the paunch
gee below.
OVERLOADED PAUNCH.
This differs from the last in that the paunch is over-
loaded, overstretched and paralyzed by excess of solid food,
rather than gas. Rich, tempting and unusual food (lus-
cious grass, clover, lucern, vetches, tares, beans, peas,
grain,) is especially dangerous, as is food which ferments
Diseases of the Digestive Organs. 143
with the formation of a fine frothy mass, (potatoes, espe-
cially diseased or frosted ones,) food containing a narcotic
or paralyzing principle, (green Indian corn, partially
ripened wheat, barley, oats, beans, peas, tares and grasses,)
bulky, dry, fibrous, innutritious aliments, (aftermath mixed
with old withered stems of a former growth, hay that has
ripened before being cut, dried sedges and rushes, stalks
of ripened beans, peas, etc.,) and finally musty, rusty or
otherwise injured hay. Salivary fistula or obstruction
and worn or diseased teeth may contribute to it.
Symptoms. Develop more slowly than in tympany.
There is dullness, sluggishness, raised back, hurried breath-
ing, and frequent moaning. The abdomen swells, espe-
cially the left side, but it hangs downward, has no absolute
drum-like resonance on tapping, and pressure leaves a
temporary indentation. As the disease advances there is
the same difficult breathing as in tympany, frequent pas-
sage of dung and urine, stupor and finally suffocation or
death from nervous shock. If due to green food, diarrhcea
usually precedes death, and a spontaneous cure may be
effected by this or by vomiting, but only in rare cases.
Ticatment. In the first stages give stimulants and anti-
ferments, as for tympany, with active but not irritating
purgatives to unload the stomach. A pound each of
Epsom and Glauber salts, 2 oz. oil of turpentine, and $
drachm of nux vomica will be a suitable dose for an ox, to
be followed up by stimulants, and in seven hours, if no
relief, by a second dose of the same strength. If drum-like
resonance at the upper part of the left side shows the
pressure of free gas, draw it off by puncturing, and dash
cold water over the body to encourage contraction of the
paunch. Give active stimulants every two or three hours.
If there is no sign of improvement but rather stupor
and sinking, the only hope is in opening the stomach in
the left side where it is punctured in tympany, enlarging
the opening until the hand can be introduced, having two
assistants hold the edges of the wound in the stomach
144 The Farmer's Veterinary Adviser.
against those in the skin, taking out at least two-thirds of
the contents of the paunch, sewing up the wound in the
stomach with the edges turned in, and that in the skin,
and keeping on a little gruel and soft mashes for a week.
This operation can be performed standing, the right side
of the animal applied against a stone wall, and the nose
held by bull-dog pincers or even by the fingers. It usually
succeeds if resorted to early enough. .
IMPACTION OF THE THIRD STOMACH. DRY MURRAIN. GRASS
STAGGERS.
A dry baked state of the contents of the manifoldsis found
in all feverish conditions, in torpid or inactive states of the
paunch, with impaired or suspended rumination, in case of
feeding on dry, fibrous, indigestible elements (bleached
withered hay or that which has been over-ripened, or a
mixture of fresh and dry grass in autumn,) on a sudden
change to the over-stimulating fresh grass of spring, on
smutty maize, cornstalks or wheat, on a deficiency of
water, or a sudden change from soft to hard water, or on
taking lead into the system in a metallic condition or
otherwise. The most rapidly fatal cases result from green
food, over-ripe but uncured grain, vetches, or rye-grass, and
from lead poisoning.
Symptoms. Slight cases may be marked by failure to
chew the cud regularly when recovering from a fever, a poor
appetite, dry muzzle, dull eyes, spiritlessness, quickened
breathing with a moan at intervals roused at any time by
forcibly punching the closed fist beneath the short ribs on
the right side. Ifit has lasted several days the fist pressed
into the left side may detect the contents of the paunch col-
lected in hard masses, and tympany is likely to be present.
The «lung is usually scanty and hard, but in cases occurring
from fibrous or irritating food, this costiveness is preceded
by more or less diarrhoea. The beast leaves its fellows,
reclines on its left side, with the head in the right flank,
and tends by-and-by to show palsy of the hind limbs,
drowsiness and stupor, or delirium and convulsions.
Diseuses of the Digestive Organs. 145
In the more acute cases, death may ensue in six hours.
The animal is found apart, lyimg with his head in his
right flank, with red fixed eyes, eyelids half closed, and
much drowsiness and stupor though he may still feed when
raised, pulse and breathing accelerated, bowels loose o1
torpid, hardness and tenderness under the right short ribs,
and muscular tremors. Later the eyes glare, the patient
seeks relief in motion, in a straight line or to one side
regardless of obstacles, and pushing against obstructing
walls or fences till teeth or horns are broken, bellowing
loudly and in a terrific manner all the time.
Treatment. For the simpler forms give strong purga-
tives, (sulphate of soda, ox 1 lb., sheep 6 oz. with common
salt, molasses and croton,) stimulants (ginger, carbonate of
ammonia,)and abundance of water or watery fluids. The
stimulants may be repeated at intervals of Lhree hours,
and accompanied by injections of warm water. If no re-
lief is obtained in twelve hours, repeat the purgative and
if any tenderness of the right side exists, blister it with
mustard and turpentine (for sheep use ammonia and oil).
Tf the kidneys act profusely, change the purgative, giving
castor or linseed-oil. Even after free action of the bowels
itis usually necessary to feed green food, roots or soft
mashes, to give all the water that will be taken, and even
to add slight laxatives to insure the perfect breaking up
of all the impaction.
In the acute forms of the disease with irritation of the
stomach the blandest purgatives only (linseed, olive, or
castor-oil,) must be used with nux vomica, injections and a
blister on the right side over the short ribs, and cold water
or ice-bags to the head. Should the victims become deliri-
ous, fasten to a strong post round which they can move, or
to a ring fixed in the ground. When recovery ensues, fol-
low up with a course of bitt wr tonics, (gentian, willow bark
nux vornica, boneset, etc.)
13
146 The Farmer's Veterinary Adviser.
GASTRITIS IN OXEN.
The acute impactions of the manifolds are usually conn-
plicated with congestion, and the chronic impactions lead
to it. Inflammation also results from over-stimulating
food, (spring grass, clover, tares, green corn, etc.,) from
dry heating aliment, (excess of corn meal, linseed cake,
rape cake, cotton cake,) from wild mustard and other it-
ritants, from poor, hard, fibrous food, from suspension of
rumination during prolonged hard work, and from min-
eral and vegetable irritants.
Symptoms. In mild cases, from heating or poor food,
there are dullness, moaning, trembling, straining and fre-
quent passage of dung in small quantities, hot, clammy,
slightly reddened mouth, dry muzzle, sharp accelerated
pulse, fullness and tenderness of the belly, and the pres-
ence of solid masses of food in the paunch as felt on the
left side when pressed with the fist.
The more active forms, resulting from green food or ir-
ritants, are manifested by the same symptoms as acute
impaction of the third stomach, with the addition of a
tense abdomen, not dependent on the paunch, increasing
tenderness, and increased temperature of the body. There
may be diarrhosa or costiveness or one after the other,
and it may end in stupor or convulsions.
Treatment. In the milder forms give a quart of linseed
or olive-oil and 2 drs. Dover’s powder. Even Epsom or
Glauber salts may be used with drachm doses of hyoscy-
amus or belladonna as often as may be requisite to keep
down violent suffering. Give all the water the patient will
drink, adding a little decoction of linseed, slippery elm or
mallow; also frequent injections of warm water, and warm
fomentations to the abdomen followed by a blister. Brain
symptoms must be treated as advised under impaction of
the third stomach. Follow up with a course of tonice
alter relief is obtained.
Diseases of the Digestive Organs. 147
INDIGESTION {N WORKING OXZN FROM DRINKING COLD WATE
This occurs in hard-working oxen, coming from a dusty
road in a hot day and drinking to excess. There are vio-
lent colicky pains, uneasy shifting of the hind limbs, lying
down and rising, looking at the flanks, and a fullness and
gurgling on the right side of the abdomen. It may pass
in half an hour to an hour with a free watery diarrhea.
T'reatment consists in exercise, walking or trotting, and a
stimulating draught—pepner, ginger, fennel, caraway,
peppermint, ammonia, alcohol and the like.
INDIGESTION IN CALVES, LAMBS AND FOALS. WHITE SCOUR.
This may result from a great variety of causes, such as
withholding the first (laxative) milk after parturition,
feeding new-born calves on the milk of old calved cows,
bringing up foals or lambs on cow’s milk, working, over-
driving or otherwise exciting the dams, feeding unwhole-
some food to the dams, allowing too long intervals be-
tween the meals of the young, bringing up on hand on
cold or soured milk or farinaceous food, keeping in damp
unwholesome pens, or the accumulation of pellets of hair
in the stomach.
Symptoms. Trregular (impaired or even ravenous) ap-
petite, swollen, tender, drum-like abdomen, sour eructa-
tions, profuse foetid white watery diarrhoea, white-or gray-
ish fur on the torgue, dry, scurfy, unthrifty skin, and rapid
emaciation.
Treatment. Give a dose of 1 to 2 ozs. castor-oil (4 for
lambs) with a teaspoonful of laudanum. Then with each
meal give a tablespoonful from a bottle of sherry in which
4 of the fresh fourth stomach of a calf has been steeped.
Or with this give a carminative (1 oz. tincture of cinna-
mon) with an antacid (prepared chalk or magnesia 1 dr.)
and soothing or anodyne agents (gum Arabic, bismuth,)
with, it may be, an astringent (tincture of kino or catechu
1dr.) If there is much tenderness of the abdomen ap-
ply a pulp of mustard and water. If yellowness of the
148 The Farmer’s Veterinary Adviser.
mucous membranes and white, very foetid dung, give 2
grs. calomel and 5 grs. chalk twice daily. In all cases
give fresh, warm, wholesome milk thrice a day, with sey-
eral spoonfuls of lime-water added to each meal. In
-gome instances the tone of the stomach may be greatly
restored by a tablespoonful of tincture of gentian twice a
day.
es should be sought in breeding only vigorous
families, sheltering properly, and feeding the milk of the
dam or of a healthy nurse unaltered by faulty feeding or
excitement, or by standing. When a foal must be brought
up on cow’s milk, dilute with one-third its bulk of warm
water, sweeten with sugar and add lime-water. For the
carnivora use only the upper third of cow’s milk.
ACUTE GASTRIC INDIGESTION IN THE HORSE. TYMPANY.
This results from sudden filling of the stomach to excess,
from suspended digestion in connection with hard work
immediately after a meal, from the washing on of un-
digested food, from a full drink after a feed of grain, from
certain indigestible and easily fermented aliments, such as
cause tympany in the ox, from irritant plants, and from
nurried swallowing of hot cooked food.
Symptoms. These appear just after feeding and are at
first those of simple colic, (see Spasmodic Colic) soon
followed by fullness and tension of the belly, a drum-like
sound when it is percussed, quickened, deep, oppressed
breathing, dullness and increasing stupor. The pain is
continuous though of varying intensity, there is no dispo-
sition to eat or drink, draughts administered tend to
aggravate the symptoms, the sufferer yawns, places his
fore feet apart, arches the neck drawing in the nose toward
the breast, and in exceptional cases, may obtain relief by
belching gas, or even by vomiting, the food escaping
mainly through the nose. More commonly the occurrence
of vomiting implies rupture of the stomach and presages
death. The pulse then becomes rapid, weak and soon
Diseases of the Digestive Organs. 146
imperceptible, and the countenance very haggard and de-
jected. In the advanced stages the animal is usually sunk
in stupor, and rests his head on the manger or pushes it
against the wall, while in some instances nervous more-
ments of the lips and limbs occur.
Treatment. Give early, full doses of aromatics, stimu-
lants and tonics, (tincture of pimento or ginger, oil of
peppermint, aqua ammonia, ether, alcohol, peppers, nux
vomica, etc.,) rub the belly, and if relieved, follow up with
a dose of physic. Alkalies are sometimes useful, as in the
ox. Warm water injections and walking exercise should
also be given. The stomach of the horse cannot be sately
punctured, hence the affection is too often fatal. When
relieved give easily digested food frequently in small
quantity, until the stomach has regained its tone. When
horses bolt their food give a little hay to appease hunger
before allowing grain.
ACUTE INTESTINAL INDIGESTION IN THE HORSE.
TYMPANITIC COLIC.
Due to the same causes as gastric tympany, this often
complicates that, and is complicated by it, the disease
being named according to the predominance of the
gaseous evolution in stomach or bowels. When the
bowels are mainly implicated, there is greater hope, as
medicines may be passed through the stomach and taken
up from the gut so as to affect the system, and the gas
may even be drawn off with a small cannula and trocar
from the large intestines which occupy the lower part of
the abdomen. The puncture should be made where the
resonance is clearest and most drum-like. The symptoms
closely resemble those of tympanitic stomach, only there
is more passage of dung and flatus, and tle treatment only
differs in the greater freedom with which liquids may be
poured into the stomach and the possibility of drawing off
the gas through a cannula.
13*
150 The Farmer's Veterinary Adwiser.
IMPACTION OF THE LARGE INTESTINES IN HORSES.
This results from overfeeding, especially on grain,
(Indian corn, wheat,) from hard, fibrous, indigestible food
taken in excess to make up for the deficiency of quality ;
from imperfect preparation of the food in diseases of the
teeth, jaws or salivary glands ; from insufliciency of water,
and eminently from want of exercise.
Symptoms. Considerable impaction may last for a time
without any sign, and the disease finally shows itself sud-
denly as a violent colic. More commonly transient colics
come on after meals for several days in succession. There
are pawing with the fore feet, uneasy movements, or kicking
of the belly with the hind, lying down and rising at short
intervals, turning of the nose toward the flank, and the
frequent passage of wind and of dung, the latter a few
small pellets at a time. There is special fullness and
tension of the right side of the belly, dullness on per-
cussion, solid resistance when pressed, and if the soaped
hand is introduced through the last gut the solidly im-
pacted bowels are usually to be felt. The pressure of
these on the bladder often causes frequent discharges of
urine. A favorite position is one with the fore limbs
stretched forward and the hind backward.
Treatment. In mild cases and in the early stages give
a laxative diet (roots, soft bran mashes, oil meal, corn-
stalks,) and two or three ounces of Glauber salts daily in
the food. In the more severe, give aloes, gentian and nux
vomica, and in case of tympany, carbonate of ammonia or
peppermint; relieve pain by hyoscyamus or belladonna,
and follow up with frequent injections of warm water, and
frictions aud fomentations of the abdomen. The aloes
should not be repeated under twenty-four hours, but if
there is evidence of their having passed off by the kidneys
they may be replaced by linseed or olive-oil. The action
of the bowels may be deferred three or four days without
a fatal result whereas too much medicine will often cause
rupture of the gut in front of the impaction.
Diseases of the Digestive Organs. 151
Prevention should be sought by a more laxative diet, by
a liberal supply of water, by exercise, or even by daily
doses of 1 or 2 oz. of sulphate of soda in the food. The
addition of 2 drachms of powdered gentian and 10 gars. of
nux vomica will often restore lost tone to the bowels.
CATARRH OF THE STOMACH AND BOWELS IN HORSES.
This is a form of chronic indigestion resulting from
faults in diet, as regards quality, quantity and regularity:
from a habit of bolting food; from starvation and hard
work ; from a sudden access of rich food; from the irrita-
tion of worms; from congested or torpid liver; from
impaction of the bowels or from any irritant in the food.
Symptoms. Unthrifty appearance, rough coat, hide-
bound, irregular or capricious appetite, dullness at work,
emaciation, tucked up belly, clammy, furred tongue, irreg-
ularity of the bowels, diarrhcea alternating with constipa-
tion, hard balls of imperfectly digested dung covered with
a film of mucus, foetid sour odor of stools, and an inclina-
tion to lick the white walls or fresh earth.
Treatment. A carefully regulated and easily digested
diet, (green food, sound hay, ground oats, roots,) moderate
regular exercise, a clean, warm, comfortable stable, rock
salt to lick at will, and a course of tonics, (gentian with nux
vomica, white bismuth, and sulphate of soda,) morning and
evening. Change from one tonic to another as they seem
to lose their effect. Slippery elm, boiled linseed, mallow,
etc., are often useful in checking irritation.
VOMITING.
This is common in carnivora and pigs but exceedingly
rare in cattle, and still more so in horses, asses and
mules. It may be due to a gréat variety of causes, as di-
rect irritation of the stomach by food, poison, congestion or
inflammation, disease of the brain, or of some other organ,
which profoundly affects the system, or which like the
throat or gullet has intimate nervous relations with the
152 The Farmer's Veterinary Adviser.
stomach. It is therefore mostly a symptom of other dis-
eases, and in many cases of gastric irritation is a means
of relief. When due to direct irritation of the stomach
favor it by giving tepid water freely. When emptied, the
stomach may be soothed by ice, iced water, prussic acid,
creosote, carbolic acid, bismuth, nux vomica, lemon-juice,
camphor, etc. Gum and albumen may often be given to
sheath the irritated organ, and a blister may be placed
on the pit of the stomach.
DEPRAVED APPETITE.
Seen in dyspeptic horses, eating earth, lime, etc., in rabid
dogs swallowing all sorts of things, and in cows eating
chalk, earth, sand, gravel, wood, leather, iron bolts, and
articles of clothing, hair, bones, lead, etc. In many cases
what is begun as a habit is continued as a disease, the
foreign bodies in the stomach deranging the digestion and
keeping up a morbid craving. Pregnancy, tuberculosis,
and a deficiency of phosphates in the soil and food are
occasional causes in cows. The habit should be checked
by keeping tempting objects out of reach, dealing with
tuberculosis and chronic gastric catarrh as advised under
those heads, with a deficiency of phosphates, by an
abundant artificial feeding on sound grains and a course
of tonics, and with indigestible bodies in the stomach, by
a careful feeding to prepare the beast for slaughter, or that»
failing by opening the paunch on the left side and remov-
ing the offending agent (see impacted paunch).
FOREIGN BODIES IN STOMACH AND INTESTINES.
These may be taken in by accident with the food or
may be deposited from it in the form of calculi or con-
cretions.
Cattle suffer much from sharp-pointed bodies like nee-
dles, pins, nails, etc., taken with the food, and afterward
making their way to the heart which they penetrate, causing
sudden death, or in more favorable cases making their way
Diseases of the Digestive Organs. 153
through the walls of the abdomen and escaping. Blunt
objects remain in the paunch and honeycomb-bag, causing
rouch or little irritation according to size or number. The
uost varied objects are often found in cattle slaugh-
tered for beef and in good health, nails, coin, shot, solder,
buttons, and hair-balls, are among the most common. I
have known fifteen hair-balls from three to six inches in
diameter in the paunch of a healthy fat heifer. In sucking
calves, in which they form in the true stomach, they cause
dyspepsia, diarrhoea, and emaciation.
Sheep suffer from wool-balls, from the fine hairs of clover
and other aliments, and from collections of sand and gravel
when fed turnips from damp soil.
Swine have balls of bristles in the stomach and large
intestines.
Horses have concretions of phosphate of lime, with
smooth stony surface; of ammonia-magnesian phosphate
with rough crystalline structure; of the fine hairs from
the surface of the oat with a fine velvety surface; and of
two or more of those mixed in one calculus. These are
formed equally in the stomach and large intestines.
Dogs have hair-balls mainly in the large intestines, as
well as marbles and other objects picked up in play.
These foreign bodies may exist without any manifest
result, or they may cause tympany in cattle and sheep
after every meal, vomiting in dogs and pigs, acute indiges-
tion in the horse, and in all animals in which they are
lodged in the intestines, obstruction of their passage, and
violent colics which recur frequently, and usually cut the
animal off sooner or later.
In ruminants the offending bodies may be removed from
the stomach by a surgical operation, but in others little
can be done beyond giving anodynes (opium, belladonna,
stramonium, ete.,) to relieve pain and spasin and await
the result. A dose of physic would carry off the smaller
calculi but would be dangerous in the large. But these
cases can rarely be recognized until after death, and are
154 The Farmer's Veterinary Adviser.
necessarily classed with a number of others, (invagination,
constriction, etc., of the bowels,) in which there is irreme-
diable obstruction, and which end sooner or later in death.
SPASMODIC COLIC. BELLY-ACHE.
This term is loosely used to designate all conditions in
which there is pain in the belly, whether from disease of
liver, pancreas, urinary organs, generative apparatus,
stomach or bowels, and whether caused by nervous irrita-
tion, inflammation, improper position, strangulation or
compression by adjacent organs, obstruction by foreign
bodies, etc., etc. The present remarks will be confined to
that which is more purely nervous and which results from
spasmodic contraction (cramps) of the bowels. :
In certain susceptible states of the system a slight indi-
gestion, without impaction or tympany, the taking of indi-
gestible matters that would have been harmless at another
time, a drink of ice-cold water when perspiring and exhaus-
ted, a chill rain or dew will cause spasms and the most
excruciating agony.
Symptoms. The attack is sudden, the horse paws,
moves uneasily, kicks at the belly, looks at the flanks with
anxious countenance, dilated nostrils and glaring eye,
crouches with semi-bent limbs for a few seconds and then
throws himself down with a prolonged groan. He rolls,
lies on his back, sits on his haunches and may get up,
shake himself, take to feeding and appear quite well.
Another fit comes on in ten, fifteen, twenty or thirty min-
utes, and after each there is a period of freedom from pain,
with natural pulse and breathing. This with the reckless
manner in which he lies down, and the entire absence of
tenderness of the abdomen, or of elevated temperature,
serve to distinguish from other bowel diseases, especially
inflammation. Each succeeding attack may be less severe
until they cease, or they may increase in severity and the
disease merge into acute tympanitic indigestion or enteritis.
In cattle there are similar symptoms with uneasy shift:
Diseases of the Digestive Organs 155
ing of the hind limbs, kicking with the upper one when
down, twisting of the tail and moaning. It rarely lasts
over an hour or two.
Dogs curl themselves up to rest, but move uneasily or
moan, and with the more violent pains start up with a
sudden yelp, move around for some time and lie down
until the next spasm comes on. The eye is bright, the
nose cool and moist, the pulse natural, and the appetite
retained.
Treatment. Yn all animals alike, a laxative (aloes, horse;
linseed-oil, cattle and sheep ; castor-oil, pigs and dogs,) is
the safest treatment as it soon relieves the spasm and
carries off any irritant that may have contributed to main-
tain it. It is usually desirable to add an anodyne (bella-
donna, hyoscyamus, opium, aconite, chloral-hydrate,)
to relieve the pain until the laxative is absorbed, and a
stimulant anti-spasmodic (carbonate of ammonia, sweet
spirits of nitre, ether,) to quiet the nervous excitement.
Copious injections of warm water with or without anodynes
and anti-spasmodics are not to be neglected, neither is
quiet walking exercise. If the affection appears purely
spasmodic the laxative may be withheld until two doses
of anodynes and anti-spasmodics have been given at in-
- tervals of half an hour, but should these fail, give the
opening medicine at once, and then only enough of the
other agents to moderate excessive pain until it has had
time to be absorbed. Complete relief may be looked for in
three or four hours.
ACUTE HEMORRHAGIC ENTERITIS.
This is very common in hard-working horses in some
localities and is also seen in cattle, sheep, swine and dogs.
It may follow unrelieved obstruction of the bowels, espe-
cially if these have been treated by powerful opiates and
stimulants or dangerously irritant purgatives. To these
must be added excessive fatigue, heavy, hurried feeding,
and drinking iced water, exposure to a cold draught, chil)
156 The Farmer's Veterinary Adviser.
=y
rain, or cold sponge when exhausted, a sudden change toa
dry grain feeding, to new oats or hay, to rank, rapidly-
grown clover or grasses, or to musty food.
Symptoms. When not supervening on indigestion or ob-
struction of the bowels its onset is sudden. The patient
stamps, paws, looks at his flank, moves from place to place,
walks crouchingly, lies down, rolls, acts in short as in spas-
modic colic, but there is a more careful lying down, there is
no intermission to the pain, the face continues pinched and
anxious even if the beast stands quiet for a few seconds,
the eye remains fixed and glazed, the pupils dilated, the
breathing hurried and catching, the pulse rapid, and be-
coming smaller and weaker, the temperature unnaturally
high, the surface covered with sweat and often cold, and
the limbs and ears deathly cold. The abdomen is usually
tender. As the disease advances the animal may become
still but all the other signs are worse. Others become
reckless and dash about peeling and injuring themselves
and imperiling those about them. The bowels are confined
and in the advanced stages the pellets passed may be
stained with blood. Death may ensue in from three to
twenty-four hours after the onset.
Treatment. If seen at the outset give a mild laxative
(olive-oil) with an anodyne (hyoscyamus). Bleediffg from
the jugular vein may give prompt relief if the pulse is still
full and strong. But neither of these can be ventured
upon except at the very outset, and therefore in the great
majority of cases are to be avoided. Apply hot fomenta-
tions to the belly by a blanket wrung out of water nearly
boiling, rub the limbs with ammonia, mustard or turpen-
tine, and give injections of warm water containing ano-
dynes (belladonna, hyoscyamus, opium, aconite, tobacco,
etc.)
If the soft, weak, rapid pulse bespeaks already existing
effusion, avoid bleeding and laxatives, give one or two
drachms of opium by mouth, or better one or two grains
sulphate of morphia injected under the skin, repeating as
Diseases of the Digestive Organs. 157
often as may be requisite to moderate suffering and keep
the bowels inactive, accompanying this by hot fomentations
and counter-irritants.
In case of improvement feed linseed or oatmeal gruels,
boiled linseed, or very sloppy bran mashes only, and in
small amount, for several days. If the bowels continue
confined give four or five ozs. olive-oil, or three or four ozs.
Glauber salts once or twice a day.
But prevention is especially to be sought in such a rap-
idly fatal disease. Regularity and sufficient frequency of
feeding, in moderate quantities at a time and of good
quality, and a gradual instead of a sudden change of diet,
are important. When new hay or grain, or heating agents
like maize or wheat are fed, one feed daily should be
replaced by a sloppy bran mash, or one or two ounces
of common or Glauber salts added. Avoid full draughts
of cold or iced water when sweating and exhausted, and of
any water after a meal of grain.
ACUTE MUCO-ENTERITIS.
All the domestic animals are subject to this form of in-
flammation, chiefly of the mucous membrane of the bow-
els. The causes are mainly the same as those of hemor-
rhagice enteritis acting on a less susceptible subject, or
with lessened force. These may be named exposure, sud-
den extreme changes of weather, coarse, dry, fibrous,
musty or otherwise irritant indigestible food, abrupt
changes of diet, impure, stagnant or putrid water, too
much water after feeding, or iced water when fatigued and
perspiring, drastic or oft-repeated purgatives, suppressed
perspiration, sand in the food, parasites and the various
mechanical obstructions (calculi, impactions, invagina-
tions, hernia). Cattle, sheep and swine especially suffer
during the vicissitudes and extremes of spring, summer
and autumn, and the latter from want of water to drink
and wallow in. Among dogs the young suffer most and
those kept on animal food, or that bathe in rivers when
14
158 The Farmer's Veterinary Adviser.
heated with the chase. Chickens contract it from faulta
in feeding and watering, but especially from exclusive
feeding on grain and deficiency or impurity of the water.
Symptoms. Tn the mildest forms are fever, increased
temperature, thirst, scanty, high-colored urine, costive
bowels, the small masses of dung covered with a film ot
mucus, tender belly, small, quick, hard pulse, yellowish-
red eyes, hot clammy mouth, furred tongue with redness
along the edges, tip and lower surface, impaired appetite,
dull sluggish habit, loss of flesh, unthrifty skin, and slight
colics after meals.
In the more severe forms all these symptoms are in-
creased in severity, appetite gone, dullness and depres-
sion extreme, head carried low, gait unsteady, breathing
excited, a ridge on the tender abdomen as in pleurisy,
and more frequent colic, with pawing, uneasy shifting of
the limbs, kicking at the abdomen, looking at the flanks
and lying down and rising. Diarrhoea may set in and
herald recovery, or it may become profuse, bloody and
fatal.
In addition to these general symptoms cattle and sheep
have impairment or loss of rumination, frequent belch-
ing of gas, foetid breath and tenderness mainly of the
right side of the abdomen. When due to acrid and irri-
tant plants, the back is arched, abdomen tense and tucked
up, constipation obstinate, tongue often purple, and the
urine high-colored or even bloody. It may prove fatal
after a fortnight’s sickness. In szwine the affection is usu-
ally mistaken for Intestinal Fever which indeed it strongly
resembles, but without the ineffaceable black spots on the
skin and mucous membranes, and without a contagious
principle. In dogs much dullness, drowsiness, restless-
ness, with tucked up, tense, very tender abdomen, violent
constipation and very painful and difficult passage of
dung are added to the general symptoms. Vomiting is
common in dogs and pigs. Chickens lose appetite and
vivacity, droop the head, raise the feathers, move slug-
Diseases of the Digestive Organs. 15S
gishly, scour, strain violently, and show much tenderness
of the abdomen when handled.
Treatment. At the outset give a laxative (horse, aloes
ox or sheep, Glauber salts; or for all animals olive-oil ;)
with anodynes (belladonna, hyoscyamus, Indian hemp,)
in a mucilage of slippery elm or gum Arabic, and repeat
these mucilages and anodynes as may be needful to quiet
the suffering. Mild cases may be successfully treated by
small daily doses of sulphate of soda with abundance of
mucilage, and tonic doses of gentian and nux vomica.
Give injections of hot water, with anodynes, and apply fo-
mentations, or in small animals poultices, followed by
mustard or other counter-irritants to the belly as in heem-
orrhagic enteritis. When profuse diarrhcea sets in give
freely of mucilaginous and starchy drinks, with quinia,
gentian, nux yomica or other bitter and opium. The diet
must be restricted to well-boiled mucilaginous gruels, and
in the case of herbivora, sloppy warm bran mashes.
The treatment of diseased chickens is not always satis-
factory, but the whole flock should have mush, vegetables
and boiled potatoes, with clear pure drinking water to
which may be added cream of tartar or Glauber salts, 1
oz. to every quart.
CROUPOUS ENTERITIS.
This occurs in cattle, horses, sheep and dogs, and may
be considered as a modification of the other forms of en-
teritis and produced by similar causes. The symptoms
may approach those of either of the two forms of the dis-
ease already described, the suffering being extreme and
lasting, or violent but short, and followed by dullness, de-
pression, fever, and tenderness of the belly. If the ani-
mal survives long enough the false membranes are passed
in great, white, friable masses or shreds. In its earliest
stages a laxative will often alter the condition of the mem-
brane and contribute to a prompt recovery. Later treat
as in enteritis. Saline laxatives (sulphate of soda or mag-
td
160 The Farmers Veterinary Adviser.
nesia) and bitters (nux vomica, gentian, quassia, quinia,)
are especially indicated when the membranes are separat-
ing. If resulting from mercurial poisoning, give chlorate
of potassa and iodide of potassium.
INFLAMMATION OF THE RECTUM.
The last or straight gut often suffers exclusively in horses
and dogs in connection with the impaction of hardened
dung, or calculi, and in oxen with a certain conformation
from the introduction of air. Dung is passed in long eyl-
indroid masses with great straining and pain, or cannot
be passed at all. In the dog it is covered with mucus,
pus or even blood. The everted gut is of a deep red color,
thickened, infiltrated and hot. Rupture may ensue if it is
notrelieved. Treat by emptying the gut with the oiled hand
or. finger, give a spare laxative diet (bran mashes, roots, '
gruels,) frequent injections of warm water containing some
mucilage and olive-oil, and an occasional pyrgative (olive
or linseed-oil).
In high-rumped oxen, cut the muscles on the upper
surface of the tail and tie it down until healed. r
DIARRHGA. SCOURING.
This is a frequent discharge of semi-liquid or liquid
dung from the bowels without griping or violent straining.
It is a symptom of disease rather than an independent
malady, as it may arise from almost any irritant in the
bowels. Among its common causes may be named a full
drink followed by active exertion ; feeding soft, aqueous,
rapidly-grown green food ; cooked food for hard-working
horses; many irritant and acrid plants; spoiled potatoes,
turnips, apples, ttc. ; stagnant, putrid water; undigested
matters in the bowels from imperfect mastication or di-
gestion ; impaction of some part cf the bowels; worms,
ete. It may occur from irritants secreted from the blood,
as in the case of purgative agents accidentally taken in
with food or water, and the morbid elements of certain
Diseases of the Digestive Organs. 161
fevers (Rinderpest, Texan-fever, hog-cholera, lung-fever.)
Lastly, a reflex irritation from the skin as in exposure ta
chilling rains, night-dews, or damp stalls, or to hot damp
buildings, seasons or localities. Horses are especially
liable to superpurgation if worked or supplied with ice-cold
water during the operation of a dose of physic.
Symptoms. These may be slight as in the frequent
pulpy evacuations of animals fed exclusively on roots, or
severe, as in the excessive and almost constant discharge
of a dark-colored liquid mixed with mucus. Slight diar-
rhoea does not affect the appetite, nor interfere with
improvement in condition, but in the severer forms there
is loud rumbling in the abdomen, loss of appetite and
condition, rapid, small, weak pulse, hurried breathing,
pallid mucous membranes and weakness even to unsteady
gait. Distension of the belly, with pawing and other signs
of abdominal pain may appear in bad cases. In horses it
is often followed by inflammation of the feet.
Treatment. Unload the bowels by linseed, olive, or
eastor-oil according to the patient, adding laudanum, and
follow up by mucilaginous (linseed, gum Arabic, slip-
pery elm,) or starchy draughts or even injections with or
without landanum as may seem required. In prolonged
and obstinate cases astringents (kino, catechu, oak bark,
tannic acid, nitrate of silver,) with tonics (gentian, cin-
chona, salicine, nux vomica,) and carminatives (campho-
rated spirit, ginger, peppers, caraway, fennel, etc.,) may
have to be employed. But in no case should astringents
or opiates be used until the irritant has been carried off
by a laxative, and usually a change of diet is needful to
prevent a second attack. In acute or obstinate cases
dry rubbing or a blister to the belly may be useful, and
perfect rest must be enjoined.
DYSENTERY. BLOODY-FLUX.
This is a morbid process approaching inflammation of
the mucous membranes of the large intestines, and leading
14* ,
162 The Farmer's Vetermary Adviser.
to the formation of ulcers. It occurs in cattle, horses,
swine and dogs, may be enzootic on certain rich impervi-
ous soils, or even epizootic.
Causes. Those of diarrhoea acting with greater energy ;
the emanations from marshy inundated soils, or from
carcasses; putrid, stagnant or iced water; musty, putrid
or otherwise altered food; overexertion in excessive heats ;
or even a contagium.
Symptoms. The acute form comes on suddenly with
symptoms of acute intestinal catarrh. The dungis passed fre-
quently with straining and is semi-liquid and feetid. Later
itis quite liquid with mucus, blood and shreds of false mem-
branes or sloughs, intolerably offensive, and passed with
still more pain and straining. Later still, the same painful
straining fails to bring away. anything, though the red,
infiltrated and excoriated rectum may protrude. At length
the discharge again reappears more repulsive than ever
and passes involuntarily. Appetite is gradually lost, but
thirst increases. Fever exists at first with staring coat
and even shivering, hot fevered mouth and accelerated
pulse, but this is less marked as the disease becomes
chronic. Then there is extreme emaciation, cold limbs,
dry, cracked muzzle, hide-bound, scurfy, unhealthy, lousy
skin, often covered with flies, deeply-sunken pallid eyes,
and involuntary liquid putrid discharges. Death may
occur in three or four days or the disease may be pro-
tracted for months.
Treatment. Bub the belly actively and apply mustard,
or in small animals give a warm bath. Give a mild laxa-
tive (olive-oil, Glauber salts,) with calmative (Dover's
powder, laudanum). After the laxative has operated give
daily Dover’s powder with ipecacuanha, or sal ammoniac,
or should these fail to improve the discharge, astringents
{kino, catechu, gall-nuts, oak bark, black currant bark,
walnut leaves, tormentilla, rhatany, ete.,) with tonics (quinia,
nux vomica, salicine, cascarilla, carbonate or sulphate of
iron, sulphate of copper, nitrate of silver). Small doses
Diseases of the Digestive Organs. 168
of oil of turpentine, copaiva, creosote or carbolic acid
often act beneficially on the diseased mucous membrane.
The same agents may be given as injections in mucilagi-
nous fluids. Diet must be bland, easily digested, and fed
little at a time. Mashes of wheat bran, or flour from the
whole grain of wheat, barley or oats, and fresh pulped or
cooked roots may be given to the herbivora; and farinas
made into puddings, with just enough juice of meat to in-
sure their being eaten, to the carnivora. Fresh raw meat
without fat, beaten to a pulp in a mortar will often agree
when nothing else will, The drink should be mixed with
a little boiled linseed, gum, slippery elm or barley water.
OBSTRUCTION OF THE BOWELS.
Under this head may be considered all cases of com-
plete obstruction of the bowels excepting those of the na-
ture of hernia or rupture. It will include blocking of the
gut by hardened dung, calculi, and foreign bodies swal-
lowed; invagination or the slipping of a portion of gut
into what is adjacent, like the drawing of a finger of a
glove into itself; volvulus, or the rolling on itself of a por-
tion of intestine with its connecting membrane until noth-
ing can pass through it; strangulation of an intestine by
another rolled round it, by a tumor hanging by a long
pedicle, or by a band of false membrane formed in some
pre-existing inflammation and gradually contracting; tu-
mors formed within a gut; and in steers the strangulation
of a loop of intestine in a pouch in the right flank formed
by contraction on the spermatic cord in castration.
The syinptoms of complete obstruction are those of se-
vere spasmodic colic, but without the intervals of complete
freedom from pain. It differs also from enteritis in that
there is no rise of temperature at first. The dung may
ve abundant at the outset but as the disease advances is
more or less completely suppressed, the portion of intes-
tine behind the obstruction having been emptied. The
horse often seems to obtain a partial temporary relief by
164 The Farmers Veterinary Adviser.
sitting on his haunches or lying on his back, and will
etch, though vomiting is rare, unless the stomach is rupt-
ured. If the obstruction is in the pelvic flexure of the
large bowels it may be felt by the hand introduced through
the rectum.
In ruminants the preliminary colics may be followed by
quietude, but there remain extreme lassitude, depression,
sunken eye and dry hot muzzle, and even stupor or coma.
In cattle the hand introduced into the rectum will detect
the mass of the overdistended bowel above the obstruc-
tion. It may also ascertain the existence of a pouch im-
prisoning the gut in the right flank and may even pull it
out and relieve.
In dogs violent colic may be absent, but there is much
depression, inappetence, vomiting of bile or fieces, arch-
ing of the back, tucking up of the belly, the passage with
much pain and straining of mucus-covered feces, and lat-
er, straining without any passage, while the overloaded
gut may easily be felt through the walls of the belly.
Treatment. In most cases of absolute obstruction noth-
ing can be done except to relieve the pain by anodynes
(opium, belladonna, stramonium, Indian hemp, etc.,) and
leave to nature. Invagination, volvulus or gut-tie, when
their presence is ascertained in ruminants, pigs or dogs,
would warrant an incision through the walls of the abdo-
men and an attempt to rectify with the hand. In cattle
the opening must always be made in the right flank, the
left being occupied by the paunch. The wound must be
afterward carefully sewed up and the animal prevented
from rubbing it. Gut-tie may often be remedied by man-
ipulation with the hand in the rectum, or even by the sim-
pler expedient of jumping from a bank about two feet
high, though if due to adhesion of the cord to an intestine
the abdomen must be opened and the band cut.
HERNIA. RUPTURE. BURST.
Hernia is understood to mean the displacement of some
Diseases of the Digestive Organs. 165
internal organ through a natural or unnatural opening.
Of abdominal organs the bowels and omentum are those
that most commonly protrude, though the womb often es-
capes in bitches. According to the structure through
which the organ passes the hernia is named :—into the
chest, diaphragmatic or phrenic ; through the omentum or
mesentery, omental, mesenteric ; through the navel, umbilical;
into the scrotum, inguinal or scrotal; through the femoral
arch to the inner side of the thigh, femoral; through an
artificial opening in the walls of the abdomen, ventral,
through the relaxed walls of the vagina, vaginal.
Diaphragmatic Hernia may occur from violent muscular
efforts, from the violent shock of a heavy abdominal organ
on the midriff in leaping or from laceration with a broken
rib or other offending body. The worst cases are sud-
denly fatal from suffocation. In others there is a sudden
access of difficult breathing with gurgling sounds on aus-
cultating the chest. In still others, with a smaller rupture,
the rumbling in the chest may be absent but there is vio-
lent, continuous colic and rapid prostration as in obstruc-
tion. In the slightest forms there is only an extra lifting
of the flanks as in heaves. Treatment is useless, though
rest and anodynes will allow a slight case to merge into
the chronic form.
Mesenteric and Omental Hernia give rise to complete ob-
struction of the bowels and can rarely be recognized nor
remedied.
Umbilical Hernia is common in horses, dogs and very
young ruminants. It is usually congenital but may result
from violent straining, running or jumping. The swelling
is very manifest and when handled its contents are found
to move on each other, to gurgle and to pass back in a
mass when pressed.
Treatment is often needless, the sac becoming effaced
with growth. If not, make a soft pad for the navel and
attach it to elastic bands passing round the body and fixed
jo their turn to others extending back from a collar round
166 The Farmer’s Veterinary Adviser.
the neck. Or in slight cases blister the sac severely and
repeatedly ; or apply wooden clamps over the skin close
up to the belly, having first perfectly returned tho protru-
sion, and let them be worn until they drop off.
Inguinal Hernia occurs in the male quadruped of any
age, as the sac containing the testicle remains continuous
with the abdomen throughout life. It is rare but by no
means unknown in the castrated animal. It may exist
without any other symptom than an unnatural swelling of
the scrotum, the contents movable on themselves, the
thickening extending up to the abdomen, and the whole
disappearing suddenly and in a mass when pressed. Or
these signs may be associated with the violent and contin-
uous colicky pains of obstruction. In all cases of colic in
entire males the possibility of hernia should be borne in
mind and an examination made.
Treatment is very varied, in difficult cases requiring an-
atomical knowledge and attention to many minutiz which
cannot be given here. Yet in many cases the hernia may
be returned by simple pressure with the hand, with or
without the other hand inserted into the last gut and car-
ried down to the internal inguinal ring. If the patient is
thyown on his back with his hind parts well raised the re-
turn will be greatly facilitated. In pigs and dogs castra-
tion should be resorted to, the gut being first returned and
held back by pressing upon the canal in front of the testi-
cle, and finally the wound in the skin sewed up. For par-
ticulars of treatment of the various forms of inguinal her-
nia see the author’s larger work.
Femoral Hernia in bitches rarely demands or receives
treatment.
Ventral Hernia is easily distinguished from other swell-
ings of the abdominal walls by the movable gurgling con-
tents entirely returnable into the abdomen by pressure.
Though often masked by surrounding inflammation these
characters can usually be recognized. Treatment is most
successful just after the injury is sustained, as after the
Diseases of the Digestive Organs. 167
margins of the wound have become insensible they will
not contract and heal. Return the protrusion, throwing
the animal on its back and quieting with opium, ether or
chloral if necessary. Then cover the opening with pads
and cover with a strong sheet wound round the abdomen
and laced tightly along the back. Keep the sheet in posi-
tion by bands carried from its anterior border to a collar
round the neck. Adjust and pad it carefully day by day
until all swelling and tenderness subside.
Vaginal Hernia must be treated like eversion of the va-
gina.
EVERSION OF THE RECTUM.
The rectum protrudes naturally in passing dung but re-
turns immediately. If it remains and swells it demands
interference. Poorly-kept animals (dogs, pigs,) are liable
and it may be caused in all from violent straining in work,
parturition, constipation, diarrhcea or dysentery. The
protrusion may be confined to a mucous fold at one side
of the anus or the entire gut may protrude to the length
of several feet. If recent it is little altered, but if old, is
red, thick, softened or even ulcerated. The protrusion
must be emptied, cleaned and returned, the oiled finger or
arm (according to size) ‘being introduced into the gut and
through the constriction of the anus and. the other hand
used to strip it off from this. The head of the patient
should be turned downhill and straining prevented by
pinching the back. In small animals with old protrusions
the part may have to be cut off close to the anus and a
few stitches passed through the edges to keep them in ap-
position. When returned a truss should be applied as for
everted uterus or vagina and a spare, laxative diet allowed,
nourishing or not according to the needs of the patient.
PILES.
These are dilatation of the veins on the inner and outer
sides of the anus, with exudation and fibrous thickening
168 The Farmer's Veterinary Adviser.
of the surrounding connective tissue to form rounded
swellings. They are reported in all domestic animals but
are especially common in dogs. Melanotic tumors in
horses are often confounded with them. They are gener-
ally connected with torpid, inactive liver and an aggra-
vated costiveness, straining and the presence of irritants
in the large intestines. Dogs draw the anus along the
ground as in intestinal worms, pass hardened, blood-
streaked dung, with much straining, pain and sharp cries,
and present around the anus bluish tumors which bleed
freely if wounded and are connected with the terminal end
of the gut that hangs out through the opening. The gen-
eral health rarely suffers much. In other animals there
is itching, switching and rubbing of the tail with the char-
acteristic tumors and much straining and difficulty in pass-
ing dung. Treat by mild laxatives (sulphate of soda and
common salt, 3 ozs. daily for the large and 20 to 30 grains
for the small quadrupeds ; or podophyllin in one-fifth the
usual doses, daily). Give moderately of laxative, easily-
digested food and maintain tone by bitters (nux vomica).
Locally bathe with tepid solutions of opium, stramonium
and astringents (sugar of lead, alum, tannin, sulphurous
acid, benzoated oxide of zinc ointment). Check bleeding by
solutions of sulphate of iron or matico. It is sometimes
necessary to remove with the ligature.
FISTULA IN ANUS.
This is a communication between a suppurating sore and
the terminal part of the rectum. There are usually two
openings, one into the gut and the other close beside the
anus. The rational treatment is to remove any foreign
body or other cause of irritation and then passing an india
rubber cord through the canal, to bring the end from the
internal wound out through the anus and, stretching the
rubber, to tie both together after which by its elasticity it
slowly cuts its way through, while the wound steadily
heals behind.
Diseases of the Digestive Organs. 169
IMPERFORATE ANUS.
This is not uncommon in young animals and may be
relieved by a free incision as soon as the accumulation of
dung in the end of the rectum furnishes a firm pad on
which to cut. The incision must be made in the centre
of the firm muscular ring that should have encircled the
opening, and which may be easily felt. In mares sponta-
neous relief is often obtained by a rupture into the vagina.
If the gut as well as the opening is wanting, there is no
remedy.
PERITONITIS. INFLAMMATION OF THE LINING MEMBRANE OF
THE ABDOMEN.
This occurs in all domestic animals and may be limited
to a particular part or may be general. It is mostly
caused by mechanical injuries, as wounds of the abdom-
inal walls—surgical or otherwise, or by rupture of an ab-
scess, of the stomach, intestine, bladder or womb. It
may also result from sudden changes of weather, chills
from exposure to excessive cold, to frigid showers or dews
or to a wet bed after perspiration and fatigue. This is of
course most frequent in horses and oxen. Similar expos-
ure to cold is a common cause of peritonitis after wounds
of the abdomen, as in castration.
Symptoms. If very circumscribed there may be simply
slight colic, worse at one time than another, with acute
pain when the affected part is pressed. When more gen-
eral there is shivering followed by a hot stage, colic, stiff-
ness of the hind limbs, especially in the smaller animals,
swelling, tension and great tenderness of the abdomen,
constipation, or in rare cases, watery or even bloody diar-
rhea, complete loss of appetite, vomiting in animals capa-
ble of this act, quick, catching breathing and rapid hard
pulse, becoming softer, weaker and smaller when serous
effusion takes place. Effusion is further attended by a
relief from the colics and tenderness, a more sunken eye,
pallid mucous membranes, deeper breathing, and a more
14
170 The Farmer's Veterinary Adviser.
pendent belly with a sense of fluctuation when it is hand-
led. In ruminants the right side is especially tender and
the animal stands crouching with its four feet near to-
gether. The wound of the abdomen usually completes
the list of symptoms.
Treatment. The abdomen may sometimes be cupped
or leeched with advantage, though warm fomentations or
poultices, (or even warm baths for small animals) followed
by mustard poultices, are more generally applicable.
Then the preparations of opium may be given in full and
frequent doses to allay pain and keep the bowels inactive.
Well-boiled gruels may be given frequently as injections,
as what is thrown on the stomach is usually vomited or
lies unabsorbed. During recovery great care must be
exercised in feeding. Decoctions of linseed, or well-boiled
gruels of oat, barley or rye-meal should gradually give
place to soft warm bran mashes and finally to hay and
ordinary food. The carnivora may have beef tea. Ano-
dynes (opium, prussic acid,) may be given to relieve pain
and diuretics (nitre, digitalis, sweet spirits of nitre, etc.,)
employed to remove.the effusion. Tonics (oxide of iron,
gentian, cinchona, etc.,) may be demanded and occa-
sionally mustard poultices to remove tenderness.
ASCITES. DROPSY OF THE ABDOMEN.
This may be a result of peritonitis, of obstruction to
the flow of blood through the intestinal (portal) veins as
in diseased liver, spleen, pancreas, mesenteric glands,
valves of the heart, etc., or finally it may depend on an
unduly watery state of the blood as in certain parasitic
aud other disorders.
Symptoms. Distended (pot) belly, loose and pendulous,
with hollow flanks, or if the liquid is more abundant,
rounded and tense. Fluctuation is easily felt if pressure
is made at two different points, and percussion elicits a
dull dead sound in place of the normal drum-like reso-
nance of the bowels. The urine is scanty, appetite and
471 The Farmer's Veterinary Adviser.
digestion impaired, breathing deep and excited, condition
poor and getting worse, hair dry, rough, erect and often
shedding, and swellings appear along the lower part of
the body into the limbs and chest.
Treatment. Find out and remove if possible the true
primary cause. When that has ceased to act employ
purgatives, but especially diuretics (digitalis, oil of tur-
pentine, iodide of potassium, squills, colchicum, nitre, ete.,}
in as full doses as the strength will permit, with tonics
(sulphate of iron, gentian, nux vomica,) and apply tinct-
ure of iodine over the abdomen. The liquid may be drawn
off with a fine cannula and trocar, one-half only being
extracted at a time, and the flaccid walls at once sup
ported by a tight bandage encircling the body.
GASTRIC AND INTESTINAL PARASITES.
Larva or Insrcts.—Bots. These are the larva of four
different species of gadfly that pester horses in summer
Fig. 22.
Fig. 20—Bot-fly. Céstrus Equi.
Fig. 21.
Fig 22—Bots hooked on the mucous
Fig. 21—Bot. Larva of Géstrus. membrane of the stomach.
and autumn, gluing their little white ovoid eggs on the
long hairs beneath the jaws, on the breast, shoulders and
fore limbs on which the empty shells may be carried
through the winter. When the horse licks himself the live
smbryo is extracted from the egg and swallowed or in the
172 The Farmer's Veterinary Adviser.
case of those beneath the jaws they fall into the food and
are devoured with it. By the aid of the hooks around
their heads they attach themselves to the mucous mem-
brane mainly of the left half of the stomach but often also
of other parts such as the right side of the stomach, the
duodenum or small gut leading from the stomach, and the
throat. There they steadily grow in the winter and in
spring pass out with the dung, burrow in the soil and are
transformed into the gadfly. The disturbance they cause
depends on their numbers and the portions of the canal
on which they attach themselves. In the throat they
produce a chronic sore-throat and discharge from the nose
which continues until the following spring, unless they are
previously extracted with the hand. In the left half of
the stomach which is covered with a thick insensible cuti-
cle they do little harm when in small numbers, hence
Bracy Clark supposed them to be rather beneficial in
stimulating the secretion of gastric Juice. When very
numerous and above all when attached to the highly
sensitive right half of the stomach or the duodenum they
seriously interfere with digestion, causing the animals to
thrive badly, to be weak and easily sweated or fatigued,
and even determining sudden and fatal indigestions. This
last result is especially liable to occur in spring or early
summer, when the bots are passing out in great numbers
and hooking themselves at intervals to the coats of the
sensitive bowels in their course. They will sometimes
accumulate in such numbers as actually to block the pas-
sage. They even attach themselves to the skin outside
{he anus causing the animal to go awkwardly, to switch his
tail and give other signs of extreme discomfort until the
tail is raised and the offender discovered and removed.
Alleged perforations of the stomach by bots are usually
ruptures, the result of indigestion.
The irritation caused by their presence is not easily
distinguished from other forms of indigestion and colic.
It may be tympanitic or not, accompanied or not witb
Diseases of the Digestive Organs. 173
diarrhcea, and of the most variable intensity. If occurring
after a period of abstinence when the worms are presum-
ably hungry, or if in spring or early summer, if the bots
are found passing with the dung, if the horse turns up his
lip as if nauseated, and if the margins of the tongue are red
and fiery there will be so much more corroborative evi-
dence.
Treatment. In cases of irritation following abstinence
give potato juice, gruels, etc., to feed and quiet the bots,
adding some anodyne (opium, hyocyamus,) or mucilagin-
ous agents (gum Arabic, boiled linseed, mallow, slippery
elm,) if it appears necessary.
We cannot certainly kill the bots in the stomach, as
they will resist the strongest acids and alkalies, the most
irrespirable and poisonous gases, the most potent narcot-
ics and mineral poisons, empyreumatic oils, etc. Oil of
turpentine, bryony, ether and benzine have been relied on
by different practitioners but none of them are quite sat-
isfactory. It seems probable that these like other vermi-
fuges will act best in autumn or early winter before the
larva has acquired his hard, horny coat of mail, and at
this time accordingly they may be given with more con-
fidence. The azedarach (pride of China) grown around
stables in the South to protect from bots, probably acts in
this way, if at all, being cropped and swallowed by the an-
imals while the bots are still white, soft and permeable to
liquids.
The colics are to be treated by anti-spasmodics (tobac-
co, stramonium, laudanum, etc.,) and mild laxatives, and
the animal must be well fed to support him under the
drain and to keep the parasite gorged, lazy and non-irri-
tating. In summer when the bots are coming away their
exit may be precipitated by a good dose of physic.
Prevention. Trim off the long hairs of the jaws, breast,
shoulder and fore limbs and apply a litéle oil daily to pre-
vent the eggs from adhering. Or brush off the eggs with
soap-suds daily before they have had time to hatch in the
15*
174 The Farmer's Veterinary Adviser.
sun. A piece of cloth extended across beneath the jaws
is often employed to protect this part.
Rat-TAILED MAGGOTS the larvee of helophilus are also found
in horses’ intestines but are not known to be injurious.
Fig. 23.
Soe
a
Fig. 23—Helophilus.
INTESTINAL WORMS.
These are arranged in four classes: 1. The tape-worms,
consisting of flat bodies made up of a succession of seg-
ments or links, with a narrow neck and small head, and
divided into tape-worms proper, which are round-headed,
and bothriocephali, which are flat-headed with lateral
openings ; 2. the flukes, soft-bodied, flattened, leaf-like or
ovoid worms, with digestive organs and a variable num-
ber of sucking dises ; 3. the thorn-headed worms, with long
rounded bodies and retractile snouts furnished with
hooks by which they attach themselves to the mucous
membrane, but neither mouth nor digestive canal; 4.
lastly, the round worms which differ from the last in the
absence of a protractile, hooked snout and the pos-
session of mouth and digestive canal. The horse
harbors in his intestinal canal at least three tape-
worms and seven round worms; the ox, two tape-worms,
two flukes and five round worms; the sheep, one tape-
worm, one fluke and seven round worms; the pig, one
thorn-headed worm and five round worms; the dog, thir-
teen tape-worms, one fluke and five round worms; the cat,
five tape-worms, three flukes and three round worms; the
rabbit, one tape-worm and three round worms; the goose
and duck, nine tape-worms, seven flukes, one thorn-headed
worm and seven round worms; the chicken, four tape-
worms, two flukes and seven round worms; and the tur-
key and pigeon, at least two round worms each. Of these
Diseases of the Digestive Organs. 175
eighty-eight worms of the digestive organs it is useless to
attempt any description in a work of the present limits, so
that our attention must be mainly confined to their symp-
toms and treatment. For further information the reader
is referred to the author’s larger work or to those of
Leuckhart, Diesing, Dujardin, Baillet, Cobbold and othe
helminthologists.
The transformations of tape-worms have been already
referred to under parasites, and those of flukes under dir
Fig. 24. Fig. 25.
Fig. 24—Sclerostomum Equinum. Fig. 25—Oxyuris Curvula.
Mature and young forms, nat. size. 1 Female; 2 male, nat. size.
eases of the liver. The thorn-headed worms lay their egg:
within the body of their host, and these being passed with
{he dung are swallowed by crustaceans in which they en-
eyst themselves and develop the characters of the adult
worm in miniature, but remain very minute and fail to at-
tain their full size till their host is swallowed by another
animal. Among domestic animals ducks and pigs harbor
these, probably because of their carnivorous appetite. The
round worms mostly live in their young and immature con-
dition, out of the body, in water or moist earth or on, veg:
176 The Farmer's Veterinary Adviser.
etables (see lung-worms, verminous bronchitis,) but some are
exceptions, like the common pin-worm of the horse (Scler-
ostomum Equinum) which lives in pill-like masses of
dung, in little pouches and closed cysts of the mucous
Fig. 26. Fig. 27.
Fig. 27—Trichocephalus Affinis,
nat. size.
ig. 26—Ascaris Megalacephala. Fig. 28—Head of Tenia Expansa.
membrane of the large intestine and in dilatations of the
blood-vessels, especially the arteries of the bowels. This,
with two other common pin-worms of the horse (Scleros-
tomum Tetracanthum, Oxyuris Curvula,) are each ahaut
Diseases of the Digestive Organs. 177
an inch in length and all inhabit the large intestine in their
adult condition, sometimes becoming so numerous in a
district as to cause an epizootic. Another round worm
(Ascaris Megalacephala) about six inches long is very com-
mon in the horse’s small intestine.
Cattle suffer less from intestinal worms, but the follow-
ing are not infrequently injurious, especially to calves.
The long tape-worm (Tenia Expansa), Ascaris Bovis (like
a common earth-worm), the hair-headed worm (‘Tricoceph-
Fig. 29. ; Fig. 31.
Ffg. 29—Head o
Gigas.
Fig. 30—Spiroptera Strongylina; Fig. 31—Ascaris Suilla.
a, nat. size; 4, tail enlarged.
alus Affinis), the Sclerostomum Hypostomum and Stron-
gylus Radiatus.
Sheep suffer severely, especially from the long tape-
worm, Sclerostomum Hypostomum, Strongylus Fillicollis,
S. Contortus, Dochmius Cernuus and Tricocephalus Affinis.
The thick portion of the body of the last is about an inch
long, the other round worms are mostly under an inch and
a half. The tape-worm is usually three feet or under, but
is alleged to gain a length of twenty, thirty and even one
hundred feet.
178 Lhe Farmer's Veterinary Adviser.
Swine suffer severely from a thorn-headed worm (Kchin-
orynchus Gigas) from three to eighteen inches long; a
hair-headed worm (Tricocephalus Crenatus) a little
smaller than the ruminant’s; an ascaris (A. Suilla) like
that of ruminants ; the Sclerostomum Dentatum, three to
five lines in length, and the Trichina Spiralis, one-eight
eenth to one-sixth inch long.
Hig. 82. Fig. 34.
Fig. 36.
Fig, 32—Head of Dog’s Tape-worm (T. Cucumerina). Larval form in the
dog-louse (Trichodectes Cani). Fig. 33—Head of Dog’s Tape-worm (T.
Marginata). Fig. 34—Cyst of same (Cysticercus Tenuicollis) infests rumi-
nants, omnivora, etc. Fig. 35—Ascaris Marginata, nat. size. Fig. 36--
Ascaris Mystax, nat. size.
In addition to the tape-worms mentioned in the general
articles on parasites, the dog suffers much from others, as
from the following round worms: Ascaris Marginata, two
to four inches long; Spiroptera Sanguinolenta, one and
one-half to three inches long; Strongylus Trigonocepha-
Diseases of the Digestive Organs. 179
lus and Dochmius Trigonocephalus, each under one-half
inch; and Tricocephalus Depressiusculus, the thick part
of which is about one-half inch. One worm of the cat,
Ascaris Mystax, one to three inches long, deserves men-
tion because of its being harbored also in the human intes-
tine.
General Symptoms of Intestinal Worms. These are
shown when worms are present in large numbers, when
they attach themselves to the mucous membranes or when
they bore through these to reach other parts. There are
general signs of ill-health, poor condition, pot-belly, hide-
bound, a scurfy, dry state of the skin, often with itching,
irregular and usually voracious appetite, foetid breath, di-
arrhcea alternating with costiveness, the passage of mu-
cus with the dung, slight, colicky pams with tympany, es-
pecially in the morning before feeding, a puffy swelling
and itchiness of the anus, which is often surrounded with
a fur of dried mucus, and above all, the passage of the worms
or their eggs.
In the horse there is often a tendency to elevate the up-
per lip and to rub it against wall or manger, to lick earth
or lime, or to shake the tail or rub out the hair about its root.
There may, though rarely, be severe flatulent or spasmodio
colic, enteritis or peritonitis.
In cattle there are advancing emaciation, depraved or va-
_ riable appetite, impaired rumination, colics, tympanies
and foetid breath.
Sheep lose appetite, scour, suffer from thirst, wasting,
bloodless eyes, clapped, unhealthy or shedding wool, a
desire to eat earth, itching anus shown by frequent shak-
inz of the tail, and finally dropsical effusions in the chest
and belly and beneath the lower part of the body. They
become dull, hopeless-looking and leave the flock.
Swine beside the general symptoms have unusual vorac-
ity, and yet lose flesh, cough, scour, start from rest or
sleep with a sharp cry, scream excessively just before
feeding, have colicky pains, tender abdomen and vomiting,
180 The Farmer’s Veterinary Adviser.
and many even suffer from palpitations (thumps), vertigo
or convulsions.
Dogs sutter from inordinate appetite, wasting, itchy
skin, staring coat or loss of hair, indigestions, colics, oc-
casional scouring or vomiting, foetid breath, and itching
anus shown by their frequently licking it or drawing it
along the ground. Like swine they may show irritable
temper, starting without cause, palpitations, vertigo or
convulsions.
Treatment. This may be divided into the administration
of agents to kill the worms, of purgatives to carry off them
and their eggs, and of tonics to overcome the weakness and
the accumulations of mueus in which they live and thrive.
The diet for herbivora should be grain in summer, or in
winter sound natural hay salted, with carrots, turnips or
beets, and, in the horse at least, some of the more nutri-
tive grains (oats, barley, beans, corn, linseed cake, etc.,)
ground or unground. Pigs may also have green food,
roots, a liberal supply of grain, and if available, buttermilk.
Dogs may have salt meat with soups and milk.
Before giving a vermifuge let the bowels be cleared out
by a purgative (horse, aloes; ox or sheep, Glauber salts;
swine, dog or chicken, castor-oil). It should also be
given fasting before the morning’s feed and, if the worms
exist in the large intestines, by injection as well as by the
mouth.
A great list of vermifuges may be mentioned, some de-
structive to intestinal worms in general; others particu-
larly adapted to specific parasites; while some that are
safe and efficacious for one class of patients would prove
poisonous to another.
One class destroys worms by the mechanical irritation of
their skin and perhaps their intestinal canal. It includes
iron filings, granulated tin or tin filings, very finely pow-
dered glass, and cowhage. These are given in doses of
1 oz. to the large quadrupeds, 1 dr. to sheep and swine,
or 1 scr. to dogs, made into a ball with linseeed meal
Diseases of the Digestive Organs. 181
and syrup. They may be repeated daily for a week and
followed by a smart purge.
Bitters (quassia, cinchona, gentian, wormwood,): are
often beneficial though mainly acting as tonics. For
worms in the last gut a concentrated solution ag an in-
jection acts well.
Among the more direct vermifuges are: Common salt
allowed to be licked at will (must not be mixed in large
amount in the food of swine or chickens); oil of turpen-
tine ; calomel; tartar emetic with sulphate of iron, for six
mornings running, and followed by a purge; empyreu-
matic oils, and especially those coming off at a slightly
lower temperature than creosote and carbolic acid; azed-
arach; Spigelia marilandica (pinkroot); santonine; sul-
phuric ether; asafcetida; tansy; savin, etc. These are
general vermifuges and may be used especially for the
round worms.
For tape-worms use areca nut; kousso; root of male
shield-fern ; pomegranate root bark; kameela; pumpkin
seeds; ailanthus glandulosa; or oil of turpentine. In
every case the agent should be given fasting, it may even
be repeated at the end of four hours and should be
followed by a smart purge. For weak animals areca nut
is especially suitable.
A course of tonics (sulphate of iron, gentian, columba,)
should follow with sound nourishing diet and pure water.
In the case of the Sclerostomum Equinun, it will usually
be needful to repeat the treatment at short intervals to
kill the young worms which have escaped because of their
being buried in the mucous membrane.
Prevention is to be sought by measures advised under
lung-worms, especial attention being given to sound rour-
ishing food and pure water.
16
CHAPTER VII
DISEASES OF THE LIVER.
Effects of deranged functions of the liver. General symptoms and causes,
Saccharine urine, Diabetes Mellitus. Blood-poisoning from imperfect oxida.
tion of albuminoids, Azotemia, Azoturia, Enzootic Hzematuria, Spinal
Meningitis. Red-water in cattle, sheep and pigs. Wood Evil. Jaundice,
Icterus, the Yellows. Congestion of the liver. Rupture of the liver. In-
flammation of the liver, Hepatitis. Chronic inflammation of the liver.
Results of hepatitis. Gall-Stones, Biliary Calculi. Fatty degeneration.
Tubercle. Cancer. Hypertrophy. Atrophy. Parasitic diseases of the
liver. Liver-rot, Fluke-disease. Fasciola Hepatica. Distomum Lanceo-
latum.
Only now, when the functions of the liver are being
more fully discovered, do we begin to apprehend the full
importance of its various disorders. Formerly this organ
was supposed to have exhausted its functions in the secre-
tion of bile, and the various modifications and impaired
discharge of this product together with inflammation,
morbid growths and degenerations circumscribed the list
of hepatic diseases. But the recognition of the formation
of glycogen and cholesterine in the liver, together with urea
and other less perfectly oxidized nitrogenous bodies which
pass into the blood in place of being discharged with the
bile, points to the liver as the chief local seat of various
disorders such as diabetes, cholesterine plugging of ves
sels, blood-poisoning from imperfectly oxidized albumi-
noids, and urinary calculi.
General Symptoms. These may be stated shortly as
follows: obesity, sluggishness, irregular bowels, the dung
being abundant, liquid and deep yellow or orange from
Diseases of the Liver. 183
excess of bile in active congestions of the liver, or on the
contrary there may be costiveness, with light-colored,
foetid, imperfectly digested stools in cases in which bile is
not secreted or is debarred from entering the bowels by
some mechanical obstruction ; lameness in the right fore
limh, or even in one or more of the remaining members,
without any observable local cause; cramps and even
paralysis in the severer cases with poisonous products
thrown into the blood ; a tardy pulse sometimes not more
than half its natural number; yellow or orange color of
the eyes and other visible mucous membranes, and of the
urine in cases of obstructed bile-ducts or intestines with
reabsorption of bile, or in destruction of blood-cells by
taurocholic acid and other products abnormally present in
the blood; tenderness or groaning when the last ribs are
pinched or struck with the closed fist; a yellow or orange
fur may sometimes be seen universally diffused or in cir-
cumscribed spots on the upper surface of the tongue ; the
presence in the urine of deep brown or reddish granular
deposits replacing urea is another sign of liver disorder.
Obstructed circulation in the liver causes congestion of the
portal vein, engorged spleen, intestinal catarrh, effusion of
blood on the bowels, piles, dropsy of the abdomen, and
swelling of the hind limbs. These may therefore be at-
tendant symptoms.
The conditions in which animals live may further assist
our decision in suggesting an eflicient cause. The fat, idle,
overfed and pampered stock are especially subject to liver
disease, and more particularly if kept in close, hot, damp
buildings or climates, or supplied with putrid water or
unwholesome food. Thus the pampered family horse, the
idle farm horse during our long winters, the high-bred ox,
sheep, and pig in which everything has been sacrificed to
secure excellence as meat producers, the pet dog, and the
Brahmas, Cochins and other plump hens of Asiatic ex-
traction, present frequent examples of liver disease. The
stabled animal is more subject to it than those running af
184 The Farmer's Veterinary Adviser.
pasture, and the subject liberally fed on dry fodder than
that nourished on succulent green food. Then the deni-
zen of the warm latitude and damp miasmatic soil is more
liable than others.
SACCHARINE URINE, DIABETES MELLITUS.
Very rare in the lower animals but has been seen in
carnivora (dogs), omnivora (monkeys), cattle and even in
the horse. Temporary sweetness of the urine is not dis-
ease, but if permanent it may be referred to excessive
production of glycogen in the liver which is probably
always enlarged (Bernard) ; or less frequently to the fail-
ure of the liver to transform the sugar of the food into
glycogen ; or it may be from disease of the medulla oblon-
gata (apoplexy) or of some part which exerts an irritant
reflex action on the base of the brain. It has been pro-
duced experimentally by giving alcohol, ether, chloroform,
quinia, ammonia, arsenic, phosphoric acid, and eroorali.
Symptoms. Rapid loss of condition, scurfy, unthrifty
skin, costive bowels, indigestion, ardent thirst, and exces-
sive secretion of urine of a high specific gravity—horse
and ox, 1060; pig, goat and sheep, 1030 and upward.
The tests for sugar are: 1. taste; 2. fermentation when
yeast is added and the whole allowed to stand in a warm
temperature ; 3. the addition to a little of the urine in
a test-tube of a few drops of solution of blue vitriol, and
a considerable excess of potassa, and boiling the liquid foz
a moment when if sugar‘is present there is a deposit of the
yellowish-brown suboxide of copper.
Treatment. Rarely successful. The best results are to
be expected in cases in which an active cause, such as dis»
ease of the liver, lungs or brain, can be recognized and
kept in check or cured. Thus with liver disease, laxatives,
alkalies, pure air and water, green or otherwise laxative
food, and cupping, mild blistering or even leeching over
the spare-ribs, may be beneficial. In lung disease the
treatment must correspond to its nature, whether inflam-
Diseases of the Liver. 185
matory, tuberculous or otherwise. Tonics and stomachics
are almost always demanded. All the bitters, tincture of
iron, the mineral acids and carbonate of soda have been
used with profit. Opium, which checks the excretion of
sugar, is injurious by impairing digestion. Lactic acid has
repeatedly succeeded at the expense of a severe attack of
rheumatism. Free secretion from the skin is beneficial
and should be encouraged by warm clothing, baths and
climate. Diet should be mainly albuminous, such as bran
mashes and gruels, peas, beans, vetches, flesh deprived of
fat, ete.
BLOOD-POISONING FROM IMPERFECT OXIDATION OF ALBUMINOIDS.
AZOTG@:MIA. AZOTURIA. ENZOOTIC HEMATURIA. SPINAL
MENINGITIS.
Variously described in the books as disease of the kid-
neys and spinal cord, this is really due to disease of the
liver which fails to effect the transformation of albumi-
noids into urea, and entails an accumulation in the gland
and in the circulating fluid of partially oxidized products,
such as leucin and tyrosin, which pass off in variable
amount by the kidneys. It attacks almost exclusively
horses which have stood idle in the stable for a few days,
on good diet, and are then taken out and subjected to ac-
tive exertion.
Symptoms, ete. These are very variable. In the mild-
est forms there is only some lameness and muscular trem-
bling in a particular limb, without apparent cause, brought
on by sudden exertion and attended by a dusky-brown
color of the membranes of the eye and nose and some
signs of tenderness when the short ribs are struck. This
may be entirely cured by a course of gentle laxatives (pod-
ophyllin, 1 scr.) and diuretics (colchicum, muriate of am-
monia, taraxacum, nitre,) and a gradual inuring to work,
beginning with the slightest exertion and increasing day
by day as the condition improves. The worst forms come
on during or after driving, it may be not more than one
16*
186 The Farmer's Veterinary Adviser.
hundred yards, the fire and life suddenly giving place tc
anxiety and despondency, the subject seems to be in vio-
lent pain, the flanks heave, the nostrils are dilated, the
face is pinched, the surface is drenched in perspiration,
the body trembling violently, the limbs weak, so that they
sway and bend, while the animal walks crouchingly behind
and soon goes down unable to support himself. If urine
is passed it is high-colored, dark brown, red or black, and
is usually thought bloody, but it contains neither clots nor
blood-corpuscles, its color being due to the imperfectly
oxidized albuminoids mixed with an excess of urea. When
the patient is down the limbs and whole body are still
convulsed at intervals, but are beyond the control of the
animal, showing the poisonous effect on the nervous sys-
tem. The pulse is variable but high and the temperature
of the body normal at first, though it rises slightly if the
animal survives. Death may ensue ina few hours or days,
or improvement manifested at any period may go on to
complete recovery. The blood is dark, diffluent, clots
loosely if at all, and smells strongly. In some cases of re-
covery a partial paralysis of the hind limbs or wasting of
the crural nerve and muscles above the stifle will some-
times persist for a time, showing structural nervous disease.
Prevention is to be sought by regular daily exercise. In
the case of horses which have had a period of absolute
repose, submit to walking exercise only, at first, and in-
crease this day by day until they have attained good, hard
condition.
Treatment. Clear out the bowels and unload the por-
tal vein and liver by active purgatives. Podophyllin $
drachm, aloes 4 drachms, may be given by the mouth, and
copious injections of soap-suds with oil or salts by the
anus until the bowels respond, in which case a favorable
termination may be hoped for. Dyrachm doses of bromide
of potassium may be given frequently to calm nervous dis-
order, and when the bowels have responded half drachm
doses of colchicum and drachm doses of muriato of
Diseases of the Liver. 187
ammonia three times a day. Warm fomentations to
the body, but especially to the loins, are beneficial, alike
in soothing irritation in the liver, spinal marrow and kid-
neys, and in securing a free perspiration and the elimina-
tion of morbid matters by the skin. They may be replaced
by a newly removed sheep-skin applied with the fleshy
side in, and followed by a mustard poultice. When the
appetite returns the diet must be of sloppy mashes anid
moderate in quantity.
In case the paralysis persists after the acute symptous
have subsided, treat as for functional paralysis.
WOOD EVIL. RED WATER OF CATTLE, SHEEP AND PIGS.
Under this name we designate a malady generally de-
scribed as bloody urine (hematuria), but as the liquid does
not usually contain blood globules or clots, and as the
liver is almost invariably enlarged and softened and the
blood elements are largely destroyed, it must be conceded
that the affection is more intimately associated with disor-
der of the hepatic functions than of any other. The cause,
which may be stated as feeding on irritant and unwhole-
some food, is such as is calculated to disorder the digest-
ive organs and liver. The blood seems to suffer second-
arily, though it is by no means disproved that other blood-
forming functions beside those of the liver are involved.
The blood itself is usually thin, watery and comparatively
incoagulable, with a deficiency of fibrine, albumen and red
globules—the last named elements being smaller than nat-
ural and irregularly notched around their margins. The
urine varies in color from a simple reddish tinge through
the various shades of red and brown to black. It contains
albumen and various albuminoid agents, excess of urea,
cholesterine and phosphates, implying hepatic disturbance
and destructive changes taking place in the blood.
This is essentially a disease of unimproved localities
and attacks animals fed too exclusively on products of
such land, which are naturally stimulating to the digest-
188 The Farmer’s Veterinary Adviser.
ive organs and liver. Turnips and other saccharine roots,
though perfectly safe from ordinary soils, are dangerous
from these, and in the natural meadows and woods the
young shoots of resinous trees (conifer) and the acrid
plants of the ranunculus, colchicum and asclepias families,
etc., are held to produce it. Its prevalence in woods and
uncultivated meadows has procured for it in almost all
European countries some name equivalent to wood disease.
An important element in the causation is the existence of
soil rich in organic matter and soured by the stagnation
of water owing to a clay or otherwise impervious subsoil.
Cows are very susceptible just after calving’and often per-
ish.
Symptoms. Dullness, languor, weakness, especially of
the hind limbs, trembling, surface coldness, staring coat,
dry muzzle, hot mouth and horns and diminution of the
milk which is white and frothy and may throw down a red-
dish sediment. Appetiteis lost, thirst ardent, pulse small
and weak, beats of the heart tumultuous, amounting to palpi-
tation in the parturient cases, bowels at first relaxed after-
ward costive, abdomen tender, urine passed frequently in
small quantity and often with suffermg. Colicky pains
are often a marked symptom when the irritation of the
bowels is extreme. Delirium even will set in in bad cases
and death usually supervenes on a state of extreme pros-
tration.
Prevention may be sought in thorough drainage; in
restricting the allowance of objectionable food and supple-
menting it with sound dry grain and fodder; in the avoid-
ance of damp, woody and natural meadows in spring until
there is a good growth of grass, and in the rejection of hay
from faulty pastures containing an excess of acrid plants.
Treatment. At the onset of the disease nothing succeeds
better than a free evacuation of the bowels and depletion
of the portal vein and liver by an active purgative. When
there is no abdominal pain or other sign of inflammation
of the bowels, salts or any other active purgative will suf-
Diseases of the Liver. 18S
fice, but with colic and tenderness of the abdomen, we
must restrict our choice to olive-oil, and other bland ma-
terials. In advanced and weak conditions, decoctions of
linseed should be resorted to. The animal is to be sup-
ported by diffusible stimulants and iron tonics, with chlo-
rate of potassa, and the bowels sheathed and protected by
infusions of slippery elm, or mallow, decoctions of linseed,
eggs, milk or mucilage ; diet should consist of linseed decoc-
tions, well-boiled gruels, bran mashes, and other nutritive
and easily digested food.
JAUNDICE. ICTERUS. THE YELLOWS.
This name is given to that condition in which the visi-
ble mucous membranes, the skin—if white—the urine and
the tissues are stained yellow, orange or brown by: bile
coloring matter. It is only a symptom of various disor-
ders, but is so specific in its characters that the name bids
fair to be retained for the state. It is not caused as once
supposed by the non-secretion of bile from the blood, but
by the re-absorption of bile already secreted.
This absorption may be determined by various cases.
1. Obstruction of the bile duct, by gall-stones, parasites,
foreign bodies entering from the gut, fibrous or spasmodic
stricture of the duct, inflammation or ulceration and swell-
ing of the mucous membrane of the canal, or the intestine
near the opening, tumors or overloaded intestines. 2.
Obstruction of the bowels which hinders the discharge
of the bile. 3. Diminished fullness of the capillary ves-
sels of the liver from partial mechanical obstruction of
hepatic artery or aorta. 4. Excessive secretion of bile in
congested states of the liver.
Jaundice may also result from imperfect metamorpho-
sis of the re-absorbed bile, as in certain fevers (anthrax,
Texan-fever, hog-cholera, purpura hemorrhagica,) in
blood-poisoning, (septic matter, snake venom, phospho.
rus, mercury, copper, antimony, chloroform, ether, car-
bonic acid). It may farther result from the breaking down
190 The Farmer's Veterinary Adviser.
of red blood-globules and liberation of their coloring mat-
ter to stain the blood and textures. This may be caused
by excess in the blood of water, bile acids (taurocholates)
alkalies, nitrites, ether or chloroform. It may result from
freezing, burning, (140° F.) and frictional and induction
currents of electricity. It is noticeable that the coloring
matter in the blood of solipeds is very easily dissolved
and that of carnivora only with difficulty. Hence the
frequency of a dusky or jaundiced appearance of the mem-
branes in horses and its comparative harmlessness, as
contrasted with similar conditions in the dog. It is further
probable that the re-absorbed bile acids are transformed
into bile pigment in certain states of the blood.
Symptoms. General coloration of all the tissues, but
especially the mucous membranes of a yellow, or over
large veins of a greenish hue, and also of the urine. When
there is obstruction of the bile duct, the dung is devoid
of bile, foetid and often clayey in appearance, but if from
other causes it may retain its natural color and odor.
Other symptoms may appear dependent on the nature
of the attendant disease, or the poisonous action of the
bile acids, and of various diseased products on the blood,
while the coloration itself seems to be comparatively harm-
less.
Treatment. This will depend on the nature of the cause.
As a general rule what favors the action of the bowels,
the free elimination of the bile, and depletion of the portal
vein and liver will counteract the jaundice. Small daily
doses of podophyllin, (horse and ox 1 ser.) with one or
more ounces each of Glauber, Epsom, and common salt,
as may be needful, will often act very efficiently. Or aloes,
jalap or calomel, may replace the podophyllin. Taraxa-
cum may be given either in diuretic or purgative doses, or
a herbivorous patient may be turned out on a pasturage
of dandelion; succulent spring grass indeed is sometimes
all that is needed. Diuretics are useful in effecting efim-
ination of the pigment, the carbonates and acetates of po-
Diseases of the Liver. 191
tassa, soda and ammonia being especially good. Bittez
and other tonics are often valuable in conteracting that in-
pairment of tone which favors congestion and swelling of
the stomach, intestine and liver, otherwise the treatment
must correspond to the nature of the cause when that can
be ascertained.
CONGESTION OF THE LIVER.
This is common in horses in warm climates, where
luxuriant grasses (plethora) and hot seasons strongly pre-
dispose. Hence, in the Southern States, and especially in
localities which are moist as well, and where malarious
emanations exist, it may be looked for, but it is also seen
in pampered idle animals kept in hot close stables any-
where. Rich food and the comparative absence of waste by
exercise and breathing throw too much labor on the liver,
which is rendered liable to clogging and congestion. Among
the immediate exciting causes may be named sudden
changes of temperature, emigration from a cold to a warm
damp region, chills in cold dewy nights after hot days,
sudden exertion when unfitted for it by long rest and bad
condition, exertion under intense heat of the sun, and blows
on the region of the liver, particularly on the young.
Venous congestion from imperfect action of the heart
valves is a cause of hepatic congestion, at once predispos-
ing and exciting.
Symptoms. These strongly resemble the severe forms
of poisoning, by imperfectly elaborated liver products, the
two conditions being often coexistent and mutually de-
pendent on each other. There are the sudden prostration,
dull sunken eyes, pinched anxious face, excited breathing
and pulse, trembling, swaying limbs, perspiration, sighing,
and violent colicky pains with frequent looking at the flank,
lying down and rising. Striking the last ribs with the fist
causes flinching, groaning, or even attempts to lick or
bite, and some jaundice and furring of the tongue are often
seen. When fainting ensues, this with the pallid mucous
192 The Farmer's Veterinary Adviser.
membranes and quick, weak pulse, imply rupture of the
liver and extensive loss of blood. In the slighter attacks
the symptoms are correspondingly mitigated.
The attack may subside and end in complete recovery,
or blood effused into the substance of the liver may be
slowly absorbed, or organized into fibrous material, or
may determine extensive and fatal softening of the liver,
or finally the patient may perish in a fainting fit from rupt-
ure of the liver and loss of blood.
Treatment. At the outset a free bleeding will often ob-
viate effusion of blood and rupture and check the disease.
It must never be resorted to, however, when faintness, a
weak, small pulse or a small stream from the orifice im-
plies already existing effusion. Quiet, mustard poultices
or other derivatives applied to the limbs and saline pur-
gatives (1 lb. sulphate of soda) by the mouth, and as in-
jections will prove valuable in directly depleting the
portal system and liver. Cold water or ice to the last ribs
will often serve to check effusion already begun. The
sulphate of soda may be kept up in small doses (1 to 4
ozs. daily) and a mustard or other blister may be applied
over the region of the liver. During treatment the animal
must have the purest air and, as food, soft bran mashes
and roots. After recovery feed moderately on sound, eas-
ily digested food, keep in pasture or airy stable and never
neglect moderate exercise even for a day.
INFLAMMATION OF THE LIVER. HEPATITIS.
Due to the same causes as congestion but much less fre-
quent. In dogs, beside the general causes we must ac-
knowledge the influence of sharp-pointed bodies swallowed
in wantonness, and splinters of bones which perforate the
stomach and liver.
Symyptoms. At first those of slow congestion already
referred to. As active inflammation sets in there is less
violent pain and excitement and more fever. The pulse
is accelerated, the breathing quickened, especially in in-
Diseases of the Liver. 193
flammation of the liver capsule, the region of the last ribs
is very tender to a blow (on the right side only in 1umi-
nants), the mouth hot and clammy, tongue furred, mucous
membranes more or less dusky or yellow and the heat of
the body raised by 2° or upwards. The bowels may be
at first loose, yellow and bilious but soon are confined,
the small pellets of dung being covered with a yellowish
mucus and this state may again give place to a mucous
diarrhoea. Appetite is usually completely lost, emaciation
advances rapidly, blood spots and patches appear on the
visible mucous membranes, and the legs, especially the
hind ones, swell or stock. Great nervous atony, convul-
sions or even delirium may appear toward the last.
In dogs there is great dullness and muscular weakness,
inclination to lie constantly, unsteady gait, dusky or yel-
low membranes, furred tongue, prominence of the last ribs
on the right side and tenderness along them and their
cartilages. When the disease is fully developed the tumid
edge of the liver may be felt behind the last rib and the
costal cartilages. A brownish, mucous diarrhoea succeeds
to the preliminary constipation. Great nervous prostra-
tion and stupor usually precede death. The disease is
very fatal in dogs but may merge into the chronic form
with ascites or end in a perfect recovery.
Fouls, especially the less lively birds, suffer much from
hepatitis when well fed and kept in a small poultry-yard.
They may die suddenly of effusion of blood on the liver
without any previous signs of illness, or they may droop
for some days or even weeks prior to death. Any change
in the habits of closely confined, plethoric fowls should
lead to suspicion of liver disease. Ruffled feathers, sink-
ing of the head between the wings, sluggishness in run-
ning or feeding, drooping in a corner alone, with a with-
ered brownish appearance of the comb and jaundice of
the skin are especially to be noted.
Treatment. Bleeding is rarely beneficial and we must
rely mainly on depletion from the portal system and liver
17
194 The Farmer's Veterinary Adviser.
by purgatives, or counter-irritants and change of habits.
A pound of sulphate of soda may be given at once to the
larger animals, or an ounce to a shepherd’s dog and an
equivalent amount by injection. Podophyllin, aloes, etc.,
may be used instead. Friction, with loose bandaging of
the limbs, with or without excitation with mustard or am-
nonia and cupping, or in small animals leeching over tho
region. of the liver or mustard poultices are demanded.
After the bowels have been freely opened smaller doses of
Glauber salts or cream of tartar may be given daily to
keep up a free action of the bowels, and throughout the
diet must be soft (mashes, roots, green food,) and restricted
in quantity. Taraxacum with bitter tonics (Peruvian
bark, gentian, columba, gelsemium, etc.,) will be useful
during convalescence, and when the herbivorous patient is
well enough to be pastured in a field well stocked with
dandelion this may be resorted to. In carnivora and
swine ipecacuanha and guaiacum are useful in favoring free
elimination by the bowels and skin.
Fouls attacked usually die, but the morbid state in which
the disease takes its origin may be counteracted in the re-
maining fowls by a free range, by cabbage, cooked pota-
toes, turnips and other vegetable food in place of grain,
and a small quantity of salt and Glauber salts in the food
or water. Excess of common salt is poisonous.
CHRONIC INFLAMMATION OF THE LIVER.
This is seen especially in horses and dogs, the liver often
attaining an enormous size or undergoing fibrous degen-
eration (cirrhosis). It is attended by the same symptoms
as the acute form, but these are less urgent and dropsy of
the belly and legs is a common result.
It is to be treated in the same manner as the acute form
but less energetically, mild laxatives with bitters daily and
above all a free range in the open air; for herbivora,
sound, juicy pastures and in case of malarious soil or im-
pure water, a change even for a few miles to a higher lo-
cality.
Diseases of the Liver. 195
—
RESULTS OF INFLAMMATION OF THE LIVER.
Beside recovery there may be effusion of blood with soft-
ening, granular softening, abscess and fibrous induration.
These if not promptly fatal give rise to wasting diseases
with general symptoms of liver disorder, but into these
our space will not permit us to enter. (See the author’s
large work.)
GALL-STONES. BILIARY CALCULI.
These are especially common in oxen when subject to
the dry feeding of winter but are found in all domestic
animals, often in great numbers. They occur as round
masses, angular masses when they have lain in contact, or
as incrustations on the walls of the ducts of which they
form distinct casts. They often fail to cause manifest
disorder, but if they obstruct the ducts there is acute spas-
modic pain in the abdomen, with all the signs of colic,
tenderness over the last ribs, and more or less jaundice.
The attacks are liable to recur as new calculi are displaced,
and the general health suffers. Carnivora vomit, and in
all diarrhcea may set in if relief is not obtained. Sheep
generally have incrustations when affected with flukes
(liver rot).
The formation of these calculi may usually be prevented
in herbivora by allowing a fair amount of exercise and
succulent food, and they nearly always disappear in cattle
turned outon therich grasses of spring. Beside these meas-
ures their removal may be sought by the daily use of carbon-
ate and sulphate of soda and common salt, with abundance
of good water and exercise. During the attacks give anti-
spasmodics, lobelia, belladonna, hyoscyamus, chloral-hy-
drate, etc., and keep up hot fomentations perseveringly to
the loins and abdomen. Chloral-hydrate and chloroform
dissolve cholesterine calculi.
OTHER AFFECTIONS OF THE LIVER, fatty degeneration, tuber-
cle, cancer, hypertrophy, atrophy, are manifested by the
general symptoms of hepatic disorders, but space turhids
further notice of them here.
196 The Farmer's Veterinary Adviser.
PARASITIC DISEASES OF THE LIVER.
LIVER-ROT. FLUKE DISEASE.
This affection is most destructive to sheep, of which it
has destroyed as many as from one to two million head
in England alone in certain years. It is immediately
determined by the presence in the gall ducts of two flat
leaf-like parasites—the Fasciola Hepatica and the Disto-
mum Lanceolatum—the first ? to 1 inch in length, the
Fig. 37. Fig. 38.
Fig. 37—Fasciola Hepatica. Fig. 38—Distomum Lanceolatum.
second 4 lines. These inhabit the gall ducts of all the
domestic animals, of many wild animals and even of man,
but in most of these they do little harm. The eggs of
these parasites laid in the gall ducts cannot be developed
there, but pass out with the bile and dung, hatch in pools
of fresh water in which the embryo floats until it finds
a moliusk, in which it encysts itself and becomes a brood
capsule developing many new embryos. within it; these
embryos may form new brood capsules and thus increase
their numbers materially, or if swallowed by a mammal
along with its food or water they develop into the mature
Diseases of the Liver. 197
flukes, inhabiting the bile ducts and reproducing them-
selves only by eggs. The necessity for these intermediate
generations, and the fact that they can only take place in
fresh water and in fresh water mollusks, points to thorough
drainage as the most efficient means of limiting the ravages
of the parasites.
In small numbers they do little harm and as they can-
not multiply within the body their presence may be of no
consequence, but when present in large numbers they be-
come most destructive. In certain damp lands stocked
with these parasites sheep cannot live, no matter how
well fed, and cattle often perish as well. A single in-
fested sheep brought on such damp lands will speedily
stock them, as infested German rams did the colony of
Victoria in 1855.
Symptoms. Sheep may thrive unusually for a month or
two, but soon they begin to lose flesh and waste with
a rapidity that is surprising. The skin and the membranes
of the nose and eyes become soft and puffy, the naturally
bright pink vessels of the eye become yellowish, dark, or
even quite imperceptible, the whole eye assumes a yellow
tinge, the skin is pale, bloodless, deficient in yolk or oil,
dry and scurfy. The wool loses its brilliancy and comes
out easily when pulled. The muscles waste, the animal
is razor-bached, the hip-bones project, and the flank becomes
sunken, the belly pendent and the back drooped from
dropsical effusion. Similar effusions take place in the
chest beneath the abdomen and breast-bone and under
the lower jaw. The head is no longer carried erect, the
expression of the face is haggard and hopeless, the appe-
tite capricious, thixst ardent, and there is occasional
diarrhea. Examination of the dung detects myriads of
microscopic eggs ; fy inch in diameter.
Treatment. Almost all the tonics of the pharmacopeia
have been employed with more or less effect, but all usu-
ally fail when many parasites have gained access to the
198 The Farmer's Veterinary Adviser.
system. The following is a good example of a tonic mixt-
ure:
Linseed, rape, pea, oat, barley, or unbolted wheat
flour, 40 lbs,
Powdered gentian or anise seed, 4“
Common salt, 4“
Sulphate or oxide of iron, 1.
Give half a pint daily to each sheep.
In all treatment it is essential to remove from the in-
tested meadow to a perfectly dry pasture or salt marsh on
either of which the eggs of the fluke will perish. To turn
on a wet fresh pasture is merely to stock that with the
parasites.
Prevention. Keep sheep on high dry pastures or salt
marshes where the fluke cannot live out of the body.
Feed salt daily if flukes exist to however limited an extent;
this is fatal to the young flukes and will destroy most of
them as they are takenin. Thorough drainage of infested
pastures will make them wholesome. This may fail when
land is subject to inundations, and in this case such land
should be devoted to raising hay or other crops. Keeping
the sheep off the infested fields at nights and until the
dews leave the grass in the morning will go a long way
towards protecting them. In some instances of the intro-
duction of this parasite into a new country the contami-
nated sheep should be destroyed and the infested pasture
with a wide area around it proscribed from being grazed.
For other parasites of the liver, see general article on
‘« PARASITES,”
CHAPTER IX.
DISEASES OF THE PANCREAS AND SPLEEN,
Diseases of the pancreas: inflammation, degeneration, calculi, etc. Dis
eases of the spleen: tuberculous, cancerous, glanderous, inflammatory, con
gestive, apoplectic. Hypertrophy, Atrophy, Lymphadenoma, Leukzemia.
DISEASES OF THE PANCREAS.
Though subject to a variety of diseases as shown by the
existence of abscess, tuberculosis, sarcoma,melanosis, can-
cer, calculi and worms (Sclerostomum Equinum) after
death, this organ is so deeply seated and the result of its
disorder so little manifest, that its pathological states usu-
ally pass without recognition during life. One symptom
only is characteristic—the passage of much undigested fat
with the dung. The fatty aliment is mainly emulsionized
by the pancreatic juice, and its presence in the stools un-
changed may be held to imply suppression of that secre-
tion. If this condition coincides with general fever, col-
icky pains, and tenderness behind the last rib on the right
side, inflammation of the gland may be suspected ; if with
sharcer colic but without fever, obstruction of the wincreatic
duct by calculi will be suggested.
Inflammation should be treated on general principles by
Jaxatives, blisters to the right side of the abdomen an¢
spare diet; Calculi by antispasmodics and fomentations
as for gall-stones; and simple suppressed secretion by sul-
phuric ether.
DISEASES OF THE SPLEEN (MILT).
These are if possible even more occult than those of the
200 The Farmer’s Veterinary Adviser.
pancreas. And yet this organ is involved in nearly all
diseases of the liver, in specific fevers due to a poison in
the blood, and in disorders of the lymphatic vessels. Ob-
structed circulation through the liver sends the blood
back on this organ and over-distends it almost to rupture.
Advanced tuberculosis and cancer rarely fail to show
secondary deposits here. Glanders sometimes shows the
same tendency. Anthrax and anthracoid affections and,
to a less extent, other specific fevers, lead to enlargement
and even rupture of the spleen, in connection with the
long retention of the blood and disease poisons in its ve-
nous cavities. Of particular diseases the spleen suffers
from wasting in starved animals, from extraordinary in-
crease in the highly fed, and from changes of structure
such as alandular degeneration and enlargement (lymphade-
noma). i. of these diseases, and notably the latter,
are associated with an excess of white globules in the
blood, (leukcemia) which condition revealed by the micro-
scope may assist in diagnosis.
We can do little for these affections besides giving at-
tention to the general health, by tonics and a sound hy-
giene.
CHAPTER X.
DISEASES OF THE URINARY ORGANS.
General causes and symptoms. Examination of the urine. Diuresis, Di
abetis Insipidus, Polyuria. Bloody urine, Heematuria. Simple inflamma.
tion of the kidneys, Nephritis. Bright’s disease, Desquamative Nephritis
Albuminuria, Albuminous urine. Spasm of the neck of the bladder. Paraly-
sis of the bladder. Inflammation of the bladder, Cystitis. Inflammation
of the Urethra, Gonorrhcea, Gleet. Stricture of the Urethra. Eversion of
the bladder. Urinary Calculi, and gravel, Stone in the kidney, ureter, blad-
der, urethra and prepuce,—in horses, cattle, sheep, pigs and dogs.
Diseases of the urinary organs are not infrequent in the
domestic animals, though less prevalent than in man.
They prevail above all in certain localities, as: on the
magnesian limestones, in company with goitre, on lands
abounding in diuretic or resinous plants or water, in damp
regions where fodder is secured in a wet, musty condition,
where it is fed covered with hoar-frost, or where frequent
cold rains and winds repress the perspiration and throw
undue work on the kidneys. Jeeding to excess on ali-
ments rich in phosphates of lime and magnesia—bran,
beans, peas, vetches, etc.,—the habitual privation of wa-
ter, Injudicious dosing with diuretics, diseased heart and
langs which throws the blood back on the veins and de-
termines passive congestion of the kidneys, diseases of the
liver which interfering with the oxidation of albuminoids
predispose to urinary deposit, and finally mechanical in-
juries to the loins or pelvis all tend to induce various
urinary diseases.
General Symptoms. With most acute inflammations
there is a stiff straddling gait with the hind limbs, the
202 The Farmer's Veterinary Adviser.
loins are tender, as ascertained by pinching on the spines
or the transverse processes of the backbone, there is less
difficulty experienced in backing than when there is sprain
or fracture of the back or loins, and the animal is more
likely to lie down though it costs an extra effort to rise,
shere is straining to discharge urine, which is passed in
axcess, in deficiency, in jets, in dribblets only, or not at all.
‘n the larger animals the bladder and its excretory duct
urethra) are easily and satisfactorily examined by the
hiand introduced. through the rectum or vagina and any
tenderness, flaccidity, swelling, over-distension or foreign
~gent (stone) is easily made out. In the smaller breeds
of horses and cattle even, the kidneys may be reached in
this way and any heat, swelling, tenderness, etc., perceived.
Then brain disease, dropsies and skin eruptions are com-
mon results of urinary disorder.
Examination of the Urine. But a certain class of urin-
ary diseases are only to be made out by examination of
the urine. Beside the modifications of quantity and flow
already referred to, this may be altered : 1st, in color, as
avohite from saline deposits, brown or red from blood clots
and coloring matter, or from imperfectly oxidized albu-
minoids, yellow or orange from bile or blood pigment, pale
or variously tinted from vegetable colors taken with the
food: 2d, in density as measured by a hygrometer (urin-
ometer), the natural urine being in the horse and ox 1030
to 1060, pig and goat 1010 to 1012, dog 1020 and cat 1058:
3d, in chemical reaction, acidity or alkalinity, as ascertained
by blue litmus or red test-papers (healthy herbivorous
urine is alkaline, turning the red papers blue unless after
prolonged abstinence or a flesh diet ; carnivorous and om-
nivorous urine is acid excepting when confined to a vege-
table diet): 4th, in organic ingredients, as when it contains
albumen (coagulable by boiling or by strong nitric acid or
in the horse giving the liquid a ropy consistency), sugar,
blood, bile, cylindroid microscopic casts of the uriniferoug
tubes or the eggs or bodies of worms: 5th, in its salts
Diseases of the Urinary Organs. 208
which may crystallize out in the system or at once after
thé liquid is discharged, or after cooling, or finally may
have to be precipitated by chemical reagents.
DIURESIS. DIABETES INSIPIDUS. POLYURIA.
Excessive secretion of urine. This may occur in any
animal from agents, medicinal or alimentary, which un-
duly stimulate the kidneys. The horse, however, is the
most frequent sufferer, being more than any other animal
subjected to reckless dosing by those about him with pri-
vate nostrums and much advertised quack preparations,
and to the exclusive use of musty and injured hay and
grain. Musty hay, grain or bran is perhaps the most
common cause, the noxious agent being probably the
cryptogams produced on this damp, heated fodder. Musty
oatmeal will even affect the human being. New oats,
very watery food like the refuse of distilleries, and cooked
food, seleniteous waters, acrid diuretic plants in the pas-
tures or hay, exposure to extreme cold and wet, and ex-
cessive thirst consequent on feeding salt or on irritation
of the stomach are other causes. Whole flocks of sheep
sometimes suffer at once from acrid plants eaten.
Symptoms. Frequent—often almost constant—passage
of a very pale-colored urine in large quantities and of low
specific gravity, insatiable thirst, rapid falling off in con-
dition and spirits, sluggishness and weakness at work and
perspiration on the slightest exertion. The discharges
are comparatively inodorous and more like water than
jorse’s urine, and contain little solid matter though the
‘uantity of solids passed in twenty-four hours is in excess.
The skin becomes rough and hide-bound and all the signs
of ill-health set in, though the animal may suffer and sur-
vive for months or even a year. More commonly he dies
early of exhaustion, or glanders supervenes and kills the
patient.
Treatment is very successful in the early stages. Stop
the use of faulty food and drugs and give dry wholesome
20-4 The Farmer’s Veterinary Adviser.
hay and grain with no suspicion of newness or mustiness.
Give a decoction of flaxseed freely with the water drunk,
with phosphate of iron 2 drachms, Peruvian bark 4
drachms and iodide of potassium 2 drachins daily. Cre
osote may often be added with advantage.
BLOODY URINE. HA MATURIA.
This occurs after sprains of the loins or blows on this
region, with stone in the kidneys, urinary passages or blad-
der, cancer, tubercle or even abscess of the kidney, etc., or
lastly some poisoned condition of the blood, as in malig-
nant authrax. Acrid diuretic plants, cantharides, May-
bugs, etc., are occasional causes. When bleeding occurs
from local irritation or in a tolerably healthy state of the
blood it is partly at least in the form of clots and fibrinous
easts of the uriniferous tubes, about one-hundreth inch in
diameter, and entangling blood-globules. If from poi-
soned and disintegrating blood, there is a diffuse colora-
tion with hematine, with perhaps fragments of blood-
globules, but rarely perfect o1.zs, clots or casts, and a sim-
ar oozing of blood is liable to take place at other parts
£ the body. The blood-coloring matter is easily distin-
guished from bile by chemical tests. It is less easily dis-
tinguished from the brownish-red albuminoids which es-
sape by the kidneys in Azotemia. Beside the passage of
blood there may be the general signs of urinarv disorder,
but these are not constant. When gravel coexists gritty
masses pass with the urme or collect on the hair of the
prepuce.
Treatment. Remove the causes, give comfortable, dry
Iwellings, sound food, mucilaginous drinks (linseed tea,
nallow, gums, elm. etc.,) and acid astringents (tincture of
chloride of iron, sugar of lead, vinegar, buttermilk and oax
bark). In profuse discharge cold water may be applied tc
the loins, while in inflammatory cases a sheep-skin or
poultice may be first used and followed by a mustard
plaster. (See AzoraMia AND RED-WATER).
Diseases of the Urinary Organs. 205
NEPHRITIS. SIMPLE INFLAMMATION OF THE KIDNEYS.
Causes. Blows or sprains in the region of the loins,
stone in the kidneys, use of diuretics to excess, musty
fodder, irritant or acrid plants in hay, too extensive blis-
ters of Spanish flies, paralysis of the spinal cord.
Symptoms. A variable but often very high fever, heat
or even swelling of the loins, tenderness often extreme
beneath the bony processes about six inches from the
spine, a stiff, straddling gait with the hind limbs, little
marked in chronic cases but so severe as to amount almost
to helplessness in the worst, the loins arched, progression
difficult and attended in some cases by groaning, there is
looking at the abdomen and colicky pains, more severe at
one time than another. If the patient lies down it is with
caution. In males there are alternate retraction and de-
scent of the testicles, and in all there is likely to be frequent
passages of urine in small amount, of a very high color and
density, and containing fibrinous casts of the kidney tubes
one-hundreth of an inch in diameter, and sometimes blood
or even pus. The bowels are costive and there is a rapid
pulse, an elevated temperature and excited breathing.
The legs tend to swell uniformly from the foot up, and
swellings may appear under the chest or belly, or even in
internal cavities.
General ill-health, with stocking of the legs, casts in the
urine and some tenderness of the loins to pressure, may
be all that is seen in the chronic cases.
Treatment. In acute cases, with strong pulse and ro-
bust patient, an immediate advantage may be gained by
bleeding, but this is rare. Give a laxative of olive-oil or
ray’ linseed-oil, or in case of necessity of Glauber salts or
aloes, accompanying this with an anodyne, (opium, bella-
donna, tobacco,) throw anodyne and mucilaginous injec-
tious into the rectum, and cover the loins with a fresh
sheep-skin, the fleshy side in, or with a soothing poultice or
fomentations, following this up in six or eight hours by a
mustard poultice. Mucilaginous drmks may be given
206 The Farmer's Veterinary Adviser.
freely, but diuretics are to be sedulously avoided and
warm clothing used to favor sweating and thus relieve the
kidneys of work. Laxatives and anodynes must be re
peated as may seem necessary and finally a course of
bitter tonics may be allowed.
ALBUMINURIA. BRIGHT’S DISEASE. DESQUAMATIVE NEPHRITIS.
This consists in inflammation of the kidneys, acute or
chronic, with degeneration and shedding of the epithe-
lium from the kidney tubes.
Symptoms. More or less awkwardness of gait behind,
and tenderness of the loins, in some cases indisposition to
lie down, thick, gelatinous, ropy urine, with microscopic
casts of the kidney tubes, containing much spherical
epithelium and granular matter. The urine coagulates in
part in whitish flakes when boiled, or under the action of
corrosive sublimate, acetate of lead or nitric acid. The
general health suffers and the patient dies sooner or later
of uremia with dropsy, or of some other affection which
has been aggravated by the impaired vitality and the
excess of the elements of urine in the blood.
Treatment is not always satisfactory, though a certain
proportion recover. Avoid exposure to cold, keep in a
warm box and warmly clothed. Keep the bowels acting
freely by a restricted diet of warm bran mashes, etc., or
even by laxatives. Give tonics (phosphate of iron, quinia,
willow bark,) and mineral acids and use mustard appli-
cations to the loins. If the kidneys fail to act, do not
give diuretics, but use cupping over the part, or hot fo-
mentations with water, or better still a strong infusion of
digitalis.
Albuminous Urine, which is always ropy in horses, is no
proof of the existence of Bright’s disease, but is an attend-
ant on nearly all extensive inflammations of important
organs, on rheumatism, fevers and certain poisoned con-
ditions of the blood,
i
Diseases of the Urinary Organs. 207
SPASM OF THE NECK OF THE BLADDER.
Causes. Prolonged retention of urine in mares at work
or in horses hard driven. Chill when heated. Nervous
irritation. Is a common attendant on severe colic and
gives way when that is relieved. Males suffer most fre-
quently.
Symptoms. Frequent attempts to urinate, which prove
ineffectual or secure a dribbling only after much pain and
straining. There may be anxious looking at the flank
and uneasy shifting of the limbs, or in cattle twisting of
the tail. There is tenderness in the back part of the ab-
domen in the median line below. The hand, oiled and
introduced into the rectum, will feel the distended blad-
der, with its firm dense neck and no enlargement either
there or backward in the urethra, as from stone.
If unrelieved the bladder becomes immoderately dis-
tended and finally bursts, especially in ruminants. This
is followed by tenderness of the abdomen, febrile symp-
toms, dullness and languor, and if the bladder is exam-
ined it is found to be flaccid and tender. Perforation of
the lower part of the abdomen with the nozzle of a hypo-
dermic syringe allows the escape of urine, easily recog-
nized by its odor.
Treatment. Spreading fresh litter under the horse will
sometimes induce staling. If not,-use antispasmodics in-
troduced by the rectum or even by the mouth (opium,
laudanum, belladonna or hyoscyamus extract, tobaccc
smoke or solution, chloral-hydrate, lobelia, prussic acid,
cyanide of potassium, etc.) Solutions of any of these
agents may be rubbed on the perineum. Sometimes the
sp.sm will give way under gentle pressure on the bladder
with hand or finger in the rectum. Finally, all other
measures failing, the urine may be withdrawn with a well-
oiled catheter. This should be 4 inch in diameter for
the horse, + inch for the bull and a ie for the dog. Con-
trary to the usual statement a small catheter may be
vassed in the bull when the penis is sufticiently extended
208 The Farmer's Veterinary Adviser.
to efface the S-shaped bend of the penis. In the mare
the spasm may be overcome by the insertion of one or
two fingers through the opening which is found in the
median line of the floor of the passage about four inches
from the external orifice. In the cow care is required to
enter the central orifice as there is a blind sac on each
side.
PARALYSIS OF THE BLADDER
May occur from excessive over-distension, in connection
with lock-jaw or rheumatism which prevents stretching to
stale, with cystitis implicating the muscular coat, spasm
of the neck of the bladder, or decomposition of the urine.
It is attendant on disease or injury of the terminal part
of the spinal cord, on broken back, etc., and is then asso-
ciated with palsy of the tail and it may be of the hind
limbs.
Symptoms. If the neck is involved the urine dribbles
away constantly, without straining, is discharged in the
sheath and runs down inside the thighs causing irritation
and inflammation in both. If the neck is unaffected the
urine accumulates in the bladder, causing over-distension,
irritation and rupture. The urine decomposes, setting
free ammonia which softens and dissolves the epithelium
and establishes the worst type of cystitis.
Treatment. In cases of broken back or disease of the
spinal cord attention must be given to that and, if reme-
diable, the urine must be drawn off frequently with a cath-
eter to prevent over-distension and injury to the bladder.
In local paralysis, or after the spinal cord has recovered,
apply a blister (mustard) between the thighs beneath the
anus or vulva or over the back part of the belly inferiorly.
Give belladonna extract (1 to 2 drachms), cantharides (1 to
3 grains) or nux-vomica ($ drachm for large herbivora).
INFLAMMATION OF THE BLADDER. CYSTITIS.
Causes. Abuse of diuretics, acrid diuretic plants in
Diseases of the Urinary Organs. 209
the food, the application of blisters (Spanish flies, turpen-
tine,) over too extensive surfaces, prolonged retention and
decomposition of urine, irritation from stone in the blad-
der, ete.
Symptoms. Tf confined to the mucous membrane urine
is passed frequently, painfully, in small quantities, with
more or less floating mucus and flat, microscopic, fibri-
nous shreds of exudation entangling columnar or scaly ep-
ithelium. The bladder is very tender to the touch and
if the finger is passed into it in the female its neck and
walls are felt to be thickened, sometimes enormously.
There are colicky pains, frequent looking at the flanks, un-
easy movements of the hind feet or twisting of the tail.
The gait is stiff and straddling. There is fever, usually
shght. If the muscular coat is involved there is disten-
sion of the bladder, and if the neck participates the urine
escapes involuntarily. If due to unrelieved stone that will
be found on examination.
The case is most hopeful if due to irritants or some clearly
removable cause. ‘
Treatment. Remove the cause, whether food, drugs,
blistering agents on the skin, stone, gravel or retained and
decomposed urine. Give spare, soft, aqueous diet with
mucilaginous agents (linseed decoction or tea, slippery
elm, gums, etc.,) laxatives of olive or linseed-oil, soft pure
water at will, and mucilaginous and anodyne injections
into the bladder (gum Arabic 1 drachm, opium 1 drachm,
tepid water 1 pint). Blisters may be used in paralysis.
In severe cases these may be preceded by fomentations.
Finally, when the acute symptoms have subsided, small
doses of stimulating diuretics (copaiva, cubebs, juniper,
buchu,) will often serve to tone up the mucous membrane.
INFLAMMATION OF THE URETHRA. GONORRH@A. GLEET.
Causes. Like cystitis this may depend on irritants in
the urine, taken by the mouth or applied to the surface,
excessive copulation, connection with a newly-delivered
16”
210 The Farmer's Veterinary Adviser
female or one that has otherwise contracted a vaginal dis-
charge, mechanical injury to the penis in serving females,
irritation from the passage or arrest of small stones or
gravel.
Symptoms. Swelling and soreness in the sheath and
penis, pain in urinating, the liquid coming in jets and fre-
quently arrested because of the suffering. In dogs there
is continual licking of the organ and soon a creamy pus
drops from the orifice.
Treatment. If before the discharge of pus, give a laxa-
tive and foment the parts with warm water. Wash out
any gravel. If after suppuration, use soothing or astrin-
gent injections (permanganate of potassa, acetate of lead,
sulphate of zine or nitrate of silver, 2 grains to 1 oz. water).
Tonics and stimulating diuretics may be finally needed as
in cystitis. A soft restricted diet is demanded.
STRICTURE OF THE URETHRA.
Usually a result of local irritation :—gravel, strong as-
tringent injections used in the early stage of gonorrhoea or
the healing of ulcers formed when that disease is neg-
lected.
Symptoms. Great difficulty in urination, the liquid es-
caping in a fine s;ream and with pain. Frequent painful
erections.
Treatment. Passing, daily, catheters of gradually in-
creasing sizes, beginning with one just large enough to
enter with gentle force.
EVERSION OF THE BLADDER
Can occur only in the female, from severe straining’ in
irritation of the urinary organs, and especially after the
organ has been rendered torpid or paralyzed by over-dis-
tension, severe parturition or otherwise. The animal
strains violently and a red, tumid, rounded mass appears
from between the lips of the vulva. On examining its
surface near the neck the two orifices of the ureters may
be detected with the urine oozing from them in drops.
Diseases of the Urinary Organs. 211
Treatment. Wash with milk-warm water containing
laudanum, and return, pressing the centre of the mass in-
ward so as to correct the eversion. The main difficulty
will be met in returning it through the contracted neck of
the bladder, and if the eversion has lasted long enc ugh to
determine inflammation and softening great care will he
requisite to avoid tearing the coats. Should straming be
so violent as to threaten renewal of the eversion a truss
may be applied as advised for eversion of the womb.
URINARY CALCULI AND GRAVEL. STONE.
These vary in chemical composition with the genus of
animal and especially with the nature of the food. In
herbivora the urine normally contains a large amount of
the carbonates of lime and magnesia and of oxalate of lime,
a small quantity of silica, sulphate and phosphate of lime,
ammonio-magnesian phosphate, hippuric acid and some-
times uric acid, besides the more soluble alkaline salts.
Carnivora, on the other hand, have an excess of phosphate
of lime and magnesia, of sulphates and chlorides, more
uric acid than the vegetable feeders but a minimum amount
of carbonate and oxalate of lime and silica. The omnivora
occupy an intermediate position, the salts of the urine va-
rying with the frequent changes in the food.
The nature of the food determines the excess of particular
salts in the urine and their precipitation in the form of
crystals.
These carbonates of lime and magnesia which make up
the bulk of most urinary caleuli in horses and ruminants
are due to the large amount of vegetable acids (citrates,
tartrates, malates, acetates, etc.,) in plants. These becom-
ing further oxidized are transformed into carbonic acid
which unites with the magnesia or lime present in the
blood.
Oxalate of lime is due to imperfect oxidation of the veg-
etable acids, oxalic acid containing an equivalent less of
oxygen, than carbonic acid. It appears in excess in cer-
212 The Farmer's Veterinary Adviser.
tain diseases of the lungs or other conditions which inter-
fere with respiration.
Silica enters the system as silicate of potassa in food
and water and especially in cyperaceva, horsetails, oat-
straw, oat-meal, etc. It is displaced as silica whenever it
comes in contact with a stronger acid.
Phosphates enter the system in bran, in beans, peas,
and the leguminous seeds generally, in oil-cake and rape-
cake, or (the carnivora) in the flesh and bones. When
present in undue amount in a given quantity of urine they
tend to crystallize out, but when a large amount of phos-
phate of magnesia is present, it is only necessary that the
urine should be retained longer than usual in the bladder
and that decomposition should set in with evolution of am-
monia, to have the insoluble ammonia-magnesian phos-
phate at once thrown down.
Sulphate of lime is derived from sulphates in the water
or the oxidation of sulphur contained in the albuminoid
principles of food.
Urea, Uric Acid, Hippuric Acid, Creatine, Creatinine,
Kiestine, Leucin, Tyrosin, etc., are all nitrogenous elements,
derived from the waste of muscle and gelatinous tissues,
or from albuminoid matters in the food. Urea is to be
looked on as the healthy product of such decomposition,
while uric and hippuric acids, ete., are products in which
the process of oxidation has stopped short, leaving the
products in a less soluble condition and more liable to
crystallize out of the urine. Impaired breathing from dis-
eased lungs or otherwise and imperfect action of the liver,
whether from local disease in that organ or from feverish
states, with impaired functions generally, are therefore
among the causes which strongly predispose to urinary
ealeuli.
Beside these a certain amount of mucus, fat, coloring
matter and even blood enter into the formation of urinary
calculi.
Accessory Causes. To the above named causes favoring.
Diseases of the Urinary Organs. 213
the formation of urinary calculi, may be added all such ag
favor concentration of the urine. Thus scarcity of drink-
ing water, excessive loss of liquid by the bowels or skin,
(diarrhoea, dysentery, etc.,) dry winter feeding on hay and
grain, feverish states in which little urine is secreted, and
hard waters appear to have this effect. The last named
cause is not generally credited by physicians but its coin-
cidence with the prevalence of stone is exceedingly com-
mon.
Mode of Formation. The first requisite is that some
solid body should exist as a nucleus around which layer
after layer is crystallized, and hence the stone is always
composed of a series of concentric layers. The nucleus
may consist in a particle of mucus, fibrine or blood, a
crystal deposited from over-saturated urine, or even a for-
eign body introduced from without. I have seen a large
calculus in the kidney of a deer formed around a piece of
wood which must have penetrated the kidney and broken
oft, while the wound by which it entered had healed up.
appearance. Calculi vary much in character but the
most marked varieties are the smooth stones formed by
carbonates, oxalaies, phosphates and silica, and the
rough jagged crystalline specimens of ammonio-magnesian
phosphates.
Renal Calculi. Those found in the kidney are usually
moulded in the pelvis, though I have found many like
small lentils in dilatations of the microscopic tubes in the
substance of the gland. Cattle fed on dry hay and grain,
during winter, rarely want small yellow crystalline masses
in the pelvis. Even when so large as to distend the pel-
vis and weigh several ounces they are not always incom-
patible with good health and aptitude to fatten. When
so large or rough as to produce manifest disorder, this
appears as irritation of the kidneys, tender loins, stiff
straddling gait, ete., with the passage of microscopic crys-
tals, and perhaps blood or pus in the urine. In cattle and
sheep the salts from the concentrated urine usually crys:
214 The Farmer's Veterinary Adviser.
tallize out on the hairs around the opening of the sheath.
All species of domestic quadrupeds suffer.
There is no satisfactory treatment and the great object
is to prevent their formation by the measures named
below
Urewrul Calculi. These are lodged in the small canals
which convey the urine from the kidneys to the bladder.
They are usually formed in the pelvis of the kidney and
being washed on with the urine are arrested in the ureter.
The symptoms are more violent than those of renal cal-
culi, since the flow of the urine is checked and the ureter
and pelvis of the kidney are over-distended, while the kid-
ney itself undergoes inflammation and, if the animal sur-
vives, is finally removed by absorption, the opposite kid-
ney meanwhile enlarging and doing the work of two. The
colics and general symptoms are like those of nephritis.
The elastic distended ureter may sometimes be felt with
the oiled hand introduced through the rectum. Like re-
nal calculus this is usually irremediable. Antispasmodics
will sometimes succeed by relaxing the duct and allowing
the accumulated urine to pass the obstruction onward.
They are best given by injection into the bowel. If ne-
phritis sets in the treatment must correspond.
Cystic Calculus. Stone in the Bladder. Seen in all do-
mestic animals.
Symptoms. Frequent straining to pass urine, which
escapes in dribblets, in jets checked by a sudden arrest,
or not at all. Blood in clots, and microscopie crystals
or calculi usually pass with the urine. Examination with
the oiled hand in the rectum will detect the rounded mass
in the bladder, especially if it is partially filled with water.
In the female it may be struck by a smooth metallic
sound, or even touched with the finger.
Treatment. By breaking the stone into small pieces
which may pass with the urine (Uithotrity), or by extrac-
tion whole after dilatation or cutting of the passages (lith-
otomy). ILathotrity is effected with the lithotrite of the
Diseases of the Urinary Organs. 215
surgeon and is only applicable to the female quadruped,
in which extraction is usually easy and safe. A. pair of
long, round-bladed tongs like a glove-stretcher may be
used to slowly dilate the neck of the bladder, after which
the warmed and oiled forceps, the blades of which should
he broad enough to cover the stone, are introduced and the
etone being seized is slowly withdrawn by gentle oscillating
movements. The injection of a little warm water into an
empty bladder will greatly facilitate the seizure of the
stone. The male is operated on standing or thrown on
his right side. A catheter is passed up the urethra to the
point where it bends forward over the hip bones and an
incision about two inches long made down upon this in
the median line. If the stone is small the forceps may
now be introduced and the calculus withdrawn as in the
female. If too large for this the passage must be dilated
with a probé-pointed knife, guided by a grooved director
or the index finger, the incision being carried obliquely
between the point of the hip-bone and the anus. The
stone once removed the opening may be stitched up and
treated like any ordinary wound. In the ox a catheter
should be passed as a guide in cutting, as the thickness of
the erectile tissue over the arch of the hip bone and the
small size of the urethra render the operation far more
difficult than in the horse. (For further particulars see
the author’s larger work).
Urethral Calculi. Stone in the canal by which urine is
discharged from the bladder. In horses these are found
in the terminal end of the urethra and its papille on the
glans penis. In the bull and ox in the S-shaped bend of
the penis just above the scrotum, and in the ram in the
same situation or, more frequently, in the vermiform ap-
pendix at the point of the penis. In horses the straining
is violent and constant, in cattle and sheep it is little
marked, but the tail is slightly raised and the accelerator
urine muscle is seen contracting just beneath the anus as
in ordinary urination. Examination along the course cf
216 The Farmer's Veterinary Adviser.
the urethra will detect one or more hard nodular enlarge-
ments at the S-shaped curve or elsewhere. If more than
one are present, they may be made to grate on each other.
Treatment. Tf in the papilla or vermiform appendix,
try to extract by manipulation. Should this fail, slit open
the duct, or in the ram cut off the appendix. If higher
up it must be cut down upon, through the skin, and ex-
tracted. In cattle it is desirable to first pull the penis
backward or forward so that the incision may clear the
scrotum with its excess of areolar tissue and fat.
PREPUTIAL CALCULI. STONES IN THE PREPUCE OR SHEATH.
In oxen and sheep urinary salts often crystallize out on
the hairs and may even block the passage somewhat. They
are easily removed by manipulation or with scissors. The
accumulations of sebaceous matter, in the bilocular cavity
on the end of the penis or in the sheath of the horse, some-
times receive this name. They are best removed by
thorough washing with soap and warm water, and the
parts may then be lubricated with sweet-oil.
SAND-LIKE DEPOSIT OR SOFT MAGMA IN THE BLADDER.
This is frequent in the horse, the spherical granules of
carbonate of lime and magnesia remaining apart instead
of becoming agglutinated into a stone. Its mildest form
is shown in the passage of a white matter at the comple-
tion of the act of urination. When accumulated so as to
fill half of the bladder or more, this comes away in large
amount and is found within the sheath and on the inner
sides of the thighs, for the urine escapes involuntarily and
continuously.
Treatment. Wash out the bladder by pumping water
through a catheter by means of Reed’s stomach pwnp or
a syringe, then shake it up with the hand introduced
through the rectum and allow the muddy liquid to flow
out through the catheter. Repeat this until the bladder ig
emptied and the water comes away clear.
Diseases of the Urinary Organs. 217
Prevention. The next point is to prevent its forming
anew by measures calculated to obviate urinary calculi in
general. Correct any fault in feeding—excess of beans,
peas, bran, etc..—and any disorder in the liver functions.
Give abundance of soft water, encouraging its ingestion by
a fair supply of salt, let the food be aqueous, consisting
largely of roots, especially carrots, and give daily in the
drinking water 1 dr. caustic soda or potassa, or common
ashes from hard wood. A course of bitters should also be
given (cascarilla, columba, willow bark, gentian, quassia,
or others).
19
CHAPTER XI.
DISEASES OF THE ORGANS OF GENERATION.
General causes. Inflammation of the testicle. Dropsy of the scrotum,
Hydrocele. Water stones. Tumors of the sheath. Disease of the penis.
Ulcers of the penis. Castration of males. Evil results of castration.
Strangulated cord. Swelling of the sheath. Phymosis. Paraphymosis.
Tumor on the spermatic cord. Castration of females. Castration of male
birds. Abortion. Difficult parturition. Premature labor pains. Induration
of the neck of the womb. Twisting of the neck of the womb. Polypus in
the vagina. Wrong presentations, deformities, etc. Maxims for assisting in
difficult parturition. Anterior presentation with head or fore limb turned
back. Posterior presentation with one or both hind limbs turned back.
With water in the head or abdomen. Disorders following parturition.
Flooding. Retained afterbirth. Leucorrhcea, catarrh of the womb or va-
gina. Eversion of the womb or vagina. Jnflammation of the womb, Metri-
tis. Parturition fever, milk fever, parturient apoplexy.
Are mostly confined to breeding and dairying districts.
They are largely obviated by castration and the virgin
condition. Amongst the principal causes may be men-
tioned mechanical injuries, excitement and irritation ac-
companying coition, gestation, parturition, over-officious
or ill-directed assistance in delivery, a very rich or poor
dict, tuberculosis, poisons, (ergot, savin, rue, cantharides,
etc.,, sympathetic irritation from excessive milking, from
disease or injury of the mammary glands, of the urinary
organs or of the rectum.
INFLAMMATION OF THE TESTICLE.
Occurs mainly from external injury, though it may be
roused by excessive copulation, or by glanderous deposit
or other diseased process in the organ. The animal moves
Diseases of the Organs of Generation. 219
stiffly and with a straddling gait, and the testicle is en-
larged, tender and frequently drawn up and dropped down
again. It is to be treated with a dose of purgative medi-
cine, restricted soft diet, fomentations with warm water,
and smearing of the bag in the intervals with extract of
belladonna, laudanum or some other anodyne. Should
fluctuation announce the formation of pus, make an open-
ing with a sharp knife to evacuate it, while if destruction
of the gland is threatened castration must be performed.
HYDROCELE. DROPSY OF THE SCROTUM.
Usually associated with water in the abdomen. Distin-
guished from scrotal hernia by not passing back with a
sudden movement but with a steady current and gradual
diminution. The same treatment is needed as in ascites.
WATER STONES.
In geldings a considerable accumulation of water often
takes place in multilocular cavities connected with the
still pervious inguinal canal, which may be emptied by
compression, the water returning to the abdomen with a
continued thrill. They often disappear in winter to reap-
pear the following summer. Though not injurious they
may be removed by cutting down on the cavities and
dissecting out the sacs.
TUMORS OF THE SHEATH.
These are easily removed by twisting them off. Some,
however, bleed freely and these should have a stout waxed
twine tied firmly round their necks and be then twisted
or allowed to drop off. If bleeding occurs after removal
seize the bleeding orifice with forceps and tie with a waxed
thread.
DISEASE OF THE PENIS.
Small warty growths may be cut off with scissors or
knife and the part cauterized with lunar caustic. The
220 The Farmer's Veterinary Adviser.
soft condylomatous growths which occur in dogs may be
treated in the same way. But when the large cauliflower-
like masses are associated with hardening of the whole
end of the organ, it must be amputated behind the indu-
rated portion. The subject should be prepared by laxa-
tive diet, and, having been thrown, the yard is withdrawn,
washed, and cut through gradually, beginning at its upper
part and tying the arteries as they are reached. On
reaching the urethra at the lower part of the yard it is to
be dissected out, and cut across so as to leave it } of an
inch longer than the rest. Considerable bleeding from
the venous cavities may come on a few hours later, and
especially in hot weather, but may be easily controlled by
dashing cold water between the thighs or stuffing the
sheath with tow saturated with tincture of matico or muri-
ate of iron.
ULCERS OF THE PENIS.
These may arise from accumulation of sebaceous matter
but more frequently from the irritant discharges in a
female recently delivered or suffering from leucorrhea.
They may be treated with a lotion such as the following :
—sugar of lead, 1 dr.; carbolie acid, 60 drops; chloral-
hydrate, 1 dr. ; water, 1 pint.
CASTRATION OF MALES.
Numerous modes of castrating the male are followed,
but in all the essential points are the removal or destruc-
tion of the testicles and the prevention of bleeding from
the spermatic artery which is always found in the ante-
rior portion of the cord. In small animals (pigs, lambs,
calves, dogs, cats,) the testicle is seized so as to render
the skin tense, and a free incision with knife parallel to
the median line sets it free at once. The knife is now
passed between the middle and posterior parts of the cord
and the latter cut through. The anterior portion is then
twisted and finally torn through, the upper part being
Diseases of the Organs of Generation 221
held by the finger and thumb of one hand while traction
is made by the other. In the colt and old horses and
bulls the structures are so tough that the cord must
be seized by two pairs of pincers in order to accomplish
satisfactory twisting.
Clamps (sticks) are very generally employed in horses,
the important considerations being that the wood shall be
tough and unyielding, that they shall be grooved to give
greater security of hold, that they shall be tied together
with well twined inelastic cords, and that when applied
they shall be squeezed together with pincers, while the
end is being tied, that the included tissues may have their
vitality destroyed.
The other methods of tying, searing and scraping the
artery, etc., cannot be described here, though one plan
will succeed as well as another if properly done. For
these and eastration of cryplorchids (originals, rigs,) see
larger work,
EVIL RESULTS OF CASTRATION.
STRANGULATED Corp. When the cord is left unduly
long and the wound in the skin small, it may be strangled
by the swelling and contraction, giving rise to intense
suffering and high fever. The beast walks with a stiff
gait, and the end of the cord is felt red and tense, protrud-
ing from the wound which grasps it tightly. All that is
necessary is to enlarge the orifice with a knife and push
up the cord to give permanent relief.
SWELLING OF THE SHEATH may occur, and especially in
the young, from unhealthy states of the system, or from
premature closure of the wound and imprisonment of mat-
ter. In all such cases reopen the wound with the fingers
and apply fresh lard to prevent a second adhesion. It is
a good plan to apply lard to the wounds in castrating to
obviate adhesion. Next foment the parts continually with
warm water to hasten the formation of matter. When a
19*
22 The Farmer's Veterinary Adviser.
free cream-like discharge is established the swelling will
rapidly subside.
Puymosts AND Parapnymosis. In such cases the penis
may be imprisoned within the sheath or protruded and
swollen so that it cannot be withdrawn. It may be nec-
essary to incise the sheath or scarify the penis and ap-
ply cold water and other astringents, with manipulation to
return the protruded organ.
Tumors on tHE Spermatic Corp. This results from
rough handling in castrating, from strangulation, or from
inflammation consequent on the presence of irritants in the
wound or exposure to cold. It may grow for years with-
out disabling the animal ; its growth may cease, leaving an
inconsiderable thickening on the cord; it may acquire the
size of a large udder of a cow, and contract numerous
vascular adhesions to surrounding parts; or it may extend
up through the inguinal canal into the abdomen, as felt
on examination through the rectum.
Treatment. Those confined to the end of the cord may
be removed like the testicle in castration. Those that
have contracted adhesions to the thigh and sheath may
still be removed with care, each vessel being tied as it is
reached. But when the adhesions are very extensive and
the tumor very large it is almost impossible to do this,
and in the case of extension of the disease into the abdo-
men nothing can be done beyond partial destruction of the
mass with caustics.
CASTRATION OF FEMALES.
In small animals this is done through the flank ; in large,
more conveniently through the vagina. The animal is
stretched on its left side, the fore limbs and head being
firmly secured and the hind limbs extended backwards.
The hair is shaved from the flank a little below the angle
of the hip-bone, and an incision made from above down,
extending to an inch in the pig or bitch, or sufficient to in-
troduce the hand in the heifer. Then with the finger or
Diseases of the Organs of Generation. 223
hand, as the case may be, the womb is sought, backward
at the entrance of the pelvis in the interval between the
bladder and the straight gut. Being found, one horn 01
division is drawn up through the wound until its end is
exposed with the round mass of the ovary adjacent. Thelat-
ter is seized and cut or twisted off according to the size of
the animal. Then the next horn and ovary are brought
out and treated in the same way. The womb is now re-
turned into the abdomen, and the skin accurately sewed
up. Evil results are rare, though peritonitis may ensue
from rough handling or exposure, and abscess or calcifica-
tion of the wound is not unknown.
Cows are castrated by making an incision through the
superior wall of the vagina just above the neck of the
womb, and inserting two fingers, by which the ovaries are
withdrawn and twisted off with a torsion instrument.
Space will not allow of a fuller description in this work.
CASTRATION OF MALE BIRDS.
The bird is placed on its back with the left leg pressed
against the abdomen and the right one stretched back-
wards and outward, an incision is made inside this thigh
large enough to admit the finger, which is directed toward
the back at the point of union of the last ribs with the
backbone. There the testicles are felt in contact with
each other and are separately detached with the nail and
extracted through the wound. If lost in the abdomen
after detachment there is no matter, they will adhere to
the peritoneum and become absorbed. Lastly the wound
in the skin is carefully sewed up with a fine thread.
ABORTION.
This consists of the expulsion of the foetus before it can
live out of the womb, but in the lower animals the term
has been indiscriminately used for cases of premature
parturition as well.
Ci uses, Blows or pressure on the abdomen, slips, falls.
224 The Farmer's Veterinary Adviser.
riding of animals in heat, diseases of the abdominal organs,
(tympanitis from wet, frosted or musty fodder, inflamma-
tion of the bowels, diarrhoea, poisoning by irritants taken
with the food or otherwise, renal calculi or other diseases
of the kidneys or bladder,) stalls too much inclined back-
ward, overfeeding, plethora, hot, damp, relaxing stables,
severe muscular exertion after long rest, exhausting feed-
ing for milk at the expense of the system, breeding at too
early an age, proximity to or contact with slaughter-houses
or dead and decomposing animal matter, especially the
abortion discharges of other animals, drinking putrid
or iced water, disease, deformity or death of the foetus,
feeding on ergoted grasses or smutty wheat or corn, and,
finally, the presence in the passages of a microscopic veg-
etable parasite (leptothrix vaginalis) which is easily trans-
ferred from one animal to another so as to procure abor-
tion.
Symptoms. In the early stages of gestation abortion
often takes place without any warning and is only ascer-
tained by the animal again coming in heat. Later the
preliminary signs and progress may be those of an ordi-
nary parturition, or in other cases a whitish muco-purulent
discharge may take place from the vulva for some time
before abortion occurs. A filling of the udder and a loose,
flaccid condition of the external generative organs often
furnish premonitions.
Prevention. T'reatment. Avoid the various causes above
named when found to exist. Especially should attention
be given to secure a diet and regimen which shall obviate in-
digestion, to eradicate from the hay-fields all irritant plants,
to feed a certain amount of roots in winter to obviate urin-
nary calculi, to cut meadows subject to ergot before they
run to seed, or better still to plow them up and put under
a rotation of other crops, to feed roots with ergoted hay or
smutty corn if these must be consumed, to let the system
be somewhat developed before breeding and not $o milk
foo heavily the first year, to give pure air and water
Diseases of the Organs of Generation. 226
and wholesome buildings, and, finally, to use anti-septics
on the discharges and to keep all sound animals apart
from the diseased or their products. A beast abort-
ing, from whatever cause, should be allowed to run over
several periods of heat before she is served again. When
abortions have broken out in a herd good results have fol-
lowed a course of chlorate of potassa in $ oz. doses daily.
When the beasts are plethoric benefit has been derived
from bleeding or a bare diet with occasional mild laxatives.
When run down by poor feeding or by early breeding and
feeding for milk, a course of tonics (phosphate of soda,
sulphate of iron, gentian and ginger,) has proved beneficial.
When the discharge and other premonitory symptoms ap-
pear laudanum may be given in large and repeated doses
to quiet the system and keep the tendency in check.
Quiet and seclusion are no less essential. When the
abortion becomes inevitable it must be allowed to proceed
or assistance given if necessary as in parturition.
DIFFICULT PARTURITION.
Parturition is easy in most of the lower animals, the
wedge-like outline of the foetus when normally presented
with the long head extended between the fore limbs ren-
dering it an affair of mechanical simplicity. The same is
true of the presentation of the two hind feet. If left to
nature the passages are prepared by the relaxation of the
ligaments of the pelvis and falling in on each side of the
croup; they are then gently and equably dilated by the
advancing soft and elastic water-bags; and then if the
back of the foetus is turned toward the back of the mother
so that the curvature of its body may correspond to that
of the pelvis, the process is rarely difficult or protracted.
Danger arises mainly from parturition being precipi-
tated before its natural period, from unnatural conditions
of the passages, from distortions of the foetus or from turn-
ing back of one or more members so as to impair the reg-
ularity of the wedge and to increase the bulk posteriorly.
226 Lhe Farmer's Veterinary Adviser.
PREMATURE LABOR-PAINS.
Caused by excitement of travel, goring or riding by theit
fellows, blows and other mechanical injuries, violent pur-
gation or diuresis, diseases of the digestive or urinary or-
gans or womb, ergoted grasses, etc. If there is no relax-
ation of the pelvic ligaments and falling in at the side of
the rump, no enlargement of the vulva, no dilatation of the
neck of the womb nor any enlargement of the bag, place
in a secluded place and keep quiet by repeated doses of
opium. The pains will usually subside. Even if other-
wise apparently prepared the closed neck of the womb
will demand similar rest and anodynes, though a little
solid extract of belladonna may in this case be smeared
round the neck of the womb to favor relaxation.
INDURATION OF THE NECK OF THE WOMB is often errone-
ously supposed to exist in these cases, but such a conclu-
sion need not be reached until the quieting treatment has
been followed for one or two days without success and the
neck of the womb remains rigid, nodular and gristly.
Being fully convinced that the closure is due to disease it
may be dilated by passing in a narrow-bladed, blunt-
pointed (probe-pointed) knife and cutting to the depth of a
quarter of an inch in four directions, upward, downward,
to the right and left. Then the hand may be introduced
with fingers and thumb drawn into the form of a cone and
the passage gradually dilated. Or the sponge tents used
by the physician may be employed.
TWISTING OF THE NECK OF THE WoMB so that the lower
surface of the organ comes to look upwards or to one side,
is a curious form of obstruction hitherto only seen in the
cow. It may be surmised when labor-pains continue
without any appearance of water-bags, and conclusive evi-
dence is furnished by the neck of the womb being closed
and thrown into spiral folds. Place the patient with its
head uphill to relax the twisted neck and introducing
the hand into the womb, seize the foetus and press it
against the uterine walls, while one or two men roll the
Diseases of the Organs of Generation. 227
cow on its other side in the same direction in which the
twist has taken place. If the womb is not distended by
decomposition of a dead foetus, nor attached to adjacent
parts by inflammatory exudations the untwisting is easily
effected, though several successive attempts may be requi-
site to secure it. Suddenly constriction around the wrist
gives way, the water-bags enter the passage and delivery
is easy.
Potypus IN THE Vacina. —Heematopinus of Dog. Fig.
61—Heematopinus of Pig. Fig. 62—Trichodectes of Horse.
They may be safely treated by sprinkling with powdered
wood ashes or by rubbing with sulphur ointment or whale-
oil, with water saturated with petroleum or kerosene, or
with a solution of sulphuret of potassium or lime (4 oz. tc
1 gall. water). Clean the buildings, clothes, etc., as for
fleas.
286 The Farmer's Veterinary Adviser.
Fig. 63. Fis. 64. Fig. 65.
Fig. 63 —Trichodectes of Ox. Fig. 64—Trichodectes of Sheep. Fig. 65 -
Trichodectes of Dog. Fig. 66—Goniodes Stylifer of the Turkey.
ERYSIPELAS.
A specific, diffuse, spreading inflammation of the skin,
often involving the loose connective tissue beneath, ard
sometimes the internal organs, associated with fever, an
unhealthy state of the blood, and usually a poison by which
it may be communicated to another animal with broken
skin.
Causes. An unhealthy (septic, etc.,) condition of the
atmosphere, the presence of impurities in the blood, from
foul air or food, plethora, exhausting work, debilitating
diseases, disorders of the liver, kidneys or other blood-
forming or purifying organ, or the absorption of putrid
Skin Diseases. 287
matters from a sore or other diseased surface. Sheep,
horses and swine fed on green or even harvested buck-
wheat are lable, and all animals kept in close, filthy,
unhealthy places or in the vicinity of accumulations ot
decomposing animal and vegetable matters. Sudden sup-
pression of an habitual discharge, heating food, and new
grain and forage are occasional causes. But probably all
of these do little more than lay the system open to the
attack which would otherwise be escaped. More direct or
exciting causes we find in local irritation,—as exposure to
a hot sun (newly-shorn sheep), chafing inside the elbows
or thighs, the presence of rancid fats on the skin, injuries
from the harness, bites of insects, etc., burns, scalds,
wounds, dropsies of the limbs, and above all the keeping
of patients with open sores where there is excessive ema-
nation from decomposing organic (especially animal)
matter, or the dressing of erysipelatous and healthy sores
with the same sponges.
Symptoms. There is usually a preliminary fever, loss of
spirit and appetite, heat of the skin, accelerated pulse and
breathing, constipation, high-colored, scanty urine, and
elevation of the temperature of the rectum, soon followed
by a diffuse, hot, tender, shining, itching swelling, spread-
ing from a wound or other seat of irritation or even on a
previously healthy skin. In white skins the redness is
very deep, the shade being darker according to the gravity
of the case, and disappearing under the pressure of the
finger only to reappear quickly on its removal. The
swelling will be greater, according as the inflammation
involves the skin only, extends to the connective tissue
beneath (phlegmonous), or is complicated by a liquid exu-
dation (cedematous). It shows a tendency to wide and
rapid diffusion over the skin, its advancing border being
always abruptly elevated from the healthy integument,
though at points where it is recovering it may subside
gradually and insensibly to the healthy surface. The
inflamed skin is tense and smouth, but pits on pressure,
288 T he Farmer's Veterinary Adviser.
and often presents vesicles on its surface. After a few
days the swelling and redness may diminish, and the
blisters dry up into scales, which drop off, leaving a dark,
red, tender surface ; or cracks may form with a sluggish,
unhealthy action and little tendency to heal. When mat-
ter forms it is liable to be diffused without any limiting
inembrane as in an ordinary abscess, and to lead to exten-
sive death and sloughing of the skin and subjacent
structures, or to absorption of pus and its deposit in
internal organs, with fatal results.
In horses it is seen mainly about the head, chest, belly
and hind limbs, and is especially liable to prove cedema-
tous. It is distinguished from Anthrax and Purpura
Hemorrhagica by the presence of the wound or sore, by
the low inflammatory character of the swelling, by the
greater tendency to suppuration, and the implication
of the adjacent lymphatic glands.
Cattle suffer especially about the head but also on other
parts of the body. Sheep suffer mainly about the head,
but often and more severely about the udder, belly and
inner side of the thigh or arm, and it may be elsewhere.
Swine are mainly attacked about the head and neck,
and less frequently on the inner side of the limbs, the
chest or belly.
Treatment. Open the bowels freely (horse, ox and
sheep, Glauber salts; swine and dog, castor-oil,) following
it up by frequent and full doses of tincture of muriate of
iron and a nourishing, easily digested diet. In case of
much weakness or with very low fever use stimulants, al-
coholie or ammoniacal as they may be demanded, but
never if they cause dryness of skin and rise of temperature.
Diuretics may be used in cedematous cases, but in a
guarded manner because of the depression. To the af-
fected skin apply warm fomentations, by preference, with
weak solutions of tincture of muriate of iron, hyposulphite
of soda or sulphate of zinc. Sometimes dry applications
have a good effect,—as a mixture of sulphate of zinc and
Skin Diseases. 289
starch. Todized collodion too is often of service. If mat-
ter has actually formed it should be let out with the lancet,
the wound being dressed with a solution of muriate of
iron to prevent unhealthy action.
WOUNDS.
These are divided into simple clean cuts (incised), stabs,
pricks and punctures (punctured), bruised or crushed (con-
tused) and torn (lacerated). Clean cuts often heal readily
when the edges are brought together accurately and re-
tained so. But such union by adhesion is most probable
in strong, healthy, well-conditioned animals, and least so
in the weak, poor and diseased. In /owls it is almost in-
variable, in swine nearly equally so, in dogs, cattle and
sheep there is still a strong tendency to adhesion, while in
horses all wounds readily form matter and primary adhe-
sion throughout is exceptional. Bleeding should be
checked, (see wounds of arteries, etc.,) clots washed off
with a stream of tepid water, foreign objects carefully re-
moved with fingers or forceps and the wound closed with
as little exposure as possible. The edges may be stitched
together by means of a curved flat needle with silk or
linen, well waxed or steeped in a weak solution of carbolic
acid, or better, with catgut which has been steeped for a
month in oil and carbolic acid, or with silver or other
metallic wire. It may be closed by a continuous stitch
as in sewing a glove, when adhesion is to be expected, or
by separate stitches a half to three-fourths of an inch
apart when primary union is more doubtful. To secure
uniform approximation of the edges or pressure on the
different parts, the stitches may be passed round a quill
placed on each lip of the wound (quilled suture). Or pins
may be passed through the lips at suitable distances and
a few fibres of tow twisted around each like the figure 8.
Small wounds may have their edges shaved and layer
after layer of collodion applied until the covering is strong
enough to hold them together. The use of a weak solution
25
290 The Farmei’s Veterinary Adviser.
of carbolic acid or other antiseptic agent will further favor
adhesion if it can be applied without causing movement
of the lips of the wound.
If the wound fails to heal by prompt adhesion, granila-
lions form, covered with a thin layer of pus, and these
eradually fill up the sore, leaving a scar. Or if the lips
of the wound are still kept together the granulations may
adhere (secondary adhesion), or finally small sores will
scab over and healing take place beneath.
Granulating wounds may be washed daily with a stream
of tepid water, after the three first days, and may be
covered with a simple dressing of tow saturated in water
or oil to which a little carbolic acid has been added.
When necessarily left bare the same liquids may still be
applied. When the granulations become soft, flabby and
projecting (proud flesh), touch lightly with a stick of lunar
caustic, and expose to dry air. When they become indo-
lent and when healing and contraction come to a stand-still,
apply gentle stimulants—tincture of myrrh and aloes, etc.
When the deeper parts of the lips of the wound do not
come in contact, pads may be applied on each side to keep
them in apposition. Granulating wounds usually heal by
contraction from their edges, and if this is arrested by ad-
hesion to bones and other firm parts beneath, further
healing may be impossible. In this and other cases of
tardy healing, the implanting of thin slices of scarfskin,
just cut with a sharp instrument from other parts of the
integument, and their retention with strips of sticking
plaster, will usually hasten the process.
Punctured wounds often heal promptly, and especially in
avimals prone to primary adhesion, when cleansed, kept
at rest, with warm dressings and pressure on their deeper
parts. If inflammation occurs in the deeper parts with
suppuration, it nay be necessary to enlarge the opening
to allow of a ready discharge, and to let it heal outward
by granulation.
Bruised and torn wounds may be treated like punctured
Skin Diseases. 29)
ones, and in birds, pigs and dogs, and in the more vascular
parts of the larger animals, will often heal by adhesion.
Should they fail to do so, they ought to be stitched together,
not too closely, and allowed to heal by granulation. Parts
that are absolutely dead may be removed, but none that
continue to show signs of life, and above all, no skin that
can possibly be saved.
Poisoned wounds should be promptly cauterized (See
Canine madness, Malignant anthrax, Lymphangitis). Sub-
cutaneous wounds, in which the deeper parts are injured
with little or no breach of the skin, mostly heal satisfac-
torily, and the main object should be to secure a suitable
position of the part, lest distortion should occur from
undue contraction or extension of the structures in healing.
For wounds that have resulted in fistula, see poll evil, fist-
ulous withers and quittor. Whenever a foreign body is
lodged in a wound it should be removed because of its
tendency to cause fistula, especially in horses.
BURNS AND SCALDS.
The gravity of these will vary much according to their
extent and depth. The treatment of the more severe
is rarely desirable in the lower animals, because of the
danger of fatal results from internal complications; or of
ruinous distortions from the contraction of cicatrices.
For slight burns apply cold water, Goulard water, water
perceptibly sweetened with carbolic acid or flavored with
oil of turpentine, keeping this up until the violent pain
and inflammation have subsided. Success attends the
exclusion of air by covering the part thickly with flour or
cotton wool until irritation is past. The same end is
gained by bathing the burn with oil of turpentine and
afterward covering with resin ointment. When large
blisters have formed, puncture with a needle and smooth
down the cuticle on the skin by gentle pressure, following
up with the soothing measures already recommended.
When the skin is still more deeply burned and sloughing
292 The Farmer's Veterinary Adviser.
is inevitable, the stimulating applications (oil of turpen-
tine with resin ointment, equal parts of linseed-oil and
lime-water, etc.,) are still mofe demanded. As the sloughs
separate, the detached parts should be ct off with as little
irritation as possible, and when the severe irritation sub-
sides soothing applications will be in order. Finally, the
healing process will be greatly hastened by ingrafting thin
slices of scarfskin as advised under wounds.
CHAPTER XVI.
GENERAL DISEASES OF BONES, JOINTS AND
MUSCLES.
Lameness, symptoms, at rest and in exercise. Diseases of Bones. In-
flammation. Ostitis. Periostitis. Softening. Enlargement. Suppura-
tion. Ulceration. Scrofulous (Tubercular) Diseage of Bone. Softening
and Rarefaction of Bone. Rickets. Osteo Malacia. Softening in Cows.
Softening in Horses. Big-head. Fractures. Diseases of Joints. Inflam-
mation. Arthritis. Synovitis. Ulceration. Bony Deposit. Anchylosis.
Open Joint. Inflammation of Bursze and Sheaths of Tendons. Diseases
of Muscles. Ruptures. Inflammation. Fatty Degeneration. Rupture
and Section of Tendons. Sprains. Thickening. Shortening. Calcifica
tion.
LAMENESS.
As the three following chapters will embrace most of the
different causes of lameness, the more prominent mani-
festations of this failing may be here noticed.
Standing. The patient should be approached quietly
and when you are certain he is free from all exciting
causes. If resting on all four limbs, the pastern of the
lame one will usually be more upright than the others.
One fore foot advanced eight or ten inches in front of the
other suggests some tenderness of the heel or the struct-
ures in the posterior region of the lower part of the limb.
Bending of the knee and fetlock and resting of the foot on
the toe, without any advance in front of the other, usually
implies disease of the shoulder or elbow. The advance
of both fore feet, the rest being taken on the heels, and
the hind limbs brought well forward under the body,
should direct attention to the front of the feet. Resting
294 The Farmer's Veterinary Adviser.
of one foot more frequently and for longer periods than
its fellow is suspicious.
Lying. An inclination to lie down, and remain so, is ta
be similarly regarded. Ifthe animal remains down per-
sistently, we may infer great suffering, fractures or much
weakness.
In Exercise. Lameness may be shown in the walk, but
better in the slow, easy trot, the animal being led in hand
with about three feet of free rein and without noise or
other cause of excitement. Some horses manifest a bridle
lameness from the mere leading, but if the leader goes
first on the left side and then on the right, the drooping
of the head will correspond first to the one foot and then
to the other, showing it to be only a feint. In all cases
of lameness in a single limb the foot is rested on the
" ground with less weight and is raised as quickly as possi-
ble. There is therefore not only the visible halting on
that limb, but a lower sound made by striking the ground
and thus the ear comes to assist the eye in detecting the
ailing member. If one fore limb is affected, the head and
anterior part of the body are elevated when its foot comes
to the ground, but drop firmly when the sound foot is
planted. A depression of the opposite hind limb accom-
panying the elevation of the head, when the failing fore
limb comes to the ground, must not lead to the suspicion
of lameness behind.
In single lameness behind, the gait resembles that seen
in lameness before, the haunch on the diseased side being
raised when the foot is planted and allowed to droop
thereafter until the opposite foot reaches the ground. In
some, the elevation is the prominent feature, in others the
depression, but in all the rising and falling are greater
than in the opposite quarter.
With lameness in both fore limbs the step is short, the
stroke on the ground weak, the rest of each foot on the
ground shortened, the shoulders are carried upright and
stiff, the head is raised, the loins are arched, the croup
25*
General Diseases of Bones, Joints and Muscles. 295
droops, and the hind limbs are brought unnaturally for
ward beneath the belly.
Lameness in both hind limbs is marked by the back-
ward position of the fore feet, the short rest and weak
impulse of the hind on the ground, the extension and
drooping of the head, and above all the difficulty of back-
ing.
Lameness in the two limbs on the same side determines
a gait approaching the amble or rack, with the firm plant-
ing of the opposite members. Lameness of one fore and
the opposite hind produces a simple exaggeration of the
gait caused by disease in one of these limbs. Whenghe
cause of lameness exists In more than one limb it is difii-
cult to make the anvnal keep the trot.
In all cases it is well to have the animal driven or
ridden so as to heat him, and then keep him perfectly
still for half an hour to cool, before completing the exam-
ination, as many lamenesses will disappear when the
subject is warmed by exercise.
DISEASES OF BONES.
These may be divided into :—inflammation of the bone
itself (ostitis), or of its fibrous covering (periostitis), which
may result in softening, consolidation or induration, enlarge-
ment, bony growths and tumors, abscess, ulceration and death
(necrosis). Beside these there are the degenerations and
diseases of bone such as deficiency or excess of earthy salts,
with binding or brittleness of the bones; tubercle, cancer,
and sarcomatous, cartilaginous, cystic, vascular or other tu-
mors, ete.
But the great mass of bone diseases in the domestic
animals consist in inflammation and its results, to which,
accordingly, the following remarks will be mainly con-
fined. Every bone is permeated even in its densest parts
by an abundant network of minute blood-vessels, and
studded throughout with microscopic soft elements (nu-
elei) which appropriate the suitable materials from the
296 The Farmer's Veterinary Adviser.
blood and build them up into the hard bony texture. If
these nuclei are injured their powers of assimilation are
modified, their numbers are multiplied, and they become
surrounded by an excess of semi-fluid matter (lymph)
with, it may be, one of the following results :—Ilst, the
softening of the bone and the removal of its earthy salts,
until it can be cut with a knife or gives way under the
weight of the animal:—2d, the transformation of the
lymph into pus on the surface of the bone or in its interior,
where it may remain imprisoned for an indefinite length
of time :—3d, the hardening of a limited amount of lymph
ingthe cells or inter-spaces of the bone, compressing the
blood-vessels, limiting the supply of blood and favoring
ulceration or even death of the part :—4th, from the above
cause, or from a perversion of the plastic or assimilating
powers of the nuclei, ulceration sets in on the surface
or in the interior of the bone, and the bony matter is
steadily removed to be replaced by an irregular excavation
or a cavity filled by a bloody ichor :—5th, the swelling
may completely close the blood-vessels of the bone or the
inflammation may cause coagulation of the blood within
them. throughout a considerable portion, which accord-
ingly dies, and has to be removed as a foreign body :—
6th, short of those extreme conditions and more com-
monly, the exudation leads to a partial softening and
general swelling of the inflamed part, and this becoming
consolidated and hardened there is a material increase of
size :—Tth, and by far the most frequently, the inflamma-
tion affects the superficial layer of bone and its investing
fibrous membrane, and the exudation, taking place be-
tween these, is soon consolidated into a layer or tumor of
bone on the surface :—8th, any exudation on the outer
side of the fibrous covering is also liable to be calcified
and to form hard tumors, but these do not acquire the
true bony texture like that formed between the membrane
and the bone.
General Synvptoms. In the slightest forms of inflamma
Gencral Discases of Bones, Joints and Muscles. 29%
tion there may be little or no lameness, though usually
there is a halt on the affected limb when trotted on a hard
surface. The affected portion of the bone is tender to
pressure or percussion, and is the seat of swelling at first
soft and yielding, but later hard and resistant. In the
severer forms the bone itself is softened, extensive exuda-
tion of lymph takes place around it, and the investing soft
structures become the seat of violent inflammation and
swelling ; lameness is then extreme. In the slighter and
chronic cases there is no disturbance of the general health,
but in the more acute and severe, intense and even fatal
lrritative fever may come on.
When suppuration takes place in the interior of a bone
the matter may remain imprisoned indefinitely, the spot
being marked by a general increase of the bone, and lame-
ness persists. If suppuration takes place between the
bone and its fibrous covering the danger is even greater,
for the matter is lable to separate the bone and mem-
brane, producing further inflammation or ulceration, or
even death of the bone—the supply of blood being cut off.
The superficial abscess is to be detected by its fluctuation
beneath the fingers, as in abscess of soft parts.
Ulceration may result from pressure of matter, etc., or
from exposure to the air. If without external opening, it is
not easily recognized, but there is lameness and tenderness,
with little alteration of the surface of the bone, or the
presence of slight bony deposits alternating, it may be,
‘with soft open spaces. If the ulcerated bone is open to
the air, it is found to be softened in texture, breaking down
readily under the pressure of a probe, and in the centre of
the ulcerous cavity rounded bony deposits are felt, as
evidence of an effort at repair. The discharge is then
ichorous, and abounds in gritty particles and earthy salts.
If this discharge has commenced to decompose it smells
badly.
Death of bone is always associated with an open sore
discharging a very foetid ichorous fluid, with gritty parti-
298 The Farmers Veterinary Adviser.
cles and the power of rapidly blackening silver. If probed
the hard bone is felt without any fibrous covering, and
if seen this is black, yellowish, white, or of some allied
shade and without any of the pink aspect of healthy bone
General Treatment of Inflammation in Bone. Unless in
the very mildest cases, the first object is to check the in-
flammation by soothing measures. A purgative is usually
desirable. Rest is indispensable. Whenever possible
such a position should be given to the part as will obviate
pressure, weight, or gravitation of blood toward the dis-
ease. Soothing local measures, such as fomentations with
warm water; a thick wet bandage covered with dry ; the
persistent application of cold water, by continuous shower-
ing of the part, the water being brought from a bucket
placed at a higher level, by means of an elastic tube
fastened to the body; in certain cases ice-bags may be
applied ; or cooling astringent lotions, such as vinegar and
salt; acetate of lead $ 0z., vinegar 2 qts., carbolic acid 60
drops, etc. This may have to be kept up from five to fif-
teer. days. When heat and tenderness have subsided,
counter-irritants are to be used. In slight cases rubbing
with compound iodine ointment, or with a mixture in equal
parts of liquor ammonia and olive-oil may suffice. In
others we must use active blisters such as Spanish flies
2 dr., camphor 5 grs., alcohol 5 drops, lard 1 oz. Or a
drachm of the Spanish flies may be replaced by a drachm
of iodide or biniodide of mercury. In either case the hair
should be cut off and the ointment well rubbed in for
several minutes against the direction of the hair. The
animal’s head should be tied short for twelve hours, to
prevent gnawing of the part and blistering of the lips.
After this the surface is to be smeared with lard, daily,
until the scab drops off. In still other cases the hot iron
may be demanded. It should be applied in points, each
application being very temporary, to avoid the effect of
radiated heat on the adjacent skin. The usual distance
between the points is from } to ? inch, and the depth will
General Diseases of Bones, Joints and Muscles. 29%
vary in different cases. When the irritation from the hot
iron has passed off, blisters may be applied if necessary.
Tn all cases the use of counter-irritants must be stopped
and soothing measures resorted to when it becomes evident
that active inflammation has been set up anew in the bone,
A long period of rest is essential to allow of the hardening
of the newly formed bony tissue or of the old bone which
has been softened or otherwise altered by disease.
Matter forming in the interior of a bone is to be evacu-
ated by boring down to it with a circular saw (trephine):
Matter forming between the bone and its investing mem-
brane must be promptly evacuated with a sharp knife or
lancet.
Simple ulcere tion is to be treated like an ordinary wound,
the pressure or other cause of its existence having been
first removed. A nourishing diet and a course of tonics
(cinchona, gentian, etc.,) are usually demanded.
A dead bone should be removed. If a simple scale or
film on the surface, it may be taken off with a sharp knife
or chisel. If larger the bone-forceps or saw may be
necessary. It may sometimes be needful to remove a
piece of live bone with the circular saw, to make way for
the extraction of a dead portion imprisoned within.
Should the outer fibrous covering of the bone be preserved
intact, new bone may be formed in place of the old, but
never so perfect in form, and, as a rule, the extensive loss
of an important bone, in one of the lower animals, renders
it useless and should warrant its destruction.
In no case should a cutting operation on a bone be
undertaken while the soft parts around it are in a state of
acute inflammation, as, although the diseased or dead
parts should be removed, the adjacent bone is likely to
take on unhealthy action and to prove worse than at
first.
In case of new bony deposits and tumors, it is rarely
desirable to resort to cutting instruments, unless when
they have a broad mass and narrow neck, connecting
300 The Farmer's Veterinary Adviser.
them to the parent bone. In this case they can be laid
bare and removed with bone forceps or chisel. Other
forms are best left to nature after all unhealthy action has
been subdued, and will materially diminish when preserved
from hard work, strains, jars and all excitants to renewed
growth. When continuous gentle pressure can be applied
without irritation it greatly favors absorption. In some
instances the distension of the fibrous membrane covering
a bony swelling is the main cause of continued inflamma-
tion and lameness. This is to be met by dividing the
membrane with a narrow-bladed knife inserted to one
side of the swelling, much care being requisite to avoid
entrance of air, injury to joints, etc.
SCROFULOUS (TUBERCULOUS) DISEASE OF BONES.
This is mostly seen in young animals when the bones
are soft and growing rapidly, and may be suspected when
the patient comes of a tuberculous family. It will attack
any part but is especially common in the lower part of the
limbs and is one form of “foul in the foot.” Tt attacks the
ends of long bones or the whole bulk of short ones, those
parts, in short, which have an open cancellated texture.
The interspaces of the bony tissue fill up with gelatinoid
lymph, which may or may not pass into the yellow cheesy
tubercle, and similar changes take place on the surface,
long outgrowths appearing, the interstices of which are
filled by the same product. Ulceration ensues, sores form
in the skin, discharging an unhealthy matter, the softened
bony tissues may be felt breaking down under a probe,
and the ends or processes of the bones may be found de-
tached from the shaft or median part.
There may be coexisting tubercle in the lungs, bowels,
ete., with cough, expectoration, diarrhcea, ete., and some-
times in young animals the navel remains open and the
arine dribbles from it continually.
Treatment is hardly advisable as tuberculous animals
are undesirable alike for breeding or for human food. It
General Diseases of Bones, Joints and Muscles. 30)
consists in securing a good nurse, well fed on grain as well
as fodder if the patient is young, or good feeding if be-
yond this stage. Lime-water in the sucking, and in all
subjects tonics (phosphate of iron, hyposulphite of iron,
cinchona, cod-liver oil, pancreatine, etc.)
SOFTENING AND RAREFACTION OF BONE.
Rickets. Young animals (puppies, sheep, calves and,
less frequently, foals,) often suffer from an imperfect nu-
trition of the bones, with a deficiency of earthy salts, so
that the bones, especially those of the limbs, bend under
the weight of the animal and assume various unsightly
distortions. The affection runs hereditarily in certain fam-
ilies, and its appearance is often determined by insuffi-
cient, excessive or injurious food, such as poor, sour or
fevered milk or inadequate substitutes. Anything that
undermines the general health will develop it in a predis-
posed subject. The malady may usually be checked by a
change to rich or moderate feeding, as the case may de-
mand, a dose of pepsin wine at each meal, with dry warm
airy sleeping places and access to the open air, sunshine
and gentle exercise. Puppies may have bones to gnaw at
will. In cases of severe threatened distortion much ben-
efit may be derived from support by well-padded bandages.
Sorrenine or Bones iv Datry Cows. This resembles
rickets in its dependence on the nature of the food, but
appears only in breeding cows. It is a disease of poor
sandy and gravelly soils, the vegetation of which is defi-
cient in earthy salts, and even on these is shown only after
a dry season when the fodder is at its worst. Diseases of
digestion and assimilation will also, exceptionally, deter-
mine it. The parts that primarily suffer are the bones of
the haunch, the disease resembling in this respect the ostee
malacia of women who have borne children.
Symptoms. Lameness, difficulty in rising, with some
alteration of form in the quarters are the first signs, and
an examination of the pelvic bones by the oiled hand in-
26
FA be The Farmer's Veterinary Adviser.
troduced through the rectum will detect a want of sym-
metry on the two sides, from bulging, irregular swellings
at different points. In more advanced stages the bones
break and crumble under the body’s weight and the ani-
mal remains constantly down, unable to rise. A depraved
appetite and a tendency to eat all sorts of unnatural ob-
jects, though a common symptom in breeding cows, is ex-
cessive in many of these cases, and the patient mostly
loses flesh rapidly, though some will remain fat for a
length of time.
Treatment. Change the locality to one with a richer
fodder or bring the wholesome fodder to the animals, and
add, liberally, grain (barley, maize, oats, beans,) from
sound localities. Fresh air, sunshine and dry resting
places are all important. Avoid breeding again until
health is fully established, or better, fatten for the butcher.
SoFTENING OF Bones IN HorsEs. The big-head of the
Mississippi valley, is a manifestation of a general fault in
nutrition, showing itself in all the bones of the body more
or less. Like the affec ion of cows it consists in a steady
increase of the canals and cavities in bone, with their con-
tained soft or plastic matter, at the expense of the hard
bony structure. With the continuous enlargement of the
bone there is an extreme thinning of the microscopic bony
plates, until the structure can be easily cut with a knife
or crushed under the pressure of the finger. The inter-
spaces are filled by a red bloody mass, with the natural .-
elements more or less modified and the addition of many
spherical cells, or later of fat. As the disease advances
the bones can no longer afford a firm attachment for the
ligaments and tendons, but crumbling, dislocations and
fractures are inevitable. There is some fundamental
fault in assimilation, and though it may be determined
primarily to the face by the hard work of grinding flinty
maize, or its development may be precipitated by poor
feeding, unwholesome stabling, overwork and abuse, yet
its true primary cause is unknown. It is mainly or alto-
gether a disease of early life, under seven years old.
General Diseases of Bones, Joints and Muscles. 308
Treatment should be directed to the improvement of
the general health by tonics, (cinchona, nux vomica, cas-
carilla, boneset, willow bark, myrrh, oxide of iron, phos-
phate of iron, etc.,) carminatives, (ginger, pimento, fennel,
fomugrec, cardamoms, coriander,) pepsin, sound nutritious
food, (given soft-boiled or steamed if necessary) pure air,
exercise in sunshine, grooming, etc.) No good can be ex-
pected of advanced cases, but only of those seen in the
zarly stage, with some stiffness, and swelling of bone, and
the passage of phosphates, to excess, in the urine.
FRACTURES.
These are simple when a bone is broken across ; commi-
nuted when broken into several pieces ; and compound when
the soft parts are torn so as to establish a communication
between the broken ends and the external air. The two
last are extremely dangerous, but the first is more hopeful.
Simple fractures, however, vary in gravity according to
their kind. Thus in the very young the break is liable to
be imperfect, with a number of pointed processes locking
into each other (greenstick fracture) and as the ends are
easily and accurately replaced and the bones soft and
vascular, repair is prompt and perfect. In others the
break is directly and smoothly across, or with indentations
and processes, so that when the ends are placed in appo-
sition they cannot slide past each other; these too are
. easily repaired. A third class are broken obliquely or with
a bevel, so that the broken surfaces slide upon each other
under the contractions of the muscles, and the sharp ends
are continually jerked into the soft parts around. The
continuous movement prevents union and the irritation of
the soft parts sets up inflammation so that such fractures
may prove as troublesome as the compound.
Symptoms. Disuse of the affected bone, distortion of
the part, shortening, if it is the main bone of a limb,
trembling of the muscles over the injury, a grating sensa-
tion conveyed to the hand on moving the broken bone,
304 The Farmer's Veterinary Adviser.
unnatural mobility of the part, and the suddenness of the
injury from a wrong step or some mechanical violence.
Tn cracks and partial fractures of bones with a strong in-
vesting fibrous membrane, there may be no displacement,
increased mobility nor grating, but only a tender line
across the bone with or without a slight elevation.
Treatment.. The first thing to be done is to bring the
broken ends into correct apposition and retain them there
by splints and bandages. No matter if the soft parts are
inflamed and swollen, to leave the sharp ends jerking into
them with each contraction of the muscles, will only make
matters worse, whereas the removal of this source of irri-
tation will usually entail immediate improvement. If from
the oblique or comminuted nature of the fracture the
bones cannot be so placed and retained, recovery need not
be expected, at least without distortion.
To bring the ends together accurately, it may be nec-
essary to employ extension and counter-extension. A
strong sheet or blanket is crossed over the inside of the
upper part of the limb and held to keep the body still;
while extension is effected by lines attached to the foot,
a block and tackle may be used, but cautiously, in view of
the increased power thereby obtained. It may even be
needful to relax the muscles by placing the animal under
the influence of ether, chloroform, or chloral-hydrate.
While the limb is being extended the operator brings the
broken ends together correctly, and splints are applied.
These may be made of sheets of gutta-percha softened
in warm water and applied so as to adapt themselves to
the inequalities of the limb ; of strong pasteboard with the
edges torn (not cut) and softened in water to allow of its
being moulded to the surface; of starch bandage, a long
cotton bandage three inches wide, laid on accurately, layer
above layer, and starched as applied so that it dries into
a perfectly fitting and hard resisting case; a plaster band-
age consisting of a long roll of the same kind with plaster
of Paris thickly dusted between its layers, and the whole
General Diseases of Bones, Joints and Muscles. 8305
dipped in water before it is applied; or pieces of sheet-
iron carefully padded to prevent chafing and secure perfect
adaptation, and bound firmly by a surface bandage; or
wooden splints may be fashioned to the form of one side
of the limb and applied with a sufticient internal padding.
It is usually needful to apply one of these wooden or iron
splints outside the starch or gutta-percha cases, in the
larger animals, to give the requisite solidity. In all
cases the limb should be accurately wrapped in a long
narrow strip of cotton or linen as a protection before the
application of the bandage proper. The bandage should
always extend to the extremity of the limb (hoof or claws),
otherwise the uncovered portion will swell, inflame, and
perhaps die. It should not only fix immovably all the
joints below the fracture but if possible the next above as
well, as by this means, as well as by the enforced immo-
bility of the muscles, the perfect rest of the broken ends
is secured.
If swelling existed before the application of the bandage,
it may become loose in a day or two and should be re-
opened and more accurately applied, care being taken to
secure equal pressure from the extremity up. The starch
bandage may be slit open up the side and when properly
padded reapplied with the one edge overlapping the other
as far as necessary, and fixed by a long bandage applied
over all. The plaster bandage may be adapted by filling
up the interval between the soft skin bandage and the
plaster case with a thin pulpy mixture of plaster of Paris
and water poured in at the top.
The limb should be kept in the bandage for a month or
six weeks, and will require a rest of two or three months
more, for the consolidation of the new tissue, before being
put to work.
Fractures in the upper parts of the limbs of quadrupeds,
which it is impossible to fix by bandages, may yet recover
with very little shortening or distortion if the break is
transverse. Fractures of these parts and of the ribs
26*
506 The Farmer's Veterinary Adviser, !
bi
recover with a considerable enlargement around ‘the seat
of the break, which may be afterward absorbed in part or
in whole, as the bone is consolidated. The same holds
good of fractures of other parts when movement is allowed
between the divided ends during recovery.
Slings. For large quadrupeds with broken limbs sling-
ing is absolutely essential. The simplest mode is the
following :—Four strong posts are fixed to the ground and
roof, so as to form an oblong, inside which the four feet of
the animal may stand. A strong horizontal bar is then
fixed to the two posts on each side at such a height as to
correspond to the middle of the body. Then the animal
being walked into the frame a horizontal bar is fixed be-
tween the two front posts so high as to cross the lower
part of the neck, and another between the two hind posts
at about the height of the stifle. Next a strong sheet
(new sail cloth is best) is fixed to the one side bar by
being wound round and nailed at the outer side, and hav-
ing been passed beneath the body, is fixed to the opposite
bar in the same way. It must be just sufficiently far back
to clear the fore limbs, and just so loose as to allow
the patient to stand over it without pressure or chafing,
or to settle himself into it at will. In the male, care must
be taken to have it narrow enough not to cover the
sheath.
It is often necessary to allow an animal to become
fatigued by standing for a day or two before being put in
a sling, otherwise he may be very irritable at first. Care
must be taken not to let him feel the sling beneath him
until it is ready to be fixed, as many patients will settle
down into it the moment it is felt.
DISEASES OF THE JOINTS.
Here in addition to bone we have gristle, fibrous tissue
‘eapsular and binding ligaments) and synovial membrane,
a thin vascular structure which secretes the albuminous
glairy fluid known as joint-oil.
General Diseases of Bones, Joints and Muscles. 307
INFLAMMATION. ARTHRITIS. SYNOVITIS.
Here again the most common lesion is inflammation
from which most of the others follow as consequences
This may begin in the bones as a result of concussion,
blows, etc., and extend through the cartilage and ligaments
to the synovial membrane; or it may originate in ths
ligaments as a consequence of sprains or other injuries ;
or in the synovial membrane from wounds opening the
joint and exposing it to the air; or it may be a local
manifestation of some constitutional disease such as rheu-
matism, tubercle, glanders, farcy, etc., or finally it may be
due to plugging of the blood-vessels in consequence of
pus, ichor or fibrinous clots washed on through the vessels
from some distant seat of disease. In all cases the whole
of the joint structures tend to be involved and the symp-
toms are similar.
The succession of changes may be as follows: the
inflamed synovial membrane throws out a serous fluid
filling the joint to excess; the ligaments and adjacent
connective tissue also throw out a semi-liquid exudation
which forms a yielding swelling around the joint, suscep-
tible of indentation with the fingers ; the cartilage covering
the ends of the bones softens and is changed into a fibrous
material or is even absorbed, leaving the bone bare; the
bone exposed in this way may ulcerate, if that has not
previously commenced, or it may be partially repaired by
the deposit of a dense ivory-like layer (eburnation), the
smooth glistening surface of which glides smoothly on
that of the opposite bone; lymph may be exuded from
the exposed surface of the bone and from the interior of
the synovial membrane, and this, as well as what is out-
side the joint, may be developed into fibrous tissue re-
stricting the movements of the joint, or more frequently
into bone which binds the bony structures together and
abolishes all movement (stiff-joint, anchylosis) ; im very
severe cases the lymph inside and outside the joint de-
generates into pus, and this makes its way through the
308 The Farmer's Veterinary Adviser.
tissues to the surface, is discharged and leaves an opeu
joint, which soon determines a further increase of the
inflammation and destructive changes. In tuberculous
diseases of the joints there is the softening and enlarge-
ment of the ends of the bones, a gelatiniform exudation,
and its cheesy degeneration ; in rheumatism there is little
tendency to suppuration ; in glanders, farcy, plugging of
vessels, etc., there is the specific deposit or an early sup-
puration.
General Symptoms. The joint is swollen, tense and
elastic, is kept partially bent, is hot and tender, the parts
around it may retain the indentation made by the finger,
and the suffering is greatly increased when the joint is
moved. There are all grades from heat, tenderness, swell-
ing and habitual flexion of the joints, with the capacity of
working off the lameness during exercise, to severe forms
in which no weight can be thrown upon the limb, and the
attendant fever is so intense that appetite is gone, thirst is
ardent, breathing and pulse greatly accelerated, the heat
of the body raised to a high point and the patient may
die from the constitutional excitement.
When suppuration takes place there is an aggravation
of all the symptoms, with frequent shivering, and the
gradual absorption of the soft parts renders the fluctuation
more and more evident up to the period of rupture, Pre-
ceding stiff-joint there is a long period of subacute inflam-
mation, the joint being kept immovable by the pain and
the abundant exudation, until ossification ensues.
Tuberculous disease of the joints occurs in young ani-
mals, the offspring of consumptive families, and is marked
by the enlargement and softening of the ends of the bones,
the formation of wounds or ulcers, and, it may be, disease
of the lungs or bowels.
Rheumatic,disease is characterized by its tendency to
move from joint to joint or muscle, by its aggravation
under the influence of cold and damp and improvement
under warmth and sunshine, and by its indisposition to
General Diseases of Bones, Joints and Muscles. 309
suppuration. Glanders, farcy, plugging of the vessels,
etc., are distinguished by the presence of the coexisting
disease in other parts.
General Treatment. In severe cases secure immob’lity
in the joints by placing in slings, and, if necessary, by the
application of a smart blister around the articulation. In
the absence otf the blister apply cooling or soothing lotions
as for inflammation of bone and follow this up by blisters
or firing when the inflammation has in the main subsided
and the heat and tenderness disappeared. In the slight,
subacute and chronic forms the counter-irritants may be
applied at the first. When anchylosis threatens it is
sometimes advisable to favor it by active blistering and
rigid immobility of the joint. If ulceration of the joint
surface occurs the hot iron usually gives the best results.
If suppuration has ensued the pus must, escape by an
external opening and our efforts must be thereafter di-
rected to limiting the inflammation as far as possible and
obviating death by the general fever, or uselessness, by
destruction of the joint.
In the severer forms a purgative should be given at the
outset and this may be followed by a soft laxative diet
(mashes, roots, green food,) and diuretics, (carbonates or
acetates of potassa or soda, colchicum, etc.,) especially
when there is reason to suspect any rheumatic complica-
tion. In some cases of this, as of bone disease, in which
there is imperfect assimilation and the passage of an
excess of phosphates in the urine, a course of bitters and
iron tonics is demanded.
Tuberculous disease of the joints demands similar treat-
ment with due attention to the general health to correct,
if possible, the unhealthy state.
OPEN JOINT.
This results from an incised, punctured, lacerated or
contused wound and will vary in gravity according to the
nature of the wound and the certainty of inflammation
ensuing. If there is a simple minute puncture or cut, the
310 The Farmer's Veterinary Adviser.
wound may close without this result, but if the tissues are
severely lacerated or bruised, as in case of falls, etc., a
certain amount of inflammation must necessarily ensue.
Treatment. Never probe such wounds. Sand or gritty
matter must be removed by a stream of tepid water or the
most careful picking, and the lips of the wound brought
together if necessary by stitches, but with as few as pos-
sible and those only passing through the skin. Perfect
quiet must be secured by slings, splints, bandages or,
if the opening is small, by a blister enveloping the joint
but leaving a clear space of an inch around the wound.
In the absence of the blister, the joint may be irrigated
with cold water continuously applied as for ostitis, or a
poultice may be applied with a weak solution of carbolic
acid poured over its surface, or the same carbolic lotion
(1 part to 100 water) may be applied by means of sat-
urated cotton bandages covered with dry. Coagulating
agents (powdered alum, acetate of lead, sulphate of zinc,
ete.,) are sometimes used to close the wound by a clot of
synovia, and if this has been effected it should never be
disturbed by picking or dressing, but left to be expelled
when the wound is finally closed by the growth of gran-
ulations from its lips. The greatest danger lies in the
movement of the joint which stimulates the secretion
of synovia and keeps the wound open; in the introduction
of atmospheric air into the joint, and in the decomposi-
tion of the morbid liquids in the wound. Hence, perfect
rest, closure of the wound and the use of antiseptics like
carbolic acid are all-important.
The general treatment is the same as for arthritis from
other causes.
If suppuration ensues there is the greatest danger of
destruction of the joint.
INFLAMMATION OF THE SYNOVIAL CAVITIES—BURSH AND
SHEATHS OF TENDONS.
Burse are little synovial cavities placed between the
skin and prominent bony processes to favor the gliding of
General Diseases of Bones, Joints and Muscles. 311
the one on the other. Thecc are similar sacs interposed
between bones and fibrous cords (tendons, ligaments,) or
between two such cords, to favor gliding. Hach may be
the seat of inflammation with its consequences—over-
distension from excessive secretion of serum :—exudation
of lymph, with thickening, induration, adhesion, calcifica-
lion of the walls, or with suppuration.
It may be developed by wounds, punctures, cuts, bruises,
sprains or rheumatism, and is manifested by heat, pain,
tenderness and an elastic swelling (wind-puff, wind-gaul,)
the enlargement usually remaining after inflammation has
subsided. This condition, as well as induration or calci-
fication of the walls, causes material deformity. Sup-
puration is evinced by a great increase of the heat and
tenderness, with a more distinct and superficial fluctua-
tion and a surrounding engorgement which pits on press-
ure.
Treatment consists in rest, a relaxed posture of any
tendons implicated, and soothing, cooling or astringent
applications as in the carly stages of sprains or ostitis.
A purgative, and restricted diet are equally necessary.
When heat and tenderness have subsided a small, blister
(see periostitis) will often cause absorption of the liquid ;
or it may disappear under pressure maintained for two
hours at a time, twice daily at first, and increased by two
hours daily ; or finally, the liquid may be drawu off by the
nozzle of a hypodermic syringe and the sac compressed
with a bandage (and, if necessary, pads) saturated in an as-
tringent cooling lotion. After evacuating the liquid an
injection of compound tincture of iodine 1 part, water 2
parts, may be thrown in and expressed again after three
minutes, the part being afterward covered with wet band-
ages.
For suppuration a simple subcutaneous bursa may be
laid freely open and allowed to heal by granulation, or a
thread may be drawn through the cavity and the pus
drawn off, while cooling lotions are applied to the surface
312 The Farmer's Veterinary Adviser.
DISEASES OF MUSCLES.
RUPTURE OF MUSCLES.
The red flesh is rarely torn in life and never by volun-
tary contraction. Thouyh torn across with ease after
death it will resist much more during life than the white
fibrous cord by which it is attached to the bones. Mus-
eles are usually torn by some extreme involuntary con-
traction, as in recovering from a wrong step or slip, or in
the extreme contractions of lock-jaw. Rupture is rec-
ognized by the sudden pain and inability to use the mus-
cle, and, if itis superficial, by tenderness, by a depression
in the seat of the tear, and a bulging of the muscle above
and below it. Later the depression may be filled by a
soft compressible clot. é
Treatment consists in the approximation of the divided
ends by such a position as will relax the muscle and by a
tight bandage from the foot up if it be in a limb.
INFLAMMATION OF MUSCLE.
This is usually the result of rheumatism but may arise
from continued use or from local injury. It is manifested
by swelling and extreme tenderness of the muscle in ques-
tion, with loss of contractile power. If rheumatic it has
the further characteristic of shifting from place to place.
Tt may result in abscess, or thickening of the fibrous in-
vesting membrane, or in calcareous, granular or fatty de-
generation. It must be treated by rest, with soothing lo-
cal treatment like any ordinary inflammation, and matter
may be evacuated with knife or lancet, but the degenera-
tions may be looked upon as permanent.
Fatty degeneration is common in overfed animals, above
all in those bred for early maturity and great aptitude to
fatten (improved cattle, sheep and pigs,) and is quite irre-
mediable. It may also arise from paralysis, the result of
injuries to the nerves as in roaring.
RUPTURE OF TENDONS. SECTION OF TENDONS.
These are not uncommon in horses during severe ex:
General Diseases of Bones, Joints and Muscles. 313
ertions, as on the race-course, the back tendons being the
most common seat of the injury. Whether torn across or
divided with a cutting instrument, they are readily repaired
by the exudation of lymph between the divided ends and
its organization into white fibrous tissue. It is neces-
sary to support the limb so that the divided ends may be
placed in apposition and retained thus for three or four
weeks. Inflammation is to be checked by ordinary means.
SPRAINS.
When subjected to over-exertion, sinews become the
seat of sudden severe pain, inflammation, exudation, thick-
ening and shortening. Sprains occur mainly from severe
and continued over-exertion, or from the sudden jerk con-
sequent on taking a wrong step when fatigued and unable
readily to recover the balance. They are most frequent
where tendons play over a bony process, but may occur
at any part, and are of all grades from those producing a
slight halt, with almost imperceptible thickening of the
tendinous cord, to those in which the cord has been ex-
tensively torn and becomes the centre of a most violent
inflammation.
Treatment. When violently inflamed or the seat of ex-
treme pain, the tendon should be rested and relaxed by
giving a suitable position to the limb, and fomented with
warm water or showered continuously with cold, until heat
and tenderness have been subdued. Or cooling astringent
lotions may be used as advised under ostitis. A laxative
and restricted diet are often essential. When heat and
tenderness have subsided, occasional showering with cold
water and hand-rubbing, or stimulating liniments (cam-
phorated spirit ; liquor ammonia 1 part, olive-oil 2 parts;
camphorated spirit and peppermint water equal parts,
etc.,) may be used. The same agents may be applied to
very slight cases at the outset. Or blisters may be ap-
plied as advised under ostitis.
ar
«
314 The Farmer's Veterinary Adviser.
THICKENING, SHORTENING, CALCIFICATION OF TENDONS.
These are the results of severe or repeated sprains. It
slight they may be benefited by time, gentle exercise (at
grass), and an occasional blister of iodide of mercury. In
cases with such thickening and shortening as to impair
usefulness, after all inflammation has subsided the tendons
may be cut across by a narrow-bladed knife, making an
almost imperceptible skin wound, the ends drawn apart
by full extension of the limb, and the case treated like an
accidentally ruptured or cut tendon. If this operation
is performed in a warm season, antiseptics must be ap-
plied to the wound.
CHAPTER XVIL.
SPECIAL INJURIES OF BONES, JOINTS AND
MUSCLES.
Fracture of the lower jaw. Injuries by bit and curb. Fractare of the
upper jaw; of the bones of the nose; of the frontal bones; of the crest of
the poll; of the base of the cranium. Dislocation of the lower jaw. Open
Joint between upper and lower jaws. Cancer (Encephaloid) of the Orbit,
Tooth-like tumors under the ear. Poll Evil. Fistulous Withers. Fract-
ured Processes of the neck-bones. Broken neck. Fracture of the Spinous
Processes of the back and loins. Sprain of the back or loins. Transverse
Fracture of the back or loins. Broken Back. Laceration of the muscles
beneath the loins. Fracture of the croup. Injuries to the bones of the tail.
Fractured Ribs. Wounds penetrating the chest. Shoulder lameness. Tu-
mors on the shoulder. Sprain of the Coraco-radial tendon. Shoulder-
sprain. Sprain of the muscles outside the shoulder-blade. Disease of the
shoulder-joint. Other affections of the shoulder. Affections of the elbow
and arm. Tumors on the point of the elbow. Wounds of the elbow.
Fracture of the point of the elbow. Disease of the elbow-joint. Fracture
of the arm bone. Fracture of the fore-arm. Sprain of the radial ligament.
Sprain of the back tendons behind the knee. Thorough-pin of the knee.
Synovial swellings in front of the knee. Inflammation of the knee. Dislo-
cation of the knee. Wounds of the knee. Speedy cut. Broken knees.
Splints. Sore shins. Fracture of the splint bones; of the shank-bone.
Sprains of the back tendons; of the suspensory ligaments. Wind-galls.
Sesamoiditis. Sprain of the inferior sesamoid ligaments. Elastic swellings
in front of the fetlock. Cutting. Bruises on the fetlock. Fracture of the
pasterr bones. Bony growths on the pastern bones. Ringbones. Sprain
of the flexor tendons behind the pastern. Fractures of the hip-bones; of
the outer angle; of the inner angle; of the point of the hip; through the
shaft of the bone; into the joint. Sprain of the hip. Displacement of the
Abductor Femoris. Disease of the hip-joint. Dislocation of the hip. Fract-
ure of the thigh-bone; the neck; the siaft; the lower end. Fracture of
the knee-cap. Dislocation of the knee-cap, stifled. Disease of the stifle.
Fracture of the leg between the stifle and hock; Tibia; Fibula. Sprain or
laceration of the muscle which bends the hock. Sprain of the hamstring.
Rupture of the hamstring. Capped hock. Displacement of the tendon
316 The Farmer's Veterinary Adviser.
playing over the point of the hock. Sprain of the flexor tendon behind the
hock. Thorough-pin. Distension of the sheath of the extensor tendon in
front of the hock. Fracture of the inner maleolus. Fracture of the point
of the hock and other hock bones. Bone spavin. Inflammation of the true
hock joint. Bog spavin. Dropsy of the hock joint. Blood spavin. Curb.
String-halt. Other causes of lameness.
FRACTURES OF THE LOWER JAW.
These take place in the anterior part occupied by the
front teeth, or more frequently on one side, between these
and the grinders. In simple fractures with no great tend-
ency to movement an exclusive diet of soft mashes will
often suffice, a double halter being so arranged that the
animal cannot possibly reach either fodder or litter. If
the fracture is between the front teeth a copper or silver
wire wound round two teeth on opposite sides of the break
may fix the parts sufficiently. If further back and very
mobile, it may still be retained at times by using the
tushes as fixed points from which to carry the wire.
Where these cannot be availed of, the jaw may be perfo-
rated by a fine drill in front of the fracture and behind it,
and the two-parts firmly bound together by a silver wire.
If this is not available, a mould of gutta-percha or wood is
made to fit the lower jaw and sides of the face from the
throat as far as the chin, and this is strapped on by four
belts, one passing behind the ears, one in front of them,
one on the middle of the face and one on the nose but four
inches above the nostrils. The straps may be held to-
gether by another or a simple cord passing down the
middle of the face, and the two lower ones should be
slightly elastic. This should be kept on till union is
effected and no hard food should be allowed for two
months.
In cases of compound comminuted fractures remove all
foreign bodies and detached pieces of bone, and make an
opening in the case, through which the wound may be
dressed with antiseptic liquids (carbolic acid 1 part, water
100 parts).
Special Injuries of Bones, Joints and Muscles. 317
INJURIES BY BIT AND CURB.
These often cause slight fractures or superficial necro-
sis on the upper or lower borders of the jaw. Extract
detached pieces or scrape off dead, and when the wound
has healed drive with a snaffle.
FRACTURE OF THE UPPER JAW.
This is much less serious. If at the anterior part fix
by wiring the teeth together. If further back and associ-
ated with discharge from the nose, trephine the sinus (see
diseased teeth), remove detached pieces of bone and in-
ject with a weak astringent solution (diseased teeth).
FRACTURE OF THE BONES OF THE NOSE.
Here the depression of the space between the nostrils
and the difficulty of breathing are characteristic. Shave
the skin above and below the fracture; make a smooth
cone of wood, rounded at the apex and just large enough
to fit the nasal passage; with this inside the nose raise
the bone to its proper position and strap it there by strong
adhesive plaster passing over the interval of the fracture.
In obstinate cases we can resort to plugging of one nos-
tril with tow, or of both nostrils if tracheotomy has been
first performed.
FRACTURE OF THE FRONTAL BONES,
If beneath the level of the eye the danger is slight and
after removal of detached pieces of bone it may be treated
like an ordinary wound. If above, the depressed bone
must be raised with a lever to avoid compression of the
brain when exudation takes place. Fracture of the process
which forms the upper boundary of the eye-socket may
be raised in the same manner to avoid subsequent blemish.
FRACTURE OF THE CREST OF THE POLL (OCCIPITAL).
If split straight down and without opening the cranium
and exposing the brain, the animal should be tied so that
ane
318 The Farmer's Veterinary Adviser.
the nose is kept habitually protruded and the injury
treated like a simple wound. It may be needful to use
astringent lotions or even to make a counter-opening below
to secure a perfect recovery.
FRACTURES AT THE BASE OF THE CRANIUM.
These are usually due to blows on the poll, the shock
being conveyed through the harder structures and ex-
pended fatally on the softer bones below. Being in con-
tact with the most vital parts of the brain and beyond
the reach of surgical interference such fractures are fatal.
DISLOCATION OF THE LOWER JAW.
This sometimes occurs in the dog, from opening the
jaws too widely in giving pills, etc. The jaw is slightly
advanced and held open in spite of all attempts of the
animal to close it. Wrap the thumbs very thickly in
cloth, and seizing the lower jaw press it forcibly downward
and backward when it will slip in with a jerk and the jaws
will close firmly.
OPEN JOINT BETWEEN THE UPPER AND LOWER JAWS.
A wound exists midway between the eye and the root of
the ear, discharging a glairy fluid when the animal chews.
Fix the jaws by a bridle with straps drawn tightly around
the nose, feed thick gruels and soft mashes only and treat
as advised for open joint.
CANCER (ENCEPHALOID) OF THE ORBIT.
This occurs in horses and cattle, great, angry, bleeding,
fungous growths appearing from the soft and hard struct-
ures about the orbit. The only hope lies in early removal.
TOOTH-LIKE TUMORS UNDER THE EAR.
These are manifested by a running sore, just above and
behind the jot between the upper and the lower jaw,
with a hard object to be felt at the bottom. Their ex-
Special Injuries of Bones, Joints and Muscles. 319
traction can only be undertaken by one intimately ac-
quainted with the parts.
POLL EVIL.
This is of two kinds: Ist, A simple abscess, the result of a
blow or other local injury, and which is only serious because
of the strong enveloping fibrous membranes that imprison
the matter beneath them; and 2d, disease of the joint
between the head and the first bone of the neck, or be-
tween the first two bones. The first, if unrelieved, will
usually give rise to the second, since the surface of the
bones becomes the seat of disease which gradually extends
to and involves the jomt. The milder form may be dis-
tinguished by the superficial position of the swelling and
fluctuation, and by the comparative freedom and ease
with which the head is moved, whereas in the other the
head is carried very stiffly and cannot be moved on the
neck without extreme suffering.
Treatment. When seen early with only a slight inflam-
matory swelling behind the poll and no fluctuation, purge
and keep a cooling lotion (tincture of arnica 2 0z., iodide
of potassium 1 dr., vinegar 1 qt., camomile infusion 1 qt.,)
constantly applied to the part, the patient at rest, and the
head tied up to the rack. If matter has formed and fluctu-
ation is felt, however deep, it must be opened at once.
Select the part where fluctuation is most marked and
plunge a knife into the cavity. Then with a bent probe
find the lowest point of the sac and cut down upon this,
making a large opening from which the matter may flow
as it forms. A tape should be tied in the wound and the
sac syringed out daily with a stimulating wash (chloride
of zine 4 dr., water 1 qt.,) until from the disappearance of
swelling and matter it becomes evident that the sac is ob-
literated, when the tape may be cut, pulled half way out
and left hanging from the lower wound until the upper is
tlosed, when it may be completely withdrawn. When
new sacs of matter appear these must be promptly opened
320 The Farmer's Veterinary Adviser.
and treated in the same way. A change of dressing is
sometimes needed as one appears to be losing its effect
(tincture of muriate of iron 1 oz., water 1 quart). In ob-
stinate cases it is sometimes needful to lay the sacs open
by an extensive incision and treat like an ordinary wound.
But all these operations are only safe in the hands of
those who are intimately acquainted with the structure of
the part.
In case of disease of the bone it may be felt bare at the
bottom of the sac, by probing, and may be scraped to re-
move any dead or diseased part, and expose sound bone
which may undergo the healing process.
If the joint is implicated the case may be deemed des-
perate, as it is usually only a question of time for the
spinal cord to become involved.
FISTULOUS WITHERS.
This is analogous to the milder form of poll evil, differing
only in its site, which is on the spines above the shoulders.
It is to be treated in the same way, by free incision, the
formation of a dependent orifice and injections. If the
spinous processes are diseased they should be removed
with bone forceps until a healthy surface is exposed.
FRACTURED PROCESSES OF THE NECK BONES.
This may arise from muscular effort but more commonly
results from jamming between two heavy bodies. If on
one side only, the head is drawn to aside; and in any case
the detached piece of bone may be felt among the muscles
and grating even may be produced by moving it. The
only treatment is to keep the head in one position until
the detached parts have become adherent, which they
usually do with a visible swelling. If abscess or fistula
forms the detached bone must be extracted.
TRANSVERSE FRACTURE OF THE BONES OF THE NECK
These occur from pitching on the head, and are fatal
from the sudden cessation of breathing.
Special Injuries of Bones, Joints and Muscles. 32%
FRACTURE OF THE SPINOUS PROCESSES OF BACK AND LOINS.
This is detected by the mobility, with or without grating
of the spines implicated. If comminuted the splinters
should be extracted ; if simple, replace them and retain by
a pitch plaster on each side, or with a saddle having a
high tree and plenty of padding at the sides to support
the fractured bone.
SPRAINS OF THE BACK OR LOINS,
There is inability to back, above all when mounted, or
to turn quickly in a circle, tenderness at a given spot on
pinching along the back, drooping when mounted, and
difficulty in urination from the pain attendant on curving
the back. It has come on suddenly after slipping, falling,
bearing a heavy weight, etc., and is independent of fever.
It is distinguished from partial paraplegia by the per-
fect sensation in the hind parts, by the absence ot
any chanye in their temperature as compared with the
rest of the body, and by the retention of perfect sensation
and motion in the tail.
Treatment. Place in a narrow stall in which the patient
eannot turn his body or even his neck; apply slings to
prevent any attempt at lying down; foment with warm
water if there is much pain; when that has subsided,
blister. It is all-important to give laxative diet, and to
correct any costiveness or other impairment of the general
health.
TRANSVERSE FRACTURE OF BACK OR LOINS.
This occurs suddenly from an evident cause, such as
slipping, over-weighting, a wrong step, or struggling when
east for an operation. If displacement has not taken
place there is an exaggerated manifestation of the same
symptoms as in sprained back, but if the bones are dis-
placed, or when the resulting inflammation and swelling
have produced pressure on the spinal cord, there is para-
plegia, coldness of the body behind the seat of fracture
322 The Farmer's Veterinary Adviser.
though that in front may be hot and perspiring; the tail
is implicated in the palsy, and there is much tenderness
and often a manifest depression of the seat of fracture.
Treatment. The slighter forms are treated like sprained
loins. In the more severe, the subject should be de-
stroyed at once. If after recovery in other respects a
certain lack of power remains, it must be treated like
paraplegia.
LACERATION OF THE MUSCLES BENEATH THE LOINS.
This occurs from the hind limbs slipping unexpectedly
backward or from their going back into a ditch which the
animal is attempting to leap. ‘The manifestations resem-
ble those of broken back, as there are difficulty in rising,
and an imperfect control over the hind limbs, which are
dragged awkwardly forward and not advanced so far as in
health. But there is no indication of paralysis and no
alteration of temperature or sensibility in the hind parts,
the functions of the tail are perfect, and examination
through the rectum detects a soft doughy swelling, with
heat and tenderness beneath the loins. Treatment is by
slings and fomentations to the loins. If the horse is un-
able to get up, raise him by block and tackle and he will
easily stand. Several weeks are wanted for repair of the
injury and the patient should have a run at grass before
returning to work.
FRACTURE OF THE CROUP (SACRUM).
Seen in cattle and less frequently in horses, and caused
by riding each other or by the fall of heavy bodies on the
part. There is a manifest depression at one point of the
medium line of the croup, and the tail usually hangs
paralyzed. Examination with the oiled hand in the rec-
tum at once detects the displacement, which is always
downward. With one hand in the rectum pressing on the
tlepressed bone and the other pulling the tail, the bones
may be replaced and should be held so by a stiff leather
Special Injuries of Bones, Joints and Muscles. 323
sheath well padded, fixed round the root of the tail and
connected in front with a surcingle and collar. Recovery
of pewer over the tail may be looked for.
INJURIES TO THE BONES OF THE TAIL.
Fracture and dislocation are easily reduced and the
bones maintained in proper place by a bandage. If the
bones are crushed, or the seat of caries or necrosis, the
member should be amputated above the injury. Docking
scissors are best for this purpose, but the organ may be
laid across a beam and chopped off with one blow of a
hatchet. The hair should first be removed from the part
to be cut, and what is above this part tied up to the rump.
After the amputation the hair is drawn down over the
stump and firmly tied, as close to it as possible, so as to
compress the arteries and check bleeding. In cattle and
other animals, with short hair on the tails, bleeding may
be prevented by a flat tape tied round the tail above the
stump for eight hours, or the arteries may be tied, or
finally, they may be seared with a hot iron, the part hav-
ing been first dusted with powdered resin.
FRACTURED RIBS.
These usually result from falls, blows and other forms
of mechanical injury, and may be easily detected by a
depression or soft part at the seat of fracture. If simple,
they will be readily repaired under the influence of rest
and girths to restrict the movements of the chest. But if
comminuted, abscesses may form or necrosis ensue, de-
manding the removal of the dead or morbid matters. If
the fractured ends have been driven in so far as to pene-
trate the lung a still more serious complication is met.
The air rushes from the tubes of the lacerated lung into
the pleural cavity during each inspiration, and as it can-
not find its way back, the whole of that half of the chest
is soon filled with air and the lung ccmpressed into a
small solid mass attached to the lower end of the wind.
$24 The Farmer’s Veterinary Adviser.
pipe, and opposite the base of the heart. The lesion
is thus liable to prove fatal, though if arrested early by the
exudation of lymph in the wound of the lung, the air may
be absorbed and recovery may ensue.
WOUNDS PENETRATING THE CHEST.
Whether connected with broken ribs or only involving
the muscles between the ribs, these lead to the accumula-
tion of air in the chest and collapse of the lung, as when
a broken rib has torn the lung tissue. The edges of the
wound, having been driven in, act like a valve allowing the
entrance of air during the expansion of the chest, but for-
bidding its escape when that cavity collapses. It is far
more serious than the accumulation of air in the chest from
a torn lung, as decomposition and irritation are set up by
the presence of germs which are filtered out in passing
through the lungs. Unless the wound is small and can
be closed early, it is necessarily fatal.
SHOULDER LAMENESS.
The lameness which accompanies injuries to the shoul-
der may be so characteristic as to be recognized at a
glance. The specific features are, the carrying of the head
low; the dragging of the toe on the ground im advancing
the limb; the swinging of the foot outward so as to
describe the arc of a circle in bringing it forward ; and, if
severe enough, the standing with joints partly bent, the
heel raised and the toe resting on the ground, but without
any advance of the lame foot in front of the other.
TUMORS ON THE SHOULDER.
Often preceded by chafing or galling, these consist of
inflammation and suppuration beneath the large flat
muscle which covers the front of the shoulder (levator
humeri). The tissues around the matter become thickened
and indurated to an extraordinary extent, so that it is
often impossible to detect any fluctuation, yet it may be
Special Injuries of Bones, Joints and Muscles. 325
assumed in all cases of considerable swelling that matter
really exists, and the recovery will not ensue until that has
been evacuated. In slight cases only will a little nut-like
induration form without matter.
Treatment. In cases in which injury has just been sus-
tained, suspend work or drive in a breast strap, and treat
as for chafing. If a tumor forms, first subdue the more
active inflammation by a dose of physic and a wet rug
slung over the shoulder for several days ; then open it with
a knife, or preferably, draw off the liquid once or twice, at
intervals of two or three days, with a cannula and trocar,
and then, when the sac has been reduced to a small size,
lay it freely open with the knife and treat like an ordinary
wound. In very large tumors it may be necessary to push
the cannula in as far as four or even six inches before the
matter is reached, but the operator must persevere, direct-
ing it always toward the exact centre of the swelling. The
small solid tumors are to be cut out with the knife, a
straight vertical incision being made through the skin,
directly over the mass, which is then dissected out, and
the skin brought together with stitches and treated like
a simple wound.
SPRAIN OF THE CORACO-RADIAL TENDON. SHOULDER SPRAIN.
This is a sprain of the large tendon which passes over
the point of the shoulder (the most prominent part directly
in front), and in bad cases the double pulley over which it
plays in front of the upper end of the arm bone is involved
in inflammation and ulceration.
Symptoms. Pendent head, dragging toe, swinging out-
ward of the foot when being advanced, shortness of the
step, and a tendency to stand with the toe only resting
on the ground and the limb bent but not advanced. Swell.
ing of the point of the shoulder is sometimes, though rarely
seen. but pressure on this point with the thumbs will
detect tenderness, which is especially marked as compared
with that of the other shoulder. The pressure should be
28
326 The Farmer's Veterinary Adviser
made successively on the inner side of the tendun, on the
outer and on its centre.
Treatment. First subdue the inflammation by rest, a
high-heeled shoe and a.wet rug kept hanging continually
over the shoulder (a blanket folded several times and tied
round the neck and chest), with or without a purge and
restricted diet. When the heat and tenderness have sub-
sided apply a smart blister over the point of the shoulder,
and repeat if lameness persists. In obstinate cases it may
be needful to use the hot iron, but only on the outer
side of the joint, and never on the point where the collar
rests.
SPRAIN OF THE MUSCLES OUTSIDE THE SHOULDER-BLADE.
This is a sprain of the muscle which fills up the poste-
rior cavity on the outer side of the shoulder-blade and
plays over the outer side of the shoulder-joint (outer tu-
bercle of the head of the humerus). It occurs mainly in
young horses when first put to plow or in others going on
uneven ground and stepping unexpectedly into holes. In
the endeavor to recover the equilibrium on stepping into
a furrow or hole, this muscle which forms the outer sup-
port of the joint is injured and there result heat, swelling
and tenderness on the outside of the joint and a most
characteristic gait. The horse may walk, or even trot,
without much apparent lameness, but standing directly in
front of him the affected shoulder is seen to roll outward
from the body to a far greater extent than the sound one.
Soon the muscle begins to waste rapidly, and in bad cases
the shoulder-blade may be denuded until it appears to be
covered by nothing but skin.
Treatment. In the first stages, with heat, swelling and
tenderness outside the joint, vest, employ a wet rug, etc.,
as for sprain of the coraco-radial tendon. When this has
subsided allow exercise on smooth ground (walking, work-
ing in light cultivator,) and increase the circulation over
the wasted muscle by active friction with straw or a piece
Special Injuries of Bones, Joints and Muscles. 327
of wood: or by mild blisters (ammonia 1 pt., oil 2 pts.: or
Spanish flies 1 part, alcohol 25 pts., steeped for 24 hours
and strained): or stimulate with a galvanic battery. It
may take months to refill the cavity, but in all recent
cases perseverance will be rewarded. In old standing
cases with fatty degeneration of the muscles, a very par-
tial restoration only can be effected.
It must be added that wasting of the shoulder muscles
is a common result of all lameness entailing disuse of the
limb and hence many injuries of the feet and elsewhere
are referred to the shoulder and designated sweeny (Schwin-
den) by wiseacres. In the absence of the peculiar gait
above described, of the early heat, swelling and tender-
ness outside the joint and the rapid wasting of the mus-
cle, the cause of the sweeny should be sought elsewhere
than the shoulder.
DISEASE OF THE SHOULDER-JOINT (INFLAMMATION,
ULCERATION, ETC.)
Tn the large quadrupeds, in which swelling and tender-
ness on handling are rarely seen, disease in the joint is to
be mainly distinguished by the general symptoms of
shoulder lameness and the absence of any of the signs of .
local disease in the tendons, already described. Move-
ment of the joint by drawing the limb forward, and espe-
cially by drawing it backward, will usually give rise to
pain, sometimes of an extreme nature.
In dogs the capsule of the joint is found to bulge on
each side of the coraco-radial tendon which plays over
the point of the shoulder, and tenderness may be shown
when it is handled.
Treatment. When inflammation is very severe rest and
soothing measures should be first resorted to. In the
majority of cases it assumes a subacute type and is to. be
treated by a high-heeled shoe, rest and counter-irritants
Repeated blistering with Spanish flies may suffice, but in
obstinate cases and whenever there is reason to suspect
328 The Farmer's Veterinary Adviser.
ulceration, the hot iron is most serviceable, applied round
the outer side of the joint only.
OTHER AFFECTIONS OF THE SHOULDER.
The shoulder-blade is subject to fracture, ulceration
and necrosis; the muscles beneath the bone to lacera-
tions ; the joint to dislocations (rare in large quadrupeds) ;
and the lymphatic glands inside the joint to abscess (es-
pecially in strangles), all of which must be treated on gen-
eral principles, space forbidding their further notice in
the present work. Shoulder lameness may further arise
from liver disease, which see.
AFFECTIONS OF THE ELBOW AND ARM.
Lameness in the region of the elbow is characterized
by the inability to extend the joint fully or to bear weight
upon it in this condition. In bad cases the elbow and
knee joints are kept semiflexed when standing still, and
when walking or trotting the dropping of the head and
body is.extreme, in consequence of a similar flexion.
Movement of the joint will also give rise to symptoms of
tenderness.
TUMORS ON THE POINT OF THE ELBOW.
These are usually caused by the heels of the shoe when
the horse lies with his fore limbs bent under him (cow
fashion) from undue narrowness of the stall.
Symptoms. There is first a hot, tender swelling, and if
the source of injury is kept up, this may increase by small
degrees to a very large size. Soon the swelling fluctuates
from contained serum and it may remain thus indefinitely,
the liquid being confined by the tough fibrous walls. Or
the serum may be absorbed leaving a hard nut-like tumor
with no sign of fluctuation.
Treatment. Sooth the early inflammation by fomenta-
tions or a wet rug hung over the part, and keep on a soft
laxative diet. If the amount of serum thrown out is
Special Injuries of Bones, Joints and Muscles. 329
timited, it may be entirely re-absorbed by using tincture of
jodine to remove the swelling. If more abundant let it be
drawn off with a cannula and trocar and the sac injected
with compound tincture of iodine diluted in double its
pulk of water. If this is not available, lay the sac freely
open at its lower part and heal like a common wound. If
a hard mass is left beneath the skin it is to be cut out as
advised for those on the shoulder.
By way of prevention the stall must be widened, and, in
the case of animals that will lie on the breast, a pad or
girdle of two or three inches thick must be strapped round
the pastern at night to prevent the heel striking against -
the elbow. This pad must be soft, covered with chamois’s
leather, made without a seam on its outer side, and buckled
above and below so that nothing hard may touch the elbow.
WOUNDS OF THE ELBOW.
‘Wounds in this situation are often complicated with air
under the skin pufling up the whole region, having been
pumped in by the movements of the elbow. Rest is
requisite and the wound may be treated as others.
FRACTURE OF THE POINT OF THE ELBOW.
This is easily recognized, as the leg dangles, bending at
the elbow and knee, and it is impossible to bear any weight
on it. On taking hold of the back of the elbow the proc-
ess of bone is found to be detached and loose. If excess-
ive swelling prevents this, place the foot upon the ground,
bend back the knee forcibly and let an assistant raise the
opposite fore foot. If the bone is broken he will drop, if
the muscles only are injured he may stand.
Treatment. If the injury has occurred from a kick,
which has seriously contused the joint surfaces, all treat-
ment may be futile, but if not, the case will be hopeful
and especially in the young. Bring the detached bone as
nearly as possible into position and retain it by a pad
placed inside the elbow, and a bandage an‘ splints ccn-
2R*
330 The Farmer's Veterinary Adviser.
tinued from the foot up. The patient must be placed in
slings.
DISEASE OF THE ELBOW-JOINT.
This must be diagnosed by the general symptoms of
elbow lameness and by pain in moving the joint, but espe-
cially when it is fully extended.
Treatment as for diseased shoulder-joint, the applications
in this case being made to the elbow. If far advanced or
if connected with fracture of the lower end of the arm
bone or of that forming the point of the elbow, it wil!
usually be unsatisfactory.
FRACTURE OF THE ARM BONE.
Fracture of the large bone between the point of the
shoulder and the elbow may occur from blows, or even
wrong steps, and is often attended by much swelling from
extravasation of blood. The only resort is to place the
animal in slings and keep him perfectly quiet. In rare
cases recovery has taken place with no distortion, the bro-
ken ends, in a transverse fracture, remaining in apposition.
Usually they are drawn apart by the muscles and ride
over each other so that the limb is shortened. Such a re-
sult is only desirable in breeding horses and in stock for
dairy or butcher.
FRACTURE OF THE FORE-ARM.
Fractures between the elbow and knee in horses or
cattle necessarily leave the animal unable to rest on the
limb ; if in dogs or cats one of the bones may be broken
while the other remains unharmed and weight can still be
borne. There is trembling of the muscles, distortion
easily felt on carrying the hand down the inner side along
the line of the bone, and grating when the limb is moved.
Treatment. If the fracture is very oblique treatment
will rarely pay in horses, but if transverse or jagged so
that the bones do not ride, the case is very hopeful. Set
Special Injuries of Bones, Joints and Muscles 331
ting the bones, with the aid of extension and counter-
extension, or even ether if necessary, applying splints and
bandages from the foot to the elbow, and placing in slings
(if a large animal) are the essential conditions.
SPRAIN OF THE RADIAL LIGAMENT.
This is an injury of a strong, flat, fibrous band, coming
from the lower third of the fore-arm and joining the back
tendons just above the knee. It is characterized by a
tendency to carry the pastern upright, or even to flex the
knee and to stumble. The knee cannot be fully flexed
without much pain, and there is a hot tender swelling
immediately behind the bone and extending from the knee
about four inches upward.
Treat by rest, a laxative, a high-heeled shoe, and fo-
mentations or cooling astringent lotions ; followed when
heat and tenderness subside by active blistering should
lameness continue.
SPRAIN OF THE BACK TENDONS BEHIND THE KNEE.
THOROUGH-PIN OF THE KNEE.
This is manifested by a tense fluctuating swelling on
each side of the back tendons just above the knee and
behind the bone of the fore-arm ; also of a swelling behind
and immediately below the knee, pressure on one of these
swellings causing the filling up of the others and vice
versa. There may or may not be much lameness, or im-
possibility of flexing the knee so as to bring the fetlock
pad in contact with the elbow.
Treat the inflammation as in sprained radial ligament,
and the liquid distension by blister, by bandage and pads
shaped like half of an egg cut longitudinally, or still better
by evacuating the liquid with the nozzle of a hypodermic
syringe, and then applying pressure with wet bandages.
SYNOVIAL SWELLINGS IN FRONT OF THE KNEE.
_ These are of three kinds: Ist, the distension of wu bursa
or formation of a serous cyst under the skin, exceedingly
332 The Farmers Veterinary Adviser.
common in heavy cattle; 2d, distension of the theca of
one or more of the four tendons which pass over the front
and outer side of the knee; 3d, and finally, disease inside
the knee-joint and distension of its capsule. The first is
superficial though often possessed of very thick walls, is
generally diffused over the front of the joint, and is little
affected by flexion or extension. The distended thecs
extend vertically along the lines of the tendons, reaching
above and below the joint and are bound down at in-
tervals by transverse bands; their size is little affected by
bending the joint. Distensions of the joint capsule ap-
pear in the intervals between the tendons, do not extend
beyond the joint except in very extreme cases, and disap-
pear in part or entirely when the joint is bent; in this
case the joint is rarely kept fully extended in standing
and cannot usually be flexed to make the fetlock touch
the elbow.
Treatment. For Subcutaneous cysts puncture with nozzle
of hypodermic syringe, draw off the liquid and compress
strongly with wet bandages. If this cannot be done, pass
a tape from above downward through the cavity of the
sac, and keep in until resulting suppuration has ceased,
when it may be withdrawn from above downward a little
at a time. Excess of inflammation may be subdued by
fomentations and thick wet bandages.
The distended thece may be punctured with a nozzle of
a hypodermic syringe and subjected to pressure, or treated
with strong blisters (biniodide of mercury 2 dr., lard 1 0z.,)
repeatedly applied; or simple pressure will suffice if kept
up for some weeks increasing the time daily. Setons
would be dangerous.
For distended joint see below.
INFLAMMATION OF THE KNEE-JOINT,
This may be seen in all stages from that in which the
animal starts forward perceptibly at the knee and mani-
fests suffering when you try to fully extend it by strong
Special Injuries of Bones Joints and Muscles. 333
pressure on its anterior surface, to the most violent and
destructive inflammation with extensive exudation of lymph
and even the formation of abscess. It tends to leave the
puffy swellings of its capsule referred to under the preced-
ing heading, or distinct hard bony enlargements on the
anterior surface of the joint. The animal stands squarely
upon his feet with no inclination to raise the heel, and in
action carries the knee-joint comparatively unbent, takes
a fairly long step and comes down with greatest force on
the heels so as to wear the shoe at this point. A rider
has a peculiar sensation of the chest sinking under him.
The lameness increases with exercise, especially on hard
surfaces.
Treatment. Rest, without shoes; subdue inflammation
by soothing applications, after which blister the part. If
the animal persists in using it too freely, apply splints and
bandages to fix the joint, and place in slings.
WOUNDS OF THE KNEE
DISLOCATION OF THE KNEE-JOINT with laceration of the
lateral ligaments occurs, and though if put in splints and
slings the patients will sometimes recover with a stiff knee,
the result is a very undesirable one.
Bruisz oF THE INNER SIDE OF THE KNEE. SPEEDY CUT.
This usually results from a blow with the opposite foot, in
horses with high action, in those with narrow chests, or,
above all, in horses driven in the snow-path. It is mani-
fested by an inflammatory swelling on the prominence of
bone inside the joint, resultmg in a permanent scar, a
serous sac or an abscess. Its early or inflammatory stage
may be treated by lotions of cold water or astringent
liquids, kept constantly applied; the serous effusion by
pressure or by drawing off the liquid through a fine tube,
and then bandaging, and abscess by a free incision with a
knife or lancet.
To prevent keep the foot rather bare inside, with the
shoe slightly beveled from its wearing to its bearing sur
334 The Farmer's Veterinary Adviser.
facé, allow no ragged nail clinches to project, and re-ad-
just the shoe sufficiently often (every three weeks). Ora
boot may be worn extending from the fetlock to the knee
and with a rim at its upper part to warn the animal when
his foot approaches this point.
Wounds IN Front or THE Kners. Broxen Kners. Usu-
ally sustained in falling, but it may be by striking against
a manger or other hard object. They are of all degrees
of severity: 1st, simple loss of hair and slight abrasion of
the scariskin; 2d, a severe bruise of the skin without
laceration; 3d, a wound extending no deeper than the
skin; 4th, a wound laying bare the tendons and opening
their sheaths ; 5th, a wound laying open the joint and ex-
posing the bones with or without laceration of the tendons ;
and 6th, when the joint is opened and the small bones of
the knee broken.
Treatment. 1st, With simple abrasion no treatment is
needed ; 2d, if much bruised tie short to a high rack to
prevent lying down and bandage lightly, using a mild
astringent lotion (sugar of lead 4 0z., carbolic acid 60
drops, water 2 qts.); 3d, in all cases in which the wound
extends through the skin it is desirable to bend the knee
to the position occupied when wounded so that the deep
wounds may correspond with the superficial, and wash. off
with a stream of tepid water or soft clean sponge all dirt
or foreign bodies, but never probe nor run any risk of
opening cavities which have not been injured. Any shreds
of tissue which are absolutely dead should be cut off, but
never remove any skin, however contused, as it will all be
wanted. Then cutting the hair from the flaps of the
wound above and below bring them together by straps of
plaster or tow dipped in shellac paste, leaving sufficient
intervals for the escape of matter. If the wound inflames
and swells, give a purgative and dress with the lotion ad-
vised for bruised knee. In all severe cases it is desirable
to sling the patient after the first few days to obviate any
attempt to-lie down, which would seriously protract the
Special Injuries of Bones, Joints and Muscles. 335
case; 4th, the exposure of the tendons, with escape of
glairy synovia, will entail more swelling and fever and per-
manent enlargement of the joint, but will demand the
same course of treatment; 5th, when the tendons are
crushed or torn and the joint opened, and above all when
the bones are broken we have cases of increasing severity
and in few such is it desirable to subject to treatment, un-
less the patient is to be valuable for breeding purposes.
Considerable death of tendon and even necrosis and elimi-
nation of bone may be expected and the patient can only
recover with a stiff joint. In addition to the measures
already recommended, it becomes imperative to encase
the limb up to the elbow in splints and bandages, as for a
fracture, leaving open the part in front of the knee for
dressing the wound.
SPLINTS.
These are circumscribed inflammations of the perios-
teum and small bones in the region of the shank, involving
or not the shank-bones themselves, and resulting in small
bony swellings. They occur almost invariably on the inner
Fig. 67.
Fig. 67—Splint.
side of the limb, between the large and small bones of the
shank, and may usually be recognized by running the
fingers down the slight groove formed between the main
shank-bone and its small accessory one behind. It usually
connects the large bone to the small (anchylosis), but may
be confined to the posterior part of the small bone, or may
extend across the back of the shank-bone and appear at
the same level on the inner and outer sides of the limb
336 The Farmer's Veterinary Adviser.
alike. In old horses it is not unfrequent to find the small
bone united to the large along two-thirds of its length. If
situated high up and close to the knee, it is more likely to
cause continued lameness than if lower down. Again if
an animal has several splints and other diseases of bone
he is highly objectionable, as being predisposed to bone
disease. ;
Symptoms. Beside the feeling of the splints on hand-
ling, as above mentioned, these symptoms may be seen.
The patient may walk sound, or even trot so, on soft
ground, but is exceedingly lame when trotted on a hard
surface, and this lameness increases with exercise. The
extreme drooping of the head is characteristic. Even
before the formation of the splint tenderness may be
shown on pressure, and some little heat recognized. In
some cases considerable soft swelling may be felt in the
early stages. In acute cases, threatening abscess, the
lameness is extreme.
Treatment. In the early stages, rest, purge, and apply
cooling lotions. When heat and tenderness subside, blis-
ter. Some cases will recover promptly, others require
repeated blistering and a long period of rest. If heat and
great tenderness return, resort again to soothing measures.
In extreme tenderness, threatening the formation of mat-
ter, the periosteum should be divided with a very narrow-
bladed knife which is passed through the skin half an inch
below the swelling and carried up over it. The part must
then be covered by a wet bandage.
INFLAMMATION OF THE MEMBRANE COVERING THE SHANK-BONE,
SORE SHINS.
This occurs especially in over-worked young horses.
Racers are very liable, but cart-horses are not exempt
There is general tumefaction of the shank-bone or of some
part of it, usually the lower, with a lameness greatly re-
sembling that of splints. If slight and circumscribed, the
exudation that takes place between the membrane and
Special Injuries of Bones, Joints and Muscles. 3317
the bone is ossified, giving rise to permanent thickening,
and exudation outside the membrane may follow a similar
course, causing a very considerable swelling. In the more
severe cases, the abundant exudation, separating the
membrane from the bone, may cut off the supply of blood
and entail necrosis; or the lymph may degenerate into
pus which burrows beneath the membrane, separating it
from the bone and destroying the life of the latter.
Treatment. In mild cases treat like splints. In the
very severe with great tenderness and doughy swelling of
the bone, make a series of incisions through the membrane
covering the bone, with a very narrow-bladed knife and
by valvular wounds, passing the blade a short distance
beneath the skin before cutting down on the bone. Then
apply the lotion advised for broken knees.
FRACTURE OF THE SPLINT BONES.
The lower ends of the small bones of the shank are
liable to be broken, the lesion being made out by the
swelling at the point and the unnatural mobility of the
lower end of the bone, though grating is not to be ex-
pected. No treatment is needed beyond a cooling bandage
and rest.
FRACTURE OF THE SHANK-BONE.
This is broken by kicks, blows, or simply by con-
cussion in exercise. The superficial position of the
bone renders all distortion very apparent, and this with
the impossibility of resting weight on the limb and the
grating of the broken ends when handled are unmistak-
able.
Treatment. T£ comminuted, as it often is, the animal
had best be slaughtered. If only compound, hopes may
be entertained, especially in young animals, an opening
being made in the bandage to dress the wound. If sim-
vle and the fracture not too oblique, nothing is easier than
to set it, to envelop it in a bandage extending over and
29
538 The Farmer's Veterinary Adviser.
fixing the knee, and to keep the patient in slings until
union has taken place.
SPRAINS OF THE BACK TENDONS.
These are the two cords which form the posterior line
of the limb between the knee and the fetlock. About
midway down the shank the front one is joined by a strong
cord coming from the upper end of the cannon-bone and
the lower row of small knee bones. This last is by far
the most frequent seat of sprain, so that the swelling and
tenderness are observed between the upper half of the
cannon-bone and the round cord which forms the posterior
outline of the limb. In other cases the tendons have
participated in the sprain, and they too are thickened and
tender from the middle of the shank (the point of junction
with the ligament) down to the fetlock. In a third class
the sprain is confined to an inch or two above the fetlock.
In these the swelling is to the two sides if the anterior of
the two tendons is injured and backward if the posterior
is sprained. The symptoms are a stumbling gait, with
a tendency to stub the toe into the ground and to bend
over at the knee and fetlock; an inclination to stand with
the knee and fetlock slightly bent, the pastern upright or
the heel a little raised; then passing the hand along the
line of the tendons and in front of them in the upper half
of the bone, the thumb on one side and the fingers on the
other, any slight thickening is easily recognized, and if
. heat exists and pain on pinching, your suspicions are con-
firmed. In old bad cases the stay ligament and lower
half of the tendons are greatly thickened throughout and
the knee kept constantly bent, sometimes to the extent of
causing the patient to walk on the front of the hoof. In
other cases the cords are knotted, hard and wanting in
suppleness, showing calcification of their substance.
Treatment. In the early stages of severe cases, rest,
shorten the toe, apply a high-heeled shoe, and apply bot
fomentation continuously, or cold astringent lotions
Special Injuries of Bones, Joints and Muscles. 339
When heat and tenderness have subsided the high-heeled
shoe may be dispensed with, the foot shod level and active
blisters applied. The preparations of the iodides of mer-
cury are among the best. In old cases of extreme con-
traction the tendons can be cut across by a narrow-
bladed knife with as little external wound as possible,
and the limb extended to its proper form arid retained
there by splints and bandages*until new fibrous tissue
fills up the interval between the divided ends. The oper-
ation is performed in the middle of the shank below the
connection with the stay ligament and is very successful
in appropriate cases, restoring a helpless cripple to perfect
usefulness. Jor the minutiz of the operation the reader
is referred to our larger work. Calcified, knotted tendons
are utterly unsuited to it.
SPRAIN OF THE SUSPENSORY LIGAMENT.
This structure lies between the shank-bone and the
back tendons and extends from the back of the lower part
of the knee to the little bones (sesamoids) which form the
pulley for the tendons behind the fetlock, with prolonga-
tions forward on the sides of the pastern to join the ex-
tensor tendon of the foot. The seat of sprain may be at
any part but is usually in the lower third of the shank,
where it divides into an inner and an outer branch. The
sprain may cause but the slightest perceptible swelling on
one of these branches or the ligament may be completely
torn across, the fetlock descending to the ground and the
toe turning up. Any injury to this ligament is likely to
cause more persistent lameness than a corresponding in-
jury to the back tendons, seeing it is a mechanical support
to the fetlock and is always on the strain when the animal
stands upon the limb.
Symptoms. Persistent, often severe lameness, upright
pastern, stumbling gait or undue lowering of the fetlock
when weight is thrown upon the limb. Then by bringing
the fingers and thumb down the line of the cord felt im-
pay
B40 The Farmer's Veterinary Adviser.
mediately behind the lower half of the shank-bone be-
tween it and the back tendons, some enlargement is
detected with heat and tenderness. In bad cases, with
descent of the fetlock, the whole length of the cord is
thickened and the infiltration of the surrounding parts
gives the whole back of the limb a soft doughy feeling.
Treatment is much less satisfactory than in sprains of the
back tendons but the pfinciples are the same, though
a much longer period of rest and blistering is usually
demanded. In severe forms with descent of the fetlock,
that must be supported by splints and bandages, in the
same manner as after cutting the back tendons, otherwise
the limb will be permanently distorted. These severe
cases, which usually result from the most violent exertions
in racing or hunting, rarely recover so as to be fit for such
work in future, though they may be useful for service at a
slow pace.
SPRAIN OF THE BACK TENDONS OVER THE FETLOCK PULLEY.
WIND-GALLS. SESAMOIDITIS.
This is the result of sprains or severe exertions and is al-
ways associated with round elastic synovial swellings on
each side of the tendons, familiarly known as puffs or wincl-
galls. Similar swellings arise, independent of sprains, as
the result of over-exertion or dropsy of the part. The
swellings may become solid by coagulation of the lymph
and may be absorbed or organized, or the inflammation
may attack the bone, leading to ulceration and bony de-
posits. Similar bony deposits with or without ulceration
may take place on these small bones in connection with
injuries of the suspensory ligament.
Treatment. Simple wind-galls, dropsical or from over-
exertion, may be made to disappear by persistent pressure
with a bandage and pads applied at first two hours twice
a day, and two hours more every day thereafter, until
they can be kept on all the time. It may, however, re-
quire five or six weeks and should be stopped if it
Special Injuries of Bones, Joints and Muscles. 341
causes inflammation in the sac. Another plan is to draw
off the liquid through the nozzle of a hypodermic syringe
and apply a firm wet bandage. In some quiet animals
a weak solution of iodine may be injected, but this is too
often injurious or at least fruitless, from the irritability of
the horse. Recent puffs will sometimes disappear under
strong astringent lotions (oak-bark and alum) or under an
active blister, or after firing, the contraction of the skin
during healing appearing to be a principal cause of their
absorption.
Where there is sprain with much heat, tenderness and
tension, treat by rest, purgative, a high-heeled shoe, and
fomentations or cooling astringent lotions, to be followed
by blisters when the tenderness subsides.
Disease of the bones (Sesamoiditis) must be treated
with severe blisters and even firing, with long continued
rest, but if ulcers already exist on the gliding surface of
the bones a complete recovery need scarcely be looked for.
SPRAIN OF THE INFERIOR SESAMOID LIGAMENTS.
The ligaments below these pulley-shaped bones behind the
fetlock are sometimes sprained, causing great lameness
with swelling and tenderness below the fetlock pad.
Treat as for injury to the suspensory ligament.
ELASTIC SWELLING IN FRONT OF THE FETLOCK.
These are of two kinds: Ist, a serous abscess or en-
larged bursa under the skin: and 2d, the distension of
a large synovial bursa between the extensor tendon and
the capsule of the joint. The first swells out as a uniform
rounded tumor on the front of the joint. The second has
at first the appearance of a double tumor from the swell-
ing appearing at the two sides of the extensor tendon, ana
it is only in severe cases and advanced stages that these
meet over the centre. ‘They usually result from pricks or
bruises, though the second form may be associated with
sprain. Any existing inflammation should be subdued by
29*
342 = The Farmer's Veterinary Adviser.
soothing measures and a blister applied early to secure
absorption of the liquid if possible. Should this fail the
liquid may be drawn off as advised for wind-galls, and the
part tightly bandaged. Or a free incision may be made
in the lower part of the sac and wet bandages applied to
keep down inflammatory action, while the sac is obliter-
ated by healing from the bottom.
DISEASE OF THE FETLOCK JOINT.
This is occasionally the seat of simple dropsical effusion,
causing it to swell out like wind-galls on the inner and outer
sides, just above the sesamoid bones. The swellings are,
however, placed more anteriorly than distensions of the
tendinous sheath, aud pressure upon them does not cause
bulging nor fluctuation behind and below the fetlock, on
the line of the tendons. This is not necessarily connected
with lameness, though if the result of inflammation of the
joint, that is more likely. Inflammation of the joint may
be recognized by the habitual resting of the leg, which
starts forward at the fetlock, by the appearance of wind-
galls just described, and by a swelling heat and tenderness
of the entire joint. Bending the joint fully causes intense
pain as does also full extension.
Treatment does not differ from that of other inflamed
joints.
DISLOCATION OF THE FETLOOK.
This occurs like that. of the knee in connection with
rupture of the lateral ligaments. We have had recoveries
so as to be very useful for farm work by reducing the dis-
location and fixing with splints and bandages, but this
cannot by any means be calculated on.
BLOWS ON THE INSIDE OF THE FETLOCK. OUTTING.
8
Like cutting on the inner side of the knee, this arises
from blows received in action. Weak animals with turned-
out toes and distorted feet are most liable. It is to be
Special Injuries of Bones, Joints and Muscles. 348
treated by soothing measures, and if the bones or joints
become involved, treat as advised for the respective in
juries.
To prevent, let the feet be kept a little bare on the inner
side and the shoes slightly leveled off, but avoid lowering
the foot or thinning the shoe on the inner side. On the
contrary a very slight thickening of the shoe on the inside
is sometimes beneficial, by straightening up the fetlock
und removing it from danger. If this fails wear a leather
beot with a projecting rim, or a simple woolen bandage.
ti weak subjects benefit is often derived from bringing
into a better condition of health.
FRACTURES OF THE PASTERN BONES.
These are exceedingly common in horses running on
hard ground or even on soft movable sand. They are of
all degrees of severity, from a simple split without separa-
tion of the-broken pieces, to a complete shattering of the
bone into a dozen fragments or more. Simple fractures
are usually oblique, or even vertical, the bone being split
in two nearly equal lateral halves, but transverse breaks
are also seen.
Symptoms. In shattered specimens the case is easily
made out and the victim should be destroyed at once. In
cases of detachment sufficient to allow grating when the
bones are moved (flexed and extended) there is as little
difficulty. But in cases of splitting without detachment,
the parts being held firmly together by the strong fibrous
investments, the case is hable to be mistaken. There is
the fact that the injury occurred suddenly during action,
the horse at once showing lameness, more extreme on hard
ground; there is no injury to ligaments nor tendons; but
pain when the pastern is fully flexed, and with or without
swelling on the bone there is a line of tenderness which
can easily be traced with the fingers and corresponds to the
fracture.
Treatment. Place the patient in slings, and if grating
344 The Farmer's Veterinary Adviser.
is heard apply a strong bandage to above the fetlock. Ti
no grating sooth the early inflammation for a day or two
then render the parts immovable by a smart blister on tha
front and sides of the pastern from the hoof to the fetlock
Such cases usually do well, though if the fracture extends
into a joint the recovery is likely to be imperfect.
In the smaller animals bandages are requisite for fract-
ure of the digital bones.
BONY GROWTHS ON THE PASTERN BONES. RINGBONES.
These usually begin as inflammation of the membrane
covering the bones, and at such points as give attachment
to ligaments, namely: the lateral aspects of the lower or
small pastern bone, and of the lower end of the upper or
Fig. 68.
Fig. 68—Ringbones—high andlow. The rough irregular deposits of new
bone are shown on the lateral parts of the large and small pastern bones
respectively.
large bone. There is a circumscribed, tender and some-
what elastic swelling, with more or less soft, doughy en-
gorgement of the investing soft parts, and in course of
time the exuded matter, at first soft, becomes hard and
Special Injuries of Bones, Joints and Muscles. 345
bony. The process in the early stages often appears to
consist in the dragging of the periosteum and vessels from
the surface and the development of bone beneath. But as
the disease advances the whole surface of one or both
bones may become involved, leading to a general deposi-
tion of new bony matter, extending, it may be, over the
joint between the two pastern bones, or between the lower
pastern and the bone of the foot, and abolishing all move-
ment. Ringbones may also take origin in partial fract-
ures, in concussion, in rheumatoid disease, and in faults
of nutrition, in which the earthy salts are largely passed.
with the urine.
Symptoms. Lameness may be almost altogether absent,
or it may be extreme in such cases as are attended by act-
ive inflammation of the bone or joint, or when the joint
has become fixed by bony deposit. The heel may be first
brought to the ground or, in the hind foot, the fetlock
may knuckle over and the toe strikes first. The lameness
is worst on hard ground and usually increases with exer-
cise. Swelling may be scarcely perceptible and confined
to the inner or outer side of one pastern bone, or it may
be an extreme enlargement of the whole pastern region.
It may be hard throughout in old cases, or softer and
slightly elastic at points where active disease is still going
on. Forcible bending of the pastern causes much pain,
as also pressure on the swelling and especially on the
softer and more recent deposits.
Treatment. Rest, second the indications of nature in
order to secure an easy position, using a high-heeled shoe
when the animal walks on the toe and a thin-heeled one
when he walks on his heel. If there is very active in-
flammation adopt soothing measures first and then blister
severely or even fire. Corrosive sublimate and camphor
20 grains of each, muriatie acid 10 drops and oil of tur
pentine 1 oz. is often useful in such cases, but should be
watched and washed off when sufiicient exudation has
taken place, otherwise it may blemish. In firing it is usu-
oo
~
346 The Farmer's Veterinary Adviser.
ally desirable to penetrate the skin in points, but never
keep the hot iron long in contact with it lest the radiated
heat destroy the integument. It is often needful to allow
a rest of several months for consolidation of the new de-
posit. When the joints are much affected the only cure
is by the growth of bone over them and the abolition of
movement, and then there remains some stiffness though
there may be ability for slow work. Old horses recover
less satisfactorily than young ones. If there is reason to
suspect a rheumatic complication or any general fault in
nutrition these must be attended to.
SPRAIN OF THE FLEXOR TENDONS BEHIND THE PASTERN.
This is of two kinds, though both in almost the same
seat. Opposite the first pastern joint the posterior ten-
don divides into two branches which passing over the in-
ner and outer sides of the other tendon are inserted on
the corresponding aspects of the head of the small pastern
bone. Between these branches the other tendon plays
over a raised fibro-cartilaginous pulley, its gliding being
favored by a synovial sac. This last tendon may be
sprained as it plays over this pulley, in the median line
of the back of the limb, and either of the branches of the
other tendon may be sprained close to its attachment on
the inner or outer side of this pulley.
Symptoms. Standing quiet the animal keeps the fet-
lock and pastern joints slightly flexed, the foot advanced
six or eight inches, the heel slightly raised and the toe
resting on the ground. In action he steps short and stubs
the toe into the ground and generally improves as he
warms up to work. The toe of the shoe wears faster than
the heel, and the heel in old standing cases may be a lit-
tle contracted, but it is not unnaturally warm, nor is there
wincing on tapping the quarter or the sole to either side
of the body of the frog, with a hammer. This serves to
distinguish from disease of the small pulley-shaped bone
of the foot—the misnamed cofin-joint disease. Pressure
Special Injuries of Bones, Joints and Muscles. 34"
on the tendons in the hollow of the heel causes much pair
and wincing, and the precise seat of injury may be ascer-
tained from the position of greatest sufferimg—in the me-
dian line, to the inner side or to the outer.
Treatment. Shorten the toe, apply a high-heeled shoo
and surround the pastern with bandages soaked in cold
water or some cooling astringent lotion. A purgative will
be useful if inflammation runs high. When heat and ten-
derness subside, any remaining lameness may usually be
removed by a blister on the front and sides of the pastern.
FRACTURES OF THE HIP-BONES.
Fracture oF THE Outer ANGLE. In young animals a
little nodule from the extreme angle is often broken off by
blows before it has acquired a firm connection with the
parent bone. In the old, the fracture usually extends
deeper, three, four, or six inches in breadth being often
detached. In either case the fragment is drawn down-
ward by the muscles leading to a greater or less flattening
of the quarter, and it usually becomes attached to the
parent bone by fibrous tissue or even bony union. In
some instances, the fragment acting as a foreign body sets
up inflammation with suppuration and a running sore.
The slighter cases are not necessarily attended by lame-
ness but if much bone has been detached, with consider-
able flattening, there is more or less halting on the limb.
Treatment consists in keeping the animal still until union
has been effected, or in case of a running sore a free in-
cision should be made and the fragment of bone extracted.
FRACTURE OF THE INNER ANGLE NEAR ITS JUNCTION WITH
THE Backbone. This is less frequent than the last but
still tolerably common. It causes considerable lameness,
and grating is heard when the limb is moved backward
and forward. The oiled hand introduced through the
rectum may feel the outline of the bones on the two sides,
and detect the change from the natural form on the broken
one. If it has been done for some time, there is a soft
pasty swelling on the inner side of the bone.
348 The Farmer's Veterinary Adviser.
Fracture oF THE Point or THE Hip. As in the case ol
the outer angle, the posterior one is very liable to sustain
fracture of a small portion which is developed apart from
the rest of the bone. In other cases several inches in
breadth of the bone is detached. In both cases alike it is
drawn downward so that the prominence on one side of
the tail is greater than on the other. It may be unat-
tended by lameness and tends to grow on below, though
it will sometimes remain detached and form a running
sore in which case it must be removed by the knife.
FRACTURES THROUGH THE SHAFT OF THE Hip-BonE. These
may be in front of the hip-joint, behind it, or through it.
Again, they may be simple or comminuted. If the fract-
ure does not implicate the joint, weight may still be rested
on the limb, but if through the joint the limb is held use-
less. The dragging lameness of hip disease is always
present and grating may be felt by seizing the outer and
posterior angles of the hip in the two hands while the
animal walks. Examination with the oiled hand in the
rectum will enable the observer to ascertain the exact
seat and nature of the injury.
Treatment of Fractures of the Hip. If through the joint,
or much shattered, the animal should be at once de-
stroyed. If a simple fracture the patient should be put
in slings and kept still for a month or six weeks. In such
cases recovery may be expected.
SPRAIN OF THE HIP.
This is one of the most common injuries of the hip and
is located in the tendon of the largest muscle of the but-
tock as it plays over the large process on the head of the
thigh-bone. Its exact site is easily found in thin horses
by the prominence over the joint and midway between the
anterior and posterior angles of the hip-bone. There is
the usual dragging hip lameness, a quick short step with
the affected limb, the hip being moved as little as possible,
suffering when the member is drawn forward and tender-
“Special Injuries of Bones, Joints and Muscles. 34%
ness to pressure on the seat of the sprain. Swelling and
heat are rare because of the depth of the lesion. In cases
of any standing the muscles of the quarter waste.
Treatment. Long continued rest, with at first fomenta-
tions, and later, active and repeated blisters, or even the
hot iron applied in points. Some chronic cases do well
under a combination of exercise and counter-irritants ag
follows: rub the affected quarter with oil of turpentine,
then take out and exercise in a circle until covered with
perspiration ; then return to the stable, rub down and
clothe with a double wet blanket over the lame quarter.
Repeat daily for some time.
DISPLACEMENT OF THE ABDUCTOR FEMORIS.
Lean cattle are subject to a peculiar form of hip lame-
uess, from displacement backward of the large muscle
which plays over the prominence at the head of the thigh-
bone. The high, bony process presses on the anterior
border of the muscle, preventing it from resuming its
natural position. The anterior border of the muscle forms
a prominent painless cord extending from behind the hip-
joint to below the stifle. In moving, the toe is dragged
along the ground, being extended backward, and the limb
is flexed with effort and often in a sudden and convulsive
manner, and accompanied by a dull sound. These symp-
toms are most marked if the animal is made to step over
a bar of six or eight inches high as he leaves the stable.
Treatment. Some recover under good nourishment with
or without blisters, but usually it is best to make an incis-
ion over the front of the cord an inch or two below the
head of the thigh-bone and cut the border of the muscle
across with a narrow-bladed knife. The animal may be
kept quiet by the bull-dog pincers in his nose, and by
drawing the opposite limb forward with a line passed
through a collar.
30
350 The Farmer's Veterinary Adviser.
DISEASE OF THE HIP-JOINT.
This may be connected with a partial fracture of the
bones of the quarter extending into the joint, with lacera-
tion of the ligaments, with ulceration of the bones, or
with simple synovitis, from over-work, rheumatism, or
other cause. The symptoms strongly resemble those of
sprain of the hip, but there is no pain on pressure upon
the prominence on the head of the thigh-bone, but often
much suffering when the limb is drawn outward and
backward, so as to place the ligaments on the stretch. It
is attended with wasting of the muscles of the quarter.
Treatment. Test, sling if at all convenient, foment the
quarter with a thick rug repeatedly folded, and finally
blister actively or, still better, fire. A long period of rest’
is usually necessary.
DISLOCATION OF THE HIP.
This is almost unknown in the horse excepting in con-
nection with fracture, but is not very uncommon in lean
cattle and small animals as a consequence of falls and
dragging of the limb to excess in any one direction. It
will even happen from extreme dragging of the limb out-
ward when caught over a bar. Displacement is usually
Jorward ox backward. In the former case the limb is
shortened, the prominence of the head of the thigh-bone
carried forward and the toe turned out. In the latter the
limb is elongated, the prominence of the head of the
thigh-bone carried backwards and the toe turned inward.
Dislo@tions inward and outward are also described and
would be marked by the deviations of the limb from its
normal position, and the depression or increased prouii-
nence of the head of the thigh-bone.
Reduction. Lay the animal on the opposite side of the
body; maintain the body immovable by a strong sheet
carried between the thighs and held by several men or
fixed to a firm object; attach a band round the limb above
the hock and let two men drag upon this, or one man
Special Injuries of Bones, Joints and ALuscles. 351
carefully with the aid of a block and tackle; meanwhile
the operator, seizing hock and stifle, must turn the upper
part of the limb in a direction opposite to the displace-
ment. If forward the hock is raised and the stifle de-
pressed; if backward the stifle is raised and the hock
depressed ; if dwvard a smooth round billet of wood is to
be placed between the thighs to act as a fulcrum upon
which the limb is depressed when sufficiently stretched ;
if vutward the lower part of the imb must be drawn out-
ward and upward, while weight is thrown on the thigh-
bone ; or by movements of the limb it may be changed to
a dislocation forward and reduced from that position. It
may be necessary to relax the muscles by a full dose ot
chloral-hydrate before attempting to reduce. When re-
duced, the head of the bone slips in with a jerk and an
audible sound, and the limb assumes its natural position.
The animal may then be let up, and should be kept quiet
and alone for several days. These cases do far better
than could be expected from the anatomical arrangements
of the part.
FRACTURE OF THE NECK OF THE THIGH-BONE.
This is not uncommon in small animals, especially dogs,
but very rare indeed in the large quadrupeds. It is marked
by shortening of the limb, inability to use it, and grating
when it is moved. If the finger or hand is passed into the
rectum and pressed against the crest above the hip-
joint, while an assistant draws the limb outward, the
prominence of the head of the thigh-bone may be felt
above the crest. This can only occur in two other
conditions ;—fracture of the outer rim of the cup receiv-
ing the head of the thigh-bone, and outward dislocation
of the hip-joint without fracture. The latter may be dis
tinguished by the absence of grating, while the first is as
serious as the fracture of the neck of the bone.
Treatment is useless in the large quadrupeds, but in the
smnall, a firm retentive starch bandage for the whole limb
will often secure recovery.
352 The Farmer's Veterinary Adviser.
FRACTURE OF THE SHAFT OF THE THIGH-BONE.
This is marked by inability to use the limb, muscular
trembling, swelling on the inner side of the thigh, and
grating, felt or heard, when the limb is moved in varicus
directions. In the larger quadrupeds nothing can be done
beyond slinging and quiet, which may prove successful in
exceptional cases, but in small animals, dogs and cats
especially, a well applied starch bandage will usually be a
success. -
FRACTURES OF THE LOWER ENDS OF THE THIGH-BONE.
These are recognized by great pain and swelling in the
stifle, with grating when the joint is seized between the
hands and the limb moved. It may be considered ir-
remediable in the large animals, and recoveries are imper-
fect in the small.
FRACTURE OF THE KNEE-CAP.
The small bone in front of the stifle is sometimes fract-
ured either across or vertically, causing local swelling and
tenderness with inability to use the limb, which is drawn
backward and outward. It is irremediable.
DISLOCATION OF THE KNEE-CAP.
Not uncommon in certain breeds of horses, this usually
occurs when standing at rest in the stable or rather after
rising. The limb is drawn forcibly outward and backwa:d,
the foot resting on the toe, and the animal is helpless to
move it. The bone may be felt displaced at the outer side,
at what should be the most prominent anterior point of
the stifle. In young horses it may be attended with ulcer-
ation of the pulley over which it plays, but, in the adult,
this is very exceptional.
Reduction may sometimes be effected by starting the
animal with a whip, the limb being brought forward under
the violent effort and the bone meanwhile slipping into
place. More commonly it is requisite to draw the foot
Special Injuries of Bones, Joints and Muscles. 354
forward, either by simply lifting it, or by the aid of a rope
having a noose round the fetlock, and passing through a
collar on the neck. While the limb is being advanced, a
hand should be placed on the bone outside the stifle tc
press it into position. When reduced keep on a level (not
slippery) floor; apply a shoe with a toe piece projecting
an inch in front of the hoof, and curved up; and finally
put a smart blister on the joint.
Second Form. A modification of the above is seen in
horses and cattle, in which the knee-cap is drawn too high
during extreme extension of the stifle, and then pulled
outward by the abductor muscles; its inner lateral liga-
ment slips into the notch above the pulley, over which the
bone should play, and the animal remains helpless with
the limb drawn back as in ordinary dislocation. There is
a depression in front of the upper part of the stifle, sur-
mounted by a swelling which is soft, not hard, as it would
be were the current explanation of cramp of the muscles
correct. The reduction is by the same method advised for
ordinary dislocation, and the after treatment identical.
DISEASE IN THE STIFLE JOINT.
If between the knee-cap and its pulley the patient usually
drags the toe on the ground, steps short and brings the
foot forward with a swinging outward motion. The leg is
kept half bent when standing, the knee-cap is felt to move
loosely on the pulley, causing pain, and an elastic fluctu-
ating swelling is felt beneath it im the intervals between
the three descending ligaments. In disease of the tnner or
outer division of the true joint the animal stands with it in
the same position, but in walking it may either be jerked
up suddenly, or in the worst cases, this joint and the hock
are carried in a stiff extended position and the principal
movement is in the hip. An elastic swelling may usually
be felt beneath the knee-cap but it is less prominent than
in disease of the pulley, and the bone is less mobile and
does not cause pain when moved.
8n*
)
354 The Farmer's Veterinary Adviser.
—
Treatment. All cases require a high-heeled shoe ex-
cepting such as are attended with dislocation of the knee-
cap, in which case a thin-heeled shoe with a projection
forward at the toe is indicated. Rest is essential, and in
case of very acute inflammation, fomentations should pre-
cede repeated blistering or firing.