Cattle: their management, treatment and diseases

197
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on FIT OF

Miss Sue Duribar

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(IATTLE

TNHR USANAGEIWEi'T, TREATMENT,
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. LONDON-.

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~

CATTLE:

MANAGEMENT, TREATMENT, AND DISEASES.

BY

W. C. L. MARTIN.

WITH ILLUSTRATIONS.

LOKDOK :

GEORGE ROUTLEDGE & CO., FARRINGDON STREET.

1853.

«***<

CATTLE: AGRIC.

LIBRARY

THEIR

MANAGEMENT, TREATMENT, AND DISEASES.

CHAPTER TV.

HAVING thus detailed the principal breeds or varieties of the
British Ox, we may now proceed to some observations relative
to the management or treatment of horned cattle ; a subject
of great importance, inasmuch as their health, the quantity
and quality of milk yielded, and their quick ripening for the
butcher, are involved in it. The simplest and perhaps the
most economical mode of feeding cattle, is by grazing them in
fields or on commons, or uncultivated pastures ; additional
food and shelter being supplied during the winter. But there
must be a fitness of the cattle for the land. It ought to be
borne in mind, that a cow of large size, and high breed, would
starve, or become a miserable object, on poor, or peaty land,
where one of the small native kind, hardy and active, would
manage to keep herself in tolerable condition. Hence, the
cottager, or small dairy-farmer, in rude uncultivated districts,
will do wrong to exchange his hardy cows for others accus-
tomed to a rich pasturage : he would find the hope of deriving
from them the quantity of milk they yielded in their own
grounds, delusive ; for though his range of pasturage might
be very extensive, yet it would afford such cattle nothing like
sufficient nutriment ; and the very act of rambling about tQ&j
pick up what they could, would only increase their bad con*$
dition. Cottagers often keep two or three cows, which they
usually turn out to feed on the grass, in lanes and by-roads,
attended during the day by a boy, and driven home at night.
They eke out the sustenance of these animals by cutting and
carrying the grass of banks, or by collecting the grass of
garden-lawns, mowed by the gardener ; and by purchasing, for
a trifle, the stains of persons who brew their own malt liquor.
Occasionally, within a few miles of London, we have seen such
cows in tolerable condition ; but in general their quantum of
diet is irregular ; and their angular points, and tight-bound

, Mfrima-i

140 THE OX AND THE DAIRY.

hide, destitute of a due layer of subcutaneous cellular tissue,
bespeak an impoverished system. Is it profitable for a cot-
tager— that is, a labourer — to keep cows ? A writer in the
Penny Cyclopaedia says : " A cottager, with two or three
acres (query, from half an acre to an acre) of moderate land,
may keep a cow, and thus add much to his earnings as a la-
bourer. For this purpose, he will require a small portion of
permanent grass, fenced off, to allow the cow to take exercise,
which is necessary for her health. Her food must be raised
in regular succession, and cut for her. The earliest green
food is rye, then tares, then clover ; which may be made to
succeed each other so as to give an ample supply Cabbages,
beet-root, parsnips, potatoes, and turnips will continue the
supply during winter; and the dung and urine of the cow,
carefully collected, will be sufficient to keep the land in con-
dition. This system, lately introduced into some parts of
Ireland, has already greatly improved the condition of the in-
dustrious poor." In fact, according to this plan, the cottager
must pursue a modified system of stall-feeding ; and if he can
devote a few hours daily to his land, and possesses the requisite
knowledge, he will doubtless gain considerably. In the
neighbourhood of large towns he will find a ready sale for
his milk at the rate of fourpence per quart ; he will also have
a calf yearly for disposal ; and may also keep a few hogs. We
think, however, that on this system of green crops and roots,
if the land be good, three or four cows may be well kept on
three acres, with the addition of a little hay, grains, brewers'
wash, &c. A cottager, with the whole of his time, or nearly
so, at his own disposal, will, if industrious, thus comfortably
maintain himself and his family. " A cow is old and un-
profitable when she reaches the age of twelve or fourteen
.years : she should then be sold, and a young one purchased.
If the cottager have the means of rearing a cow-calf to succeed
Hie old mother, he will do well ; if not, he must lay by a por-
tion of the cow's produce every year, to raise the difference
between the value of a young cow and an old one. The
savings-banks are admirable institutions for this purpose ; a
few shillings laid by when the produce of the cow is greatest,
will soon amount to the sum required to exchange an old one
for a younger."

The cow, as ive have said, should be suited to the pastur-
age ; but on the plan of stall-feeding, or feeding on cut green
food in a small inclosure, the cottager may keep a superior

THE OX AND THE DAIRY 141

animal, which, properly fed on succulent diet, will yield a con-
siderable quantity of milk, and, when aged, sell for a good
price. Generally speaking, a cow may be milked to within a
month of her calving, which should occur in April or May.
She should then be suffered to become dry ; otherwise, when
she calves, her new milk will be deficient both in quantity and
quality. The calf should have the first milk, which nature
has intended to clear the intestines of a glutinous substance,
which is always present in the new-born animal.

Besides plenty of succulent green food, the milch cow
requires good water, and that which has been for some time
exposed to the air is the best; cleanliness is also indispensable ;
a little rock salt to lick may be occasionally allowed, or a
little salt given, as conducive to health At the time of
calving, or rather after calving, a little warm water, with
some barley or bean-meal mixed with it, will be gladly
received ; but drenches and medicines should be avoided.
Indeed, when a cow is allowed to take proper exercise in the
open air, and has a snug shelter or house to resort to in case
of stormy weather, heavy rain, or cold, she will generally
keep in good health, and recover easily after calving. We
suppose the food to be given regularly, and in moderate
quantities at a time Occasionally, cows are apt to show
symptoms of jaundice, the result of some disturbance in the
function of the liver ; the eyes and even the skin assume a
yellowish tint, and the animal is languid, and ceases to feed
with an appetite An aperient draught composed of half-a-
pound of Glauber salts, an ounce of ginger, and two ounces
of treacle, with two quarts of boiling water poured over them,
may be given slowly and gently when milk-warm, and repeated
every other day. The cow should be kept from chilly winds,
and, if it be winter, have the loins covered with a cloth, and
be confined in her shed. This plan will generally prove,
successful in a short time We would, however, recommend*?
the cottager to get rid of a sickly cow as soon as possible ;
for should she have some chronic disease, her milk will not
only diminish in quantity, but be bad in quality ; and she
may die suddenly, and thus prove a great loss ; whereas,
though he may lose by selling her, he will find his first loss
the least in the end. A staring coat, a tight skin, loss of
appetite, difficulty of breathing, a husky cough, and general
leanness, are indications of disease in the lungs, or liver, or
both ; and the sooner she is parted with the better.

THE OX AND THE DAIRY

It is a common custom to breed from heifers at too early
an age ; this is to spoil the cow. The heifer should not be
under two years old when taken to the bull ; and even then
it is as well to let her go dry sooner than older cows;
indeed, if she be younger, this is imperative ; for the tax upon
the • immature animal by the calf she has borne, and the
drainage of the milk from the system subsequently, tend to
arrest her growth and due development. A young heifer,
moreover, cannot be expected to produce a fine calf.

The above observations apply more particularly to the poor
industrious cottager, who, with small means at command,
wishes to keep a cow on the best plan : he has no extent of
grazing land ; commons generally afford but scanty food, and
are for the most part overstocked ; besides, he may not have
the opportunity of availing himself of a common ; and the
plan of road-side and by-lane grazing cannot be commended,
even on the ground of the habits of idleness entailed upon
the boy who spends his day in watching the animal, and
driving her from one spot to another, or from ditch to ditch,
where the bank holds out a prospect of a tolerable supply. But
if the cottager can rent a small piece of ground and has time to
cultivate it himself, so as to make it produce greater crops of
iye, tares, clover, lucern, cabbages, beet-root, potatoes, arid
turnips, to be raised in succession and cut for his cow,
confined in a cow-house, except while taking exercise in her
little paddock, or perhaps, a small orchard, he may certainly
make it answer his purpose. If near a large town, he will
have a certain sale for all his milk. His own family will
need a supply ; but from this the cream may be taken, and
,sold to advantage. He may find it advantageous to make
butter ; which, as fresh butter sells, ought to bring in a return
of ten or twelve pounds per annum, leaving the buttermilk
j|br the use of the family, the rearing of a calf, and the fatten
ing of a hog. After all, however, the affirmative to the
question, whether it is profitable for the cottager to keep a
cow, will depend on the contingencies of locality; the spare
time he has on his hands ; the assistance his family can
render him ; the facilities of disposing the produce to advan-
tage ; and the amount of primary outlay he must necessarily
encounter; together with the rent of the ground. Where
a cottager depends solely on a small piece of land for the
support of himself and his family, and for the payment of
rent, then indeed his cow is of the utmost "importance, if

THE OX AND THE DAIRY. 143

managed with anything like regularity on a judicious system.
It must always be recollected, that cows on poor, though exten-
sive pasturage, give but little milk ; that no considerable
produce can be expected, be the cow what she may, unless
she is supplied with a sufficiency of good succulent food ;
and that, when a man owns only a small plot of ground, this
can only be produced by a well-ordered system of crops in
rotation. " If," says a writer, " a labourer, who has an allot-
ment of half an acre of good light land, would entirely devote
it to raise food for a cow, — his wife and children cutting the
food, and tending the cow in a small yard with a shed, or in
any cow-stall, (he would find that he had much greater clear
profit than if he had sown his land every year with wheat,
and had always a good crop, which last supposition is
impossible,) — there would be no better stimulus to industry
than to let a piece of land for this purpose to every man who
could purchase a cow, and feed it by soiling."

We may here add, that the green food should be cut twelve
or twenty hours before it is given to the cattle, and not wet
with dew or rain ; it should be supplied at intervals, and in
moderation, as horned cattle are apt to feed voraciously, and
the fresh green food is liable to ferment in the paunch,
endangering the animal's life from the gases evolved, which
distend the abdomen prodigiously. It is but lately that we
saw a fine cow which died from this cause : she was left safe
in her paddock in the evening, but during the night she
contrived to get at some clover, or lucern, in an adjacent
inclosure, of which she ate voraciously ; in the morning she
was found dead, and swollen.

In the neighbourhood of London, where a prodigious
supply of milk is demanded, vast numbers of cows, all for
almost all) short-horns, are kept upon the principle of soiling,
or stall-feeding, for the sake of their valuable produce. We
allude to those large establishments in which four or five
hundred cows are kept, and where most of the retail dealers
in milk obtain the measure they require. There are, indeed,
numerous smaller establishments around London, in which
the proprietor, who retails the milk on his own account, keeps
from six to twenty, or five-and-twenty cows ; and as he has
to compete with the retailers who purchase their stock at the
great establishments, he seldom resorts to the modes of
adulteration, which are commonly practised by the ordinary
retailers : not that a little water may not be added ; but if this

144 THE OX AND THE DAIRY.

be all, the purchaser in London may be well contented,
calculated that upwards of twelve thousand cows are kep£ \
the supply of London and its increasing environs ; and as i^-.
amount of milk returned by these .cattle is mostly retailed b'y
pennyworths or two-pennyworths, morning and evening, we
shall readily conclude that the retailers' occupation is one of
no little labour. That it is profitable we may conclude from
the fact, that " milk- walks " are not unfrequently advertised
for sale ; but whether the profit be truly fair or just may
admit of question. Certain it is that the milk leaves the
great dairy in its purity ; but what admixtures it may after-
wards undergo may require the analysis of the chemist to
determine.

Mr. Youatt (whose name we have often mentioned, and to
whose memory we pay a tribute of respect for his extensive
acquirements and his private worth) says, in his agreeable style,
" The name of new milk ha something very pleasant about
it, but it is an article which rarely makes its appearance at
the breakfast or tea-table of the citizen. That which is got
from the cow at night is put by until the morning ; the cream
is skimmed off, and then, a little water being added, it is sold
to the public as the morning's milk. This is the practice of
most, or all of the little dairymen who keep their half-dozen
cows; and if this were all, — and with these people it is nearly
all, — the public must not complain. The milk may be lowered
by the warm water, but the lowering system is not carried to
any great extent ; for there is a pride among them that their
milk shall be better than that of the merchants on a yet
smaller scale, who purchase the article from the great dairies;
and so it generally is. The milk goes from the yard of the
great dairy into the possession of the itinerant dealers per
fectly pure; what is done with it afterwards, and to what
degree it is lowered and sophisticated, is known only to these
retail merchants."

In all dairy establishments, ventilation and cleanliness are
indispensable; and if butter is made, the dairy proper, or
butter-room, should be as near the cow-house as possible, as
the milk suffers more or less considerably from being agitated,
or too much cooled, before it is set for the cream to rise.
The milk should be brought from the cows without being
exposed to the outer air, before it is set to cream ; which
should be in vessels arranged on a stone slab, below the level
of the ground ; the apartment being sunk to the depth of

THE OX AND THE DAIRY. 145

or four feet, and kept perfectly dry. The air may

idmitted through perforated zinc plates, or woven-wire

dows, placed opposite to each other, having shutters

^nich may be opened or closed according to the temperature

and state of the weather Glazed windows may be added,

and should be open, excepting in very hot or very cold

weather. The situation should be dry, and well shielded

from the north, east, and south

Dairies in natural or artificial caves, which occur in some
countries, with springs of water at hand, are admirable for
coolness and uniformity of temperature , but in England we
must not look for such advantages ; nor are they needed
A verandah round a dairy is very useful ; it shades the sun in
summer, and is a protection against the cold and damp in
winter There should be a washhouse, with every conve-
nience for hot water, for scalding the dairy utensils, and for
warming milk; and if cheese be made as well as butter, a
churning-room, with presses, and a cheese-room are also
needed.

" In Switzerland and in Holland the cow-house and dairy
often have a very neat appearance, within a short distance
from the principal residence. The plan in both countries is
very similar ; the style of the roof is the chief difference. In
the common dairy-farms of Holland the farmer and his family
live under the same roof with the cows. In the Netherlands,
especially in North Holland, or Friesland, a cow-house is as
clean as any dwelling-house, and the family often assemble
and take their meals in it. The following description of a
cow-house and dairy, under one roof, combines all that is
useful, with considerable neatness internally and externally :
— It is a building about sixty feet long, by thirty wide, with
a verandah running round three sides of it. The dwelling is
not here attached as it usually is in common (Dutch) dairies,
and the building is not surrounded by a farm-yard. These
are the only circumstances in which it differs from that of a
common peasant's. The dairy-room is sunk below the level
of the soil, and is paved with bricks ; the sides are covered
with Dutch tiles, and the arched roof with hard cement.
The cow-house, like all in Holland, has a broad passage in
the middle, and the cows stand with their heads towards this
passage, which is paved with clinkers, or bricks, set on edge.
Their tails are towards the -wall, along which runs a broad
gutter, sunk six or eight inches below the level of the place

L

146 THE OX AND THE DAIHY.

on which the cows stand. This gutter slopes towards a sink
covered with an iron grate, which communicates, by a broad
arched drain, with a vaulted tank, into which all the liquid^
flows. The gutter is washed twice a day before the cows are *
milked. The cows stand or lie on a sloping brick floor, and
have but a small quantity of litter allowed them, which is
removed every day, and carried to the dung-heap, or the
pig-sties, to be more fully converted into manure. In Holland
the cows' tails are kept up by a cord tied to the end of them,
which passes over a pully with a weight at the other end,
as we see (used to see) practised with horses that have been
nicked ; thus they cannot hit themselves or the person who
milks them. (We do not see anything in this practice very
commendable.) The manner in which the cows are fastened
is worthy of notice : — Two slight pillars of strong wood are
placed perpendicularly, about two feet distant from each
other, so that the cow can readily pass her head between
them ; in each of these is an iron ring, that runs freely up
and down, and has a hook in its circumference ; two small
chains pass from these hooks to a leathern strap, which
buckles round the neck of the cow. Thus the cow can rise
and lie down, and move forward to take her food, which is
placed in a low manger between the two pillars ; but she
cannot strike her neighbour with her horns. The mangers,
or troughs, are of wood, or of bricks cemented together, and
are kept as clean as all the rest of the cow-house." — The food
is brought in carts, which are driven at once between the
cows, whose mangers are thus conveniently supplied ; what
is not wanted is stored above, and when wanted is readily
thrown down before the cows. By this plan much trouble is
saved, and one man can attend to many animals. From
November till May the cows never leave the cow-house. In
summer, when they are out, if they are in adjacent pastures,
they are driven home to be milked ; but if the pastures are
far off, which is sometimes the case, they are milked there,
and the milk is brought home in boats : but this is not thought
so good for the butter, which is then always churned from the
whole milk, without taking the cream-rise. The finest and
best-flavoured butter is always made from the cream as fresh
as possible ; and to make it rise well the milk should be set
as soon as it is drawn, and agitated as little as possible. The
greatest quantity is seldom obtained when the quality is the
finest. When great attention is paid to the quality, the milk

THE OX AND I1 HE DAIKY.

147

is skimmed about six hours after it is set, and the cream then
taken off is churned by itself. The next skimming makes
inferior butter. It is, in fact, essential that the dairy should
be as near the cow-house as possible. In Holland the milk
is carried in brass vessels, exquisitely clean.

The subjoined plans will convey a clear idea of the Dutch
cow house and dairy, above described.

SIDE VIEW.

SECTION OF COW-HOUSE.

SECTION OF DAIRY.

GROUND PLAN.

118 THE OX AND THE DAIRY.

A A A, passage through the cow-house and dairy, ten feet
wide, paved with bricks, set on edge, or Dutch clinkers. The
food is brought along this passage in a small cart, and dis-
tributed to the cows. B, part of the passage above mentioned,
closed in with doors, and forming a vestibule to the dairy.
c, the dairy-room, in which only milk, cream, and butter are
kept : it is sunk three feet under the level of the cow-
house, and covered with a brick arch; it has one latticed win-
dow, and several ventilators, on a level with the place on
which the milk vessels are set. D, the room where the uten-
sils are scalded, and where cheese is made : in one corner is
a fireplace, with a large kettle or a copper set. E, stairs to go
up to the cheese-room M, and the loft N F, calf-pens, in
which the calves are tied up to fatten, so that they cannot turn
to lick themselves ; there is a small trough with pounded
chalk and salt in each pen. G, the place for the cows, without
partitions, each cow being tied to two posts by two small
chains and two iron rings, which run on the posts; the chains
are fastened to a broad leathern strap, which is buckled
round the neck of each cow. H H, two sinks, or drains, with
iron gratings over them, to catch the fluid refuse from the
gutters 1 1, which run along each side of the cow-house. K,
the tank for the refuse, vaulted over with a door, L, to clean it
out, and a pump to pump up the liquid manure, o o in this
section are places where the green food or roots are deposited
for the day's consumption.

With respect to the fluid manure, of which the Dutch and
Flemish are so careful, it is generally wasted by the dairy-
farmers of England. Yet, as a manure for gardens, &c., it is
very valuable ; and in Belgium would return, by contract, an
average of £2 per cow by the year ; four hundred cows would
thus produce £800 per annum in this manure alone, — good
interest for the outlay of constructing the vaulted tanks for its
reception.

Such is the general outline of the plan of stall-feeding
milch cows. The system may be carried on by the cottager
with a small plot of ground and one cow ; and it is so, more
or less thoroughly, by the large dairymen, who supply
London and other populous towns and cities with milk, as
well as by the farmers of Holland and Belgium, where farms
are small, where great attention is paid to agriculture, and
where manure is extremely valuable. In England, however,
within the last few years, comparatively speaking, the system

THE OX AND THE DAIRY. 149

of stall-feeding has been adapted to the process of fattening
cattle, which goes on without interruption throughout the
winter as well as the summer; so that fat beasts, — even
the most highly fatted, — grace the markets at Christmas,
and attract a crowd around the butcher's decorated shop
Generally speaking, the practice of stalling milch cattle is
little practised in our island, or only partially, and at certain
seasons of the year ; but the practice of stall-feeding oxen for
the butcher is extensively carried on, and the stall-fed ox is
now an expression familiar to our ears, and well understood ;
whereas, in former times, vaunted as "the roast beef of
England " may be, all the beasts killed in the dead winter
months were miserably thin, and salt beef was the ordinary
fare, even of the most opulent, from November to May.

When cattle feed in inclosed rich pastures, though they
may thrive well, yet there is a thorough waste of their manure,
and more grass land must be preserved untouched by the
plough than otherwise need be. An advocate for stalling
says, " Their dung falling in heaps on the grass, does more
harm than good. The urine, indeed, fertilizes the soil in
wet weather, when it is diluted ; but in dry weather, it only
burns up the grass. If we calculate what would be the
amount of manure collected, if the cattle were kept in yards
or stables, and fed with food cut for them, and brought there,
and also the loss of grass by treading in the pastures, we
shall have no doubt, whether the additional labour of cutting
the grass and bringing it home daily, is not amply repaid by
the saving. But if we also take into the account the variety
of artificial grasses, pulse, and roots, which may be grown
with advantage on land unfit for permanent grass, and the
quantity of arable land which may thus be kept in the highest
state of cultivation, we shall be convinced that the practice of
those countries where the cattle are kept constantly at home
is well worthy imitation. It may be of use to the health of
the animals to be allowed to take a few hours' air and exer-
cise, in a pasture near the stable, but there is no advantage
in having any grass-crop there; on the contrary, the barer
of grass the crop is the better. They will relish their food
better when they are taken in, after a few hours' fasting. A
bite of fresh short grass might, on the contrary, give them a
dislike to their staler food. When cut grass is given to the
cattle in their stalls, it is best to let it lie in a heap for
twelve hours at least, before it is given to them. It heats

150 THE OX AND THE DA1KY.

slightly, and the peculiar odour of some plants which oxen
and cows are not fond of, being mixed with that of the more
fragrant, the whole is eaten without waste. Experience has
shown that many plants which cattle refuse in the field,
where they have a choice, possess nutritious qualities when
eaten mixed with others in the form of hay. There are few
deleterious plants in good grass land or water meadows, and
these are readily distinguished and weeded out. The
quantity and the quality of the dung of cattle stalled and
well fed is so remarkable, that its value makes a considerable
deduction from that of the food given, especially of green
food, such as clover, lucern, tares, and every kind of legu-
minous plant : — we shall not be far wrong if we set it at one-
fourth. This supposes a sufficient quantity of straw for
litter, and a collection of the liquid parts, in proper reservoirs
or tanks. In order to make the feeding of cattle advan-
tageous, the buildings must be conveniently placed with
respect to the fields from which the food can be brought.
Moveable sheds with temporary yards, which can be erected
in different parts of a large farm, according as different fields
are in grass or roots, are a great saving of carriage, both in
bringing food to the cattle and carrying the dung on the
land. A clay bottom should be selected, in a dry and rather
high spot if possible. But if permanent buildings for cattle,
constructed of rough materials and thatched with straw, were
erected in the centre of about forty acres of arable land, in
different parts of a large farm, it would probably be a great
saving in the end." A due supply of water, and of rock-salt
to lick, are very essential, and a free use of the currycomb or
rough straw whisp is advantageous, both in point of cleanli-
ness and health.

15:

CHAPTEK V

WITH reference to the roots and plants cultivated for the use
of cattle, the turnip claims our first notice. Under this head
we include the Swedish kind, or Euta Baga.

" It may be considered," says an authority on this subject,
" that the most advantageous mode of consuming turnips is to
draw them and cut them in slices in the field, there to be
consumed in troughs by sheep, to whom corn or oil -cake, as
well as hay, is regularly given.

"When the crop of turnips is abundant, part of them may
be stored for the cattle in the yard or fatting stalls, and for
the milch cows and heifers. They will require nothing but
good straw if they have plenty of turnips, and.no hay need be
used, unless it be for the horses ; and even they will thrive
well on Swedish turnips and straw, with a small quantity of
oats. Turnips are often left in the field all winter, which
greatly deteriorates them If they cannot be fed off before
Christmas, they should be taken up with the tops on, and set
close together, covered with the tops, on a piece of grass,
in some dry spot. They will thus be quite sufficiently pro
tected from the frost ; or the tops may be cut off, within an
inch of the crown of the root, and the turnips be then stored
in long clamps, five feet wide and four feet high, sloped like
the roof a house, and covered with straw and earth, in which
state they will keep till they are wanted. It is advantageous
to have different varieties of turnips, which will come to per-
fection in succession ; and it is useful to sow some at
different times for this purpose."

Among other vegetables useful as food for cattle, the beet
tribe claim notice. The root of the field beet, mangold-
wurzel, or mangel-worzel (Beta altissirna), which was. long
known in Germany, was introduced at the close of the last
century, it is said, by Dr. Lettsom, a physician of great

152 THE OX AND THE DAIRY.

eminence, and is now very extensively cultivated. The
common red beet (Beta vulgaris) is cultivated in gardens for
the sake of its delicate root ; but there is another species, the
chard beet (Beta cycla), inferior in the size of its root, but
remarkable for the thickness and size of its leaves, which are
yellow, white, green, or crimson, in different varieties. On
the Continent these leaves are used in soups, and the ribs
are stewed ; in England the leaves are sometimes substituted
for spinach, but they are held in little estimation ; yet cattle
are extremely fond of them, and the plant, which is very-
luxuriant, might be cultivated with advantage, as field
produce, in rows ; the more so, as it is an excellent substitute
for fallow on light good loams.

If sown in May in drills two feet wide, and thinned out to
the distance of a foot from plant to plant, in rows, they will
produce an abundance of leaves, which may be gathered in
August and September ; these, a central bunch being left on
each plant, are rapidly renewed, affording a succession of food.
These plants do not sensibly exhaust the soil, and, what is
more, the leaves add much to the milk of cows, without im-
parting to it that disagreeable flavour which it is apt to
acquire when the cattle are fed upon cabbages or turnips, and
which is owing in some measure to the rapidity with which
these latter run into the putrefactive fermentation. The
leaves of the chard beet when steamed with bran, chaff, or
refuse grain, form a very good food for pigs, and also for
bullocks put up to fatten.

With respect to field-beet or mangold-wurzel, its root is too
well known to need any description, nor need we comment
on its culture, which is most successfully carried on in
deep sandy loams made rich by repeated manuring. The
sowing time is May, and the roots should be taken up and
stored for winter use towards the close of autumn ; the top,
as well as the tap root, being removed, and the earth scraped
carefully away. They may be packed in the barn or root-
house, in layers alternating with layers of straw ; the whole
mass being then well covered and defended from the frost.
Or they may be put into trenches, having a good layer of
straw at the bottom and on the sides, till they rise in a ridged
pile three feet above the level of the ground, the whole being
then covered with straw, and a thick outlayer of the earth dug
out of the trench ; around the mound a drainage gutter with
free outlets must be dug, in order that no water may soak into

THE OX AND THE DAIRY. 153

the mound. When the roots are required for use, the
mound must be opened at one end, and after the requisite
quantity is extracted, the opening carefully covered up as
before. In either of these two modes they may be kept
till spring.

There are few crops more valuable as winter food for cattle
than the beet or mangold-wurzel. Swedish turnips (or Ruta
baga) exceed them in the quantity of nourishment, weight
for weight ; but on light and well-manured soils the produce
of the beet per acre is much greater. According to Ein-
hof and Thaer, eighteen tons of mangold-wurzel are equal
to fifteen tons of ruta baga, or seven and a half tons of
potatoes, or three and a half tons of good meadow hay, each
quantity containing the same nourishment; but the roots may
be grown upon less than an acre, whereas it will take two or
three acres of good meadow land to produce the equivalent
quantity of hay. Of all these root-crops, it appears that the
least exhausting to the land is that of the beet. The mangold-
wurzel is admirable for bullocks, given with dry food, but cows
fed too largely on it are said to become too fat and to lose
their milk ; under some circumstances, however, this very
circumstance would prove an advantage, especially when
it is desirable to dry and fatten off cows, and prepare them
as soon as possible for the butcher. A white variety of
the beet is cultivated in France for the extraction of sugar
from its juice

The carrot (Daucus carota), of which there are many
varieties, affords a valuable root for the food of cattle. In
England the large orange carrots are most frequently raised
in the fields for winter consumption, but on the continent
large white and yellow sorts are more esteemed. In Bel-
gium it is common to sow the white carrots in spring
amongst barley which is reaped early: as soon as the barley
is cut, the land is cleared of weeds and stubble, and liquid
manure is poured over its surface. The carrots which were
scarcely visible, and the tops of which were cut off in reaping,
now shoot up, and where they require are thinned by hoeing.
At the end of autumn the crop is carefully forked up, and the
ground prepared for some other crop. Where hay is scarce,
carrots form a very economical substitute : they must be kept
in dry root-houses or in trenches. From twenty to forty
pounds of carrots, with a small quantity of oats, is sufficient
allowance for a working horse for twenty-four hours : these

154 THE OX AND THE DAIRY.

roots, however, when cut and steamed, are rendered more
nutritious. Parsnips are also treated in the same way, and
also potatoes.

From these roots we may turn to the artificial grasses (as
they are commonly, but erroneously called), of which several
are of the highest importance to the cattle-keeper. Among
these lucern (Medicago sativa) is pre-eminent. This plant —
one of the leguminous family — was in high repute in ancient
times, and is spoken of with great commendation by the
writers on agricultural topics ; nor has it lost its celebrity in
the present day, and wherever husbandry has made progress
it is largely cultivated, granting the soil and the climate to be
suitable. Where these are favourable lucern grows with
astonishing rapidity and luxuriance ; but as it will not bear
extreme frost, nor flourish on a poor, cold, wet soil, nor yet
on sterile, stony ground, the farmer must exercise discretion.
Deep rich loam, which has been previously trenched and well
manured, is rather light, and thoroughly drained, is the best ;
and the produce of every such acre will be astonishing. Its
growth is singularly rapid — that of clover is not to be com
pared to it : a tuft of lucern will rise to a foot above the sur-
face, after being mown, in the time that clover will rise only
a few inches. It lasts from eight to twelve years, striking its
roots deep into the soil, where they are out of the reach of
drought; and in the most parched and sultry weather, when
the herbage around languishes or withers for want of
moisture, the lucern rises fresh, green, and vigorous. Its
great bane is a wet subsoil ; this must be dry and rich,
and the surface must be clear of weeds. Land on which two
successive crops of turnips have been raised, and which have
been fed off with sheep, when well prepared, gives a good return
of lucern. In the Month of March the sowing should take
place. A small quantity of barley, perhaps a bushel to the
acre, should be drilled into the ground, and at the same time
from thirty to forty pounds of the lucern seed sown broad
cast ; the ground must be now harrowed and lightly rolled,
so as to lay it flat and even, without water furrows.

When the crop appears it must be well weeded, otherwise
there is a great probability that it will fail. When the barley
is reaped, the stubble should be eradicated either by the hoe
or the harrow ; at least this is a good practice, especially
if the plants of lucern be strong. In a short time it may be
cut as fodder, but sheep should not be depastured on it, as they

THE OX AND THE DAIRY. 155

bite too dose to the root. It should always be cut as soon as
the flower is formed, and also cleared of weeds.

The second year will generally bring in an early crop, and it
may be cut four or five times during the season ; the ground
being each time weeded, or cleared, by means of a sort of
harrow.

The cottager, with a small plot of ground, will do well to
sow lucern in rows, and cut at regular intervals a portion for
his cow, using the hoe for the purpose of keeping the ground
clear from weeds.

Of all green fodder, both for horned cattle and horses,
lucern is perhaps the best. Horses fed upon it, with the
addition of a little corn, will keep up their strength and con-
dition under hard labour. Cows thrive upon it, and return a
full supply of milk ; but lucern must not be given to the
cows or oxen in too large quantities at a time, — it must not
be given when wet with rain or dew : and the best plan is to
keep it for twenty-four hours after it is cut, in order that the
juices may be evaporated to some extent under a partial fer-
mentation, a process which, while it adds to the nutritive
qualities of the herb, renders it less liable to inflate the
stomach of the cattle, or, as the farmer would say, produce
" hoove," that is, distention of the stomach from gas.

Lucern is not easily made into hay ; it is too succulent to
dry rapidly, and a shower of rain, in its half dry state, is
almost sure to spoil it, as the stem is quickly soaked with
moisture, which does not readily evaporate ; yet, in favour-
able seasons, a heavy crop of good hay may be obtained, the
produce of an acre being nearly double that of clover.

Sainfoin (Hedysarum onobrichis) is another leguminous
plant of great value ; unlike lucern, however, it prefers a cal
careous or chalky soil to a deep, rich loam, and flourishes
where the latter would perish. Its root is strong and fibrous,
and strikes deep into the stony soil, finding moisture even in
the dryest seasons ; but a wet, cold, heavy subsoil is very detri
mental to the health of this plant, and causes the roots to
perish ; and, as in the case of the lucern, it decays when
choked up by dank weeds or grass. A crop of sainfoin on a
fit soil, and properly managed with occasional top-dressings of
ashes and manure, will last for eight or nine years, giving yearly
several cuttings of green fodder or two of hay. Sain-
foin is usually sown in the spring, in a thin crop of barley or
oats, the same general plan being pursued with respect to its

156 THE OX AND THE DAIKY.

cultivation as with lucern ; and the farmer must not expect to
see it in full luxuriance till the second year.

Sainfoin hay should be made, if possible, in dry, hot
weather, so that all the juices of the plant may be evaporated
before the stack be made. This is important, for if any
moisture be left the whole is apt to become mouldy ; indeed
it is recommended that in precarious weather it be carried
green (if not wet with showers or dew) under cover, and
stacked in alternate layers with good dry straw. By this
means it will impart some of its fragrance to the straw, and
lose none of its nutritive qualities. The same observation
applies both to lucern and clover. Sainfoin hay is extremely
relished by cattle, and if well made is very nutritious ; nor is
it less acceptable in its green state, and this, perhaps, is the
most advantageous way in which it can be used.

Clover (Trifolium) is another important plant, of which
several species are cultivated, some being perennial, as the
Dutch clover (Trifolium repens), the cow grass clover (Tri-
folium medium), the lesser yellow trefoil (Trifolium minus) ;
some biennial, as the common red or brown clover (Trifolium
pratense), and some annual, as the French clover (Trifolium
incarnatum).

It is the red or brown clover which is generally cultivated,
both as green fodder and as hay for cattle ; this is usually
sown with barley or oats, but sometimes among wheat or rye, in
the spring. In Norfolk it is the practice to sow it with barley ;
in Scotland it is often sown with wheat ; and in Belgium
with rye. But this depends on the system of rotations
adopted in different countries.

The first crop of clover is generally mown and made into
hay. During this process care must be taken lest the tender
leaves of the plant be broken off in drying ; consequently,
the swarth should not be tossed up and shaken about, as is
done with common meadow hay, but merely turned over and
exposed to the sun and air ; and then, when all moisture is
evaporated, carefully stacked up. Should the clover unfor-
tunately become soaked with rain, nay, even if the rain should
continue, the farmer must wait until fine dry weather returns,
and completes the process of drying; if this is not effected the
hay will certainly become musty. But however spoiled in ap-
pearance, if it be at last fairly stacked in a dry state, with salt
scattered in, it will be acceptable to the cattle in winter, and
even nutritious. A writer says, that "A very good method ^in

THE OX AND THE DAIKY. 157

those seasons when a continuance of dry weather cannot
be reckoned upon, particularly when the second crop is
cut in September, is to take advantage of two or three
dry days to cut the clover, and turn it as soon as the dew
is completely dried off the upper side ; the next day do
the same, and, in the evening, cany the green dry clover,
and lay it in alternate layers, with sweet straw, so as to
form a moderately sized stack. A fermentation will soon
arise, but the dry straw will prevent all danger from too
much heating, and, acquiring the flavour of the clover, will
be eaten with avidity by the cattle. To those who make
clover hay for the use of their own stock in winter, we recom-
mend this as far preferable to the common method, even when
there is less danger from the weather. In northern climates it
would probably save the crops two years out of three."

Many farmers are in the habit of sowing rye-grass (Lolium
perenne) in a small proportion with clover, especially on
lands which have been repeatedly cropped with the latter,
and therefore somewhat exhausted. The plan is very ex-
cellent, for when the mixed crop is cut and made into hay,
the young rye-grass will prove a good corrective to the
heating qualities of the clover. It is true that pure clover
hay is preferred in and about London, where it is extensively
used cut into chaff, and mixed with oats, beans, &c., and given
to hard-working horses. With respect to horned cattle, green
clover with tares and other artificial grasses is largely given ;
and if the succession of crops is well managed, a supply of green
fodder may be obtained from May to the end of November.

The French clover (Trifolium incarnatum) has been intro-
duced from the south of France only within the last few years.
This plant is a valuable addition to our list of artificial grasses,
and when sown in the spring it rapidly arrives at perfection
One of its principal uses is as early food for ewes and lambs;
for this purpose it is sown in autumn, after harvest, the stubble
land being harrowed so as to raise the mould. On this the
clover-seed is sown at the rate of 18 or 20 Ibs. an acre, then
rolled in well. It springs up and stands the winter well;
and on the return of spring appears in luxuriance. It makes
excellent hay, and may be cleared off the ground in good time
to plough the land and clean it for turnips. It may be mixed
with rye-grass, but from its rapid and vigorous growth is not
well adapted for sowing with a crop of corn; indeed it is
doubtful whether this should be done with any clover.

158 THE OX AND THE DAIKY.

Tares or vetches ( Yicia saliva ), of which there are several
varieties, constitute a very important green crop, thriving
best on heavy soils, and yielding a profitable return. One
sort is much more hardy than the other, and will stand the
severest winter ; this may be sown in the autumn for early
spring fodder, the more tender sort in March, and it will
come in three or four weeks after the former. A good farmer
will aim at a succession of green crops, and tares may be
sown from spring till August, for winter use. If the farmer
has more tares than he absolutely needs, he may make them
into excellent hay, should the weather permit ; or depasture
sheep upon them, cutting the fodder and securing it in proper
racks, that it may not be trodden under foot and wasted. A
succession of tares and brown clover may be kept up from
May to November. Tares require the land to be well
manured; but they become an excellent substitute for a
summer fallow on heavy soils, and thus amply repay the
outlay in labour and manure expended upon them.

Such are the roots and artificial grasses on which cattle are
fed ; we here say nothing of the ordinary grasses of the
meadow, nor of common hay, straw, chaff, or grains, for with
these all are familiar. In supplying cattle with artificial fresh-
cut grasses, lucern, sainfoin, clover, &c., care must be taken, —
and we repeat our injunction, — that they be cut in as dry a state
as possible, and left for twenty-four hours to undergo partial
fermentation before being given to the cattle ; and even then
they should be allowed only in moderate quantities at a time,
otherwise the animals are apt to become hooven or hoven,
owing to the evolution of carburetted hydrogen in the paunch ;
indeed, we have known cows, which had been previously feed-
ing on a rather scanty grass pasturage, thus affected after being
turned upon a rich aftermath. Of all the artificial grasses,
none is more apt to render cattle hoven than lucern rashly
given ; they are apt to gorge themselves ; whereas, if a small
portion only be allowed from time to time, they masticate it
more thoroughly, rendering it much more readily digestible,
and consequently better adapted for yielding to the assimi-
lating organs the principles of nutrition. The cow will thus
retain her health, and yield more and richer milk. Many
practical farmers consider lucern, at all times, too stimulating
for milch cows ; they aver that, if largely used, it deteriorates
the milk, and is apt to produce eruptions about the thighs
and abdomen, from which exudes an acrid humour, producing

THE OX AND THE DAIRY. 159

foul incrustations, loss of hair, and irritation of the skin,
together with great debility, and loss of appetite and milk.
This disease, termed by the French rafle, or jet de la lucerne,
may be removed by a change of diet, cleanliness, and exercise ;
the water should be soft and pure, with a little flour mixed
with it ; and the food, if green, sprinkled with a little salt.

Some have objected to mangold-wurzel for milch cattle, but
we doubt whether on sufficient grounds ; for it is often the
sudden change from one diet to another, without variation,
and not the article of diet itself, that is injurious. When
mangold-wurzel is given with a proper proportion of hay, it
has been proved by experiment to be very salutary ; but if
the statement in the Farmer's Journal for 1814 is to be
relied upon, it has, when given alone, produced a partial para-
lysis and a loss of milk ; but in the instances narrated it
appears that the cows were suddenly transferred to this diet
without any admixture. Half a bushel of sliced mangold-
wurzel, morning and evening, with a good allowance of sweet
hay in the intermediate portion of the day, has been tried, and
found to keep cows not only in health, but in the finest milk-
ing condition. That there is nothing deleterious in this root
appears from its analysis : — a thousand parts contain about
50 of sugar, 22 of mucilage, 2 of starch, 6 of extract, 35 of
woody fibre or lignin, and 885 of water. Next to mangold-
wurzel, many farmers regard parsnips as the most valuable
root ; indeed, in some districts, and particularly in Jersey,
this root is largely used, both for milch cows and for fattening
oxen. They are best when steamed, as are also potatoes ;
iudeed, cut straw or chaff (not the husk of grain, which is most
dangerous, and scarcely if at all digestible) forms a much
more nutritious food when steamed and given warm than in
its crude condition. On steamed roots, steamed chaff, and a
little hay, many large farmers keep not only milch cows, but
oxen and working horses, at least during the winter. We are
talking of stall-fed cattle, and not of such as are depastured in
the fields, though, where the fields are eaten bare, a regular
allowance of food on the same principles is necessary. A dis-
creet allowance of green fodder, cut grass, mangold-wurzel
sliced, turnips sliced, steamed roots and hay, or cut straw and
brewer's grains, clover, chaff, and oil-cake, or linseed boiled or
unboiled, form the staple articles of the diet of cattle ; and
the proportion in which any of these is to be given, depends
on the condition of the animals, and whether they are milch

160 THE OX AND THE DAIRY.

cattle or cattle for fattening. When oats are given they
should be always bruised, as they are very difficult of digestion,
and often produce serious mischief, remaining unchanged in
the alimentary canal

Previously to stall-feeding cattle, it is advisable to keep
them for a short time on a bare pasture. By this plan the
stomach acquires tone and vigour, the appetite is healthily
increased, and the animals feed with a greater relish, and
fatten more rapidly. During their feeding the healthy tone of
the stomach should be maintained, and the diet in proportion
to the ease of good digestion, which should always " wait on
appetite."

In the treatment of cattle, whether in the field or in the
stall, good clean water is essential. Where no good water is
otherwise accessible, it is better to sink wells, and pump the
water into stone troughs, than to allow the animals to drink
from a muddy, filthy pond, full of putrescent animal and
vegetable matters, which generate many diseases. Such
water injures the quality of the milk, and disorders the di-
gestive organs. These evil effects are often attributed to the
grass, whereas the cause is in the water and not in the pastur-
age. It is notorious that cows pastured in districts where
marshes and stagnant pools abound, into which the drainage
of the land is carried, are subject to that scourge of cattle
known as " Red Water," and also to severe diarrhoea.

Cattle in their pastures drink at will, and usually take from
12 to 18 or 20 gallons in the course of twenty-four hours ;
but when stall-fed, it is necessary to supply them twice or
three times a day, according to the nature of their food. If
fed on dry provender, they require water more frequently
than when eating succulent herbage or juicy roots ; and
neglect in this point is one of the causes of various inflamma-
tory diseases, which often make their appearance to the loss
of the feeder. With a due supply of pure water, cleanliness,
the free application of the currycomb, ventilation, and a little
gentle exercise daily in a bare inclosure, are very important
concomitants. A hot, close, undrained cow-house, into which
pigs, fowls, ducks, &c., have free access, is a disgraceful
spectacle.

The management of milch cows, and of the dairy, is a
simple affair. It is on good old natural pastures that they
maintain the best health, return the most milk, and select the
herbage best suited to their appetite ; but when housed or

THE OX AND THE DAIRY. 161

stalled, the great rule is not to overtax their digestive
while a sufficiency of food is supplied, arid that wholesome
and of more than one sort. If overfed, the cow will have
some difficulty in bringing forth her calf; her udder will
sympathize with the derangement of the stomach, and the
vital functions will be all in disorder. Good sense and
a little experience must be brought into operation. The
same remarks apply to cattle fattened in the stall for the
butcher.

Grass land may be divided into water-meadows, upland pas
tures, and artificial grasses.

Of all the substances which concur in the vegetation and
growth of plants, water is the most essential : without mois
ture the seed cannot germinate, nor can the plant receive
nourishment. This circumstance has suggested the plan of
diverting streams, and conducting them in channels, to fer-
tilize as great an extent of land as possible. It seems that
where there is great heat in the air, water alone will supply
the necessary food for the growth of plants. It is probable
that the component parts of the atmosphere are more easily
separated, and made to enter into new combinations with
those of water, in a high temperature than in a lower ; or
that the leaves and green parts of vegetables imbibe water in
a state of solution in air, and that in this state it is more
easily decomposed. Atmospheric air and water contain all
the principal elements of vegetables, viz., oxygen, hydrogen,
carbon, and nitrogen ; the remainder are either found in the
soil, or diffused through the water. Manures seem to act princi-
pally as stimulants or re-agents, and are themselves composed
of the same elements : they are of no use unless diffused or
dissolved in water ; but when the water is impregm !:ed with
animal or vegetable substances, the effect is far greater and
more rapid than when the water is pure.

Water has also an important office to perform, if we admit
the principle discovered by Macaire, that plants reject through
their roots those portions of the sap which are the residue of
its elaboration, and which are of no further use to the plant,
but rather injurious if they are again imbibed by the roots
Plants seem to require a removal of their excrements, as
animals do when tied up in stalls, or confined in a small space.
If this is not effected, they suffer and contract diseases. The
percolation of water through the soil is the means which
nature has provided for this purpose. Hence we can readily

162 THE OX AND THE DAIRY.

suppose that the mere washing of the roots has a beneficial
effect, and to this in a great measure must be ascribed the
fertilizing effects of pure and soft running water.

If water stagnates and is evaporated, and the noxious mat-
ter held in solution remains in the soil, all the advantage of
irrigation is lost, and the better kinds of grasses are succeeded
by rushes and coarse aquatic plants. The circulation of the
water, therefore, appears to be as necessary as its presence ;
and, provided there be a sufficient supply of water of a proper
quality, the more porous the soil, and especially the subsoil,
is, the more vigorous is the vegetation. It is on this prin-
ciple alone that we can rationally account for the great advan-
tage of irrigation in those climates where rain is abundant,
and where the soil, which is most benefited by having a
supply of water running through it, is of a nature to require
artificial draining as an indispensable preliminary to being
made fertile by irrigation. By keeping these principles in
view, great light will be thrown on the practical part of irri-
gation, which, having been long established by experience,
before these principles were thought of, depends not on their
correctness, but only confirm? their truth.

The whole art of irrigation may be deduced from two simple
rules, which are, first, to give a sufficient supply of water
during all the time the plants are growing; and secondly
never to allow it to accumulate so long as to stagnate.

The supply of water must come from natural lakes and
rivers, or from artificial wells and ponds, in which it is col-
lected in sufficient quantity to disperse it over a certain sur-
face. As the water must flow over the land, or in channels
through it, the supply must be above the level of the land to
be irrigated. This is generally the principal object to be con-
sidered. If no water can be conducted to a reservoir above
the level of the land, it cannot be irrigated. But there must
also be a ready exit for the water, and therefore the land must
not be so low as the natural level of the common receptacle of
the waters, whether it be a lake or the sea, to which they run.
The taking of the level is therefore the first step towards an
attempt to irrigate any lands.

Along the banks of running streams nature points out the
declivity. A channel, which receives the water at a 'point
higher than that to which the river flows, may be dug with a
much smaller declivity than that of the bed of the river, and
made to carry the water much higher than the natural banks.

THE OX AND THE DAIRY. 163

It may thence be distributed so as to descend slowly, and
water a considerable extent of ground in its way to rejoin the
stream. This is by far the most common mode of irrigation ;
and the shape, size, and direction of the channels are regu-
lated by the nature of the surface and other circumstances,
which vary in almost every situation.

We shall suppose a river to run with a rapid current be-
tween high banks. At some point of its course a portion of
the water is diverted into a canal dug along the bank, with a
very small declivity. The water in this canal will flow with
less rapidity than the river, but will keep the same level as
that part of the river where it has its origin. Thus the water
may be carried over lands which are situated considerably
above the bod of the river farther down. All the lands
between this canal arid the river may be irrigated if there is a
sufficient supply of water. The canal may be carried to a
considerable distance from tbe river. The size of the canal
and its declivity depend on the quantity of water which may
be made to flow into it. A dam is often constructed across a
river, in order that as much of its water as is possible may be
diverted, and the original channel is often laid quite dry, to
take advantage of all the water at the time wben it is advan-
tageous to irrigate tbe land. To have an entire command of
the water, there are flood-gates on the main channel and on
the lesser branches, by opening or shutting which the water
may be stopped or made to flow as may be required. It must
be remembered, that to carry water to a considerable dis-
tance, and in great quantity, a larger channel and more rapid
declivity are required ; and it is a matter of calculation whe-
ther it is most advantageous to bring a smaller quantity to a
higher point, or a greater abundance somewhat lower. Having
a certain command of water, it may be carried from the main
channel by smaller branches to different points, so as to irri-
gate the whole equally. These branches should be nearly
horizontal, that the water may overflow the sides of them,
and be equally distributed over the land immediately below.
Every branch wbich brings water over the land should have a
corresponding channel below to carry it off; for the water
must never be allowed to stop and stagnate. When it. has
run fifteen or twenty feet, according to the declivity, over the
land situated below the feeder, or the channel which brings
the water, it should be collected into a drain, to be carried off,
unless it can be used to irrigate lands which lie still lower.

] 64 THE OX AND THE fcAIKY

Finally, it runs back into the river from which it was taken, at
a lower point of its course.

When there is a considerable fall and a sufficient supply of
water, -a series of channels may be made, so situated below
each other, that the second collects the water which the first
has supplied, and in its turn becomes a feeder to irrigate the
lower parts of the declivity; a third channel receives the
water and distributes it lower down, until the last pours it
into the river. This is called catch-work, because the water is
caught from one channel to another. This method is only
applicable where there is a considerable fall of water, and a
gentle declivity towards the river. But it must be borne in
mind that the water is deteriorated for the purpose of irriga-
tion when it has passed over the land, and that it is not ad-
vantageous to let it flow over a great extent when a fresh
supply can be obtained : but where only a small portion of
water can be commanded, that must be made the most of;
and it will irrigate three or four portions of land in succession
without there being any very marked difference in the effect :
beyond this it rapidly loses its fertilizing qualities.

In many situations the great difficulty in irrigation arises
from the want of a supply of water ; but even then a partial
irrigation may be effected, which will have its advantages. A
small rill which is often quite dry in summer may, by judi-
cious management, be made to improve a considerable portion
of land : its waters may be collected in a pond, or reservoir,
and let out occasionally, so that none be lost or run to waste.
If there is only a small quantity, it must be husbanded ana
made to flow over as great a surface as possible. If there is
water only at particular seasons of the year, and at a time
when it would not be of much use to the land, it may be kept
in ponds, and it will lose none of its qualities by being ex-
posed to the air. If animal or vegetable matter in a partial
state of decomposition is added to this water, it will much
improve its quality.

If there is not a want of water, there may be a want of
declivity to enable it to flow off, which is an essential part of
irrigation. Art may in this case assist nature by forming a
passage for the water, either in its course towards the land to
be irrigated, or from it after it has effected its purpose. Where
there is no natural exit, and it might cause too great an expense
to make an artificial one, the water may sometimes be led into
shallow ponds, where a great part is evaporated ; or porous

THE OX AND THE DAIRY. 165

strata may be found by boring, into which it can be made to
run and be dispersed. Along rivers where the fall is very
imperceptible, a channel brought from a considerable distance
may give such a command as to throw the water over a great
extent of surface ; and, to carry it off, another channel may be
cut, emptying itself at some distance below : thus lands which
lie along the banks of a river may be irrigated, although they
are actually below the level of the river, and require banks to
protect them from inundation.

When the surface to be irrigated is very flat and nearly
level, it is necessary to form artificial slopes for the water to
run over. The whole of the ground is laid in broad beds
undulating like the waves of the sea. The upper part of these
beds is quite level from end to end, and here the channel or
float which brings the water on is cut. From the edge of this
channel the ground is made to slope a foot or two on both
sides, and a ditch is cut at the bottom parallel to the float.
The whole of the ground is laid out in these beds. All the
floats are supplied by a main channel at right angles to the
beds, and somewhat above them, and all the ditches or drains
run into a main ditch parallel to the main float, and below
the lowest drain. The course of the water is very regular.
As soon as the flood-gates are opened it flows into a'l the
upper channels, which it fills till they overflow in their wLcle
length. The sloping sides are covered with a thin sheet of
running water, which the lower drains collect and carry into
the main ditch.

Experience has shown that there are particular seasons
when the water has the best effect ; a perfect command of it
is therefore indispensable, and also a regular supply. During
frost, when all dry meadows are in a state of torpor, and the
vegetation is suspended, the water-meadows, having a current
of water continually flowing over them, are protected from the
effect of frost, and the grass will continue to grow as long as
the water flows over it. Too much moisture however would
be injurious, and the meadows are therefore laid dry by shut-
ting the flood-gates, whenever the temperature of the air is
above freezing. By this management the grass grows rapidly
at the first sign of spring. Before the dry upland meadows
have recovered the effects of frost and begun to vegetate, the
herbage of the water-meadows is already luxuriant. As soon
as they are fed off or cut for the first crop of hay, the water is
immediately put on again, but for a shorter time. A renewed

166 THE OX AND THE DAIRY.

growth soon appears, and the grass is ready to be cut a second
time, when the dry meadows only give their first crop. Thus,
by judicious management, three or four crops of grass are
obtained in each season, or only one abundant crop is made
into hay, and the sheep and cattle feed off the others. The
usual way in which the grass of water-meadows is made pro-
fitable is by feeding ewes which have early lambs till the
middle of April. A short flooding soon reproduces a crop,
which is mown for hay in June ; another flooding gives an
abundant aftermath, which is either mown for hay, or fed off
by cows, bullocks, and horses ; for at this time the sheep, if
pastured in water-meadows, are very subject to the rot. The
value of good water-meadows is very great : when the water is
suited to irrigation they never require manuring ; their ferti-
lity is kept up continually, and the only attention required is
to weed out coarse aquatic plants.

Water may be carried in small channels through meadows
without being allowed to overflow, and in this case the effect
is similar to that caused by rivers or brooks which wind slowly
through valleys, and produce a rich verdure along their course.
This Fs watering, but not properly irrigating. When this is
done judiciously, the effect is very nearly the same as when
the land is irrigated ; and in hot climates it may be preferable,
by giving a constant supply of moisture to the roots, while the
plants are growing. The great advantage of water-meadows
in England is, not so much the superior quantity of grass or
hay which is obtained when they are mown, as the early feed
in spring, when all kinds of nutritive fodder are scarce ; when
the turnips are consumed, before the natural grass or the rye
sown for that purpose is fit to be fed off, the water-meadows
afford abundant pasture to ewes and lambs, which by this
means are brought to an early market. The farmer who has
water-meadows can put his ewes earlier to the ram, without
fear of wanting food for them and their lambs in March, which
is the most trying season of the year for those who have sheep.
At that time an acre of good grass may be worth as much for
a month as a later crop would for the remainder of the year.
When it is intended to form a water-meadow on a surface
which is nearly level, or where a fall of only two or three feet
can be obtained in a considerable length, the whole of the
land must be laid in beds about twenty or thirty feet wide,
the middle or crown of these beds being on a level with the
main feeders and the bottoms or drains on a level with the

THE OX AND THE DAIRY. 1 67

lower exit of the water, or a little above it. To form these beds
most expeditiously, if the ground is already in grass, the sod
may be pared off and relaid after the beds are formed, by
which means the grass will sooner be re-established; but
except in very heavy soils, where the grass is some time in
taking root, the easiest and cheapest way is to plough the
land two or three times towards the centre, and dig out the
drain with the spade : the earth out of the drains, and that
which is taken out of the upper trench or feeder, may be
spread over the bed to give it the proper slope. A roller
passed over the bed in the direction of its length will lay it
even, and the seeds of grasses being sown over it, the water
may be let on for a very short time to make them spring. As
soon as the grass is two or three inches above ground, a re-
gular flooding may be given, and in a very short time the
sward will be complete. Instead of sowing seeds, tufts of
grass cut from old sward may be spread over the newly-formed
beds, and they will soon cover the ground. The Italian rye-
grass, which has been introduced into this country from
Lombardy and Switzerland, grows so rapidly, that if it be
sown in February, or as soon as the snow and frost are gon-e,
it will afford a good crop to feed off in April, or to mow for
hay by the beginning of May ; and after that it may be cut
repeatedly during the summer. But where, the soil is good
and the water abundant, good natural grasses will spring
up without much sowing, and soon equal the old water-
meadows.

It seems essential to the formation of a good water-meadow
that the bottom be porous, and free from stagnant water;
hence under- draining is often indispensable before a water-
meadow can be established ; and a peat-bog, if drained and
consolidated, may have water carried over its surface, and
produce very good herbage. If the soil is a very stiff clay,
draining is almost indispensable where a water-meadow is to
be made. The more porous the soil the less depth of water
is required, which is not obvious at first sight ; but the clay
lets the water run over the surface without soaking into the
roots, whereas the porous soil is soon soaked to a consider-
able depth. The water must therefore be longer on the clay
than on the sand or gravel, to produce the same effect. If the
water is properly applied, all kinds of soil may be converted
into fertile water-meadows. On very stiff clays a coat of sand
or gravel, where it can be easily put on, will greatly improve

168 THE OX AND THE DAIRY.

the herbage. It should not be ploughed in, but laid on the
surface two or three inches thick : chalk will also improve the
herbage.

The usual time of letting on the water on water-meadows is
just before Christmas, and it may continue to flow over the
land as long as the frost lasts : in mild weather it may be
turned off during the day and put on again at night until the
frost is gone. The grass will soon begin to grow, and be
ready to be fed off. When this is done the water is imme-
diately let on for a short time, and turned off agajn, to allow
the ground to dry after a few days' flooding, and the water is
let on again at short intervals. The warmer the air is, the
shorter time must the water be allowed to cover the mea-
dows. As soon as the grass is five or six inches long it must
be left dry entirely till it is mown or fed off. In summer the
floodings must be very short, seldom more than twenty-four
hours at a time, but frequent. Thus a great weight of grass
may be obtained year after year without any manure being
put on the land, care being taken that, where the surface is
not quite even, the hollows be filled up with earth brought
from another place, or dug out of the drain, if that should be
partially filled up with the soil which the water has carried
into it. We alluded before to a case where water may remain
a considerable time on the land without injury ; this is, when
there are inundations from rivers, which rise above their beds
in spring, and cover the low meadows which lie along their
banks. In this case the grass, which has not yet sprung up,

i is protected from the cold, and if there is a deposit from the
water there is a considerable advantage. But when it subides,

i it must be made to run off entirely, without leaving small
pools, by which the grass would invariably be injured. Small

| ditches or channels are usually dug, by which all the water
may run off, unless where the subsoil is very porous, or the
land is well under-drained, which is seldom the case in these
low meadows, for the drains would be apt to be choked by the
earthy deposit from the water. These inundations can some-
times be regulated by means of dykes and flood-gates, in
which case they partake of the advantages of irrigation, and
also of that deposition of fertilising mud which is called
warping.

In the plan [fig. 1, p. 169) A A is a river which has a
considerable fall, and then flows through a level plain. A
considerable channel is cut at B where there is a rapid fall

THE OX AND THE DAIRY.

169

170 THE OX AND THE DAIEY

over a natural or artificial dam. This channel is carried round
a hill and supplies a series of channels, c,c,c, placed below
each other, forming catch-work along a declivity. A portion
of the water goes on to D, where it supplies the feeders of a
regular set of ridges, or beds, made as before described, from
which the water returns into the river by a main trench, into
which all the drains run.

On the other side of the river, where the slopes lie some-
what differently, there are several examples of catch-work,
the black lines representing the drains which receive the
water after it has flowed over the surface, and carry it into
the river below. It is evident that all the feeders are nearly
horizontal, to allow the water to flow over their sides.

Upland pastures are portions of land on which the natural
grasses grow spontaneously. The plants which form the na-
tural sward are not confined to the family of the graminese,
but many other plants, chiefly with perennial roots, form part
of the herbage. In the richest soils the variety is exceedingly
great. When a sod is taken up, and all the plants on it are
examined, the species will be found very numerous, and in
the same ground the plants will vary in different years, so as
to induce one to conclude, that like most other herbaceous
plants, the grasses degenerate when they have grown for a
long time on the same spot, and that a kind of rotation is
established by nature. It is chiefly in those pastures where
the grasses are allowed to grow till they form their seed that
this is observable ; for when they are closely fed, and not
allowed to shoot out a seed-stem, they are less subject to
degenerate and disappear. This may be a reason why ex-
perienced dairymen are so unwilling to allow their best
pastures to be mown for hay Close feeding is always con-
sidered the most advantageous both to the cattle and the
proprietor.

The only way in which a pasture can be profitable is by
feeding stock ; and its value is in exact proportion to the
number of sheep or cattle which can be fed upon it in a sea-
son. Extensive pastures are often measured only by their
capacity in this respect. Thus we speak of downs for 1000
sheep ; and in Switzerland and other mountainous countries,
they talk of a mountain of 40, 60, or 100 cows, without any
mention of extent in acres.

When a pasture is naturally rich, the only care required is
to stock it judiciously, to move the cattle frequently from one

THE OX AND THE DAIRY.

171

Fig. 2.

Fig. 2 is the section of catch-work, a, a, are the feeders ; b, the drain
c, c, c, c, intermediate channels which act as feeders and drains.

Ridge-work.

Fig. 3 is the section of two adjoining ridges, a, a, the feeders ; 6, b, &, the
drains.

Fig. 4.

Fig. 4 is a sluice to regulate the flow of water.

spot to another (for which purpose inclosures well fenced are
highly advantageous), and to eradicate certain plants which
are useless or noxious, such as docks and thistles, furze,
broom, briars, and thorns. The dung of the cattle also, when
left in heaps as it is dropped, kills the grass, and introduces
coarse and less palatable plants. This must be carefully beat
about and spread, or carried together in heaps to make com-
posts with earth, to manure the poorer meadows or the arable
land. All that is required in rich pastures in which cows and
oxen are fed, and which are properly stocked, is to prevent
the increase of the coarser and less nutritive plants. Weeding
is as important in grass as in arable land ; and if it is ne-
glected the consequence will soon be observed by the inferior
quality of the feed. The urine of the cattle is the manure
which* chiefly keeps up the fertility of grass land ; and

17 2 THE OX AND THE DA1KY.

although in hot and dry weather it frequently burns up the
grass where it falls, when it is diluted by showers, the im-
proved appearance of the surface shows that its effect has
not been detrimental. To enrich poor meadows there is no
manure so effective as diluted urine, or the drainings of stables
and dunghills.

When pastures are poor and the herbage is of a bad quality,
the cause is in the soil. A poor arid soil is not fitted for
grass, nor one which is too wet from the abundance of springs
and the want of outlet for the water. The defects can only
be remedied by expensive improvements. A soil which is
too dry may be improved by cultivation and judicious ma-
nuring ; but for this purpose it must be broken up and
treated for some time as arable land : and it may be a question
whether or not the expense of improving the soil will be
repaid by the superior quality of the pasture when it is again
laid down to grass. In general the poor light soils, if they
are worth cultivation, answer better as arable land, especially
where the turnip husbandry is well understood. The low wet
clay soils may be converted into good pastures by draining
them well ; and judicious draining on such soils is the most
profitable investment of capital.

When old meadows have been neglected, or too often mown,
without being recruited by manure or irrigation, they are often
overrun with moss or rushes, and produce only a coarse sour
grass. In that case, besides draining it if required, the land
must be broken up and undergo a regular course of tillage,
until the whole of the old sward is destroyed, and a better
collection of grasses cover the surface. If this be done judi-
ciously, the pasture will not only be greatly improved in the
quality, but also in the quantity of the grass. There is a pre-
judice against the breaking up of old grass land, which has
arisen from the improper manner in which it is frequently
effected. The sward when rotten is a powerful manure, and
produces great crops of corn ; and this tempts the farmer to
repeat the sowing of corn on newly broken up lands. The
fertility is reduced rapidly ; and when grass seeds are sown
after several crops of corn, the soil has been deprived of a
great portion of the humus and vegetable matter which is
essential to the growth of rich grass. The proper method of
treating grass land, broken up to improve it, is to take no
more corn crops than will pay the expense of breaking up,
carting earth, lime, or other substances upon it, to improve
the soil, and to lay it down to grass again.

THE OX AND THE DAIRY 173

If the soil is fit for turnips, no better crop can be sown to
prepare for the grass seeds, which should be sown without a
corn crop, except where the sun is powerful, and the seed is
sown late in spring : but autumn is by far the best season for
sowing grass seeds for permanent pasture. Turnips of an early
kind may be sown in May, and fed off with sheep in August or
September; and the ground being only very slightly ploughed,
or rather scarified, and harrowed fine, the seeds may be sown
and rolled in. The species of grass sown must depend on the
nature of the soil ; but it is impossible to be too choice in
the selection. That mixture of chaff and the half-ripe seeds
of weeds, commonly called hay seeds, which is collected from
the stable lofts, should be carefully rejected, and none but
speeds ripened and collected on purpose should be sown. The
Trifolium ripens (white clover), the Trifolium medium (cow-
grass), Medicago lupinula (trefoil), Lolium perenne (rye-grass),
the poas and festucas, are the best kinds of grasses. Avery easy
way of obtaining good seed is to keep a piece of good meadow
shut up from cattle early in spring, carefully weeding out any
coarse grasses, and letting the best arrive at full maturity ;
then mow and dry the crop, and thrash it out upon a cloth.
This will give the best mixture of seeds ; but some of the
earliest will have been shed, and these should be collected
separately, or purchased from the seedsmen. Before winter
the ground will already be covered with a fine green, if the
seed has been plentiful. The quantity per acre of the mixed
seeds should not be less than thirty or forty pounds to insure
a close pile the next year. If the soil is not naturally rich,
liquid manure, or urine diluted with water, should be carried
to the field in a water-cart, and the young grass watered with
it. This will so invigorate the plants that they will strike and
tiller abundantly. They should be fed off by sheep but not
too close. The tread cf the sheep and their urine will tend
to make the pile of grass close ; and the year after this the
new pasture will only be distinguished from the old by its
verdure and freshness.

Butter is the fat or oleaginous part of the milk of various
animals, principally of the domestic cow. The milk of the
cow is composed of three distinct ingredients, the curd, the
whey, and the butter ; the two first form the largest portion,
and the last the most valuable. The comparative value of the
milk of different cows, or of the same cows fed on different
pastures, is estimated chiefly by the quantity of butter con-

174 THE OX AND THE DAIRY.

tained in it ; and in this respect some breeds of cows are far
superior to others. The union of the component parts of milk
is chiefly mechanical, as they separate by subsidence according
to their specific gravities, the cream being the lightest, and the
curd the heaviest ; the curd, however, requires a slight chemi-
cal change for its separation from the whey, which at the
same time produces a peculiar acid called the lactic acid.
From the moment that milk is drawn from the cow it begins
to be affected by the air and changes of temperature, and cir-
cumstances almost imperceptible to our senses will materially
affect its quality : hence the importance of extreme care in
every step of the process of the dairy, especially in making
butter.

The cows should be milked in the cool of the morning and
evening ; they should not be much driven immediately before
milking, and it is best to bring them to the place of milking
some time before the operation begins. In some situations
it is better to milk them in the pastures and carry the milk
home ; in others to drive the cows gently to the cow- stall.
In mountainous countries the first mode is generally adopted,
because the cows are apt to leap down steep places, and
shake the milk in their udder more than is done by carrying
it in the pail. The same practice holds good in Holland
from another cause, which is the distance of the pastures from
the home- stall, and the facility of transporting the milk in
small boats, all the best pastures being surrounded by
small canals communicating with the greater ; thus the milk
may be carried several miles without the least agitation. In
England, where the pastures frequently surround the habita-
tion of the dairyman, the cows are generally driven home
twice a-day, to be milked. As the slightest acidity or putres-
cence immediately causes an internal chemical action in milk,
it is of the utmost importance that the place where the cows
are milked, and the persons employed, should be of the
greatest purity and cleanliness. The milking-house should
be paved with stone or brick, and no litter or dung be per-
mitted to remain there. It should be washed out twice a-day,
immediately before each milking. The teats of the cows
should be washed clean with water and a sponge.

As soon as the milk is brought into the dairy, it is strained
through a fine sieve or cloth, and it is then poured into
shallow pans or troughs lined with lead. The best pans are
of metal, either of iron, carefully tinned, or of brass. Such

THE OX AND THE DA IRY. 175

pans are cool in summer, and in winter allow of the applica-
tion of heat, which is often very useful to make the cream
rise. When leaden troughs are used they are generally fixed
to the wall, and have a slight inclination towards one end,
where there is a hole with a plug in it, by drawing which the
thin milk is allowed to run off slowly, leaving the cream
behind, which runs last through the hole into the pan placed
under to receive it. The milk in the pans or troughs is
generally four or five inches in depth, which is found most
conducive to the separation of the cream. The place where
the milk is set should have a thorough draft of air by means
of opposite wire windows. The sun should be carefully
excluded by high buildings or trees, and the floor, which
should always be of brick or stone, should be continually kept
moist in summer, that the evaporation may produce an equal
cool temperature. A small stove in winter is a great advan-
tage, provided smoke or smell be most carefully avoided, and
the temperature be carefully regulated by a thermometer. In
Switzerland men are chiefly employed to milk the cows, and
in all the process of the preparation of butter and cheese.
The women only clean the utensils, and carry green food to
the cows when they are kept in the stable. When the milk
has stood twelve hours, the finest parts of the cream have
risen to the surface, and if they are then taken off by a
skimming-dish, and immediately churned, a very delicate
butter is obtained ; but in general it is left twenty-four hours,
when the cream is collected by skimming, or the thin milk is
let off by taking out the plug in the troughs. All the cream
is put into a deep earthen jar, which should be glazed, but
not with lead ; stone ware is the best. More cream is added
every day till there is a sufficient quantity to churn, which in
moderate dairies is every two days. It is usual to stir the
cream often, to encourage a slight acidity, by which the
process of churning is accelerated. This acidity is sometimes
produced by the addition of vinegar or lemon-juice; but
however this may facilitate the conversion of the cream into
butter, the quality is decidedly injured by it, especially butter
which is to be salted. It has been asserted by some authors
that butter will not separate from the butter-milk until acidity
is produced, and, no doubt, there is more or less of lactic acid
in all butter-milk ; but perfectly fresh cream, which has stood
only one night and is churned early next morning, will
generally produce excellent butter in a quarter of an hour or

176 THE OX AND THE DAIKY.

twenty minutes in summer, and no acid taste can be dis-
covered in the butter-milk. The change by which the butter
is separated in a solid form is accompanied by the develop-
ment of heat in churning.

The common method employed to separate the butter from
the thinner portion of the cream is by strong agitation. In
small quantities this may be done in a bottle ; but the
common instrument is the churn, which is a wooden cask,
rather wider at bottom than at the top, covered with a round
lid with a hole in the centre. Through this hole passes a
round stick about four feet long, inserted in the centre of a
round flat board with holes in it ; the diameter of this board
is a little less than that of the top of the churn. Various
improvements have been made in this machine. The cream
should not fill above two-thirds of the churn. By means of
this stick, held in both hands and moved up and down, the
cream is violently agitated, passing through the holes in the
board and round its edge every time the stick is raised or
depressed, and thus every portion is brought into contact with
the air. In the course of an hour's churning, more or less
according to circumstances, small kernels of butter appear,
which are soon united by the pressure of the board against
the bottom of the churn, and form a mass of solid butter.
The butter is collected with the hand, and placed in a shallow
tub for the next operation. The butter-milk is set aside for
the pigs, or for domestic use. The butter is still mixed with
some portion of butter-milk, but much of its quality for
keeping depends on their perfect separation. The most
usual way is to spread it thin in a shallow tub, beating it with
the hand or a flat wooden spoon, and washing it repeatedly
with clear spring water, until all milkiness disappears in the
water that is poured off. Some experienced dairymen pretend
that the butter is deteriorated by much washing, and there-
fore they express the butter-milk by simply beating the
butter with the hand, kept cool by frequently dipping it in
cold water, or with a moist cloth wrapped in the form of a
ball, which soaks up all the butter-milk, and leaves the butter
quite dry. This operation requires the greatest attention,
especially in warm weather, and no person should work the
butter who has not a very cool hand. The less it is handled
the better, and therefore a wooden spoon or spatula is much
to be preferred.

When it is entirely freed from the butter-milk, and of

THE OX AND THE DAIRY. 177

a proper consistency, it is divided into portions of the weight
required, if it is intended to be sold fresh. But the greatest
part of the butter that is made, especially at a distance from
large towns, is immediately salted and put into casks, which
usually contain fifty-six pounds, and are called firkins. The
quality of the salt used is of great importance ; if it be
pure, the butter will keep its flavour a long time, but when it
is impure and contains bitter and deliquescent salts the butter
soon becomes rancid. The Dutch are very particular in this
point. They use a kind of salt which is made by slow
evaporation, and perfectly crystallised. The salt is intimately
mixed with the butter. From 3 to 5 Ibs. are sufficient for a
firkin of 56 Ibs.* The casks are made of clean white wood.
They are carefully washed inside with strong brine made hot,
and rubbed over with salt. The butter, being quite dry, is
pressed close into the cask, a small layer of salt having been
first put on the bottom. Every addition is carefully incor-
porated with the preceding portion. If there is not a sufficient
quantity to fill the cask at once, the surface is made smooth,
some salt is put over it, and a cloth is pressed close upon it to
exclude the air. When the remainder is added, at the next
churning, the cloth is taken off, and the salt, which had been
put on the surface, is carefully removed with a spoon. The
surface is dug into with a small wooden spade, and laid rough,
and the newly salted butter is added and incorporated com-
pletely. This prevents a streak, which would otherwise
appear at the place where the two portions joined. When
the cask, is full some salt is put over it, and the head is put in.
If the butter was well freed from all the butter-milk, and the
salt mixed with it was quite dry, it will not shrink in the cask,
and it will keep its flavour for a long time. Should there be
an appearance of shrinking, the cask must be opened, and
melted butter poured round it so as to fill up the interstices
between the butter and the cask. There is a mode of
preserving butter for domestic use without salt, in the
following manner : — The butter is set in a clean pan over the
fire, and melted very gently ; it is not allowed to boil, but is
heated very nearly to the boiling point. Experience has shown
this heat to be attained when the reflection of the white of the
eye is distinctly seen on the surface of the butter on looking

* The following mixture has been found superior to salt alone in curing
butter: — half an ounce of dry salt pounded fine, two drachms of sugar, and
two drachms of saltpetre, for every pound of butter.

N

178 THE OX AND THE DAIRY.

down into the pan. All the watery particles are then evapo-
rated, and the curd, of which a portion always remains in the
butter, and which is one cause of its becoming rancid, falls to
the bottom. The clear butter is poured into an earthen
vessel and covered over with paper ; and a bladder or a piece
of leather is tied over the jar to exclude the air. When it is
cooled, it much resembles hog's lard. It has lost some of its
flavour, but it is much superior to salt butter for culinary
purposes, and especially for pastry.

The Devonshire method of making butter is peculiar to
that county. The milk, instead of being set for the cream to
rise, is placed in tin or earthen pans, holding about eleven or
twelve quarts each. Twelve hours after milking, these pans
are placed on a broad iron plate, heated by a small furnace.
The milk is not allowed to boil, but a thick scum rises to the
surface. As soon as small bubbles begin to appear, where a
portion of this scum is removed with a spoon, the milk is
taken off and allowed to cool. The thick part is taken off the
surface, and this is called clouted cream: it is a sweet, pleasant
substance, more solid than cream, but not so solid as butter,
and is generally considered a dainty. A very slight agitation
converts it into real butter, after which it is treated exactly as
we have before described. ,

Another method of making butter, which is more generally
adopted, is to churn the milk and cream together. This
method is pursued in parts of Holland, Scotland, and Ireland,
and is said to produce a greater abundance of butter from the
same quantity of milk. In the Dutch method the milk is put
into deep jars in a cool place, and each meal, or portion
milked at one time, is kept separate. As soon as there is a
slight appearance of acidity, the whole is churned in an
upright churn, which, from the quantity of milk, is of very
large dimensions. The plunger is worked by machinery
moved by a horse, or sometimes by a dog walking in a wheel,
which he turns by his weight. When the butter begins
to form into small kernels, the contents of the churn are
emptied on a sieve, which lets the butter-milk pass through.
The butter is then formed into a mass, as described before.

It is an acknowledged fact, that such are the niceties of the
dairy, that great experience alone can insure a produce of
superior quality, and this experience would be more readily
acquired if the circumstances were accurately observed and
noted. We would recommend, to those who have extensive

THE OX AND THE DAIRY. 179

dairies, to mark by the thermometer the temperature of the
milk and cream in the different stages of the process ; occa-
sionally to test the acidity of the butter-milk by means of
alkalis ; and to note any peculiarity in the atmosphere by an
electrometer. A few observations, carefully noted, repeated,
and compared, would throw more light on the true causes
which favour or oppose the production of good butter, than
all the guesses that have hitherto been made.

The quality of the butter depends materially on the nature
of the pasture. The best is made from cows fed in rich
natural meadows. Certain plants, which grow in poor and
marshy soils, give a disagreeable taste to the butter. The
common notion that the yellow flower called the butter-cup
gives colour and flavour to butter is a mistake : cows never
crop the flower if they can avoid it, and the whole plant is
acrid and unpalatable. When cows are fed with cut grass in
the stable, the butter is inferior, except in the case of some
artificial grasses, such as lucern. Turnips and other roots
given to cows in winter communicate more or less of a bad
taste to butter, which is corrected in some degree by means of
a small quantity of water and saltpetre added to the milk ; and
also, it is said, by giving salt to the cows with their food. But
there is no butter made in winter equal to that which is made
when the cows are fed entirely with good meadow hay, espe-
cially of the second crop, called aftermath hay, which contains
few seed -stalks.

The yellow colour of May butter is frequently imitated
artificially by mixing some ground arnotto root, or the juice
of carrots, with the cream. This is easily detected by the
taste of the butter, which is not improved by it, and has not
the peculiar flavour of fine grass butter ; but in other respects
it is a harmless addition. Some cows give a much yellower
cream than others, especially the Alderney cows ; and the
butter made from it is of a peculiarly fine flavour. When a
cow has lately calved, the milk is also much yellower, but this
soon goes off, if it be not the natural colour ; and the butter
made by mixing this with other milk, although of a deeper
colour, is not improved by it.

According to the accounts of the produce of butter from
different countries and various breeds of cows, we may state
that, on an average, four gallons of milk produce 16 ounces
of butter ; and to make the feeding of cows for the dairy a
profitable employment in England, a good cow should pro-

J 80 THE OX AND THE DATKY.

duce six pounds of butter per week in summer, and half that
quantity in winter, allowing from six weeks to two months for
her being dry before calving ; that is, 1201bs. in twenty weeks
after calving, and 80 Ibs. in the remainder of the time till she
goes dry, — in all about 200 Ibs. in the year. If she produces
more, she may be considered as a superior cow ; if less, she
is below par. To produce this quantity the pasture must be
good, and if we allow three acres to keep a cow in grass and
hay for a year, which is not very far from the mark, the butter
made will produce about £10, at the distance of fifty miles
from London, if it is sold in a fresh state, and the calf about
15s. at a week old. This does little more than pay the rent
and expenses ; the profit must be made by feeding pigs, or
making skim-milk cheese.

The quality of the butter produced in England and in
Holland is considered the best. A considerable quantity of
Dutch butter is exported, but all that is produced in England
is consumed at home, in addition to large quantities imported
from Ireland and the continent of Europe. The quantity
imported has been for some time progressively increasing.

CHEESE.

In the making of cheese there are certain general principles
which are essential, but slight variations in the process pro-
duce cheeses of very different qualities; and although the
most important circumstance is the nature of the pasture on
which the cows are fed, yet much depends on the mode in
which the different stages of the fabrication are managed ;
and hence the great superiority of the cheeses of particular
districts or dairies over those of others, without any apparent
difference in the pasture. In those countries where the cows
are chiefly kept tied up in stalls, and are fed with a variety of
natural and artificial grasses, roots, and vegetables, superior
cheese is often made.

The first process in making cheese is to separate the curd
from the whey, which may be done by allowing the milk to
become sour ; but the cheese is inferior in quality, and it is
difficult to stop the acid fermentation and prevent its running
into the putrefactive. Various substances added to milk will
soon separate the curd from the whey. All acids curdle milk.
Muriatic acid is used with success for this purpose in Holland.
Some vegetables contain acids which readily coagulate milk,
such as the juice of the fig-tree, and the flowers of the Galium

THE OX AND THE DAIEY. 1 81

verum, or yellow lady's bed straw, hence called cheese-rennet.
Where better rennet cannot be procured, they may be substi-
tuted for the best curdler of milk, which is the gastric juice of
the stomach of a sucking calf. This juice rapidly coagulates
the milk as the calf sucks ; and the only difficulty is in col-
lecting and keeping it from putrefaction, which begins from
the instant the stomach is taken from the calf. The prepara-
tion of the rennet, as it is called, is a most important part of
the process of cheese-making. The following may be consi-
dered as the simplest, and perhaps the best. As soon as a
sucking calf is killed, the stomach should be taken out, and if
the calf has sucked lately, it is all the better. The outer skin
should be well scraped, and all fat and useless membranes
carefully removed. It is only the inner coat which must be
preserved. The coagulated milk should be taken out and
examined ; and any substance besides curd found in it should
be carefully removed. The serum left in it should be pressed
out with a cloth. It should then be replaced in the stomach
with a large quantity of the best salt. Some add a little alum
and sal prunella ; others put various herbs and spices, with a
view of giving the cheese a peculiar flavour ; but the plain
simple salting is sufficient. The skins or veils, as they are
called, are then put into a pan, and covered with a saturated
solution of salt, in which they are soaked for some hours ; but
there must be no more liquor than will well moisten the veils.
They are afterwards hung up to dry, a piece of flat wood being
put crosswise into each to stretch them out. They should be
perfectly dried, and look like parchment. In this state they may
be kept in a dry place for any length of time, and are always
ready for use. In some places, at the time of making cheese,
a piece of veil is cut off, and soaked for some hours in water
or whey, and the whole is added to the warm milk. In
other places, pieces of veil are put into a linen bag, and soaked
in warm water, until the water has acquired sufficient strength,
which is proved by trying a portion of it in warm milk. The
method employed in Switzerland is as follows : — A dry veil is
taken and examined; it is scraped with a knife, and where
any veins or pieces of tough membrane appear, they are
removed. The whole surface is examined and washed care-
fully, if any dust or dirt has adhered to it ; but otherwise it is
only wiped with a cloth. A handful of salt is then put into
it, and the edges of the veil are folded over and secured with
a wooden skewer stuck through it. In this state it forms a ball

THE OX AND THE DAIRY.

of about three inches diameter, and is laid to soak twenty-four
hours in a dish containing about a quart of clear whey, which
has been boiled, and all the curd taken out. The next day
the veil is well squeezed, and put into fresh whey ; the first
infusion being put into a proper vessel, the second is after-
wards mixed with it, and bottled for use. Half a pint of this
liquor, of a proper strength, is sufficient to curdle 40 gallons
of milk. Experience alone enables the dairyman to judge of
the strength of his rennet ; for this purpose he takes in a flat
ladle some milk which has been heated to about 95 degrees of
Fahrenheit, and adds a small measure of rennet. By the
rapidity with which it curdles, and by the form of the flakes
produced, he knows its exact strength, and puts more or less
into the caldron in which the milk is heated for curdling.

There are different kinds of cheese, according to the mode
of preparing it : soft and rich cheeses are not intended to be
kept long ; hard and dry cheeses are adapted to be kept and
stored for provisions. Of the first kind are all cream cheeses,
and those soft cheeses, called Bath cheeses and Yorkshire
cheeses, which are sold as soon as made, and if kept too long
become soft and putrid. Stilton and Gruyere cheeses are in-
termediate ; Parmesan, Dutch, Cheshire, Gloucestershire, and
similar cheeses, are intended for longer keeping. The poorer
the cheese is, the longer it will keep ; and all cheese that is
well cleared from whey, and sufficiently salted, will keep for
years. The small Dutch cheeses, called Edam cheeses, are
admirably adapted for keeping, and form an important article
in the victualling of ships.

The Gruyere and Parmesan cheeses only differ in the nature
of the milk, and in the degree of heat given to the curd in
different parts of the process. Gruyere cheese is entirely
made from new milk, and Parmesan from skimmed milk. In
the first nothing is added to give flavour : in the latter saffron
gives both colour and flavour ; the process in both is exactly
similar. A large caldron, in the shape of a bell, capable of
holding from 60 to 120 gallons of milk, hangs from an iron
crane over a hearth where a wood fire is made. The milk,
having been strained, is put into this caldron, and heated to
nearly blood-heat (95° to 100°). It is then turned off the fire,
and some rennet, prepared as stated above, is intimately mixed
with the warm milk by stirring it with the hand, in which is
held a flat wooden skimming-dish, which is turned round in
the milk while the hand and arm stir it. A cloth is then laid

THE OX AND THE DAIRY. 183

over the caldron, and in half an hour, more or less, the
coagulum is formed. This is ascertained by pressing the
skimming-dish on the surface, when the whey will appear on
the part pressed. If it is longer than an hour in coagulating,
the milk has been too cool, or the rennet not strong enough.
When the curd is properly formed, it is cut horizontally in
thin slices by the same skimming-ladle. Each slice as it is
taken off, is poured along the side of the caldron which is
nearest to the operator ; by this means every portion of the
curd rises successively to the surface, and is sliced thin. The
whole is then well stirred, and the caldron is replaced over
the fire. A long staff, with a small knob of hard wood at the
end, and which has smaller cross pieces or sticks passed
through holes in it at right angles to each other near the end,
is now used to stir and break the curd, and the heat is raised
to about 135°, which is as hot as the arm can well bear, even
when used to it. The cauldron is again swung off the fire,
and the curd is stirred with the staff, which is moved round
with a regular rotatory motion, the knob running along the
angle formed with the side by the bottom of the caldron,
which is in the form of a bowl. After stirring in this manner
nearly an hour, the curd is found divided into small dies about
the size of a pea, which feel elastic and rather tough under the
finger. Experience alone can teach the exact feel they should
have. The whey, of which a portion is removed occasionally,
now floats at top, and the curd is collected in the bottom by
giving a very rapid rotatory motion to the contents of the
caldron by means of the staff. A cloth is now introduced
into the bottom, and all the curd collected over it; it is raised
by the four corners, and laid on an instrument like a small
ladder, which is placed across the mouth of the caldron.
The whey runs out through the cloth, which is a common
cheese-cloth, woven with wide interstices ; and the curd in the
cloth is placed in a shape or hoop, made of a slip of wood, four
inches and a half wide, the two ends of which lie over each
other, so that the diameter can be increased or lessened. A
cord fixed to one end of the hoop is passed with a loop over
hooks on the outer surface of the other end, and prevents the
ring from opening more than is required. The curd is pressed
into this ring with the hands, and the ends of the cloth are
folded over it. A round board, two inches thick, and strength-
ened by cross pieces nailed on it, is placed over the curd, and
the press let down upon it.

184 THE OX AND THE DAIEY.

The cheese-press is a simple long board or frame, forming
a lever, loaded at one end, and moving in a frame at the other ;
it is lifted up by another lever connected with it, and let down
on a strong stick, which stands with its end on the centre of
the board last mentioned. Thus the weight is easily removed
or replaced. The hoop containing the cheese is placed on a
similar board, and from it the table of the press slopes towards
a wooden trough, which receives the whey as it runs out. In
an hour after this, the curd is examined ; the edges, which are
pressed over the ring, are pared off, and the parings are put
on the centre of the cheese ; a fresh cloth is substituted, and
the whole cheese is turned. The ring, which opens readily by
unhooking the cord, allows the cheese to come out, and is put
on again and tightened. This is repeated two or three times
in the day. In the evening a small portion of finely powdered
salt is rubbed on each side of the cheese, and it remains in
the press till the next morning. It is now again rubbed with
salt, and placed on a shelf with a loose board under it. The
wooden ring remains on the cheese for two or three days, and
is then taken off.

During the next six or eight weeks the cheeses are turned
and wiped every day, and a small quantity of fine salt is sifted
on the .surface, and rubbed in with the hand until they will
take no more. The cheese-room is always very cool, and little
light is admitted. A free circulation of air is essential. The
cheeses are in perfection in about six months, and will keep
two years. A quantity of elastic fluid is disengaged in the
ripening, and forms those round eyes which are a peculiar
feature in these cheeses. The smaller and rounder the eyes,
the better the cheese is reckoned. They should contain a
clear salt liquor, which is called the tears ; when these dry up,
the cheese loses its flavour.

In Cheshire the making of cheese is carried on in great
perfection, and the greatest pains are taken to extract every
particle of whey. For this purpose the curd is repeatedly
broken and mixed, the cheeses are much pressed, and placed
in wooden boxes which have holes bored into them. Through
these holes sharp skewers are stuck into the cheese in every
direction, so that no particle of whey can remain in the curd.
The elastic matter formed also escapes through these channels,
and the whole cheese is a solid mass without holes, which in
this cheese would be looked upon as a great defect. The salt
is intimately mixed with the curd, and not merely rubbed on

THE OX AND THE DA1KY. 185

the outside. This checks internal fermentation, and prevents
the formation of elastic matter.

Gloucester and Somersetshire cheeses are similarly made,
with this difference, that the curd is not so often broken or
the cheese skewered, and a portion of the cream is generally
abstracted to make butter. After the curd has been sepa-
rated from the whey and is broken fine, warm water is
poured over it, for the purpose of washing out any remaining
whey, or perhaps to dissolve any portion of butter which
may have separated before the rennet had coagulated the
milk.

Stilton cheese is made by adding the cream of the pre-
ceding evening's milk to the morning's milking. The cream
should be intimately incorporated with the new milk ; great
attention should be paid to the temperature of both, as
much of the quality of the cheese depends on this part of the
process. To make this cheese in perfection, as much depends
on the management of the cheese after it is made as on the
richness of the milk. Each dairy-woman has some peculiar
method which she considers the best; and it is certain that
there is the greatest difference between cheeses made in con-
tiguous dairies. The rennet should be very pure and sweet.
When the milk is coagulated, the whole curd is taken out,
drained on a sieve, and very moderately pressed. It is then
put into a shape in the form of a cylinder, eight or nine inches
in diameter, the axis of which is longer than the diameter of
the base. When it is sufficiently firm, a cloth or tape is
wound round it to prevent its breaking, and it is set on a shelf.
It is occasionally powdered with flour, and plunged into hot
water. This hardens the outer coat and favours the internal
fermentation, which ripens it. Stilton cheese is generally
preferred when a green mould appears in its texture. To
accelerate this, pieces of a mouldy cheese are sometimes
inserted into holes made for the purpose by the scoop, called
a taster, and wine or ale is poured over for the same purpose ;
but the best cheeses do not require this, and are in perfection
when the inside becomes soft like butter, without any appear-
ance of mouldiness. In making very rich cheeses the whey
must be allowed to run off slowly, because, if it were forced
rapidly, it might carry off a great portion of the fat of the
cheese. This happens more or less in every mode of making
cheese. To collect this superabundant butter, the whey is
set in shallow pans, as is done with milk when butter is made ;

186 THE OX AND THE DAIRY.

and an inferior kind of butter called whey butter is made from
the cream or fat skimmed off.

Cheeses are frequently coloured — a practice which probably
arose from the notion of making the cheese look richer ; but
now it deceives no one. Yet if some cheeses were not coloured
they would not be so marketable, owing to the association that
subsists between the colour and the quality of the cheese.
The substance used for colouring is most commonly arnotto.
It is ground fine on a stone, and mixed with the milk at the
time the rennet is put in. The juice of the orange carrot,
and the flower of marigold, are also used for this purpose.
Chedder, a cheese made in Somersetshire, which is highly
prized, Stilton, Derby, and some other cheeses, are never
coloured : Cheshire slightly ; but Gloucester and North Wilt-
shire deeply. Foreign cheeses are only coloured very slightly,
if at all. The Dutch cheeses are made in a very similar man-
ner to the Gloucester cheeses, but the milk is generally
curdled by means of muriatic acid or spirits of salt : and great
care is taken to prevent fermentation, and to extract the whole
of the whey. For this purpose the curd is repeatedly broken
and pressed ; and before it is made up into the round shape
in which it is usually sold, the broken curd is well soaked in
a strong solution of common salt in water. This diffuses the
salt throughout the whole mass, and effectually checks fer-
mentation. When the cheeses are finally pressed, all the
whey which may remain is washed out with the brine ; salt is
likewise rubbed over the outside, and they are set to dry on
shelves in a cool place. The flavour of the cheese is perhaps
impaired by the stoppage of the fermentation ; but it never
heaves, and it acquires the valuable quality of keeping well
even in warm climates. From the place where this cheese is
commonly made, it is known by the name of Edarn cheese.
A finer cheese is made at Gouda and other places, by imitat-
ing the process in making Gruyere cheese ; but this cheese is
always full of small cavities, and will not keep so long as the
Edam. The cheese most commonly met with in Holland is
a large kind of skim-milk cheese, which is made very like
Cheshire cheese. It grows hard and dry, and has not much
flavour. To supply this defect, cummin seeds are mixed with
the curd, which those who are accustomed to it consider a
great improvement. On the whole, it is a better cheese than
our Suffolk skim-milk cheese, and forms an important part of
the provisions usually stored for a Dutch family. In France the

THE OX AND THE DAIRY. 187

Eoquefort cheese is compared to our Stilton, but is much
inferior, although a good cheese. The little cheeses made
from cream and folded in paper, called Neufchatel cheeses,
are imported from France as a delicacy. They can be easily
imitated, being nothing more than cream thickened by heat,
and pressed in a small mould. They undergo a rapid change,
first becoming sour and then mellow, in which state they must
be eaten

The green Swiss cheese, commonly called Schabzieger, is
produced in the canton of Glarus. The curd is pressed in
boxes, with holes to let the whey run out ; and when a consi-
derable quantity has been collected and putrefaction begins,
it is worked into a paste with a large proportion of a certain
dried herb reduced to powder. This herb, called in the
country dialect Zieyer kraut (curd-herb), is the Melilotus
offi cinalis, which is very common in most countries, and has a
peculiar aromatic flavour in the mountains of Switzerland.
The paste thus produced is pressed into moulds of the shape
of a common flower-pot, and the putrefaction being stopped
by the aromatic herb, it dries into a solid mass, which keeps
unchanged for any length of time. When used it is rasped
or scraped, and the powder, mixed with fresh butter, is spread
upon bread. It is either much relished or much disliked, like
all those substances which have a peculiar taste and smell.

When a cheese which has been much salted and kept very
dry is washed several times in soft water, and then laid in a
cloth moistened with wine or vinegar, it gradually loses its
saltness, and from being hard and dry, becomes soft and
mellow, provided it be a rich cheese. This simple method of
improving cheese is worth knowing. It is generally practised
in Switzerland, where cheeses are kept stored for many years,
and if they were not very salt and dry they would soon be the
prey of worms and mites A. dry Stilton cheese may thus be
much improved.

CHAPTEE VI.

IN entering upon the subject of the diseases of cattle, our
plan will be to render it acceptable to the farmer or grazier
who pretends to no anatomical knowledge, but yet is glad of
some advice by which to be guided in the treatment of the
more ordinary cases of malady which demand his attention.
He cannot always have instant recourse to a veterinary
surgeon, and in slight disorders may not deem it needful,
though we must say we doubt the soundness of his policy. It
is by the veterinary surgeon only that all operations must be
performed ; and in cases of severe accidents his skill must be
called into requisition. Nothing is more to be reprobated
than the practice, unhappily still too general, of applying to
a farrier, ignorant alike of anatomy, physiology, and the
symptoms of disease ; or to a druggist, who is in the habit of
compounding drenches of various nostrums (many worse than
useless), when the lives of cattle are at stake. This practice is
the more inexcusable, when professed and well-educated veteri-
nary practitioners are within call of the farmer, — and of such
few towns or rural districts are now destitute. It is not,
however, for the veterinary surgeon that we now write ; it is,
as we have said, for the farmer, and that by way of guide and
advice.

The ox, like the human subject, is liable to numerous
maladies, arising from different causes : to fever, to inflam-
matory affections of the brain, lungs, liver, intestines, and
other organs; to paralysis, and other diseases connected
immediately with the nervous system; to various chronic
diseases, and to sudden derangement of the complicated
digestive apparatus from improper food. To these classes of
diseases others might be added, — setting aside injuries from
external causes, which are constantly happening.

Before entering into these more fully, a few preliminaries

THE OX AND THE DAIRY. 180

relative to the constitutional temperament of the domestic ox
may not be out of place ; it is indeed a point that demands
our notice.

Comparing the ox with the horse, neither the nervous nor
the arterial system of the former exhibits the same energy as
that of the latter. The brain of the ox is small ; the nervous
energies are soon exhausted, nor are they so easily recruited
by rest, as in the horse : the ox will not endure severe labour,
especially if hurried, and will frequently sink down with
exhaustion ; in illness it is sooner prostrated than the horse,
and more subject to paralytic weakness. The chest, moreover,
has less volume, and the free play of the lungs is more fre-
quently oppressed by the distension of the stomach, which,
with the abdominal viscera, occupy more room in proportion,
as being of comparatively predominant importance. The ox,
indeed, is expressly formed for giving milk and flesh as the
food of man ; and though this animal has been employed in
labour from the earliest times, it was for slow labour, with
frequent intervals of rest.

The pulse of the ox is quicker than that of the horse,
ranging from fifty to sixty, in a state of health ; in the horse
it is under forty. In cattle, near the time of calving, the
pulse often rises to eighty or eighty-five, and in milch cows is
always quicker than in oxen. The arteries generally, those
arising from the heart immediately being excepted, are com-
paratively much smaller than in the horse ; while, on the
contrary, the veins are far larger, and indeed the whole
venous system is more developed, and especially so in good
milch cows, in which the subcutaneous abdominal vein (or
milk vein), is taken as a criterion of their qualities.

It is not always an easy thing to feel the arterial pulse in
cattle: this may, however, be generally effected at one of the
following arteries : — The submaxillary, a branch of the carotid
which dips under the angle of the lower jaw; the temporal
artery running up between the eye and ear; or the anterior
auricular artery, which supplies the anterior muscles of the
ear. The pulsation of the heart itself may be tried by placing
the hand on the left side of the chest, a little within and
behind the elbow. The warmth or unnatural coldness of the
ears, and the heat of the blood at the roots of the horns, are
points to be attended to in conjunction with the pulse.

When blood is abstracted from cattle, the external jugular
vein is that commonly selected for the lancet; it is very

190 THE OX AND THE DAIRY.

apparent, running along the side of the throat from the
angle of the lower jaw. A skilful operator will use a strong
broad-shouldered lancet, but the farmer contents himself
with the fleam, which in his hands is more certain and safe ;
but, whether the lancet or the fleam be employed, the neck
should not be strapped or corded round, as the pressure,
being alike on both sides of the neck, impedes the return of
the blood from the head ; firm pressure of the fingers a little
below the spot where the puncture of the vein is to be made,
will suffice to render it pi*ominent. Occasionally, in affections
of the mouth or nasal organs, a flow of blood is obtained
from the vessels of the palate by free incisions on the latter ;
and sometimes certain veins of the limbs (the cephalic of the
fore limb, the saphena of the hind limb) are selected. In
inflammatory diseases prompt and efficient bleeding is indis-
pensable ; and this should be carried so far at once as to
affect the circulation, and thereby, if possible, arrest the
coarse of the disease. Timid bleeding, rendering its repeti-
tion needful, is to be eschewed ; but at the same time atten-
tion should be paid to the age, constitution, and vigour of the
animal. In an aged cow, which has had numerous calves, less
loss of blood will suffice than in a young one, whose constitution
is unimpaired, or an ox in full vigour. From the latter, two
gallons of blood may be extracted, while from the first, half
the quantity will probably suffice. To bleeding, aperient
medicine should be added ; and in this we can scarcely ever
do wrong, for cattle bear aperients, especially with a little
carminative, to excite the action of the stomachs, better than
the horse, in whom they sometimes produce dangerous irrita-
tion of the alimentary canal.

It is to the inflammatory diseases of cattle, which demand
prompt measures, carried out with boldness, yet discretion,
that we shall first direct our attention

SIMPLE FEVER.

Cattle, especially in swampy lands, are subject to attacks
of fever; this is sometimes pure or idiopathic, and occa-
sionally assumes an intermittent form ; but if suffered to
proceed, some vital organ, predisposed to inflammation,
becomes as it were the centre of irritation, and the case may
terminate fatally.

In simple fever the animal is languid and dull, it refuses
food, the hide loses its mellowness, the flanks heave, the

THE OX AND THE DAIRY. 191

horn is hot at its base, and the pulse is hard and quick. In
a day or two the animal seems better, but after a brief interval
the symptoms return with increased violence, the breathing
becomes more laborious, rumination ceases, though the
animal often lies down — but this is from weakness — and the
mouth is diy and hot. Mischief is now coming on, and,
most probably, in the form of inflammation of the lungs.

This disease is, perhaps, the most prevalent in autumn,
when cattle are exposed in damp lands, and heavy cold fogs
set in at night, or partial frost which crisps the grass, yet
luxuriant though harsh. It may arise from miasmatous
exhalations, or from water putrescent with decomposed leaves
or other vegetable matters. At the beginning of the disease,
the judicious farmer will remove the animal, and take away
some blood, giving afterwards a cathartic dose, composed of
from eight to twelve ounces of Epsom salts (sulphate of mag-
nesia), two or three ounces of sulphur, two drachms of pow-
dered ginger, the whole mixed in a quart of warm water ; half
a pint of linseed oil may be added. The diet must be reduced
and mashes given, with repetitions of the cordial purgative,
till the animal regains its wonted cheerfulness, and every
symptom has disappeared.

It not unfrequently happens that fever, appearing at first in
a slight and simple form, suddenly puts on a decidedly inflam-
matory character ; or, on the contrary, assumes a low typhoid
form, in which, as in the human subject, the vital energies
give way under the process of what is not unaptly termed a
secretly consuming fire.

INFLAMMATORY FEVER. '

This disease, called black quarter, quarter-ill, evil-joint,
blood-sticking, and other meaningless names, is often preva-
lent in certain districts, and during certain years occasions
extensive mortality. Young cattle are the most commonly
seized, their habit being more disposed to plethora than aged
subjects. Sometimes the disease appears to be epidemic, or
at least attacks whole herds turned imprudently from spare
diet upon luxuriant pastures, subjected to wet cold nights,
while the blood vessels are receiving an inordinate addition
of the vital fluid from the assimilating system.

So rapidly does this fever come on, that the slight pre-
cursory febrile symptoms are often unnoticed; and so quick

J 92 THE OX AND THE DAIRY.

is its course that there is little time, or none, to have recourse
to remedies. Generally, however, the ordinary symptoms of
simple fever may be noticed, but these all at once assume a
most aggravated form ; the animal labours under a general
venous congestion, and dies a mass of putridity.

The first stage of this disease is highly inflammatory. . The
pulse is quick, hard, and strong, the eyes are inflamed and
protruding; the tongue is dry and parched; the breathing
laboured and quick, with deeper inspirations at intervals ; the
head is stretched forth, the neck at full extent, and an agi-
tated expression marks the countenance ; the appetite is
gone, and of course rumination suspended. This is the first,
or perhaps, in reality, the second stage ; at all events it is the
first noticed, and these symptoms are apparent, though in
particular cases some may be more marked than others.
What is now to be done ? first, bleed, aiming at once for
all, and bleed freely, even to fainting : then give active aperi-
ents ; and if necessary bleed again, but now with caution,
and not within six or eight hours after the first operation :
for the strength of the animal, and the state of its exhaustion,
are points to be kept in mind ; but recourse must be had to
a second and copious bleeding unless a decided improvement
has already manifested itself. Sedatives should succeed the
brisk aperients : half a drachm or a drachm of digitalis (fox-
glove leaves properly dried and powdered), one drachm of
tartarized antimony, and four drachms of nitre, mixed in any
demulcent liquid, may be given twice a day. A seton of black
hellebore should be inserted into the dewlap. Should the
disease continue, the animal utters low distressing moans,
and is generally unconscious of surrounding objects ; it will
stand gasping, but without change of posture, for a consider-
able time ; and when it attempts to move it staggers and
reels, and the hind quarters seem affected with a partial para-
lysis ; the loins are so tender that the slightest pressure pro-
duces pain ; and swellings arise on the shoulders, back, and
limbs, which, when pressed, make a crackling noise. These
swellings arise from an effusion of some gas into the cellular
tissue, the consequence of a putrescent state of the blood.
Debility now rapidly increases, and the animal drops ; per-
haps it rises again, but it again falls prostrate, and after
making vain attempts to recover its limbs, sinks into a coma-
tose state, and dies. Sloughing ulcers, in this stage, often
spread over the abdomen, the limbs, and other parts ; the

THE OX AND THE DAIRY. 193

mouth, muzzle, and tongue are ulcerated ; a sanious offensive
fluid drops from the mouth and nose ; and the alvine excre-
tions are extremely fetid, and mixed or streaked with blood.
In this state the poor beast may continue two or even three
days, till relieved by death. Farmers call these ulcerations
and their concomitants, black quarter ; and the paralytic state
of the limbs, quarter-evil, or joint-murrain.

If the disease be not checked in its inflammatory stage,
the chance of saving the animal, when congestion of every
organ, brain, lungs, heart, liver, intestines, &c., from the vio-
lent excess of arterial action has commenced, is very preca-
rious. The first object will be to relieve the congestion under
which the vital powers of the system succumb ; if previous
bleeding has been neglected there is no room for hesitation,
for, weak as the animal may appear, the system must be re-
lieved; but if the animal has been freely bled and purged,
the question will arise, How far will it be prudent to extract
more blood ? As a general rule, blood should be taken, and
the state of the pulse should be watched : if it become softer
there is still hope ; but if it fail, and become more and more
indistinct, the flow of blood should be stopped. Active ape-
rients should be administered, beginning with a pound dose
of Epsom salts, succeeded by half-pound doses at intervals,
until the bowels are acted upon Nor should injections be
neglected in aid of the medicine. These may consist of half-
a-pound of common salt, and a little oil, in four quarts of
water or thin gruel. The swellings of the limbs and loins
should be fomented with hot water, and the fetid sloughing
ulcers washed repeatedly during the day with a solution of
chloride of lime (half-an-ounce of the chloride in a gallon of
water) ; the muzzle and tongue should be similarly treated.
Some practitioners recommend that a pint of this solution
be gently horned down into the stomach, perhaps more than
once ; for if there be hoove, or distension of that organ by
gas, this solution will combine with it, prevent its further
formation, and correct the fcetor, which is often almost un-
bearable.

After these remedies, and supposing the bowels to have
been well cleared, mashes of thick gruel should be offered, or
even gently poured down the gullet.

If the ulcers cleanse, the swellings disappear, and the
animal begins to eat, — indications of incipient recovery, —
tonics may be given, but not previously. One or two drachrns

o

1 94 THE OX AND THE DAIRY.

of gentian (pulv. gentianse), and half- a- drachm of ginger,
mixed with gruel and half-a-pint of good ale, may be given
twice or thrice a day. The curative process of the ulcers will
be promoted by dressings of tincture of aloes. The seton,
however, should be continued for two or three weeks.

It is easier to prevent the attack of this formidable disease
than to cure it. Cattle, and young cattle especially, should
not be suddenly put into rich pastures ; they should be pre-
viously purged, and introduced by degrees, being occasionally
removed into a bare pasture, where, without gorging to re-
pletion, they may digest at leisure what they have taken.
Too much water is dangerous, especially if taken when the
animal is from any cause overheated. Putrescent ponds,
turf-pits, and the like, are to be avoided, as the water is
noxious even if taken in moderation. Young growing cattle
should not be too highly fed. There is no occasion to starve
them ; but there is a medium which good sense will dictate.
The stock, moreover, should be daily inspected ; and should
any suspicious symptoms appear, — any shivering, any heaving
of the flanks, any difficulty of respiration, any dulness or red-
ness of the eyes, — a purgative, and the loss of a little blood,
may stop the approaching mischief.

TYPHUS FEVER.

Inflammatory fever in cattle of all ages, but more particu-
larly in adult beasts, sometimes assumes a low, lingering,
typhoid form. The gait is staggering, the appetite is gone ;
diarrhoea succeeds moderate doses of medicine, or comes on
spontaneously. Tumours appear on the limbs, back, udder,
&c., and ulcerate, and the breath is fetid. This disease is
most prevalent in the spring and autumn ; especially on
marshy lands, subject to miasmatous exhalations. It is some-
times epidemic, and fatal to a great extent, sweeping away
numbers of valuable cattle. Occasionally it is accompanied
by a catarrh, but mostly by diarrhoea or dysentery, the indi-
cation of inflammation or congestion of the mucous mem-
brane of the intestines. The same decided treatment which
we have described in inflammatory fever, must be adopted :
the lancet must be used boldly. The purgative of salts, &c.,
should be given, and its action kept up by six or eight ounce
doses of sulphur. If the dysentery be violent, calomel and
opium will be found useful, in doses of thirty or forty grains
of the former, and a drachm of the latter, mixed in thick

THE OX AND THE DAIRY.

gruel : emollient injections should be administcrod, and castor
oil given in doses of a pint. The irritation of the intestines
must be allayed, and their healthy and vigorous action in-
duced. A seton of hellebore should be inserted in the dew-
lap ;; and the general treatment be conducted as we have
detailed in inflammatory fever.

CATAEKH, OK HOOSE ; EPIDEMIC CATARRH, OR INFLUENZA ; AND
MALIGNANT CATARRH, OR MURRAIN.

Catarrh, or hoose, consists in inflammation of the lining
membrane of the great nasal cavities, spreading to the fauces,
the glands of the throat, and the larynx and windpipe. It is
mostly, perhaps, in the spring and autumn that catarrh pre-
vails ; it is caused by sudden changes of temperature ; as, for
example, a change from a close, overheated, and crowded
cowhouse to a bleak unsheltered pasture, during cold rain or
stormy easterly wind. Cattle heated by being overdriven,
and exposed to a cold current of air, are apt to be affected
by it.

This disease commences by febrile symptoms : the pulse
is quick and hard ; the roots of the horns are hot ; the ears
and head are drooping ; the animal is dull, repeatedly coughs,
and neglects to feed. In a short time a discharge from the
nostrils takes place ; the animal swallows with difficulty, and
exhibits great debility. If neglected, the disease insidiously
pursues its course, atrophy ensues, the lungs become affected,
and consumption supervenes. However slight catarrh may
appear at first, it should not be, as it too often is, regarded
with indifference. The cow has a discharge from the nose,
her milk decreases, she coughs, her flanks heave, she loses
flesh ; and perhaps, when it is too late, the farmer takes the
alarm, and sends for the veterinarian,

The treatment of this disease, if taken in time, is simple.
Blood must be abstracted (the animal having been placed
under shelter and apart), and this must be followed by saline
aperients, salts and ginger, in whey or gruel ; after which
doses of nitre (nitrate of potass) may be given two or three
times a day in gruel. The dose may be from two to four
drachms. Nitre will allay inflammation, and act upon the
kidneys. Gruel, warm bran mashes, with a little grass or
good hay, constitute the best diet. If the difficulty in swal-
lowing is considerable, a seton in the dewlap should not be
omitted ; or the throat may be blistered (though not readily)

196 THE OX AND THE DAIKY.

by rubbing the skin with the common blister ointment, or a
liniment cons.ist.ing of an ounce of the powdered blisterfly,
two ounces of oil of turpentine, and six ounces of common
oiL

Catarrh is sometimes epidemic, spreading over whole dis-
tricts, and assuming a very virulent and dangerous form. At
the commencement the fever is very severe, the respiratory
passages are greatly inflamed, there is a distressing hoose,
and the aspect is agitated. Sometimes the bowels are con-
fined ; but sometimes diarrhoea comes on, and is very trouble-
some. If not checked, a stage of debility supervenes, the
fever assumes a typhoid form, crackling air-filled tumours in
the cellular tissue show themselves about the head, loins, and
limbs ; the breath becomes fetid, the animal staggers, its coat
is staring, its flesh wastes away, the discharge from the nos-
trils is sanious, and death ends the scene.

During the febrile stage, bleeding freely and promptly, with
a repetition of the bleeding if necessary, together with active
aperients and sedatives (digitalis, tartarized antimony, and
nitre), as recommended in inflammatory fever, warm mashes,
and injections, must be resorted to. But in the stage of de-
bility little can be done. Doses of nitrous ether (two or three
drachms) and laudanum (half-an-ounce), mixed in gruel, may
perhaps be serviceable. Should the fever pass off, and simple
weakness only remain, tonics, such as gentian and ginger
may be given.

Catarrh sometimes appears in the form of a malignant
epidemic, sweeping away the cattle of whole districts, and, in
fact, spreading over whole countries.

INFLAMMATION OF THE LARYNX AND WINDPIPE.

Besides the catarrhal affections described, cattle are subject
to inflammation of the lining membrane of the larynx and
windpipe, often extending through the bronchial tubes. This
is a formidable disease, sometimes apparently epidemic, but
more frequently the result of sudden atmospheric changes in
cold damp situations. The disease commences with the
usual symptoms of fever, shivering, loss of appetite, a quick-
ened pulse, and a laboured, husky, wheezing respiration, to
which succeeds great debility. The least pressure along the
throat evidently gives great pain, the animal moves its head
stiffly and with difficulty, and cannot swallow without a
marked effort the drinks administered.

THE OX AND THE DAIRY. 197

On examination after death, the lining membrane of the
larynx and bronchise show the result of violent inflammation
in ulcerated patches and gangrene, the gullet being also more
or less involved in the disease. The windpipe is generally
filled with purulent matter ; and if the disease has extended
to the bronchial tubes, the same appearances are there also
presented ; but these tubes are often choked up with parasitic
worms of the genus filaria, and they appear also in the wind-
pipe. In bronchitis of the horse, a species of the worm
strongylus equinus in like manner is found to throng the
bronchial tubes. It is not easy to account for the presence of
these worms, unless we suppose their minute eggs to be taken
in with the air or food, and pass through the lacteals into the
blood, which carries them through the circulation, till at
length they find a nidus appropriate for their development ;
but there is still this difficulty, — Whence came the eggs into
the air or among the food? The worms, as it would appear,
are exclusively the inmates of living creatures : how do they
spread ? how do they extend their colonies ? This is not the
place for speculation. In laryngitis, that is, inflammation of
the larynx not extending down the windpipe, recourse must
be had very promptly to bleeding, smart aperients, blisters,
and a seton of hellebore. If the disease runs on, suffocation
ensues ; but, should this catastrophe threaten, tracheotomy
must be performed : that is, the trachea must be opened, and
respiration carried on through a tube or canula. No one but
an experienced veterinary surgeon can perform the operation,
or should attempt it. If the disease extend to the trachea or
windpipe, the same treatment is necessary.

In bronchitis, or inflammation of the branches of the wind-
pipe which ramify through the lungs, the symptoms are a
cough, which becomes more and more husky and wheezing ;
a rapid and laborious breathing ; the flanks heaving ; the
belly tucked up ; the hide staring ; the skin hide-bound ; an
anxious, restless expression ; a disinclination to move ; an in-
crease of the painful cough, and a hurriedness of respiration,
on taking a few steps. The animal wastes away, and dies a
skeleton, often by suffocation ; the air tubes being blocked up
by the thickening of the lining membrane, by mucus, and by
worms.

To this disease young cattle are peculiarly subject ; and we
need not say that it is one of a most destructive nature. The
great object at the commencement of the attack is to subdue

198 THE OX AND THE DAIRY.

the inflammation by bleeding, active aperients, and sedatives ;
if these means prove unsuccessful there is little hope. When
the tubes are thickened, clogged with mucus and worms,
what can be done? Could the irritating parasites be re-
moved there would be a chance of recovery. Spirit of tur-
pentine promises at least occasional success. In calves
labouring under hoose and the irritation of bronchial worms,
spirit of turpentine has been found efficacious, and might be
in older cattle. Mr. Dickens recommends in cases of hoose or
cough in calves, the bronchial tubes of which are filled with
minute worms, the following draught, repeated at intervals of
a week or ten days : —

Linseed oil, 1 oz.
Oil of turpentine, 4 oz.
Oil of caraways, 20 drops.
Mix.

A contributor to the Veterinary Journal has found the
following mixture very successful, viz : —

Spirit of turpentine, 6 oz.
Tincture of opium, 1 oz.
Balsam of sulphur, 1 oz.

The dose of spirit of turpentine for grown-up cattle may
extend from two to four ounces, with as much linseed oil, a
few drops of caraway, and a little gruel.

The rationale is as follows : the turpentine, so peculiarly
destructive to worms, is taken up into the system, enters into
every part of the circulation, and is recognizable both in the
urine and breath. It is thus brought into contact with the
worms, whom it immediately destroys ; their hold being
loosened, they are then easily expelled from the larynx by
the cough, and the bad symptoms will gradually abate. The
dose may be repeated every other day, or twice in the
week.

INFLAMMATION OF THE LUNGS, OB PNEUMONIA.

With the bronchial disease, previously described, there is
generally an attendant inflammation or congestion of the lungs
(that is, of their cellular substance) to a greater or less extent ;
but sometimes pneumonia manifests itself independently and
in an acute form. It is generally the result of over-driving cattle

THE OX AND THE DAIRY. 199

when in an unfit state from fat to travel hard or work long.
The disease commonly makes its appearance within a day or
two from the exciting cause of it, and is characterized by dul-
ness, a frequent cough, a drooping of the head, and a heaving
of the flanks, to which the animal often turns its head ; the
horns, ears, and legs are cold, the pulse is small and quick,
but sometimes not quicker than usual. Respiration is evi-
dently painful ; this, the frequent act of turning the head to
the sides expressively indicates ; but the cough is not so fre-
quent as in bronchitis. Frequently the animal grinds the
teeth, and utters short groans. The cattle generally stand,
sometimes lie down, and this is always the case with calves.
The smallness of the pulse, arising from congestion of the
cellular tissue of the lungs, should not deter us from bleeding,
nor from cautiously repeating the abstraction of blood if neces-
sary. In the horse, when labouring under inflammation of
the lungs, aperient medicines are dangerous ; but in horned
cattle this is not the case, and brisk medicines may be ad-
ministered with advantage, assisted by injections. The sides
should be blistered or fired by the cautery, and setons of helle-
bore inserted into the dewlap. Bran mashes and gruel may
be given, and the animal on recovering must be kept low, and
only allowed by degrees to return to its ordinary diet. Acute
pneumonia sometimes appears as an epidemic, and rapidly
passes through its stages, mostly ending fatally. In this
disease the symptoms of ordinary pneumonia are all aggra-
vated. The muzzle is dry, the mouth is hot, the flanks heave,
there is excessive thirst, the coat is rough, the hind limbs are
feeble, and the alvine excretions are either hard and black, or
liquid, dark, and fetid ; soon the spine exhibits signs of ten-
derness, especially over the lumbar region; there is harsh
grinding of the teeth, moaning, violent heaving of the flanks,
and a convulsive cough ; the eyes are wild, the expression is
agitated, the nostrils open and close as if with a spasmodic
effort ; sometimes tumours appear on the skin, and occasional
shivering is succeeded by violent sweating; alternately the
back becomes arched, the belly contracted, the pupils of the
eyes dilate, stupor comes on, and the beast falls and dies. After
death the lungs are found on examination to be gorged with
black blood, often offensive and putrescent ; in some parts they
appear hepatized or solidified like liver ; sometimes tubercles
filled with purulent matter are present ; the pleura, or invest-
ing membrane of the lungs, is thickened ; and the heart and

200 THE OX AND THE DAIKY

diaphragm exhibit the ravages of inflammatory action. Gene-
rally the fourth stomach is inflamed, and the maniplus filled
with hardened material. From the horribly putrescent state
of the gorged blood in the lungs, this disease has been called
gangrenous inflammation of those organs, but the term is in-
correct. This disease, at various times, has appeared in dif-
ferent parts of the continent, in Germany, France, Denmark,
&c. ; in England it is also known, and is often the cause of
great mortality. It is only at the commencement of this fear-
ful malady that there is much chance of doing good. A free
use of the lancet is imperative ; bleeding must be pushed to
its utmost extent, and smart aperients with injections must
succeed ; these having acted, sedatives, as nitre, digitalis and
emetic tartar combined, may be given at regular intervals.
Some veterinary surgeons recommend as a purgative two
scruples of the powder of croton seeds, to be followed up by
salts and the injection pump. (No farmer should be without
the enema-pump of Read's invention, or at least a simple ap-
paratus, always at hand.) Setons in the dewlap, and firing
the sides, or blisters, should not be omitted. Should the in-
flammatory symptoms yield, care and a cautious diet will be
all that is ordinarily needed, unless the debility be such as
to render tonic draughts advisable.

The following observations by Mr. Lord, in the Veterinarian,
for July, 1841, are very interesting: " In the latter end of last
April," he writes, '* the Earl of Kingston sent for me, and told
me that his cows were dying very fast from some disease that
had been in his farms for the last year, and which his steward
believed to be incurable. After a minute examination I found
the symptoms as follows: — pulse in almost all that were
affected from 93 to 120, but very small ; horns, ears, and legs
cold ; the animals heaving violently at the flank, and grunting
as if in great pain, also grinding the teeth. With the stetho-
scope I could discern the bronchial respiration in some, and
the mucous rale in others.

" Treatment. — In the early stage I bled largely, notwith-
standing that the pulse was small, as I consider this arises
from pulmonary congestion, which bleeding removes. I next
fired and blistered the sides, and gave white hellebore half-a-
drachm, morning and night, as long as they could bear it,
and changing it then for tartarized antimony and nitre, keep-
ing the bowels open by occasional laxatures. With this treat-
ment I cured four out of five of the beasts which the steward

THE OX AND THE DAIRY. 201

and attendants considered as sure to die, and I have more
recovering."

PLEURITIS, OR INFLAMMATION OF THE INVESTING MEMBRANE OF THE
LUNGS AND THE LINING MEMBRANE OF THE CAVITY OF THE
CHEST.

Although in acute pneumonia the pleura covering the cel-
lular mass of the lungs is generally involved in the inflamma-
tion, yet inflammation confined to the pleura itself is not of
uncommon occurrence. Many causes conduce to this affec-
tion : exposure to keen draughts of wind, a wet couch, over-
exertion, blows on the side, lying all night on the frozen
ground unsheltered from the weather, — these and the like
may induce the disease.

In pleuritis the shivering fits come on with great frequency
and violence, during which the shoulders quiver ; and this
latter symptom occurs even when there is no general shiver-
ing. The breathing is quick, short, and abrupt, like rapid
panting ; there is a short but painful cough, there are twitch-
ings and a wavy motion of the skin of the sides, and the ani-
mal shrinks as if from pain when the latter are pressed. The
flanks are tucked up, and the expression of the countenance
is distressed ; if the disease go on, it usually terminates in
the effusion of serum, not unmixed with coagulated lymph in
the chest (in fact a dropsy of the chest), which oppresses the
lungs, prevents their action, and destroys life. In pneumonia
we observed that the lungs were gorged with black putrescent
blood ; in this disease they are smothered in water, which fills
the cavity inclosing them. The treatment of pleuritis is,
however, the same as pneumonia. The lancet is the anchor-
sheet of hope, assisted by aperients, blisters, setons, and
low diet.

Occasionally pleuritis changes its acute for a chronic form,
and the animal lingers on, becoming emaciated and weak,
with a dry cough, tenderness of the sides and loins, and diffi-
culty of respiration, as in asthma, accompanied by a short
groan and a drawing down of the angles of the lips, with a
heaving of the sides. The animal at length dies, wasted away
to a mere skeleton. On examination, the lungs are found
more or less extensively adherent to the sides of the chest,
bound by firm bands, the result of inflammation ; there is
generally fluid, also, in the chest, and in the pericardium.
Where the pleura of the chest and lungs do not adhere, the

THE OX AND THE DAIKY.

membrane is thickened, and has its texture changed. In
these cases there is no hope of cure. An animal, indeed, may
live and enjoy life, when, after acute pleuritis, adhesions exist
between the lungs and chest ; but then all inflammatory
action is subdued. On the contrary, in these cases it goes
on like a smouldering fire, sometimes apparently extin-
guished, but again returning ; new adhesions succeeding to
those previously formed, till the lungs can no longer perform
their functions.

In animals which have died from pleuritis, we have often
observed the pleura of the chest appear as if very minutely
granulated. We remember once, in the human subject, see-
ing the pleura stud&ed with calcareous patches of some thick
ness ; and a similar deposit sometimes occurs in cattle.

CONSUMPTION, OR PHTHISIS.

Neglected catarrh, or inflammation of the lungs, often pro-
duces tubercles in the lungs, which, increasing in size and
running together, at length suppurate, forming abscesses in
the substance of those organs. The progress of consumption
is insidious : in the human being life continues even when a
great portion of some of the lobes of the lungs is wasted away
by ulceration. The hollow, distressing cough, the hectic
flush, the overbright eye, the expectoration of purulent mat
ter, often mixed with blood, foretel the result ; but if a suffi-
cient quantity of the lungs is left for respiration, unless some
larger blood-vessel or tubercle burst and produce sudden
suffocation, the patient lingers on.

In the ox the same thing occurs. We have seen extensive
tubercles in the lungs of oxen killed in good condition for
the market ; and the fact has often surprised us : but on con-
sidering that the progress of the tubercles is at first slow,
that they do not for a long time interfere with the functional
duties of the lungs, that the animal reposes at ease in a stall
or yard, fattening, notwithstanding the tuberculous affection
of the lungs ; so that, most probably, the rapid increase of
the disease resulted from the long journey to London, during
which respiration was necessarily hurried, and a larger quan-
tity of blood sent through the lungs, while time was not
allowed before the butcher's stroke for the wasting of the
body; — on considering these points our surprise diminished.

We have said that neglected catarrh, or inflammation of
the lungs, often produces phthisis ; and such is the fa,ct : but

THE OX AND THE DAIRY. 203

we suspect that there must be in such cases a predisposition
to this scrofulous affection. Often, indeed, phthisis mani-
fests itself without any previous definite symptoms. Minute
tubercles have existed dormant in the lungs, perhaps for
years, nay, perhaps even from birth ; but some exciting cause
not to be clearly appreciated or detected, — a trifling cold, a
hurried walk, a sudden chill after perspiration, damp gar-
ments, or some trifling neglect, is followed by dull pain in
the chest, a hollow peculiar cough, uneasiness in lying on
one side or the other, and other symptoms, which go on for
months, or years, till some additional cause accelerates the
progress of the disorganization, when copious purulent ex-
pectorations, hectic night sweats, debility, severe diarrhoea,
and emaciation, end in death. If these observations apply
directly to our fellow-creatures, so they do to the dumb brute.
During the progress of consumption in the human subject,
the appetite is often undiminished, though digestion is slow
and difficult ; and the mind is not only clear, but roused to
intense activity. In the ox, the appetite seldom fails much, —
the animal is lively ; nay, in cows, the sexual desires seem
not only unabated but increased ; but the animal is subject
to abortion. During pregnancy the symptoms of consump-
tion are generally much mitigated ; the great current of blood
is directed elsewhere for an especial object ; but, after delivery,
the disease goes on with accelerated rapidity. In cattle, be-
sides the hollow cough, there are purulent and sometimes
bloody discharges from the mouth and nostrils, and irrepres-
sible diarrhoea ; the skin is evidently very painful when
pressed ; the cellular tissue beneath is either inflamed or be-
coming disorganized ; the surface of the skin is dry and scaly,
and some writers affirm that it will even creak as the animal
moves feebly along.

When phthisis is fairly confirmed, medical treatment is of
no avail ; but, in the incipient stage, blisters, sedatives, and
cautious bleeding, with a seton on the side, or in the dewlap,
may arrest for some time its further progress. The animal,
moreover, should be housed in a comfortable and well-venti-
lated stable, apart from other cattle, and not exposed to the
north or easterly winds ; it should never be hurried or
alarmed ; the litter should be always kept dry, and the skin
often currycombed, in order to excite the action of the cuta-
neous vessels.

With respect to the use of iodine in incipient phthisis,

204 THE OX AND THE DAIRY.

some practitioners speak very highly. Mr. Youatt says, that
though he will not affirm that he has discovered a specific for
consumption in cattle, yet he has saved some that would
otherwise have perished. He would urge on practitioners
the study of the symptoms of phthisis, and attention to the
inward, feeble, painful, hoarse, gurgling cough, of consump-
tion ; and as soon as they are assured that this termination of
catarrh, or pneumonia, or pleurisy, begins — that tubercles
have formed, and have, perhaps, begun to suppurate — let
them have recourse to the iodine in the form of the iodide of
potass, given in a small mash in doses of three grains, morn-
ing and evening, at the commencement of the disorder, and
gradually increased to six or eight grains. To this should be
added proper attention to comfort, yet not too much nursing,
and free access to succulent, not stimulating food. The
medicine should be continued not only until the general
condition of the beast begins to improve, but until the cha-
racter of the cough has been essentially changed.

INFLAMMATION OF THE HEART AND PERICARDIUM.

In the horse, an animal called to violent and continued
muscular exertion, to the toils of the chase and the course,
inflammation of the heart is by no means of uncommon
occurence ; but in the ox it rarely occurs as a disease per se.
The symptoms cannot be mistaken : the pulse is full and very
strong, and the heart may be seen and felt violently pulsating
against the left side of the chest ; and each stroke may be
heard, even at a distance.

Copious bleeding through a large orifice, even to fainting,
and repeated if the symptoms are not decidedly suppressed,
with smart aperients, are the only means on which any
dependence is to be placed.

Inflammation of the pericardium, or sac enveloping the
heart, occurs occasionally from extraneous causes. Cattle
have sometimes a strange propensity to swallow sharp-pointed
substances, as pieces of wire, large needles, nails, &c. ; and
these articles, which, when accidentally taken into the sto-
mach of other animals, work their way out externally, gene-
rally without much injury, take in cattle a more dangerous
course.

In cattle such substances often, perhaps mostly, work their
way into the pericardium, producing inflammation, and other
extensive ulceration or dropsy of the chest. Several cases of

THE OX AND THE DAIKY. 205

this kind are on record, in which pieces of wire, large pins,
and needles, have heen discovered, after death, sticking in
the pericardium. The symptoms in these cases are obscure,
till effusion in the chest is detected by the ear or the use of
the stethoscope. We need not say that no directions for
medical treatment in such cases can be given.

INFLAMMATION OF THE UVEE, OB HEPATITIS.

Acute inflammation of the liver does not appear to be a
very common disease in cattle, and occurs mostly in such as
are stall-fed on high diet, and debarred from due exercise.
The symptoms of this disease are not always very determin-
ate. There is generally a yellowness of the eyes and skin,
indicative of a cessation of action in the liver, which no longer
separates the bile from the blood. Considerable fever exists,
indicated by dryness of the muzzle, heat of the mouth, and a
quickened pulse ; the abdomen, especially on the right side,
is tumid, and pressure gives decided pain ; the animal often
turns its head round, and endeavours to lean the muzzle
against it. The bowels are generally constipated ; but this
condition often alternates with violent purging. Mr. Brown,
in the Veterinarian, remarks, that a diminution in the milk
of the milch cow is one of the first symptoms, and that the
cream drawn from it presents a ropy appearance, and has a
saltish taste. As the disease progresses the aspect of the
animal becomes dull and depressed, and the appetite im-
paired ; the animal loses its ordinary activity, its gait is stif-
fened or staggering, with a halt on one or more of the limbs.
The eyes are dull, and the transparent cornea sometimes
become opaque ; the nose is alternately dry and moist ; the
mucous membranes, the nasal secretions, and the skin, are
yellow.

In protracted cases, when the animal begins to recover, " a
yellow scurf rises from the skin, which gives the hair the
appearance of being dusted with turmeric." Rumination is
either wholly or partially suspended, the secretion of milk
is limited, and inflammation usually appears in one or more
quarters of the udder. Tumours not unfrequently appear in
different parts of the body, and, on bursting, discharge a fetid
matter.

In some cases the respiration is at first frequent, and ac-
companied with a short painful cough ; but in most instances
it is not much disturbed. The bowels are generally obsti-

£06 THE OX AND THE DAIEY.

nately constipated, with occasional intermissions of diarrhoea ;
but some cases occur in which the animal is attacked by
violent purging, the alvine excretions being copious, dark,
and fetid. During the progress of the disease the pulse varies
considerably in its character, but is usually feeble.

The treatment recommended is moderate bleeding in the
early stages of the disease, which it may be often necessary
to repeat; after this one drachm of calomel, suspended in
thick gruel, with half a drachm of opium, and two drachms
of ginger, may be given. In the course of six or eight hours
after this, an aperient, composed of eight ounces of Epsom
salts, four ounces of sulphur, and half-a-pint of linseed oil,
with gruel, may be administered, and repeated in twelve or
eighteen hours if the prior dose has taken no effect. " In
severe cases a blister may be applied to the right side, and a
drachm of calomel, half-a-drachm of opium, two drachms of
gentian, one of ginger, and two of nitre, administered in
gruel twice a day."

In cases where diarrhoea occurs from the commencement,
the aperient dose should be either entirely omitted or given
in only half the quantity, but the calomel and opium, &c.,
repeated morning and evening. In all cases the diet should
be restricted and simple, and as little stimulating as possible.

Active inflammation of the liver may yield to a certain ex-
tent, and ultimately merge into a chronic form ; the liver
now becomes preternaturally enlarged and indurated, some-
times soft and spongy; it is often studded with tubercles
of large size filled with purulent matter. It is the nidus
of numerous hydatids ; and fluke-worms (distoma hepaticum)
inhabit cysts in its substance and even the biliary ducts.

Chronic inflammation, however, is not necessarily the
result of active inflammation ; it occurs when no such in-
flammation has previously existed, and it may continue for a
considerable period without any decided symptoms being
manifest. We have frequently seen decided indications of
chronic disease of the liver in animals slaughtered for sale,
and which were in good condition. This disease may run
on to a horrible extent before it destroys life, though the
animal may be meagre, weak, dull, and hide-bound.

JAUNDICE, OR YELLOWS.

Jaundice, to a greater or less extent, is the accompaniment
of chronic inflammation of the liver ; it arises from the ob

THE OX AND THE DAIRY. 207

struction to the passage of the bile through the ducts, either
from alteration of the intimate structure of the liver, or from
the pressure of tubercles or tumours

There is, however, another and very common cause of
jaundice, which in noticing the morbid affections of the liver
we cannot here omit to describe ; we allude to the obstruction
of the biliary ducts by gall-stones. It is astonishing how
often gall-stones are found in the gall-bladders of cattle : they
vary in size from a pin's head to a walnut, and as long as
they cause no obstruction, they neither inconvenience the
animals nor interfere with health. But sometimes, nay very
often, they enter the duct which conveys the bile to the in-
testines (the cystic duct) from the gall-bladder, which unites
with a larger common duct from the liver itself, before enter-
ing the duodenum. When a gall-stone enters the cystic duct,
it soon becomes impacted ; it stops the current of the bile ;
spasmodic action of the muscular fibres of the duct, occa-
sioned by the irritation, and accompanied by violent agony,
succeeds ; the skin and eyes become suffused with bile; gene-
rally in due time (longer or shorter according to the size of
the stone or calculus) the duct is dilated, and the obstructing
object passes into the larger common duct, along which, not
however without causing some obstruction, it proceeds till
it comes to its entrance into the intestine (duodenum). Here
again it meets with a fresh difficulty ; this entrance is sur-
rounded by muscular fibres, which act as a sort of valve, or
rather as a constriction, yielding freely to the pure bile, but
contracting on the irritation of a preternatural object. Before
this barrier is forced, spasmodic agony again takes place ; at
length the muscular fibres yield, and the gall-stone passes
into the intestine ; the pain ceases, but it is some time before
the jaundice of the skin disappears. Unfortunately, when
this occurrence has once taken place, it opens the way for
repetitions of the whole affair, and calculi sometimes lodge
in the ducts for a considerable time, producing confirmed
jaundice. This state of things cannot exist without produc-
ing general derangement of the system ; the alimentary canal
is immediately affected ; loss of appetite, constipation, thirst,
a hard quick pulse, a heaving of the flanks from increased
and febrile respiration, dulness, and loss of strength and
flesh, with yellowness of the skin, of the eyes, and of every
secretion, milk, urine, &c., are prominent symptoms. The
skin becomes dry, and throws off yellow mangy scurf, and

208 THE OX AND THE DAIRY.

the hair becomes ragged, and falls off in unsightly patches ;
then, perhaps, an uncontrollable diarrhoea comes on, under
which the poor beast may sink. It can scarcely be possible,
with this state of affairs, that the liver will not become more
or less inflamed ; and thus may gall-stones produce a disease
in that organ which did not previously exist. Hence, then,
while a jaundiced state of the skin may result from chronic
inflammation of the liver, the obstruction of gall-stones in
the biliary ducts may not only produce the same yellow suf-
fusion, but even excite inflammation, which perpetuates the
jaundice.

It is the opinion of some writers, that the presence of
fluke-worms (distoma hepaticum) in the biliary ducts will
produce jaundice. We will not say that these parasites may
not occasionally produce it, but we can say that of numbers,
not a few, of ruminants of every species, which it has been
our lot to examine after death, not one was jaundiced when
fluke-worms alone were found in the liver or biliary ducts ;
the same observation applies to hydatids in the substance of
the liver. Indeed we have found fluke-worms in the liver of
some of the best fed and most healthy-looking sheep that
were ever slaughtered by the butcher. It is a fact that the
liver of the finest codfish is infested by hundreds of coelel-
minthous worms, coiled up in cells or crypts, and which
move and crawl for a long time after being extricated from
their nidus.

With respect to the treatment of jaundice : — Could we, as in
the case of the human patient, be informed as to the charac-
ter and seat of the agony the animal is undergoing during
the passage of gall-stones, we should have recourse to opium,
sedatives, hot fomentations, and subsequent aperients ; but,
as a general rule, the poor animal endures its pain unnoticed,
and the jaundiced appearance and evident illness of the
beast alone afford us indications of what it may have
suffered.

In cases of jaundice, let the region of the liver be well
and carefully examined ; it is important to determine how
far this organ is affected, if possible; under all circum-
stances (unless the animal be in a state of weakness and
emaciation), the abstraction of a small quantity of blood is
advisable ; and if the animal suffers spasmodic pain, let an
opiate (an ounce of laudanum or a drachm of pulv. opii, m
gruel) be given ; follow this up, after a few hours, by pur-

THE OX AND THE DAIRY. 209

gatives of Epsom salts, in six-ounce doses, with ginger, aided
by copious injections. If there be no spasmodic pain, and
the usual symptoms of jaundice only appear, aperients,
mashes, and low diet may be successful. Some practitioners
recommend aloes, Barbadoes soap, and Venice turpentine ;
but simple aperients are more safe, and quite as efficacious.
Should the liver be swollen and tender, blisters, setons, and
perhaps even calomel (though it should never be rashly ad-
ministered), may be requisite. After all, jaundice is not one
of the most tractable of diseases, and when once confirmed will
often bid defiance to the efforts of the most skilful veteri-
narian. All nostrums in this disease (and many there are in
vogue among the ignorant), as saffron, &c., are either abso-
lutely inert or injurious.

INFLAMMATION OF THE SPLEEN OR MILT.

The symptoms of this disease are obscure ; seldom perhaps
is the spleen affected, independently of other organs, as the
heart, lungs, and liver. Yet pure inflammation and disorgan-
ization of the spleen occasionally occurs ; but all our know-
ledge of this affection is derived from the authority of others.
Professor Volpi, clinical lecturer at the Veterinary College,
Milan, in a work published in 1813, says, that " cattle are
subject to a very acute kind of inflammation of the spleen,
which generally destroys them in three or four days ; it is
not, however, of a contagious nature, for it does not attack
any other species of animals, nor can it be attributed to
marsh miasmata (the surgeon will remember the affection of
the spleen connected with ague in the human patient),
because it sometimes happens in very dry situations. We
generally subdue this formidable disease by free and repeated
bleedings, by giving nitre in a quantity of from two to four
ounces a day, to which we may add two ounces of aloes, and
six ounces of Glauber salts."

INFLAMMATION OF THE BRAIN, PHRENSY, MAD STAGGERS OR SOUGH
(PHRENITIS), AND APOPLEXY

Inflammation of the brain is a common disease in cattle,
resulting from plethora, high feeding, over-driving, ill-usage ;
it occurs most generally in sultry weather, and in animals
which have fed upon a stimulating diet. The beast at the
commencement of the disease is dull, it hangs down its head
and seems oppressed with stupor, the action of the heart is

p

210 THE OX AND THE DAIRY.

greatly increased, and the pulse is hard and rapid ; the pupils
are dilated, and the muzzle hot and dry ; gradually wild
delirium comes on, the eyes are inflamed, protruded, and
fierce ; the animal is roused to fury, staggers about, bellowing
hideously, and, as if actuated by a sudden impulse, rushes at
every living thing which may catch its eye. After madly
plunging, and rushing with furious energy, it suddenly falls
and lies a while senseless, or perhaps struggling convulsively ;
in a short time it regains its feet, and again exhibits every
symptom of fury ; again it falls, and again rises, till at length
it sinks comatose and dies.

It is only at the commencement of the disease, even if it
were possible, without risk of human life, afterwards to attempt
anything, that medical treatment will generally avail.

Bleed from a free orifice, even to fainting ; and give a
quick purgative consisting of aloes, half an ounce or one
ounce, with half a pound of salts, and water ; some recom-
mend a scruple or half a drachm of the powder of croton-nut,
in water or gruel ; setons of hellebore in the dewlap are also
advisable. Occasionally cattle have been restored, even when
the attack of phrensy has come on ; but it is then very diffi-
cult to secure a beast ; if, however, this be effected, the lancet
and active purgatives are the only remedies to be trusted.

Apoplexy is a disease to which cattle are subject, and from
the same causes as produce phrenitis ; it is, however, far more
sudden in its attack. It consists in a violent rush of blood
to the brain, which gorges the vessels to the utmost, when
the animal falls, struggles perbaps for a short time with great
force, and then sinks into a kind of stupor, and dies. Some-
times a vessel ruptures, and effusion of blood on the surface
of the brain takes place. In some districts apoplexy is called
blood-striking, and the word is not unhappily applied. In
these cases, while life continues, the only chance is in bleed-
ing freely from a large orifice ; should this in a measure
restore the animal to itself, the same measures as in inflam-
mation of the brain must be adopted.

Inflammation of the brain, when the animal becomes
furious, is often mistaken for rabies, especially if any suspicion
exist that a rabid dog has been in the neighbourhood, or if a
strange dog has been seen about the farm or cow-house. It
is not easy to distinguish always between rabies and phrensy.
Mr. Youatt says, that a rabid ox will plot mischief, and
endeavour to lure his victims within his reach ; while the

THE OX AND THE DAIRY.

phrensied ox rushes blindly at everything. In the former
the saliva and foam are discharged from the mouth in greater
quantity than in the latter.

A beast which has been dragged through an attack of
phrenitis, or of apoplexy, is liable to a recurrence of the
disease. We recommend as a general rule, that after due
preparation by purgatives, mashes, scanty fare, &c., it be fat-
tened for slaughter ; or, if this be inconvenient, that as soon
as recovered it be disposed of for that purpose.

ENTERITIS, OR INFLAMMATION OF THE PERITONEUM OR LINING MEM-
BRANE OF THE ABDOMEN AND INVESTING MEMBRANE OF THE IN-
TESTINES.

Enteritis, or inflammation of the bowels, as it is com-
monly called, generally attacks cattle of middle age and
robust health, and may result from sudden exposure to cold,
or to drinking cold water when overheated, to impure water,
to mildewed food, or to a diet generally too stimulating.
Occasionally it prevails in certain districts, as if epidemic,
occasioned probably by some acrid or unwholesome plants,
abundant in the localities on which cattle feed ; the disease
appears to be most prevalent in hot summers.

Enteritis comes on suddenly : the first symptoms are
shivering, dulness, loss of appetite, dryness of the muzzle, a
rapid but small pulse; the hair is rough, the loins tender, the
abdomen swelled on the left side, and incapable of enduring
pressure ; the bowels are confined, the animal moans, and
often turns its head to the side. If the disease be not now
checked, the hind limbs tremble and show signs of deplorable
weakness, the animal staggers if it attempt to move, its
flanks heave, the head is stretched out, the eyes are red and
betray great anxiety, the moans indicative of intense suf-
fering increase in frequency, and the rapidity of the small
pulse is further accelerated. The. bowels continue obsti-
nately confined ; the faeces are hard and glazed with slime,
but occasionally liquid faeces are forced with dreadful agony
through the indurated mass obstructing the lower bowels ;
the moutb foams ; the animal grinds its teeth ; the abdomen
is tucked up, though the swelling of the left side is still
prominent ; the urine is thick, turbid, and exhales an
offensive, penetrating odour. The animal now sinks, con-
sciousness begins to fail, it rises up again with a convulsive
effort, but again sinks down; the head is rolled about or

THE OX AND THE DAIRY.

raised only to come heavily to the ground, till the scene
terminates either in convulsions or in a state of torpor.

Dissection after death shows, very often, an extent and
violence of inflammation which are truly astonishing. Not
only are the subcutaneous muscles of the abdomen in a
state of congestion, but even putrescent ; and the subcuta-
neous vessels of the cellular tissue are gorged with black
blood. The abdomen is filled with a bloody effusion ; the peri-
toneum is more or less universally inflamed, and black gangre-
nous patches appear in various parts of the intestines ; the
lining or mucous membrane of the intestines is also inflamed
and ulcerated ; the liver is enlarged and softened ; the lungs
are in a state of congestion, and there is effusion both in the
chest and pericardium. The fourth stomach is highly in-
flamed, and dry hard layers of food are found in the mani-
plus, while the paunch is generally found distended with dry
vegetable matters. We do not say that all these morbid
appearances present themselves together ; but ulceration,
abdominal effusion, and congestion of the lungs, are almost
always present.

When enteritis, or inflammation of the bowels, and espe-
cially the small intestines, is accompanied by severe in-
flammation of the mucous lining of the fourth stomach or
abomasum, the French distinguish the disease by the name
of gas tro enteritis. But in gastro-enteritis it is chiefly the
mucous membrane of the portion of the intestine succeeding
the stomach, viz. the duodenum, which is inflamed.

With respect to the treatment in pure enteritis, that is,
inflammation of the peritoneum, it is very clear that prompt
and energetic measures alone can be serviceable. Let not
the smallness of the pulse deter from bleeding; blood should
be taken even till symptoms of fainting appear ; to this
should succeed purgatives, the first a full dose, followed at
intervals by smaller doses, till the bowels act freely ; these
should be assisted by injections. The abdomen should be
fomented with hot water, and blistered, and gruel and
mashes alone given. Anodynes, that is, preparations of
opium, are very useful. Immediately after bleeding an ano-
dyne may be given, half an hour before the aperient medicine ;
it may simply consist of half an ounce or an ounce of lauda-
num (tinct. opii), or half a drachm of powdered opium (pulv.
opii), in gruel. The aperient may consist of nitre (four
drachms), cream of tartar (four drachms), castor oil (six

THE OX AND THE DAIEY. 213

ounces), carbonate of soda (four drachms), and Glauber or
Epsom salts (eight ounces), in gruel. The following is
another form of aperient, which may be useful : — Barbadoes
aloes (six drachms), common salt (six ounces), ginger (two
drachms), water (one quart), tincture of opium (two or three
fluid drachms). If this aperient be used, the anodyne draught
need not be given ; but in severe cases we should prefer
relieving the pain as soon as possible. For this purpose we
must trust to bleeding and opium, followed up by aperients
and injections.

Enteritis must be carefully distinguished from colic,
whether flatulent or spasmodic ; for though the latter may
end in inflammation, the pain in the first instance results
from another cause. Though colic can scarcely be classed
among inflammatory diseases, yet it will be useful to notice
it in the present place, in order that its symptoms may be
compared immediately with those of enteritis.

COLIC, OE FEET.

We will first notice that variety to which the name of flat
ulent colic is given.

Flatulent colic arises from the distension of the alimentary
canal with gas, owing to the fermentation of the food. The
abdomen swells ; the animal moans with pain ; it is extremely
restless, continually getting up and lying down, and ever and
anon striking at the belly with the hind feet, or with the horns.
Gas is expelled at intervals both from the mouth and bowels ;
perhaps the animal appears for a while relieved, but the pain
again commences ; often there is a rumbling noise, caused by
the passing of the gas from one part of the bowels to another,
or by the peristaltic action altering the position of inflated
portions. There is no violent shivering succeeded by symp-
toms of burning fever, though the pain may quicken the
pulse ; there is no prostration of strength ; and during the
remission of pain the animal moves freely. The most effec-
tual remedy for this disease consists in the chloride of lime,
of which two drachms may be mixed with a quart of warm
water, two drachms of powdered ginger, and twenty drops of
essence of peppermint. While the aromatics are grateful
stimulants to the bowels, the chloride of lime unites with the
extricated hydrogen gas, and causes the greater portion of it
to disappear. The beast should be walked about, but not
violently driven, lest rupture or entanglement of the intes-

214 THE OX AND THE DAIRY.

tines take place, and the animal be thus lost from want of
common prudence.

It will be advisable now to give an aloetic purgative,
assisted by injections. This may consist of Barbadoes aloes
(six drachms), common salt (six ounces), ginger (three drachms),
and tincture of opium (two or three fluid drachms), with a
quart of water. Accumulations of im-bruised oats will often
bring on violent colic, not unlikely to end in inflammation.

Spasmodic colic is distinguished from the former by the
absence of any great tumefaction and tension of the abdo-
men ; it does not so much arise from the presence of a large
quantity of gas in the bowels, as from acrid food and other
irritating substances. The agony is accompanied by evident
spasms, which have their intermissions and again return ;
but little gas is expelled from the alimentary canal ; the
animal moans, paws the ground, strikes at its side with hoof
and horn, and, in its excruciating pain, sometimes even
lunges at its attendant. This kind of colic, if it continues,
is apt to run into inflammation ; and it is a point which
must be borne in mind. The first thing to relieve the pain
and spasm will be a dose of laudanum (one fluid ounce) with
sulphuric ether (half an ounce), in thin warm gruel ; should
it appear, from the continuance of the pain, that any inflam-
mation has taken place, blood must be immediately abstracted,
and, whether or not this be done, aloetic purgatives must be
administered, assisted by injections.

Great attention must be paid, on the recovery of the
animal, to its diet, as the least irritating cause is apt to bring
back all the bad symptoms.

Spasmodic colic, if it continue, is known occasionally to
produce an entanglement of the bowels ; their wreathing
peristaltic action is irregular : they infold each other in their
spasmodic disturbance, and sometimes become knotted into
loops and intricate folds, among which a portion of the in-
testine becomes tightly embraced, strangulation of the bowel
being thus effected. Inflammation now comes on, and
death soon supervenes : there is no remedy. This kind of
strangulation or knot is mostly caused, when it occurs, by
brutal and improper treatment : the animal in its agony is
relentlessly driven about, perhaps by a dog, the owner
ignorantly supposing that such violent exercise is serviceable ;
the hurried irregularity of the peristaltic action is thereby
increased, the spasmodic constriction of the muscular fibres

THE OX AND THE DAIRY. 215

of the bowels is more vehement, they intertwine each other,
the fatal noose is tightened, perhaps the mesentery is ruptured,
and death ensues ; and all this might have been prevented.

Another result of continued spasmodic colic is what is
termed introsusceptio ; — that is, one portion of the bowels
being perhaps spasmodically contracted, is forced forward by
the strong peristaltic action of the intestines, and so runs
into the succeeding dilated portion, perhaps to a very con-
siderable extent ; often the peristaltic action of the intestines
is inverted, and in that case a lower portion of the bowel is
forced into the portion preceding it. The latter, as far as
we have observed in animals, appears to occur the most
commonly. The agony resulting from this introsusception,
or infolding and sliding of one portion of intestine into
another, must be horrible ; the mesentery is generally la-
cerated ; inflammation comes on, and the animal dies. The
symptoms indicative of this occurrence are indefinite, and
the same observation applies to strangulation. But we
may suspect the mischief from the increase of pain and
the inutility of medicines. If anything is likely to prove
beneficial it must be bleeding, conjoined with opium.

INFLAMMATION OF THE MUCOUS MEMBRANE OF THE FOURTH STOMACH
OR ABOMASUM, AND OF THE SMALL INTESTINES (GASTRITIS AND
GASTRO-ENTERITIS).

Inflammation of the abomasum (gastritis), or rather of its
mucous membrane, is a most serious disease, nor is it of very
unfrequent occurrence; generally the inflammation is not
limited to the abomasum, but extends through the duodenum.
This is the gastro-enteritis of authors. It appears to be
brought on in most instances by improper food, by acrid
plants, by bad water, by musty hay, and other causes which
are not easily ascertained.

The symptoms of this disease (for we need not minutely
distinguish between gastritis and gastro-enteritis) are heavi-
ness, loss of appetite, disturbed breathing, fever, a hot dry
muzzle and tongue ; sometimes diarrhoea, occasionally vomit-
ing ; and in milch cows, either a cessation of the milk or an
alteration in its quality ; it irritates or even inflames the
udder, and the milk when drawn off is thin, yellowish, and
stringy with threads of coagulum. Its smell is often offensive,
and sometimes it has a reddish tinge, as if slightly coloured
by blood.

216 THE OX AND THE DAIKY.

According to M. Gelle, " Among the most constant symp-
toms of inflammation of the gastro-intestinal mucous mem-
brane is loss of appetite, with the arrest of rumination. If
the inflammation be intense, the tongue seems to be con-
tracted, and is evidently straighter and more rounded than
is natural ; the papillss which cover it become elevated and
injected ; the tongue moreover is red towards its point, and
also along its edges. In certain intense cases of gastritis,
and in some serious affections of the paunch or the aboma-
sum, the duodenum and liver participate in the inflammation,
and the tongue is yellow or green. This colouring sometimes
extends to all the visible mucous membranes. Vomiting,
when there has been primitive or .secondary affection of the
stomachs, denotes almost always a most intense inflamma-
tion, either, as is most commonly the case, continued from the
abomasum or pylorus, or also from the gullet itself. Hence
it is common in chronic gastro- enteritis and rare in acute.
Nevertheless, if one part of the food is vomited and the other
passes from the abomasum into the duodenum, it may be
presumed that the seat of the inflammation exists principally
in the abomasum.

" The diminution and even the cessation of the secretion
of milk, constant in cows labouring under gastritis, is only
the result of the displacement of the vital action of the
secretory organ, in consequence of the violent action which
attacks the mucous membrane of the digestive organs." In
other words, there is an immediate sympathy between the
udder and true digesting stomach or abomasum; and the
inflammatory condition of the mucous membrane of the
latter produces an immediate effect on the former, both as to
the quantity and quality of its secretion.

This disease, like all others of an inflammatory type,
varies in intensity. In mild cases a moderate abstraction of
blood, with purgatives of Epsom salts and sulphur, with a
little olive or castor oil, will prove beneficial, the diet being
confined to gruel and mashes. In severer cases, the bleeding
must be carried to its full extent, and even repeated, followed
by purgatives and doses of opium or laudanum ; injections
should also be resorted to, and a seton in the dewlap may be
useful.

We cannot but remark, that this disease is one which the
professed veterinary surgeon alone can understand, and
which he alone can treat. When the farmer, then, sees his

THE OX AND THE DAIKY. 217

cow feverish, uneasy, without appetite, perhaps sick, and finds
the milk changed from what it ought to be to a disgusting
secretion, which, if an honest man, he will not mix with that of
healthy cows, let him send for the veterinary surgeon (not the
cow-leech), and trust the case into his hands. And here we
may state that one object we have in view is to make the farmer
and cattle-keeper cautious, and distrustful both of his own
opinion and that of the village oracle, half blacksmith half
doctor, who is quite as fit to attend the good man on his
sick-bed, as he is one of the animals in the yard or cow-house.
Let us now attend to another disease intimately connected
with inflammation of the mucous membrane of the alimentary
canal : we allude to dysentery, which we cannot well notice
without taking diarrhoaa also into consideration.

DYSENTEEY AND DIAKKHCEA.

These two diseases are both characterized by excessive
alvine evacuations; and the latter disease, viz. diarrhoea,
which is simple purging, may run on into the former.
Dysentery we conceive to be always connected with conges-
tion or inflammation of the mucous lining of the intestines,
involving disturbance of the functions of the liver and the
true digesting stomach. In true dysentery we have fever,
tenderness of the loins and abdomen, frequent and perhaps
bloody purging, accompanied by tenesmus and spasms, as in
colic. Dysentery is often the concomitant of other disorders ;
but here we speak of dysentery as an acute disease per se,
occasionally merging into a chronic form, and too often
resulting in death.

True dysentery begins with shivering, succeeded by decided
febrile symptoms and pain in the bowels, with mucous alvine
evacuations, loss of appetite, and nausea; tenesmus and
muco-sanguinolent purging succeed, not without pain ; the
pulse is hard, small, and frequent ; the tongue dry ; the
urine scanty ; prostration of the strength rapidly comes on,
and the pulse becomes feeble ; the tongue is covered with a
brown fur ; offensive and dark- coloured alvine evacuations
now occur; the body is emaciated, the limbs totter, they
become spasmodically contracted, torpor and death ensue.
Sometimes, after a degree of apparent convalescence, the
disease returns and assumes a chronic form ; the food, mixed
with mucus and blood, passes through the bowels only half
digested; the pulse is feeble; there is great emaciation of

218 THE OX AND THE DAIRY.

the frame, dropsy ensues, and the animal dies worn out. On
examination after death the mucous membrane of the bowels,
but especially of the large intestines, is found to be inflamed,
ulcerated, or gangrenous ; in chronic cases the peritoneum
participates in the inflammation, and adhesions and effusion
of serum are the result. In the first inflammatory attack of
dysentery the abstraction of blood is required, and this must
be followed by opium and calomel (a drachm of each) in
thick gruel, repeated in a day or two if necessary, with
mashes in the interval. No green or succulent food must be
allowed; and the animal should be well housed and littered.
There may be occasion to repeat the opium and calomel
three or four times, or even oftener, till the bowels begin to
act naturally, when oleaginous aperients may be given.

Diarrhoea or purging may arise from various causes, and
may mostly be regarded as an effort of nature to get rid of
some irritating matter in the alimentary canal. This cannot
be called a disease. But diarrhoea often assumes a very
severe and obstinate character, and runs at last into dysentery.
It commences with a frequent and abundant evacuation of
foetid matter, owing perhaps to a sudden change from dry to
green food, to impure water, or to some particular state of
the atmosphere ; in a short time the purging becomes more
severe, and the evacuations become mucous ; the animal
suffers severe griping pain, rapidly loses flesh, and at length
wastes away to a skeleton. Milch cows and calves are more
subject to the disease than oxen. The cow ceases to yield
her usual supply of milk ; she appears cheerful, eats and
drinks ; but the diarrhoea or scouring is incessant, and at
last she dies. On examination after death the lining mem-
brane of the fourth stomach or abomasum will generally be
found much thickened and pallid, with effusion of serum
between it and the muscular coat; and these appearances
extend to a greater or less degree through the alimentary
canal. There is not unfrequently effusion also in the cavity
of the abdomen, and that to a considerable extent.

It is evident that in these cases the disease begins in a low
inflammation, or state of irritability of the mucous mem-
branes ; and all attempts to check its progress by astringents
and aromatics will be useless, unless the healthy condition of
the mucous membranes be first restored. In the commence-
ment of the disease, as soon as its obstinate character is
revealed, the abstraction of a small quantity of blood may be

THE OX AND THE DAIRY. 219

serviceable, and a dose of chalk, mercury, and opium may be
given daily in the following proportions : — Chalk, one ounce ;
opium, one drachm : calomel, half a drachm ; ginger, two
drachms. These may be mixed in thick gruel. Some re-
commend the addition of three or four drachms of catechu ;
but we fear that powerful astringents may rather produce
mischief than benefit. Indeed, if the above prescription acts
in restoring the healthy condition of the mucous membrane,
it may be necessary to give castor oil occasionally, in doses
of a pint, with ten grains of powdered opium. The diet
should consist of good sound hay, given in small quantities,
and a handful or two of wheat flour may be stirred up in the
water. After all, this kind of diarrhoea is not easily subdued,
and too often wears down the animal, which dies emaciated
and dropsical.

In some diseases, as pneumonia, the occurrence of diarrhoea
may be regarded as favourable ; but in other diseases, as
consumption, it is one of the symptoms of approaching dis-
solution: it may be moderated perhaps by astringents, as
chalk, one ounce ; powdered catechu, two drachms ; pow-
dered allspice, two drachms ; powdered carraway- seeds, half
an ounce. Let all these ingredients, except the chalk, be
simmered in half a pint of water ; then add the finely pow-
dered chalk, mixed in half a pint of ale. To this a small
quantity of opium may be added if the purging be accom-
panied by griping pains.

In simple but acute diarrhoea, before it assumes a dysen-
teric form, an oleaginous purgative, in order to remove the
cause of the irritation of the bowels, may precede the mixture
of chalk, opium, calomel, and ginger; this latter medicine
may then be repeated twice a day, or only once if the purging
be not violent. If given twice a day, half a drachm of the
opium will suffice with each dose. Should febrile symptoms
make their appearance, indicative of mischief in the mucous
lining of the alimentary canal, bleeding may be followed by
the chalk, calomel, and opium, as above directed. Injections
of starch with laudanum, or gruel, or linseed tea (infusion of
linseed) with laudanum (half an ounce) will be serviceable
in acting as emollients and sedatives, and should not be
neglected.

INFLAMMATION OF THE KIDNEYS.

The kidneys in the ox are of large size, and, unlike those

220 THE OX AND THE DAIRY.

of the sheep, lobulated in structure ; that is, they consist of
numerous distinct lobules united together. These organs are
subject to several affections, as red water, gravel, calculus, and
also pure inflammation. Acute inflammation of the kidneys
may be produced by blows on the loins, by violent muscular
exertion, by exposure to cold, and by bad or musty food.

The first symptoms are, a frequent desire to void urine,
accompanied by a straining effort, which causes the ejection
of small quantities only (strangury), a tenderness and heat on
the loins, dulness, loss of appetite and fever. In a few days
these symptoms increase, and the urine, instead of being lim-
pid, is tinged with blood ; streaks of pure coagulated blood
also appear in it. The horns and ears are cold, the muzzle
dry, the pulse hard and quick, the breathing accelerated.
Severe dysentery or diarrhoea now comes on, with violent
straining ; the alvine excretions are scanty and foetid : at
length they cease, though the straining continues as severe as
before. The animal moans heavily from intense pain ; its
back becomes bowed as it stands crouching ; the difficulty of
passing the urine increases, and at length total suppression
ensues. The animal trembles, breaks out into sweats, and
utters distressing groans ; the hind limbs become paralysed,
the pulse sinks, and the poor beast falls to rise no more.

After death the inflammation of the kidneys is found to ex-
tend to the large intestines, and in cows often to the uterus, and
the blood is strongly tainted with urine. The treatment in
such cases must be prompt and decided. The first thing to be
done is the abstraction of blood, and that in no stinted quan-
tity ; the loins must be fomented with hot water for a con-
siderable time, and afterwards covered with a large mustard-
poultice, or rubbed with an irritating ointment, composed of
one drachm of tartarized antimony and five or six of lard.
This will produce pustules and great irritation of the skin :
blister-ointment, from the well-known effects of the cantharis
on the urinary organs, is inadmissible. Purgatives must be
administered, and emollient injections of gruel, or linseed
infusion, and laudanum. The food should consist of bran-
mashes and gruel. The purgatives to be selected are ole-
aginous, as castor or linseed oil : they must be persevered
in until the bowels are fairly unloaded and their action is
natural.

During the inflammatory symptoms no diuretic medicines
certainly should be given ; they will only stimulate fruitlessly

THE OX AND THE DAIRY.

or injuriously the inflamed kidneys, which will soon begin to
act naturally when the inflammation is subdued. In the
Veterinarian for 1840, however, Mr. Bush recommends the
following draught, at first twice and afterwards once a day :
— " Oil of juniper, half an ounce ; oil of turpentine, one
ounce ; tincture of opium, one ounce ; linseed-tea, a pint."
This mixture, he states, proved beneficial in some cases which
he treated for several days without any amendment. These
draughts appeared to cause an increase of the discharge of
blood at first ; but afterwards it began to abate, and dimin-
ished daily. This medicine may be useful when the dis-
charge of blood continues after the pain and strangury have
been subdued; but we should prefer trying laudanum and
linseed-tea alone. Some practitioners, under these circum-
stances, recommend astringents ; as two drachms of powdered
catechu, three drachms of alum, half a drachm of opium, and
two drachms of ginger, which are to be simmered, in half a
pint of water, for a few minutes ; to this decoction must be
added a pint of ale, to form a drench, which may be repeated
in a day or two. That this mixture will act as an astrin-
gent cannot be doubted : but we question its effects on the
kidneys.

BLAIN OB GLOSS- ANTHRAX, INFLAMMATION OF THE TONGUE AND
PARTS ADJACENT.

The causes of this disease are very obscure. Some attribute
it to the eating of certain acrid plants, as various species of
ranunculus, &c., but on doubtful grounds. It sometimes ap-
pears as an epidemic; and in its latter stage it has been
proved to be contagious. Its attack is generally sudden, and
variable as to severity; but the affection not unfrequently
runs on to gangrene of the tongue and parts adjacent, accom-
panied with malignant typhus, and the animal dies a mise-
rable object.

At the commencement of blain the animal exhibits the
ordinary febrile symptoms, with dulness and the refusal of
food. A discharge of saliva from the mouth now appears and
rapidly increases: it is at first limpid, but, as the disease
gains 'ground, it becomes purulent, bloody, and extremely
foetid. The inflammation now extends itself; the head and
throat swell, often to an alarming degree ; the pharynx,^ or
back of the cavity of the mouth, partakes of this congestion
and intumescence, to the obstruction of breathing ; and some-

222 . THE OX AND THE DAIRY.

times this is carried to such an extent that suffocation is the
result. In cases where this event does not take place, large
ulcers break out around the tongue and beneath it, and gan-
grene spreads its destructive ravages ; a state of low typhus
accompanies this disorganization, and the animal perishes.

If the mouth of a beast labouring under this disease be ex-
amined, the tongue will appear to be singularly elevated and
swollen ; underneath it and around its sides appear numerous
large vesicles or bladders, varying in colour from red to a
dark livid hue. Sometimes these vesicles appear even on the
upper part of the tongue : they burst and form deep ulcera-
tions ; and as they burst, others appear in their turn, till, at
last, the tongue and parts adjacent are covered with virulent
ulcers. The sides of the tongue become gangrenous ; inci-
sions into it neither produce pain nor bring blood : the dis-
ease has now run its fatal course.

The appearances on dissection, after death, are ulceration
and mortification of the tongue, inflammation of the muscular
and glandular mass between the branches of the lower jaw,
inflammation and ulceration of the pharynx, oesophagus, the
paunch, and abomasum, sometimes even accompanied by
patches of gangrene. The vegetable matter in the paunch
exhales an overwhelming foetid odour ; that in the manyplus
is dry and hard ; the small intestines exhibit very often traces
of high inflammation, and the large intestines as frequently
manifest palpable indications of the same morbid action. It
often happens that ulcers form about the heels of the foot arid
between the clefts of the hoofed toes, discharging a foetid
matter.

At different times this disease appears as an epidemic, both
in our island and on the Continent, carrying off vast numbers
of cattle ; though the extent of the mortality has been most
probably increased by the inefficacy of the modes of treatment
adopted. Mr. Youatt assures us that this disease is conta-
gious : it is not communicated by the breath, but, like glan-
ders in the horse, by actual contact. The beasts must graze
in the same field, eat at the same manger, or drink at the
same trough; and the saliva of the diseased beast must be
received on some abraded, or, at least, a mucous surface.
Hence it is requisite that the most stringent precautions be
adopted and fully carried out. Instances are on record in
which human beings have been inoculated with this malady
and died. Mr. Youatt, who observes that many instances re

THE OX AND THE DAIEY. 223

lated have perhaps little foundation in truth, gives the following
as well authenticated : — " A man held down the tongue of an
ox, with a silver spoon, in order to examine the mouth, which
had many of the characteristic vesicles. He afterwards, and
without any great care about cleaning it, ate some broth with
the same spoon. Not many days had elapsed when his mouth
felt sore, pustules appeared on the side of the tongue, malig-
nant fever ensued, and he died. When this disease raged at
Nismes, in 1 731, it was communicated, not only to the human
being, but to various species of domesticated animals."

It is requisite, therefore, in attending cattle labouring
under the blain, to be careful that the saliva of the animal,
discharged from the mouth, touch no sore or abraded part,
nor lodge upon the lips. Should such an accident occur, a
slight application of the lunar caustic to the spot will prove a
sufficient security.

In the early stage this disease may be generally treated
successfully; the mouth must be secured, the tongue and
parts connected with it examined, and every vesicle freely
opened with a lancet, so as to give free vent to the glairy fluid
they contain; the mouth and tongue should then be well
washed with salt and water, and cleansed as much as possible.
If, however, the fluid of the vesicles is at all offensive, as is
likely to be the case, if they appear dark or livid, a solution
of chloride of lime (two drachms to a quart of water) should
be applied very freely and frequently. After this, smart pur-
gatives should be given, and, if the fever be high, blood ab-
stracted. If there be ulcers about the feet, they must be
washed with a solution of chloride of lime also, and dressed
with tincture of aloes and myrrh, or compound tincture of
benzoin (friar's balsam), both to be obtained at the druggist's.
In unhealthy sluggish ulcers, a little of the chloride (butyr)
of antimony may be cautiously applied.

Should the disease be in a more advanced stage, the free
lancing of the vesicles in the mouth is to be thoroughly
effected, and the lotion of chloride of lime applied copiously
several times a day. Physic must be given; but whether
blood should be abstracted or not will now depend on the
pulse and the character which the fever assumes. If slough-
ing of the tongue has taken place, the same plan must be fol-
lowed out, the solution of the chloride of lime being gradually
strengthened ; and should the ulcerations or sloughing parts
show a healthy surface, they may be washed with tincture of

224 . THE OX AND THE DAIRY.

myrrh. The animal should be supported upon good gruel,
poured gently and slowly down the gullet, if the beast refuse
to take it ; the horn, however, is not often needed. It may
be necessary to give tonics also, as gentian and ginger, in
doses of two drachms each, mixed with gruel and half a pint
of good ale, twice a day.

In this disease many absurd and even disgusting nostrums
have been administered, and some unsafe plans put into
practice, to the disgrace of those whose common sense ought
to have taught them better. That the village blacksmith, or
cow-leech, should boast his quack remedies and his pretended
skill, is not to be wondered at ; but that he should impose
upon persons who in all other affairs show discernment, is
indeed surprising. Perhaps, however, we do not make suf-
ficient allowance for human credulity, and forget that there is
as much pleasure "in being cheated as to cheat."

From experiments which have been made, it would appear
that the blain is one of those diseases which seldom occur a
second time in the same individual. How far, when the epi-
demic is spreading abroad, would it be advisable to inoculate
for it, and then, watching the result, commence the treatment
of the disease, upon its first appearance, when it is easily
manageable? We are not aware that any experiment, with
this object in view, has ever been made.

THRUSH, OR APHTHA OF THE MOUTH.

In many respects this disease bears a close resemblance to
blain ; it commences with inflammation of the mouth, attend-
ant perhaps upon some disease; and in a short time the
sides of the tongue, and inside of the mouth generally, are
covered with small pustules which break and ulcerate. There
is seldom much fever or loss of appetite ; and a few aperient
doses, with a lotion of tincture of myrrh, alum, and water for
the mouth, will generally prove successful in the course of a
week or ten days. Sometimes, however, the ulceration
spreads alarmingly, and the symptoms begin to be formid-
able. If the pulse permit (for great debility then comes on
quickly) some blood must be taken away, and the mouth well
washed with a solution of chloride of lime, and afterwards
with tincture of myrrh. Thrush is generally connected with
derangement of the digestive organs, produced by damaged
food, foul water, and similar things ; but sometimes it ap-
pears as an epidemic, especially on the continent, where the

THE OX AND THE DAIRY.

disease assumes a more dangerous form than in our island,
the inflammation extending to the throat.

In catarrhal affections vesicles called harbs or paps, of a
red colour, sometimes appear in the mouth, but oftener when
its membranes are inflamed ; these the cow-leech will some-
times ignoraiitly remove by the scissors or hot iron, produc-
ing unpleasant ulcers. In such slight cases a few doses of
physic are all that is required ; or, should some degree of
ulceration take place, an alum wash is sufficient to heal them.
These little bladders often appear over the sublingual
glands, the orifices of which are enlarged and distended with
saliva.

We may here also observe that the submaxillary and
parotid glands are, from various causes, subject to acute
inflammation and swelling, called strangullion; and sometimes
abscesses are formed, which become malignant, and are diffi-
cult to cure. This is more especially the case with the
parotid gland (under the ear). In catarrh, and in epidemic
diseases of a severe character, the parotid glands are gener-
ally hot, swollen, and painful, rendering the action of the
lower jaw very difficult. The swelled gland, moreover,
presses upon the adjacent blood-vessels, impeding the current
of blood.

Hot fomentations, frequently applied, are useful ; and,
when suppuration has commenced, it should be encouraged
by hot poultices, and the abscess freely opened as soon as
the fluctuation of the purulent matter is clearly distinguish-
able ; the abscess will then generally fill up ; but if allowed
to burst of itself, ulcers, often of a phagedenic character, or
apt to become gangrenous, will be the result. For these
ulcers washes of chloride of lime must be used, and after-
wards dressings of tincture of aloes.

During the inflammatory stage there will be considerable
fever, rendering the abstraction of a little blood advisable,
with aperients and sedatives ; but when ulceration has com-
menced tonics should be administered. The food should
consist of gruel and mashes requiring but little mastication.
Contusions, and the blows of cattle-drivers, merciless in the
use of their sticks about the heads of the poor beasts sub-
jected to their barbarity, are not unfrequently the cause of
inflammation and suppuration of the parotid gland ; but the
disease very often commences spontaneously, or is sympa
the tic with general derangement of the system.

Q

226 THE OX AND THE DAIRY.

ACUTE RHEUMATISM.

Eheumatism is a disease to which horned cattle are pecu-
liarly subject, from exposure to wet and cold, and the vicissi-
tudes of the weather, more especially in the early part of spring.
Cows after calving, and beasts in general in a weak state from
recent illness, if not shielded from piercing cold, are extremely
liable to this affection. It consists of inflammation of the fascia
of the muscles, the ligaments of the joints, and the synovial
membranes. Sometimes the inflammation extends to the
chest, and involves the pericardium. Acute rheumatism
commences with fever and loss of appetite ; the animal
moves stiffly, every action being painful ; the spine seems to
have lost its elasticity ; the loins are tender when pressed ;
and the animal is unwilling to stir. In this stage it is called
by farmers chine-felon, an expression which has no definite
meaning. In a short time the joints swell, and cannot be
bent without intense agony ; they are very hot, and often the
veins around them assume a varicose appearance ; the dis-
ease is now called joint- felon. Ulceration of the cartilages of
the joints frequently supervenes ; the hind quarters become
weak and contracted, or even palsied; the animal is no
longer able to stand ; and, after lingering for some weeks
almost incapable of motion, is relieved from misery by
death.

Eheumatism appears in a chronic as well as in an acute
form, especially in old cattle which have been worked hard,
and exposed to frequent alterations of temperature, or in aged
cows subjected to damp or wet. In fine warm weather little
appears to indicate the existence of rheumatism, except per-
haps that some of the joints of the limbs are swelled : but
in bitter weather, when keen east or north-east winds prevail,
or when sleet and snow are falling, then the animals droop,
and move about stiffly and in pain.

Acute Rheumatism is not easily cured ; when it appears to
be so it is apt to return ; or it may assume a chronic form,
and, though subdued for the present, show itself on the first
exposure of the beasts to cold or wet.

In the early stages a free abstraction of blood is indicated :
active aperients also are required, in which sulphur should
constitute an ingredient. After the bowels have been well
purged, a dose consisting of nitre, two drachms; tartarized
antimony, one drachm ; and spirit of nitrous ether, one fluid

THE OX AND THE DA1KY.

ounce, may be given in warm gruel twice a day. To this
mixture opium (from half a drachm to one drachm) may be
occasionally added. The affected joints must be fomented
with hot water or decoction of poppy-heads ; and the follow-
ing embrocation may be used : — Camphorated oil, four ounces;
oil of turpentine, two ounces ; laudanum, one ounce.

The animal must be comfortably housed, and supplied with
gruel. If the swelling of the joints, indicating the excess of
synovial fluid, continues after the acute inflammation is sub-
dued, they should be well rubbed, once or twice a day, with
an ointment of iodide of potass (one part of the latter, by
weight, to seven of lard). This ointment will be found
effective in dispersing tumours, enlargements of the glands,
and indurations of the udder. Besides being applied exter-
nally, three or four grains of iodide of potass (the dose being
increased to six or eight grains by degrees) may be given in a
small mash, morning and evening.

With respect to the treatment of chronic rheumatism, few
explicit directions can be given, excepting that such cattle
ought never to be exposed to cold winds or driving sleets.
If turned out during the middle of the day, in winter, they
should be comfortably housed in the evening.

Tumours of the knees often occur in cattle out at pasture
in damp grounds. The swelling occupies the fore part of the
knee, and its elasticity indicates the presence of fluid in the
tissue immediately beneath the skin. At first there is but
little pain : in course of time, however, the tumours increase
— inflammation begins ; it extends to the joint, which is pain-
ful, and soon becomes deprived of the power of motion.
These tumours contain a glairy fluid ; on being punctured
the fluid escapes and the swelling subsides. Stimulating
liniments, blisters, and the hot iron, have been used with
variable success.

Sometimes hard tumours make their appearance : it is
generally to one knee only that this sort of tumour is con-
fined; it does not yield to pressure, is painful, and the animal
is lame. Occasionally deep firing has succeeded in removing
it, when blisters, and even a seton through it, have had no
beneficial effect. In both the kinds of tumours above noticed,
which are often connected with neglected rheumatism,
though in some cases, perhaps, they are independent of this
affection, the iodide of potass, both as an external application,
and as an internal medicine, has been found very efficacious.

THE OX AND THE DAIKY

We have already described the proportions to he used in
making the ointment, and the doses to be administered.

We may now pass to the consideration of certain diseases
immediately connected with the nervous system, irrespective
of acute inflammation of the brain, or of any of the viscera of
the chest or the abdomen. We mean those diseases in which
the nerves of some part, or the nervous system generally, are
immediately disturbed, irritated, or paralysed, and to the
affections of which the leading symptoms have direct and ex-
press reference. Hence are these diseases called " nervous,"
— not that there is no disturbance of any other part of the
frame ; quite the contrary, — but because the nerves bear the
brunt, as it were, of the attack.

PALSY, OK PARALYSIS.

This disease, which bears among farmers and cow-leeches
the ridiculous names of joint-yellows, tail-rot, tail-ill, or tail-
slip, is by no means an unfrequent disease, especially in low
marshy situations, and during a cold and changeable spring.
Scanty food, bad water, damp, ill-ventilated, arid filthy cow-
houses, also conduce to it. Overworked cattle turned out
into humid pastures, during a cold sleety night, perhaps
while sweating profusely, and with no shed to protect them,
are very liable to palsy.

Palsy in cattle is generally confined to the hinder quar-
ters, and both sides are alike affected.

Sometimes the attack is sudden, but in most cases it comes
on gradually. It begins with debility, and a trembling or
failing of the hind limbs ; the appetite is now impaired or
suspended, and the animal staggers as it walks : soon the
hind limbs drag along feebly, and with difficulty perform
their office ; the pastern joint is bent to the ground, and the
animal is supported upon it ; the other joints of the limbs
give way in turn, and the animal sinks down upon the ground.

It occasionally happens that cows left well, or apparently
so, in the pastures, at the close of day, will be found chilled
and palsied in the morning ; the attack has been sudden, but
it may be weeks before the animals are restored, and some
perhaps will never recover.

With respect to the treatment of this species of palsy,
bleeding will be serviceable in the first instance, followed by
warm cordial purgatives, in each dose of which there may be
an ounce of ginger, and half a pint of good ale. The bowels

THE OX AND THE DAIRY. 229

must be kept freely relaxed : this is most essential ; the
animal should be comfortably housed, and well littered ; and
a rug or coarse blanket should be thrown over the loins,
which latter may be well rubbed occasionally with a stimu-
lating embrocation, as turpentine, olive oil, and hartshorn
(or liq. ammonias) ; or blisters may be produced by thoroughly
rubbing in the blister ointment.* The food should consist
of gruel, with a little hay, and green fodder. In three or
four weeks, if all goes on well, recovery will take place.

Nux vomica, or its principle strychnine, have been recom-
mended in these cases ; and in France, the former has been
given with success, in ounce doses. It is not a medicine to
be used rashly, or by any but a veterinary surgeon, in the
treatment of cattle.

EPILEPSY.

In many animals, particularly such as are kept in con-
finement and fed high, epilepsy is a frequent disease ; but it
is not of common occurrence among horned cattle, and
indeed, then, it is chiefly in young cattle that it takes place.
Young beasts in high condition, excited by overdriving, or a
sultry state of the atmosphere, are the most liable to be
seized with it. It arises from a sudden determination of blood
to the head: the animal suddenly staggers, reels and falls, the
limbs are convulsed, often violently, the flanks heave with aston
ishing force, the jaws are clenched, the teeth grind, the mouth
foams with froth, and the faeces and urine are discharged
involuntarily. Sometimes the animal bellows loudly, but
this is not always the case. The fit varies greatly in duration;
sometimes it is over in half a minute, at other times it may
last for many minutes ; the convulsions gradually cease, the
animal rises staggering and bewildered, it gazes around, and
gradually recovering its faculties, commences its repast as
before. It is seldom that an animal which has fallen in a fit
of epilepsy has not a return of the complaint, perhaps even
during the same day, and that more than once. The disease is
in fact liable to become habitual, the fits following each other at
shorter intervals, till in one of more than usual severity the
animal dies. Bleeding, active aperients, and a restricted diet,
are the only remedies, with a seton in the dewlap, or on the

* One drachm of tartar emetic, with six of lard, make a powerful irritant,
causing a pustular eruption of the skin, when properly rubbed, and is useful in
cases where blister ointment is inadmissible.

230 THE OX AND THE DAIRY.

sides of the neck. If by these measures, actively pushed, no
return of the convulsive fits occurs for several weeks, the
beast may be cautiously prepared for the butcher.

CHOKEA, OK ST. VlTUS's DANCE.

Chorea is a frequent disease in young dogs, and occurs
either with the distemper, or after it. That singular affection
of the limbs of the horse, called string-halt, appears to
be a species of chorea. In horned cattle the disease is
not known to occur.

TETANUS, OR LOCKED JAW.

This terrible malady is less common in the ox than in the
horse, but when it comes on it is equally unmanageable.
It is generally the effect of severe punctured wounds; in
working oxen it may be produced by incautious shoeing, one
or more nails being rudely driven to the quick. Long and
severe travel will produce it, and it often makes considerable
ravages among the droves of cattle, during their toilsome
and exhausting journeys from the north to the southern
markets. Mr. Youatt assures us, that tetanus stands at the
head of the list of those diseases which sweep away the
greatest number of victims from the herds travelling south-
wards. Unfortunately tetanus is generally confirmed before
its approach even is suspected ; nay, it is not then always
immediately discovered. The animal stands in the field
motionless, with its head stretched out, and the neck rigid.
At first perhaps no notice is taken of this, but the animal
still continues, having scarcely stirred a yard from the spot,
but in the same fixed attitude ; its appearance excites alarm,
the muscles of the jaw are found to be spasmodically con-
tracted, and the jaw firmly set or locked. What is to be
done must be done promptly, for in a short time it will be
too late to attempt anything. Blood must be taken in a
full stream, till symptoms of fainting manifest themselves,
and the animal staggers. This may relax the muscles, and
the opportunity must be instantly taken to give a powerful
aperient, as half a drachm of the farina of croton-nut in a
little gruel ; this medicine may be then followed up, if prac-
ticable, by full doses of salts, a pound in solution with
ginger, and afterwards at due intervals (every six hours) by
small doses. These medicines may be assisted by copious
and repeated injections, consisting of salts dissolved in five

THE OX AND THE DAIRY. 231

or six quarts of water. Let the medicines be given slowly
and gradually, or they will pass into the paunch, and pro-
duce no effect, but by giving them gently and gradually they
pass into the fourth stomach. When the bowels begin to act
freely, then recourse must be had to that powerful anti-
spasmodic, opium. A drachm or a drachm and a half of the
powdered opium, suspended in gum-water, or linseed-tea,
may be given twice or three times a day. Still the action of
the bowels must be kept up by doses of salts, sulphur, and
ginger, and a seton may be introduced into the dewlap.
During this time the back, loins, neck, and head, should be
covered with sheepskins, or thick rugs, to induce perspiration :
and the jaws and neck often rubbed with a stimulating em-
brocation, as spirit of turpentine, camphorated oil, ammonia,
and laudanum. Some persons have recommended the pouring
of cold water over the body by means of buckets, the stream
being continued for a considerable time ; but we doubt the
benefit of such treatment.

We have drawn up a favourable case ; we have supposed
the bleeding to have relaxed the muscles of the jaws, and the
purgatives to have operated effectually.

But suppose the most profuse bleeding has not caused the
relaxation of the jaws ; it has been repeated, but the spas-
modic condition of the muscles remains. The case is hopeless.

Suppose the medicines take no effect. In this case we
may conjecture very safely that the draughts have passed
into the paunch, and remain there inert. The most direct
method is to have recourse to the stomach-pump, if it can be
applied. The tube must be passed down the gullet, into the
paunch, or rumen, and warm water be injected into that
compartment till it overflows ; the contents will then either
be discharged by the action of vomiting, or they will pass
through the third and fourth stomachs into the intestines, and
the desired purgative effect will ensue. If the contents of
the stomach be rejected, the aperient medicines must be
again resorted to.

We are quite aware that all these plans are more easily
directed than put into practice. The stomach-pump for
cattle is not in the possession of every farmer, the fleam is
mislaid or lost, there are no medicines to be obtained im-
mediately,— none perhaps are kept on the farm, — and the
nearest veterinary surgeon is absent: under these circum-
stances what is to be done ? Bleed, and bleed freely ; a sharp

232 THE OX AND THE DAIEY.

penknife adroitly used will open the jugular vein ; let injec-
tions and fomentations be in the mean time prepared, and
let some one be sent off for the proper medicines, or for the
veterinary practitioner, who, understanding the case, will (or
ought to) bring them with him. Let us suppose that the
beast recovers, the disease and the remedies have given a
shock to the system not easily surmounted ; nay, a relapse
may take place, against which it is hopeless to contend.
What is the plan most advisable under all these circum-
stances ? Cautious and gradual preparation for the butcher.
The food should be at first suited to the animal's enfeebled
frame ; gruel and mashes, with a little ale occasionally added ;
a small quantity of succulent green fodder may be also given
from time to time, but nothing requiring laboured mas-
tication ; for the very action of the muscles of the jaws is apt
to bring on sudden cramps and spasms, indicative of the
irritability of the nerves which supply them. By slow
degrees the diet may be amended, and the animal at length
restored to good condition. After all, it is an expensive and
unsatisfactory affair, and at whatever price the farmer may
sell the beast, he will not be remunerated.

OBSTRUCTION OF THE GULLET, OR CHOKING.

All roots given to cattle should be first cut into small
pieces ; carelessness in this point is inexcusable. It is not
because roots have been given several times, without being
chopped up, and no evil consequences have ensued, that the
farmer or his servant may plume themselves on their security.
If they neglect this precaution they will most surely rue it
some day. One of the cows or oxen, carelessly masticating,
will swallow a large portion of turnip or parsnip, or perhaps
a whole potato, and it will remain fixed in the 'gullet ; firmly
impacted sometimes at its commencement, occasionally lower
down, and often within a few inches of the dilatation of the
oesophagus, where it joins the rumen. It may be felt exter
nally, and there can be little mistake about the matter.
What ensues? — difficulty of respiration; violent husking;
spasmodic action of the muscles of deglutition ; repeated and
violent contractions of the abdominal muscles — all laboured
efforts to expel the impacted root : the neck is strangely
arched, the nose poked forward ; mucus drips from the
mouth ; and the alvine evacuations are frequent, perhaps
involuntary But this is not all ; if the animal be not

THE OX AHU l±iE DAIRY.

relieved it becomes hooven ; that is, the stomach becomes
distended with gas, the diaphragm, and consequently the
lungs are oppressed, and the animal is in imminent danger.
Something must be done, arid done promptly. The farmer
knows it : he secures the head of the beast ; puts a balling-
iron or some rude gag in the mouth, and then forces down
the handle of a cart-whip, a stiff piece of cord, or a long
stave, in order to drive the obstructing object into the rumen.
This rude treatment, it is true, sometimes succeeds ; but it
often happens that the gullet is frightfully lacerated, and the
animal dies in consequence.

Now, in these cases, if the obstructing substance be at the
commencement of the gullet, it may often be withdrawn by
the hand, the arm being defended by the ordinary balling-
iron. But if this is impossible, the obstruction being too
low down, a probang must be used. Several very ingenious
instruments of this kind have been invented, some with
screws in the end to fix into the substance, some with spring
forceps to grasp it ; a wooden gag being placed in the mouth
and there secured, having a perforation of sufficient extent to
allow the probang to pass through. These are no doubt ad-
mirable instruments in the hands of the practised veterinary
surgeon, but we are not so sure that they would prove success-
ful in the hands of the farmer, even if he possessed them.
They require nicety and practice in their management.

When a skilful veterinary surgeon is not on the spot with
these or similar instruments, a good common probang, which
will not lacerate the gullet, may be readily made. A piece of
stout cane, between four and five feet long, must be procured,
or a long elastic peeled willow wand ; this must be armed at
the extremity with a piece of sponge, or cork, well secured,
and covered tightly with soft leather, so as to form an egg-
shaped bulb, with the broad end lowest. Lest this bulb,
however well secured, should by any chance slip, let both
ends of a piece of strong twine passed through it be wound
round the cane, and reach beyond the handle portion. Whale-
bone may be used instead of cane, but long strips of this are
not always to be obtained at the moment. The farmer, or
cattle-feeder, however, should always have a probang and an
oesophagus-tube in readiness.

In some cases the obstructing substance has been found to
be so rigidly impacted, that its removal by any other means
than bv opening- the oBsoplia.erns is impossible. This ope-

234 THE OX AND THE DAIRY.

ration can only be attempted by a good anatomist. Some-
times it is even necessary to puncture the distended rumen
in the left flank, for the purpose of letting out the gas, which
threatens suffocation.

HOOVE, OB DISTENTION OF THE STOMACH FKOM GAS.

When cattle, and especially such as have been kept on
scanty fare, are turned into rich pastures, or stray by accident
into fields of clover, lucern, or the like, they are apt to eat
ravenously, and take in a larger quantity of food than the
powers of digestion are capable of managing. The rumen
is overloaded ; its contents, from the effects of warmth and
moisture, begin to ferment, and large volumes of gas are
rapidly evolved ; the rumen soon becomes awfully distended,
even to bursting, for the pillars of the oesophagean canal are
closed tightly, and prevent the escape of the gas through the
oesophagus; and the more the rumen is distended, the more
firmly is this canal closed. The rumen now presses on the
diaphragm ; respiration and the action of the heart are greatly
impeded; the whole body of the animal, especially the left
side, is blown up till the very skin seems about to give way;
the tongue hangs from the mouth dripping with spume ; the
eyes are bloodshot and glazy; deep moans attest the torture
of the poor beast ; it crouches with its back bent up ; insensi-
bility comes on ; it staggers, it falls, it struggles convulsively,
and dies. We have known cows, well at night, found dead in
the morning from hoove, having strayed into an enclosure of
lucern or clover.

The first object in these cases is to procure the liberation
of the gas (at first carburetted hydrogen, but as the disease
continues, sulphuretted hydrogen), and this must be done
promptly. The cesophagus-tube, with its perforated bulb and
stylet, must be introduced through the oesophagus into the
rumen, and the stylet withdrawn ; a quantity of gas then
escapes, the flanks sink, the breathing is more easy, and the
animal is relieved. But this tube cannot be kept in the gullet
for any great length of time ; it must be withdrawn, and in
the mean time gas again accumulates. The tube may again
be introduced ; and afterwards measures must be taken to
relieve the stomach effectually. The stomach-pump must be
resorted to, and through its tube a quantity of warm water
thrown into the rumen, and pumped out again, until the acid
fermenting fluid is washed away, and perhaps a considerable

THE OX AND THE DAIKY. 235

portion also of the coarsely masticated contents besides ; after
which the process of rumination may go on, especially if the
stomach be roused by a pint of warm ale, with a few teaspoons -
ful of ginger.

Mr. Youatt recommends in these cases, after the first relief
is obtained, that chloride of lime, in the proportion of two
drachms to two quarts of water, should be thrown into the ru-
men by means of the stomach-pump, (the horn will not answer,
for from the closure of the pillars to the cesophagean canal, the
fluid thus administered will pass into the third and fourth
stomach.) The modus operandi of this medicine is as follows:
— Chlorine has a stronger affinity for hydrogen than for lime,
potass, or soda; consequently it separates from the lime, and
uniting with the hydrogen forms muriatic gas. This gas hav-
ing a strong affinity for water, is immediately absorbed by the
fluid contents of the stomach, and quitting its gaseous for a
fluid state is reduced to a very small volume, in the form of
a weak muriatic acid, while the lime is disengaged ; yet no
mischief will arise either from the corrosive acid or the caustic
lime, for there is an affinity between these again, so that they
combine and form an inert muriate of lime.

This, says Mr. Youatt, is " not mere theory, but when
brought to the test of practice is found to be verified in every
particular; hence has resulted one of the most important im-
provements on cattle medicine that modern times have pro-
duced." Chloride of lime is, or ought to be, in the possession
of every farmer, and always at hand. It may be requisite to
repeat this injection into the paunch in the course of a couple
of hours, should a fresh evolution of gas take place.

It often happens that urgent cases of hoove occur at a dis-
tance from the farm-house, or under circumstances in which
neither an cesophagus-tube nor a stomach-pump is accessible,
and something must be done immediately. Let the farmer
mark the prominence of the left flank, and plunge a sharp-
pointed knife into the distended rumen which there presents
itself so conspicuously. This will be followed by a rush of
gas, steam, fluid, and even portions of food. It is, however,
necessary to introduce a tube, for the wound will otherwise
close ; or, if this be not attainable, the orifice must be kept
open by means of a smooth piece of stick, or any other mode
that suggests itself at the time, until all the gas is liberated.
In this operation the danger does not arise from the wound of
the paunch, which is comparatively insensible, but from other

236 THE OX AND THE DAIRY.

causes — viz. from a puncture of the spleen or kidney, or from
the escape of the contents of the stomach into the abdomen,
producing peritoneal inflammation. The spleen and kidney
may be avoided if the following rule be adhered to : Let a line
be drawn close along the spinal column from the haunch bone
to the last rib ; from the ends of this line let two others of the
same length be drawn obliquely down the flank, the whole
forming an equilateral triangle ; the lower apex of this tri-
angle is the most suitable spot for the incision.

Though sometimes successful, this is a rude operation ; as
the stomach on the escape of the gas sinks, it too often hap-
pens that both fluid and solid matters are discharged through
the incision into the cavity of the abdomen, so that, although
the animal is relieved for the time, it ultimately sickens and
dies. It is, in fact, only strong necessity that can justify the
use of the knife ; the proper instrument for performing this
operation is a trochar, similar to that used by surgeons for
tapping the human subject in cases of dropsy. It consists of
a steel stylet, terminating in three sharp-edged facets converg-
ing to a fine point. It has a stout handle, and is sheathed in
a silver canula, or closely fitting tube, from the lower end of
which the point of the instrument emerges, while a rim or
guard around its base prevents its slipping into the abdomen.
When the instrument is plunged in, the steel stylet is with-
drawn, and the canula (four inches long) is left in the wound,
and secured there as long as may be necessary; it forms a
continuous tube from the stomach to the outer surface of the
flank, and is long enough to allow of the sinking of the rumen,
without danger of the escape of its contents into the abdomi
nal cavity. When all danger is over, the canula may be re-
moved, and the wound closed by firm adhesive plaster. Car-
minative aperients, as salts, ginger, and caraway powder, may
be given in order to clear the bowels, and diminish the chance
of inflammation. Mashes may then be allowed, but the animal
must be restricted for some time in its food.

In some districts it is the practice, we believe, in cases of
hoove, to throw pailfuls of cold water over the animal ; the
object is to produce sudden shocks, during which the pillars
of the oesophagean canal sometimes yield, and allow the gas
to escape ; occasionally, however, the stomach gives way in-
stead of these muscular pillars, and the beast is lost. Sucking
calves occasionally become hooven from some accidental cause ;
they are apt to suck various objects, even each other's ears.

T*HE OX AND THE DAIRY. 237

drawing in and swallowing a great quantity of air ; they may
be readily relieved by the introduction of a tube or probang.

DISTENTION OF THE EUMEN WITH FOOD.

It is not always easy to discriminate between distention of
the rumen with food, and hoove. In both cases the abdomen
and flanks are distended, but, in the former, the left flank
feels hard and firm, and is less protuberant than in hoove,
and these particulars being taken into consideration with the
character of the food recently swallowed, will generally lead
the farmer or practitioner to form a correct opinion. Never-
theless the probang and tube should be always used, lest there
be gas in the stomach, and even if there be none, the instru-
ment will serve to indicate the extent to which the rumen is
filled.

This disease generally occurs in stalled cattle fed upon
unboiled potatoes, uncrushed oats, and other indigestible
materials. It is termed by farmers grain-sick, or maw-bound.

If the stomach be not relieved, inflammation comes on, and
the animal dies ; and, in severe cases, prompt measures are
necessary, for the pressure on the diaphragm, and the conse-
quent oppression of the heart and lungs, are soon followed by
insensibility and death.

At all times it is desirable to know the exact nature of the
food swallowed, for this may require some modification of the
plan of relief to be pursued; indeed, if the rumen be dis-
tended with hard heavy materials, as potatoes, an operation
may be imperatively demanded.

Should the case be not severe, the animal may be made to
move about; and a drench be given, composed of carmina-
tives and aperients, followed by other doses at intervals, till
the medicine operates: injections should be also administered,
and it may be advisable to take away some blood. After the
action of the aperients, the process of rumination may be ex-
cited by cordials. In severer cases the animal will not be able
to move, and must not be disturbed ; indeed the difficulty of
respiration forbids any measures but those tending to im-
mediate relief. Supposing that the stomach be distended by
light materials, as wheat-chaff, chopped straw, and the like,
the contents may be extricated by means of the stomach-
pump, a quantity of water being first thrown in, and then
immediately pumped out, when some of the matter will be
returned with it: this process may be repeated. It may

238 THE OX AND THE DAIRY.

happen, however, that the tube of the stomach-pump becomes
stopped up by the chaff, and the action of the machine im-
peded. Under such circumstances success has followed the
injection of water into the rumen, until it begins to react
upon its contents, and discharge them by vomiting. When
this ceases, carminative aperients must be given, and repeated
till the bowels work freely. The drenches must be aided by
clysters. The recovery of an animal in cases of this nature is
generally slow ; it is long before the stomach regains its tone,
and a healthy appetite returns ; this should be remembered
with reference to the diet, which ought to be restricted, and
consist in a great measure of gruel.

In cases when the stomach is gorged to the full with solid
heavy food, as undigested potatoes, unaltered grain, and simi-
lar materials, which no stomach-pump can remove, or efforts
in vomiting throw off, while approaching dissolution threatens,
one plan is yet left, viz. a bold operation. A free incision of
about five inches long must be made through the left flank
into the rumen ; a rush of the more fluid contents will im-
mediately take place, and after the stream has subsided the
operator must introduce his hand, and carefully remove all
the solid masses of food, and empty the paunch completely.
Great care, however, must be taken that no food escapes from
the paunch into the abdomen, and the wound must be sewed
up. This is a dangerous operation, less perhaps from the in-
cision into the rumen, which will bear severe treatment with
comparative impunity, than from the escape of food into the
abdomen, and the inflammation it will necessarily engender,
which will certainly prove fatal.

LOSS OF CUD.

Loss of cud not only proceeds from the causes to which we
have just alluded, but is often a marked symptom in other
complaints, and may be taken as a sure evidence of disorder
of the digestive organs. In severe inflammatory diseases
rumination is generally suspended, as well as in states of con-
stitutional debility and prostration of strength. In the former
case the stomach will recover its powers as the animal im-
proves ; in the latter case the restoration of the strength by
tonics, as gentian, is required, and cordials, with gentle aperi-
ents, may be also given ; as four ounces of salts, one ounce of
powdered gentian, and half an ounce of ginger, with a little
ale and gruel, every other morning.

.THE OX AND THE DAIRY. 239

Loss of cud is often produced by an accumulation of dry or
noxious vegetable matter between the foliations of the third
stomach or manyplus, and to this affection we shall at once
proceed.

RETENTION OF FOOD IN THE MANYPLUS, CALLED CLUE, OR
FARDEL-BOUND.

We have described the manyplus as a sac provided internally,
with numerous foliations or duplications of its articular lining,
covered with multitudes of rough or hardened papillae. In
this stomach the food undergoes its last preparation for the
abomasum, or true digesting stomach : it is situated between
the liver and the right sac of the rumen, so that, when over-
distended, it will press upon the former. Not unfrequently it
may prove an obstruction to the return of blood to the heart.

As dissection after death proves, there are few severe dis-
eases, especially of an inflammatory nature, as catarrh, en-
teritis, pleuritis, fever, &c., in which the manyplus is not
affected ; generally it contains between its duplicatures layers
of comminuted vegetable matters tightly pressed, and as dry
as hardened oatcake. At other times it is full of a soft pul-
taceous mass, emitting a putrescent arid most disgusting
odour. In both these cases no nutrient matter passes into
the abomasum, the door of communication being blocked up.
Sometimes the duplicatures of the manyplus are found to be
gangrenous, and the abomasum in a state of high inflam-
mation.

But it is not only from sympathetic inflammation, and con-
sequent loss of function, that the manyplus is liable to suffer;
it is often the seat of original disease, sometimes slow or
chronic in its course, sometimes rapidly terminating in death.

The causes of this disease are obscure. It has been at-
tributed to acrid plants ; to a sudden change of diet, as from
green fodder to hay, especially if bad ; to coarse and fibrous
food, whether green or dry. Sometimes it rages in certain
districts, and produces great mortality.

As the causes are obscure, so are the symptoms. Oases
have occurred in which the dried food must have been lying
in the manyplus for several weeks (as was proved by the
nature of the food) without materially affecting the animal's
health. At other times an animal, previously in perfect
vigour, is suddenly taken ill, and, in spite of all that can be
done, falls and dies.

240 THE OX AND THE DAIRY.

Generally speaking, this disease comes on with dulness,
dryness of the muzzle, and protrusion of the tongue ; the
pulse is quick and hard ; the membranes of the eyes and nos-
trils are bloodshot ; the eyes are starting, the head is ex-
tended, the limbs are tottering, and the animal is unwilling
to move. The bowels are constipated ; the urine scanty, and
either red or dark-coloured. In cows the secretion of milk is
either stopped, or the milk is offensive both to taste and
smell. As the disease gains ground, the determination of
blood to the head becomes more manifest, the animal loses
consciousness, the abdomen swells, the frame trembles, the
eyes are glairy, the limbs become cold, and the animal sinks
torpid. Many or most of these symptoms occur in other
inflammatory diseases; consequently the diagnosis is by no
means easy, nor are there any which enable the practitioner
to say whether the food in the manyplus is divested of its
juices, or is in a pultaceous state ; yet these differences must
result from separate causes. In the first instance we must
suppose a violent contraction of the manyplus from some irri-
tation, producing a firm pressure of the comminuted vegetable
matter between the leaves of the stomach, which latter, act-
ing like a screw-press, forces out the juice and superadded
moisture of the mass, converting it into hard, dry, friable
layers, which may be crushed to powder. In the second
instance the inflammatory action of the stomach must pro-
duce a sort of paralysis, or loss of power, so that no action is
exerted on the accumulating pultaceous matter, which gradu-
ally becomes putrid. But it would appear that in some part
of the stomach the leaves may exert pressure, while in another
part there is loss of power.

With respect to the treatment of this disease, when it occurs
as a primary affection, much depends on its severity : the ab-
straction of blood will relieve the system ; and this must be
followed by copious aperient draughts, poured gently down
the gullet, or slowly injected by the stomach-pump, the tube
of which must be introduced for some distance into the oeso-
phagus. The object is to throw the medicine into the many-
plus, and thence into the abomasum, without its being forced
through the pillars of the oesophagean canal into the paunch.
A free operation of the medicine is a favourable symptom.
Some writers recommend that a gentle stream of warm water,
with a little Epsom salts dissolved in it, be transmitted into
the manyplus, through the tube of the stomach-pump, with

THE OX AND THE DAIRY 241

the object either of diluting and carrying forward the pul-
taceous mass; or, on the other hand, of softening and break-
ing down the dry friable layers, and washing them into the
abomasum. We doubt not that a perseverance in this plan
might be productive of benefit ; and certainly it could produce
no evil consequences. Should the animal recover, the great-
est caution relative to its diet is requisite. This should con-
sist only of emollient mashes and thin gruel, till the stomach
is enabled to take by degrees the most simple green food.

It appears to us that two diseases, termed wood-evil and
red water, are mere modifications of this affection of the
stomach, or are symptomatic of its existence ; and it is under
this impression that we here notice them. They certainly
are intimately connected with debility and functional derange-
ment of the digestive organs ; and an accumulation of matter
is always found in the manyplus.

WOOD-EVIL, MOOR-ILL, OR PANTAS.

This disease is brought on in cattle by their devouring the
acrid buds of trees, by bad winter provision, by impure water,
and similar causes. It comes on with febrile symptoms, heat
of the mouth, and quickness and hardness of the pulse ; the
coat is staring, the skin hide-bound; the eyes and nostrils
are bloodshot, the thirst is great, and there is obstinate con-
stipation of the bowels. The beast loses flesh, and exhibits
a capricious appetite ; it will pick up bones, sticks, pieces of
linen, &c., and grind them for a long time in the mouth ; the
filthiest puddle is preferred to clear water ; the urine is gene-
rally scanty ; it has a red tinge, and a penetrating odour ;
the milk is affected and disgusting ; there is an indisposition
to move, and the animal utters moans indicative of internal
pain ; the shoulders and chest are stiff, the flanks heave, the
limbs are unsteady, and the brain shows signs of congestion.
Such are the symptoms in violent cases, in which, if the dis-
ease be not arrested, the animal dies. The appearances ob-
served on dissection after death are inflammation of the
bowels, of the fourth stomach, sometimes of the lungs, and
a repletion of the manyplus with undigested and generally
compressed vegetable matter. In these cases bleeding and
aperients are the principal remedies ; but in milder cases,
where there is little or no febrile action, aperients alone may
be trusted ; or, if the abstraction of blood be deemed advis-
able, a small quantity only need be taken. A good aperient

R

THE OX AND THE DAIRY.

medicine may consist of six drachms of Barbadoes aloes, six
ounces of Epsom salts, two drachms of ginger, and a quart of
thin gruel. Another, perhaps, generally speaking, to be pre-
ferred, may be made with eight ounces of Epsom salts, eight
ounces of olive oil or linseed oil, and a quart of thin gruel.

RED WATER AND BLACK WATER

This disease must not be confounded with acute inflam-
mation of the kidneys, attended by hemorrhage, which tinges
the water with blood. Eed water is indeed so called from the
colour of the urine, and we have stated that such is its colour,
in cases of retention of food in the manyplus, and in wood-
evil ; but it is very doubtful whether the colour, in these
diseases, is at all owing to the presence of blood. Mr. K.
Thompson attributes it to the absorption of vitiated bile,
which, passing into the blood, stains all the secretions ; and
this opinion is corroborated by the fact that, in red water at
least, the liver is enlarged, inflamed, sometimes rotten, and
the gall-bladder distended with thick dark bile. This is the
view taken by most veterinary surgeons of the present day ;
and, as Mr. Spooner observes, it is " supported both by an
analysis of the urine, and an examination of the viscera, in
fatal cases."

As to the connexion of red water with disorder of the many-
plus, we have the express testimony of many experienced
practitioners. Mr. Youatt says, " The manyplus is perfectly
dry; baking could hardly add to the hardness ; were it not for
its weight it might be kicked about as a football. The leaves
of the manyplus cling to the food contained between them ;
the papillae leave their evident indentations on the hardened
mass ; and that mass cannot be detached without considerable
portions of the cuticle clinging to it. The fourth stomach is
empty, and the lining membrane covered with brown mucus,
exhibiting patches of inflammation underneath .... The
kidney is of a yellowish brown colour, and sometimes a little
enlarged ; but there is rarely any inflammation or disease
about it." He adds, that the lungs have a yellow tinge, and
the fluid in the pericardium is yellow, the chyle in the lacteals
yellow, the skin dark yellow, and also the conjunctiva of the
eye. These are symptoms of jaundice.

Mr. White (late veterinary surgeon of the First Dragoons)
states that, after a careful examination, he is of opinion that
red water originates in weakness of the stomach, from feeding

THE OX AND THE DAIRY. £43

on bad hay during the winter. " In cows that have died of
this disorder we almost always find an accumulation of the
fibrous parts of hay, in the third or foliated stomach, com-
pressed into thin cakes, and matted together. The cuticular
coat of the leaves of the stomach generally separates with
those cakes of matted fibres, and the muscular coat is found
weakened and distended."

There is considerable variety in the symptoms of this
malady. Sometimes the urine is but slightly altered, some-
times it is of a deep yellowish red ; at other times brown and
turbid, and even of a blackish tint. When the latter is the
case, it is termed black water. We can easily conceive that,
from the continued bilious irritation of the kidneys, their
minute vessels may at length begin to pour out blood ; but,
granting this to be the case, we are not to attribute the seat
of the disease to these great excretory organs — they are pas-
sive sufferers only; we might as well regard the yellowness of
the conjunctiva as indicative of disease of the eye. We need
not wonder that, from the same cause, there is often distressing
strangury, nor that dysentery should precede obstinate con-
stipation of the bowels.

Practitioners, though they mostly agree as to the chief
organs affected during the progress of the disease called red
water, differ in their opinion as to its exciting cause : each
judges from his own experience. Some, for example, attribute
it to the noxious herbage of low undrained swampy lands ;
and there is no doubt that in such situations it is often preva-
lent. Others consider that it is of most frequent occurrence
in dry and hilly districts, where little grass and less water is
to be obtained during a hot summer, and instance localities of
this description where it rages like an epidemic : we believe
that they also are correct. Peat and moss lands have been
known to produce this disease. It will result from feeding
on the budding leaves of copses in spring, and the decaying
leaves in autumn ; and at these two seasons of the year it
is most especially prevalent. A diet of bad hay during the
winter will cause it ; so will a sudden change of pasturage.
The disease often occurs in cows after calving, perhaps from a
change of diet, or some mismanagement; change of pasturage,
from a stony or flinty soil to a heavy clay soil, has been known
to cause it. It sometimes ravages a farm ; while in the next,
divided from the other only by hedgerows, it is unknown. Of
two adjoining fields, one may be dangerous the other safe;

THE OX AND THE DAIRY.

nay, a field safe during certain parts of the year, may be
dangerous during another. Atmospheric influences may also
have their effect ; for it sometimes appears as an epidemic of
a malignant character. Whatever, in fact, affects the digestive
organs, including the liver, may give rise to attacks of this
often fatal malady.

As we have already said, red water must he distinguished
from inflammation of the kidneys, which is often combined
with enteritis. True red water commences with dulness,
languor, and loss of appetite ; rumination ceases ; the urine
is at first brownish, and then of brownish yellow, and ulti-
mately appears like dark porter : sometimes there is great
strangury, but this is not an invariable symptom. The skin
is of a dirty yellow ; the eyes and nostrils are suffused with
yellow, as is also the little milk that the cow may yield : its
taste and odour are unpleasant. If blood be drawn, the
serum, which separates from the coagulum, is of a brownish
yellow. The pulse is quick; the animal can scarcely be
forced to move ; the loins are tender, and show signs of
weakness ; the ears and limbs become cold. At first dia-
rrhoea makes its appearance, but only at first ; but this sud-
denly stops, and is succeeded by obstinate constipation.
The urine now becomes even still darker ; the disease may-
be termed black water; the animal now rapidly sinks and
dies.

The duration of this disease, from its commencement to its
fatal termination, varies according to circumstances : it may
continue for weeks.

It is rarely, excepting in the early stage of the disease, that
the red water is curable. If the animal be robust, and the
slightest febrile action present, moderate bleeding will be
beneficial, but the flow of blood should be stopped as soon as
the pulse is the least degree faltering. Some practitioners
dislike the abstraction of blood in this malady, but we can
see.no danger if caution be used; and both Mr. Simonds
of Twickenham, and Mr. Harrison of Ormskirk, who have
had extensive experience in its treatment, resort, unless there
be good reason for the contrary, to this mode of treatment.
The next step is the administration of purgatives and injec-
tions. The purgative draughts should be gently poured down
the gullet, or slowly thrown down by means of the patent
stomach-pump ; a good aperient drench may consist of twelve
or fourteen ounces of Epsom salts, four ounces of sulphur,

THE OX AND THE DAIRY.

half an ounce of carbonate of ammonia, and half an ounce of
ginger, in thin gruel or warm water.

After the first drench, smaller doses should succeed at in-
tervals of six or eight hours, with a repetition of the injec-
tions; until the bowels act freely. Mr. Harrison states, that
he has seen a scruple of calomel, given in a pint of yeast,
produce purging when other remedies have failed, the life of
the animal being thus saved when there was little hope.

After the bowels have been well purged, tonics and diuretics
may be given ; as a drachm of ginger, a drachm of gentian (in
powder), and an ounce of spirit of nitrous ether in a little
gruel twice a day.

As the animal improves the skin will become clear, the
breathing easy, and appetite will return : still the urine, from
previous irritation of the kidneys, may continue dark coloured
or black. Under these circumstances, a few doses of oil of
turpentine and laudanum (of each one ounce) in linseed tea
may be given with advantage. Great attention must be paid
to the diet, which should consist of mashes, gruel, linseed
tea, and fresh vetches or meadow-grass, but never in large
quantities at a time.

CONCRETIONS IN THE STOMACH AND MECHANICAL OBSTRUCTIONS OF
THE ALIMENTARY CANAL.

Cattle are very apt, urged by some morbid condition of the
stomach, to swallow various strange articles, as linen, leather,
pieces of iron, &c., and such for example as handkerchiefs and
other parts of dress, shoes, gloves, scissors, pieces of wood,
bits of coal, and the like. Numerous instances of this nature
are on record, and many farmers, no doubt, could supply
others from their own personal experience.

Occasionally no mischief appears to result from this un-
natural act, but generally the presence of these matters in the
rumen produces irritation ; the due performance of rumina-
tion is interrupted, the animal is dull, aperients have no
beneficial effect, it becomes worse, and at last dies ; when, the
stomach being opened, the cause of the mischief is discovered.
Scissors and other sharp instruments will sometimes work
their way through the coats of the rumen, and protrude be-
tween two of the ribs ; frequently they pierce the pericardium
and cause death. Large substances interfering with the action
of the rumen, while the animal still continues to feed, conduce
to the distention of that viscus, and occasionally, on the per-

246 THE OX AND THE DAIEY.

formanse of the operation of opening that sac, the source of
the evil is detected and removed.

It very often happens that bits of stick, iron, or stone,
taken into the stomach form the nucleus of a large globular
calculus, consisting of the various compounds of lime or silex,
beautifully arranged in concentric layers. These concretions
are extremely firm and hard, and when sawn into two pieces
the flat surface of each takes as glossy a polish as marble.
They vary in size ; we have seen specimens of extraordinary
magnitude. It is in the rumen principally, if not exclusively,
that these calculi of the stomach are found, and their presence
is often unsuspected until after death. Yet we cannot sup-
pose that they produce no derangement of the digestive
organs, and we believe that they are most commonly to be
met with in beasts that do not thrive well, and that manifest
irregularity of appetite. Whether they cause this, or are
themselves the results of some morbid action continuing to
exert an unfavourable influence, may be a matter of opinion ;
but of one thing we may be sure, they will not tend to the
abatement of the morbid condition of the stomach which con-
duced to their formation : the rule of action and reaction may
be reasonably suspected.

Cattle are prone to lick their own hides and the hides of
each other. The hair swallowed passes into the stomach and
becomes matted, by means of the saliva and mucus, into balls;
a nail, a bit of stick, or a portion of fibrous vegetable matter,
sometimes, but not always, constituting their nucleus. These
bird's-nest-like balls are found both in the rumen and the
abomasum. In the former, they are often mingled with
vegetable matters, with threads of cotton, linen or woollen,
with particles of earth, straw, and other substances. In the
abomasum, they consist exclusively of intertwined matted
hair. How long these balls may remain in the abomasum,
and what functional derangements they may occasion, it is
not easy to say. Sometimes, however, these balls either pass
into the intestinal canal, or are formed there, producing a
fatal obstruction. The farmer drenches the poor beast, but
to no purpose; not perhaps that the medicine fails in its
office, but a mechanical obstruction prevents its due opera-
tion ; this only adds to the animal's agony, and it dies worn
out by pain and perhaps inflammation. Could the nature of
the obstruction be ascertained, some measures perhaps might
be resorted to ; and even when circumstances lead to a sus-

THE OX AND THE DAIRY. 247

picion of the real state of the case, though it be suspicion
only, no harm can be done by acting as if it were confirmed.
Injections to a large extent of soap-water and oil should be
administered, and that repeatedly, and a pint of linseed oil,
with twenty grains of the farina of cro ton- seed, or twenty
drops of good croton oil may be poured slowly down the
gullet ; this purgative, with a little gruel, may be repeated
every eight or ten hours, till the obstruction be forced.
Should pain and fever render it desirable, blood must be
taken away, and it may be necessary to repeat the bleeding.

Balls of hair, however, are not the only mechanical obstruc-
tions of the alimentary canal. Balls of hard undigested
fibrous vegetable matters, sometimes mingled with hair,
threads, and extraneous articles, but by no means always so,
are often impacted in the lower bowels : medicines give no
relief, and the animal sinks after enduring indescribable agony.
The same treatment must be repursued as that already
described, and not unfrequently the hand, if the substance
be in the rectum, will better remove the obstacle than any
medicine. This observation applies both to hair-balls and to
hardened faBcal matter. Horses are very subject to this ob
struction, and it occurs frequently in cattle fed too much upon
dry food. Some recommend in these cases, besides purgative
medicines, injections of tobacco-water (an ounce of tobacco
infused in a gallon of boiling water), but in the use of this
injection great caution is requisite. We have known it pros-
trate the nervous system even to dissolution. It may be tried
as an ultimate resource. We are inclined to recommend in-
jections of oil, gruel, and laudanum (of the last two ounces),
in cases where the straining produces agony ; the opium may
not only ease the pain, but cause the muscular fibres of the
lower bowels to relax from their constriction, while it will not
interfere with the operation of the purgative medicines.

ENLARGEMENT OF THE MESENTERIC GLANDS.

We have said that, in the mesentery, to which the bowels
are attached, there are numerous glandular bodies through
which the lacteal s or nutrient ducts pass in their course to
the thoracic duct, or great receptacle of the chyle. In the ox,
as in the human subject and other animals, these glands are
liable to enlargement; they are affected with a scrofulous
disease, and in this condition arrest the currents of nutrition ;
the abdomen swells greatly, the limbs and frame become

248 THE OX AND THE DAIKY

emaciated, the eyes sunk, the membranes of the nose and
mouth pallid, the respiration hurried, the pulse quick, and
the prostration of strength extreme ; there is often an un-
pleasant 3ough and other symptoms of consumption, which
increase till the animal dies, almost a skeleton. Sometimes
tumours can be felt by passing the hand over the surface of
*he abdomen, but this is not always the case.

In such a disease little or nothing can be done. Doses of
mercury and opium, as two scruples of calomel and half a
drachm of powdered opium given every evening, with tonic
draughts (gentian, or infusion of cascarilla) during the day,
may perhaps mitigate the symptoms. To these remedies
occasional aperients may be added. Eight or ten grains of
iodide of potass, divided into two doses, may be given daily in
gruel, the quantity of the iodide being gradually increased to
ten grains for each dose. If this be used, the mercury and
opium must be omitted. Warm stabling and good food are
of course essential. After all, little, we repeat it can be
done ; the disease has generally made great progress before
it is suspected, and it runs its course. Frequently it is associ-
ated with a tuberculous state of the lungs, and also with
enlargements of the glands generally.

Though mature cattle are. not exempt from this malady, it
occurs most commonly in young weakly beasts, poorly fed,
and reared in low damp situations. Let it be remembered
that, as in consumption, the tendency to it is hereditary. It
is, in fact, a form of consumption the index of a scrofulous
diathesis.

POISONS.

Cattle sometimes partake of poisonous plants, as the wrater-
hemlock, the yew, and others, and perish in consequence ;
nor is it easy to determine from the symptoms alone that
they are suffering from such a cause. The animal is torpid,
and swells ; its thirst is excessive, but it refuses food ; it
grinds its teeth, evidently from agony; stamps, paws the
ground, strikes at its flanks, and sometimes rolls on the
ground, as if labouring under spasmodic pains of colic.

Occasionally the animal becomes infuriated, as if agitated
by frenzy ; this state of madness continues for a longer or
shorter period, ending in general palsy, torpor, and death.

Examination of the body, in these cases, reveals inflam-
mation of the paunch and reticulated stomach ; and often

THE OX AND THE DAIRY. 249

also of the abomasum and small intestines ; while the many-
plus is filled with hardened vegetable matter The cuticular
coat peels readily from off the muscular coat of the rumen and
reticulum or honeycomb — the sign of commencing disorgan-
ization ; and the abomasum is not unfrequently ulcerated.

If it be ascertained that an animal has fed on noxious
plants, instant recourse must be had to the stomach-pump ;
the stomach must be deluged with water until the rumen
overflows, and the contents are rejected by vomiting. Nor
will one operation of the land be sufficient, it must be re-
peated ; and afterwards smart aperients, consisting of salts,
oil, and gruel, must be slowly poured or injected down the
oesophagus, and repeated every six or eight hours until the
bowels are well purged.

Supposing that there be a mere suspicion that poison of
this kind (known to be accessible) has been taken, but that in
reality the symptoms arise from some distention of the rumen
only, attended by severe colic, still no harm will be done.
The rumen will be relieved, and the bowels emptied of irritat-
ing matter; and a cordial, with a little opium, will complete
the cure.

With respect to mineral poisons, it is not often that they
are accidentally swallowed by cattle. Arsenic may indeed be
given wilfully, and perhaps a piece of bread-and-butter,
sprinkled with arsenic for the destruction oi rats, may be left
carelessly in the way of cows, and devoured ; but these are
rare cases. No one can tell the cause of the horrible suffer-
ing endured by the poor animals ; they die, arid perhaps after
death the presence of poison is detected in the stomach. Let
us, however, suppose it to be known that arsenic has been
swallowed — what is to be done ? A quantity of lime-water or
of chalk and water must be injected into the stomach, and,
after remaining a few minutes, pumped out, a fresh quantity
being injected. This may be repeated two or three times,
and at last a fresh quantity injected and left, in order to neu-
tralize the arsenic, if any remain in the stomach. Aperients
of salts and oil must then be given, and their operation
assisted by clysters of oil, salt, and gruel.

Corrosive sublimate (bichloride of mercury, or oxymuriate
of mercury), though never given internally to cattle, is often
rashly used by ignorant persons as an external application to
ulcers, mangy spots, and other cutaneous affections. It is a
most dangerous remedy ; for it will pass into the system by

250 THE OX AND THE DAiliY.

absorption, and produce serious illness, or even death. The
animals become dull, they cease to ruminate ; frothy saliva
drops copiously from the mouth ; they moan, and move rest-
lessly; strike at their flanks, and are tormented with violent
and often bloody purging. After death, traces of active inflam-
mation appear in the intestines, and in the rumen, honey-
comb, and abomasum. In this case, the remedy will consist
of the white of a number of eggs beaten up, and mixed with
a little gruel : this mixture must be gently poured down the
gullet, and repeated every hour till the symptoms abate ;
aperients may afterwards be administered, and copious injec-
tions of gruel. Too often, however, all remedies prove use-
less ; frequently there is no time to have recourse to them.

We may now pass on to a consideration of some of the
more local and external diseases, or injuries to which cattle
are subject, the treatment of which, by the ignorant cow-
leech, often produces irreparable mischief.

There are two diseases to which the horse is subject, but,
as there is reason to believe, not the cow : we mean glanders
and farcy : at least no well-authenticated cases are on record.
One of the symptoms of farcy in the horse, is inflammation
and thickening of the absorbents, especially at the valves ;
the absorbents have a corded feel, and at greater or less dis-
tances along their course, where the valves are situated, small
tumours or buttons arise, arresting the current of the fluid
contained. Farcy is a highly contagious disease, and often
accompanies glanders ; but though true contagious farcy
either does not occur or very rarely occurs in the ox, inflam-
mation of the absorbents is not uncommon.

INFLAMMATION OF THE ABSORBENT VESSELS OF THE SKIN.

As in farcy the absorbents are corded and show buttons at
the valves along their course, these buttons become hard and
scirrhous, and some suppurate, and degenerate into ulcers.
This disease may be more or less extensive, and may result
from various causes, as from wounds rendered foul and
irritable by improper dressings, from diseased hoofs, or ulcers
of some of the joints of the limbs. The absorbents running
from these wounds or ulcers become irritated and inflamed,
and the whole system sympathizes. As soon as the ulcers
heal, the active inflammation of the absorbents subsides,
though a thickening or cording of their tissue may remain
for a considerable period. During the sta^e of inflammation

THE OX AND THE DAIRY. 251

the buttons often burst, and ulcerate, producing considerable
mischief. They are extremely difficult to heal, but still there
is no danger of contagion.

Mr. Youatt describes the cases of four oxen, which at dif-
ferent times, respectively, during the course of three years,
were seized with what the farmer to whom they belonged
considered as farcy : — cording of the absorbents, with farcy
buds or buttons extended up the limbs from the fetlock to
the fore-arm ; some of the buds were scirrhous, others in a
state of ulceration. In each instance the animal laboured at
the time under a severe cough. Simple treatment, and the
application of the hot iron to the buttons, effected restora-
tion to health ; the wounds healed, and the thickening of
the absorbents subsided, the cough at the same time dis-
appearing.

In two months afterwards, the cough and thickening of
the absorbents returned, and the same means were again
resorted to with the same success.

Although these were believed to be cases of farcy, and they
certainly bore a close resemblance to that disease, yet Mr.
Youatt is decidedly of opinion that it was in resemblance
only that the agreement consisted, and that when such cases
occur the farmer need not entertain serious apprehension
of the baleful disease known as farcy breaking out in his
herd.

DISEASES OF THE EYE AND EYELIDS.

The eye of the ox is very subject to injury from blows, from
thrusts with the prong of the stable-fork, and from the horns
of other cattle ; sometimes the eye itself is destroyed, some-
times bony tumours or excrescences are formed on the ring
of the orbit, and sometimes the superciliary ridge of the orbit
is fractured. In these cases little can be done, but they
ought never to have occurred. When the superciliary ridge
is fractured, the fractured portion must be readjusted as well
as possible, and secured by a bandage, and bleeding and pur-
gatives resorted to in order to allay fever and inflammation.
Bony excrescences may be sometimes removed by means of a
fine saw, the root being afterwards slightly touched by the
cautery. In other cases their growth may be checked and
exfoliation produced by the application of the cautery, at a
low temperature, but a fine saw or chisel is always preferable.
These excrescences not unfreqnently degenerate into a state

THE OX AND THE DAIRY.

of caries. The animal should be destroyed, and the sooner
the better.

Ophthalmia often arises in cattle from injury to the eye, or
from the presence of irritating substances lodged beneath the
eyelids. Sometimes it proceeds from constitutional causes
alone, and returns periodically : indeed, this form of ophthal
mia is hereditary, like consumption, and a radical cure is
almost hopeless. Ophthalmia arising from irritating sub-
stances, or from blows, generally yields to bleeding, to pur-
gatives and fomentations, or the goulard lotion (composed of
the liq. plumbi super-acetatis and water), with a little lauda-
num ; when the active inflammation is subdued, a lotion of
the sulphate of zinc (white vitriol) may be used with advan-
tage. Periodical ophthalmia, though relieved for a time,
usually terminates in blindness ; it might perhaps be treated
with good effect by small doses of calomel and opium,
repeated daily for a short time, and by mercurial lotions ; but
when the character .of the disease is ascertained, the farmer
prefers preparing the beast for the slaughter-house ; and
probably this is his best course.

Severe inflammation of the eyes, with eruptions about the
mouth, and swellings of the tongue and throat, often occur in
young cattle fed on wet pasture-lands, especially if much
wooded. Sometimes superficial ulcerations of the cornea
make their appearance, and if the case be rashly treated
blindness 'will ensue. It may be as well under these circum-
stances to take away a little blood ; gentle purgatives must
be administered, and the eyes fomented with warm water or
a decoction of poppy-head ; some prefer cold evaporating
lotions, as cold water with a little spirit, the goulard lotion,
and afterwards a weak wash of sulphate of zinc. Change of
locality is essential, and while the disease continues, the
animal should be housed.

Cataract and amaurosis or gutta serena are not unknown
among cattle ; the latter, however, is very rare. In the
aqueous chamber of the eye of the horse a small hair-like
parasitic worm, nearly an inch in length, has been occasion-
ally discovered ; and we believe that in the eyes of horned
cattle a similar parasite has been known to occur, accompa-
nied by the ordinary symptoms of ophthalmia.

The eyelids of cattle are frequently affected with diseases,
independent of the inflammation which extends to them in
cases of ophthalmia; the ed^es. alongr which the sebaceous

THE OX AND THE DAIRY. 253

glands open, are sometimes subject to a pustular eruption and
ulceration ; in these cases the skin is often mangy, and the
animals are in wretched condition. Aperients of sulphur,
and alteratives, consisting of one drachm of sethiops mineral
(sulphate of mercury), two drachms of nitre, and four 01
sulphur, given every night, will be found useful ; the eyelids
must be smeared with the ointment of nitrate of mercury
(ungt. hydrargri nitratis, P.L.), more or less diluted with pure
spermaceti ointment, or pure olive oil, every night and morn-
ing, by means of a camel hair-pencil (no iron must <5ome in
contact with the preparation). The ointment of the nitric-
oxide of mercury (ung. hydr. nitric- oxyd. P.L.) diluted in a
similar way is also valuable. This is essentially the golden
ointment, so much in vogue.

Warts occasionally form on the eyelids and prove trouble-
some : these may be removed by means of a sharp pair of
scissors, the places being afterwards touched with lunar
caustic. In weakly or aged cattle, ill-fed and out of condi-
tion, an oedematous or dropsical swelling of the eyelids not
unfrequently occurs, the cellular tissue being puffed up with
serum, infiltrated into it ; the tumefaction pits, upon pressure,
like dough. A restoration to good health and strength is the
only remedy.

In high-fed and fattening oxen, on the contrary, the
eyelids are found to be puffed up by some gas, which
distends the cellular tissue : a slight scratch with the point of
a lancet will allow of the escape of the gas, upon pressure ;
but it is better to let the eyelids alone, and give a dose of
physic.

The haw, or membrana nictitans, of the eyes, is sometimes
found to be swelled, inflamed, and even ulcerated from irrita-
tion ; and is not unfrequently enlarged and protruded in
consequence. Cooling mashes, as goulard lotion, with a
little laudanum, will diminish the inflammation, and after-
wards the astringent solution of sulphate of zinc (from two to
four grains to an ounce of pure water), must be applied two
or three times a day, to the part itself, a camel-hair pencil
being used for the purpose. This treatment, if persevered
in, will often effect a cure. Where fungous excrescences
sprout, they may be delicately touched by the caustic. The
haw should never be removed if possible ; this moveable
curtain cleanses and defends the surface of the eye, and its
loss is a serious inconvenience. In some cases, however, the

254 THE OX AND THE DAIRY.

veterinary surgeon may advise its excision, and to him alone
must the operation be intrusted.

FOUL IN THE FOOT, LOO, OB LOW.

The foot of the ox is extremely vascular ; the bones of the
toes are perforated by numerous veins and arteries ; the veins
are larger and more tortuous than in the horse, and are very
conspicuous on the pastern. It is from this vascularity that
sprains of the foot, to which from its bifid character it is
peculiarly liable, are so often followed in the ox by serious
consequences, or that accidental wounds produce so much
inflammation. Scarcely a drove of cattle passes along the
road, among which several of the oxen are not lame ; and it
is on the feet that the brutal drover ever and anon strikes
them to hurry them along, haply to their slaughter. Often
have we traced the course of a herd of oxen by the blood-
stains on the road : the feet are not only strained, the joints
swelled and inflamed, but the hoof is worn to the quick or
wounded by sharp flints, or thorns, or pieces of fractured
glass. Best, fomentations, and dressings of tar ointment for
the hoof, will generally effect a restoration ; but if the lame-
ness be severe, bleeding from the veins of the coronet, and
that to a considerable extent, is absolutely requisite ; for in the
joints of the toes inflammation sometimes induces anchylosis.
The veins may be opened by a sharp scalpel or drawing-knife,
by a lancet, or a small fleam. Severe wounds of the toes,
after being well washed, may be dressed with Friar's balsam
on a pledget of lint, rag, or soft tow, bound on by stout rollers
or bandages.

Thorns, nails, pieces of glass, &c., remaining unnoticed in
the foot, between the toes, or on the sole, often produce
unpleasant abscesses ; and inflammation of the parts within
the hoof, from over- driving on hard roads, will occasionally
end in the same result, especially if the horn be worn to the
quick. When oxen are pricked by a nail in bad shoeing (we
allude to working oxen), as is so frequently the case in horses,
abscesses and sinuses will form ; these are termed quittors
in the horse, and are not easily managed.

When a travelled beast continues lame after rest, sufficient
for the restoration of footsore cattle, or when a beast begins
to limp, the lameness rapidly increasing, let it be secured and
the foot carefully examined. Suppose a nail or similar sub-
stance be found driven into the sole, or any part of the hoof,

THE OX AND THE DAIRY. 255

common sense will direct its extraction, and its extraction will
be probably followed by a flow of purulent matter. Suppose
there be a punctured wound only, with inflammation and an
abscess more or less deeply seated : in both cases the hoof
around the spot must be neatly and cautiously pared down,
and, as far as it has separated from the parts beneath,
removed ; let the abscess be opened, and the purulent matter
have a free exit A poultice of linseed meal may be then
applied and changed twice a day, and in a few days, if all goes
on well, and healthy healing take place, a little butyr of anti-
mony sprinkled over the denuded part every day will induce
a new secretion of horn, while a simple bandage, or a pledget
of soft tow, bound over the whole, will be a sufficient dress-
ing. If fungous granulations appear, they may be levelled
with a sharp pair of scissors or a knife, and touched with
caustic.

If on examination of the foot of a lame animal no wound
appears, it will be necessary to try the hoof in every part by
a pair of pincers, and when the pressure gives pain, indicated
by the flinching or shrinking of the animal, let the horn be
there shaved away and the abscess laid open.

Perhaps, however, suppuration has not commenced, but
the inflammation is strong and active : under such circum-
stances, the foot must be well fomented, and afterwards
enveloped in a large linseed-meal poultice ; this will soften
the horny hoof, and promote the suppuration, while at the
same time it relieves the pain and inflammation. In due
time the abscess shows itself on the coronet, and must be
opened by a lancet ; the direction of the sinus should be
ascertained by a probe, and the horn shaved away along its
course so as to lay it open ; should there be several sinuses,
the same plan must be resorted to with each. Poultices must
now be renewed until healthy granulations appear, and every
particle of loose or unsound horn must be removed ; butyr of
antimony may now be lightly applied, or the wound may be
dressed with Friar's balsam on lint ; this must be renewed
every day, and a bandage wrapped firmly and evenly round
the hoof.

Cattle, especially such as are fattening upon stimulating
food, are subject to inflammation, cracks, soreness, fungous
excrescences, and a foetid discharge between the toes. If the
disease be neglected the inflammation extends ; in a few days
abscesses form and burst, and others succeed until the foot

250 THE OX AND THE DAIRY.

becomes completely disorganized : the animal in the mean
time wears away, and becomes a miserable object ; the toes
are now thrown far apart, the bones become carious, sinuses
extend in all directions, and purulent matter is profusely dis-
charged. In this state the animal may linger for several
months, until it dies worn out by pain and exhaustion.

A common but brutal remedy in these cases is to rub a
tarred rope or horse-hair line to and fro between the hoofs, in
order to remove the excrescences and stimulate the surface to
secrete healthy horn ; dressings of stimulant applications are
afterwards applied.

If the inflammation be high, bleeding from the veins of the
coronet and aperients are necessary. A linseed-meal poultice
may then be used, and renewed twice a day until suppu-
ration has taken place, and the sloughing ulcers assume
a healthy appearance. A little turpentine may be added
to the poultices. Fungous granulations must be touched
with the caustic, or sprinkled over with verdigris or sugar
of lead. In cases where there is a foul foetid discharge,
a lotion of a solution of chloride of lime will prove service-
able. When the ulcers are healthy, they may be dressed
with tincture of myrrh, or Friar's balsam. Stall-fed cattle
should be turned to grass.

Some practitioners recommend the application of the fol-
lowing ointment, as soon as the ulcers are cleared by the
poultice : viz. hog's-lard and turpentine, of each four ounces ;
melt together over the fire, and as soon as removed from the
fire, stir in one ounce of blue vitriol very finely powdered,
and continue stirring till the ointment is cold.

DISEASES OF THE SKIN.

Cattle kept in wretched hovels or cow-houses, or badly fed
on unwholesome food during the winter, are liable to mange.
It is said that too luxurious a diet will produce it, but we
have never known it result from such a cause : often, how-
ever, from neglect of cleanliness, and a scanty pittance of
innutritious food. It commences with a violent itching : the
tormented animal rubs itself against posts, palings, gates, or
the boles of trees ; the hair about the neck, shoulders, and
sides, is soon worn off, and the skin is red, thickened, and
rises in long ridges or creased folds. The cow becomes dull,
feeds little, loses flesh, and fails in her milk. In some
places a thick scurf appears, in others sores or scabs, from

THE OX AND THE DAIRY. 257

frequent and violent rubbings. Occasionally the surface of
the skin becomes covered with scabs, which peel off, and are
succeeded by foul ulcers. In the mean time the animal is
infested with lice ; they abound in myriads, tormenting the
miserable creature, and combine with the disease of the skin
to render it an object of disgust and apprehension. Not only
are these parasites communicated to healthy cattle in the
same field, but the disease of the skin also ; the slightest
contact, or the circumstance of lying on the same spot, is
sufficient to cause the communication either of the mange or
of the lice, or of both.

Cattle infected with the mange should be kept strictly
apart from all others ; the first thing to be done is to render
the skin as free from scurf, loose hairs, and dirt, as possible ;
this may be done by means of a wisp of straw, or the curry-
comb : then let a strong sulphur ointment be well rubbed in
with a hard brush.

The following ointment generally succeeds : —

Flowers of sulphur, one pound ; turpentine, four ounces ;
strong mercurial ointment, two ounces ; and Hnseed oil, a
pint. Warm the oil, and mix the turpentine and sulphur
with it, incorporating the whole well together; afterwards
add the mercurial ointment, by rubbing the whole together
in a large mortar, or by means of a stout spatula on a slab.

This ointment must be carefully applied to every part, and
will soon begin to take effect. In the mean time, it will be
well to give internally six or eight ounces of sulphur, with a
drachm or even two of sethiops mineral, every third day.

Some persons employ tobacco-water, as a lotion in this
disease, but this is a dangerous remedy ; it cai$es trembling,
sweating, utter prostration of strength, and sometimes even
death. Others use a strong solution of corrosive sublimate,
a still more dangerous application, and one which has caused
the death of cattle in numerous instances. We have alluded
to its effects when noticing poison. If this deadly poison is
deemed requisite in very inveterate cases (and it is better in
these cases to effect a gradual than a rapid cure), the follow-
ing prescription is recommended : —

PC Hydrarg. per-chlorid. . . . 3 ij.

Acid. Muriatic 3 ss.

Aquae destillat 3 XVJ- — M.

We purposely write the above prescription in this manner,
in order that it may be made up by no one (the veterinary

a

258 THE OX AND THE DAIEY.

surgeon excepted) but a respectable chemist. Before using
it the animal must be well washed with soap and water, by
means of a hard brush ; the lotion may then be applied in
small quantities, and not at once, over an extensive surface,
lest mischief occur. We cannot, however, conclude, without
strongly advising the farmer to have nothing to do with it
himself, nor to allow it to be applied by the cow-leech. The
veterinary surgeon will avail himself of it, only when all other
means have failed, and knowing the danger, will act with due
caution.

When cattle are infested with lice alone, these may be
destroyed by an ointment consisting of four or five ounces of
sulphur, four ounces of turpentine, and twelve ounces of
linseed oil. It is said that the powder of stavesacre, mixed
with lard and train oil, will kill these parasites. It is gene-
rally believed that the mange in cattle, like the scab in sheep,
and the itch in the human subject, is immediately caused by
the presence of numbers of a peculiar species of mite (acarus),
which produce minute pustules in the skin, within which
they live and multiply, and thus extend the disease from one
part to another: they are tiny skin-burrowers, tormenting
the animal, and feeding on the serum or water within the
pustules, caused by their irritating presence. Though this
is true with respect to the human subject and the sheep, we
do not know whether these minute parasites have been demon-
strated in the skin of horned cattle.

WABBLES.

Waroles are tumours on the skin of cattle, produced by the
presence of the larvae or maggots of a species of gad-fly, or
breeze (CEstrus Bovis, Clark ; Hypoderma Boms, Latr.), a dip-
terous insect, notorious in ancient as well as in modern days,
and which the Eomans, as Virgil states, termed asilus ; the
Greeks, oestrus.

Farmers are mostly careless about warbles ; but these sup-
purating tumours render the hide of the beast less valuable
to the tanner; so that, if for no other reason, the larvae
should be destroyed : the best way is by crushing them, and
pressing them out with the finger. It is some time after the
destruction and expulsion of the larva that the cell is filled
up ; even then a weakness and a disposition to crack remain
for a long period.

THE OX AND THE DAIRY. 259

WOUNDS, BRUISES, STRAINS, ETC.

Cattle are subject to wounds from various sources. They
often stab each other with their horns ; they sometimes run
against sharp hedge-stakes, or the points of sharp agricultural
implements, and similar articles. These wounds are some-
times very deep, and the cow-leech aggravates the mischief
by irritating applications : he applies the same to trifling
wounds, and converts an accident of little consequence into
an affair of some magnitude.

When an animal has received a deep and formidable
wound, as in the chest, the shoulder, the neck, or side, but
yet no vital organ is injured, the first thing to be done is to
prevent high fever and inflammation. Blood must be ab-
stracted, and saline aperients administered ; then let the
wounded part be well fomented with a decoction of poppy
heads, next covered with soft lint, and a large linseed-meal
poultice placed over it. These must be repeated till the
inflammation be subdued, and the wound begins to discharge
healthy purulent matter — the sign of the commencement of
granulations. It is requisite that the wound should heal up
from the bottom, arid that the matter should have a free vent ;
it will be now therefore necessary to introduce a tent or plug
of soft tow, of sufficient size, smeared with a digestive oint-
ment, which may consist of lard and turpentine, of each four
ounces. Melt these together, and add an ounce of verdigris
(acetate of copper). This will keep down the granulations at
the sides and upper part of the wound, while they are filling
up the bottom. It is sometimes necessary to enlarge the
external orifice of the wound to allow of the escape of matter ;
for if this be confined it will lead to extensive suppurating
sinuses, and other mischief.

It often happens that wounds bleed freeiy, some large
vessel being injured. This generally is not attended with
danger ; but if the flow of blood continue longer than is
deemed prudent (for it will relieve the animal), it may be
stopped by firm pressure adapted to the situation of the
wound. In managing this some judgment is requisite ; for it is
not always easy to secure the compress. The bleeding having
ceased, the treatment already described must be pursued.

If the sides of the chest of a beast be punctured, but as far
as can be told the lungs have escaped uninjured (for should
they be lacerated there will be little or no hope), the wound

260 THE OX AND THE DAIRY.

must be closed, and kept closed by stout adhesive plaster,
and the treatment recommended in pleuritis adopted. Bleed-
ing, aperients, and doses of nitre combined with digitalis and
tartarised antimony, are the chief medicines. The wound
must be looked at in a day or two, and healed by tents, as
described, from its deepest part ; if it discharges matter, this
must have vent externally. We need not say that the case is
pregnant with danger.

It not unfrequently happens that the abdomen is wounded,
and that some of the bowels protrude. These should be first
cleaned from dirt with warm water, and then be gently and
cautiously returned, even if be necessary to enlarge the wound
for the purpose, and to throw and secure the beast with cords.
The edges of the wound must then be brought together, and
secured with stitches of thread, in the skin only, or with
metallic sutures, which are better and not liable to give way.
A bandage should be neatly and closely applied, its folds
being brought round the body, and prevented from slipping.
The medicinal treatment will consist of bleeding, aperients,
£c., according to the symptoms which supervene.

In all these cases the aid of a veterinary surgeon is quite
indispensable. His anatomical knowledge will be called in
requisition, and the farmer must rely on his judgment.
Nerves, tendons, and ligaments are often lacerated by
wounds ; and injuries or fractures of bones may occur. The
peculiar line of treatment to be pursued in each case (and no
two cases will be precisely alike) must be directed by the
experienced practitioner.

When cattle meet with severe strains or bruises, it will be
often necessary to take away blood and administer aperients.
The injured parts must be well fomented, and afterwards
covered with a poultice, if the situation of the part will admit
of it. When the inflammation has subsided, but swelling
and stiffness remain, a stimulating embrocation of oil, harts-
horn, and turpentine, will be very useful.

It often happens that severe strains produce inflammation
of the fetlock or the pastern-joints, accompanied by swelling,
heat, and great tenderness. Bleeding from the veins of the
coronet, poultices, rest, and afterwards embrocations, consti-
tute the plan of treatment : blisters, should the stiffness not
subside, will be needful. Too frequently these strains of the
feet are neglected, and result in permanent lameness ; callus,
or a bony deposit, is formed around the joints, producing a

THE OX AND THE DAIRY. 261

ring-like exostosis, and the beast is crippled, and hobbles
along, suffering great pain at every step. In these cases,
neurotomy — that is, dividing, or rather cutting away, a small
portion of the sentient nerve which supplies these parts — is
recommended by Mr. Youatt; indeed, he was the first to
propose it, and his plan has been found successful. This
operation can be performed only by the veterinary surgeon.

GESTATION AND PARTURITION

The natural period of gestation is generally stated as two
hundred and seventy days, or nine calendar months, but
there is considerable variation in this respect ; according to
the experience of some breeders, the average is two hundred
and eighty-four, or two hundred and eighty-five days ; some-
times the period is still longer, and under these circumstances
the offspring mostly prove to be bull-calves. The pregnancy
of a cow may be determined by a practised ear, or by means
of the stethoscope, in as early a stage of it as six or eight
weeks. If the ear or instrument be applied to the right flank,
beginning on the superior part of it, and shifted backwards
and downwards, the pulsation of the head of the fo3tal calf
will soon be heard, twice as frequent at least as that of the
parent ; each pulsation will betray the double beating of the
foetal heart, and the rushing of blood through the vessels ot
the placenta will at the same time be audible.

The cow has now to nourish the foetus ; still for some
months, if in good condition and not half-starved, little differ-
ence will be perceived in the quantity of milk yielded. At
length the decline of milk is palpable, and for a month or
three weeks at least before the anticipated time of calving,
she should be allowed to dry. Cows in poor condition should
be dried at least two months before calving, otherwise from
deficiency of nutriment the calf will be stunted, weakly, and,
even if it live, of little worth. Too high and luxurious feed-
ing must on the other hand be avoided, for fever and inflam-
mation are then apt to follow parturition.

Besides the reasons for drying the cow before calving to
which we have alluded, another is, that if the animal be
milked too long, so that on calving the new milk descends
into the udder, while the flow of the old milk continues, there
is imminent danger either of puerperal fever, or of inflam-
mation of the udder. Experience has abundantly proved
that on these grounds alone, the cow (though yielding a

262 THE OX AND THE DAIRY.

tolerable supply) should be dried before the secretion of new
milk for the expected young one commences.

Other precautions must be taken with regard to cows in
the latter months of gestation, and especially; a,* the time ap-
proaches. The bowels must be kept in a relaxed condition,
and the food should be limited in quantity ; at all times the
rumen, when loaded, presses upon the uterus, but more es-
pecially so during gestation, and should the rumen become
distended with food or gas, or the manyplus become filled
with hardened and matted vegetable fibres, arresting the due
arid healthy process of digestion, the pressure of the enor-
mous rumen may conduce to the destruction of both parent
and offspring. It sometimes occasions an alteration in the
position of the foetus, it always renders parturition difficult,
and fatal cases oftener, perhaps, arise from this than from
any other cause. Farmers in general seem to be little
aware of the necessity of regulating and moderating the diet
of cows on the eve of parturition, yet there are few who have
not lost cows from this neglect. The food allowed, moreover,
must not be stimulating ; the system takes on at this time a
febrile excitement; hence in cows which have been high fed
in rich pastures, or on much dry food, it will be well to have
recourse both to a mild dose of aperient medicine and the
lancet, blood being taken in moderation according to the
strength of the subject.

It is the absurd and cruel practice of some, when they ob-
serve the precursor signs of parturition, or even when the
latter has commenced, to rouse the cow and drive it about,
hoping, we suppose, thereby to hasten the process which
nature herself has undertaken to regulate, implanting in the
beasts instincts obedient to her law. The consequence of
this ignorant, brutal practice is inflammation and all its train
of evils, and not unfrequently death. What does instinct
teach the animal? to leave the rest of her companions, to
retire to some quiet spot, to the shelter of the hedge, or the
side of a coppice, in order that she may escape disturbance
till she has brought forth her young. The wild cattle, when
they calve, select some sequestered situation, amidst the
dense thickets of the wood ; there they hide their progeny,
and go several times every day to suckle it, remaining near
it at night. The domestic cow has lost her original shyness,
but still she seeks an undisturbed spot and quits the herd.

If her pasture afford no shelter, the cow should be put

THE OX AND THE DAIRY. 263

into some quiet retreat, and be housed in severe or stormy
weather.

The precursor signs of parturition are too well known to be
minutely detailed ; restlessness, moaning, a visible and rapid
enlargement of the udder, accelerated respiration, and a
dropping of the abdomen, first attract notice. Soon, the rest-
lessness increases, the animal keeps getting up and lying
down; at last she remains lying on the ground, and if all go
on well, is soon delivered of her offspring.

In all cases of difficulty, the aid of the veterinary surgeon
is imperatively demanded, and the after-treatment should be
intrusted to his care, as puerperal fever and inflammation of
the udder are not unfrequent sequels.

SORE TEATS.

Cows after calving, and especially young cows, are very
subject to tenderness and soreness of the teats. They be-
come inflamed, often excoriated, or covered with cracks, from
which a sanious discharge oozes. Those who milk the cattle
are often very careless both as to the dipping of this discharge
into the milk, and to the pain which they inflict on the cow.
In both points there is nothing to excuse them, nor can
language too severe be applied to them. Many a good cow is
spoiled by the milker. Under the pain inflicted the animal
often kicks violently, and this will at last become habitual ;
she will retain her milk, and contract a habit of retaining it,
by which its quantity will speedily become diminished. The
cow requires soothing and gentle treatment ; the teats before
milking should be well cleaned, and fomented for some time
with warm water, in order to ease and mollify them. No un-
necessary violence in milking should be used, but at the
same time the udder must be thoroughly drained, for it is
seldom that the teats suffer without the udder in some degree
participating in their tenderness ; and a slight cause may
aggravate this into positive inflammation. After milking,
the teats may be dressed with a cooling and somewhat as-
tringent ointment, composed of two drachms of sugar of lead,
and a drachm of alum finely powdered, added to four ounces
of spermaceti ointment.

COW-POX, OB VARIOLA.

It is to Dr. Jenner, of Berkeley, Gloucestershire (who died
February 21, 1823, aged seventy-four), that we owe the prac-

264 THE OX AND THE DAIRY.

tice of vaccination, as a preservative from the attack of that
destructive scourge of the human race, the small-pox. The
experiments of this philosophic man were begun in 1797 and
published in 1798. He had observed that cows were subject
to a certain infectious eruption of the teats, and that those
persons who became affected by it, while milking the cattle,
escaped the small-pox raging around them. This fact, known
to farmers from time immemorial, led him to a course of
experiments, the result of which all are acquainted with
Yet in one opinion, an opinion in which many medical men
of the highest eminence have coincided, Dr. Jenner appears
to have been wrong. He regarded the cow-pox not as an
original disease of the cow itself, but as one communicated to
that animal from the horse. He conceived that the sanious
fluid of the disease of the heels, called grease, so common in
horses, was the source of the pustular eruption in question.
Cows, feeding in the same pasture with horses thus affected,
might lie down on the spots where the sanious discharge from
the grease had dripped, and in this manner the teats might
become inoculated ; or persons who had dressed or rubbed
the heels of horses might with unwashed hands engage in
milking the cows, and thus inoculate them. But query,
Will the matter of grease produce the cow-pox in man or
animals ? Will inoculation from the diseased heels of
the horse produce in the human subject the true cow-pox
pustule, and exemption from small-pox? Inoculation with
this matter may indeed produce a pustular disease, but not
cow-pox. It may produce unpleasant sores, and convert
simple cuts into festering wounds ; these, however, in no re-
spect bear any analogy to the vaccine disease. Various experi-
ments have been made on the subject by Woodville, Simmons,
Professor Coleman of the Veterinary College, Bartholini,
Dr. Pearson, and others, which demonstrate the error of the
theory; and though there may be some few medical men
who yet retain the opinion, it has been abandoned by those
who have closely investigated the subject. The two diseases,
as the veterinary surgeon well knows, have nothing in
common between them.

The cow is subject to two kinds of pustular eruption on
the teats, both infectious, and usually comprehended under
the same name ; but of these one only must be regarded as
the genuine cow-pox. In the spurious disease the pustules
are small arid of irregular shape ; in the genuine disease

THE OX AND THE DATBY. 265

they are large and round, with a central depression, and ac-
companied by more or less of fever and general derangement.
In both, however, they are filled with a limpid fluid, which by
degrees becomes opaque and purulent. A scab is then
formed, which in a short time peels off, leaving the skin
sound beneath. If, however, the pustules are broken, they
degenerate into ulcers — larger, deeper, and more difficult to
heal in the genuine than in the spurious cow-pox. To dis-
tinguish between these two species of pustular eruption is
important : the true disease may be known by the large size
of the pustules, their depression, the decided ring of inflam-
mation around them, and the constitutional disturbance of
the animal. In both cases the treatment is simple ; an
aperient draught and a cooling lotion are all that is needed.
If ulcers are produced they may be occasionally washed with
a weak solution of chloride of lime, and powdered with a
little calamine, or dressed with the calamine cerate of the
London Pharmacopoeia.

DISEASES AND TREATMENT OF CALVES.

From those diseases which more immediately concern the
cow, we may now turn to those which peculiarly affect the
calf, and which, setting accidents aside, are nearly all more or
less connected with a deranged state of the digestive organs.
In the calf, as we have said, while feeding exclusively on its
mother's milk, the first three stomachs are undeveloped, the
abomasum or true digestive stomach alone being required ;
but as it begins to partake of vegetable food the first three
stomachs gradually increase, and begin to labour in the per-
formance of the duties now imposed upon them. In both
states the powers of digestion are often overtaxed ; for the
calf is apt to take more than it can properly digest, especially
if not allowed free exercise, or if the bowels have not been
cleared of the black excrementitious matter (meconium) with
which they were loaded after birth. Some farmers refuse the
first milk or beastings to the calf, ignorant that it is a pur-
gative expressly intended by nature for this purpose ; the
consequence of which is that, early as it is to begin with medi-
cine, some aperient is rendered absolutely necessary, recourse
to which might have been prevented had nature not been inter-
fered with. The mischief, however, is done ; and the only
question to be settled is, what purgative must be chosen ? Two
or three ounces of castor oil, mixed up with the yolk of an egg

266 THE OX AND THE DAIRY.

into an emulsion, and a scruple of ginger, may be added to a
little thick gruel to form a drench. This is a safe and generally
an efficacious medicine ; but no necessity for it ought to have
existed.

Some farmers, again, anxious to render their calves fat for
the butcher as expeditiously as they can, and forgetting both
the natural weakness of the digestive powers and the small
volume of the stomach (the first three being undeveloped),
allow the calves either to suck ad libitum, or give them, if
brought up at the pail — that is, by hand — a greater quantity
of milk than can be digested. The idea of oppressing or
overloading the stomach never enters into their minds. They
imagine that the more food the young creature takes the
more it will fatten ; and they allow it no exercise lest it
should " wear the flesh off its bones." The stomach soon
becomes deranged ; its functions are suspended ; the milk,
acted upon by the acid, coagulates, and forms a hardened
mass of curd, which fills the abomasum even to distention.
The muscles are now affected with spasms ; they are violently-
cramped, and feel hard and knotted : this the farmer calls
being affected with the cords. Flatulent colic next ensues,
which often runs into inflammation and terminates fatally.
Generally the bowels are obstinately confined ; but this con-
dition is sometimes preceded by diarrhoaa. The quantity of
hardened curd which is taken from the stomach after death
is often enormous ; and it is not unfrequently compressed
into a mass resembling new cheese in appearance and solidity.
We may easily form an idea of the agony which the poor little
animal must have suffered ; and we are sorry to say that
numerous calves are subjected to it till released by death.

Prevention in these cases is easier than the cure : indeed,
unless remedies be early applied, all attempts are futile.
What can break up and dissolve a mass of indurated curd,
filling the stomach and oppressing all its powers? As we
have said, early treatment alone can be expected to succeed.
Some practitioners recommend the frequent administration
of warm water, in which two ounces of Epsom salts are dis-
solved ; this they direct to be given by the stomach-pump ;
or if by a horn, to be poured gently down the gullet.
Others recommend drenches of lime-water, potass, salts, and
gruel, with the design both of acting upon the bowels, and at
the same time correcting the acidity of the stomach. The
farmer should always keep a bottle of " solution of potass in

THE OX AND THE DAIRY. 267

lime-water" in readiness. Its preparation is directed as
follows : Take a lump of quick-lime of the size of an egg, and
pour on it in a convenient vessel as much water as will slake
it. This being done, then pour upon it one pint of boiling
water, stir the whole up, and cover close. While this is al-
lowed to stand for some time, take an eight-ounce bottle, and
put into it two ounces of subcarbonate of potass (salt of
tartar), and fill up the bottle with the lime-water already
made, pouring it off rather turbid than in a state of purity.
Cork this up and label it: it is now ready for use. Take of
this solution two teaspoonfuls, and add it to a little gruel or
warm water in which an ounce of Epsom salts has been dis-
solved in order to make the draught, which may be repeated
every six hours. If the calf suffers violent colic pains, a
teaspoonful of tincture of opium, with a scruple or half a
drachm of ginger, may be given ; and injections of gruel,
with a teaspoonful of tincture of opium (laudanum), adminis-
tered. It is not always that this solution is in readiness, or
that it can be quickly prepared ; we recommend under such
circumstances a drench, composed of a scruple or half a
drachm of carbonateof ammonia, or two drachms of carbon-
ate of soda, with two ounces of Epsom salts (sulphate of
magnesia), and a little ginger, in gruel.

If the calf by these means be relieved, the next object is to
prevent a recurrence of the mischief. A lump of chalk
may be put into a trough near the young animal, and to
which it has free access. The calf will lick the chalk, and
the particles of this taken into the stomach will correct the
acidity which is so apt to be generated in that viscus. It is
a common plan to give chalk to calves under the idea that it
makes their flesh white ; this is a mistake, excepting so far
as good health in the calf produces whiter and better veal.
Three times a day only should the calf be allowed to suck,
and then not to repletion ; a bundle of sweet grass or good
hay tied up with a string may be hung before it ; it will be
allured to pick a little, and the flow of saliva being excited,
the digestion will be thereby assisted. If convenient, it may
be allowed the range of a paddock or small field with advan-
tage : the air, the exercise, and the smell of the fresh herbage,
even its attempts to nibble, will prove beneficial. Weakly
calves, and especially such as are fed by hand, often require,
on recovering from this distention of the stomach, a total
change of food ; a raw egg beat up in gruel, made of grits or

268 THE OX AND THE DAIRY.

arrow-root, with a little milk only, and some sugar, may be
given for a few days, the proportion of the milk being
gradually increased; should the bowels be confined, two
ounces of olive oil will ac^sufficiently.

When the calf begins to change its rnilk diet for one of
vegetable substances, it is liable to distention of the yet feeble
rumen with crude materials, or to obstruction of the many-
plus, which has not yet acquired sufficient power to act upon
hard fibres. This is often the case, when the calf is allowed
to feed too plentifully on hay. Dulness, fever, constipation
of the bowels, and swelling of the abdomen, indicate the
nature of the disorder, and unless prompt measures be re-
sorted to, the animal will die. Aperients and the use of the
stomach-pump will be required, the rumen must be unloaded,
and the manyplus stimulated to action.

Calves are subject to diarrhoea, or scouring, from various
causes ; the milk may disagree with the stomach and disorder
it, change of diet may produce it, or whatever has been taken
which irritates the alimentary canal. If not severe, diarrhoea
need not be regarded with apprehension ; it is an effort of
nature to get rid of the irritating matters, and only requires
to be checked when it continues too long, or the animal
begins to droop. Occasionally, diarrhoea merges into dysen-
tery, with mucous and bloody purging. In the treatment of
diarrhoea, a mild purgative, as two ounces of castor oil, may
first be given, or three ounces of Epsom salts, two drachms
of soda, and half a drachm of ginger, in half a pint of thin
gruel. This will remove the cause of disturbance. After-
wards, four tablespoonfuls of the following mixture may be
given morning and night : — Powdered chalk, one ounce ;
powdered catechu, four drachms ; powdered ginger, two
drachms ; powdered opium, half a drachm ; mucilage of gum
arabic, two ounces; peppermint- water, six ounces. This
mixture requires to be shaken up well each time it is given.
Gruel, made of fine wheat flour, arrow-root, or bean mashes
with a little pea-flour will be useful ; no green or ascescent
food should be allowed.

We have described the hoove in cattle, and that affection
of the bronchial tubes (see " Bronchitis ") in which they are
crowded by innumerable parasitic worms. To this disease
calves are extremely subject, and it often produces death.
There is a hard husky cough, a staring coat, a heaving of the
flanks, great debility and emaciation. After death the bron-

THE OX AND THE DAIRY. 269

chial tubes are found to be filled with worms, often in incre-
dible numbers. In this disease turpentine has peculiar claims
upon our notice, as its use has been in many instances
attended with the best results. It acts evidently through the
medium of the circulation, being directly absorbed into the
system ; as it impregnates even the breath, we may easily
conceive its effect upon the parasites.

Calves are subject to inflammation of the lungs ; the treat-
ment, modified according to the age and strength of the calf,
will be the same as that already described in adult beasts.
Calves of six months old require only a fourth of the dose of
medicine ordinarily given to cattle ; and one-half is sufficient
for calves of twelve months old.

A disease, termed navel-ill, is apt to appear in young calves
between the third and tenth day after birth. Perhaps a little
oozing of blood from the umbilical cord at first took place,
which was stopped by the application of caustic, or by a liga-
ture too near the abdomen, and the result is inflammation.
Sometimes, however, this inflammation comes on without any
known cause ; the part swells, and perhaps suppurates ; in
the latter case, as soon as the abscess points, it must be
opened by a lancet. Fomentations, poultices, and medicine,
consisting of a few two-ounce doses of castor-oil made into
an emulsion with the yolk of an egg, constitute the course of
treatment. If, however, great debility, as is often the case,
should succeed, stimulants may be given, as a little ale in
gruel, or a little port wine with powdered gentian (half a
drachm).

When about a year old calves are very subject to inflam-
matory complaints. These may be prevented by a little
medicine, and keeping them on a scanty pasture. Quick
forcing at this period by luxurious diet is one of the great
sources of destruction among young cattle ; it is by degrees
only that they should be brought to a rich grazing ground, or
to dry and stimulating food.

With regard to the weaning of calves, different practices
prevail in different counties ; it may, however, be laid down
as a rule that, when calves, male or female, are designed for
rearing, they should not be weaned before six weeks or two
months old ; milk is their natural food, and it is incontestable
that the longer a calf sucks, the stronger the animal grows
up, the better its form and contour, and the more healthy and
sound its constitution. If the mother does not yield a suffi-

£70 THE OX AND THE DAIRY.

ciency of milk, let the calf be also fed from the pail, due care
being taken that its stomach be not overloaded. No calf
should be weaned suddenly : the change of diet must be effected
by degrees, a little good sweet hay or grass being allowed.
To this at last the calf will take almost exclusively : a little
skimmed milk, buttermilk, or a mash may be now occasionally
given ; some feed the calf when weaned three times a day,
but it is better to give the food oftener, though in less quantity
at a time. It should, however, be sufficient, and of good
quality, otherwise the animal will be stunted in growth. It is
an excellent plan to allow it to feed in the field or paddock
with its mother a few hours every day ; the fresh air and the
exercise strengthen its limbs and give tone to the digestive
organs, and its contour becomes better developed. Hence it
is that calves kept constantly in a stable or cow-house, seldom
thrive so well in the long run as those which are allowed
exercise. In choosing calves for rearing, those born in the
spring are to be preferred; before the severities of winter
come on they will have acquired strength to bear the co]d,
which is trying to younger and feebler animals, and against
which they should be carefully guarded. No calves should
be reared but those which are perfect in form, with broad
hips in the female, a capacious chest, and sound lungs.
Some recommend that calves intended for rearing should
be allowed to suck the mother for three or four days,
but no more, and then brought up by hand at the pail.
But, as we have said, the longer a calf sucks, the finer animal
in all respects does it grow up, and the more it will ultimately
sell for, so that the profit will pay for the milk consumed.

To a small farmer, who depends on his milk and its pro-
duce, we doubt the advantage of rearing calves, excepting on
the meagre plan above described.

Calves intended for the*butcher may be weaned earlier than
others ; in dairy districts they are generally sold as soon as
possible, for it is chiefly in the neighbourhood of large towns
that the practice of fattening calves for the market is profit-
able. The calf-dealer, therefore, buys up the calves in the
dairy districts, and sells them again to those who rear them.
The poor animals are often carried to a great distance in
carts, packed together on their sides, with their four feet tied
firmly together, and their heads hanging over the back and
sides* of the cart. This is a most cruel and barbarous prac-
tice, and ought to be abolished by the Legislature. It is dis-

THE OX AND THE DAIRY. 27 1

tressing to behold the poor animals, bound in this uneasy
position, in which they often remain whole days without food
or drink, so that when they arrive at the place of sale they
are so weak and attenuated, that many of them die ; and all
of them require the greatest care and attention before they
recover sufficient strength to bear their natural food. If
allowed to satisfy their appetite at first, excessive diarrhoea
supervenes, and they frequently die. In these cases active
astringents are utterly useless — they only accelerate the fatal
termination. The exhausted calves must be fed upon boiled
milk, given by little and little at a time. To the milk thus
prepared, arrow-root or fine flour may be added, and occasion-
ally an egg well beaten up previously. Gradually the tone of
the stomach will be restored, and the animals begin to thrive.

A writer on the treatment of calves for the butcher, makes
the following observations : —

" When the calf begins to thrive on the milk which he
sucks, or which is given him warm from the cow, nothing
more is necessary than to keep him extremely cletp and dry,
to give him plenty of air, but not much light, a*jid never to
disturb him between his meals, which are generally twice in
the day, at the usual time of milking the cows. When it can
be conveniently done, it is better to let them suck three times
a day. If one cow does not give sufficient milk to satisfy the
calf when he begins to get large, another cow must be at
hand. Where a number of calves are fattened at once, and
no butter or cheese is made, the number and age of the
calves must be regulated by the number of cows and the
quantity of milk which they give, so that there shall be milk
enough for all.

" The calf pens should be made like narrow stalls, each
for the accommodation of only one calf, just wide enough to
allow him to lie down, but not to turn about and lick himself,
which, if it become a habit, will much retard his progress in
fattening. The bottom of the pen should be paved with
brick, and washed clean morning and evening — or it should
be boarded ; the boards should be six inches from the ground,
and have holes bored in them to let the urine drain through.
A piece of chalk or powdered limestone is frequently put in a
small trough, which the calf licks, and thus corrects the
acidity which is apt to be generated in the stomach.

When the calves are taken out of their stalls to suck the
cows, they must not be allowed fr- play instead of sucking. If

272 THE OX AND THE DAIRY.

they appear not to have much appetite, a little salt may be
rubbed into their mouth, and they may occasionally have a
raw egg put down their throat. At five or six weeks old, if a
little sweet hay is tied in a small bundle with a string, and
hung before them, they will pick a little of it ; and by thus
exciting the saliva the digestion will be assisted. It is only
by minute attention that the suckling of calves can be made
more profitable than the making of butter or cheese. When
it is well managed, and the price of veal is about one-half the
price of butter by the pound, there is an advantage in suck-
ling, but otherwise making butter is more profitable.

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