a THE LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA PRESENTED BY PROF. CHARLES A. KOFOID AND MRS. PRUDENCE W. KOFOID FAEMERS' BARN-BOOK; BY CLATER, YOUATT, SKINNER, AND MILLS, CONTAINING THE CAUSES, SYMPTOMS, AND TREATMENT OP ALL THE DISEASES INCIDENT TO OXEN, SHEEP, AND SWINE; THE ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY OP NEAT cattle; WITH AN ESSAY ON THE USE OF OXEN AND THE BREED OF SHEEP STABLE MANAGEMENT; TREATMENT OP THE DISEASES OF HORSES; PLAIN AND PRACTICAL DIRECTIONS IN THE CHOICE AND PURCHASE OF HORSES; WITH Cj" directions how to ASCERTAIN THE GOOD QUALITIES AND DETECT THE FAULTS, OF C^'OHZ^GXi C^RT, AND SADDIiE HORSES. PHILADELPHIA: CLAXTON, REMSEN & HAFFELFINGER, 819 & 821 MARKET STREET. 1870. Entered, according to the Act cf Congre** ir «l# ^ e* 1850, by W. A. LEAR Y, IB cae Clerk'8 Office of the District Court of the Ur:t«>< St^^<*' for the Southern District of New Yc-i. u ADVERTISEMENT TO THE NINTH ENGLISH EDITION Since the Eighth Edition of this work was published considerable improvement has been made in the treat- ment of the diseases of cattle, in consequence of which this volume has again undergone a thorough revision, and several new chapters have been added. The pro- prietors for this purpose have placed the work in the hands of a Veterinary Surgeon of extensive experience, and they trust the desire they have evinced of rendering it still more worthy of public patronage will meet with a correspondmg support. (iii) M370520 PREFACE TO THE SEVENTH ENGLISH EDITION. Since the publication of the last edition of this work, a kind of revolution has taken place in Cattle Medicine. Veterinary practitioners had been strangely forgetful of the proper extent of their professional duty, and the treatment of the diseases of cattle had, with few excep- tions, (but among which we may justly rank the original author of *' Every Man his own Cattle Doctor,") remain- ed in the hands of the uneducated and the ignorant. It has now, however, begun to be understood that all domesticated animals are the legitimate objects of the veterinarian's care; and veterinary surgeons of no mean eminence do not think it a degradation to practise on the diseases of cattle, and sheep, and dogs, and swine. Public lectures on these subjects are at length delivered, in the University of London, and at Edinburgh, and a knowledge of this branch of veterinary medicine has wonderfully increased. Under such circumstances the proprietors of this work have endeavoured to discharge their duty to thp public. A new edition being required, they have obtained the assistance of an eminent practitioner of both horse and cattle medicine, who, while he has retained all that was useful in the former edition (and there was a great deal that was truly valuable, and particularly with regard to the symptoms of diseases), has endeavoured to keep pace with the progress of the art. The book is in a manner re-written; and the additions on the diseases of swine, now for the first time thrown into a regular and scientific form, in the English language, will be found peculiarly valuable. PEEFACE TO THE FIRST AMERICAN EDITION "There arp two great sources of the mortality of cattle and sheep, and the est of agricultiral property ; and it is difficult to say which is the worst,— the ignorance and obstinac/ of the servant and the cow-leech, or the ignorance and supineness of the owner." Yovatt. The beneficence of an all-wise Providence in so organizing man as to secure him dominion over animals of inferior physical construction, imposes on him the obhgation to exercise that emi- nent advantage in a spirit of mercy, and in mitigation of the pains and disorders of the brute creation ; and both the obliga- tion and the necessity to do so, are enhanced by the considera- tion, that in being domesticated and made subservient to our uses, animals lose in a great measure that instinct which enables them to distinguish what is noxious from that which is whole- some, and become, as does the human race in the process of civilization, liable to numerous and comphcated diseases to which they are comparatively strangers when roaming in the simple habits and unrestrained freedom of nature. Assuredly, there is no great charity in the creed which would teach that of all the variety of God's creation that make up his animal kingdom, some of them displaying high cuJur^' and fine affections of mind and heart, he should care alone foi Uie pre- sent and future happiness of maji ! " Know Nature's children all divide her care; The fur that warms a monarch warmed a bear ; While man exclaims, ' See all thing's for my use :* ' See man for mine,' replies a pampered goose : And just as short of reason must he fall Who thinks all made for one, not one for alL" 1* V) V» P R E F A C F, . To ihe sparseness of our agricultural population, we may probably attribute, in a grcnl nn^asure, the absence of a class of persons, well supported in Europe, who profess to treat scienti- fically, the diseases of domestic animals. There, the study of comparative anatomy has served to illustrate and improve the science of medicine. More especially was it subservient to that end in past ages of superstition, when the dissection of the human body was regarded as sacrilegious. The discovery, says Doctor Hush, of the salivary glards in an ox — of the fallopian tubes in an ewe — of the thoracic duct in a horse — of the lacteals in a kid — and of the pancreas in a turkey, led to the discover}^ of the same parts in the human body ; and it is well known that the circulation of the blood and of the peristaltic motion of the bowels, in man, were first suggested by experiments and obser- vations on animals of the lower order. Their physical structure and complaints have, in fact, for years past, been the subject of regular lectures by the ablest Professors in the Universities of London and Edinburgh ; and hence it is, that there, improve- ments in the veterinary have kept pace with the progress of other useful arts, until it has reached, in practice, a high degree of certainty, and of honour as an intellectual profession. Under such auspices, and assurances of authority and excellence, has this ninth edition of " Clayter's every man his o^vn Cattle Doctor'" been published in England — compounded, not by ignorant cow-leeches, and made up of nostiiims to be adminis- tered without judgment or discretion, but embodying the mature results of careful and scientific research. Tn tne hands of the American Editor, the work now presented has undergone no alteration of matter or arrangement. He has /lot presumed to disturb what he could not hope to amend ; but some additions have been made in the confident hope of render- ing this edition more acceptable by making it more useful to the American reader. These additions will be found to consist of essays and illustrations intended to diffuse such information on PREFACE. VII ne general subject, as may well be coveted by every Gentleman Farmer, and to lead to important practical reforms. He has endeavoured particularly to impress his own persuasbn, tr^at a more general use of oxen in place of horses, would be highly expedient and economical, accompanying his reflections on this topic with ample instructions as to breeding, breaking, and gear- ing them. Deeming famiHarity with the names of every part of the animal frame essential to an intelHgent treatment of accidental injunes or disorders to which it is constantly exposed, anatomical dehneations have, for that purpose, been introduced, which are not given in the EngUsh work. For the same purpose, and illustrated in Hke manner, certain instruments and contrivances there only referred to, as necessary in the administration of re- hef in certain dangerous cases of common occurrence, will be found in this American edition — viz: the stilet probang, for relieving cattle that are choked, and Read's Patent Veterinary Syringe or Stomach Pump, to be used for the extraction of gas, when cattle get hoven, as often happens, by over-feeding on green and wet clover, or other deleterious substances. To the medical part of the work in the shape of notes, some recipes have been appended, consisting of elements more simple or more easily procured than those prescribed in the text ; but only such have been thus inserted as seemed to be either inno- cent in themselves, or recommended on alleged experience and respectable authority. To say nothing of the duty which common humanity enjoins on every one, to be prepared with common medicines, and directions for the use of them, which may enable him to extend prompt rehef to speechless suffering ; on the sordid score of self- interest alone, the most calculating, it may be supposed, will not neeitate to provide himself with a book which in teaching him 2 Till PREFACE. to be his " orni Cattle Doctor," may enable him to save the life even of the meanest animal on his estate. In a word, the want of some such work would be an obvious defect in every farmer's hbrary, however small it may be, and this one is of the highest and most recent authority in a country where the subjects of which it treats have been most carefully investigated and are best understood. To have been revised and sanctioned by Mr. YouATT, as it is believed to have been, is of itself a sufficieiit lilie to public confidence. J. S. S. CONTENTS. 85 A-dvertisf^ment to the ninth English edition . . Page in Preface to the seventh English edition ... iv Preface to the first American edition, by J. S. Skinner, Esq. vi CATTLE. Introduction — Anatomy and Physiology of Neat Cattle . 13 Number of Neat Cattle in each of the United States, according to the census of 1840 . . . .31 Chapter I. Inflammation ...... 33 II. Bleeding, its utility, and in what cases necessary . ... III. On Physic 36 IV. On Setoning 38 V. Cold— Cough— Iloose . . . .39 VI. Inflammation of the Lungs ... .43 VII. Rheumatism, or Joint Felon . . .44 VIII. Inflammation of the Liver . . .46 LX. The Yellows, or Jaundice . ... 48 X. Inflammation of the Brain . . .49 XI. Inflammation of the Bowels, with Costiveness 52 XII. Diarrhoea, or Purging . . . .54 XIII. Dysentery, Slimy Flux, or Scouring Rot . 55 XIV. Red-water 58 XV. Garget, or the Downfall in the Udder of Cows 61 XVI. Treatment of the Cow, before and during Calving 64 XVII. The Milk Fever, or the Drop . . . 69 XVIII. The Brain, &c 73 (ix) ('«).\ti:nts. XIX. The 131ood, Blood-striking, Black-leg, Quarter- evil, or Black-quarter • • . iO XX* IMurrain, or Pestilential Fever • « 78 XXI. Tlie Epidemic of 18-40 and 1841 84 XXII. Inflammation of the Bladder i • 4 87 XXIII. Stone in the Urinary Passages, or Bladder 89 XXIV. Diseases of the Eye 90 XXV. The Hoove, Ilooven, or Blown 94 XXVI, Choking . . . , 100 XXVII. Locked Jaw 102 XXVIII. Poisons 104 XXIX. Wounds 106 XXX. Strains and Bruises 111 XXXI. Cancerous Ulcers 113 XXXII. Angle Berries 114 XXX III. The Foul in the Foot 115 XXXIV. To Dry a Cow of her Milk 116 XXXV. The Mange 117 XXXVI. To produce Bulling in the Cow, and Treat- ment of Bull-burnt 119 XXXVII. The Cow-pox 120 XXXVIII. Clue-bound — Fardel-bound 122 XXXIX. Rabies — Hydrophobia 122 XL. The Diseases incident to Young Calves 123 Postscript to the Diseases of Cattle, by J. S. SI dinner, Esq 130 Essay on the advantages of the Use of Oxen in the Hus- bandry of the United States, by J. S. Skii iner, Esq. 135 SHEEP. Sheep Husbandry — Diseases of Sheep, by J. S. Skinner, Esq , 158 On the Diseases of Sheep . . . 163 Sect. I. The Lambing Season 184 II. The Diseases of Young Lambs . . , 188 CONTE?s"TS. XI ill. Ked-water . 102 IV. The Blood 193 V. Sturdy, Giddiness, or Water in the Head 194 YI. Inflammation of the Brain . . . . 196 VII. Cold — Inflammation of the Lungs — Influenza 197 VIII. Blown, or Blast 199 IX. The Yellows, or Jaundice . . . . 200 X. The Rot ...... . 201 XI. The Foot Bot 208 XII. The Scab ....... 213 XIII. Lice, Ticks, and Flies . . . . . 218 XIV. Sore Heads 222 XV. Diarrhoea, or Purging 223 XVI. Indigestion and Debility 224 XVII. Blindness ...... . 225 XVIII. Fractures, Wounds, and Bites . 227 XIX. General Cautions .... SWINE. . 229 On the Diseases of Swine . . ^. . . . 231 Inflammation of the Lungs .... . 231 Apoplexy and Inflammation of the }5rain . 232 Measles . 233 Mange Sore Ears ....... . 234 . 234 i'iggiQg Quinsy Costiveness ...... . 234 . 235 . 23G Inflammation of the Bowels . 23G HORSES. CuAPTER I. Varied Form of the Horse 11. Exterior Conformation of the Horse III. Examination of Horses for Purchase 237 245 254 lii CONTENTS, IV. The Stable, and Grooming . . .278 V. Grooming 286 VI. Treatment of the Feet . . . .293 VII. Observations and Suggestions relative to the Diseases of Horses .... 295 ILLUSTRATIONS. The Barn-Yard .... Skeleton of the Ox, and Explanations The Hoove . . . • . Gearing of Oxen . . • . Yokes, &c., for Oxen .... Skeleton of the Horse Skeleton of the Horse, with References Skeleton of the Head of the Horse Age of the Horse, as indicated by the Teeth Tcrpendioular Section of the Foot and Pasterns The Stable Frontispiece Page 32 . 97 . 150 . 155 . 237 . 287 . 245 . 260 . 269 . 278 INTRODUCTION. ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY OP NEAT CATTLE. The term Neat Cattle comprehends all the varieties of the Ox This animal belongs to that numerous order termed Ruminants, from their singular property of bringing back their food into the mouth, after the first swallowing of it, in order that it may undergo a second and more perfect mastication. Their distinguishing characteristics are the absence of front teeth in the upper jaw, whose place is supplied by a callous pad ; the divi- sion of the stomach into four distinct compartments discharging essentially different functions ; and the feet being cloven. The ox, whether domestic or wild, and varying materially in ap- pearance from difference of breed and climate and food, possesses certain characteristics, which separate him from all other ruminants : these are the strength and squareness of the skull — the horns, where there are any, invariably growing from the crest or ridge of the fore- head, projecting first laterally, and being composed of a horny case covering a porous or cellular bone — the muzzle being broad, and de- void of hair, and moist — no mane on the neck — the dewlap generally deep — only thirteen pairs of ribs — the tail reaching down almost to the heels, and the udder containing four teats, forming a kind of square. It will be advantageous to take a rapid view of the different parts of the structure of the ox. The bones are the most solid portions of the frame : they sustain the soft parts, give shape to the animal, and protect the most impor- tant organs, as the brain, lungs, &c., from injury. The bones, although solid, are perfectly organised, having blood- vessels, absorbents, and nerves : they are composed of a gelatinous matter, in which an earthy substance, phosphate of lime, is deposited. and to wnich they are indebted for their hardness (13) (A I iN T U O D U C T I O N . The cnntre of '.ilnmst all tho ])onps is more or Ipss hollow, And con tains marrow. This suhslauce seems to be necessary to the health of the bone, and it may be a reservoir of nutriment in case any parti- cular state of the constitution should recjuire it. The bones art; covered i)y a membrane called the periosteum, which pivcs attachment or liold to the muscles by which the bones are moved. 1 he ends of the bones, forming the joints, are tipped with cartildire, which is a polished elastic substance, facilitating the mo- lions oi the heads of the bones upon each other, and preventing bad f.flfects from concusr^ion. Still more to avoid friction or concussion, these cartilages are lined by a membrane, which secretes an oily fluid, — the joint oil or synovia. The heads of the bones are held to- gether by li iraincnts, and thus joints are formed. These ligaments are white, fibrous, and tough; possessed of sufficient elasticity to accommodate themselves to the various motions of the joints, but not enough to endanger their strength. The Head. — The head, comprehending the skull and face of the animal, ;s composed of numerous bones closely united to each other. The skull contains and defends from injuries that important organ, the brain ; and in it are found four of the organs of sense, which minister so much to the enjoyment of the animal, viz. those of hear- ing, sight, taste, and smell. The Teeth. — Neat cattle have eight fore teeth in the lower jaw, and none in the upper one : twelve grinders in the lower jaw, and as many corresponding ones in the upper one. Each tooth has its body and root : the body is all that part appearing without the gum, the root or fang is covered by the gum, and lies deep in the bony socket. The front teeth are composed of two substances, — the internal bony part, and its covering, the enamel. This latter is exceedingly hard, and gives to the front teeth their cutting edge. The sides of the back- teeth are also covered with enamel, and columns of enamel are let down into the body of these teeth. "While the bone is gradually worn away, the enamel is scarcely touched, and so there is formed a rough and uneven surf,ice on the top of the grinders, admirably adapted foi breaking down the food. The teeih, although of fimifir structure than the rest of the bones, are also plentifully supplied with nerves and blood-vessels. How to ascertain the .Vif^ of Neat Cattle hy their Teeth. — The calf is nsudliy born with two fore or cutting teeth, and at a month old the whole eight are cut. The age is then guessed at by tlie wearing d'^wn of these teeth until the calf is eight months old, when they be- gin to become narrower and smaller. At eight months the two centre teeth -ire smaller than the rest; and from^ that time until eighteei rnonths the others gradually diminish, until the whole are very cor sidcably lessened in size and stand apart from each other. At two years old the two middle teeth are pushed out, and suc- ceeded by two permanent ones; at three there are four permanent teeth ; six at four years ; and all the eifiht at five, when the anim-'^l INTRODUCTION. 15 Is said to be full-mouthed; but he is not actually so until six years old, when all the eight are level. A ijood judge of cattle will generally determine the age with con- siderable acciu-acy for many years after that. From six to nine he will be guided by the wearing down of the teeth, and after that by the dimi^mtion in their bulk, as in the milk teeth. At nine the twc middle fore teeth are evidently smaller and narrower than the rest; at ten the two next are so ; and so on until twelve, when, as in the Bteer of two years old, the teeth again begin to stand singularly apart from each other. Age by the Horns. — The surface of the horn continues nearly smooth ami I the expiration of the second year of the animal's life, when a wrinkle or circle of thicker horn begins to be formed around the base. This is fully completed in a twelvemonth, and another ring then begins to appear, so that if the perfect rings or circles are counted, and two added to them, the age of the beast is supposed to be ascer- tained. These rings, however, are not always clear and distinct, and it is very easy to remove one or two of them with a rasp, at least to the unpractised eye, w^hen the animal begins to be unraarketably old. In addition to this a well-known fact should be stated, that if a heifer takes the bull at about two years old, the first ring is formed a twelve- month before its usual time, and, consequently, she would always appear to be, reckoning by her horns, a twelvemonth older than she really is. After all, the age, as denoted by the horn, can only be calculated in the cow : these" rings do not begin to appear in the ox or bull until the animal is five years old, and then they are frequently too con- fused to be accurately counted. Yonns; Cattle are, for the most part, best understood by the follow- ing names : — The Bull, while sucking, is called a Bull-Catf; and from one to tw^o years old a Stirk or a Yearling Bull ,- every year after- wards he is called a Bull of three, four, five, and six years old, be- yond which period he becomes aged. A young castrated male, after the first year, is called a Stut-Calf or Siirk-Sfof, and then a Steer.- at four years old he receives the name of a Bullock. A female is at first called a Quey-Calf, and then a Heifer until the age of four years : she afterwards takes the name of a Cuw^ which is retained as long as she lives. The Neck of the ox is comparatively shorter than in the horse. It consists of seven bones, each of which, although widened, is short- ened and roughened, for the accumulation of more flesh and fat. The Chest Ts the large bony cavity containing and defending from injury the heart and lungs. It is formed of the thirteen rack bones of the back, thirteen ribs on each side, and the breast-bone below and before. The ribs are so articulated with the spine as to allow of some little motion in respiration. It is of much importance that the chest should be wide and full, and at the same tirne deep in the girth, otherwise there will not be suflicient space without for the 16 I N T K O D L C T I O N . attachn.tnt of flesh, or moin within for the heart and lungs tc play It is very desirahie that the chest shall nut he drawn up imine(liat(;ly behind the elhow. The accuuuilation of fleshy and fatty suhstance under the chest, and projecting hefore it, and which is calhd tht brisket^ is also an important point — is an earnest of a propensity to accumulate flesh and fat everywhere. Breadth across the loins is a valuable conformation, and more par- ticularly length in the quarters, leaving space for plenty of muscle and fat being put on tli^e ])laccs, where the meat is of the finest grain and fetches the hignest price. The Fore Legs. — The Shoulder Blade is a broad, flat, and triangu- lar-shaped bone, situated on the outside of the fore ribs. It is com- paratively larger and more upright in the ox than in the horse. It is, however, a fault when the shoulders are too heavy ; for there is then generally a deficiency about the choice parts. The Shoulder Bone is a short and very strong bone extending from the cup of the shoulder blade to the fore arm. The Leg Bone, or Fore Arm, is situated between the shoulder bone and knee, and it is the longest bone of the fore extremities. At the upper and back part of it is the process called the elhow. The fore arm should be large and muscular, and regularly tapering towards the knee. The Knee consists of two rows of small bones, forming a compound joint of considerable strength, and allowing likewise of extensive motion. The Fore Leg, or Shank, reaches from the knee to the upper pastern bones. It is of much conseipience that it should be clean, fine, short, and small. The leg is divided at the bottom of the shank-bone, and there are two sets of pasterns, and two hoofs, to each leg. The pasterns should be small, and not too long: the feet, especially in working oxen, should point straight forward, and should be sound ; and they should not he too close to each other, for this would indicate a narrow chest, that would be unfavourable to speedy fattening. The Hind Legs. — The Thigh Bone is a large and rather short bone, extending from'the cup-like cavity of the hip-bone to the stifle. It is inclined "obliquely forwards, and its lower end articulates with the leg bone at the stifle. This part constitutes the quarters, which should be^deep and large. The longer the thigh bone is, compared Mith those below it, the better; indeed, it is of advantage that the flesh should extend down even to ihe hocks. The Leg Bone reaches from the stifle to the hock, inclining ob- liquely backwards. The Hock is a compound jcint, being, like the knee of the fore ex- tremities, composed of two rows of small bones. The hocks naturally approach each other much nearer in the ox than in the horse, and the hind legs diverge from each other below the hock, and stand considerably apart. In some cattle this is carried to such an extent INTRODUCTION. 11 as to become a great deformity — it indicates weakness and unthiifii- Qess. It will be unnecessary to describe the remaining bones of the hind leg and foot, as they closely resemble those of the fore leg, and have also the same names. The Skin. — The hide or skin consists of three layers ; the first and outermost called the scarf skin, the central mucous substance, and the innermost or true ski7i. The Scarf Skin is the outermost layer. It is thicker on some parts than on others, as on the back and legs, and, being insensible, it de- fends the true skin from much injury. The scarf skin is separated from the parts beneath in the act of blistering. Tlie Mucous Substance is thin, delicate, and soft, resembling in texture fine net-work. It is this that gives colour to the skin in the human subject; but it is precisely of the same hue in all oxen, what- ever be the colour of the hair. It adheres more firmly to the scarf skin than to the true skin, and separates with it, when the hide is prepared by the tanners. The True Skin is a thick, dense, and elastic substance, and is that from which leather is made. The Hair. — The skin is covered with hair, which is not only an ornament to the beast, but tends to keep the body warm. The hairs arise from bulbous extremities in the skin, and receive their nourish- ment from these roots. The feeling of the skin, and the appearance of the hair, should be carefully observed. A softness and suppleness of the skin, and a kind of glossiness in the coat, not only indicate present health, but a disposition to thrive ; while a hard dry skin, clinging to the ribs, and a coat staring in every direction, show that there is'something wrong in the constitution, and that it will be labour in vain to attempt to fatten such a beast. The eyelashes and the hair within the ears seem principally designed to protect those parts from insects, moisture, or cold. The hairs ^at the end of the tail are longer than those of the rest of the body, in order the better to drive insects away from the skin. Immediately under the skin is the feshy panicle, or rhine. It is a thin muscle, extending over the whole of the trunk, and partly down the extremities. It is well supplied with nerves, and capable of very extensive motion ; and its chief use is to corrugate the skin for tho purpose of shaking off flies, or anything that may annoy the animal. The Fat. — On removing the hide and fleshy panicle, the fat comes into view, which is sometimes in considerable quantity, particularly on the rump, loins, and ribs. Th§re are also layers of it, in beasts in good condition, not only between the muscles, but the fibres of the same muscle, giving a peculiar marbled appearance to the flesh. Within the°belly the kidneys are chiefly surrounded with it; the omentum, or caul, contains a large quantity of it; and there is, also, a great deal about the intestines. It guards many parts that would be^injured by pressure- it fills up a variety of interstices, and foims 2*= IS INTRODUCTION. a reservoir of nutritive matter for the support of the animal undei any accidental want of nourishment. Conn(-cted with the fat is the cellular mcinhrane^ formed likewise of membranous cells, but which communicate with each other through the whole of the body. There is sufficient but disoustinjr proof of this in the blowinjr up of the calf just killed. The cracklinjr heard when the skin of cattle labouring under inflammatory fever is pressed upon, is another proof, for the gas which was produced by the com- mencement of putrefaction is forced into the neighbouring cells. The cellular membrane is the connecting medium between almost all the component parts of the frame. The Muscles. — The muscles are accumulations of fibres or cords, running parallel to each other, and bound together by cellular mem brane, and by the tiohtening or contraction of which the various parts of the body are moved. They arise from some fixed point, and are inserted either by a diminution of their substance, or in the form of a tendon, into a bone or part that is movable. Nervous fibrils are sent to all these muscles from the spinal cord, by the influence of which they contract or shorten, and the bone or movable part into which the tendon is inserted is acted upon ; and if both the parts from which they arise, and into which they are inserted, are movable, both change their place. There are other muscles, as those of the heart and the intestines, which are moved by nervous influence not arising from the spinal cord and the brain, and not under the influence of the will. It is proper that the powders of circulation and digestion should be perfectly independent of the will. The sources whence these powers are de- rived will be presently spoken of. The Brain. — The brain is a pulpy substance contained in the cavity of the skull. By means of the spinal cord (which is a continuation of its substance), and the nerves which proceed from the spinal cord, it holds correspondence with the whole frame, imparting sensibility everywhere, and giving motion to every part that is capable of volun- tary action. The five senses, viz., vision, hearing, feelins;, tasting, and smelling, so necessary to the animal's existence and well-being, are all situated in the head, and not far distant from the brain. The organs of these senses are the eyes, ears, lips, tongue, and the internal parts of the nose. These have nerves sent to them from the brain, by which the impressions made upon them by external objects are immediately communicated to that important organ, and the animal is rendered conscious of surrounding objects, ^and their forms and qualities. Nine pairs of nerves arise from the base of the brain, and proceed, through holes in the skull, to the face and head principally; but some of them wander farther, for the purposes of feeling and motion. The Jirsi pair are the nerves of smelling ; they pursue a short course to the nose. The second pair go to the eyes, and are the nerves of vision : the third and fourth pairs are distributed to the muscles that rripye I X T R O D U C T I O iV . 19 the globe of the eye. The fif>h pair are very extensive ncirves : they divide into three separate branches, which ramify into numerous fila- ments or twig-s, and are distributed over the vviiole of the face, and in some degree give the various muscles the power of motion, but more particularly confer on the parts to which they go the faculty of feel- ing. The sixth pair go to the muscles of the eye. One division of the seventh pair is distributed over the internal parts of the ear, and on it depends the sense of hearing : the other portion is that from which the muscles of the face mainly derive their power of motion. The eighth pair are principally distributed over the organs contained in the chest and belly: they give the power of motion, but motion altogether independent of the will ; and they have nothing to do with sens-dtion. The ninth pair go to the tongue, and give it the faculty of taste. These nine pairs of nerves proceeding in regalar succession from the brain, may be readily seen by gradually raising that organ from the fore part of the cavity of the skull. The Spinal Marrow. — When the brain passes out through the lar^e opening at the back part of the skull into the canal cf the spine, it is called the spinal cord or marrow. It extends through the whole length of the spine, and gives origin to numerous nerves, which pass through notches formed between the junction of each of the bones, and are distributed over the whole of the exterior and to some of the interna] organs of the body. They convey to the whole machine the powei of feeling and of moving. The Organs of Circulation. — Every part of the body is supplied with blood by means of the heart and the vessels arising from it; and the regular course in which it flow^s from the heart and back to it atrain is denominated the circiclatim of the blood. ^The Heart is situated about the luiddle of the chest, rather inclining 1o the left side, and rests upon the breast-bone. It may be considered as double; and it consists of two cavities on either side. The upper one, on the right side, the auricle, so called from its supposed resemblance to a dog's ear, receives the blood which has circulated through the frame, and pours it into the low'er one, the ventricle. As soon as that is filled, it contracts upon its contents; and, as it closes, a membrane or valve rises, which pre- vents the return of the blood into the auricle, and forces it into vessels that carry it into the lungs, w^here it undergoes that purification which is necessary to sustain the life of the animal. Having been thus purified, it is returned to the heart, and enters the left auricle ; thence it is poured into the left ventricle, and, that contracting, and a similar membrane or valve rising, to prevent its flowing back into the auricle, it is sent into the main trunk of the arteries, and thus distributed over the whole of the frame. The blood flows through the arteries by tne force impressed upon it by the heart. This is felt in the pulsations of the arteries, which correspond with the contractions of the heart, and indicate not only 20 INTRODUCTION. tho number but the nature of these contraetions, whether propelling a gether or divided — which may form a tube through which a liquid will scarcely penetrate, and so carry on the food to the third stomach, or which may divide and suiTer it to fall through into the rumen or paunch, of the roof of which, and also of the reticulum^ or second stomach, these bands form a part. The pellet of food passes down, and partly by its own weight, and assisted also by the contraction of the muscles of the gullet, and its course also in some measure depending on the pleasure of the animal, it breaks through the floor and enters into the paunch ; and there it remains, and pellet after pellet descends until the paunch is nearly or quite filled. The animal then lies comfortably down. The food has all this time been macerating in the paunch, the inner membrane of which is lined with numerous little prominences or capillar}- glands, that secrete an alkaline fluid, which prevents or limits the process of fermentation, when fresh succulent vegetables are exposed to the united influence of warmth and moisture. While this has been going forward, the muscles which compose one of the coats of the paunch have been constantly acting, and the food has travelled through the various compartments of the stomach, and ever}' portion of it has been exposed to the influence of this fluid ; and finally, that which was swallowed first, or which had been in the stomach many an hour before, and which has been considerably softened, and duly prepared, is ready to present itself first to be returned. By a slightly convulsive act, a portion sufficient to form a pellet of the proper size to be returned passes on from the paunch into the second stomach, which is connected with the first under the floor of the canal. This stomach is possessed of a strongly muscular coat, and it contracts immediately on this mass, presses out the fluid which it contains, and sends it along the canal through the third into the fourth stomach; at the same time it forms the more solid part into a proper shape to be returned, and covers it with a mucous fluid, provided by numerous little glands in the honeycomb-cells and which readers its return through the gullet more easy. 24 I N T R O D L C T I O N . By nnrithor slight conviilsivp rffort of the nniiTial the pellet is made to break tiirou}Tli the floor of the canal, and is carried to the base of the gruUet, where it is embraced by tlie spiral muscles of that tube, and returned to the mouth ; or it may be more correctly said that the same ellort wliich sends the prepared pellet from the second stomach into the gullet, to be re-chewtd, forces a fresh portion from the paunch into the second stomach. The animal now ruminates at his leisure, and the pellet having been perfectly broken down by the grinding action of the teeth, and softened by an additional secretion from the glands of the mouth, is almost a semi-fluid mass; and, when it is again swallowed, it either has not sufficient solidity to force itse.f through the floor of the canal, or the beast does not choose that it shall, and it passes on, over the roof of the paunch and the honey- comb, and enters into the third stomach or manyplies. A very important hint here suggests itself with regard to medicines, and which has not been sufficiently attended to by the cow-leech or the veterinary surgeon. We may, to a very great extent, send medi- cine into what stomach we please. We may give it in a ball, and it will fall into the paunch, and thence go the round of all the stomachs ; or it may be exhibited in a fluid form, and gently poured down, and the greater part of it passed at once into the third and fourth stomachs. That which is meant to have a speedy action on the constitution oi the disease should be given in a fluid form. That also which is par- ticularly disagreeable should be thus given, otherwise it will enter the paunch, and be retAjrned again in the process of rumination, and disgust the animal, and, perhaps, cause rumination to cease at once. This wou'd always be a dangerous thing, for the food retained in the paunch nould soon begin to ferment, and become a new source of irritation and disease.* The third stomach, called the manyplus or manyplies, or many- leaves, is, ',\ its base, a continuation of the canal already referred to, and through uhich fluid food would pass at once into the fourth sto- mach ; but there are suspended from its roof numerous curious leaves, floating loose in the canal, furnished at the edges with numerous little hooks, which intercept and take up everything that may have escaped the action of the teeth, and continues to retain a solid form. The general surface of these leaves is studded with little hard prominences on either si(*e, and, these rubbing against each other, the hardest food is gradually reduced to a fit state for digestion. This being accomplish- ed, the food arrives at last at the fourth or true dio-estive stomach — a long pouct or bag, more abundantly supplied than any of the others * II has, J'owever, been ascertained by experiment, that if a quantity of liquid, Buch as linscdd tea, he f^iven to a beast just before it is slaughtered, the greater por- tion will he 'Vjund in the rumen. The fluids, however, do not require to he ruminated, and tlierefote they ares(]ueezed out by the action of the second stomach, and thus paPS onxtrtfds to the third and fourth stmnachs, whilst the solid food is returned to ii)e mouth and re masticated. E>eu at'tcr this all the ruminated food does not ne. •essarily pass into the third stomach, but the harder portion again enters the rumeo ik' i.i ajjain 'uiiiiii-w.ed. INTRODUCTION. 25 with blood-vessels, and secreting the gastric juice — the principal aaent in digestion, and by means of which the food is converted into a uniforrr half fluid mass, called chyme. From ^iie presence of this gastric juice, t'le fourth stomach has the property of curdling millc. Tiie dried sto -lach or maw of calves is called rennet. It will be seen, as we go m, that this property of curdlino- milk is, in some states of the stoi dch or the milk, an occa- sional source of disease. The food, being thus prepared, passes tL'-ough the lower orifice of the stomach into the intestines ; and these ^re of enormous length, in order that every particle of nutriment m?y be extracted. They are twenty-two times the length of the body of the ox. The food has not passed far into the first intestine ere it undergoes a riew change. The secretions from the liver and the pancreas — the bile and the pancreatic juice — mingle with the food ; and at the same lime, and possibly infiuenced by these, the mass w-hich has passed the stomach begins to separate into two parts, the one a white matter, constituting the nutritive portion, and called the ch3 of the large intestines), for the retention of the residue of the food in them ; but, in the ox and other ruminants, the food is so thoroughly prepared by the complicated mechanism of the four stomachs, and the course of the small intestines is so lenirthened, that this structure of the colon and coecum is not needed, and they are neither of extra- ordinary size nor formed into cells 6 26 INTRODUCTION. All nutriment of evory kind beinop extracted, and the residue having reached the last intestine, the rectum^ it is hurried on to be tYjulled. i^everal diseases to which the intestines of cattle are exposed havinjr reference to, or being seated in, dilTerent coats or niembranea ol these vessels, it will be necessary to <;peak briefly of them. In the first place, they are all wrapped up in a very thin membrane or bag, yet one tliat possesses considerable strength, called the jjerilo- neum. It secretes a serous fluid, and thus prevents friction in tlie natural motion of the bowels over or among each other; and, encir- cling them all, /" retains each pretty much in its place and restrains too extensive or dangerous motion. The outer coat of the intestines is composed of a reflection or expansion of this membrane, and is liable to a peculiar inflammation. The second coat is muscular, and is composed of a double layer of fibres, by the action of which the food is conveyed or pressed along the canal, and which is called the perislaliic motion. The inner coat is the mucous one, so called from the jelly-like substance by which it is covered ; called also the villous coat, from its velvet-like construction. It is thickly set with innu- merable glands pouring out this mucus, and it is the seat of inflam mation in over-purging. The Mesentery^ or that membrane by which the intestines are en- folded from bemuning to end, and through the folds of which the blood-vessels and nerves that supply the intestmes, and the vems, and the lacteals pass, is only a duplicature of the peritoneum. In different parts of the mesentery, various glandular bodies are seen: they are the mesenteric glands, the precise use of which is not known, except that ihey are connected with the passage of the chyle. The enlargement or obstruction of them is sometimes attended with very serious disease, and even with death. The omenttnn, or caul, is also a portion of the peritoneum. The use of it lias never been satisfacto rily explained. The Liver is a large gland, of a dark-red colour, situated in the belly on the right side, and secreting a bitter fluid named bile, oi gall. It receives the blood that returns from all the contents of the belly, and which is probably so loaded with carbon that it could not all be discharged by the lungs; the quantity of atmospheric air thot can be introduced into the lungs in the act of breathing not containing sufTi- cient oxygen for the purpose. The blood is, therefore, sent into the liver, where it undergoes a process of puriiication to a certain extf^nt. This inflammable matter, the carbon, is separated in the form of bile; and when that is conveyed into the bowels, in order that it may be expelled, it is rendered exceedingly useful there, either by separating Ihe chyle, or quickening the passage of the food, or both. The yellows in cattle is caused either by too great an increase of bile, or by ob' struction of its passage into the intestines. In the first case the sur- plus quantity is taken up by the absorbents, and enters in o the circulation and tinges the blood yellow; and in the other case., accu- INTRODUCTION. 27 mulatins- n tne liver, or the obstructed ducts, it is at length taken up by the vessels of those parts, and is carried over the frame. "The bile is received into a kind of reservoir called the gall-bladder, in which it is stored up for use: at the same time it is probably im- proved in activity by the absorption of some of the fluid parts of it. The pancreas, or sweetbread, is a large gland, of a whitish colour, adhering to the upper portion of the first small intestine, and which secretes a fluid-like saliva, termed the pancreatic juice, that is poured into the intestines, and assists in the process of digestion. Of the precise nature, however, of this fluid, or the manner in which diges- tion is promoted by it, we have no certain knowledge. The splteji, or jnill, is a large and oblong substance of a dark pur- ple hue, situated upon the paunch, being between it and the midriff. Of the ofllce discharged by the spleen we have no satisfi^ctory infor- mation. The Jbsorbenfs.— Every part of the body is continually changing The worn-out portions are dissolved, and taken up by the absorben vessels, and carried, like the chyle, into the circulation. They mingle with and form part of the blood, and aie convi^rted aga'n into nutritive matter, or expelled by means of the liver, or in some other way These absorbents, or, as they are sometimes called, lymphatics, art small transparent, elastic tubes, opening upon every surface, and every portion of the body, external and internal. The trunks of the absorbents are arranged into two systems, one ot which lies near the surface of the body, and the other is more deeply seated ; and both follow the course of the neighbouring veins. They" have valves like the veins, and pour their contents into the circulation at the same point with the veins. The lymphatic glands form a prominent part of the absorbent sys- tem. They answer some valuable purpose, for every absorbent, in performing its course, passes through one or more of these glands. They are seen in the mesentery when the animal is opened, and they can be plainly felt in the neck and under the jaw. The Blood.— The blood is incessantly circulating in the heart and arteries and veins^ and through every part of the body, supplying materials for its nourishment and growth, and for the various secre- tions. The different parts of the system are constantly receiving and appropriating to themselves those elements of the blood which are proper to supply the waste they sustain from the necessary actions of life ; consequently the health and vigour of the body require a new, daily, and liberal supply of fresh blood. That supply is in some measure derived from the absorbent vessels generally, but chiefly from the chyle, which is separated from the food in the process ot diizesiion. Blood, received into a vessel in the act of bleeding, soon separates into two parts; on 3 of which is fluid, and called serum, the other solid, and called red clot, or cake, or crassamentum. Serum is the watery part of the blood, and surrounds the red clot 28 I N T R D L' C I 1 O N . When it is nentod to IGO dpjrrpcs of Falircnlu it's thermometer, it coagulutes like the wliile of an igg; bui it iins nu appearance of be- ing organised. lial ^''"'. or Crassai7ieT}litm, coagulates sponlaneously ; and is found to consist of two parts, nuuiel)', a fibrous substance called Cf.agulaDle lymph and resembling very closely the muscular fibres, and a great number of extremely small red globules, which give colour to the blood. Secretion. — There are separated from the general mass of blood, by certain organs denominated glands, dilTerent kinds of fluids, snh- sc^rvient to various purposes; and the process by which they aie formed is termed secretion. Tiie glands on the internal coat of the stomach secrete the gastric juice, the liver secretes the bile, and the saliva is derived from the glands of the mouth. In some cases it seems to be a mere filtration or separation of certain substances from the blood : in others it is the formation of a new substance that did not previously exist there. With regard to the structure of the glands, there is considerable ob- scurity. They consist of a great number of small arteiies which convey the bipod to be operated upon, and of corresponding minute veins that return the blood when the operation is complete; but of the intermediate substances or sets of vessels, and of the nature of the action which is going forward in them, we are perfectly ignorant. The secretions are exceedinsily numerous, very difierent in theii character, and all subservient to some useful purpose. The most important secretion connected with the cow is that of milk, which is formed in that large and complicated gland, the udder, to which so many blood-vessels are directed. The functions of the glands are much affected by disease. The secretion is sometimes suspendpd. In droj^ping after calving, and in constipation, the secretions of the udder and the bowels partially or entirely cease. At other times the fluids which they atl'ord are con- siderably increased. In purging, the glaruiular follicles of the bowels pour out a great quantity of aqueous fluid. Occasionally the character of the secretion is changed. 'J'he discharge of mucus from the nose, under some diseases, and the fluid which escapes from the bowels in dysentery, are very acrid and irritating. Perspiration. — A fluid is continually passing off from the surface of the b'^dy in the form of an invisible vapour; and when, from exer- cise Of other causes, the quantity is increased, it becomes visible like a thick stream, and collects upon the skin and wets the hair, or falls in drops. This is the perspiration or sweat. It is necessary to health that a considerable quantity of fluid should escape in this way. When, from sudden exposure to cold, this discharge from the skin is suppressed, either generally, or in a particular part, rheumatism, oi noose, or catarrh, is the result. Various states of the constitution, and various diseases, will also materially influence the discharge. A cessation of it is by turns tlie consequence and the cause of disease. INTRODUCTION. 29 When the coat stares, it is owing; to the scales of the onter skin be- coming dry from the stoppage of perspiration, and turning the hair in different ways: when the coat is smooth and gh^ssy, it is caused by the perspiration rendering the skin moist and supple, and thus per- mitting the hair to take its natural direction. We judge with consi- derable accuracy of the health of the animal by the appearance of the toat, because in health the perspiration flows naturally, and in dis ease it i= unduh'^ increased, or oftener suspended. The Organs nfUrhie. — The kidneys are two in number, of an oblong hape, situated in the loins on each side of the spine, and imbedded in fat. They are of a red colour, and divided externally into between tw^enty and thirty distinct lobes, or portions. A great quantity of blood is continually circulatingf through them, and they, being glandular bodies, separate from it a fluid, called urine. The peculiar ingredient of the urine, urea, contains a great quantity of a poisonous substance or gas, called nitrogen. It would therefore seem that the kidney is the organ by which any dangerous excess of nitrogen in the constitution is removed. Besides the urea, nearly twenty different salts and compounds, more or less injurious, have been discovered : so that the kidney is a gland of immense import- ance in preventing the unhealthy accumulatinn of these matters. It likewise is ready to act instead of any other part of the frame that may happen to be diseased or out of order. When the absorbents are unable to carry off the fluid received into the stomach, or the lungs or the skin refuse to throw off their share of perspirable matter, the\idneys supply their place, and by an increased flow of urino prevent disease and danger. The urine is conveyed from the kidneys into the bladder by two canals called the ureters, and it is retained until a sufficient quantity is collected to excite that organ to contract, and to expel its contents. . The Peritoneum, and Caul. — The peritoneum is a strong and exten- sive membrane, lining the internal surface of the belly, and covering all the organs contained therein. It secret.ps a fluid which keeps the surface of the intestines moist, and thus allows free motion between them ; yet at the same time enwrapping them on every side, each is kept in its proper situation, and strength and support are given to the whole. The Omentum, or CauU is a broad and fatty membrane formed from the peritoneum, and particularly from those portions of it that are re- flected from the paunch. It covers the four stomachs and some of the intestines. Its use is probably somewhat similar to that of the peri- toneum : it supports the intestines, and it prevents them from being injured in the various motions of the body. The Uterus and Pregnancy. — Reaching from the external parts ot generation in the cow,^ the body of it projpctingr beyond the bladder, and the two prolongations or ho'rns of it floating loose in the belly, i? thp uterus or w^omh, in which the unborn calf is contained and nou- rished. At the extremity of each of the horns of the w^omb is a small 80 INTRODUCTION. canal or tube, condvictinjr to an oval body of the size of an egg, con- taininis.)lve in a quart of warm ^'ruol, and f,'ive. After that the drink No. 1 should he given morning and night, the drink No. 2 being repeated if the bowels should be costive. It will be proper to house the beast, and especially at night; and a mash of scalded bran with a few oats in it, if there is no fever, should be allowed. It is necessary carefully to watch the animals that are 'abouring under this complaint; and,"if the heaving should continue, or the muzzh,' again become or continue dry, and the breath hot, more blood should bo'^ taken away, and the purging drink repeated. At the close of the epidemir; catairli the animal will sometimes be left weak COLD AXD COUGH HOOSE. 41 a»i(f with little appetite. It should be well ascertained whether the fever has quite left the beast, because listlessness and disinclination lo move, and loss of appetite, and slight stago-erinor, may result as much from the continuance of fever as from the debility which it leaves behind. If the muzzle is cool and moist, and the mouth not hot, and the pulse sunk to nearly its natnral standard, or rather below it, and weak and low, the followingf drink may be ventured on; but No. 1 must be returned to if there is the slightest appearance oi in- crease of cold or fever. RECIPE (No. 3). Take erretic tartar, half a drachm ; nitre, two (irachms; powdpred ffsntian root <»i.e drachm : powdered chamnmilo flowers, one drachm ; and powdered ginijer, half a *achui. Pour upon them a pint of boiling ale, and give the infusion wlien nearly *old. When the beast begjins to recover, he should not be exposed in any ■•leak situation, or to much rough weather. In some years this epidemic disease destroys a great many cattle. Fn the winter of 1830, and in the spring of 1831, thousands of young jrattle perished in every part of the country. Some of them were carefully examined after death, and the membrane lining the wind- pipe was found to be inflamed, and the inflammation extending down to and involving all the small passages leading to the air-cells of the lungs. In a great many instances the windpipe was nearly filled, and the small passages of the lungs were absolutely choked by mj'riads of little v/orms. These cattle had had their flanks particularly tucked up, and had stood and coughed with a violence that threatened every moment to burst some blood-vessel; and well they miglit cough thus violently, when the delicate and sensitive lining of the air-tubes was incessantly irritated by the motion, if not by the bites, of these worms. The origin of the worms no one has satisfactorily ascer- tained. There is no doubt that there are innumerable little eggs of various i>rimalculce, too small to be seen b}' the unassisted eye, always floanng in the air, and only waiting for some proper situation or nest m order to be nursed into life. The proper nidus or nest of these aniraal.j is probably the mucus of the air-passages, and they are plentifully lodged upon it in the act of respiration. I scarcely kiiow what to advise in the treatment of these aggravated cases. The vickmt cough is an effort of nature to expel the parasites. Can we assist hor in accomplishing that expulsion 1 There are cer- tain medicines \^l:ich afford us much relief when we have difficulty in expertorating b quantity of thick viscid phlegm. After a dose oi two of liquorice or squills we find the cough considprably loosened, or, in other words, the phlegm is a grpat deal more fluid, and easily Tot rid of. The i'am^ effect, although not to such an extent, is pro- duced in cattle, and a few, at least, of the worms are expeHed. The following prescription may be tried with advantage: — 4# ^2 COLD AND COL'OH IIOOSB. RKCITE (No. 4). F.Tveeloravt nrhik.—'V;d:c linimric; root. \\\<> otinc;'p; bniisn. and hnil in R Tian ofvMit.T until the fluid is r.-i.ic.d to a pint; tli-Mi prndtially a:ired. Tbe beast sbould be put into a cool cow- bouse \V( 11 littered, and inunediat(dy bled. If the difficulty of breathinjr and other «ymptonis are not much relieved in six or eight hours after the first bleeding, it should be repeated. A third or fourth bleeding may in bad cases be requisite. In this disease^ more than in any other, the person who attends the cattle should be present when the beast is bled. It is impossible, by looking at the patient, and considering the symptoms, to say what quantity of blood ought to be taken away; but as a general rule, and especially in inflammation of the lungj, and at the first bleeding, the blood should flow until the pulse begins to falter, and the animal seems inclined to faint. The faltering of the pulse will regulate the quantity of the after-bleeding-s. Little bleed- ings of two or three quarts, at the commencement of inflammation of the lungs, can never be of service; from six to eight quarts must be taken, or even more, regulated by the circumstances that have been mentioned, and tlie blood should flow in a large full stream. A seton should be set in the dewlap immediately after the first oleeding, and the purging drink (No. 2, p. 47) given. Four drachms of nitre, two of extract of belladonna, and one of tartarized antimony, may afterwards be administered twice a day in a drink. In very severe cases the chest has been fired and blistered with advantage. Warm water and mashes must be regularly given two or three times a day. When the beast has recovered, it will be proper, as much as possi- ble, to avoid all those causes which induced the complaint. Th-e animal should for a short time be housed during the night, and, if the weather is very unsettled, kept up altogether, or turned out for a few hours only in the middle of the day. CHAPTER VII. RHEUMATISM, OR JOINT-FELLON. The early symptoms of this complaint are those of common catarrh, with no great cough, but more than usual fever; by degrees, how- ever, the animal shows some stiffness in moving, and if the hand is pressed upon the chine or any part of the back, the beast will shrink, as if this gave him pain. When the complaint goes no farther than this, it is called chint-fellon in many parts of the country ; but gene- rally, in two or three days, the animal appears stifter in the joints; these afterwards begin to swell, and are evidently painful, particu larly when he attempts to move. Sometimes the stiffness extends aJ' RHEUMATISM, OR J O I N T - F E L LO X . 45 ever the body, and to such a degree that the beast is unable to riso without assistance. Thio is generally termed joint-fellon. Old cows are very subject to It, and especially a short time before calving; but milch cows and young cattle are oftener attacked by it at the spring of the year. It is mostly occasioned by the animal being kept in a state of poverty during the winter, and suddenly exposed to the vicissitudes of the weather in the spring, or to the inclemency of the north or north- easterly winds, especially in low situations. This diseise sometimes comes on suddenly, and is present in a very acute form, being in fact a severe chill : these acute symptoms may subside, and be succeeded by others, milder but more obstinate. Sometimes abscesses will form amongst the muscles, or the sheaths or bodies of the tendons; and the capsular ligaments of the joints are often distended with synovia. These symptoms are particularly un- favourable. In this disease we find the same class of membranes, viz., the serous, diseased throughout the body, and an examination after death sometimes exhibits, in addition to the diseased appearances before noticed, the membrane lining the heart, the chest, and the abdomen, considerably affected, either wholly or in part, and sometimes a con- siderable effusion of w-ater in these cavities. As soon as the disease makes its appearance, the beast must be taken to a warm cow-house or stable, or some situation sheltered from the severity of the weather. The following purging drink should then be given :— RECIPE (Xo. 7). Sulphur Purging Drink.— Take sulphur, eight ounces ; afinffer, half an ounce. Mix with a quart of warm gruel. This driitk shuiild be repeated every third day if the boivels appear to require it. The bowels having been gently opened, a drink which may cau«o some determination to the skin, and increase the insensible perspira- tion, should be administered. RECIPE (No. 8). Rheumatic Drink.— Take nitre, two drachms; tarlarized antimony, one drachm; 6pirit of nitrous ether, one ounce ; aniseed powder, an ounce. Mix witli a pint of very thick ^ruel, and repeat the dose morning and night, except when it is necessary to give the sulphur purging drink (No. 7). If there should be much fever at any period of the complaint, the pulphur drink must be exchanged for the purging drink (No. 2, p. 47), and three or four quarts of blood taken away. If any of the joints should continue swelled and painful, they should be rubbed twice a day, and for a quarter of an hour each time, with a gently stimulating embrocation. RECIPE (No. 9). Rheumatic Embrocation. — Take neat's foot oil, four ounces; and camphorated oil epirit of turpentine, and laudanum, each ui«e ounce; oil of origanum, one drachm. Mix. 16 R H E U M A T ISM, OH J O I N T - F E L L C) N . Should a scaly eruption break out on the joints, or any part of the legs;, after the ht ast lias apparently recovered, an ointnient composed as follows will frpnerally clear olf the scurf, heal the cracks or sores, and cause the hair to grrow ajjain. RECIPE (No. 10). Healing Cleansing Ointment. — Take lard, two pounds ; rosin, half a pound. Mel thtin logclher, aiiU when nearly cold, slir in calamine, very finely powdered, half 9 pound. If Stiffness or swelling of the joints should remain after the in- flammation and tenderness are removed, the joints should be well rubbed morninor and night with a gently stinmlating embrocation. The following will be as good as any : — RECIPE (No. 11). Cumpkornted Oi7.— Take camphor, two ounces, and break it into small pieces ; put it into a pint of spermaceti or common olive oil, and let the bottle, being closely stopped, and shaken every day, stand in a warm place until the camphor is dis- solved. When a beast has had one attack of rheumatism, he will be alv/aya subject to its return, and therefore should be taken more than usual care of in cold variable weather; and should he appear to have a slight catarrh, or to walk a little stiffer than usual, he should be housed for a night or two, and should have a warm mash, and the following cordial rheumatic drink; which, however, would be very improper in hoose or cold, or rheumatism connected with any degree of fever. RECIPE (No. 12). Cordial Rheumatic Drink— Take rhododendron leaves, four drachms; and boil it in a quart of water until it is diminished t" a pint ; strain the decoction, and to half of the liquid, warm, add gum guaiacum, finely powdered, two drachms ; powdered caraway-seeds, two drachms; and powdered aniseed, two drachms, mixed with half a pint of warm ale. CHAPTER Vni. INFLAMMATION OF THE LIVER. This is a disease to which cattle are oftener subject than is ima gined, and particularly those that are in high condition and stall-fed: the symptoms, however, are usually sufficiently distinct, to guide the attentive observer. When the milch cow is attacked, there is a diminution of the milk, and it has a ropy appearaiice and saltish taste after being separated from the cream. The animal has a heavy appearance, the eyes being dull, the countenance depressed, with a stiffened, staggering gait; the appetite is impaired, and the membrane of the nostrils and the skin is of a yellow col^jur. Sometimes the respiration is much dis« turbed ; at others, it apnear^tranquil ; but the pulse, though unusually INFLAMMATION OF THE LIVER 47 quickened, is rarely hard or full. The howels are j^enerally consti pated, though sometimes purging exists. Rumination is usuall} disturbed, and occasionally altogether suspended. To these will occasionally be added the characteristic symptoms of pain on pressure on the edge of the short ribs on the right side. In acute inflammation of the liver, the most frantic pain has been exhibited ; but this is rarely th€ case. A high degree of fever will indicate the propriety of bleeding, but it shoufd not°be carried to too great an extent, but may be repeated. After bleeding, one or two drachms of calomel, with a scruple of opium, and two drachms of ginger, may be given in gruel, and a few hours afterwards twelve ounces of Epsom salts and halfa pint of linseed oil. The calomel and opium maybe repeated twice a day, and the purgative also until the bowels are sufficiently operated on. If, however, purging be present from the first, a few ounces only of Epsom salts should be given, but a drachm each of calomel and opium repeated twice a day ; and if the purging continue, the case may be treated as one of diarrhcea. The sides in this disease should be blistered, and setons may also be inserted. Inflammation of the liver frequently leaves after it a great deal of weakness, and tonics are clearly indicated. The best medicine that can be gi\'en is the following : — RECIPE (No. 13). Tonic Drink— Take gentian root, powdered, half an ounce; ginger, powdered, one drachm ; epsom ssUs, two oiiiices. Mix the whole with a pint of warm gruel, and give it morning and night. No hay, and little corn, should be given in inflammation of the liver; but the diet should consist of mashes and green meat. When a beast dies of this disease, all the contents of the chest and the belly will often be found to be considerably aiTected. The lungs in almost every case exhibit inflammation, and there are patches of inflammation in the bowels. It has been stated that fat beasts, or such as are in good condition, are very liable to this disease, and particularly those that have been fed much on oil-cake. It is more frequent in hot than in cold wea- tiier, and in store cattle that have been over-driven, or worried in woodland pastures by the flies. Sudden change of weather; the exposure to considerable cold, of a well-fed beast that had been well housed, or indeed anything that has a tendency to excite fever, will produce inflammation in an organ that has been over-worked, or is disposed to disease from the undue secretion of bile in the rapid ac cumulation of flesh and fat. Chronic inflammation of the liver is characterized by symptoms similar but more moderate than those detailed. The debility gradually increases, and death often succeeds. The same treatment should be pursued, with the exception of bleed- ing. 49 THE YELLOWS, OR JAUKDICE. CHAPTER IX. THE YELLOWS, OR JAUNDICE. Tins is a far more common disease than the last, and almost as .angerous, because, although it is not marked by any acute symp- toms, or accompanied by much fever, it creeps on insidiously, and fastens itself on the constitution, beyond the power of medicine to eradicate it; or it is the consequence and the proof of some disease of the liver, whicii is equally diiTicult to cure. It may be produced by inflammation of the liver, or too great secretion of the bile, or stoj)page of tiie vessels through which the bile should flow into the bowels. If its passage is obstructed, it is thrown back agrXn upon the liver, and there taken up by the absorbents, and carried into the circulation, and communicates a yellow colour to the blood ; and as the blood, by means of the capillary vessels, is carried to every point and part of the body, so the yellow hue of the disease spreads over the whole of the frame. This obstruction is sometimes eifected by the undue thickness of the bile ; som'itimes by hardened bile or jrall-stones : nnd in not a few cases it is caused by a greater secretion of bile than can find its way into the intestines, and which, consequently, accumulates in the liver, until it is taken up by the absorbents, and carried into the frame in the manner that has just been described. At the beginnino; of the disease there is considerable dulness and languor, and loss of appetite. The cow wanders about by herself, or is seen standing by the side of the hedge or the fence in a most dejected manner. The quantity of milk is generally lessened : the bowels are costive : and the fore-teeth are sometimes loose: milch cows are more subject to it than oxen, and particu- larly in the latter end of the year. Sudden change of weather frequently gives rise to it. and especially if the animal has pre- viously exhi])ited symptoms of ill health. The treatment and the hope of cure depend upon the causes and degree of the disease, and which should be most carefully ascertained. If it has followed symptoms of fever, probably indicative of inflam- mation of the liver, it may be difficult to remove, because it is an indication of the ravages which disease has made in the organ. Should the pulse be strong as well as quick, moderate bleeding will be judicious, but not otherwise. The bowels should then be freely opened by means of the purging drink (No. 2, p. 47), and kept open by half-doses of it administered as occasion may require. In this disease, oftener than in any other to which cattle are subject, sto- machics are useful to rouse the digestive organs to their proper tone and power. Mingled with them, or at other periods of the day, medi- cines may be given which are supposed to have a direct effect on the TUB YELLOWS, OR JAUNDICE. 49 iver, and a tendency to restore its healthy action; therefore, while the ionic drink (No. 13, p. 54) is given in the morning, the following may be given at night : RECIPE (No. 14). Drink for the Yellows. — Take, of calomel and opium, a scruple each : mix and sus- pend in a little thick gruel. If, on pressing the sides, the animal evinces pain, we may suspect some inflammation of the liver; and a blister on the sides, but par- ticularly the right side, will be useful. After the yellowness is removed, and the beast restored to health, the tonic driJik (No. 13, p. 54) should be given twice in the week for a month. This will contribute to restore the weakened appetite, and particularly will bring back to the cow the proper flush of milk. CHAPTER X. INFLAMMATION OF THE BRAIN. This is not a very frequent, but a most frightful disease. It is commonly known by the names phrenzy or soui^h. It is most preva- lent among well-fed cattle, and particularly in the summer months. In the early period of it the beast is dull and stupid. He stands with his head protr\ided, or pressed against something for support. He refuses to eat, ceases to ruminate, and is, in a manner, unconscious of surrounding objects. Nov/ and then he will stand motionless for a long time, and then suddenly drop ; he will start up immediately, gaze around him with an expression of wildness and fear, and then sink again into his former lethargy. All at once, however, his eyes will become red, and seemingly starting from their sockets; the countenance will be both anxious and wild ; the animal will stagger about, falling and rising again, and running unconsciously against everything in hisw^ay: at other times he will be conscious enough of things around him, and possessed with an irrepressible desire to do mischief. He will stamp with his feet, tear up the ground with his horns, run at every one within his reach, and with tenfold fury at any red object; bellowing all the while most tremendously, and this he will continue until nature is quite exhausted : a sudden and vio- lent trembling will then come over him, he will grind his teeth, and the saliva will pour from his mouth ; he will fall, every limb will be convulsed, and he will presently die. Causes. — It proceeds most commonly from a redundancy of blood in the system, called by farmers an overflowing of the blood ; and this is induced by cattle thriving too fast when turned on rich pas- ture-frrounds, or their being fed too quickly in order to get them into condition for show oj- sale. It is sometimes occasioned by the intense p 60 I N F L A >1 M A T I U iN U T T II E BRAIN. heat of the sun, when caltle h;ive heen turned into the llehls where tliere has been nolhinjr to shade them from its influence. It may be brouj^ht on by severe contusions on tlie iiead, or by the cattle being ha/assed and frightened, when driven along the road or through large cowns. Very few weeks pass in the metropolis in which cattle are not iriven into a state of absolute madness, either by the brutality of the Irovers, or by a set of miscreants whose sport it is to abuse and infu- iate the animal, and endanger the lives of the passengers. The chief or the only cure is bleeding. The neck vein should be opened, on each side, if possible, and the blood should be sutlered to dow until the animal drops. It is absurd to talk of quantities here; \s much should be taken as can be got, or, at least, the blood should flow until the violence of the symptoms is quite abated. To this a dose of physic should follow. The following may be administered : — RECIPE (No. 15) j9 Strovff Physic Drink.— Take, Epsom or Glaubfr's salts, half a pound ; the kernel >f the crotoii mil, ten -jraiiis: take ofithe shell of ihecr. .^ii nut, and weigh thf^ pro- per quantity of the kernel. Ruh it down to a tine powder; gradually mix it with half a pint "of thick priiel. and give it, and immediately al'terwards give the salts, dissolved in a pint and a half of thinner gruel. If the violence or even the wandering should remain, another bleed- ing should take place six hours afterwards, and this also until the pulse fakers ; and the purging should be kept up by half-doses of the powder (No. 2, p. 47). Although it is very difficult to produce a blister on the thick skin of the ox,'"it should be attempted if the disease does not speedily sub- side. The hair should be closely cut or shaved from the upper part of the forehead and the poll, and for six inches on each side down the neck, and some of the following ointment well rubbed in : — RECIPE (No. ifi). Blister Oivtmevt.— Take, lard, twelve ounces; resin, four ounces; melt them toge- ther, and, when they are getting cold, a(id oil of turiienline, four ounces; and pow- dered cantharides, five ounces; stirring the whole well together. When the blister is beginning to peel off, green elder or marsh- mallow ointment will be the best application to supple and heal the part. A little of it should be gently smeared over the blistered sur- face morning and night. A seton smeared with the above ointment may be inserted on each side of the poll in preference to the application of a blister. Although the violence of the disease, and of its remedies, will ne- cessarily leave the beast exceedingly reduced, no stimulating medi- cine or food must on any account be administered. Mashes and green meat, and these in no great quantities, must suffice for nourish- ment, or, if tlie animal, as is sometimes the case, is unable to eat, a ^ew quarts of tolerably thick gruel may be horned down every day; but ale and gin, and spices, and tonic medicines, must be avoided as downright poisons. There is not a more common or a more fatal INFLAMMAIION OF THE BRAIN. 51 error in cattle mamgement than the eagerness to pour in comfortable, 1 would rather say, poisonous drinks. Even the treacle and the sugar in the gruel must be prohibited, from their tendency to become acfd in the debilitated stomach of the animal recovering from such a complaint. Every symptom of the disease having vanished, the beast may very slowly return to his usual food ; but, when he is turned out to pasture, it \viU be prudent to give him a very short bite of grass, and little or no dry meat. Nature is the best restorer of health and strength in these cases; and it is often surprising, not only how rapidly the ox will regain all he has lost, if left to nature, and not foolishly forced on, but how soon and to what a considerable degree his condition will improve beyond the state in which he was before the complaint. The ox that has once had inflammation of the brain should ever afterwards be watched, and should be bled and physicked whenever there is the least appearance of staggers or fever. The safest way will be to send him to the butcher as soon as he is in sufficient con- dition. Sometimes the disease does not run its full course. There is but a slight degree of inflammation, or there may be sudden determina- tion or flow of blood to the head from some occasional cause, and without inflammation. This is known by the name of STAGGERS, OR SWIMMING IN THE HEAD. The symptoms are heaviness and dulness ; a constant disposition to sleep, which is manifested by the beast resting its head upon any convenient place ; and he reels or staggers when he attempts to walk. If this disease is not checked by bleeding, purging, and proper ma- nagement, it will probably terminate in inflammation of the brain or inflammatory fever. It mostly attacks those cattle that have been kept in a state of poverty and starvation during the winter season, and in the spring of the year have been admitted into too fertile a pasture : hence is produced a redundancy of blood in the system, which, on the siight-. est disturbance, or even naturally, gives rise to the disease. The cure must be attempted by^taking four, five, or six quarts of blood from the animal, according"^to its size and strength; the purg- ing drink (No. 15, p. 57) must then be administered, and (No. 2, p. "47) continued in half-doses every eight hours, until the full purga- tive efl'ect is produced. If the animal is not relieved in the course of two hours from the first bleeding, the operation must be repeated to the same extent, unless the beast should become faint; and the bow- els must be kept in a loose or rather purging state by No. 2. As soon as the bowels are opened, the fever drink (No. I, p. 46) should be given morning, noon, and night, until the patient is well. Nothing more than a very little mash should be allowed, and all cordials should be avoided as absolutely destructive to the beast. 52 I N F L A >I xM A TI O OF THE BOWELS. \\ hen the animal appears to be doing well, he must very slowly be permitted to retur.n to his usual food. He should for some weeks be put into short and scanty pasture; the seton siiould be continued in the dewlap, and occasional doses of Epsom salts administered. CHAPTER XI. INFLAMMATION OF THE BOWELS, WITH COSTIVENESS. Inflammation of the bowels is by no means an uncommon disease among neat cattle, and frequently proves fatal to them from injudi- cious treatment. It is a complaint easily recognisable on account of the peculiar symptoms by which it is attended. The animal is continually lying down and getting up again imme- diately, and, when up, he strikes at his belly with the hind feet. The bowels are obstinately constipated : the dung, if any is voided, is in small quantities — hard, covered with mucus, and that sometimes streaked with blood — and the urine is generally voided with difficulty. The pulse is quicker than natural, and there is much heaving at the flanks. It is distinguished from colic by the great degree of fever that evi- dently attends it, the muzzle being dry and the mouth hot. The animal becomes speedily weak, he falls or throws himself down sud- denly, and when he rises he does it with difficulty, and he staggers as he walks. The lowness and weakness appear more speedily and decidedly than in almost any other disease. The attack is sudden like that of colic. The animal quits his companions, and hides himself under the hedge. If he is in the plough, he all at once becomes deaf to the voice of the driver, and insensible to the goad. He trembles all over — his skin becomes hot — his ba^'k and loins are tender — his ears and horns hot. Everything indicates the highest degree of local inflammation and general fever. The disease mostly arises from sudden exposure to cold ; and espe- cially when cattle go into rivers or ponds after being heated and fatigued. It is sometimes produced by change of pasture, and feed- ing too much on dry and stimulating diet. The first thing to be done, and that which admits of no delay, is to bleed ; from six to eight quarts of blood at least should be taken away. Immediately afterwards the purging drink (No. 15, p. 57) sliould be administered, and its effect promoted by half-doses of No. 2, given every six hours. This is a very dangerous disease, and the measures pursued must be of the most decisive kind. The symp- toms succeed each other rapidly, and if one day is suffered to pass without proper means being taken, the beast is irrecoverably lost. Tlic third stimach or manyplus will generally be found, after INFLAMMATION OF THE BOWELS. F^fJ death, choked up with dry food, hardened between the leaves ot which that stomach is composed. It will be necessary to wash this well out before the proper path to the fourth stomach can be opened. In order to effect this, plenty of thin gruel, or water with the chill taken off, should be given; or, if the beast will not drink it, several quarts of it should be horned down. Clysters of warm water, or thin gruel, with a purging powder dissolved in them, should likewise be aduiinistered. After having bled the animal once copiously, and, if the fever has not subsided, °a second, or even a third time, the farmer should in nis disease of high inflammation of the bowels, and strangly obsti- nate costiveness, found his only hope of saving the animal in pro- ducing purging, and to this purpose his whole attention should be directed. If it should not be accomplished after the third dose of the medi- cine, a pound of common salt may be given. The water or other liquid which the beast will probably be induced to drink will assist in puTCTing him. Should not this succeed, a pouhd and a half of castor-oil must be administered. The patience of the attendants will sometimes be almost worn out — they must, however, persist. Clysters, numerous, and great in quantity, must be administered. The Epsom salts and the castor-oil will not do harm in whatever quantities they are given : it will not be prudent, however, to repeat the common salt. During the whole of this time the cordial drink of the cow-leech must be avoided as a dose of poison. The farmer or the attendant must not be deceived by the passage of a little liquid dung in a small stream, for that shows that there is yet much hardened fajces clinging round the intestines, and which must be removed, and therefore he must pursue the measures recom- mended until the dung is expelled in considerable q-iantities, and in a large full stream, and without much straining. There has gene- rally been something more than usually wrong in the food or manage- ment when this sad constipation is observed. Either the animal has been kept too much and t(io long on dry food; or he has been turned into fresh pasture (and particularly in the autumn) in which there are oak-trees or some astringent vegetables. The cause musi oe removed, or the disease will return. The state of the bowels of a beast that has once been sapped should be observed for some time afterwards, and gentle aperients occasion- ally administered ; cold water should not, for a little while, be per- mitted, and strict attention should be paid to the diet. Inflammation of the bowels, however, will in a few cases occur without all this costiveness, and yet produced by nearly the same causes. The other symptoms are the same, but the danger is not so gieat. The beast should be bled and physicked, kept moderately warm and have warm water with bran mashes. 5* 64 DI RR II (EA, OR PURGING. CHAPTER XII. D1ARRH(EA, OR PURGING. Purging is produced by various causes; by change of food, from ury to green meat, or from short to luxuriant pasture ; by poisonous plants, bad water, or unknown atmospheric agency. It is not always to be regarded as a disease, nor should the farmer be always anxious to stop it. It may be an effort of nature to dis- charge something that is injurious; it may exist while the beast enjoys almost perfect health, and is even thriving. The farmer will not regard an occasional fit of purging ; he will only attack it if it is violent, or if it continues too long. In the first case it indicates some disordered state of the bowels, or the presence of some offending matter in them, and he will endeavour to remedy this; not, as is too often done, by attempting to arrest the discharge as speedily as he can — not by the exhibition of astringent medicine — but by giving a mild dose of physic, in order to assist nature in her effort to get rid of some evil. Nothing so much distinguishes the man of good sense from the mere blunderer as the treatment of purging. From half to three-quarters of a pound of Epsom salts should be given with the usual quantity of ginger. The next day he may pro bably administer a little astringent medicine. The following will be effectual, and not too powerful : — RECIPE (No. 17). Astringent Drink.— Take pr.^pared clialk, tAvo ounces; oak bark, powdered, one ouiicii; catecliu, poudercid, lialf an ounce; opium, powdered, two scruples ; ginger, powdered, two draciuns. Alix, and give in a quart of warm gruel. In the second case a.so, when purging has long continued, and the animal is beginning to become thin and weak, the practitioner must begin with physic. There is pjobably some lurking cause of intestinal irritation. He should give the cj^uantity of Epsom salts just T(;commended — or perhaps he will more prudently give from half a pint to a pint of castor-oil. It will usually be a good practice to give a rather smaller dose on the following day; and, after that, he may safely have recourse to the astringents: the animal should be brought into a cow-house or enclosed yard, where it can be sheltered from the weather, and kept partly or altogether on dry meat. It is of great consequence that diarrhcBa or simple purging should be distinguished from another disease with which it is too often con- founded. They are both characterized by purging. That which has been just considered is the discharge of dung in too great quantity, and in too fluid a form ; but that which will form the subject of the next chapter, dysentery, is the evacuation of the dung, mingled wdth fnucus, or murus and blood. In diarrhoea the dung is voided in largo J> I A R R II (E A O 11 P U II G N O . 65 qnantities, and in a full stream it has sometimes an ofTensive smell, and is occasionally bloody : but dysentery is often accompanied by a peculiar straining; the dung is not so great in quantity, and it is more otTensive, and more highly charged with blood. The one is an accidental thing — not always to be considered as a disease — and often ceasing of itself when the purpose for which na- ture set it up, — the expulsion of some acrid or injurious matter from the alimentary canal, — has been accomplished; the other is an indi- cation of an inflammatory affection of the larger intestines, difficult to be controlled, often bidding defiance to all means, and speedily destroying the animal. Diarrhoea occurs at all times of the year, and particularly after a sui7e, colour, and softness, it will be prudent to continue the ointment daily, and this last drink occasionally for two or three weeks at the least. Cases, however, will occur, either neglected at the beginning, or the beast being too fat, and very much disposed to inflammation, in which the teat" and the whole quarter will long continue hard and swelled, end tender, and will get worse and worse. The whole of the affeeteu part must then be carefully examined, to ascertain whe- ther there is matter within, and whether it is pointing, i. e., whether there is a part a little more prominent and softer than the rest. If this is detected, it should be freely opened with a lancet or penknife, the matter suffered to flow out, and the wound dressed with Tincture of Aloes or Friar's Balsam. Slight incisions with a lancet, where matter cannot be detected, will often be serviceable. The flow of blood should be encouraged by fomentations with warm water. The teats are sometimes cut oflf in obstinate cases of this kind ; but that should, if possible, be avoided, for the quarter will be lost, and there will be a serious diminution in the quantity of milk as long as the cow lives. The teat may be cut deeply in order to let out the matter. This wound will readily heal again, and the quarter will be as useful as ever. If the udder appears gangrenous, it should be scarified with a lancet, and a solution of chloride of lime applied, whilst the strength of the animal should be supported by tonic medicine. When the cow dies, it is generally from mortification, to prevent which it is often necessary to remove not only the affected teat, but the whole of the quarter. A skilful man, more competent than a common cow-leach, should be employed for this purpose. A frequent but unsuspected cause of this disease is the hasty and careless mode of milking which is often adopted. A considerable quantity of milk is left in the bag, particularly when a cow gives her milk slowly. This is not only a loss to the farmer, from so much less milk finding its way into the dairy-room, and from the quantity of milk regularfy secreted in the udder of the cow gradually dimin- ishing; but'tbe milk curdles in the teats, and produces swellings, and lavs the foundation for gorget. 'The Sore Tents to which some cows are subject is a very different disease, and often a very troublesome one. It usually occurs a little while after they have calved. If it happens in the summer, the ani- mals are so sadly tormented by the flies, that it is difhcult to milk them ; and the discharge from the cracks and wounds passing through the hand in the act of milking, and mingling with the milk, renders it disgustino-, if not unwholesome. The following ointment will generally be found effectual : — RECIPE (No. 27). Ointment for Sore Tents.— Takp. elder ointment, six ounces ; bees' wax. two ounces mix them tosetJipr. and add an ounce each of sugar of lead and alum, in line ^wder - stir them well together until cold. lJ4 O A R CJ ET . A little of this should be ru])hffl on the teats mominfr and nifrht after milkincr; and if the flies tease the animal much, a small quantity of aloes or ass;if(eti(la may he mixed with the ointment. Tlie latter i3 the more etTeetual, hut its smell is very unpleasant. I'he teats are sometimes so sore that it is necessary to hobble the cow, in order to make her stand ; hut this is seldom effectual ; for the lerrs of the cow get sore, and she kicks worse than ever. Kindness and patience are the best remedies. It is never of any use to beat or ill-use a cow for this fidg'etiness at milking". She will either at the lime do mischief in return, or she will at some other opportunity take her revenge. There is another variety of disease to which the udder of cows is liable, somewhat different from that described : in Scotland it is termed Weeds. It is attended by considerable fever and constitutional disturbance, commencing with a shivering fit, which, after some hours, is succeeded by a hot fit, in which all the symptoms of fever are pre- sent, — tiie cow hangs her head and refuses to feed, and the udder is painful, hot, and swollen. If relief is not soon obtained, an abscess forms, and one or more quarters become cold, black, and insensible; the udder becomes disorganized, and the animal is lost. The first thing to be done is to administer a warm stimulant, sucb as — RECIPE (No. 28). Take, cinder powdered, half an ounce; caraway-seeds, six drams; allspice, half an ounce: in a quart of warm water or mild ale. Sometimes this drauo-ht alone will effect a cure, but the body should be clothed and the cow well nursed. On the following day, if the bowels are constipated and the cow appears dull, a purgative should be given. The udder must be fomented with warm water for an hour at a time, several times a day, and if it is much swollen, it should be se.spended \"\\\\ cloths passing over the loins. It may also be rubbed with a liniment composed of hartshorn and oil. It is of much importance that the fomentations should he as hot as can be borne, and applied in good earnest to the part affected, and for a Icng time tooether. CHAPTER XVI. TREATMENT OF THE COW BEFORE AND DURING CALVING. It is an old and true saying, and the truth of it is nowhere more evident than in the treatment of the milch-cow, that the prevention of an evil is better than the cure. The difficulty of calving, and the mortality afterwards, are in a great measure to be traced to the im- proper management of the cow. So far as the udder is concerned. TREATMENT OF THE COW 65 there is a plan usually adopted, and a very necessary one — the cow is dried six or eight weeks before calving. Two reasons are given for this : the first is, that after a long period of milking, the strength and constitution of the cow require a little respite : a more important reason, however, is, that from some cause that has never been fully explained, the mixture of the old milk, and the new secretion that nature prepares for the expected calf, produces frequently great irri- tation and inflammation in the udder, and obstinate garget is apt to ensue. During the early period of gestation the animal may, and should be, tolerably well fed, for she has to provide milk for the dairy and nourishment for the foetus ; yet even here there should be moderation and care: but when she is dried, her food should be considerably diminished. She should not be too fat or full of blood at the time of calving, for that is the frequent cause of difficult labour, garget, milk fever, and death. There are few things in which the farmer errs more than in this. There may be an error in starving her before she calves, but it is a much more dangerous one to bring her into too high condition. Some cows are apt to slink their calves, or to produce them dead before their time. This generally happens about the middle of their pregnancy. If about that time a cow is uneasy, feverish, off her food^ or wandering about in search of something for which she seems tc have a longing, or most greedily and ravenously devouring some particular kind of food, she should be bled and physicked (No. 2, p 47). If she is not quieted, she should be bled and physicked again in the course of three or four days. She should be immediately re- moved from the other cows; for should she slink her calf among them, it is not improbable that some, or even all, of the others will do the same. This is not easily accounted for, but it is pei-fectly true. The cow that slinks her calf will often require much attention. She should always be physicked, and in most cases bled, and, af'ter that, the best thing to be done with her is to fatten her for the butcher; for she will probably do the same again, and teach others the habit. When the ninth calendar month is nearly expired,* the cow should be diligently looked after. She should be brought as near to the house as can be conveniently done ; she should lose three or four quarts of blood, unless she is very poor; and she should most cer- tainly be physicked. It will be better if she can be separated from the other cows; and although it may not be prudent to house her entirely, there should be some shed or shelter into which she may go. When it appears that labour is close at hand, she should he driven gently to the cow-house, and for a while left quite alone. She will do better by herself than if she is often disturbed by one and anothet * Tlip avera?'^ p-^riod of gestation in the cow has been ascprtained bv Earl Si)pncer to he '2-^ nr -2-5 ila.vs Tin; loiisest period iin ler his observation was 31:?, and the shortest -i-it) days. He also found tliat when ues'ation was longer than the average the greater proportion wera bull calves.— frAife on Cattle Medicine, by iV. C. Spooner 0* 66 fcI<:FOHE AND DURING CALVING. lonkincr in upon lipr and watcliinrr hor. If, however, she is discovered ill ih«i art of calvin&sarily destroyed, but the mother has survived : too often, how- ever, she hrs evidently fallen a victim to this unnecessary violence. If by the united force of two or three men the foetus cannot be brought away, an}^ ruder and more violent attempt must always be fraught with danijer, and will often be fatal. The safer way for the mother, — yet that is attended with considerable risk, — is to cut off some of the lirnbs of the foetus. One or possibly both shoulders may be se})arated, slipped, and then the head and trunk may, without much difficulty, be brought away. The knife must be one that can be concealed in the hand, and that is hooked at the end, and rounded and thick at the back; but, notwitiistanding- that, there is much danofer of wounding the womb, which is forcibly pressing on the hand of the operator. Labour ;S not unfrequently prevented by the diseased state of the entrance oi neck of the womb, which becomes hard and scirrhous, and thus prevents the calf escaping-. When this is found by exami- nation to be *he case, an operation should be performed, which con- sists in divi Jing' the contracted entrance by means of a small knife passed up, protected by the hand and fing-ers. Considerable care must be exercised so as not to cut too deeply ; and it is better to divide the stricture slightly in several places. From the violent efforts of the cow, or from unnecessary artificial violence, the uterus, or calf-bed, may protrude, and be absolutely in- verted. The case is not desperate. The part must be cleaned from blood and dirt, and supported by a sheet; then, the operator beginning at the very fundus or bottom of the womb, it may be gradually re- turned by the union of some little ingenuity and a great deal of patience. The animal should be copiously bled before this is attempt- ed, in order to relax the passage; and the application of cold water for a considerable time may contract the womb itself, and render its return more easy. A stitch or a couple of stitches should be passed through the lips of the shape, in order to prevent a repetition of the protrusion, and the following anodyne draught administered — RECIPE (No. 2'.n. Jinodyve /)rtn/£.— Take powdered opium, half a drachm; svveot spirit of nitre, two ounces. Rub thctii tosother, adtlinff the lluid by small quantities at a time, and give the m'.yturc in a pint of warm gruel. If tiie cow has calved unseen and unattended, she w'ill, like every other quadruped, set diligently to work to devour the cleansing, and lick the new-born animal clean. This, however, is often carefully prevented when there is the opportunity of so doing. The calf is TREATMENT 3 F THE COW, & C . 69 taken immediately away, and the cleansing thrown on the dung-heap We act contrary to nature in this. She would not have giv«n to lierhivorous animals this projiensity to eat the placenta, had not some useful purpose been effected by it. Cleanliness was one object, the next was either to support the strength of the animal, or to have an aperient or salutary inHuence on her. The mother and the young whl be happier if they are left to pursue the dictates of nature. Many a cow has fretted herself into fatal fever from the sudden loss of her little one. and many a calf has died from the neglect of that cleanli- ness which the mother could best effect. A oreat deal has been said of the necessity of cleansino- the cow after calving, or the removal or expulsion of the placenta. There is much error in this. The placenta comes away with the calf; and it is that natural discharge from the womb, continued during several days, and which is observed to a greater or less extent in all quadru- peds, that gives the notion of anything being retained. Medicine, nevertheless, is necessary in order to prevent that access of fever to which the cow in high condition is liable ; but that medicine should be administered, not in the form of a stimulating cordial, from the false supposition that the animal wants support after the fatigue and pain it has undergone, but in that of a purgative, in order to prevent an attack of fever to which the animal is so naturally exposed after parturition, and which is so often hastened and aggravated by absurd management. The mother requires little care after calving, except that of protec- tion from too great severity of weather, and this more especially if she had been much nursed before parturition. A warm mash maybe given daily for a little while ; but otherwise she may return to her previous and not too luxuriant feed. The state of her udder, however, should be examined : if it is at all har*^, she should be milked twice every day, and the calf should be put with her several times in the day at least, if not altogether. Perhaps she will not let it suck, espe- cially if it is the first calf, on account of the soreness of her teats, and her being unaccustomed to the duties of nursing. She must then be carefully watched at sucking time, and the bag, if it is very hard and kernell)', and sore, must be fomented with warm water, or, if neces- sary, the garget ointment (Xo. 24, p. 69, or No. '27, p. 70) must be rubbed into the part principally affected. CHAPTER XVir. THE MILK FEVER, OR THE DROP. This is a disease almost peculiar to cows in high condition at the time of calving: whether young or old. all are liable to be attacked by it ; they are, however, rarely attacked until after they have had several calve; ; and it is stated that the short-horned breed i more liable to it than others. \\ heiicver it takes place, either at h me or in the liehl, it is distressinir to the animal, as well as troublesome to the owner; for the beast is seUhim able to rise diirintr several days. The })ueri)eral or milk fever is most frequent during the hot weather of summer. The cows "most liable to be attacked by this fever have large udders, that have been full of milk for several days before calving. It is a very dangerous disease when severe, and often proves fatal even under the most judicious treatment. The milk fever most commonly appears about the second or third day after calving; but the cow is occasionally down within a few hours after parturition. It is first recognized by the animal refusinor her food, looking dull and heavy; then follows protrusion of the eye, heaving of the Hanks, restlessness, and every symptom of fever. In a few hours, or on the next day at the latest, the cow begins to stag- ger; is weak in the loins; palsy steals over the whole frame; and she falls, unable to rise again. It is in this advanced stage that the complaint is too often first observed ; the previous symptoms are not taken notice of, and the beast is almost past cure before the owner is aware of her illness. From this seeming palsy of the hinder limbs, and sometimes of the whole frame, the disease is very appropriately called dropping; ajler calving. There are evidently two varieties of this disease, one being consi- derably more dangerous than the other. In the severer kind, the brain, as well as the spinal marrow, is affected, whilst the milder disease is principally confined to the loins. In the former kind, we first notice a staggering gait, the breathing then becomes irregular and disturbed, the eyes full and glassy, and the pupil dilated. Tlie animal, after reeling about for some time, falls, and frequently never rises again. She then becomes, in grreat measure, unconscious; the head is turned on one side; sensation appears partially lost, so that, if liquids are given with the horn, tliey often enter the windj)ij)e without occasioning coug^hing. The hind legs become entirely paralyzed, and the fore ones are sometimes affected in a similar maimer. The pulse is generally ver}' quick, but weak; the appetite is altogether lest; rumination ceases; and the bowels are obstinately constipated. If the animal dies, it is generally "within forty-eight hours from the commencement of the symptoms, and indeed sometimes only a few hours afterwards. In some cases the animal will lie in a stale of insensibility ; in others, she exhibits considerable pain and distress. The cow is unable to discharge either her urine or dung, the nerves influencing these offices being paralyzed. On examining the bodies of cows that have died from this disease, the principal mischief has been found in the brain and spinal cord : in the latter, chiefly at the region of the loins. The womb, in the greater number of instances, lias been found in the same state as it usually is after parturition ; but. in some cases, it presents the ap- pearance of the most intense inflammation. In such cases, it a])pear9 M I L K F E V E R . 71 that the inflammaticn of the womb is superadded to the other dis- ease. In the milder form of this complaint, it is, to a g^reater extent, a local malady : the spinal cord at the region of the loins is affected ; but the brain is comparatively exempt; and thus, though the hind extremities are paralyzed to a great extent, yet the insensibility is by no means general, and consciousness is retained. In both the severe and mild form the digestive organs are altogether deranged, and in fatal cases the third stomach is found loaded with hard Indigestible food, and the other viscera are often found inflamed. The cause of the disease has not been ascertained, but it appears connected with a high state of condition, and is best prevented by keeping the cow short of food some days previous to her calving. The treatment of this disease must he modified according to the 6t;verity of the symptoms, and the fact of its being the milder or the severer affection. It is important also to ascertain whether the secre- tion of milk has ceased; as it has been ascertained that when this is the case the disease is fatal, and when not so the cow recovers. If the pulse is strong, it w-ill be proper to bleed to the extent, perhaps, of four or five quarts. The principal expectation of relief, however, must be placed on the exhibition of powerful purgatives. RECIPE (Xo. 30). Take Epsom or Glauber's salts, twelve ounces; flour of sulphur, four ounces; powdered !;iiig:er, four dractiais ; spirit of nitrous etiier, one ounce. To be dis^solve^ in warm water. One-half of this draught may be repeated twuce a day until thtj bowels are properly opened. In the severer affection it vrill be proper to add from ten to twenty drops of the croton oil to the first draught, and even two drachms of carbonate of ammonia and ten grains of cantharides have been conjoined with advantage. It is of importance to administer the draught slowly and carefully ; and when the cow is any way unconscious it will be better to give it by means of Read's syringe, putting tb.e tube half-way down the neck, so as to prevent any of the medicine getting into the windpipe, where it has been known to produce fatal inflammation. The action of the physic should be assisted by frequent clysters, and the bladder should be emptied from time to time by a catheter. A blistering liniment should be rubbed on the course of the spine : in the m.ilder disease it may be limited chiefly to the loins, but in the severer alTection it should ex- tend from the head to the tail, and be often repeated. It is astonishinor what a vast quantity of purgative medicine may often be administered m this disease without producing any effect, the stomachs beinor in such a torp.id state. In the milder disease, the treatment must be similar in its nature, though not so powerful as that here recommended ; the croton oil may be dispensed with, and the blistering application confined to tlie loins. The cow should oe made as comfortable as possible. A good bed 72 M I L K F E V E F of Straw should ho got iindor her, and hor fore-quarters should bf considoral)ly raised, so tliat the dun>ssible. In the early stag'e of the disease there can be no donbt of the pro- priety of bleeding. The fever, which, according to every account, characterises the first attack, should, if possible, be subdued ; other- wise its prolonged existence would aggravate, if it did not cause, the subsequent debility. The aniaial should be bled, in proportion to ids size, condition, and the degree of fever : he should be bled, in fact, until the pulse began to falter or he began to stagger. The blood should be taken in as full a stream as possible, that the constitution might be more speedily and beneficially atfected. When the blood flows slowly, a quantity may sometimes be taken away before the animal begins to feel it, the loss of which would afterwards produce alarming debility; but if the blood flows freely, the beast will show- symptoms of faintness — the effect we wish to produce — before one- fourth of the quantity is drawn that would be lost if it ran in a slow stream. We want to attack and subdue the fever, without under- mining the strength of the frame. Then we should with great propriety administer a brisk purgative. If fetid and obstinate purging so soon follows, we should be anxious to get rid, if we can do so, of a portion of the offending matter; and therefore a pound or twenty ounces of Epsom salts should be given in a sufficient quantity of thin gruel. Next, as it is a disease so much and so early characterised by de- bility, we should attend to the diet. Green succulent grass would scarcely be allowed, because it would probably not a little increase the purging; but mashes of bran, with a little bean-meal, carrots, or sweet old hay, should be given in moderate quantities. The animal should be coaxed to eat; for it is necessary that the constitution be supported against the debilitating influence of such a disease. The animal should not be at first drenched, for this might produce nausea and disgust for food ; but if two or three days should pass, and the beast should obstinately refuse to eat, plenty of warm thick gruel must be forced upon him. As for medicine, I scarcely know what to advise. The fact stands too clearly upon record, that nineteen animals out of twenty, seized with the murrain, have died. That on which 1 should put most dependence would be the following : — RECIPE (No. 35). Drink for Murrain.— Tnke swful spnjl of nitre, half an ouncn ; laiidanum, bait an ounce ; chloride of lime, in powder, tno ounces; prepared chalk, an ounce. Rub them well together, and give them with a pint of warm gruel. This may be repeated every six hours, until the purging is consi- derably abated ; but should not be continued until it has quite stopped. The pureeing being abated, we must look about for something to recall the appetite and recruit the strength, and I do not know any thing better than the following : — 82 M u R R A I .\ , () u res 1 I ]. i: >i x i a l f k v e r Ri;('llT, i,\(). -AC). Tunic Drink for Jiliirrtiiii. — T:ike <:iiliiiiili:i root, t\>o ilracliiiis ; canclla hark, tw« driichiiis; jjiiiirer, one dracliiii ; sweet spirit of nitre, halt an ounce. Rub them tuge- • her, and give in a pint of tliick gruel. 'i'hcre cannot be a more proper means adopted than a seton in the dewlap, made with the black hellebore root. The mouth should be fr<'(|uently washed with a dilute solution of the chloride of lime. The ulcerated parts, if they are fetid, should have ttie same disinfectant applied to them, and the walls and ceiling, and every part of the cow- house, should be washed with it. One caution siiould be used with respect to the food ; while the beast should be coaxed to eat, in order to support him under the de- hilitatino: influence of tlie disease, it is only on the su]iposition that he ruminates his food. Until he beo-ins again to chew the cud, we are only injuriously overloading the paunch by enticing the animal to eat. Until rumination is re-established, the food should consist of gruel, or any other nutritive fluid, and should be so administered that the greater part of it may pass on into the fourth stomach, without entering the first. When the animal appears to be recovering, he should be gradually exposed to cool and open air, and very slowly permitted to return to his usual food. When the disease is quite subdued, the cleansing of the cow-house should be seriously utidertaken, and thoroufihly accomplished. Let every portion of filth and dung be carefully removed, the walls, and the wood -work, and the floor carefully washed with water, or soap and water, and then every part washed agnin with a lotion, in the proportion of a quarter of a pound of the chloride of lime, in powder, to a bucket of water. This will be better than any fumigation that can be possibly applied. Should, however, the chloride of lime not be at hand, then a simple and cheap fumigation, on which very con- siderable dependence can be placed, may be resorted to. RECIPE (No. 37). Fumigation. — Take common salt, two pounds; oil of vitriol, ono. pound. The salt should be put in an earthen vessel, and placed in the middle of the cow-house, and the oil of vitriol gradually poured upon it. They should be stirred well together with a stick, and the person preparing the thing should retreat as quickly as he can, to prevent himself from suffering by the fumes of the chloride, closing the door carefully after him, every window and aperture having been previously closed. In a few hours he may enter the cow^-house again, and remove the vessel without any serious inconvenience. There is every reason to hope that the murrain will never again *hin our herds of cattle to any great extent, not only because veteri nary science is so much advanced, and the farmer can have imme- diate recourse to the assistance of a skilful practitioner, but because agriculture has been so much improved within the last century, and particularly that important and most beneficial system of under- MURRAIN, OR PESTILENTIAL FEVER. 83 <^.rainingf has been introduced. When the murrain so sadly prevailed in foreign countries, and in England, it uniformly commenced in, and was chi. fly confined to, some low marshy district. This was parti- cularly the case in the murrain which prevailed in France in 1779. It was principally confined to the low meadows and marshes, and it appeared soon after an unusual inundation had suhsided. In Italy, wtiere the murrain has been more prevalent and fatal than in any other country, it ahvays commences in some of the extensive and pestilential marshes with which the Italian coast abounds. In the account of a pestilence that carried off thousands of cattle in Hun- gary, it is said that the spring had been rainy, with great changes in the temperature of the atmosphere. This will afford a useful hint to the farmer as to the system of agriculture he should pursue, and the situation to which he should, if possible, remove his cattle when any pestilential disease breaks out. The infected cattle, and the herd generally, should not only be removed to some rather elevated and dry situation, but sheltered as much as possible from the sudden variations of the external air, at least by night. It is to be hoped, too, that some leg'islative provision will be made to prevent as much as possible the spread of the disease ; that every animal seriously affected shall be immediately consigned to the slaughter, and that no portion of the hide or carcass shall by any means be permitted to be used, but the whole deeply and speedily buried. When the murrain was so prevalent in Holland, and it seemed as if every beast was destined to fall a victim to it, some speculative men had recourse to inoculation. The matter discharged from the nostrils, or from an ulcer of a beast not apparently affected with any very virulent form of the disease, was inserted under the skin of a sound animal. The disease was produced, sure enough, but with very doubtful and often lamentable effect. In some cases a worse malady was induced. In a few it was materially mitigated ; a consi- derable proportion still died, and doubtless some who would have escaped the disease had it not been for the inoculation. [Extract of a letter to the American Editor from J. E. O. Kennedy, Meadville, Pevn- sylvania. " I received some months since, from a Flollander who purchased a farm a few years since in my neighbourhood, some powders for the cure of murrain in cattle. After havinpr resided here a few years, the frequency of this disease induced him to send to Holland for the medicine mentioned, and which he avers was a certain remedy there within his own knowledie. The receipt for its manufacture is a secret, and lodgeii with one family in the Haijue. Its reputation in Holland is very exten- uive. IMr. Knehler, who iiave mo the article, is a remarkably intelligent man, noted for his correct auricultural taste arid k'lowle.lsre amon^ his friends, and I perf.-ctly rely on his veracity. He would say nothiri'r that he did not htlicve true: and as a proof of his standins in his own country, f misht mention his ha viui received, from a nobleman of Holland an invitation to Ix^rome the manager of an extensive estate tit that country, and the inducement such, that he lias rented his farm and gone to S4 EPIDEMIC OF 1840 AND 1811. HollaiKl witli his fnmil.v. Bifuro Mr. Km'IiIit left tliis cniintry Ik; cave inn some of thu powders, hikI I have thoiifiht that possiltly tlie chief ingredioiits mijiht be (ietect^ .nixed Elowly witli gruel. If there should be any appearance of colic or spasm of the bowels, an ounce of laudanum may be given with the other medicine; and if the liver is affected, a drachm of calomel may be added, and a blis- tering application rubbed on the right side. Should the lungs be inflamed, it will be proper to bleed and blister the sides, or insert setons in the brisket. If the udder is affected, it should be well and frequently fomented with hot water, and the milk should be drawn with great care. The epidemic has sometimes appeared amongst sheep in so slight a form that they get well without assistance, or simply by the appli- cation of tar to the feet, no other part being affected. At other tiines, however, its appearance has been f;^r more severe ; the hoofs in many cases have come off, from the formation of matter underneath, and the poor animals have been altogether unable to stand. The mouth, however, in these animals is rarely affected, and the appetite there- fore is not greatly impaired. In wet weather the disease is more severe than in dry, and the feet are sometimes so bad as to resembJe the worst form of foot rot. The feet will therefore, in sheep, require the principal attention. Tlie detached horn shou'ld be sufficiently cut away to afford exit to any matter that may be under; but the knife must be used with cau- tion and sparingly, as fungus flesh is so apt to grow when the horn is removed. The same medicine recommended for cattle should here be em- ployed, and the powder will be particularly useful. It will be desi- rable, unless the symptoms are slight, to administer the internal medicine, one-sixth or one-eighth part Veing sufficient for the sheep; and it will not be necessary to continue its use so long. Pigs may be treated in a similar maviner. INFLAMMATION OF THE BLADDER. 87 CHAPTER XXII. INFLAMMATION OF THE BLADDER. This disease does not often occur in cattle, except from eating acrid and poisonous herbs, or when cows are near their time of calv- inrinary anatomist, however, will overcome this difficulty; and to him. or to one well skilled in his profession, the proprietor of cattle sliiuld have recourse in such a case. The farmer, nevertheless, having' fully ascertained the nature of the case, may often evacuate a o;reat portion of the urine in a very simple way. The bladder of the ox lies more in the pelvis than does that of the horse — it is more easily ftlt than in the horse — it is more readily pressed upon by the hand — and the muscle at the neck of the bladder is much weaker: so that the hand beingr introduced into the anus, and g;entle pressure made upon the bladder, a g^reat quantity, or almost the whole, of the urine may be forced out, without danger.. A catheter may be introduced into the bladder of a cow without difTu-uliy. Inflammation of the bladder itself is a disease more frequent, and from the same causes, namely, cold and acrid herbs. Here the ani- m?.l should be bled and physicked, and fomented across the loins, and every diuretic medicine carefully avoided. The following drink may be administered with good effect, after the bleeding and purgingr — RECIPE (No. 49). Drink for Tvfinmmnfiov of the Blnddrr. — Take, atitimonial powdrr, two flrarhms ; powdered i)|)iiiiii. one scniplo; rub thciii woll toirntlipr with a small pry day. A skilful veterinarian is able, indeed, to remove the stone b} ne operation of lithotomy: but he must well understand theanatom. o' cattle; and, after ail, the operation would be attended with sop.e G.moer and considerable expense. The r(>tcntion of a small calculus in some part of the urethra occurs much oftener than is generally suspected. The symptoms would be nearly the same as those of stone in the bladder, except that the stop- page of urine would be more complete. On examination, the stone w ill be easily felt, and generally in the double curvature of the penis An incision may be made upon it, and it may be thus easily extracted. Two or three sutures, according to the size of the calculus, having been passed through the edges of the wound, it will usually heal in a few days. CHAPTER XXIV. DISEASES OF THE EYE. Oxen are very apt to receive injuries about the eye, as wounds penetrating into the orbit of the eye, or even fractures of the orbit. 'J'he principal thing is to prevent or abate inflammation, by fomenta- tii ns or poultices, and a little physic, and to leave nature pretty nearly to herself. Either from injury, or from a disposition in the bullock to throw out tumours of every kind, there are frequently bony enlargements about the eyes of Dxen. It will be easily seen how far they are a nuisance to the animal, or impede the sioht; and if it is necessary to remove them, the aid of a professed practitioner on catr tie should be obtained, as an important vessel may be divided, or a sad blemish left. Soft fungous tumours sometimes grow out of the orbit, or from the bon^- around. These can only be got rid of by the use of the kntfe, und iliat obo'ild be placed in a skilful hand ; but even in the most DISEASES OF THE EYE. 91 sliilful h'lnds, the knife often lails; or ritlier, there is a disposition to rei»roduction in these tiiinjurs, vvhi.;h it is impossible to repress. The eyelids of the ox are very subject to disease. Sometimes thern is a scaliness around the edires ; sometimes a row of pustules resem- bling the stye of the human being: both of these diseases are fre- quently a great source of annoyance. They appear early in the spring of the year, and continue during the summer and the greater part of the autumn, and disappear as winter comes on. A solution of while vitriol, iu the proportion of a drachm to a pint of water, will often be a useful application. If this fails, the nitrated ointment of quicksil- ver may be smeared over the lid, taking care that none of it gets into the eye. It will, however, be necessary at times to prepare for the use of these by washing the part with a goulard lotion for a few days. Young oxen are subject to warts, which are frequently sadly teas- ing. They would probably disappear after a while, but, in the mean- time, they are unsightly, and much annoy the animal by getting between or within the lids. They may either be clipped otf with a pair 01 scissors, touching the root afterwards with the lunar caustic, that the wart may not be reproduced ; or — the best way when prac- ticable — they may be removed by tying a ligature of fine strong silk tightly round the pedicle, or root. The eye itself is not unfrequently inflamed, and sometimes very acutely. The horse has a little shovel, concealed in the inner corner of the eye, which he is enabled to protrude whenever he pleases over the greater part of the eye, and by aid of the tears to wipe and wash away the dust and gravel which would otherwise lodge in the eye and give him much pain. When the haw is swelled in disease,, the ignorant farrier too often cuts it away, not knowing that it is the mere effect of inflammation, and that a little cooling lotion would probably abate that inflammation, and lessen the swelling, and restore the part to its natural size and utility. The ox has something of the same contrivance, but it is not so moveable or so eflfectual ; and, when lie travels over a dusty road in the heat of summer, he sadly suffers from the small particles of dirt and the insects that are continually flying into his eye. This is unobserved by the careless driver, snd inflammation is established, and the eye weeps, and becomes dim, and sometimes blindness follows. This portion of the eye, or this third eye'fd, seems to be peculiarly subject to disease. Little swellino-s, and ulcers, and fungous growths appear upon it; and a fungus, like that just (described, sprincrs up and almost covers the eye. This is sometimes m a manner epidemi on varicAJS farms. But from other causes, and of the nature of uhuh we know little, inJJammntion of the eye is produced, and goes and comes as in thv horse, time after time, the attack being gradually more severe, an« the intervals between the attacks shorter, until, as in the hcrr.f, the inflammation extends to the internal part of the eye, and the lens becomes opaaue, and calarad ensues, and the ox is incurably b^ind. 92 D I 8 E A S E S O F T 11 E E Y E . All thrse must be do?ilt with as otlu'nwiifl.unmations arc. In orde tf) combat 'general iiilV imination Dt'lbe (^yo, bl('('(lin o I'll- The food remains longer in the stomach than nature designed that it should, and it begins to ferment ; and while fermenting throws out a quantity of gas, which distends the stomach almost or quite to burst- ing. Thence arises the danger of sudden change of pasture from an inferior to a better quality, and the numerous cases of distension of the stomach and death which occur when the fog-grass is plentiful and succulent, or the beast has without preparation or care been turned upon clover or turnips. Some animals, however, are subject to hoove, but in a slighter degree, without this change of pasture. Many a weakly cow has occasional swellings of the paunch where there has been little or no change of food. The stomach, also, is subject to disease — it sympa- thises with disease of every other part; and one of the first and most frequent results of an unhealthy state of it is the production of an acid, which wonderfully accelerates and increases the process of fer- mentation and the development of gas. Hence it is that distension of the stomach is an accompaniment of almost every malady to which 3attle are liable. No case of difficult parturition, or of dropping after 3alvmg, or of milk fever, occurs without some degree of distension of the paunch, either from the stomach being so weakened as to be jnable to force the food along, or from its secreting this unnatural and unhealthy acid, so favourable to the progress of fermentation. The symptoms of hoove are su^ciently known. The beast seems 9* T 11 E H O O V E . 95 to swell, and that to an enormous extent; the breathing is very labo- rious, and the animal is evidently in great distress, and threatened with immediate suffocation, from the pressure of the distended sto- mach against the diaphragm diminishing the cavity of the chest, ana rendering it impossible for the lungs to expand. The difficulty of oreathing increases with the distension of the stomach and the pres- sure on the lungs, and the animal is inevitably lost if relief is not Boon obtained. This relief consists, and can alone consist, in relieving the stomach from the distension. But how is this to be accomplished] Medi- cine seems to be almost or quite thrown away. If a drink is given, not a drop of it will find its way into the paunch, the entrance to which is so firmly closed that it seems scarcely possible that even a ball should now break through the floor. A very stimulating drink, passing into the fourth stomach, and exciting it, may, by sympathy, induce the paunch to act: yet it is difficult to conceive how that viscus can possibly act while its fibres are put thus violently upon the stretch. Something might have been done by way of prevention. If, when the cattle had been turned into the fresh pasture, they had been care- fully watched, and removed again to the straw-yard, before the paunch had been too much gorged, and this had been repeated two or three times, the appetite would have been blunted and hoove pre- vented. Some farmers, an hour or two before they have turned such cows as are of a greedy disposition into a fresh pasture, give them a cor- dial drink. The stomach is stimulated by this, and induced to con- tract in time upon its contents ; and this contraction has reminded the animal of the necessary process of rumination, or has rendered it almost impossible for him to continue to feed until some portion of the contents of the stomach has been returned and remasticated. If the farmer will adopt such a plan, the following drink is as good as any that can be given : — RECIPE (No. 46). Cordial Drjnfc.— Take, caraway and aniseeds, in powder, of each an ounce; ginger half an ounce: mix with a pint of good ale, made liot. I must confess, however, that, although I would not absolutely condemn such a practice, I would nnich rather trust to simpler and more effectual precautions. I would take care that the change of food should not be too sudden nor too great. If there was an evident difference in the nutritive quality of the two pastures, I would be carefully on the watch, and remove the beast to shorter grass, before material mischief could be effected. Suppose, however, that the mischief is done; the stomach is dis- tended, and the animal is evidently threatened with immediate suft'o^ cation. Nothing but mechanical means will now be of avail. Some drive the animal al)out. This is sadly cruel work; for he seems to be scarcely able to move, and appears as if he would be 06 T li E 11 O O V E . Buffocated evrry moment. This has, however, been sometimes suc- cessful, especially if tlie beast is made to trot; for, by the motion and the shakincT of the stomach thvis produced, the roof of the paunch has been forced a little open, and a portion of the air has escaped, and some of the food with it, and the stomach has been relieved from a part of its distension, and has been enabled to act upon the remaining food, and the process of rumination has recommenced. It is, how- ever, dangerous work; for in the act of movinjr with the stomach so distended, either it or the diaphragm upon which it is pressing is in danger of being ruptured. Some have resorted to an operation. Midway between the last rib and the haunch-bone, the distended paunch will be felt pressing against the flank. A lancet or a pocket-knife has been plunged into the animal at that spot, whi(;h has passed through the skin and the wall of the belly, and entered the paunch. The vapour has then rushed out with a hissing noise, and steamed up four or five feet high, and some of the contents of the bowels have been forced up w ith the gas. and the flanks have fallen, and the beast has evidently become less, and has been so much relieved that li^as begun to ruminate, and has done well. The wound is left opfR for a while, that any newly-formed gas may escape: it then soon heals of itself, or would almost immediately if its edges were brought together by a slip of adhesive plaster. It, however, too frequently happens, that, although present relief has been obtained, and the beast has ruminated and eaten, it has in a few days begun to show symptoms of indisposition, and has become feverish, and drooped, and died. We account for this by some of the gas, and, perhaps, a portion of the food, getting into the belly, be- tween the paunch and the flank, and falling down among the intes- tines, and causing irritation and inflammation there. Some have adojited even rougher and more effectual methods of remedying the evil. They have not contented themselves with simply puncturing the paunch, but they have cut a hole into it through the flank large enough to introduce the hand ; and so they have not only liberated^the air,°but have taken out the fermenting food by pailfuls. They have even gone so far as to pour in water, and fairly wash the paunch out. They have then brought the edges of the wound toge- l-iier by passing a few stitches through it, and including the substance of the flank and the wall of the paunch in each stitch, and afterwards covered the wound with adhesive plaster, and it has readily healed, and no bad consequence has ensued. In desperate cases, as when the paunch seems to be filled with a mass of food that will continue to ferment, and cannot be got rid of either by rumination or by physic, this bold mode of treatment may be adopted. The paunch has few blood-vessels, and little sensibility, and will bear great injury without any fatal consequence. But this expedient has not always succeeded. Inflammation has ensued, and carried the animal oflT. Besides this, he paunch, being suspended by these stitches, and afterwards hang- THE HO a V E . 97 ing thus from the flank, is kept permanently out of its place, and i» unable freely and fully to contract afterwards upon its contents : thus mflammation has ensued ; and the subsequent want of condition in some of these animals, and the difficulty of fattening tiiem thoroughly, IS easily accounted for. Some farmers go a little more judiciously to work. They thrust a flexible stick, or a cart-whip, down the throat, and through the floor of the passage beneath, and the roof of the paunch, and thus enable some of the gas to escape; and this, perhaps, would be effectual, if the stick could be kept there long enough, and the stomach did not close around it. An instrument, first devised by Dr. Monro, and now brought to perfection by Mr. Read, of the Regent's Circus, is superior to every other method of relieving blown or hoven cattle. A kind of gag is placed across the mouth, with a hole in the centre of it, and a leather at each end to buckle round the horns. Through this is passed a hollow tube of stout leather, called a probang, with a perforated knob at the end of it, and containing (to render it firm enough to be thrust 4own the throat, and flexible enough to accommodate itself to the oending of the passage) a stylet, or slender piece of cane or whale- bone, extending through the whole of its length. The tube, thus strengthened by the stylet, is forced through the roof of the paunch into that stomach. The stylet is then withdrawn, and the air rushes violently out, and sometimes a considerable quantity of fluid with it. The tube may be kept in the gullet as long as the operator pleases, or returned as often as may be necessary ; and if it be passed down with a little caution, and not too rapidly and violently, no injury can possibly ensue. Thus the gas and some of the fluid are liberated; but the solid contents of the stomach, the undigested food, may remain, continuing to ferment, and so nauseating the animal that he is disgusted in the act of rumination. Mr. Read has a contrivance to remedy this.* He ♦ [Read's Patent Veterinary Syringe consists of a syringe (Fig. 1) to which tubes of different sizes are affixed, according to the purpose and kind of animal to be ope- rated upon. There is a long flexible tube for giving an enema (clyster) to horses and cattle, a, and a smaller one for dogs, b. To relieve hoven cattle, however, it is not only necessary to relieve the stomach from an accumulation of gas, but from the fermenting pultaceous mixture which generates it: for this purpose a tube, d, is applied to the extreuiity of the syringe, and then passed into the animal's stomach through the moutli, as in Fig. 2, and being put into action, the offending matter is discharged by a side opening. When the same operation is performed on sheep, a Bmalier tube, e, is used. The characteristic excellency of this apparatus is, that there is no limit to the quantity of fluid that may be ejected or extracted. The same nynnge is used for extracting poison from the stomach of man, for smoking insects, for extinguishing fires, and syringing fruit trees. Another drawing represents a very useful instrument, and for which there is frequent occasion; a hollow probang, for relieving cattle choked with turnips, pota- toes, ice. It is armed with a stilet, which being passed into liie throat of an animaJ y yS T II 13 II O O V E . cannot, indceJ, pxtraot the food from the stomach hy his tuhe, hut he can do that which is ahuost as beneficial. He attaches to the rube a jjuiiip, that can in a tnonient be altered, so as to be used either as a forcinir-pmnp like a little (rarden-engine, or as a comnnon sucking- juunj), and by means of it he can inject as much water into the stomach as lie pleases, and draw it out again, and wash away the impurities of the food, and a considerable portion of the food itself; or, by using warm water, and perfectly filling the stomach, he can excite the act of vomiting, and so get rid of the nuisance at once. This is an admirable contrivance, and no one who has many cattle should be without the pump and tube. Some of these instruments are made on a smaller scale, so as to be adapted for sheep labouring under the same complaint, to which they are as subject as oxen are. Nothing can be better contrived for the administering of injections than these tubes with the pump attached to them. Two or three gallons of fluid can be thrown up in as many minutes. After the stomach has been well emptied by these means, it will always be proper to give a cordial drink like that recommended in Recipe 31, p. 79. A knowledge of chemistry has been turned to excellent account in the treatment of hoove. The air, or gas, with which the rumen is distended in these cases has been analysed, and found to consist principally of hydrogen, or inflammable air, and in combination either with sulphur or the principle of all plants — carbon or charcoal. Are there any means by which this hydrogen can be removed, or at least made to occupy less space, and the distension of the stomach be relieved] There is another gas for which hydrogen has a strong affinity, namely, chlorine ; and when they are brought into contact with each other they rapidly combine — they both lose their gaseous form, and a fluid, not occupying a thousandth part of the bulk of either, is found in their stead — muriatic acid. Chlorine, however, is a highly poisonous gas : it cannot be breathed in a very diluted state without a distressing feeling of suffocation, and undiluted it would be immediately fatal to life. How shall it be safely introduced into the stomach in order to combine with and change the properties of this hydrogen I To^a chemist the method of accomplishing this presents no difficul- ties. There is a combination of chlorine, fortunately for medicine, that is choking liy a piece of solid food, too larije to pass, perforates the snbstance, and allows of its bciaj; easily withdrawn or blown out in fragments. The figure A represents a section of the stilet probang; the figure B shows the operation of the same, in extracting solid substances. By these inventions it has been truly said Mr. Read has (tonferred a permanent benefit on the breeder and feeder 'jf domestic animals. These instruments should be in the hands of every farmer; their cost would be more than repaid by a single operation, by the saving of the life of one of his cattle. Their simplicity, too, is such as to render them capable of being employed by any individual, the only necessary preliminary being that the head ol be animal l>e held in a proper position. — S.] T 11 E H O O V E . 99 now well known and in extensive use — Chloride of Lime. The practitioner, then, after having, by means of Read's pn bang, got rid of the hydrogen already extricated, provides for the absorption or disappearance of any that may afterwards be formed, in the following manner: — he dissolves two drachms of the chloride of lime in the form of powder, in a quart or three pints of water, and injects this into the stomach by means of Read's pump. The chlorine has an affinity for lime — in virtue of that affinity it had combined with it and formed chloride of lime; but, having a much stronger affinity for hydroo-cn, it rapidly quits the lime and unites with the hydrogen, either then existing in the stomach, or as it may be afterwards extri cated during the process of fermentation, and forms muriatic acid ; and by the wonderful diminution of bulk that follows this new com- bination of hydrogen, the distension of the stomach is at once, and, as it were, magically removed. There are then left in the stomach muriatic acid and the lime which has lost its chlorine. These are highly caustic substances, and might threaten to be detrimental, but their continued presence in the stomach is beautifully provided against, for between the muriatic acid and the lime there is also a strong affinity ; and these substances hasten to unite; and the result is a harmless neutral salt, muriate of lime. The practitioner on cattle will highly prize this remedy for hoove, and will see other ways in which it may be usefully employed. It is proper to observe that there are several other medicaments which have been found of great service in this disease, such as lime- water, potash, hartshorn, and particularly sulphuric ether. About an ounce and a half of hartshorn may be given in a pint and a half of water, unless the symptoms are so urgent as to threaten immediate suffocation : then the flexible tube, if at hand, should be used ; or, if not, the trochar, or the knife, plunged into the flank. If the symptoms should denote any inflammation, ether will be preferable as a medi- cine, as it promptly condenses the gases : an ounce may be given in a pint of water. If the symptoms are produced by green food there is less probability of inflammation than if the food has been previously dry. It is very important to distinguish between distension of the paunch produced bv meteriozation, or the production of gas, and that occa- sioned wholly or in part by the larii:e mass of food itself. The nature o\ the diet will in some measure assist our judgment. If it has con- sisted of roots, such as potatoes, the obstruction will probably be mechanical; and then, though the symptoms may not be so painful^ or sudden, the danger is yet greater. There is generally some in-' flammation of the dinfestive organs, and the pulse is usually small and feeble. On pressing the abdomen at the flank, we find that the stomach feels hard and firm, although even in this case it contains some gas. It will be proper to administer ether or chloride of lime, to con- dense the gases, as before advised : then, if no relief can be obtained \[)() THE HOOVE. by this or the administration of purgatives, it will be proper to employ lilt' trochar, and tluis give exit to the gas, ai)d ascertain positively tiie naiure of the contents of the nunen. If they are found to be solid and in considerable quantity, it will be proper to make an opening in the Hank live inches long, so as to insert the hand, and empty the stomach mechanically, taking especial care not to let any of the food escape from the wound in the rumen into the abdomen. The wound must afterwards be stitched up, and some blood may be taken and an oily laxative administered, and the food for some days given very sparingly. The operation is, of course, attended with much danger, and should therefore be employed in desperate cases only ; but it has been performed with perfect success. Cattle that have been once blown are subject to a repetition of the accident. The chloride of lime should be administered whenever they are turned into fresh and tempting pasture : they should be more carefully watched than others, and a cordial drink, mingled with a portion of physic, given them as soon as they appear to be in the slightest degree blown. [A gentleman of Ea?ton, Pennsylvania, once assured us that he had often seen a tarred rope tied in thn innuth of cattle or sheep for this affection, and " never knew it fail." To prevent hoven, Lewis Saunders, an eminent cattle breeder of Kentucky, recommends — to "mix thoroughly one bushel of wood ashes, sifted to each bushel of common salt; this mixture to be used as salt for stock on a farm. At all times stock ought to be sufficiently salted ; but at the periods most likely to be attacked with hoove (early in spring or at the time of first frosts in autumn; increase the supply of salt and ashes. 'J"he alkali, says Mr. Saunders, destroys, from the ashes, the acidity of the stomach— preventing the accumulation of gas. 1 have thus used ashes with salt, for stock, for upwanls of twenty years, and in all that time have lost but one animal by hoove, and that was supposed to have occurred in conse- quence of having omitted the ashes, in one or two saltings. I prefer salting on the ground, a double handful in a place twenty fue or thirty feet apart. I use the niixture for horse and hog stock, as well as for cattle and sheep."— Grass' Hills, Ken tucky, 1839, — S.J CHAPTER XXVI. CHOKING. Cattle are extremely liable to become choked when feeding on turnips or other roots, and many are in consequence destroyed. A roimd object, such as a potato, is more likely to occasion suffocation than a more irregular body, as it produces greater pressure on the windpipe, and is embraced more closely by the oesophagus. The appearances attending choking can scarcely be mistaken. The animal evinces great distress, tries to bring up the obstructing body, slavers at the mouth, pokes its nose, and draws up the neck. After awhile CHOKING. 101 •ne abdomen swells from the inflation of the paunch with gas. .Some- times the beast will die in a very short tiuie, but the urgency of the case depends much on the situation and the size of the obstructing body. If the rumen is so distended as to threaten immediate suffocation, it will be proper to puncture it ; but this, if possible, should be avoided. It will next be desirable to ascertain the situation of the obstruction. Sometimes it will be found that the body is impacted at the hack of the mouth or beginning of the oesophagus : in these cases by using a balling-iron the object can frequently be removed by passing up the Hand. If, however, the substance is situated low down the tube, it will be desirable to force it onwards. For this purpose half a pint of oil should be given to lubricate the passage as much as possible, and then the beast, being properly secured, and a gag placed in the mouth, a flexible tube or rod, with a knob at the end, should be carefully passed down the oesophagus until it reaches the body : a steady pressure should now be employed to force it onw ards ; but this should be done patiently, so as not to injure the parts. 13y alternately resting and trying again, the object will generally be removed. If the object is situated near the mouth, but not sutTiciently so as to be reached by the hand, it can best be removed by means of an in- strument invented by Mr. Simonds, and which is constructed so as to embrace the obstructing body by a forceps, concealed in the bulb aJ the end of the tube, and thus to remove it upwards by the mouth. After forcing the object into the stomach it will be desirable to let the probang remain a short time, if the animal is hoven, to aflbrd an exit for the gas : and this may be assisted by pressing the flanks. No solid food should be allowed for several days afterwards, as there is great danger of a repetition of the choking until the muscles entirely recover their tone. Sometimes, after all attempts of removing the body by the methods before described have failed, it will be pro- per to do so by means of an operation which has been performed with success; and this consists in making an incision tlirough the skin into the oesophagus, sufficiently large to extract the body. Great care must be exercised so as not to injure the important nerves and blood- vessels situated near the part. The beast should be cast for the operation, and the wound carefully sewed up afterwards, and for several days the food should consist principally of gruel. [A gentleman who has been much in Spain says that it is a common practice tfinre, u.itfii cattle get choked with apples, or other such substances, for two or three men to seize them and lay their neck over a loj; of wood, and then the operator feeling for the obstruction, strikes a smart blow immediately over it, with a mallet or billet of wood, sufficient to crush the apple to pieces, which instantly begins to be blown out, and the animal is relieved. The expedient appears to be practicable, where the obstruction can be fell e.\tprnally and come at in this way. The probang mentioned in this chajUer has been exhibited by an appropriate drawing, page '04, In the belief that it is not of such familiar use, or so generally known among (is, ai In England. — S.] 9* 102 LOCKED JAW CHAPTER XXVII. LOCKED JAW. FoRTL^ATKLY this IS not a very frequent disease among cattle; bu it is a very fatal one when it does occur. If the attendant is careful, he will observe the symptoms of this malady one or two days before it is thoroughly and incurably established. There will be a stiffness of gait in the beast — he will walk unusually wide behind — there will be ditficuky of turning — permanent cocking of the tail, except when that is interrupted, or accompanied by a singular tremulous motion of it. The animal can scarcely, and, after a while, not at all, bend his neck to graze; but he will stand with his head protruding, and his ears stiffened, and unnaturally lixed in a somewhat backward direction. Rumination gradually ceases, or is performed slowly and painfully. At length the jaws become firmly closed, and the neck perfectly stiff. Tlie eyes are strangely fixed, and with some degree of squinting, and the expression of the countenance is peculiarly anxious. The breathing is considerably affected, and there is much labour of the flanks. The animal will linger on in this dreadful way for eight, or nine, or ten days, almost every muscle of the body being painfully cramp- ed, and the poor creature unable to take a morsel of food, until at length it dies, exhausted by the violent contraction of the muscles and by starvation. The usual cause of locked jaw is some neglected or unobserved wound, particularly in the feet. Working oxen, therefore, are most subject to it. Several weeks sometimes pass between the infliction of the wound and the appearance of this disease. Working oxen that have been exposed to cold and wet, after being heated in drawing, frecjuently have locked jaw. It has been said that locked jaw is occasionally produced by eating some poisonous plant, particularly the colchicum, the water-hemlock, or the yew. I much doubt the accuracy of this; and in many, and probably the majority of, in- stances, the cause is altogether unknown. Tne treatment is indicated by the nature of the disease. It is a most violent action of the nerves of motion, either of a part or the whole of the frame. The most likely means to quiet this is the loss of blood, and that in a large quantity. Therefore, the ox should be bled as soon as the complaint is discovered, and bled until his pulse falters, and he staggers, and threatens to fall. The bleeding will usually relax the muscles of the jaw to a certain degree, and for a little while; and advantage must be taken of this to give a strong' physic drink. LOCKED JAW. 103 RECIPE (No. 47). Slrovff Pkijsir Drink for Locked Jaw.— Take Barbadoes riloes, one ounce and a half; she kernel of llie croton nut, powdered, ten grains. Dissolve them ir. as ifimall a quantity as possible of boiling water, and give them when the liquid is sufiicientiy cool. Generally the jaw will be now sufficiently relaxed to permit the introduciion of the thin neck of a claret bottle into the mouth. The best method, however, of giving medicine in this case is by the a^ssistance of Read's patent pump, the pipe of which, let the jaws be fixed as firmly as they may, can generally be introduced, close to and immediately before the grinders. The bowels having been opened, those medicines must be resorted to which have the readiest and most powerful eifect in quieting the nervous system. These are, as it regards cattle, opium and cam- phor. RECIPE (No. 48). Jinodyne Dnnk for Locked Jaw. — Take camphor, one drachm, rub it down in an ounce of spirits of wine; to this add powdered opium, one drachiu, and give the mixture in a small quantity of thick gruel. This medicine should be administered three or four times every day ; care being taken that the bowels are kept open, either by means of aloes or Epsom salts. The bleeding should be repeatea on the second day, if the ?.nimal is not evidently relieved ; and as much blood should be again taken as the patient can bear to lose. The stable or cow-house should be warm, and the animal covered with two or three thick rugs. If considerable perspiration can be excited, the beast is almost sure to experience some relief. While all this is done to lower the action of the nervous system, the strength of the beast must be supported. He will not, or rather he cannot eat; but he often looks very wistfully at his food. Let a good mash, a little at a time, and moister than usual, be placed be- fore him, a portion of which he will try hard to suck up. If he manages this tolerably well he needs not to be forced with gruel or any other nutriment ; but if his jaws are too firmly fixed for this, the small end of the pipe of Read's pump should be introduced into the mouth, and as much thick gruel pumped down as the attendant pleases. When the poor animal has been hungry for two or three days through utter impossibility of eating, he will gladly enough submit to this operation, and almost offer himself for it. It will be almost labour in vain to endeavour to stimulate the skin, or to raise a blister. Two, three, or four setons in the dewlap have been useful ; and ber^efit has been derived from shaving the back along the whole course of the skin, and cauterising it severely with the common firing-iron. If it should be found impracticable to ad- minister either food or medicine by the mouth, they must be given in the form of clysters. Double the usual quantity of the medicine must be given, on account of the probable loss of a portion of it, and the small quantity that the absorbents of the intestines may take up ; out 104 POISONS. loo much gfruel must not l)e injected, otherwise it will probably be returned. A quart will generally be as much as will be retained, and the clyster may be repeated five or six times in the course of the day. Should the progress of the disease have been rapid, and the symp- toms violent; or should it be found to be impossible to give medicine by the mouth, or cause them to act by injection, the most prudent thin" will be to have recourse to the butcher. The meat will not be in the slifrhtest degree injured, for it is a disease that is rarely accom- panied by any great degree of fever. CHAPTER XXVIII. POISONS. In the early part of the spring, and before the different vegetables have attained their proper growth and smell, cattle are liable to be injured, and even destroyed, by eating poisonous plants; and espe- cially when they are turned into fresh pasture. In some countries and in some seasons, when particular plants have prevailed, a great many cattle have been lost, and it has appeared as if some epidemic disease w^as raging, until a botanist, accidentally coming into that part of the country, has discovered the true cause of the malady. It is a great pity that farmers and graziers are not sufficiently acquainted with botany to know the different plants, wholesome and poisonous, that are growing in their fields. It is a pleasing study, and would be an exceedingly useful one to them. The plants that are the most dangerous are the different species of hemlock, and particularly the water-hemlock, the fox-glove, the drop- wort, and some of the species of crows-foot. These plants are not useful for any purpose, and it is to be lamented that the farmer is not able to recognize them, and root them all up. Young calves and lambs, until they have added some experience to the guidance of in- stinct, are occasionally lost in very great numbers. The yew is a deadly poison, and many cattle have been destroyed by it ; but they seldom browse upon it when green. The mischief, in the great majority of cases, is done by the half-dried clippings of some formal hedge-row or fantastic tree. In this state cattle are very apt to eat great quantities of the leaves or shoots. Some have thought that cattle are poisoned by drinking from stag- nant pools, full of venomous insects and of every kind of decomposi- tion from animal and vegetable substances. I doubt the truth of this ; for the cow seems to be naturally one of the foulest drinkers among our domesticated quadrupeds. She will often choose the most filthy Duddle in the straw-yard in preference to the clearest running stream POISONS,. 105 Nature would not have given her this propensity to foul and putrid drink if it was prejudicial to her. The symptoms of empoisonment vary with the plant that has been devoured. In general the animal moans sadly, as if in dreadful pain ; or a sudden stupidity comes upon it — or violent convulsions. After eating the yew-clippings, cattle are often perfectly delirious ; and in almost every case the belly more rapidly swells than it usually does m hoove. It is plain that there can be no case in which more speedy and de- cisive measures are needed ; and yet very little can be done, except that useful instrument, far too little known, Read's patent pump, is at hand. The pipe should be introduced into the paunch, so that the extricated gas which causes the swelling may escape. After this a quantity of warm water should be thrown into the stomach, sufficient to cause sickness, and thus get rid of a part, at least, of the offending matter. Then, by introducing the pipe only a part of the way down the gullet, a physic-drink may be gradually introduced, which will thus pass on to the fourth stomach, and cause speedy purging. The aloes and croton (No. 47, p. Ill), will be the most etfectual purga- tives. It will usually be advisable to bleed moderately: drinks of vinegar and water, not exceeding half a pint of vinegar at a time, should be administered if it is suspected that the poison is of a nar- cotic kind, and the purging should be kept up by repeated small doses of the aperient medicine. When the poison seems to be nearly or quite evacuated, a cordial drink will be beneficial in givino- tone to the stomach, and the Recipe 31 (p. 79) will be as good as° can be given. Cattle are exposed too much to the influence of poisons of another kind, used under the form of medicines. Corrosive sublimate and tobacco-water have destroyed many a valuable ox. An antidote is in these cases usually quite out of the question, for the constitution is fatally affected, before the owner knows anything of the matter. Cattle in the neighbourhood of lead-mines have been dangerously affected from the effects of this ore in the grass. Difficult respiration with loud wheezing is one of the most prominent symptoms, the beast losing its appetite, pining away, and at length dying of suffocation or attacked by epileptic symptoms. Large doses of Epsom or Glauber's salts with linseed oil, and followed by opium, are the best remedies. The smoke from copper-mines has also produced sad disease amongst animals in the neighbourhood : it causes swellinofs of the joints of a painful description. An early removal to another soil forms the best treatment. Ranking under the general term of poisons, we may mention the bites of venomous reptiles. Our country fortunately knows but one that is dangerous, and that is the viper, or adder ; and it is very rarelj that cattle suffer from its sting. The beast is generally stung about the head or feet, for it is most likely to disturb these reptiles either in the act of browsing, or as it wanders over the pasture. Cattle bittep 106 POISONS. In the tongue almost invariably die. They are suffocated by the rapid Bwellinrr which taivos phicc. The udder has occasionally been stung; but llie supposed bites on the teats are, far oftener than otherwise, the effect of garget. The country remedy is not a bad one, viz., to rub the part well with a bruised onion. Some follow this up by cramming another onion down the throat. A better application is the following : — RPX'IPE (No. 4fi). Embrocation for Bite of Fiper.— Take hartsliorn, and olive oil, equal quantities. Bhake Ihoin wtll togt-thor. and rub the wound and the neighbouring parts well with the liniment morning and night. A quart of olive oil should also be given to the animal, mixed with an ounce of hartshorn. Oil of turpentine may be used when harts- horn cannot be procured ; but it is not so much to be depended upon. The stings of hornets, wasps, and bees, in some cases produce much temporary swelling and pain. If the part is well rubbed with warm vinegar, the inconvenience vAW soon subside. Leech-bites may be mentioned here. While the animal is drinking from some stagnant pool, a leech will occasionally fasten itself on the muzzle, and alterwards creep up the nostril, and produce a very con- siderable, and, in some cases, dangerous, bleeding by its bites. If the leech can be seen, or it is in a manner certain that it has insinuated itself into the nostril, a little strong salt and water should be injected up the nose, which will immediately dislodge the intruder, if it can be brought into contact w^ith it. CHAPTER XXIX. WOUNDS. From the horns of their companions, and from the brutal violence of those who look after them, cattle are often exposed to wounds. The treatment of them is generally simple enough, except in a joint, or the neighbourhood of one. The first thing is to clean the wound from all dirt and gravel, which would cause irritation, and prevent the healing of the part. A good fomentation with warm water will effect this, and at the same time will help to abate any inflammation which may probably have arisen Next is to be considered the state of the wound. Is it a lacerated )T punctured one 1 If it is a lacerated wound, we must try how neatly we can bring the divided parts together. If there are any portions so torn as to prevent us from doing this completely, they should be re- moved with a knife or a sharp pair of scissors. Then, when the edges \re brought well together, they should be retained by passing a needle and strong waxed twine deeply through them, making two. or three, WOUNDS. 107 :>r more stitches at the distance of half an inch from each other. A surgeon's crooked needle, or a glover's large triangularly pointed needle, will be necessary for this purpose. A little dry soft clean tow should then be placed over the wound, and the whole covered by a bandage closely, but not too tightly applied. Let none of the farrier's abominable tents, or pledgets of tow, be introduced : the intervals between the stitches will be quite sufficient to permit the escape of any matter that may be formed. The wound should not, if possible, be opened for two days after the first dressing. Wi^en it is at length examined, let none of the hot torturing appli- cations of the farrier be used. If it looks tolerably healthy, and is going on well, it may be dressed with tincture of myrrh and aloes, or with the Healing Ointment, (No. 10, p. 53), or with both; a pledget of tow soaked in the tincture being put immediately upon the wound, and more tow, with the ointment spread upon it, placed over this. If proud flesh should begin to spring, the wound should be first •washed with a strong solution of blue vitriol, and then dressed with the tincture ; or if the discharge is very offensive, the wound should be well bathed with the Disinfectant Lotion, (No. 34, p. 85), and then the tincture applied. It is high time for all the disgraceful tor- turing applications of the farrier and cowleech to be discarded, espe- cially as Nature is much kinder to these animals than she is to us ; and wounds that would in the human being puzzle the surgeon, heal readily in cattle, almost without any application. If it is a punctured wound, its direction and depth must be care- fully ascertained. Fomentations of marsh-mallows, or poppy-heads boi'ed in water, should be applied for a few days, in order to abate inflammation, and the tincture of aloes and myrrh should be inject id into the wound morning and night; the injured parts being covered if the flies are troublesome, but otherwise left open. If the wound runs downwards and the matter cannot escape, but collects at the bottom, and seems to be spreading, a seton should be passed into the original orifice, and directed as far as the very lowest part of the sinus, or pipe, and there brought out. There is never occasion for the introduction of lint into these wounds : if they are well syringed with the tincture to the very bottom, and a seton passed through the sinus, should one happen to be formed, they will do very well. From the yoke being too heavy, or not fitting the neck, the shoul- ders of oxen will sometimes get sadly wrung, and deep ulcers will be produced, resembling fistulous withers in the horse. These ulcers are very troublesome to deal with. The secret, however, of properly treating them, is to pass a seton through the very bottom of the ulcer, in orde^ that the matter may flow freely out: then, in the majority of cases, the wound will readily heal, or if it should not, the diabolical scalding mixtures of the farrier are never wanted. If I allowed any scalding mixture it would be boiling tar, because tar boils at a very low degree of temperature. The surface of the wound would be suf- ficiently stimulated, and the life of the part would not be destroyed; 8 108 WOUNDS. but he who pours in his boilinnr oil, or iiis corrosive sublimate, de serves never more to possess, or to hr. pcrniiiteci medically to treat, a beast. In obstinate cases diluted nitric aciii (one part of nitric acid and two of water) may be applied over the surface of the ulcer, with a pencil or sponge. When a tumour is forming on the shoulder from the pressure of the collar, every attempt should be made to disperse it. A saturatc^d solution of common salt will often be useful, or sal ammoniac dis- solved in einrjit times its v/eight of water; but the best discutient a])plication is the following : — RECIPE (No. 50.) Discutient Lotion.— T^ke, bay salt, four ounces ; vinegar, one pint ; water, a quart ; oil of origanum, a dracliin. Add the oil to the salt tirsl, ruh them well down with a little water, then gradually add tlie rest of tlie water and the vinegar. The part should not only be wetted with this embrocation, but gently, yet well rubbed with it. Should the swelling still increase, and, on feeling it, matter should evidently be formed, the sooner the tumour is opened the better, and the best way to open it is to pass a seton from the top through the lowest part of it. Oxen are very apt to be wounded in the feet. If this is soon dis- covered, all that will be necessary is to apply a pledget of tow wetted with tincture of aloes, confining it between the claws with a bandage, or to touch the part lightly with the butyr of antimony. When the application of the caustic is necessary, there is no need to apply it with the severity used by some, so as to corrode the parts to the very bone. If the wound is extensive, and accompanied by much swelling, heat, and pain, and especially if the beast should begin to lose its appetite, and to heave at the flanks, it will be prudent both to physic and to bleed. If much contusion or bruise attends the wound, and which is very likely to happen when cattle are gadding about and breaking out of their pastures in summer, and especially when strange beasts are intermixed, the previous fomentation will be more than usually neces- sary, in order to prevent inflammation, and to disperse or favour the escape of the effused blood. The fomentations should be continued during half an hour at each time, and repeated three or four times in the day. The flannels should be applied dripping wet, and as hot as the hand can bear them. If the wound penetrates the cavity of the chest, as it sometimes will when one beast gores another, it will be necessary to bring the parts more accurately together, and to confine them by closer stitches ; a piece of adhesive plaister should then be placed over the wound, and secured by the application of proper rollers or bandages. If the air is suffered to pass in and out of the wound for any considerable time, the edges of it will be indisposed to unite together and to heal. WOUNDS. A^^ and the pleura or lining of the chest will probably becomo inflamed by the unnatural presence of air in the cavity of the chest. Should the belly be wounded, and a portion of the bowels protrude, it will be necessary to calculate the probability of being able to return them into their proper situation, and healing the wound : for in inany of these cases the best thing the farmer can do is to send the animal at once to the butcher. If a cure is attempted, all dirt and clotted blood should be carefully removed from the protruded intestine with a sponge and warm water. It must then be cautiously returned into the belty, and the edges of the wound brought together and secured by very close stitches. After that, rollers or bandages must be passed round the belly, and which, being removed only while the wound is dressed, must remain until a cure is completed, and for a few days afterwards. In all these cases a veterinary surgeon should be consulted. He alone is able to give an accurate opinion as to the probability of a cure, and to guard ag-ainst a thousand accidents and annoyances that are likely to occur in the treatment of such a case. Many persons are frightened when they see the profuse bleeding which sometimes takes place from deep or lacerated wounds. Ex- cept some large arterial trunk is divided, there is little or no danger of the animallileeding to death. When a certain quantity of blood is lost the stream will flow slowly, and a coagulum, or clot of blood, will be formed in the vessel, and plug it up, and afford a mechanica. obstruction to the haemorrhage. Sufficient blood, however, may be lost, to interfere very materially with the condition of the beast, and to leave considerable and lasting weakness behind. We are there- fore anxious to stop the bleeding as soon as we can. Where the situation will admit of it, a dossil of lint, placed upon or in the wound, and secured by a firm bandage, will often be effectual. If the vessel is but partly closed by the pressure of the lint, yet that may be sufficient to produce a coagulation of the blood, and the con- sequent stoppage of the stream. The next preferable way of proceeding is to endeavour to pass a ligature round the bleeding vessel. This is often practicable by means of a tenaculum or any hooked instrument, by which it may be drawn a little from its situation, and some w^axed silk or twine passed round ii. Sometimes it may be laid hold of with a pair of forceps or small pincers, and so secured ; or, should neither of these methods be prac- ticable, a crooked or glover's needle, armed with waxed silk, may be plunged into the flesh or cellular membrane in two or three places around the wound, and when the silk is tightened the vein or artery will probably be compressed and closed. The hot iron is sometimes applied, but usually a great deal too hot, so as to destroy the life of the part, instead of simply searing it, and thus causing renewed ha?morrhage when the dead part is thrown oflf. As for styptic powders or lotions,°they appear to have little or no effect in stopping profuse bleeding in cattle. 10 110 W0»1NDS. The bleeding is generally arrested with most difficulty when the horn is broken olV in some of the lights among the cattle. Tiie bone of the horn is full of blood-vessels, and it is only by plaistor after plaister of tar that a compress is made all round the horn, and through which the blood cannot penetrate. These plaisters should not be removed for many days, otlierwise the bleeding from such a vascular part will return. ^ Of al' the wounds, however, to which cattle are occasionally ex- posed, the most dangerous are those about the joints, and especially when the joint itself is penetrated. The ox is not so subject to this as the horse ; but the fetlock and the knee are occasionally deeply wounded, and the joint laid open, either by falling, or by being bru- tally wounded by a fork. Here, as in all other wounds, the first thing to be done is carefully to wash away all dirt and gravel. The probe must then be introduced ; and the depth to which it will penetrate, and, more particularly, the grating sound which will be heard when it comes into contact with the bone, will generally determine whether the joint has been injured. If any doubt remains about this, a poultice should be applied. This will not only abate or prevent inflammation, but if the joint has been penetrated, the synovia, or joint oil, wall escape, and appear upon the poultice in the form of a glairy, yellowish fluid. Then there is no doubt as to the course to be pursued. The flow of this must be stopped, and that immediately. It was placed there to be interposed between the ends of the bones, and thus to prevent them rubbing against each other, and becoming irritated or inflamed. The membrane with which the heads of the hones are covered is in the highest degree sensitive, and with the slightest injur}" produces inflammation, attended by the extremest torture. There is no agony equal to that caused by an opened joint. We must then confine the interposed joint oil, and prevent this dreadful friction between the membranes. There are two ways of accomplishing this. That which seems to be the most humane is to place a small compress on the part, exactly covering the wound ; to bind it down tight, and not to remove it for many days. Yet it has often happened that when the compress has at length been taken ofl", the joint oil has flowed as quickly as before: therefore, I believe, we must go back to the old method, and apply the hot iron to the wound. The iron, being of a dull red heat, should be run lightly across the surface of the wound in various directions, the consequence of which will be that so much inflammation and swelling will usually be produced, as fairly to block up the orifice with that which soon becomes organized, or converted into the same substance as that in contact with which it is placed, and thus the opening into the joint is securely and for ever stopped; or, should the joint oil in a very few cases afterwards flow a little again, a re-appli- cation of the iron will put an end to the business : the sore may then be treated as a common wound. In many cases a lotion composed of corrosive sublimate dissolved WOUNDS. Ill In spirits of wine, applied several times a day to the surface of the wound, only until the joint oil disappears, will answer the purpose better than the hot iron. In very severe eases, where the carcase of the animal is of trifling value, and it is therefore desirable to attempt a cure at all risks, the application of a paste made with flour, and firmly bound round the part by a number of linen bandages, will, by preventing the flow of joint oil, succeed in closing the joint in many cases: the bandages, however, should not be removed for several weeks, and if necessary the animal may be slung. Should, however, the wound be very large, and the opening into the joint large too, it will usually be prudent to destroy the animal at once, especially if it is in tolerable condition. A dead horse is worth comparatively little, but a dead ox, fairly slaughtered, will produce its full value. Tlierefore, the possibility of a cure not being etfected, or of the animal materially losing condition while the cure is attempt- ed to be performed, should always be taken into account; and in cases where the meat is not injured it should be inquired whether the expense and trouble, and the sufferings of the animal, should not be at once terminated by the butcher. These are the only means that should be used. ^Yhen the farrier or the cow-leach wants to inject his corrosive sublimate, or his oil of vitriol, let no consideration tempt the farmer to comply. It is cruel work, and it does not succeed in one case out often. These cautions are repeated again and again, for it begins now to be generally felt and acknowledged, that we have no right to torture and abuse our quadruped servants. In every joint case it will be prudent to bleed, and administer a dose of physic, and use all proper means to prevent or abate fever. CHAPTER XXX. STRAINS AND BRUISES. The ox is not so subject as the horse to strains, for his work is slower and usually less laborious. The horse is seldom strained at slow and steady work, and that only is generally exacted from the ox. The principal cause of strain in these animals arises from their contests with, or their riding or ramping each other. In recent strains, attended with lameness and heat, the following is one of the best embrocations that can be used : — RECIPE (Xo. 51). Embrocation for Strai7is. — Take bay salt, four ouncps ; oil of origanum, one drachm, rub them well tneether, until the salt is reduced to a powder, then add vinegar, half a pint ; spirits of wine, two ounces ; water, a quart. 112 STRAINS AND BRUISES. Uathe the part frequently with this embrocation. There cannot be a I)etter application for strains or bruises in the horse or cattle, or even in the human beinir, when the skin is not broken. When the heat and tenderness have soniewiiat subsided, and only weakness of \\\e part remains, the Rheumatic Embrocation (Recipe No. 9, p. 52) will be serviceable. Frequent fomentations with warm water should precede the use of these embrocations. In bad cases it may be prudent to give a dose of physic, or even to bleed. For very deeply-seated strains a more powerful application may be necessary. Then use the following : — RECIPE (No. 52). Strongest Finhrocation for Slrains.—Tuke spirit of tnrpriitiiie, half a pint ; oil of oriL'aiiniii, half an ounce ; olive oil, a pint and a half; cantharides, one ounce. Mix thcin together, shake them often, and iteep them in a bottle for use. This should be well rubbed in morning- and night. It is not in- tended absolutely to blister the animal; and should the embrocation cause much redness or tenderness, it may be lowered with an equal quantity of olive oil. After all, a considerable degree of weakness and lameness will occasionally remain, and especially about the hips and loins. A strengthening plaster will be very useful here. It is best applied in the form of a charge. RECIPE (No. 53). Charire for old Strains or Lameness.— Tnke Rnr^undy pitch, four ounces ; common pitch, four ounces ; yellow wax, two ounces; Hiiihadoes tar, six ounces. Melt them together in a ladle, and apply the mixture to the parts when thoroughly warm and liquid. A little short tow is then placed over this, before it gets cool, and which, adhering to it, forms a thick coat over it. The charge acts as a support to the part, and as a permanent bandage. It can never do harm; and many an old strain, or lameness, or rheumatic affection, has been effectually removed by it. It should remain on the part two or three months, in order to ensure its full success; and after the ap- plication of the charge, the beast should be turned out. Althoucrh not exposed so much as the horse to strains generally, yet there is one joint — the fetlock — in the ox, which often suffers. The division of the lower part of the leg into two bones materially weakens this joint : therefore it is not unusual to see enlarged fetlocks, and a considerable accumulation of bone about them. The mild and the strong embrocation must in turns be diligently applied, and these failiuCT of success, recourse must be speedily had to the blister, or the firing iron; but, if these should not be successful, and the lameness ;s so considerable as to injure the condition of the animal, relief can be obtained by dividing the nerve which supplies the foot above the fetlock, thereby removing pain and lameness by destroying sen- sation. CANCEROUS ULCERS. 113 Fractures of the leg sometimes occur ; they have been successfully treated by bandaging the parts, and keeping the animal quiet. ^ The leg too has even been amputated with success, a woouen leg being afterwards substituted. CHAPTER XXXI. CANCEROUS ULCERS. There seems to be a natural disposition in cattle to the formation of tumours on various parts of the body. They are mostly fojnd in the neighbourhood of joints, and generally either hanging loose, or slightly adhering to the parts beneath. They sometimes grow to an excessive size. In some cases they are evidently constitutional, for many of them appear on different parts. They do not serm to give much pain to the animal, and occasionally they continue month after month without being of any serious inconvenience : they then suddenly break, and a malignant ulcer ensues, which speedily degenerates into a cancerous one. The tumours are som.etimes smaller, and fixed to the parts beneath by a broad base, and which are chiefly found about the face, on the cheeks, or under the eyelids, or in the channel between the jaws. These are more likely to break than the others, and when they break are far less manageable. The fluid that is discharged from them is thin and excoriating, and the wounds are covered with proud flesh, springing again as quickly as it is removed. If they are attacked before they break they will generally be got rid of. As an external application nothing is superior to the Iodine Oint- ment, (No. 25, p. 69). At the same time a drachm of the tincture of iodine may be given in a little gruel morning and night, at or soon after the time of feed- ing; or the Hydriodate of Potash, beginning with four grains morn- ing and night, and gradually increasing the dose to twelve grains. This preparation of iodine is preferable to the tincture ; but the inter- nal and the external use of the iodine must be continued at least three or four weeks, before any decisive benefit will be obtained. The tumours will frequently disappear altogether; but the ointment and tincture must be used for at least a month before any decisive good can be expected If the tumours at the end of that time should not be evidently diminishing, the veterinary surgeon should begin to think about removing them with the knife. They are seldom fed by any very considerable vessel, and may usually be taken away without the slightest danger. It will however be prudent to give the tincture of iodine for three weeks or a month after the operation, in order to re- move the constitutional tendency to a return of the tumours. 10* 114 ANGLE BERRIEis ll will in the majority of cases be useless to attempt to heal these tumours when they have once broken. Strong ointments, and caustics of all kinds, have been tried, but the ulcer has daily spread and gone deeper and deeper, until it became necessary to destroy the animal. If anything is attempted in the way of healing the ulcers, the wound should be washed before every dressing with the tincture of iodine, lowered with four times its weight of water, and the Healing Clean- sing Ointment (Recipe 10, p. 53) be daily applied. These tumours are often very troublesome to treat, and the prefer- able way will generally be to remove them as soon as possible with the knife, except more should be found on any other part of the beast, in which case the removal of the principal tumour would only hasten the growth of the rest. Mercurial ointment will have no effect on these tumours, except to irritate them, and cause them to grow faster, and sometimes it will salivate and seriously injure the beast. CHAPTER XXXH. ANGLE BERRIES. These are little warty tumours growing on various parts of the skin. They are unpleasant to the eye, and they sometimes become very sore. They are a sad nuisance about the teats, and often render the covir very difficult to milk; and, on the eyelids, they are a source of per- petual torment to the animal. The easiest and surest way to remove them is to tie a piece of waxed silk firmly round the base of each, and to tighten it every day : by means of this the tumour will drop off, and rarely grow again ; there will be no bleeding, and the neigh- bouring parts will not be inoculated. If they are so numerous and large that it is necessary to have re- course to the cautery, the heated iron should be immediately applied to the angle berry. The bleeding will thus be readily stopped, and the tumour will not sprout anew. If they are early attended to, and before they have reached any considerable size, they will gradually disappear when they are daily touched with the nitrate of silver, either in substance, or in the form of a stiong solution. The strong nitrous acid will answer the same purpose. When there is an inveterate disposition to the growth of these berries, the iodine may be given, as already directed, with evor> prospect of success. THE FOUL I .N THE FOOT. 1 1 •') CHAPTER XXXIII. THE FOUL IN THE FOOT. Tuts is also a troublesome and obstinate disease. It consists of alcers of the foot, usually about the coronet, running under the horn nnd causing more or less separation of it, with intense pain and lame* iiess. It is produced by cattle being pastured too long on wet and poachy land, or their being driven too far over a hard and flinty road. It generally first appears between the claws in the form of a crack, extending from the coronet down the foot, with considerable inflam- mation, and the discharge of a stinking matter or pus. At other times a little swelling appears on the coronet between the hair and hoof, which breaks, and likewise discharges much stinking matter; and on being examined with a probe, a sinus or pipe will be discovered descending from the coronet down the foot and under the horn. The pain is often so great that the animal altogether refuses his food, and becomes as thin as a skeleton. The being pricked in shoeing is not an unfrequent cause of foul in the foot, especially if the ox be hardly worked afterwards, or turned on damp and boggy grounds. It very much resembles quitter in the horse, and must be treated in the same way. The first thing to be done is to examine the wound carefully, and see how far it extends under the horn. If there is little or no under running, the case may be easily and successfully treated. The country practice is to clean the part carefully, and theri take a small cart-rope, or a pair of cow-hopples, and chafe them backward and forward be- tween the claws for four or five minutes, and afterwards to dress the sore with a little butyr of antimony, and turn the beast into a dry pasture. I should object to this, that it seems to be a very rough and cruel way of going to work. All that is necessary is, after cleaning the part well, to cut away all loose or separated horn, and all proud flesh, and then lightly apply the butyr to the sore. There will not be much difficulty in effecting a care if the case is taken in time, and the sore itept dry while under treatment. Should, however, the pasterns swell, and be hot and tender, as they will do if the case has been neglected, or any gravel has in- sinuated itself between the horn and the foot, the wound must be more carefully examined, every sinus must be laid open to the very bottom, and cleansed, and touched with the caustic. A poultice of linseed meal should then be applied, and changed morning and night until the swelling and inflammation have subsided, when the caustic may be again employed, but not more severel)' than the case seen»s to require. It is the frequent light application of tiie butyr, and no 116 TO DRY A cow OF HER 31 I L K . the cruel burning to the very bone, th;it will soonest and mosl per- fectly etTect a euro. In a few cases the foul in the foot cannot be traced to any external injury, but seems to be the result of natural foulness of the habit. It then resembles trrease in the horse, and must be similarly treated. A brisk dose of physic should be given, and when that has ceased to operate, the Diuretic Drink (No. 20, p. GO) every morning. The {lores, if foul and hot, should be cleaned and cooled by poulticing for a few days, and then the feet should be washed morning and night with a tolerably strong solution of alum in water. A moderate bleed- ing will be serviceable in such a case. It should not be forgotten that foul in the foot is a highly infectious disease, and that the lame beast should be speedily removed from his companions. Foul in the foot is a most serious disease when it breaks out in a dairy. It preys upon the health of the animal, and thus, to a degree almost incredible, lessens the quantity of milk which the animal yields. The grazier likewise severely suffers when it retards the fattening of his stoie-catlle. Much sulfering speedily and most inju- riously preys upon these animals. They were not designed to endure it, or to be exposed to the usual exciting causes of it. Lameness in cattle should, therefore, never be for a moment neglected. CHAPTER XXXIV. TO DRY A cow OF HER MILK. It is often necessary to dry up the milk when cows are wanted speedily to fatten, and this is now and then found to be a difficult matter, especially with large and gross beasts. If the flow of milk is Butfered to continue, it may overload the udder, and produce inflam- mation of it, or garget, or general fever, or inflammation of the lungs, or foul in the foot. The best time to dry the cows is very early in the spring, when they are eating dry meat. A good dose of physic, followed by mild astringent drinks, will usually settle the business, especially if she is moderately bled before the physic is given. Alum in the form of whey (No. 19, p. Gl), or dissolved in water, will be the most effectual, as well as the safest astringent. Six drachms will be the medium dose. The cow may be milked clean when the astringent is given, and then turned on some dry upland pasture. Two days afterwards she should be examined, and if the udder is not overloaded, nor hard nor hot, the milking may be discontinued; but if the udder is hard and full, and especially if it is hot. she should ■ye fetched home, cleanly milked, and another astringent drink given. The third drink, if it is necessary to give one, shr>'ild be an aperient THE MANGE. 117 me, and after tliat the Diuretic Drink (No. 26, p. 69) every second day. The milking should only be resorted to if the state of the udder absolutely req°iires it, for every act of milking is but encouraging the secretion of milk. CHAPTER XXXV. THE MANGE. This is a troublesome and a disgraceful disease. It argues bad management in some way or other. An occasional cause is over- feeding, especially with hot, stimulating food. A more frequent one is starvation in the winter, by which the animal is so much debilitated that he cannot support the change of diet when the flush of grass comes on, and nature, overloaded^ relieves herself by this eruption on the skin. A third cause is filth, and in the cow-houses of many little farmers it is not an unfrequent one. The last cause that I shall men- tion is contagion : mange is highly contagious, and if it gets into a dairy will often run through all the cows. When there is not much eruption, the disease is recognised by the hide-bound appearance of the animal; the dryness and harshness of the hair; its readily coming off; the beast continually rubbing him- self; and a white scurfiness, but not often much scabbiness, being seen on various parts. Medicine alone will be of no avail here. The beast must he dressed. There is no occasion to use anything poisonous for this purpose, as cow-leeches are too much in the habit of doing. The corrosive subli- mate and hellebore and tobacco should rarely be suffered in the dairy. They have destroyed hundreds of cattle. The most effectual application is an ointment of which sulphur is tiie principal ingredient. Some mercurial ointment, however, must be added, but in no' great quantity, for cattle will lick themselves, and salivation may ensue. There is nothing so injurious to the milk, or to the fattening"^ of the beast, as salivation, even in a slight degree. RECIPE (No. 54). J\Ianffe Ointment.— Take fiower of sulphur, a pound; Ptron? mercurial ointment two ounces; common turpentine, half a pound; lard, a pound and a half Melt the turpentine and the iard together, well stir in the sulphur when these bepn to cool ; and afterwards rub down the mercurial ointment on a marble slab, with the other ingredients. This should be well rubbed in with the hand daily, wherever there IS mange, the hair being carefully separated where the affected part is covered by it. No possible danger can happen from the prolonge;o*-fpent if the animal is not exposed to severe cold. a18 diseases of the skin. Alterative medicine will materially assist the cure. The following may be tiiven witliout injury to liie milk, and without any precaution being needed : — RECIPE (No. 55). Alterative Drink— Take flowt'T of su\\i\mr, two ounces; black siilphuret of anti mony, one oiiiici' ; ^T'.tliidp's mineral, liaif an ounce; nitre, two ounces. .Mix, and divide into four powders; give one every second tnorning in a iitlie thick grueL Turning into a salt marsb will be an excellent auxiliary. Connected with man^e, generally accompanying it, and often pro- ducing it, are lice. The presence of these vermin argues extreme negligence, and is an absolute disgrace to the farmer. They rapidly spread from cow to cow ; the slightest touch transfers some of them from one beast to another ; they are crawling continually in the stable or on the pasture; and although they are never originally bred in the skin of a diseased animal, yet in one that has been half starved or mangy, and whose coat clings to the skin, and will not come off when nature usually sheds it, these vermin find too favourable a shelter. They are both the consequence and the cause of mange, and other affections of the skin. Myriads of them are sometimes found on the poor beast, teazing it almost to death. The mange ointment above recommended will often be effectual in destroying them, or should it not be sufficiently powerful, a weaker kind of mercurial ointment may be applied. RECIPE (No. 56). Jilernirial Ointment for Vermin. — Take strong mercurial ointment, ohr ounce; lard, seven ounces. Mix them well together, and rub the ointment well on wherever the lice appear. Some prefer a lotion : the best is — RECIPE (No. 57). Lotion for Vermin. — Take corrosive sublimate, two drachms; rub it down in two ounces of spirit of wine, and add a pint of water. This is strong enough to kill the vermin, but cannot possibly injure the beast. An ointment, however, is best, for it can be more tho- roughly rubbed among the hair, and into every lurking-place which the vermin may occupy. A portion of the liquid is often lost in the act of applying it. The ointment or the lotion should be used daily, and three or four dressings will generally remove the nuisance. Scotch snuff has been dusted on the beast with partial good effect, the animalculae have been thinned, but not extirpated. The snuff cannot possibly reach half of them. While the lice are attacked, the condition of the animal should, if possible, be improved. Poverty and bad condition are sad encou- ragers of these pests. The alterative drink just recommended may be advantageously combined with tonics. [The Boston Cultivator says:— " Many of our patrons inform us that their own Bxperience confirms our doctrine, as to the facility of destroying lice on cattle by means of sand or any fine dust sifted Mito their hair. Mr. Hardy, of Waltham, Massachusetts, one of our observing auJ successful farmers, says cattle that lie io VERMIN 119 the dirt will never be lousy." Mr. C. Bullare, of Farmingham, who keeps the best of cattle, says that "dirt or any fine powder sifted into the hair, will destroy ver- min." Instinct teaches partridges and other game to wallow in dusty places to keep off vermin; and for the same purpose, every poultry yard should be provided with heaps of line dust and ishes. — S.] RECIPE (No. 58). iterative Tonic Powders.— Take flower of sulphur, four ounces ; black sulphuret of antimony, one ounce; .^thiop's mineral, half an ounce; nitre, two ounces; pow- dered gentian, two ounces; powdered ginger, one ounce. Mix, and divide into six powders, and give one daily. Warbles may here be not improperly considered. The breeze or gad-fly, or ox-fly, appears about the end of summer, and is a sad an- noyance to the ox. At the very hum of the insect the cattle will gallop distractedly over the field, and sometimes do themselves se- rious injury. When the fly has the opportunity of alighting on the beast, he chooses the back or the loins, and piercing the skin, deposits an egg under it. Some venom is also distilled into the wound, for a tumour is shortly afterwards formed, varying from the size of an hazel-nut to that of an egg. It is a kind of abscess, for it speedily bursts, and leaves a little hole on the top of it for the grub, which is now hatched, to breathe, and where he lives on the fatty matter that he finds in this curious abode. These warbles are often a sad nuisance to the animal. He licks them when he can get at them, and rubs himself violently on any- thing within his reach. Country people sometimes get rid of them by compressing them between the finger and thumb, and forcing the maggot out. Others, with more certain effect, either pull off the scab around the mouth of the tumour, or open it with a lancet or penknife, and then pour in a few drops of spirit of turpentine, or introduce a heated needle. The farmer is scarcely aware how much injury this fly does to the hide ; for, although the holes may apparently close up, that part will always be weak. CHAPTER XXXVI. TO PRODUCE BULLING IN THE COW, AND TREATMENT OF BULL-BURNT It sometimes happens that the cow^ will not stand to the bull at the time that the farmer wished, so that either the calf is dropped a month or two after the most convenient and profitable time, or the most valuable season for making butter and cheese is lost. Some cows are thus backward because' they have been previously starved ; a week or fortnight's better keeping will usually effect the desired purpose. Indeed, if the animal has been well kept, and is in good 120 BULLINO IN THE COW, 6:^ C. heaUli, there will be little trouble from her unwillingness to associat* \\\{\\ the bull, but occasionally some of a contrary nature. Many recipes have been (riven by various authors to hasten tho period of the cow being in season. A very common thing with the fi'.rmer is to give the cow that is wanted to take the bull a quart of milk immediaX ly after it has been drawn from a cow that is in sea- son. Two or three good cordial drinks, such as that recommended in Recipe 31, (p. 79),\vill be more serviceable. A few mah mashes, oats, carrots, &c., m;iy likewise be given. I would earnestly advise the farmer never to have recourse to cantharides. It is a dangerously stiumlating medicine: some cows have had suppression of urine quickly foflowing the exhibition of it, and others have died from in- flammation of the sexual parts. On the other hand, cows should not be too fat at this time, because they will frequently then not stand the bulling. A fat cow should have a dose or two of physic and be bled ; a lean cow requires better keeping. The sheath and penis of the bull occasionally becomes swollen and tender, and full of little ulcers, with fetid ichorous discharge. The anim rnadixV got rid of. 11 I 22 CLUE-BOUND FARDEL -BOUND. CHAPTER XXXVIII. CLUE-BOUND. FARDEL-BOUND. These are different terms for costiveness, to which cattle are often subject, and especially in the beginning of almost all inflammatory complaints. The dung gets more tenacious and harder, and is forced away in very small quantities. There is considerable dryness of the muzzle, heat of the mouth, quickness of the pulse, anxiety of the countenance, and every indication of fever. Sometimes the disease is evidently in the bowels principally or entirely ; at other times it is only the symptom or accompaniment of other diseases. It always requires immediate attention, and may be considered as highly dan- gerous. Bleeding will be very useful, not only as lowering the fever, but disposing the purgative medicine to act more speedily. After bleeding, the bowels should be attacked in good earnest. The physic drinks already recommended should be given, — at first, the mild one (No. 2, p. 47). If that, repeated after an interval of six hours, is not successful, the stronger dose (No. 47, p. Ill) should be tried: and if that also fails, a pound of common salt should be administered, and repeated four hours afterwards. This will seldom deceive, in extreme eases, although, from its irritating the bowels a little too much, it is not a purgative to be recommended in ordinary cases. The action of the purgatives will be hastened, and generally secured, by the use of injections ; and here also Read's patent pump will be advantageously employed. Half a pailful of warm water, in whicn Epsom salt or common salt has been dissolved, may be thrown un every two or three hours. After the obstruction has been once overcome, the continued exhi- bition of mild purgatives will be prudent, for the costiveness is too apt to return. The Sulphur Purging Drink (No. 7, p. 52) will be the oest medicine for this purpose. The food should be mashes princi- pally, or young succulent grass. CHAPTER XXXIX. RABIES. HYDROPHOBIA. This dreadful disease is produced by the bite of a rabid or mad dog. The time that may elapse between the bite and the appearance r»f the malady varies from three weeks to three or four months. RABIES HYDROPHOBIA. 123 The symptoms of its approach are dulness; loss of appetite; the eyes are anxious, protruding, and red ; the animal frequently and pitifully lows, and is continually voiding its durg or its urine. Saliva drivels plentifully from the mouth, but after a day or two the discharge dries up, and is succeeded by thirst almost insatiable: there is no hydrophubia, or dread of water, at any time. Presently weakness of tiie loins and staggering appear : these are succeeded by palsy of the hind limbs, and the animal lingers six or seven days, and dies._ In some cases the beast is dreadfully ferocious : he runs furiously at every object, stands across the path bellowing and tearing up the ground, and violently attacks and gores his companions. There is no cure; the most prudent thing is lo destroy the animal as soop» as the disease is sufficiently plain. Care should be taken that the saliva of the rabid ox is not received on a wound or abraded part, for it has produced the disease in other animals. Any wound on which it has fallen should immediately have the lunar caustic applied to it. When a mad dog has been known to bite an ox, or a cow, there is a possibility of their escape, for the hide is thick, and the hair is thick too, and the skin may not be penetrated, or the tooth may have been cleaned in passing through the hair. They should be most carefully examined, and especially about the part on which they were seized by the dog, and if the minutest scratch can be found, the hair must be cut offlround it, and the lunar caustic applied. That being done effigctually, and every bite being discovered and operated on, the animal is safe; but it is possible, or rather it is too probable, that every bite will not -be discovered, considering how thickly the skin is covered by hair. It is, therefore, the safest course, if the beast is in tolerable condition, to sell it at once to the butcher, for it will not be fit for the shambles after rabies has once appeared. Medicine would be perfectly thrown away in these cases. The stories which are prevalent in every village, of the wonderful powder of certain drinks, are all founded either on ignorance or fraud. There is no cure; and no prevention but the destruction of the part. CHAPTER XL. THE DISEASES INCIDENT TO YOUNG CALVES. When the calf is dropped, proper care should be taken of the cow by providing her with a comfortable place to lie down : she should also be suffered freely to lick her calf, for this will not only make her fond of it, but the young animal will be thoroucrhly cleansed, ^nd raised much sooner than it otherwise would ; and the 'nother, in eai- 9 124 DISEASES OF YOUNG CALVES. incr ilie cleansing, will obtain that medicine which nature designed for iier. It is usual to take away a quart of the first milk, called the beast ings^ before the calf is allowed to suck. After this the younor animal may be allowed access to the cow, but regulated by the plan of suck- ling or bringing up on which the grazier may determine. The calf should remain with the mother during a few days at least, or until the milk is proper for the purposes of the dairy The mother's first milk is of an aperient quality, and sufficiently so to cleanse the bowels of the calf from the black sticky substance which they contain when first dropped. If this should not be effected, a little opening medicine will be necessary. RECIPE (No. 61). Aperient Drink for Calves.— Take epi^om salts, from one to two ounces, accordin, to the size and ase of the calf, and dissolve in half a pint of gruel; then add ginge. a scruple ; essence of pepperniint, three drops. The Epsom salts are as efficacious as any kind of oil for purging young cattle, as well as far less expensive than most oils. Custom, however, has sanctioned the almost general use of castor oil in these cases, and there is no objection to it. After the first or second day it will be prudent to tie the calf in a corner of the hovel, that it may not be always sucking the mother, for it might overgorge itself with milk, which would coagulate in the fourth stomach, and choke it up, and produce disease, and even death. If it is evident that the cow would yield more milk than the calf should have, it is the custom, and very properly, to take away a por- tion of It from her two or three times in the day, before the young one is unfastened. The time that the calf, after this, remains with the mother is chiefly regulated by the system which the breeder usually pursues, but refer- ence should always be had to the state of the cow's udder. If it is perfectly free from knobs, or kernels, or hardness, the calf may be removed at a comparatively early period ; but if any indviration of the teats appears, the young animal should be permitted to suck a while longer. The frequent sucking will prevent the milk from curdling in the°udder ; and also the friction and shaking of the bag, by the jolting of the calf's head in the act of sucking, will contribute not a little to the dispersion of the tumours. I have already spoken of garget, and Bhown that a very prevalent cause of it is the weaning of the calf too soon. Few things are more injurious than the exposure of the young calf to wet and cold. It lays a foundation for rheumatism and hoose, which no medical treatment can afterwards remove. Fo"- every information with regard to the rearing o^ calves from the pail, the reader is referred to the newest edition of The Complete Grazier;" or the treatise on " Cattle," published by tl > Useful Know ledge Society, both of which should find a place i the library of fcwery agriculturis^^. DISEASES OF YOUNG CALVES. 125 Bleeding from the navel string is not an unrnminon complainl aaiong calves, and it is a very troublesome one. i n^- hrst thing to be done is to pass another ligature round the string nearer to the body ; for if the bleeding is not stopped the life of tlie young animal will sometimes be endangered. It may happen, however, that the hrst ligature may have been nearer to the belly than it ought to have been, so near, indeed, that another cannot be passed within it. A pledget of lint that has been dipped in a decoction of galls (half-a-dozen galls bruised, and boiled in half-a-pint of water), should be placed over the part, and confined with a proper bandage. This will be far preferable to the blue vitriol, and oil of vitriol, which some cow-leeches are so fond of applying. It will stop the blood, but not eat into and destroy t\e part. From the application of the caustic, or even of the second ligature, a great deal of swelling will sometimes take place. This should be well fomented until inflammation is pretty nearly subdued. The after-treatment will depend on circumstances. If there is a solid tumour, the fomentation, or a poultice, must be continued until the sw^elling breaks, or points so decidedly that it may be opened with a lancet. Poultices must then be applied until the matter has fairly run out, after which a little Friar's Balsam will usually complete the cure. In consequence of the bleeding and discharge of matter, the calf will sometimes be exceedingly reduced; some tonic medicine will then be necessary. The Recipe No. 13 (p. 54), given in half-doses, will be serviceable, and at the same time the calf, should be forced with good oatmeal or peameal gruel. D I A RRH (E A. One of the most frequent and fatal diseases to which young calves are subject is diarrhoea, or violent purging. It occurs most frequently when the young animal is from a fortnight to six weeks old, and is m the majority of cases the consequence of neglect. The calf has been too early exposed to cold and wet, or has been half starved, and then one full and hearty meal often disarranges the whole alimentary canal. It is bad policy to stint the calf too much in its quantity of milk. The loss of two or three calves in the course of a year will more than swallow up the supposed saving resulting from a system of starvation. At the time of weaningf, or when the food is changed from milk to gruel or porridge, diarrhoea and dysentery are very apt to occur, and are subdued with great difficulty. The weaning and change of food should be effected slowly, and with a great deal of caution. The new milk should be mixed with the skim milk or gruel which is afterwards to be substituted, and the quantity of the one gradually diminished, while the other is as cautiously increased. The symptoms of diarrhoea in calves ara, continual purginof; the matter discharged is covered with more than its natural quantity of 11* ICfi DISEASES OF YOUNG CALVES. mucus; sometimes it is bloody, and often fetid; the animal loathni Its food, staggers as it walks, and becomes rapidly thin. Towards thi! last stage of the disease the dung is more and more fetid and bloody, a greater portion of mucus mixes with it, and at length the discharge seems to be composed of mucus and blood, with scarcely any mixture of natural fecal matter. When this occurs there is little or no hope of cure. The principal tiling is to treat these diseases in time, before the mucous coat of the intestines becomes so inflamed that a bloody dis- charge ensues which soon wears the animal down. Much acidity in the stomach and bowels attends all these com- plaints ; therefore, it is necessary to get rid of it, first of ail, by the administration of a mild purgative, and afterwards by the exhibition of chalk, or some other medicine with which the acid will really combine. Two ounces of castor oil, or four of Epsom salts, may be given. Opium in some form or other must always be united with the chalk. It is of no use to get rid of one complaint when others are lurking and ready to appear. It will not be sufficient to neutralize the acidity of the stomach ; the mouths of the vessels that are pour- ing out all this mucus and blood must be stopped ; and we have not a more powerful or useful medicine than this in our whole catalogue of drugs. It acts by removing the irritation about the orifices of the exhalent vessels, and when this is effected they will cease to pour out so much fluid. Other astringents may be added, and a carmina- tive mingled with the whole to recall the appetite, and rouse the bowels to healthy action. The following medicine will present the best combination of all these things : — RECIPE (No. 62). Takp prepared chalk, two drachms ; powdered opium, ten grains; powdered catc- ctiu, half a drachm ; giiiser, half a drachm ; essence of peppermint, five drops. Mix, and give twice every daj' in half a pint of gruel. This will be the proper dose for a calf from a fortnight to two months old. If the animal is older the dose may be increased one- half. The common Dalby's Carminative is not a bad medicine, although a dear one, and may be given in doses of half a bottle at a time, when it happens to be at hand, and the case is urgent, and the drugs which compose Recipe No. 62 cannot be immediately pro- cured. When these preparations have been given some time, and have failed to stop the purging, I have known the following given with very good effect : — RECIPE (No. 63). Take Dover's pnwdei two scruples ; starch, or arrow-root, in powder, one ounce ; compound cinnamon powder, one drachm ; powdered kino, iialf a drachm Boil the Blarch or arrow-root in a pint of water until it becomes well tliickewd and tben jradually stir in the other ingredients. Thig may be given morning and night. COSTIVENESS. ]27 "When constant and violent straining accompanies the expulsion nf the dunor, an injection of a pint of thick gruel, with which half a drachm of powdered opium has been mixed, will be very useful. Diarrhoea will often in the early stage be accompanied not only by inflammation of the bowels, but much general fever. This will be known by much panting, heat of the mouth, and uneasiness, the animal lying down and getting up again, rolling, or kicking at its belly. It will then be prudent to bleed. A pint will be the proper quantity to be taken from a calf under a month ; after that an addi- tional ounce may be taken for every month. When, however, the diarrhoea has been long established, and the calf is getting weak and rapidly losing flesh, it would be madness to bleed ; the strength of the animal would be more speedily exhausted, and its death hastened. Chalk, or starch, astringents, and carminatives will then afford the only rational hope of success. After the cure has been completed, much care should be taken respecting the diet of the animal ; and it will sometimes be useful to give him a lump of chalk and anothei of salt in his feeding place, to lick them when he likes. [The following recipe was originally published in the New England FaJiner, sanc- tioned with the name of Lovett Peters, of Westborough, Massachusetts, who pro. nouiices it an infallible cure for diairhoRa, or scouring in calves: — "I call it," saya he, "infallible, because in thirty years' use of it I have never known it to fail in effecting a cure, by once giving it, except in one instance, and then a second dose proved effectual. Put into a suitable bottle about half a pint of good cider, (not sweet nor battled cider). Then open a vein in the neck of the calf, and let into the bottle about the same quantity of blood. Shake it w^ell together quickly, and before it has time to coagulate, put it down the calf's throat, which is easily done with the bottle. — S.] COSTIVE NESS. Tills occasionally attacks young calves a few days after they are born. It is then caused by coagulation of milk in the fourth stomach, which is completely distended by the solid curd, and the passage through it obstructed. There is not often any remedy for this. The most likely method to succeed is to pour in plenty of warm water in which Epsom salts have been dissolved, by means of the stomach- pump so often recommended. The first dose may consist of two ounces of the salts dissolved in two or three quarts of water; after which ounce-doses may be given every six hours, likewise in the same quantity of water, until the bowels are opened. The costiveness of calves is generally produced by bad manage- ment. Either the calf is suffered to suck too plentifully, or put to a cow whose milk is too old, or fed with new milk from the dairy pro- miscuously. All these things are injurious, and thousands of young animals have been destroyed by them. When costiveness occurs in calves of two or three months old, il is usually when they have been too suddenly changed from fluid food, as gruel or porridge, to that of a dryer and more stimulating kird, I *28 D 1 S E A S i: S OF Y O U \ U CALVES. ami consistiniT principally of liay. This is a dan mouth of the Wabash, and as far north as White River, that is exempt from milk sickness; and it often occurs in both Southern Illinois and Kentucky. I hava ii.'ver heard of it above the 41st degree of north latitude, and it seldom reaches that line. As to the cahse of the trembles. Dr. Mcllhenny, who has devoted much and anxious attention to the subject, says that he differs with Profes.sor Drake as to the trjie cause — " Our difference, however, consists merely in a name, in distinguishing between a difi*erent species of plants of the same genus. He appears to be pretty well satisfied ti».it the Rhus Toxicodendron (Poison Oak) or Rhus Radic^ns (Poison Vine) is the plsnt chat produces the disease. My firm convictions are that the disease termed sick stomach is produced by the Rhus Toxicodendron, or Poison Oak, and that it is a separate and distinct species from the Radicans, or Poison Fine. It is further stated that the Poison Oak never vines -^ that it is never seen to take hold on trees, and that it grows from one to three feel 'n height ; that it has tkrce, while the Radicans or Poison Vine has five leaves. THE DISEASES OF CATTLE. 131 Dr. Mclihcnny thus sums up the rea?ons which lead him to consider the tremble* as the etiect of the Bhus Tozicodcndron, or poison oak. " To sum up our conclusions on the cause of milk-sickness, we must be allowed to express our decided conviction, that it is produced by the Rhus Toxicodendron, or Poison Oak, for the following reasons : — I. Sick stomach does not prevail where there is no rhus— that in every section of country where none of the small rhus can be found, there can be none of the trembles found. •2. It does universally exist where there is an abundance of the smaller rhus, 3. It never occurs until vegetation comes forth in the spring. 4. Where it prevails most,~the rhus is in its greatest luxuriance. 5. After the heavy frosts kill all vegetation, the disease subsides. 6. It is a well-known fact, that cultivation kills the Poison Oak — entirely de- Btroys it. 7." It is equally as well established, that animals kept within a well-cultivated enclosure, are perfectly exempt from the disease. 8. Almost every observant and inteliigent individual who has been raised amidst the disease, has come to the conclusion, that the Rhus Toxicodendron is the cause of milk sickness. 9. 7'hat it is distinguished from the Radicans, or common Poison Vine, by its dif- ferent number of leaves— also, by its acridness of character. 10. A certain locality produces the disease, find it where yo i may, such as flat, heavy timber-land, interspersed with hazle and other underl.ush, which is quite productive of the rhus. II. The seldom appearance of the disease on hilly, dry groun.-', is in consequence of such a place not being congenial to the production of that plunt, so that what little does exist, is not so apt to produce the disease, in consequence of its unhealthy growth." The PATHOLOGY of the disease is thus described by the same author : — " As to the pathology of this disease I know but little. I have treated quite a number of cases, but have never been favoured with a post mortem examination; consequently, I have had no other means of ascertaining morbid appearances than that of judging from symptoms: the mere external developments of the internal con- dition. We are told, however, that in animals which die of this disease, the mavy folds, or mesentery, is in a hard, dry condition, and, in many cases, perfectly black ; and that all the folds which lie enclosed in the bowels, and are in close contact with them, are frequently in such a brittle condition, that they can be readily broken, particularly those that envelope the stomach; and that traces of inflammatory ac- tion can be frequently discovered the whole length of the intestinal canal; but the greater amount, those that have left the deepest marks, are to be seen in and arcuiid the stomach and duodenum. " If this should be a true condition of the morbid appearances of the animal, which we are satisfied it is, we may reasonaldy expect that the same results are to be seen in the human subject. So far", however, as my opinion goes, I believe that the poison, when taken into the stomach, produces inflammation of that organ, particularly confined to the mucous coat; that inflammation continuing, tliickens the mucous lining to such an extent, that it closes, in proportion to its severity, the passage from the stomach to the bowels. I am satisfied that there is inflammation down to the upper part of the bowels, but, generally, in a slight degree. I do not believe that there is anv general inflammatory condition of any of the chylopoetic viscera, but that the entire force of the disease is spent upon the stomach, and, perhaps, duo- denum. " From what observation I have been able to make upon the subject, T am inclined to the opinion that the lower portions of the bowels remain, measurably, if not en tirely, exempt from inflammation ; that it is entirely a disease of the stomach ; tha in proportion to the severity with which that organ is attacked, in that proportion will the chvlopcEtic viscera become deranged. " Another proof that the disease is inflammatory, is the constipated condition of the bowels. There could not be such a dry and hardpned condition of the fecal matter produced by any other derangement, excepting that of inflammatory action. "I have been led to make these remarks, in consequence of an opinion that is prevalent with some of our practitioners, that the disease is nervous; that the g^^at gastric irritabilitv is, or might be, attributed to nervous excitement. This, to me, appears imp<^ssible ; for, if the nerves of the stomach were in such a morbid condi- 133 POSTSCRIPT TO tion, artinff nnilcr siirh a powerful nxcitompnt as to prorliico such distrnssin? symp" ;fMii3, would lint tli(! hraiii liecoiiK! synipathetically afTi,'(;t(!(l ? Would we not have afi appartMit case of IMiretiiiis? Whereas, the mind, frenerattij, rcMiiaiiis quiet. Wo aoiiietiMies sue menial di-pression, but rarU)"^ ANT AGES TO BE DERIVED FROM A MORE EXTENDED USE OF OXEN IN TH E HUSBANDRY OF THE UNITED STATES. BY J. S. SKINNER, Esq. So de^p is the conviction of the great saving which would be ac- complished by individuals, adding immensely, in the aggreg-ate, t4. our national wealth, by a more extended use o/'oxen in lieu of horses m the general labours of husbandry, that the occasion is here em- braced to present the views by which that conviction has been established, and the editor feels persuaded that he might venture to introduce these views, on the score of their intrinsic importance, even though the subject to which they relate were not so naturally associated, as it seems to be, with a work on the diseases of cattle. That "a farming district may be judged of by its working oxen, as safely as by its barns or its corn-fields," has been laid down as an axiom by a Committee of Farmers, — working men in the true sense of the word, — of Massachusetts, vjt an exhibition where no premium was offered for horses, expressly on the ground that "it was believed that the interest of the farmer is promoted by substitutino the ox for the horse, for most purposes, as he is fed with less expense, is more patient of labour, and is more valuable when his service i? ended." This declaration in favour of the ox for " most purposes'*^ is at once explicit and broad, and might seem to settle the question; but there are considerations arising out of difference of soil and cli- mate, which obviously demand a comparison of circumstances to see how f;ir that system admits of general application, which is here^ proclaimed on the best authority to be expedient throughout New- England : and this brings us at once to the most formidable objections to the use of oxen — their alleged incnpacily to withstand, when labour' ing, the heat tf more southern latitudes, and their slowness of motion. As to New England, in addition to the evidence already quoted, we may give here the answer of the venerable Josiah Quincy, now President of the time-honoured Harvard University, to a letter onco (135) l^o ESS A Y ON THE ad'.lressed to liim hy tlie writor of tliis — " Oxon," said ho, "are used aliuost wholly lor j)loui;h and loam work in this ([uartcr of the coun- try. K sini^/e horso is usually kept hy our farmers to go to mill and to church, and for the convenience of the family. This is so universal as to be almost without exception among mere farmers. They cer- tainly answer all purposes except perhaps speed, and in this, on a lony than formerly; and as the chanjre proceeds, it wil be more and more a point for consideration how lar the labour in dointurns have been made with a dest price, while the natural distribu- tion would appear to be to rear the fine wool on the cheap table-lands of the mountains, and the limitless prairies of the vilest. It has been ascertained that wool may be sent from the prairies of Illinois to DISEASES OF SHEEP 177 Lowell, Massachusetts, inland, for only two dollars twelve and a half cents per hundred pounds, or forty-two dollars and fifty cents pe' ton. Distrihution of sheep and wool, hay and potatoes, in the United gtateo, according to the census of 1840, with a calculation of tlie number of sheep^to the acre, in each of the States and Territories :— NiME of State, &c. Sheep. Maine. N'ew Haitipshjre, Massachusetts, . Rhode Island, .. Connecticut, ... Vermont, New York, .... New Jersey, . . ■ Peniisyl\ aiiia, . Delaware, Maryland, Vircinia, Nortii Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, ... Louisiana, Tennessee, ..■• Kentucky, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Missouri, Arkansas, Michigan, Florida, Wisconsin, .... Iowa, Dist. of Columbia Total, 649,264 6]7,3'.i0 378,2-26 yo,146 403,462 1,6^:1,819 5,llf:^,777 2l9,2)-5 1,767,620 3'J,247 257,922 1,293,772 538,279 232,981 2t7.lU7 163,243 12e,367 98.072 741,593 1.008,240 2,028,40 1 675,982 395,072 348,018 42,151 99,618 7,198 3,4t>i 15,354 706 Pounds of wool. 19,311.374 1,465,551 1,260,517 941,906 183,J'30 889,870 3,699,235 9,845.295 397,207 3,048,-564 04,404 488,201 2,538,374 625,044 299,170 371,303 220.353 175.196 49,2te3 1,0(0,332 1.780.847 3,685,315 1,237,'.19 150.007 562.265 64 943 153,375 7,2-5 6,777 23.C3;t 7117 Tons of hay. 35.802.114 691,358 496,107 569,395 63,-149 426,704 836.739 3.127,047 334,801 1,311,643 22,483 106.6^7i 364,708i 101,369 24,618 16,969| 12,ri8 171 24,(51 31,233 88,306 1,022,037 178,029 164.932 49.0^3 586 130.805 1.197 30.9.38 17.953 1,331 Bushels of potatoes. Nt. ot acre? K A sheep 10,248. lOFI 10,392,280 6,206,606 5,385,652 911,973 3,414,238 8,8(:9,751 30,123,614 2,072.069 9,535,663 200,712 1.036,433 2,044,660 2,609,239 2,698,313 1,291,366 1,708,356 1,630,190 834,341 1,904,370 50 1,055.085 25 5.^05.(21 10 1.525.794 33 i 2,025, ;>20 100 783,768 125 293.608 1.000 2,109,205 250 264,617 5,000 419,608 14,2.-5 234,063 2 500 12,035 100 108,298,060 Since writing- thus far, an opportunity has been embraced to obtain some information as to the resources of Western Virginia and the Carolinas. We were informed by a member of congress frorn Pittsyl- \ania county that his flock of two hundred go through the winter one year with another at a cost for food of not exceeding ten dollars for the whole flock. It was only yesterday, 1st of February, that, in conver- sation with INIr. J. Wad'^sworth, of Geneseo, President of the New York State Agricultural Society, eminent for his intelligence and en- terprise, as an American farmer of great opulence and influence, we learned that coarse wool, under influences of recent existence, is getting into greater demand. He observed that there were practical farmers in New York, though he v,-as not prepared to say it could be realised, who contended that they could pursue sheep husbandry profitably on land costing thirty dollars the acre. I 7 IJ S II E E P II U S B A N D R Y . How difToront r.re the circumstances of sheep husbandry in the North, may be estimated by tiie tnllowinij account of his treatment of his lluck, by Mr. Leonard Jarvis. of Claremont, New Hampshire, a sheep breinU^r of jrroat intdlifrence and experience, owner of four distinct families of fine-wooih-d sheep. He says, in a letter to the Kev. Air. Coleman, '• I annually connnence with dry fodder by the middle, nf November, and discontinue by the 5th of iMay, (nearly six months) ; jronerally, however, for the first and last fifteen days, giving no hay, uidess the ground siiould be covered, but feeding about half a gill of Indian corn to each sheep twice a day. As far as my ex- perience extends, a ton of irnod hay will suffice for ten sheep with the above ({uantity of gmin; they are ft^d from racks in the yard, and have sheds to retire to at will ; 1 have fed under cover, but believe that it has a tendency to diminish the appetite and weaken the con stitution. They are kept in separate yards, in number from fifty to one hundred, taking care to keep those of about the same degree of strength to themselves, and have running water through; when the ground is covered with snow, I think they do well without it. 1 allow about fmir bmheh of salt to the hundred sheep, the greater part of which is consumed when the sheep are at grass. My bucks run with the ewes from the 1st to the 1 0th of December, allowing three to one hundred. The number of lambs reared depends much upon the season. Sixty lambs to the hundred ewes may be the average from flocks of quality like mine ; from coarser flocks the return is greater. The ewes are not permitted to receive the buck until after they are two years old ; and I prefer bucks from two years old to four." We must here close this introduction to the work on the '•' diseases nf sheep^'' with the following correspondence, opened on the part of the editor, in the hope of obtaining some reliable information as to the advantages held out for the growth of sheep and the manufacture of woollen goods in the districts of country which have been strangely overlooked since facilities were created and the rage insj)iied for emigrating to the far west! leaving behind immense tracts of cheap land, abounding in water-power, and adapted to the growth of every- thing conducive to successful sheep husbandry; in truth, wanting notliing but capital and industry. In presenting Mr. Clingman's letter, we may express the hope that its interesting character, and the freshness of the country it opens to our view, will atone to the rei-.der for the length and dryness of the route by which he has been led to it. Washington, ?>Qth January, 1844. Hon. T. L. Clingman, Dear Sir, — I have lately had occasion, as a leisure hour has offered, to bestow some consideration on the shrep liusbnndry of the United Slates; in the course of which it tias occurred to me that the people of Virginia and North Carolina, Kentucky and Ttnnessee, have not availed themselves to the extent that they might probalily do of that source of reward for labour and capital. It seems to me thai the middle ot DISEASES OF SliEEP. 179 hilly and the mountainous portions of those States and of Maryland, must be pecu liariy adapted to the constitution of an animal which appears to have a natural appetency for rolling and elevated pastures. Or is it that the mountains in Yancey county for instance, are almost exclusively covered with rocks and limber or wood a/lbrding no scope either for the plough or for grazing? Its elevation of some thou- sand feet above the sea secures it, without doubt, against the autumnal diseases of the tide-water country. Is it that the price of the land there forbids investment in i with a view to such employment of capital ? Or why is it that the swarms of hardy yeomanry that annually migrate from the North should not settle down in districts described by the latest and ablest geographical authority, Darby, as being "highly ealnbrious and well watered." instead of wending their weary way to regions less blessed with health, and so remote from the comforts of denser populations? If time will allow you, Sir, to answer according to your knowledge and observa- tion how far my impressions are correct, as to the resources of North Carolina in the particulars to which I have adverted, you will much oblige me ; and the earlier you can favour me with an answer, the more will the kindness be esteemed, by Yours, with great respect, ' " J. S. SKINNER. House of Representatives, Feb. 3, 1644. Dear Sir,— Your favour of the 30th ultimo was received a day or two since, and now avail m5'self of the very first opportunity to answer it. I do so most cheerfully, because, in the first place, 1 am happy to have it in my power to gratify in any man- ner one who has done so much as yourself to diffuse correct information on subjects most important to the agriculture of the country; and, secondly, because I feel a deep interest in the subJL-ct to which your inquiries are directed. You state that you have directed some attention to the sheep husbandry of the United States, in th^^ course of which it has occurred to you that the people of the mountain regions of North Carolina, and some of the other southern States, have not availed themselves sufficiently of their natural advantages fjr the production of eheep. Being myself well acquainted with the western section of North Carolina, I may perhaps be able to give you most of the information you desire. As you have directed several of your inquiries to the county of Yancey, (I presume from the fact, well known to you, that it contains the highest mountains in any of the United States), I will, in the first place, turn my attention to that county. First, as to its elevation. Dr. Mitchell, of our University, ascertained that the bed of Tow river, the largest stream in the county, and at a ford near its centre, was about twenty-two hundred feet above the level of the ocean. Burnsville, the seat of the court-house, he found to be between two thousand eight hundred and two thousand nine hundred feel above it. The general level of the country is, of course, much above this eleva lion. In fact, a number of the mountain summit? rise above tlie heisht of six thou- sand feet. The climate is delightfully cool during the summer; in fact there are very few places in the county where the thermometer rises above eighty degrees on the hn-ttest day. An intelligent gentleman who passed a summer in the northern partf of the county (rather the more elevated portion of it) informed me that the thermo- metei did not rise on the hottest days above seventy-six decrees. Yf)U ask, in the next place, if the surface of the ground is so much covered with rocks as to render it unfit for pasture? The reverse is the fact; no portion of the county that I have passed over is too rocky for cultivation ; and in many sections uf I he county one may travel miles without seeing a single stone. It is only about 1 eO S II E E P 11 U S B \ \ DRY. tho tops of tho highpr mountains that rocky precipices arc to be found. A large pnr. liou of the surface of the county is a sort of elcvateil talde-laii.l, undulating, but Bcldom too broken for cultivation. Even as one ascends the higher mountains, he will fin.l occasionaHy on their sides flats of level land containinK several hundred acres in a body. The lop of the Roan (the hifihest mountain in the county except til.- Hlark) is covered by a prairie for ten miles, \vlii(;h afHjrds a rich pasture during Ihc i;reater part of the year. Tlie ascent to it is so gradual that pi.rsi^us ride to the top on horseback from ahnost any direttion. The sanie may b.- said of many of the other mountains. The soil of the county generally is uncommonly fertile, producing with tolerable cultivation abundant crops. What seems extraordinary to a stranger is the fact that the soil becomes richer as he ascends the mountains. The sides of the Roan, the Black, the Bald, and others, at an elevation even of five or six thousand feet above the sea, are covered with a deep rich vegetable mould, so soft that a horse in dry weather often sinks to tlie fetlock. The fact that the soil is frequently mor«> fertile as one ascends is, I presume, attributable to the circumstance that the higher portions are more commonly covered with clouds; and the vegetable matter beinjj thus kept in a cool moist state while decaying, is incorporated to a greater degree with tht surface of the earth, just as it is usually found that the north side of a hill is richer than the portion most exposed to the action of the sun's rays. The sides of the mountains, the timber being generally large, with little undemrowth and brushwood, are peculiarly fitted for pasture grounds, and the vegetati(m is in many places as luxuriant as it is in the rich savanna of the low country. The soil of every part of the county is not only favourable to the production of grain, but is peculiarly fitted for grasses. Timothy is supposed to make the largesx yield, two tons of hay being easily produced on an acre, but herds-grass, or red-top. and clover succeed equally well ; blue grass has not been much tried, but is said to do remarkably well. A friend showed me several spears which lie informed me were produced in the northern part of the county, and which by measurement were found to exceed seventy inches in length. Oats, rye, potatoes, turnips, &;c., are produced in the greatest abundance. With respect to the prices of land, I can assure you that large bodies of uncleared rich land, most of which might be cultivated, have been sold at prices varying from twenty-five cents to fifty cents per acre. Any quantity of land favourable for sheep- walks might be procured in any section of the county at prices varying from one to ten dollars per acre. The few sheep that exist in the county thrive remarkably well, and are sometime* permitted to run at large during the winter without being led and without suifering, As the number kept by any individual is not large enough to justify th.; employment of a shepherd to take rare of them, they are not unfrequently destroyed by vicious dogs, and more rarely by wolves, which have not yet been entirely exterminated. I have been somewhat prolix in my observations on this county, because some of your inquiries were directed particularly to it, and because most of what I have said of Yancey is true of the other counties west of the Blue Ridge. Haywood has about the same elevation and climate as Yancy. The mountains are rather more steep, and the valleys somewhat broader; the soil generally not quite so deep, but very productive, especially in grasses. In some sections of the county, however, the soil is equal to the best i have seen. Buncombe and Henderson are rather less elevated ; Ashville and Ilendcrsonville, Ibe county towns, being each about two thousand two hundred fee' above the fceOi SEASES OF SHEEP. 181 The cliniatt? is murh the ?nnip, hnt a ver\ little warmer. The more broken portioiia of these countios resemble much the mouiiiainous parts of Yancey ami Haywood, but they cmtaiP much more level land. Indeed the greater portion of Henderson ia quite level It contains much swamp land, which, when cleared, with very little if any drainage, produces very fine crops of herds-grass. Portions of Macon and Chero- kee counties are quite as favourable, both as to climate and soil, as thoise above d.iscribed. 1 would advert particularly to the Valley of the Natitahalah, in Macon^ and of Cheoh, in Cherokee. In either, for a comparaliveiy trifling price, some ten or fifteen miles square could be procured, all of which would be rich, and the major part sutficiently level for cultivation, and especially fitted, as their natural meadowa indicate, for the production of grass. In conclusion, 1 may say, that as far as my limited knowledge of such matters authorizes me to speak, I am satisfied that there is no region that is more favourable to the production of sheep than much of the country I have described. It i.s every- where healthy and well watered. I may add, too, that there is water-power enougb in the different counties composing my congressional district to move more machi- nery than human labour can ever place there — enough perhaps to move all now existing in the Unicyi. It is also a rich mineral region. The gold mines are worked now to a considerable extent. The best ores of iron are found in great abundance in many places; copper, lead, and other valuable minerals exist. That must one day become the great manufacturing region of the South. I doubt if capital could be used more advantageously in any part of the Union than in that section. For a number of years past the value of the live stock (as ascertained from bookn of the Turnpike Company) that is driven through Buncombe county, is from two to three millions of dollars. Most of this stock comes from Kentucky and Ohio, and when it has reached Asheville it has travelled half its journey to the more distant parts of the Southern market, viz., Charleston and Savannah. The citizens of my district, therefore, can get their live stock into the planting States south of us at one- half the expense which those of Kentucky and Ohio are obliged to incur. Not only sheep, but hogs, horses, mules, and horned cattle can be produced in many portions of my district as cheaply as in those two States. This must ere long become the great manufacturing region of the South, &c. I have thus, sir, hastily endeavoured to comply with your request, because yoo state that you would like to have the information at once. Should you find my sketch of the region a very unsatisfactory and imperfect one, I hope you will do me the favour to remember that the desk of a member during a debate is not the most favour- able position for writing an essay. With very great respect, yours, T. L. CLINGMAN. J. S. Skinner, Esq. As to the usual weig-ht of the carcass of the South-down and of the fleece, as well as of the value of the Cotswold compared with that of the Merino, it may be useful to state that, according to the most recent information to be fully relied on, Mr. Bement's ewes, (near Albany, New York), about seventy-five in number, averag-ed last year three and a half pounds washed wool per head — Mr. Mclntire's about the same. The South-down wool sold at Albany last year at twenty- eight to thirty cents per pound, where at the same time Merino woo. sold for thirty-four to thirty-six. 16 1 s n E n r n r s b a n dry. Tlie rnrcass ct* thn improvod South-down, faltod, may be put down at .'ijrhtopn to twenty-five pounds the quiirier. Mr. Mclntire killed, as before slated, a cross-breed Cots wold and South-down wetlier last year, that weiMied, dressed, with the head on, two hundred and ten pounds. He sold one very recently that weighed about one hundred and seventy-five pounds. Mr. Beinent's price for fourteen — all he has for sale — South-down ewes, a year old this spring, which have not been tupped, is twelve dollars a head; and a buck to accompany them at the same price. ISIr. Mclntire's price for ten ewes that will have lambs in April, is seventeen dollars a head, and will put in a good buck at same price. This statement is made f(«r the benefit of readers not residinir in the neighbourhood of flocks of sheep of this kind The demand for all kinds of improved sheep is increasing, and will increase in the south-west. ^ ^ i .:unii,|i||, iMHimii ii n iii i i iiii i ii:Mii i ii ! i'lbhiil l lh iMiiiiiii,iiwiiiliili [nroff:| - ■J^f a ^ ' i l i i ^'T' i ■ Oir THE DISEASES OE SHEEP. • This has been a sadly neglected branch of veterinary inquiry and firactice. The nature and treatment of the diseases of sheep form ittle or no part of the instruction given in some of our veterinary Bchools, and seldom come under the cognizance of the surgeon after- wards. Tiie shepherd undertakes the treatment of foot-rot, and scab, and hoove ; and with regard to the other maladies to which this animal is subject, they are either suffered to take their course, or, if a veterinary practitioner is ever employed, it is when the disease is firmly established, or the whole flock infected, and medical aid is fruitless. This is much to be lamented, and very absurd ; for although an individual sheep may not be worth much, yet a numerous flock forms no inconsiderable portion of the farmer's wealth, and the fre- quent mortality among these animals is a very serious loss to him. The internal structure of the sheep so nearly resembles that of the ox, that I will content myself with referring to the anatomy of the ox, as described in the early part of this work. The diseases of both have a very great resemblance in their nature and cause, and progress, and medical treatment. The same drugs are administered to both. There cannot be a better purgative for sheep than Epsom salts : there is no better fever medicine than the digitalis, emetic tartar, and nitre. The principal difference is in the quantity to be administered; a sixth or eiohth part of the usual dose for cattle will be sufficient for the sheep The quantity of blood taken will depend on the size of the animal and the nature of the disease. Four ounces would be a fair average bleeding from a lamb, and a pint from a full-grown sheep. Shepherds are apt to bleed from the eye- vein; but the biood generally flows slowly, and, after all, the proper quantity will not always be obtained. The best place for bleeding is from the jugular, as in cattle. A liga- ture should be tied round the neck, and then the vein will rise so evidently that it cannot possibly be mistaken. The vein should be opened with the lancet commonly used for the human being: the oiificf) should be large, and the blood obtained as quickly as possible. 13 I'^a 184 THE L A .^I C I ?i G SEASON. SECTION I. THE LAMBING SEASON. The ewe goes with lunib five moiitlis. The general time of yoan- ing is about the end of March, but in some of the western counfies, and particularly in Dorsetshire, by which the metropolis and miiny of the towns in the west are principally su[)plied with house-lamb, it is so contrived that the lambs shall be dropped in the middle or even the beginning of February. With the best care a great deal of danger attends this early lambing, and even at a later period a few cold nights are fatal to many of the lambs. There is nothing tiiat requires more reformation than the treatment both of the ewe and the lamb at the lime of yeaning. During the time of (Testation more attention is req\iired than is generally paid. To enable the ewe to produce her lamb with com- parative safety, she should not be too well fed. One of the most prevalent causes of puerperal fever, or dropping after calving, in the cow, is her too high condition. It is more particularly so with tiie ewe ; and there are few things that the farmer should be more careful about than that the fair, but not unusual of forced, condition of the animal is preserved. A week or two before the time, a little better keep may be useful in order to give them sufficient strength for the lambing. It is a kind of middle course which the farmer has to pur- sue, and the path is not very difficult to trace : too high condition will dispose to fever; on the other hand, with too poor keep the ewe will not have sufficient strength to go through the process safely, nor will she have milk enough for the lambs. If the dam has not sufficient support previously, the lamb will be weakly when it is dropped, and will not thrive well afterwards. When the time of yeaning approaches, a little care may prevent a very great loss to the farmer. The ewes should be brought as nearly home as possible. They should be sheltered from the wind, if it be only by a high and thick hedge; but a kind of shed, however rudely constructed, would abundantly pay the expense of building it. At night, particularlv, they should be folded in some sheltered place. At the period of lambingj' the shepherd should be far more attentive than he is frequently found to be, and especially than he is if the pelt of the dead lamb is absurdly made his perquisite. If the master's loss is the servant's gain, it will not be surprising if casualties occur. A reward, increasing in proportion to the number of ewes and lambs saved, would do more than any other thing to save both the dam and ner offspring. The care of thp farmer or lamber will vary a great deal according to the period of the year and the state of the weather. In the early lambing the greatest losses are at the beginning : they ^rj«e principally from cold. In March or April the latter part of the T H E L A M B I X G S E A S N. 185 ^ambing; season is most dangerous, for there is more abundant keep, and more tendency to iuilammalion. The datting of the ewes is a very useful practice now. They are thrown, and a portion of the wool is removed from their tails and udders. The sticicing together of the wool from the purging to which the ewe is often siJbject in the early part of the spring, when the grass is fresh, has lost many a lamb. When the udders are thus cleaned, the lamber will more easily perceive the stain on the part, which, and which alone, will sometimes tell him whether the ewe has yeaned: for it is no uncommon thing for a 3-oung ewe to desert her lamb, and be found grazing with the rest of the flock as unconcernedly as if no- thing had happened. An experienced lamber will almost always tell when the ewe is ab'- xi to yean. If he finds her soon afterwards taken with labour pains, and they continue to succeed each other regularly, and she remains lying down, he will take great care not to disturb her; but if a couple of hours pass, and the lamb is not produced, he carefully examines her. If the nose and the tips of the toes have presented themselves, and the lamb seems to be in a proper position, but the head is large, or the passage is narrow, he leaves her again for an- other hour; but if there is evidentl}' a false presentation, he introduces one or two fingers, or his hand, well guarded with oil, puts the young one in the proper position, and nature speedily effects the rest. The principal art of the lamber is to know when he should inter- fere. In every ease of false presentation his help should be ready and immediate; but otherwise he should very rarely meddle with the ewe, except the mother is nearly exhausted, or the life of the young one appears to be in danger. One moment's observation will discover the state of the mother; and the degree of protrusion of the tongue of the young one, and its colour, will not often deceive with regard to him. When the tongue hangs fir from the mouth, and is getting livid or black, it is high time for the lamber to interfere. The lamber should use as little violence as possible ; but then he should recollect that the ewe will often bear a great deal of force be- ing applied without the slightest injury to her, and sometimes with no great danger to the little one. The exhausted state of the one or the other will regulate the degree of force. When there is much ex- haustion, no time is to be lost, and some strength should he applied in the extrication of the lamb. The state of the weather, too, will somewhat regulate this. In cold weather more time may be allowed. The process of parturition is then slower. In warm weather there is more tendency to fever, and the ewe should not be suffered to exhaust herself too much. Unnatural presentations are often very awkward things to have to do with. The ewe should be driven into the pound, and after having rested a few minutes, some of the fingers, or the hand, if it is small, Bhould be introduced into the vagina. If only one leg presents, and the shoulder tlius forms an obstruction, the other leg will generally lb* 186 THE LAMBING SEASON. oe easily laid hold of and brouglit down. If the neck is bent, and ihe crown of the head presents itself, it may be pushed back, and ibe Iwo fore-paws brougbt into the passage, and then the muzzle will naturally follow. If the f(Etu$ lies sideways, the cord and the posi- tion of the legs will enable the shepherd to distincruish between the spine and the belly. The turning is sometimes a ditlicult thing ; but practice will often give the lumber a great deal of cleverness in this operation. In extreme cases, and when the lamb is evidently dead, it may be necessary to introduce a blunt-pointed knife into the uterus, and cut the little animal to pieces. The greatest care must be taken that the mother is not wounded, for that would produce inevitable death. When the lamb has been thus taken away piecemeal, a little physic — an ounce of Epsom salts, with a few grains of ginger — should he given to the mother, who should then be left undisturbed for several hours. The ewe, and especially if she was in high condition, is occasion- ally subject to after-pains. Some of the country-people call it heaving. It continues many hours, and sometimes exhausts and destroys the animal. It is particularly dangerous if she has been too well kept, and much force has been used in extracting the lamb. Twenty drops of laudanum should be given in a little gruel, and repeated every se- cond hour until the pains abate. It will" always be prudent to bleed the ewe if she is not better soon after the second dose of the lauda- num. The womb is sometimes forced out of the orifice when great force has been used in extracting the lamb. It must, if necessary, be cleaned with warm water, and carefully returned by a person with a small hand. Gentle and continued pressure will effect this much sooner and safer than the application of the greatest force. It will, however, again protrude if a couple of stitches wiih tolerably strong twine are not passed through the lips of the orifice. If the womb is thus returned before it has been much bruised or inflamed by hanging out, there will be little danger to the mother, and she may suckle her lamb as usual. When she has accomplished that, she should be fattened, for the same accident would almost certainly happen at her next parturition. Attention should now be paid to the lamb, and it requires it even more than the mother. It is want of care that causes the loss of moie than four-fifths of the dead lambs. The principal evil is exposure to cold. If the weather is severe, great numbers of lambs are often lost m a single night. A few hurdles with straw, or a warm quick hedge, or a shed for them to go into, would save the greater part of them. The farmer needs but to use a little observation in order to be con- vinced how eagerly the ewes and the lambs seek that shelter, and how safe they are compared with others that are exposed. Some breeds are more hardy than others, but the hardiest of them will not endare absurd and cruel neglect and exposure. Let the farmer think THE LAMBING SEASON. 187 of the sudden change from the warmth of the mother's womb to tha driving sleet, and the cold wet ground : he will not wonder that so many of his lamhs are palsied and starved to death. The lambs are not quite out of danger when a day or two has passed after they have dropped. They live for the first week or fort- night on the mother's milk, and then begin to imitate their parent and graze a little ; indeed they have not their teeth up to enable thera to graze at first. They should not be put on too good pasture at this early period, for the chantre of food is often dangerous. A lamb of a fortnight old will often sicken suddenly, refuse the teat, cease to ruminate, swell, heave, and die, in less than twenty-four hours. On being examined, the stomach will sometimes be found enormously distended, at other times there will be little food in it, but there always is a great deal of bile in the upper intestines, with inflammation there, the evident cause of death, and produced by the change of food. Those who die at this early period are often called gall-lambs^ from the great quantity of bile found in their intestines. When, at three or four months old, the lamb is perfectly weaned, he is subject to a similar complaint, and from a similar cause. The lamb should certainly have better pasture when he is deprived of his mother's milk, but the change should not be sudden and violent. Physic will evidently be required here, such as Epsom salts in doses of half an ounce every second or third day ; and if there is much swelling, the stomach-pump will be used with advantage, both in extricating the gas, and in injecting warm water into the stomach with an intention either to cause vomiting or to wash out the contents of the stomach. The operation of castration is a very simple one in the sheep, and yet is often attended with danger, sometimes resulting from the un- skiifulness of the operator, and at other times from some unfriendly state of the atmosphere. I have known on the same farm, and the same gelder being employed, that in one year not a lamb has been lost, and in the following year several scores. Generally speaking, however, the fatal result is to be attributed to bad management. The younoer the lambs are the better, provided they are not very weak. From ten days to a fortnight seems to be the most proper time, or, I may say, as soon as the testicles can be laid hold of. I would advise the farmer never to set apart a day when the whole or the greater part of his male lambs are to undergo the operation, for many of them will then be too old, and he will assuredly lose some of them. He should take then as soon as they are ready, although there may be only a few at a time. The lamb being well secured, the scrotum or bag is to be grasped in one hand high up, and the testicles pushed down as low as possi- ble : two incisions are then to be made across the bag at the bottom of it, and the testicles forced out. The gelder now often takes the stones between his teeth, and bites the cord asunder. This is a nasty and a cruel way of proceeding. The better way is to draw the tesii 188 DISEASES O I Y O U .N G L A M li S . clc9 down an inch or more from tlip sf-rotiim, nnd then to cut thronorh the cord close to the scrotimi with a knife liint is not very sliar|). Scarcely a drop df blood follows when the cord is thus separated; the end of the cord retracts into the barj day. 102 DISEASES OF S 11 EtP. On examination after death, the head will he found to he the prin cipal part diseased : the vessels of the hrain will he distended with blood, and there will sometimes l)e water in the ventricles. I have seen half a dozen lamhs in stagirers in the same field at the same time. They had all heen exposed to the same cause; and when the disease iiad begun in one or two, it spread among- the rest by the Btrange, and often too powerful, influence of sympathy. SECTION III. RED- WATER. The disease recognised under this name is very different from thac described in the cow, for here it consists in an accumulation of red- dish-coloured fluid (whence its name is derived) in the cavity of the abdomen, and frequently in the chest and heart-bag likewise. This water accumulates in consequence of inflammation of the serous membrane which lines these cavities. In many places the disease is termed watcr-braxy. It is most prevalent at the latter end of autumn 07 the beginning of winter, and is oenerally observed among sheep that are in the most thriving condition, and especially if they have been turned into new and rich pasture, and by the side of a copse or wood. Sometimes it is very sudden in its attack, and speedily fatal. In some fine flocks I have seen it destroy the animal in twenty-four hours. In other cases it is less violent, and also slow in its progress. The sheep is first observed to be ofl' its feed, dull, disinclined to move : it loiters behind, and pants, and is restless. The flanks are tucked up, and there is often costiveness, though sometimes purging. This disease is still more common in lanjbs than in sheep, and in them often appears in the spring of the year, when they are first put on turnips with the ewes. In farms where pasturage is scarce, this dis- ease is a very frequent visitor, and may be considered to be produced by the application of cold, either externally or internally, or probably both. In the treatment of this disease it is very important to remove the animal to a dry and comfortable situation. Bleeding should then be freely employed and a laxative administered. RECIPE (No. 5). Take Epsom salts, one ounce; ginger, one scruple; gentian, one drnchni ; warm water, lv\o ounces ; liTiseed oil, one ounce. Tiie ahove may he eiven, eitlniir alnne or with gniel, to a full-grown sheep, and from one-fourth to one-half to a lamb, accord- ing to its age. In addition to this the abdomen should be well fomented with hot water — a iamb, indeed, may be placed altogether in a warm bath. Kvery shepherd should have a little horn, made of that of a sheep, aj:d which wiU hold about the usual quantity of medicine given as a T II E B L O O D . 1 ^'^ drink; or at least the quantity which the horn will hold should he uaretullv ascertained, and tlien a larue buttle of the mixture niay be taken into the field, and the proper dose given to as many of the sheep as may seem to require it. without the trouble of measuring it every time. rr , J If the animal recover, a change of food must be afforded, and a %hort sweet pasture should be preferred. SECTION IV. THE BLOOD. This is a disease too well known by farmers, and occasiorially prevalent in every part of the kingdom where the pasture is luxuriant, and the system of close feeding is practised. I have known more than a hundred sheep die on one farm in the course of a fortnight, and entirely because the farmer would not take warning hy the loss of the first, and put them on poorer ground, but obstinately pursued his plan of fattening them as fast as he could. In spring, particu- larly, when the young grasses shoot and are full of juice, and espe- cially after a few warm days, the blood appears in the flock, and the sheep die away by scores. . The rich pastures of Romney Marsh in Kent, and the Sedgemoors in Somersetshire, are particularly produc- tive of this malady. It is not always that warning is given of the attack, but generally the affected sheep will separate himself from the rest of his flock, appear dull, hang his head, his eyes will be heavy, and, if examined, bloodshot. He will heave considerably at the flanks, strntch out his fore-legs to ease himself, with great diflficulty be induced to move, or will stagger about, threatening to fall every moment. If nefjlected, six hours^will occasionally close the aff'air; and the animal will very rarely live eight-and-forty. On bping examined after death, air and an eftusion of yellow or reddish fluid will be found in the whole of the cellular membrane; the veins \\'\\\ everywhere be turgid with blood, the muscles livid or black, and the whole contents of the belly and chest dark-coloured, hastening to decay, and oflfensive almost as Boon as the animal is dead. If it is a ewe near her lambing that is attacked, the lamb will always be found dead and putrid. Bleeding is the grand thing; on it alone can much dependence be placed ; and if the' animal is bled at the commencement of the dis- ease, and plenty of blood is taken away, he will usually be saved, although nothing else were done. The jugular is the vein that should be opened here, because most blood can be procured from it, and most rapidly procured — circumstances both of immense importance in such a case. The shepp should be bled until it staggers and falls. Then comes, as in othe^ similar cases, physic, and tiiis should be liberally 17 lOl DI S E A S ES OF S II E E r . giv«>n. Two ounces of Epsom salts, and no ginger with them here, should be administered every second hour until the sheep is well purged, and the jiurging should be kept up by occasional doses of the medicine tor several days. 'I'he bowels having been well opened, the Fever Drink Recipe (Nok 4, p, 201) should be given morning and night, and the animal turned on shorter pasture, and a partial system of starvation for a while adopted, and strictly pursued. It sometimes happens, as we stated when a similar disease in cattle was treated on, that the stage of inflammatory fever rapidly passes, and one of a typhoid character, and with a tendency to de- composition and putridity, succeeds. There is lit'le chance of saving the ox in this stale; there is scarcely any of saving the sheep; for when he is once down, and foams at the mouth, and looks anxiously at his sides, it is generally all over with him. If, however, anything is attempted, the following tonic mixture is as good as any : — RECIPE (No. 6). Tonic Drink for Sheep. — Takepentian root, powderod, a drachm ; einprpr, a gcruple; spirit of nitrous etlier, a dracliin ; tincture of cardaiiionis, a draciiiii. Mix, and give in a little gruel. It is a good practice, when the disease once appears in a flock, to bleed every sheep, and give each a dose of physic and change the pasture. SECTION V. STURDV, GIDDINESS, OR WATER IN THE HEAD. This is a very singular, and also a very fatal disease. It commonly attacks yearlings ; a two or three-shear sheep is generally exempt from it. The animal becomes dull ; separates himself from the rest of the flock ; is frightened at the most trifling circumstance, and at the least noise; he runs round and round, but always in one direc- tion ; holds his head on one side : if there is a brook in the field, he stands upon its banks, poring over the running stream, and nodding and staggering, until he frequently tumbles in; or he breaks from his fit of nni'sing, and gallops wildly over the field, but with no certain course, and with no determinate object. Soon his appetite fails, or he evidently feels so much inconvenience when he stoops to graze, that he gives up eating altogether; and then he wastes rapidly away ; he seems to be half stupid, and at length dies a mere skeleton. The disease generally attacks the weakest of the flock. It is in some measure connected with a peculiar slate of the atmosphere. It is most prevalent after a moist winter, and cold, and ungenial spring. It usually begins in ihe spring, continues througVi the summer, and disappears as the winter approaches. It is dependent partly on the WATER IN THE HEAD. ^^^ season, but more on the health and strength of the animal. It may b'e prevented by good and uphind pasture ; and is most common in low and marshy ground. It is not contagious, nor does it seem to l;e hereditary. Having once attacked the animal, and gradual lu8S ol flesh having commenced, the case is hopeless. All medicine will be thrown away in such a case. It is the conse- quence of pressure on the brain by a strange, bladder-like-formed animal ; and it would be more for the advantage of the owner to de- stroy the sheep, however out of condition it may be, than to com- mence any desperate and fruitless course of medicine. Various methods have been tried in order to break this bladder, such as hunting tiie sheep with dogs, and frightening him half to death, throwing him into a gravel-pit, and various other absurd as well as brutal methods. They who pursued this course much oftener succeeded in breaking the animal's neck than rupturing the bladder. At length some persons bethought them of getting at, and puncturing or removing, this bladder by some operation. They thrust iron wires or skewers up the nostril, and into the brain, and sometimes succeed- ed in effecting their purpose. If they hit upon the nuisance, and pierced its envelope or skin, they were made aware of it by a greater or smaller quantity of water flowing from the nostril, and they could always tell on which side the hydatid lay, by the sheep inclining his head that way. They could also sometimes tell the precise situation of the bladder; for after being a long time inclosed between the skull and the brain, and pressed upon by both, and pressing upon both of them in turn, not only in consequence of that pressure was a portion of the brain below destroyed and absorbed, but even the bone above was softened, nothing but a yielding membrane sometimes reaiaining over a particular spot. Some surgeons suggested that this membrane should be punctured, and it was done so with the lancet, or, oftener, by a heated sharp-pointed wire, and thus the creature beneath was wounded and destroyed. Others improved upon this method of operating. A surgeon's trephine was used, and a circular piece of the skull taken out at the place where it was softened, and thus the Hydatid was bodily removed ; and when this was carefully done, and the bladder was not broken, the hydatid, by slight but sufficiently distinct motion, when put into warm water, showed that it was alive. Both these operations occasionally succeeded, but the instances of failure were so numerous, that the farmer's interest still required that he should kill every sheep, unless a favourite, or very valuable one, as soon as he was evidently sturdied, and before he had wasted and become unfit for the market. There may, however, be some prevention, although no cure; and that prevention consists in good, and sufficient, and upland pasture: yet in some untoward seasons even this will not avail with unhealthy and weakly animals. Habitual shelter from the sleet and snow of winter is another and very important means of prevention. The un feeling abandonment of the sheep to all the inclemency of the coldest 1 9G D I S E A S E S O F S II F. E P . wratl or is t\\c friiiU'iil sourer of the in;ii' rity of llio (lisca.ses, and of tlic most fatal ours, lo wliicli these aniiivils are suhjcct. Tliis malady is someliiiies accompanied by palsy. Every continued pressure on the brain is aj)t to jiroduce loss of power over some of the limbs; but in this case the palsy is variable; it shifts from limb to limb, and fr(/m side to side, and, unlike simple palsy, is generally attended by partial blindness, and by the greatest degree of stupidity. I repeat it again, that no medicine can be of the least avail in de- stroying the blab, as it is called in some parts of the country : but if eithrr of the operations is tried, one of the purging drinks may he useful in abating inflammation; and whether the skull is punctured or trephined, a pitch plaster over the wound will preserve the sLeep from being tortured by the flies. SECTION VI. INFLAMMATION OF THE BRAIN. This, although a frequent disease of the sheep, and of the sama part, and almost as fatal as that which has been just described, is accompanied by such diflferent symptoms, that it is scarcely possible to confound them. Inflammation of the brain generally attacks tb.e healthiest sheep, and of all ages, and more in hot weather than in the early part of spring. There is no character of stupidity about tliis affection, no disinclination to move, no moving round and round v.'ithout any determinate object : but the eyes are protruding, blood- shot, and bright; and there is an eager and ferocious, not a depressed and anxious countenance. The animal is in constant motion : he gallops about attacking his fellows, attacking the shepherd, and sometimes quarrelling with a post or tree; he is labouring under wild delirium, and this continues until he is absolutely exhausted. He then stands still, or lies down for a while panting dreadfully, when he starts afresh, as delirious and as ungovernable as before. The first and the grand remedy is bleeding; and that from the jugular, and copiously, and to be obtained as quickly as possible. The guide as to the quantity will be the dropping of the animal. To bleeding, physicking will of course succeed, and the sheep should be removed into a less luxuriant pasture. This also is one of the dis- eases that should be attacked at its very commencement. Violent inflammation of the brain and its membranes will very soon be fol- lowed by serious disorganization; and if water once begins to be formed under the membranes, or eifused in the ventricles, the case is hopeless. Here also the attention of the farmer should be directed to preventives. One case of goggles may he accidental ; but if two or three are seized with inflammation of the brain, the fanner nidy be DISCHARGE FROM THE NOSE. 197 assured that there is something wrong in his system of management, and that which, in the majority of cases, is the root of the evil, is too rich pasture, probably succeeding to spare feed. A dose of salta should, therefore, be given to each sheep, and the pasture of the whole should be chani^ed. SECTION VII. COLD, AND DISCHARGE FROM THE NOSE, &C. Here again, from the cruel and impolitic abandonment of the sheep, hundreds of them are lost during the winter. When they are drenched to the skin by continual rains, or half smothered with snow, and have not even a hedge a yard high to break the biting blast, can it be won- dered that cold°and cough should be frequent in the flock ; and that it should be severe and unmanageable, and even occasionally run on to inflammation of the lungs, and consumption and death! I am not an advocate for close housing, or too much nursing. lam aware that we may thus render the sheep unnaturally tender, and more exposed to catarrh and all its consequences; but 1 would tell the farmer, that the fleece of the sheep, however thick, is an insufficient protection in cold and wet weather, and an open and bleak situation. The symptoms (f catarrh are heaviness, watery eyes, running from the nose. The discharge is thick, and clings about the nostril, and obstructs it, and the sheep is compelled to suspend its grazing almost every minute, and with violent efforts blow^ away the obstruction. Cough frequently accompanies this discharge; and if there is much feveri, it will be shown by loss of appetite and rapid weakness. There is a discharge from the nostrils which sometimes attacks the whole flock, and if Tt is not attended by wasting in flesh or loss of appetite, the farmer does not regard it; for he knows from experience, that, in spite of all he can do, it will probably last through the winter, and disappear as the spring advances. When, however, he perceives this nasal gleet, he should keep a sharp look-out over his flock, and if theve is one that stays behind, or will not eat, he should catch him, and remove him to a warmer situation, and bleed him, and give him the laxative and fever drinks, and nurse him with mashes and hay. If a second or a third sheep should fail in the same manner, he must indeed look about him; there is danger to all, for the inflammation has spread itself from the throat down'the windpipe to the air-passages of the lungs, and a very danserous disease, called bronchitis, is pro- duced. He must move the whole flock to a more sheltered situation. He must move them to a pasture of somewhat different character. He must take them from their turnips or their hay, and give them what other food his firm will afl'ord. He should, if he will take the tiouble to do so (and he would be amply repaid for that troublej, bleed them all round, and physic them all. This is strange doctrine to the farmer, 17*= lUS DISEASES OF SHEEP. who is accustomod to look on and let thirifrs take their course. It Is, however, good advice, and he will find it so, if lie will but lollovv it. Yet let him not, in iiis detenuinaiion to rouse himself and do some- thing, listen too much to the suggestions of the shepherd or tlie far- rier. Let him not give any of those abominable cordial drinks, which have destroyed thousands of sheep. Warmth, housing at night, littering with clean straw, and warm gruel if the animal will not eat or drink, are not only allowable, but useful : nay, 1 would allow a lillle ginger or a Utile ale with the medicine ; but noi those compounds of all manner of hot and injurious spices, which would kindle a fire in the veins of the animal, if it were not blazing there before. [ Experienced sheep>brceders recommend a dose of tar, to be repeated for foul noses but lest tliat be neglected, it is recommended as a good precaution, under all circum. stances, to have some saplings or small trees bored with a large auger at proper dis. tances, and the holes to be kept supplied with common salt. Let the edges of these holes be smeared with tar, and thus the sheep in the act of getting the salt will tar his own nose. There can be no doubt that this would be a good and wholesome practice as an item of general management. Few fanners attend as they ought to do, to having their stock regularly and plentifully salted, and there is known to be something in tar and in resinous plants, as pine and cedar, particularly healthy foi sheep. — S.] INFLAMMATION OF THE LUNGS Is not unfrequently the result of a common cold, not attendee' to, the disease extending itself to the lungs : it more commonly appt^ars in the spring of the year; its symptoms are dulness, hanging of the ears, quick breathing, cough, and dischargre from the nostrils. The animal should be bled freely from the neck — a pint in general will not be too much for a full-grown animal to lose. After this a dose of salts should be given, and should be followed by the Fever Drink (No. 4, p. '201) once a day. INFLUENZA. Sometimes a catarrh assumes an epidemic form, and appears as the injinenzn. This disease may be distinguished from a cold, or from bronchitis, by the discharge from the nostrils being more profuse and the eyes nearly closed, great uneasiness of the head, and a sudden prostration of strength. Sometimes the aninial will run round in a circle, and a rattling will be heard in the windpipe: these symptoms \\\\\ be soon followed by death. Bleeding should in general be abstained from in this disease, but half an ounce of Epsom salts, with one drachm of gentian, should be given dissolved in gruel ; but if the sheep purged before, instead of the above the following should be given, and be assisted by good nursing and care : — RECIPE (No. 71. Take prepared chalk, one ounce ; catechu, harf a drachm ; opium, twenty grains; •pirit of nitrous ether, twi) drachms ; gentian, one drachm. To be dissolved in cruel, «nd L'ivcn twice a day till the purging ceases; aftir which tile two last ingrffiients, with a (irachui of nitre and ten grains of tartarised ant^imony, shojld be given in jruel once a day • BLOWN, OR BLAST. 199 SECTION VIII. BLOWN, ORBLAST. Tins is of as frequent occurrence among sheep as oxen, and it s as talal. The cause is the same, the removal of the animals from poor keep to rich and succulent food. When sheep are first turned on clover, or even. on any pasture more nutritious than that to whic'i ihey have heen accustomed, if they are not watched and kept moving^ during the day, and folded elsewhere at night, they are too apt to overload the paunch, so that it can no longer contract upon and expel its contents : fermentation then ensues, and the extrication of gas : the paunch is distended to the utmost, and the animal is often suffo- cated. The remedy of the farmer is the same here as with the ox — paunching^ or thrusting a sharp pen-knife into the paunch, between the hip-bone and the last rib on the left side, when the gas with which the stomach is distended will escape. The objection to this practice is likewise the same as in oxen — that when a portion of the gas has escaped, the stomach will no longer be firmly pressed against the side, and the wounds in the side and the paunch will no longer ex- actly correspond; a portion of the gas, and of the contents of the stomach too, will then pass into the cavity of the abdomen, and (although the animal m.ay seem for a while to recover) will be an unsuspected source of inflammation, and even of death. The common elastic tube, so strongly recommended by Dr. Duncan, is preferable to the knife : the gas will escape as completely, and without any possibility of danger. It is passed down the gullet into the paunch. The stomach-pump, however, is here likewise a far preferable instrument, for, as was remarked when treating of the hoove in oxen, the acid fluid which is probably in the stomach may be pumped out, or sufficient warm water pumped in to excite vomit- ing, and thus free the stomach of its oppressive load. If neither the pump nor the tube is at hand, a stick with a knob at the end of it should be passed by the shepherd into the paunch, which, separating the muscular pillars that constitute the roof of this stomach, is far preferable to the knife. When a sheep is first seized with the blown or blast, he will often be relieved by being driven gently about for an hour or two, and put into a bare pasture. In the act of moving, these pillars will be occa- sionally separated a little from each other, and the gas will escape; but the animal must not be gallopped or driven by dogs, lest the sto- mach should be ruptured. The animal having been relieved, or the contents of the stomach evacuated, a purgative should always be administered, and that con.- bined with some aromatic. The following will be useful : — 14 200 DISEASES OF SHEEP. RECIPE (^o. 8). Phytic for niovn. — Take Glauht-r s salts, oim niinc'S niid dissolvo in poppprmint w ater treatment, many of the sheep have died in a few days. On examina- tion after death, marks of intense inflammation have appeared every- where, but more particularly in the liver, which has been of a red- brown colour, and double its natural size, and is broken to pieces with tlie slightest force. If it is taken in time, this is not a disease verv difficult to treat. On the fust decided yellowness beinof observed, the animal should be removed to a bare field, and should have the Puro-ing Drink (No. 'J p. 200) : half doses of it should also be repeated for several succes- sive mornings, so that the bowels may be kept in a relaxed state. Mercury will nf)t be wanted. Calomel is rarely a safe medicine, and it is a very uncertain one for sheep. A little starvation, and plenty THE ROT. kOl of purgfntive medicine, ^vill be all that is res .red. Sliould the ani mal appear to be considerably weakened, this drink will be useful :— RECIPE (No. 9). General Tonic Dmik.— Take, gentian, two draclims Colombo, one drachm ; gin ger half a drachm : {,'ive in four ounces of warm gru ji SECTION X. THE ROT. This disease is the very pest of the sheep, and destroys more of them than all the other maladies put together. There are few win- ters in which it may not be safely said that many hundred thousands perish by it. The cause seems to be better understood than it used to be, and on many a pasture that had formerly obtained a fatal cele- brity for rottino sheep, they may now feed securely ; yet almost a» many sheep die of the rot as there ever did. I shall, perhaps, be able to show the principal reason of this, and arouse my readers and agriculturists generally to the adoption of more effectual preventive measures. Tiie symptoms of the rot in the early stage are exceedingly obscure. There is little to indicate the ej'.istence of the disease even to the most accurate observer. This is one cause of the mischief that is done; for it prevents the malady from being attacked when only it could be conquered. The earliest symptom is one that is common to a great many other diseases, and f^om which no certain conclusion can be drawn, except that the animal is ill, and labours under fever. The sheep is dull, he lags behind in his journey to and from the fold, and he does not feed quite so well ; but these are as much early symp- toms of the staggers as of the rot. This, however, goes on some time, and then a palish yellow hue steals over the skin, easy enough to be seen when the wool is parted, and most evident in the eyelids, and that which is g-enerally called the white of the eyes. The lips and mouth are soon tinged, but not to so great a degree. The sheep does not otherwise appear to be ill. If he does not eat much, he does not lose flesh ; on the contrary, he seems to gain condition, and that for several weeks. Graziers were taught this by Mr. Bakewell. He found that he could save a fort- night or more in the fattening of his sheep for the mnrket by giving them the rot; and he used to keep a piece of wet ground expressly for this purpose, and on which he regularly turned the sheep that he destined for the butcher. This may be a useful hint for those farmers who have too much of this disease every winter. It may be hard to be compelled to part with some of the best of their flock, but if they are watchful they may sell the greater part of th( m without any verj 202 DISEASES OF SHEEP. srrioiis loss. Tlie farmer, howpver, is not always sufficientl}' walch Till al)(»ut iliis, and too frequently will not believe that his sheep have the rot until the conviction is forced upon him by the loss of some of his flock, and the wasting condition of many more. This thriving period soon passes over, and the sheep begin to waste much more rapidly than they had acquired condition, t'irst, there is a percej)tible alteration in the countenance, — a depressed, •miiealthy appearance, accompanied by increased yellowness. 'Jlie tongue especially becomes pale and livid. The animal is feverish ; the heat of the mouth, and the panting, and heaving of the flanks, and general dulness, sulliciently indicate this. Some degree of cough comes on ; some discharge from the nose ; or the breath begins to be exceedingly oflTensive. The sheep is sometimes costive; at other times it purges with a violence which nothing can arrest, and the matter discharged is unusually oflTensive, and often streaked with blood. And now the soft mellow feel of the sheep in condition is no longer fo'ind, but there is an unhealthy flabbiness; even where there is but little left between the skin and the bone, there is a flabby — a kind oi piity feeling; the parts give way, but they have lost their elasticity, and they do not plump up again : there is also a crackling sound when the loins or back are pressed upon. The farmer knows w hat this is, and what he is to expect, both in the sheep and the ox : very few of them recover after this crackling has once been heard. At an uncertain period of the disease the sheep usually become what the graziers call checkered., that is, a considerable swelling appears under the chin. If this is punctured, sometimes a watery fluid escapes, and sometimes matter; and occasionally the swelling bursts, and an ulcer, very difficult to heal, follows. The bowels, which are variable at first, become at length very relaxed. A fetid purging comes on of all colours, and which pursues its course in defiance of every astringent. The wool begins to fall off in patches : it is loose all over the ani- mal, and easily pulled off, and there is a w bite scurfiness adhering to its roots. The disease now still more rapidly proceeds ; and while the sheep loses flesh every day, and every rib and every bone of the back can be plainly felt, his belly increases — he gets dropsical. The end is not then far off. The progress of the disease is more or less rapid, according to the violence of the attack, or the strength or weakness of the she^p, or the care that is bestowed on him, or the utter neglect to which ne is abandoned. The animal occasionally dies in two months after the first evident symptom of rot, but usually four or five or six months elapse before the animal is perfectly exhausted. 'ITie farmer is not much accustomed to examine his sheep after death. It would be better for him if he paid more attention to this, for he would discover the nature, and probably the cause, of many a complaii.t that is committing sad ravages in his flock. The appear« ances exl.ildted in the sheep that has died of the rot are very singular. THE ROT. 203 There appears to be dropsy, not only in the belly, but all over the animal. Wherever the knife is used, a yellow watery fluid runs out; and the consequence of the existence of this fluid everywhere is, that the muscles, and that which should be firm, honest fat, are yield- ing, and flabby, and unwholesome. When the belly and chest are opened, the heart is pale, and soft, and flabby, and often to such a degree that we wonder how it could have continued to discharge its duty. The lungs are more or less gorged with blood; and there are a great many hard knotty points, of various sizes (tubercles), in them and on theni, some of which have probably broken, and the lungs are full of ulcers; or when this is not the case, the limgs are studded with innumerable little knotty points of a dark colour. The principal disease, however, is in the liver, which is much enlarged, often of double its natural size, broken down by the slight- est touch, sometimes black from inflammation and congested blood, and at other times of an unhealthy lividness : but that which is most remarkable, which is chareicteristic of the dise-ee, is, that its vessels are filled with flukes, cariously-shaped things like Utile soles, which are swimming about in the bile in every duct, and burrowing into every part of the liver. Several hundreds of them are sometimes contained in one liver. A few of them may occasionally be found in the upper part of the intestines, but there only. The upper part of the liver is frequently speckled like the body of a toad ; indeed this has been so often remarked, that the examiner, if he does not find flukes, and sometimes when he does, looks out for the toad's liver. The liver is so diseased and corrupted, that if an attempt is made to boil it, instead of becoming hardened, it falls all to pieces, or is in a manner dissolved. Abscesses are oftener found in the liver than in the lungs, and to an extent sufficient to destroy the sheep without any other cause. Sometimes there are knots in the liver as well as in the lungs — small, round, hardened lumps — and in a few cases they are so numerous, that it is almost impossible to find a sound part. If the farmer would accustom himself to observe these things, and carefully examine every sheep that dies in the autumn, he would sometimes detect the existence of this disease in his flock before he would otherwise have been aware of it. Nay, he should not confine his examination to this, but should observe ihe appearance of the inside of every sheep which he may kill for the use of his family about that time. It should be a practice never omitted, and however seemingly healthy the animal may die, whatever quantity of suet may cover tho kidneys, if the liver is dappled with white spots, or if 5 the vessels of the liver are thickened, and if there are flukes, however small, floating about in the bile, that sheep was certainly rotted ; and if one sheep is rotted, the greater part of the remainder will probably follow. Aware of this, and at this early period of the disease, the grazier may, either by hastening the fittening process, or shifting the pasture, or adopting medical treatment, put many scores of pounds into his pocket, uliich would otherwise be irrecoverably lost. DISEASES OF SHEEP. This examination of the slirop w ill lead us to tlie principal and r ;im;iry seal of the disoase, namely, llie liver. V\ hal is llie cause of nis alfection of llie liver is another question, and a very important .ne. There is a dispute which no one has yet settled, whether this hike-worm is the cause or the consequence of the disease. I am rery much inclined to thirdv that it is the consequence, although it nav and does much atrrrravate the disease. These parasitical ani- nals, both in the animal and vetretable kinf^doms, fasten upon a part hat is diseased, or the vitality of which is weakened. Another disputed point is the source of these flukes. Are the eggs taken up in the herbage] Does some insect or fly, that is a fluke in Dne part of iis existence, lay its eggs on plants growing in wet pas- tures, or by the side of stagnant water? We have no proof of this, tind we never saw the fluke in any other form. Therefore, it is use- less to dispute about that which cannot be resolved. The most pro- bable thing, however, is, that the eggs, whence the fluke is produced, are, like the oggs of many animalcula, floating in the air, so small and pellucid as to be invisible to us ; that they are inhaled with the breath, or received with the food, but only find a proper nest, a proper place to be hatched into life, in the liver of the sheep labouring under the rot. These flukes are occasionally found in the livers of almost every domestic quadruped, and so far as it hss hitherto appeared, they are in all of them connected \Aith disease. Well, then, what is the cause of this affection of the liver? It is evidently connected with moisture, although it may be difficult to trace the connexion between this moisture and a diseased liver. It is, however, proper to observe, that the eggs of flukes have been found in countless luniibers in the biliary ducts on examining the liver of a cothed or rotten sheep in the months of A])ril, May, or June ; and it is considered by resjiectable authority, that these eggs are passed into the bowels, evacuated with the dung, and, their vitality being preserved by the sun and moisture, they are swallowed with the grass by sound animals, who thus become infected. Whereas if the egos had fallen on dry land, their vitality would be destroyed. Although it appears reasonable enough that the infection is produced through the medium of the stomach, yet it would be expected, if the above theory were entirely correct, that by kee})ing sheep from rot- ting land for several years, such land would cease to produce the disease, from the absence of the eggfs; which, however, is not found o be the case. It is therefore probable that there are other sources From which the errgs of flukes are derived, besides the dung of sheep. The history of the rot is plain enough here. It prevails, or rather it is foimd only, in bogart of the foot becomes irritated and inflamed by this undue pressure, or the weakened parts of the horn, too rapi ^Iv and unevenly growing, are broken off, and corroding ulcers are produced THE FOOT-ROT. 209 A.Uhough there would not appear to be any great wear and tear of the f jot in this soft land, yet the horn becomes so exceedingly unsound and spongy, that sniuU particles of sand or gravel make their way through the softened mass, and penetrate to the quick. It not unfre- quently happens that injuries of this sort are produced unconnected with and independent of the foot-rot, and they may be cured much easier, but by very similar means. The hardness or the sponginesa of the horn depends altogether on the dryness or moisture of the soil in which the animal has fed. Large, heavy sheep, having compara- tively thinner hoofs than lighter ones, are more subject to the disease. True foot-rot more frequently begins from above than below. The horn is rendered softer, weaker, and more luxuriant by exposure to wet: the foot, from being kept wet and cold, is exposed to re-action with any change of weather, and inflammation is thus excited within the foot, which often ends in suppuration, and this occasions those troublesome ulcers that are sometimes witnessed. . The first symptom of the disease is the lameness of the sheep. On the foot being examined, this morbid growth is almost invariably found. The foot is hot, and the animal shrinks if it is firmly pressed. It is particularly hot and painful in the cleft between the two hoofs; and there is generally some enlargement about the coronet. There is always an increased secretion, usually fetid, and often there is a wound about the coronet discharging a thin, stinking fluid : sometimes there is a separation of the horn from the parts beneath, and that too fre- quently preceding the dropping otf of the hoof. In comparatively a few cases the hoofs seem to be worn to the quick at or near the toe The lameness rapidly increases, and often to such a degree indeed that the sheep is unable to stand, but moves about the field on its knees. The soft portions of the foot, and sometimes the very bones of it, slough away, and drop off. All this is necessarily attended by a great deal of pain, and the animal shows how much it preys upon him by his moaning, and re- fusing to eat, and ceasing to ruminate, and most rapidly wasting. Irritating fever comes on, and after the poor creature has crept about the field on his knees for a few weeks, he dies from irritation and starvation. Of one thing the farmer may be assured — that the foot-rot is ex- ceedingly infectious. If it once gets into a flock, it spreads through the whole. Some valuable writers have denied this; but there is scarcely a farmer who has not had woful experience of the truth of it. Even on the dryest soil the greater part of the flock have become lame in a very few weeks after a diseased sheep has come among them. There are, however, some instances in which a sheep with the foot- rot has grazed among others during several months, and no disease has ensued ; and some curious experiments would make it appear that under particular circumstances it is dilBcultto produce foot-rot by inoculation. But these are exceptions to the general rule; and he who trusts to the non-contagiousness of foot-rot will suffer as assuredly as 18* 210 DISEASES OF SHEEP. tlio man who, deluded by some of the mischievous theojies of thf (^ay, believes that he may keep a glandered horse in his stable with im- punity. The treatment of foot-rot is simple enough, and, in the early stage of the complaint, usuall}^ successful. The foot must be carefully examvn-.(l, and every portion of horn that has separated from the parts benealii thoroughly removed, and the sore lightly touched with the butyr (rhloride) of antimony, applied by means of a small quantity of tow 1 oiled round a flat bit of stick, and then dipped into the caustic. A strong* r, and oftentimes a better, application is made by dissolving eorrosivo sublimate in spirits of wine. Hydrochloric acid is also a very usefu) caustic for foot-rot. If a fungus is sprouting at the place vhere iho horn separates from the foot, it must be first cut away with the knife, and then the root of it touched also with the caustic; or, wnat is still better, it may be removed by means of a hot iron. It is necessary, indeed, to be rather sparing with the use of the knifo thix/ugiiout the disease. There will seldom, except in very bad cases, be necessity for binding the foot up ; indeed, the animal will generally do Wtter withuut this. It will be seen by the altered colour of the paift A'iiether the caustic has been applied with suflicient severity, and the dry surface which will be formed over the sore will protect it from all common injury better than any covering. Ti, ihese must be added that reasonable and successful practice of remoting the sheep to higher ground. Sheep among whom the foot- rot is beginning to appear are sometimes completely cured by being drivewi to higher and dryer ground. Some farmers, and with a great deal of advantage, have their flocks driven four or five times daily along a hard road. They thus accomplish two purposes — they wear away the irregularly formed horn, the unequal pressure of which has irritated and inflamed the foot, and the remaining horn is hardened, and enabled better to resist the influence of the moist or soft ground. Where the ulceration is extensive, means must be adopted similar to those recommended for the treatment of fuul in the foot in cattle; but in mosLcases it will be more profitable to the farmer to destroy the sheep tnat has had foot-rot, if it is in tolerable condition, rather tiian rely on a cure that is uncertain, and during the progress of which the animal very rapidly loses flesh and fat. If, however, he is determined to attempt a cure, let him wash the foot well from all grit and dirt, and then cut off every loose and de- tached piece of horn, and every excrescence and fungus, and covei the wound with the following powder: — RECIPE (No. 12), Caustic jjstrivtrevt Po7rdpr for Foot- Rot. —Tnke verdigris; bole armenian , and sugar of lead, equal parts. Rub them well together, until they are reduced to a fine powder. This should be sprinkled over the sore, and a little dry tow p. need upon it, and bound neatly and firmly down with tape. The animal should afterwards stand in a dry fold-yard for four-and-twenty huurs. THE FOOT-ROT. 211 On the next day the tape should be removed, and if the surface is tolerably regular, it may be touched, as already directed, with the butyr of antimony; but if any fungus remains, the powder must be applied another day. The fungus no longer continuing to grow, a ligbt dressing with the but3'r should be continued every second day until the animal is well. Some prefer a liniment or paste to the powder, and it is made by mixing the powder with a sutficient quan- tity of honey. The farmer may use which he pleases; but a firm and equable pressure being produced by the tape is the principal thing to be depended upon. The sheep-master should as carefully avoid the ground producing foot-rot, as that which causes the fatal affection of the liver ; and he should attempt the same method of altering the character of the low and moist ground by good underdraining. The effect of this, how- ever, is far from being so certain and beneficial as with regard to the rot. The water which would stagnate on the surface may be drained away with tolerable ease, but the soil cannot be rendered hard and dry, or, if it could, that would not be an advantageous change. The sheep might not have the foot-rot, but the ground would be compara- tively unproductive. If the farmer intends to drive his sheep a considerable distance to the market or fair, he will prepare them for the journey by a few days' removal to harder and firmer ground, or, perhaps, by driving them a short di:>tance, daily, on the still harder public road. The farmer should not only take his sheep from light sandy soil in long-continued dry weather, because they would starve there, but because then alone that soil would give them the foot-rot: its yielding nature will not sufficiently keep down the growth of horn, and many a particle of sand will insinuate itself into the soft and spongy horn, and produce inflammation. For the same reason he should avoid dry old pasture at the season when the dews are heaviest, because then moisture would most abound there. In grounds that are disposed to give the foot-rot, the farmer would find it advantageous to have the hooves of his sheep rasped or pared once every fortnight or three wrecks. This is not often done, but it appears reasonable, and would not be very expensive. In uninclosed or mountainous countries, where the sheep have particular tracts, gravel might be scattered in sufficient quantity to wear and harden the horn. [This disease is among the greatest scourges to which sheep are liable in America, but writers generally regard it as not difficult to be cured. J. R. Speed, of Caroline, Tompkins county, New York, found a valuable merino buck much afflicted with it, and not having at hand the ingredients recommended in the Complete Grazier and other books, he "took down that cure-all among farmers, my bottle of spirits of tur- ])entine, and with a feather applied it to the parts affected quite plentifully twice or three times in the space of three days, (keeping him on a dr; floor) when I fouud a perfect cure had been effected," 213 DISEASES OF SHEEP Mr. Jewel, of Vermont, speaking on ample experience, says—" The foot-rot is am infeclioijs disorder which locates between the hoofs, and unless immediate attention is rendered, it operates under tlie horns of the hoof. It is more easily cured m the winter, or where the infection freezes. If thoroughly seated, it cannot be entirely eradicated from the flock in warm weather, unless they arc permitted to run in a fresh pasture where there is no exposure after the treatment, which is this — first, the foot must he pared if infected, and all the ulcerous matter removed ; then apply with a swab, zig, or water strongly saturated with pulverised blue vitriol. When ihc- roughly done, the rot will he removed, and the foot will be healed in four or fiv? da-ys. It is very important that the diseased animals should be separated from the flock. Fine-woolled sheep, and those that have long hoofs, are much more subject to the rot, and more troublesome to cure. It spreads by inoculation only, and ragei worse in low wet grounds. It is important that they should be examined every week until cured, which will require three or four thorough examinations, where the ulcer, ation is confirmed. By using a trough, the description of which you have in the cut below, the foot can be examined with ease; and where there is a large flock, there is a great saving in time and labour. -^ The figure represents a trough which wjII conveniently hold two sheep, with thsir feet uppermost. The frame simply consists of a plank about six feet in length, in which four legs are fastened eighteen inches long. Six arms are extended from the upper side of the frame, which supports the side-boards A A, six feet long and thir- teen inches wide, and forms a trough about one foot in width at the top and four inches at the bottom. This trough should stand near the door of another dry yard, where the sheep must remain an hour or so after the application of the vitriol, which should be applied between the toes of every foot. By the assistance of this apparatus, three men can go over from three to four hundred sheep in a day. Another very simple remedy is recommended by T. Baynes, of Wilmington, Dela- ware. "Take a few bushels of lime, and put it near some place where the sheep have to pass, say the bars, and as it is natural for sheep to jump, take notice where they alight, and place the lime there about three inches deep. This did efl^ectually cure my flock in about a week. The lime should be fresh and slacked, and not lest than three inches deep; if deeper it might take the hair off the leg above the hoof." — CitUivator The lime might be more conveniently and perfectly applied by meant of Ifce trough, of which a drawing is given, for the examination of sheep — S.l THE SCAB. 213 T r • SECTION XII. TH E SC AB . This is a most troublesome and infectious disease, and generally vO be attributed to bad management. Sheep that have been too much exposed to the inclemency of the weather, or that have been half- starved, and thus debilitated, are most subject to it. The forest sheep are particularly liable to the scab. It is first discovered by the animal eagerly rubbing himself against every post, or gate, or bank, or, if the itching is very great, tearing off his fleece by mouthfuls. He looks thin and ragged ; and if he is caught, there will appear on various parts, and particularly along the back, either little red pustules, or a harsh dry scurf. The pustules speedily break, and the scurf succeeds. The roots of the wool are matted together by it, and portions of the fleece come off with almost the slightest touch. No one ever doubted the infectiousness of this disease, or suffered a scabbed sheep to enter his flock without dearly rueing it. Every post, or stone, or tree, against which it has rubbed itself, seems to be empoisoned. Every sheep that comes in contact with it is infected. The itching of the eruption preys upon the sheep almost as rapidly is the foot-rot. A scabbed sheep is a poor hungry-looking, half starved creature ; his fleece is spoiled, and he is useless for the butcher. Sheep proprietors used to be fond of various lotions for the cure of scab. Some applied a strong solution of tobacco, others a solution of sal ammoniac, and others one of corrosive sublimate. If these are ever used, they should not be made too strong, for many an animal has been destroyed by them all. Not more than a quarter of a pound of tobacco should be boiled or infused in a gallon of water, nor more than an ounce of corrosive sublimate, and which should be previously dissolved either in muriatic acid or spirit of wine. The sal ammoniac rarely did much harm, but on the other hand it more rarely did good, and when used with the corrosive sublimate seemed to impair its powers. There are those who have preferred a solution of arsenic to either of the others. It is as efficacious as any of them, but it is by far the most dangerous. A great tub or vat used to be procured, and half filled with either of these solutions, and the sheep put into it one by one, and well rubbed and washed until the fluid had evidently penetrated the fleece, and come into contact with every part of the skin ; but even where these lotions succeeded, they aave a peculiar coarseness and harshness to the wool, which very much decreased its value. The scurfines8 likewise did not soon come off; or when it did, patches of the fleece •>:irated with it, and let'i the skin benexth it red, and chapped, and cerated. % 214 DISEASES OF SHEEP. An ointinonl is far preferable, for it softens the scurf, and detaches it from the wool, and saves the lleece, and heals the chaps and ulcera of the skin, and promotes the future growth of the wool. The mercurial or blue ointment in a (rreater or less des^ree of strength is commonly used ; and if used with caution, the real strength of it being previously ascertained, it has generally a good eftVct; but when bought from too many druggists, the quantity of mercury is so varia- ble, and so many tricks are played with it, that the shepherd scarcely knows how to use it, and too often salivates, and even destroys, some of his sheep. If the mercurial ointment is to be used, it will be of advantage to the farmer, especially if he has many scabbed sheep, to make it him- self, and that he may very easily do if he has a wooden pestle and a large mortar or iron pot. RECIPE (No. 13). JMerrnrinl Ointment for Scab.— Take, crude quicksilver, one pound ; Venice turpeu- tine, iialf a pound ; spirit of turpentine, two ounces. These should be rubbed well together for five or six hours, until they are perfectly united ; and that will be known by a little being taken and rubbed with the finger on a piece of glass. If not the slightest globule can be detected, the killing of the mercury is com- plete; but if the smallest shining particle can be seen, the substances are not sufliciently mixed. When this is completed, four pounds and a half of lard should be added, and the more rancid it is the better* for it more readily combines with the mercury, and gives it additional power. This lard may be well rubbed with the mixture of mercury and turpentine on a square slab of marble; or it may be melted, and, when about the temperature of new milk, added to the other ingre- dients, and the whole stirred together until the ointment becomes stiff. If the ointment is made during the summer, it will perhaps be too fluid to be thoroughly rubbed into the sheep. It may penetrate among the neighbouring wool, or run off and be lost. When this is the case, one pound of the lard should be omitted, and a pound of black resin substituted. A great deal depends on the manner in which the ointment is ap- plied. It should extend to every part that is in the slightest degree affected, and it should be gently but well rubbed in. The wool should be carefully parted on the middle of the back, from the poll to the tail, and a little of the ointment rubbed in all along the channel thus ex- posed. If the disease is slight, another furrow may be made on either side, at the distance of two or three inches, and more rubbed in ; but if it appears to be inveterate, the divisions should be made at two inches distance from each other, and over every part that is affected. A second dressing may be applied four days afterwards, if the sheep continues to rub itself, but it would not be safe to proceed farther. If the sheep should yet rub, a milder ointment should be resorted to, which may be repeated every second day with perfect safety until the »nimal is cured. Indeed I should be very much disposed to use the THESCAB. 21 o milJer ointment from the beginning, because I could go on to the very end, without any fear of unpleasant consequences; and although the cure is effected more slowly, the process is safer and surer. RECIPE (No. 14). Jilild Ointment for Scab. — Take flowers of sulphur, a pound; Venice turpentine, four ounces ; rancid lard, two pounds ; strong mercurial oiutment, four ounces. Hub them well together. Flowers of sulphur must be used, and not the common black sul- phur: that is the reuise of the sulphur, and is almost inert, except it derives any power from the arsenic which is generally in combination with it, and that would be a dangerous power. There are several instances of animals being destroyed by the use of the black sulphur in ointment, which had been empoisoned with arsenic. This ointment may be used at any time of the year; bat the mer- curial ointment is not safe in cold or wet weather. In very bad cases the following powerful ointment may be em- ployed : — RECIPE (No. 15). Take white hellebore, three ounces; bichloride of mercury, two ounces; fish-oil, twelve pounds; resin, six ounces; tallow, eight ounces. The two first ingredients to be mixed with a part of the oil, and the other ingredients to be melted and added. Prevention is here again better than cure, and the practice of smear- ing, and especially in cold and exposed situations, is very commend- able. It is not a certain preventive, but it renders the animal less likely to take the infection, and it is very comfortable and useful to the sheep in protecting him from the cold, and hindering the wet from penetrating to his skin. RECIPE (No. 16). Smearinsr J\rixture. — Take a gallon of common tar and twelve pounds of any sweet grease. Melt them together, stirring them well while they are cooling. Here, as in dressing for the scab, the wool should be parted in rows from the head to the tail, three or four inches asunder, and the mixture rubbed carefully with the finger at the bottom of each row. The smeared fleece will not fetch so much per pound, but the increase of weight, generally in the proportion of five to four, will more than compensate for the diminution in price. The usual time for smearing is in October, and the sheep are hardier and warmer, free from ver- min, and generally free from scab; and this beincr the case, they evidently thrive better, are sooner fit for the market, and weigh lieavier. It will be evident enough that every precaution ought to be taken to prevent the re-appearance of this disease. Every rubbing-place of every kind should be thorouo-hly washed with chloride of lime, and every sheep tliat begins again to ferret immediately separated from the flock. The scab -appears under an exceedingly virulent form in some mountainous ]) .rts of the country, and particularly in Scotland Mr. Stevenson, in his communications to the Highland Society, tb is de- 15 216 DISEASES OF SHEEP. Bcribos two variotios of it. The first he curiously calls red-wafer, an iuipropcr term, and more especially as the same name is given lo another disease to which sheep are subject. lie says, "This disease commonly makes its appearance about the beginnirifj or end of winter, and first appears about the breast and belly, although at times it spreads itself over other parts of the body. It consists in an inflam- mation of the skin that raises it into blisters, which contain a thin, reddish, and watery fluid : these continue for a short time, break, and discharge their matter, and are followed by a blackish scab. *' When the sheep are exposed to cold or w-etness, the skin beinor fretted, makes the blisters rise ; or they often arise from cold affecting the animal internally, thus producing a slight fever, which throws out these vesicles on the body." The diseased sheep should be put into a fold by himself. A little blood should be taken, and the blisters slit up, and a few drops of the infusion of tobacco put into them ; a quarter of an ounce of sulphur should also be given on six successive mornings. A dose of physic should follow. The parts affected should also be daily washed with lime-water. A more violent eruption is called the wildfire, probably from the rapidity with which it spreads. It is more infectious than the scab, or. probably, it is one of the worst species of scab. The nitre and sulphur should here also be given internally, and the lime-water ap- plied externally. [The frequency of this loathsome and highly contagious disease induces us to add the following from the Cultivator: — Among sheep, there is no disease so common, or productive of so much injury, eertainly not in the United Stales, as the scab, or as it is called by some, the itch. A sheep alTccted by this disease is restless, rubbing itself violently against posts, fences, or whatever is in its way; biting and tearing out the wool with its teeth, and exhibiting every sign of intense irritation. On examining the sheep, the skin will be found red and rough, with usually an extensive cutaneous eruption, or an accumulation of small pimples or pustules, some of wiiich have broken, and the matter discharged has formed patches of crust or scab, from which the common name of the disease is derived. The fleece on a sheep diseased with the scab will be irregular in its growth, and the quality inferior; and if the complaint is severe, or long-continued, the health is impaired, and the animal pines away rapidly, till re- leased by death. The rot may be more immediately fatal, and produce greater losses in Europe, but here the scab is more injurious, perhaps, than all other diseases put ♦offether. The scab is one of the most infectious of diseases, and if introduced into A flock, unless the diseased animals are immediately removed, the farmer may de- pend on the whole flock being infected, and both sheep and wool srreally lessened in value. The shoulders and back are the places first usually aflTected ; but unless chock- ed, it will spread until the whole surface is diseased, or the animal perishes; or such is the usual course of the disease. The infection seems to spreal in two ways; by actual contact with diseased animals, or by means of the places where infected sheep have rutihed themselves or lain. As pay for sheep infected with scab and sold for tound cannot be collected in Europe, or may be recovered, much attention is paid to T II ESC A B. 217 the time that olapsos after the infection, before the disease apptJra About tho twelfth day, it is stated by Youatt, the pustules begin to appear, and the rubbintj of the animals shows the irritation has commenced. In four days more the jiustulus break, and the matter escaping forms the crust. After it was found that the itch in the human race was caused by an insect, a species of acarus, it was supposed that similar cutaneous diseases might arise from tlie same source. M. Waltz, a German, was the first to establish this point and filly investigate its character; and numerous subsequent examinations have proven the correctness of his opinion. He found that the scab, like the itch, mange, &c., is caused by animalculee; that the irritation caused by his burrowing in the skin forma the pustule, and that when this breaks, the acarus leaves his habitation, and travels to another part of the skin, and thus extends the disease, or it may he left on the rubbing post, or the wool of an animal coming in contact. When one of these acari is placed on the wool of a sound animal, they quickly travel to its roots, where the place of burying themselves is shown by a minute red point. About the sixteenth day the pimple or pustule breaks, and if the acari is a female, it appears with a mul- titude of young. These immediately set to work on the skin, bury themselves, and propagate, until the poor animal is irritated to death, or becomes encrusted with scab. M. Waltz satisfactorily traced the parasite through all its changes, and by experiments discovered all its modes of action and method of infection. He found that when the male acari was placed on a sheep, it burrowed, the pustule was formeH. but the itching and scab soon disappeared without the employment of amy rtii-edy. Such was not the case where the female acari was placed on the sound skin ; as with the breaking of the pustule, from eight to fifteen little ones made their appearanc-^. M. Waltz found that the yming acari kept in a dry place dried and crumbled to dust, but when old, that it would retain its life through the whole winter, thus proving the necessity of not relying on the season for their destruction, but on preparations of active medicine when the disease shows itself. Of the origin of these insects we of course can know nothing ; it is enough that we are certain when they make their appearance, they can be met and destroyed. Various remedies have been recommended for the cure of the scab; but although the sheep acarus is very different in form, size, and colours from the human acarus, the application that will destroy one will prove fatal to the other. The remedy is the destruction of the acarus. A strong decoction of tobacco, of hellebore, or a solution of arsenic, will cure; but the difficulty with washes is, that the burrowed insect sometimes goes untouched, and unless the washing is repeated, some are apt to escape, and the disease is con- tinued. Owing to this, it has generally been deemed a safe and more expeditious mode to use the mercurial ointment. When used too strong it will salivate lambs or ewes. Where the cases are very bad, the ointment may consist of one part of mercurial ointment or unguentum, with three parts lard ; but for ordinary cases of Bcab, one part of the mercurial ointment to five of lard will be sufficiently poweiful. The wool should be separated, a small quantity placed on the skin, and carefully rubbed in. The extent of the application and the quantity used will depend on the epread of the disease, from half an ounce to two ounces being demanded. A decoc- tion of tobacco or hellebore will cure, but as before remarked it may be necessary to repeat the washing. Arsenical applications are efl^ectual, but dangerous, unless great care is used. Where an animal has been washed, or ointment aftplied, infection is generally prevented; but whenever the scab appears, and is supposed to be cured, eiaminations at the end of every few days should take place, particularly if any 19 218 DISEitSES OF SHEEP. ■ymptoms of itching or irritation appear. The sheep-grower should pay strict atten lion to the health of his uninials, and such care and attention will be abundanlljp repaid. Helow we give the figures of the acari, that produce the scab as delineated by M Waltz:— (Fig. 28), the female of 360 times the natural size, larger than the male, of an oval form, and provided with eight f^el, four before and four behind ; a the sucker ; bbbh the four anterior feet, with their trumpet-iike appendices; cc the two interior hind feet; dd the two outward feet, the e.\treinities of which are provided with some long hairs, and on other parts of the legs are shorter hairs. To these hairs the young ones adhere when thoy first escape from the pustule— c, the tail, containing the anus and vulva, garnished by some small hairs. (Fig. 29). The male on its back, and seen by the same magnifying power; a the sucker; bbbb the fore-legs, with their trumpet like appendices, as seen in the female cc, the two hind legs, with the same appendices and hatrs ; J the rudiments of the abdominal feet ; e the tail. — S.] SECTION xm. LICE, TICKS, AND FLIES. Sheep, and especially if they are neg-Iected and poor, are often Badly annoyed by these vermin. They frequently precede the scab: the dreadful itciiing which they occasionally cause, prepares for or produces the scab, or they multiply most rapidly when the skin la fouled by the scab. The sheep-louse is too well known to every shepherd : it is of a brownish or reddish colour, with a flat body, and tnree legs on either side: the tick has a large round body, and small LICE, ETC. 219 chest and head, which he buries deep into the skin, and by means of which he holds so fast as to be with difficulty torn otf. The lice are propag'ated by means of eggs or nits : the origin of the tick is not so well understood. They are both injurious to the wool, and also to the health of the animal, from the constant irritation which they produce. The louse is more injurious than the tick. The tick only buries Ms head in the skin ; the lice burrow, anu form their nest in or under it. They collect together, and a scab soon rises, whence a glutinous matter proceeds. The scab continues to increase until it is of the size of a sixpence, and undermines and destroys the roots of the wool, and the fleece comes off in patches. The itching then becomes intolerable, and the sheep rub themselves eagerly against every thing within their reach, and tear off the wool by mouthfuls. The lice are thickest about the throat and under part of the neck, and when this is the case, it has sometimes happened that the sheep has been seriously injured, or even destroyed in a very curious way. He bends his iiead down as closely as he can to get at the vermin, and then some of the wool entangling itself about the teeth, the head becomes fixed, and the animal is said to be bridled. If he is not observed and relieved, the head will be held until the muscles are seriously injured, so that he can no longer comfortably bend his neck to graze, or until he is abso- lutely destroyed. Many washes have been invented to destroy these insects, but few of them have perfectly succeeded. That which seems to have the best effect is thus composed : — RECIPE (No. 17). .Arsenical Wash for Sheep Lice. — Take arsenic, two pounds ; soft soap, four pounds: dissolve in thirty gallons of water. The infected sheep should be immersed in this, the head only being kept out; and while he is in the liquid, the fleece should be well rubbed and moulded, so that the wash shall penetrate fairly to the skin. When taken out of the tub, the fluid should be pressed as thoroughly as possible out of the fleece, which will then do for another of the flock; and the sheep should be kept from cold and wet for a tew days. Other persons prefer the following lotion: — RECIPE (No. 18). Mercurial Wash for Sheep Lice. — Take corrosive sublimate, one ounce; spirits of wine, two ounces ; rub tlic corrosive sublimate in the spirit until it is dissolved, and then add— cream of tartar, one ounce ; bay salt, four ounces: dissolve the whole in two quarts of water, and apply a little of it with a small piece of sponge wherever the lice appear. These washes, however, are not always safe, and thev are very troublesome in their application. The ointment which I have re commended for the scab is more easily applied, and more effectual. It may be rendered more fluid, and consequently more easily rubbed in, by being mixed with an equal weight of neat's-foot oil ; and it *J*JO D I s E A s i: s OF s 11 E i: r . slioiilil bo as corcriilly iijipliod ovir every part as it would be in the net ol smeariii it for use. Give a table-spoonful daily, iti » '«ttle gruel, mixed with an equal quantity of good aie. Repeat the half-dose of physic a week afterwards, and pu? ihe sheep on fresh and good pasture. BLINDNESS. 223 SECTION XVII. BLINDNESS. Sheep are more subject to diseases of the eye that lead on to blind HfAs than many persons who are most accustomed to th(>m imagine It is a singular circumstance, and not so well known as itoughi to be that if the eyes of a flock of sheep are carefully examined, half of them will exhibit either disease then present, or indications of that which existed at no very distant date. Inflammation of the eye, which constitutes the commencement of the disease, may arise from various causes. Sheep driven fast to a distant market have suddenly become blind ; those who have been chased about by dogs, have at no great distance of time lost their sight, and especially if, in both cases, they were afterwards exposed in a damp and bleak situation. The violent driving, while it produced fever, determined an undue quantity of blood to the head : it pressed, or perhaps was effused upon the origins of the nerves of the eye; and the after neglect confirmed the fever, and aggravated the mischief. At othei times, this seems to be an ej)idemic complaint. The greater part of the flock is suddenly afflicted with sore and inflamed eyes, and particularly at the latter end of the year, and when the weather has been variable, yet cold and moist. Some have thought that this complaint is infectious, but it is at least epidemic. A white film gradually spreads over the eyes, which the animal generally keeps closed, while at first a watery fluid, and afterwards a thicker mucous matter, is discharged from them. The film increases until the whole of the eye is of a pearly whiteness. If proper means are adopted, and often if nothing is done, inflammation abates, and the eye begins to clear, usually commencing at the upper part of the eye, and gradually proceeding downward until the whole of the organ is once more transparent, with the exception, perhaps, of a diminutive spot or two, or a discoloration of part of the iris. Manv of the sheep, however, do not perfectly recover the sight of both eyes, and some remain totally blind, either from the continuance of the opacity, or that, while the eye becomes clear, the optic nerve is palsied, the pupil does not dilate, and there is s:ufla serena. The first thing to be done is to bleed from the vein at the corner of the eye. There will be the double advantage of bleeding generally and of drawing blood from the inflamed pa*-* The shepherd should take the sheep between his knees, and then )lacing the animal with his rump against the wall, he will have full ommand of him. If he now presses upon the vein with his left hanu, about two inches from the angle of the jaw. and opposite to the third grinder, he will see it rise as it descends from the corner of the eye, and runs along the cheek. lie should puncture it about an inch or rather less from the eye. Some shepherds recommend that the blood should be suffered " ?0 DISEASES OF SHEEP. to run into the eye, but this is a ridiculous notion. It must do harm rather than good. JNext give the Purgative Drink (No. 2, p. 200), and repeat if ne- cessary, in three or lour days. No other medicine will be requiied. No stiuiuliiling application should be made to the eye. It is too often the practice among shepherds to apply sugar or salt, or white vitriol: but this worse than uselessly tortures the poor animal; it increases the inflammation, and causes blindness where it would not otiierw ise have occurred. A drop or two of the vinous tincture of opium may he introduced into the eye, two or three times daily; oi a tea-spoonful of laudanum may be added to a half pint of water, and the eyes frequently washed with it. It will be quite time enough to think of stimulants if the eye should remain cloudy after the inflammation has subsided, and then the fol- lowing is the strongest that can be permitted. RECIPE (No. 22). Lotion / after it became evident they were diseased. Our course was preventative. About the time the fly made its appearance, which is easily known by their exhibiting great alarm, running from one pr of the field to another, with their noses close to the ground, &c., we caught one heep, and with a wooden spatula, or flat stick, rubbed the nose with tar. We tht placed tar at the bottom of our salting troughs, over which the salt was sprinkled, and this brought theirnoses frequently in contact with the tar. This course we found a great preventative. Sheep, during the period they are exposed to the attacks of the fly. should have access to a ploughed field, or if such is not convenient, a few furrows should occasionally be opened in their pastures for their benefit. Inhaling the dust, or nibbing tJieir noses in it, renders the mucus dis- FRACTURES, ETC 227 »gree4ble to the fly, or eiiabJps the sheep to expel the larva when depositeil. With these preventatives, we have rarely lost a sheep from the grub, and think, that in most cases, they will be efiectual. — S.] SECTION XVIII. FRACTURES, WOUNDS, AND BITES. It is not often that the sheep s^ets a broken bone by any fault of his own, but the shepherd is sometimes a brutal fellow. If he is a younsrster, he is too frequently designedly mischievous ; and in the struggle between a sheep and the dog a leor has now and then beexi broken. The treatment of fracture below the elbow or the hock is easy enough. The broken limb must not be rou^rhly stretched or handled, but the divided edges of the bone must be brought gently and as perfectly opposite, and close, and fitting again to each other as possible, and kept together by some strips of adhesive plaister or pitch spread upon leather wound round the part. Over this splints should be placed, reaching a little beyond the joint, above and below, and these confined with more plaister, or with waxed thread. A little lint or linen rag should have been previously placed under the end of the splints, to"prevent them from excoriating or injuring the part beneath. This being done, the leg should not be meddled with until the bandage becomes loose, which will be in about ten days. The splints must be replaced once, and at the expiration of another ten days the edges of the bone will generally be found to have united : the animal, however, should be kept for a little while longer as quiet as possible, and if the bone is not quite firm, the strips, without the splints, should be once more bound round it. Sometim.es considerable swelling will take place after the splints have been employed. They may have been put on a little too tight, or they do not press equally. They should not, however, be taken off at once, for the bones beginning to unite may again be separated during the removal of the bandages; but, with a sharp and strong pair o( scissors, two or three notches should be cut through the ed^e of the bandage above and below. This will grenerally aflford suffi- cient room for'the re-establishment of the circulation, and the swelling will subside, without the fracture having been disturbed. i If it should be a compound fracture, that is, if a portion of the bone should protrude through the skin, either the setting of the bones must be deferred until the wound is healed, or the bandages must be sj applied, that the wound can be readily oot at for the purpose of dress- ing. This, however, is so difficult a matter, that it will be prudent to destroy the animal that has a bad compound fracture. 2*J'i DISEASES OF SHEEP. Shoep aro faroftMier subject to wounds than they Jiifrhtto be, fron the terooity of the sheijhfid's do first and second front middle teeth, and extending backward an inch along tlie j)alate, and the palate is there cut deeply, with a lancet or flcaui, plenty of blood will be obtained. A larger quantity of blood, how(^ver, can be abstracted from *,he vein on the inside of the fore-arm, about an inch above the knee. The application of cold water with a sponge will generally stop the bleed ing wiihout difficulty, or at least so far arrest it, that no harm will be done, if it should continue a little while longer. An assistant may easily open the mouth sufficiently for all this by means of a halter or stout stick, but beyond this the swine is an awkward patient to man- age. He will strugo-le obstinately against every attempt to drench nim, and the inflammation may be aggravated by. the contest. It will, therefore, be necessary in the majority of cases to endeavour to cheat him by mixing his medicine w'ith his food. Here we must recollect the nature of his stomach : it is not of that insensible character and difficult to be acted upon or nauseated as in the cow and the sheep, but it approaches as nearly as possible to the structure of that of the human being; and we must adapt our medi- cine accordingly. The emetic tartar must be omitted from our Fever Medicine, or it would sadly vomit the patient. The following may be given : — RECIPE (No. 1). Fever Medicine for Strive.— Take diiritalis, three grains ; aTitimoninl powder, sir grains; nitre, halt" a drachm. Mix, and give in a little warm swill, or milk, or mash. In the greater number of cases the animal will readily take this: but if he is so ill that nutriment of every kind is refused, he must be drenched. This should be repeated morning, noon, and night, until the in- flammation is abated. A purgative should quickly follow, and we have those for the hog which are mild as well as effectual, and from which no danger can result. The Epsom salts may be given in doses of from one to three ounces, and they will coiTimunicale a not un- pleasant or unusual flavour to his broth or swill. If this inflammation of the lungs in the hog rivals in the speed with M'hich it runs its course, and in its intensity and fatality, the blood, or inflammatory fever of oxen and sheep, no time should be lost in adopting the proper measures, and the bleeding should be copious, and the medicine given in doses sufficiently powerful. When the disease lingers on, and the dry husky cough remains, and the animal is evidently wasting, medicine will be in a manner useless, and warmth and cleanliness, and food that has no heating quality, afford the only chance of cure. APOPLEXY AND INFLAM.MATION OF THE BRAIN In distilleries, and where many hogs are kept, and too well kepi MEASLES. 233 ihife ts a verv destructive, and not unfrequent malady. If the swine nad been carefully observed, it would have been seen that they were making a more than usually rapid progress, but there was at the same time a°lazinpss, or heaviness, or stupidity, about them. A dose or two of physic would have removed this, and not have interfered with the fattening ; indeed they would have thriven the better after it. If this, however, has been neglected, the apoplexy will probably be established. The swine, in the act of feeding, or when moving across the sty, will fall suddenly, as if struck with lightning. _ He will be motionless for a little while, and then convulsions will come on, strong and dreadful : the eyes will seem protruded, the head and neck will swell, Snd the veins of the neck will be brought into sight, not- withstanding the mass of fat with which they may be covered. In the midst of' his struggles the animal will be perfectly unconscious. He will often die in a few minutes, or should he recover, tie will be strangely exhausted, and some internal injury will be evidently done, so that he will afterwaids be very subject to returns of these attacks either of apoplexy or of fits. The course here is plain enough. He should be bled, and bled copiously. Indeed the blood should be sutfered to flow as long as it will. Two or three ounces of Epsom salts should then be o-iven; the quantity and the heating character of the food should be diminished, and a couple of drachms of sulphur given daily in the first meal. When apoplexy or fits have once appeared in a sty, they spread like wild-fire. There is nothing contagious in them, but there is the power of sympathy acting upon animals become too disposed to in- flammation^and fever. The most forward of them should be disposed of as soon as possible. The habit of fits once established cannot easily be broken, and the only way to prevent the continuance of much annoyance is, to sepa- rate those that are oftenest affected from the rest, and to fatten them as soon as possible. MEASLES. This is an inflammatory disease, not always indeed discovered during the life of the anini^al, but plain enough after death, and very considerably diminishing the value of the carcass. The red and pimpled appearance of the skin, or of the cellular substance between the flesh and the skin, sufficiently marks the disease. It shows that there has been o-eneral inflammation, either resulting from the fatten- ingr process being carried too far, or, much oftener, from the animal havinor too suddenly bt^en taken iktm poor keep, and sutTered to have as much as it will eat of hiohlj nutritions and stimulating food. The measles are very seldom or neter fatal, but the disease may generally be recognized by the pink bliish of the skin, or of some parts of it, and by the hog ruhbina himself more than usual, while the skin i« free from pi moles and scurf. The remedy would be a less quantity 20* 234 DISEASES OF SWINE. v)f food, or of not so stimulating a character, and occasional doses of Epsom salts or sulphur. MANGE. Few domesticated animals are so subject to this loathsome disease as the hog if he is neglected and filthily kept; but in a well cleaned and well managed piggery it is rarely or never seen, unless some, whose blood from generation to generation has been tainted with it, ehoiild be incautiously admitted. A mangy hog cannot possibly thrive well. His foul and scurfy hide will never loosen so as to suffer the accumulation of flesh and fat under it. Except it is hereditary, it may, although with some trouble, be perfectly eradicated. The first thing to be done is to clean the hog well; without this all external applications and internal medicines will be thrown away. The animal must be scrubbed all over with a good strong soap-lather, and when he is well dried with wisps of straw he will be ready for the ointment, and no better one can be used than the Mild Ointment for Scab in Sheep (Recipe No. 14, p. 225). A little of this should be well rubbed all over him every second or third day ; but at the same time internal medicine should not be omitted. There is no animal in which it is more necessary to attack this and similar diseases constitutionally. RECIPE (No. 2). Alterative Powder for Swine. — Take flowers of sulphur, a quarter of an ounce; ^thiop's mineral, three grains; nitre, and cream of tartar, half a drachm. Mix, and give daily in a little thickened gruel or wash. This, like the scab in sheep, is a very infectious disease, and care should be taken to scour the sty well with soap, and afterwards to wash it with a solution of chloride of lime, as recommended at page 225. The rubbing-{)ost, that useful, but too often neglected article of furniture in every sty, should particularly be attended to. SOREEARS. There are very often troublesome cracks and sores at the back of the large lop-ears of some breeds. If there is any disposition to mange, it is most evident about the ears of these animals, and the mischief is sadly aggravated when brutes in human shape set every ferocious dog at the stray pig, the favourite hold of which is the ear. The Healing Cleansing Ointment for Cattle (Recipe No. 10, p. 53) will most readily heal the sores. PIGGING. The sow usually goes with pig four months, but there is more irregularity in her time than in that of any other of our domesticated quadrupeds. A week or ten days before her pigging she should be separated from the rest, otherwise tiie young ones would probably be devoured as soon as they are dropped ; and if she shows any dispo- sition to destroy them, or if she has ever done so, she should be care QUINSY. 235 fully watched, a muzzle should be put upon her, and her little ones should be smeared with train oil and aloes as soon as possible. The teats of the sow will sometimes swell, and hard knots may be felt in them as in the garget of cattle. The treatment should be nearly the same except that bleeding is scarcely requisite. A dose of physic, however, is indispensable. The Garget Ointment for Cattle (Recipe No. 24, p. 69) may be rubbed with advantage into the teats, which should be carefully wiped or washed before the young ones are per- mitted to suck again; indeed they will not suck while any unusual smell remains about the teats. The milk should also be gently bat well pressed out of the diseased teats. When it is wished to spay a breeding sow, in order that she may be put up for fattening, it may be done while she is suckling. The young pigs may be cut at three or four weeks old : they should never be suffered to suck longer than two months ; and they may be rung as soon as convenient after weaning. No hog should escape ringing, even if he is destined to live in the sty. It is the only way to keep him quiet, and will contribute materially to his thriving. Q u I N s V . This disease in the hog is compounded of sore throat and enlarge- ment of the glands of the throat, and is something like strangles in the horse — inflammation and enlargement of the cellular substance between the skin and muscles under the lower jaw. The progress of the malady is rapid, ana uic sv/elling is sometimes so great as to prevent the breathing, and consequently to suffocate the animal. To a skin so thick as that of the hog it is useless to make any external application. The patient should be bled; two ounces of salts should be given, and half-ounce doses repeated every six hours, until the boweils are well opened ; while warm weak wash, or milk and water, should be occasionally poured into the trough. It is not often a dan- gerous disease if remedies are early adopted. [Governor Vance, of Ohio, now in Congress, has been very observant of the dis- eases to which domestic animals are subject in that State and the west. These sheets having been submitted to his inspection, he answered ; — Washington, January 22d, 1844. I have looked over the sheets enclosed relative to the diseases of hogs, and am convinced that what is termed "quinsy" in these sheets is the same disease we were conversing about the other evening at .Mr. Seaton's. By careful attention to the early stages of this disease, if it is the same that afflicts our swine in the west, it will be found that they will become stifl" in all their linihs, and will move with as much difficulty as a foundered horse, and with almost the precise symptoms. When this is the case, we know of no cure but a thorough cleansing and opening if the ducts or holes in the inside of the fore-legs, which will give free respiration : this, with ashes and sulphur mixed wjth salt, or incorporiited with the food, wil] generally oft'ect a cure. 236 DISEASES IN SWINE. KiDNEY-VVoRiM. — There is a fatal diseasft amonnrst our swine in the west, callfU the Kidney-VVorin, wiiicli causes a weaknrss in the back, and finally a failing of tlie him! quarters, which tiiey will drag around for months, until tliijy hecenie the niosl loathsome objects that you can conceive of. Arsejiic in small portions, mixed with thoir food, will generally prove effectual, if given in the first stages of the disease; and the best preventive medicine is ashes and sulphur mixed with their salt; for hogs require as regular sailing to keep them healthy and in good condition as do cattle or horses. — S.] COSTIVE NESS. This is not an uncommon complaint of the confined and fattening hog, and is easily removed by the Epsom salts, or by five grains of calomel being given in a little of the animal's favourite food. It will be dangerous, however, to push the calomel beyond the second or third dose, for the hog is very easily salivated. The bowels havino" been well opened, a dose of the Alterative Powder (Recipe No. 2, p. 214) given every fourth day will be very beneficial, and will hasten the fattening of the styed hog that exhibits any disposition to cos- tiveness. Sometimes, however, this costiveness is produced by — INFLAMMATION OF THE BOWELS, which is attended by considerable pain, heat and tenderness of the abdomen, with a quick pulse, and other symptoms of fever, and some- times by fits and insensibility. The .ic^iment should consist of copious bleeding, oily laxatives, clysters, warm fomentations to the abdomen, and, if the animal is not too large, warm bath8. THE HORSE-KEEPER'S GUIDE CHAPTER; VARIED FORM OF THE HORSE. He who wants a horse, and wishes to avoid disappoint- ment, would do well, before he goes to market, to have made up his mind as to the work he requires him to per- form; and seriously ask himself this question — " What sort of a hoi-se do I -want ] do I require speed, strength, or show V Let him rest satisfied if he obtain the one leading requisite, and bear in mind the important fact, that the very qualities which render him pre-eminently calculated for a particular service, unfit him for others. Every horse is suitable for some purpose, and the proof of judicious discrimination in a purchaser, is so to choose his horse, that he shall be the most suitable for the duty he will have to perform. Nature and art, by striking and great variations in the structure and proportions of the horse, appear to have pointed out the station which the tiifferent tribes of this most valuable servant are each destined to fulfil ; yet man too often persists in shghting these great principles ; and hence, mortification, expense, and discomfort await his perversity, in not making himself acquainted, as far as lies in his power, with the lesson placed before him. Not one horse in a thousand is equally well adapted for saddle and harness, for speed and strength ; and we shall here endea- vour to put the reader in possession of the principles up« (237) 238 THE horse-keeper's GUiDE on which a sound judgment of his fitness or unfitness for any given purpose may be formed. To judge of proportion, we must have a knowledge of tlie service f(jr which the horse is required. There is one conformation for slow and lieavy draught ; a second foi lighter and quicker work ; a third for a hackney ; a fourth, with more speed and e(|ual endurance, for a hunter; while a fifth is wanted for the racer. Each one possessing its own peculiar pre-eminence where properly employed. Many purchasers are as incapable of appreciating the general qualities of a horse, and his fitness for a certain pur- pose, as they are of deciding on his soundness or unsound- ness ; and in their purchase, the greater part, if not the whole uncertainty, as to the ultimate result of the transac- tion, arises from the buyer's Avant of judgment, and the ex- pectation he forms of perfection in every quality ; yet there are few subjects on which men are so positive and self-sufficient as this. If we have to carry weight and much to do, we desire a short back ; that he be well-ribbed home ; (that is, the ribs reaching to within a short distance of the haunch bone,) and that his pasterns be short. If speed is required, there must be room for the full ac- tion of the hinder quarters, which are the propelling pow- er ; we then require a long back and oblique scapula and pasterns ; thus, if strength is required, we purchase it at the expense of elasticity ; and elasticity is obtained at the expense of strength. But whatever the services required, whether Action, Safety, or Strength, it is dependant on cer- tain fixed rules. Action depends on the length and direction of the vari- ous parts of the bony fabric as opposed to each other. Safety \s connected with the degree of perfection in the form and direction of the limbs, united with a just propor- tion of the length. Strength, is the result of muscular contractions on or- gans adapted for motion. Let us now conside the appli- cation. In the Race Horse we seek lengtli and elasticity of form, a long and oblique blade bone ; a short shoulder bone ; a long arm-bone ; a short cannon ; long springy 2)as- teJTis J and ample muscular quarters. VARIED FORM OF THE HORSE. 239 With this formation, velocity is attained, at the sacrifire of safety as regards carrying its rider, and strength as re- gards bearing burdens and drawing loads. The gallop of a race horse is but a succession of leaps ; and all animals remarkable for their velocity in this mo- tion (as the gi-eyhonnd and hare) are found comparatively low before, and high and powerful behind. The whole endeavour of the breeder has therefore been, to mould his form, and fashion his organs for that purpose ; and to condense into the smallest possible space, the gi'eat- est possible bulk of muscle and bone. But the peifection of a race horse, as in all animals of speed and endurance, consists in his wind, without which the utmost perfection of form would be valueless ; and here it is that external form is an indication of interaal struc- ture. The conti-actibility of muscular fibre is intimately con- nected with the extent of respiration in all animals. ^ In the lower order of animals, where there is little motion, as in birds, we find the air perm.eates every region of the l)ody. It is impossible, therefore, we can have great speed or power without large lungs and a powerful heait, which are indicated by "the size and capacity of the chest. It is a well-kno\\Ti fact, that in proportion to the rednes3 of the muscle, among the higher order ofanimals,^ so is their strength, and their redness is dependant on their sup- ]:ly of arterialized blood ; the muscles are of a higher co- lourin stallions than in geldings, and there is a gTeat increase of strength given to muscles by the testicles ; and mares are generally supposed to be stronger than geldings. Upon thesize of the lungs and heart, principally depend the strength and soundness of the animal. In proportion to their size, is the power of converting food into nourish- ment, and upon the facility with which they assimilate ve- getable matter to blood, is their power of reproducing and supplying- the waste of nervous influence, and substance expended by gi'eat exertion, — for which " The watcViful appetite was given Daily, with fresh materials to repair The unavoidable expense of hfe, The unnecessary wa^te of flesh and blood.^ 240 THE horse-keeper's guile In Eclipse, the most famous horse, as a Racer, this oi any other country ever saw, and whose performances were of such a pre-eminent description that neither the ancient Hippodrome, or the annals of the modern race-course can furnish a [)arallcl ; tliat of not only beating,. but distancing* the best horses of his day, and whose exact speed was never known, as no horse could be found to compete with him, — we find thre*^ points, which we have dwelt upon as an excellence in the race horse, developed to an extrarordi- nary degree. It was remarked as a peculiarity by those who saw him run, that his hind legs were very wide, and separated in his gallop ; which f)rmation was of old noticed by Xenophon, as one of the indications of power in the horse. The principal requisites in the race horse are that he possess good blood, good speed, good temper, a sound constitution, and strong and fleet limbs. He should not be taller than fifteen hands t high, so that he possesses leno^th with good substance. In the selection of the Hunter, we desire to combine the qualities of speed, with as much additiobal bone and muscle as will enable him to carry weight, and support it, during a long course of fatigue and privation. To achieve the first, we desire good blood, (which insures bottom) and thai peculiar small head of the blood horse, which makes him lig^ht in hand. Like the racer, he must have lon^r mus- cular quarters, be well let down in the thigh, with his hocks well bent under his top to propel him in the gallop But for the second we require another foim from the racei an elevated and muscular forehead. The height of the withers is dependant upon the length of the spines of the dorsal vertebrae, and their length is of great importance in giving a long lever to the dorsal mus- cles, which are the grand agents in elevating with rapidity and power the fore limbs, in leaping, and carrying weight over a heavy country. His arms must be muscular; and as, in the racer, strength is sacrificed to flexibility, so, in the hunter, we seek strength at the expense of flexibility Therefore his .egs should be shorter, and his pasterns less long and oblique than in the race horse ; his body shortei •A distance is the length of two hundred and forty yards from the win- ning J)OSt. A hand is a measure of four inches SKELETON OF THE HORSE. A 1, the tmdor jaw. 2, the upper jaw. 3, the orbit of th eye. 4, bones of the nose. B, The vertebrsB, or neck boues. C, The dorsal vertebrje, or back bones. D, Bones of the loin. E, the haunch bones. F, taU bones G, Shoulder-blade. H, fore part of the chest. I, Ribs. K, K, Upper boues of the arm. L. Elbow. M, M, Knees. N N, Shank bone, in front ; and splint bone, behind. 7 7, fore pastern, or feet. 8, 8, hind pastern. O The pelvis. P, P, the thigh-bones. Q, Stifle-joint. R, R. Leg bones. S, S, Hock-boneB. T, Lower bones of the hind leg. VARIED FORM OF THE HORSE. 241 and closer ribbed home, giving him a quicker gallop ; for .lorses, to live across a country, should go with quick collec- ted steps ; the lengthened stride of the racer, allowed by a long back and contracted belly, would soon exhaust and sink the hunter injuriously in deep soils. He should not be under fifteen, or more than sixteen hands high ; below this standard, he cannot always measure the object befoie him, and above it, he is apt to be awkward, His barrel should be rounder, to give greater room for the heart and lungs to play ; and the chest deep and broad, for reasons before mentioned, is an excellence in a hunter : a deep chest admits of expansion, when the horse requires more room to breathe than usual. Muscular exertion fa- cilitates the return ofthe veinous blood to the right side of the heart, and in long-continued and violent exertion ofthe chase, the respiration being quickened, the lungs, if small, are unable to arterialize, and get rid of the blood so fast as it is pumped into them : consequently, if there is not room for the blood, congestion takes place, and the horse be- comes what is termed " blown ;" the lungs being gorged with blood, and possibly the animal destroyed ; and it is a well-known fact, that the majority of the horses that perish in the field are narrow-chested horses. For a horse to en- dure long-continued and violent exertion, it is necessary that he should have arrived at that age when all his powers are developed ; therefore a horse should not be used as a hunter under eight years old ; for though he attains his full height, under ordinary circumstances, about his fifth or sixth year, he increases in bulk laterally till eight ; at which pe- riod he arrives at his greatest strength and maturity; though our ruinous system of work and shoeing brings on, in the majority of cases, parmature old age, and they end their miserable lives before attaining twelve. The hunter ought not to be less than three parts bred, and under the present system of racing after a fox, if seven eighths, so much the better, and it is a sine qua nan that a hunter should go clear of all his legs, not brush a hair, and be a a true snaffle-bri- dle horse. The Hackney, or Roadster, exceeds all the other va- rieties in usefulness, and is so much in demand, that a good and clever hack is worth a good price ; moreover, the early and excessive labour to which Nag horses are exposed, subjects them to such prematuie decay, that it is exceedingly 21 242 THE horse-kefper's guide. difTirtilty to meet with a worked hack 'xi a perfectly sound stale, however young he may be. 'J'he quahties of a good hack are so numerous as to r<^ quire groat judgment to look for them. He should not be under five years old. He must have a good mouth, nnJ g(jod eyefr\ not given to start, gentle in his temper, and qui et to ride on all occasions. He should be scpuu'e set, with- out being clumsy ; and with this form, the more bi-eeding he shews, short of full blood, the better. Height is not so essential as in the hunter ; but if required for quick work, he should be well-bred, and a well-bred horse is rarely able to carry weight if he stand under fifteen hands and one inch, though a half-bred will often carry gi'eat weight under that height. He must have lengthy slanting shoulders, good fore legs, as well as good hind ones, and perfect feet to be safe on his legs. Indeed we look with as much anxiety to the fore parts of a hackney, as, in a hunter oi' racer, we do to their hind. The fore legs must be pe.iect throughout, they should be (piite straight, and stand well from under hiiu, his elbow square v/ith his body, the bones beneath the knee short, deep, and flat, and the tendon not tied in, but as large under the knee as above the feth^ck; his pasterns short, but oblique or slanting ; his action should be easy and safe. Safety in action depends upon the manner in which the foot is placed on the ground. It should come down flat, heel and toe at once ; if the toe digs into the ground before the bearing is complete, he is a stumbler, and he will be found to wear away the shoe at the toe. For strength, his back should be straight, and short ; hol- low backed bones, though easy to ride, will not carry weight; and his hinder legs should be well bent undei- him, if they are not in their proper place, it is impossible to have proper action. A good hackney is a hunter in miniature, and should, like him, possess different degrees of blcjod, according to the work required of him ; he who possesses one, should not be tempted to part with him for a trifle. In horses used for the purpr>,^es of light and quick draught, the principal points ai'e, that he have power and breeding equal to the nature of I he work required; sub- stance well placed ; a deep, well j)roportioned body, rising VARIED FORM OF THE HORSE. 243 in the withers, and slanting shoulders ; short back, well ril)bed up, and broad loins ; sound, flat, short legs, with plenty of bone under the knee : and sound, open, tough feet.— Knee up, or grand action, though deemed an excel- lence in cabriolet and carnage horses, is necessarily ac corapanied with much wear and tear of feet and legs, and this is very soon apparent. That he have good wind, without which the other qualifications will not avail, lor a clear-winded coach horse will always keep his condition, and consequently his health. In fact, coach horses should be nothing more than very large hackneys, varying in height from lo hands 1 inch to 16 hands 1 inch ; if foi machinery, a short neck is preferable ; but, as fashion is every thing, in carriage horses, where a long arched neck *s de^sired, particular attention should be paid to the set on of the head, or otherwise, tight reining up, by constricting and twisting the air passages, will produce roaring. In the horse for slow and lieavy draught, where weight and bulk are required, we perceive the greatest difference in formation. While in the hackney and hunter, in the one, that we may ride safely and pleasantly, and in the other, where extensive, powerful, and rapid action is re- quired, an oblique shoulder is indispensable. But here, where the pace is slow, we desire a heavy forehand, not too elevated, that he may tiirow his weight into the collar for all drawing is but throwing the weight of the body beyond its centre. An upright shoulder and thick neck, for this purpose, is an advantage, because its additional thickness gives them weight before, which the power of their hinder quarters is always able to propel, and because the upright position of the collar enables him to throw his weight into, and act on, every part of it. He should be short in the pasterns, deep bellied, and full in the flank ; for all deep bellied horses carry their food longer, and are consequently enabled to stand a longer and harder day's work. But though most persons having any experience of the Rubject are aware that horses with deep shoulders and bo- dies, and capacious chests, are more capable of enduring hard and long-continued labour than those in which the shoulders and chest are shallow, and the legs long ; yet comparativelv few know how rapidly the J^owers of draught 17 2-14 THE horse-keeper's guide. of any animal decrease witli the increased length of the leg3, compared with the depth of the body. In temper, he should rather require the whip than show too much tire. But the most perfect mechanical forms are not always the most speedy or powerful ; good conformation merely gives the powej to p(3rform extraordinary exertion ; the faculty of motion depends not on form, but on the will to exert that power. This energy, or willingness to work, exists in proportion to the excitability of that part of the brain and nervous system which influences the muscles of motion. Most persons prefer a plain horse who is willing to la- bour, to a beautifully formed one who is not. How are we to learn whether this grand qualification is in possession of the animal we wish to purchase 1 though it can only be scarcely knoAvn by trial, a great deal may be inferred by close observation of the habits, countenance, and behavioui of the animal. The energetic horse has generally a large eye, is atten- tive to what is going on about him, fine muzzle, large nos- trils, small ears, thin skin, and clean limbs ; he rarely car- ries much flesh ; and lastly, it has been frequently observed that many energetic horses have thin manes and rat-tails. The sluggard has usually a small sunken eye, in a large heavy head; the ears are large or sloping, and seldom move ; the nostrils are almost always small, muzzle fleshy, ribs flat, belly pendant, and the tail drooping. A small horse is capable of greater exertion than a large one ; the vital principle seems to act with increased activity in small animals ; in one, it is diffused, and in the other, concentrated : again, like us, some have better con stitutions than others ; in one, the texture of the organs may be compact, and in another weak and relaxed. Hor- ses with thick skins are more predisposed to attacks ol grease and canker. In proportion as the legs ai'e haiiy. the skin is thick and spcmgy, feeble in vital energy, and incapable of bearing changes of temperature. The coat of a black horse is coarser and thicker thai that of a horse of the same breed of any other color — it is rather uncommon to see a black thorough bred ; whereas that colour is predominant among our large and heavy cart horses. We will now proceed in detail to examire those points, SKELETON OF THE HEAD OF THE HORSE 1 1, Foreliead bones 2, 2, Apertures through which the nerves and blood-vessels of the forehead pass. 3, 3, The bones of tne skull. 4, 4, The bones of the temple. 5, 5, The yoke-shaped arch of the forehead. 6, 6, Ca\aty, or hollow above the eye. 7, 7, Bone of the back part of the head. 8, 8, Orbits of the eye. 9, 9, Parts from which tears pass from the eyes. 10, 10, Bones which form the nose. 11, 11, Cheekbones. 12, 12, Upper jaw-bones in which are the grinders. 13 13, Parts whence pass the blood-vessels and nerves of the face. 14, 14, Termination of the upper jaw-bones, containing the cut- ting teeth. 15, Upper, or cutting teeth. 16, 16, Nasal opening, and bones of the palate. J EXTERNAL CONFORMATION. 245 which shimld be attended to in the exterior confoiTnation of the horse, and shall chose a Hackney, or horse of all work, as the standard. CHAPT ER II. EXTERIOR CONFORMATION OF THE HORSE. Who has not experienced pleasure while contemplating th^ beautiful proportions and graceful symmetry of a finely formed horse ] Among his admirere there are few who have not formed in their fancy, an ideal model of beauty, and constructed theories by which a knowledge of his speed, and power, might be obtained from the relative developement and proportions of his various parts. Nature, however, will not submit to prescribed laws ; and when even the ablest men assume premises, and cal- culate results, the first cause of which are ever-varying, they plunge beyond their depths ; sound judging practical men, on the contrary, take for their guides observation and experience, not the " rules of the schools." Man has for his services obtained, by blending the various breeds, an infinite variety of each class, suitable to the numberless modifications of work ; any theory, therefore, however ingenuously supported, is calculated to mislead, rather than direct the judgment aright. But though no one rule can bo offered to meet all emer- gencies, it has been found by experience, that there is a pecuhar form, position, and developement of each, that is best adapted to each one of the puq:»oses we put him to. By a coiTect knowledge of the different structures ; by comparing the several parts of one horse with the several parts of another, we are enabled to distinguish the gofjd from the bad. ^ ^ f From his external conformation, the practiced eye will form a judgment of his power and capabilities ; from his carnage, manner, eye, ear, skin, and action, we infer his temper and energy, and judge of his safety in progression. The HEAD is a very important part as indicative of cha- racter ; and in few animals is an improvement in breed so evident as in this. On viewing the head of the cait and 2J* 21(5 THE horse-keeper's guide. blood horse, we cannot help being struck with the differ- ence Oi ci})j)ear:ince. In the imiinpr()\od breeds there is a dull uniformity of featuie, a larL^o head and narrow brow, with small eyes and thick clumsy lid, indicative of a small brain, and its usual though not invariable accomi^animent, a want of energy. In the well-bred horse it is small and angular, (in the saddle horse it can hardly be too small,) with an animated intelligence of countenance. The space between the eyes flat and broad (and it is the breadth of the frontal bones which gives to the blood horse that beautiful expression of intelligence and fire), the face gradually tapering from forehead to muzzle. The muzzle thin, delicately formed, and tapering to the lips, which should be firm and well supported ; when they hang loose and pendulous, it be- speaks age, sluggishness, or debility. The nostril should be thin, wide, and cartilaginous, a wide open nostril (shewing, within, the rosy membrane,) is not only re<|uisite to form beauty in the lower part of the head, but it is also conducive to free respiration and good wind. The nostril is always large in swift and active horses, and forms not a bad criterion of the size of the lungs ; a slow horse may possibly have a large nostril, but a swift one never had a small one. The eyes. The globe should be lai;ge, full, and pro- minent, and expressive of vigour, with a thin uirface of eyelid. If the eye be apparently small (and the difference in the size of the eye is governed by the size of the open- ing,) or sunk in its orbit, or surrounded with much adhe- sive substance, it is found to be prone to inflammation. In some horses, the transparent cornea is small, and the eye shows much of the white. This has nothing to do with temper, but the large a})pearance of white occasioned by the retro verted direction of the eye, when accompanied by depression of the ears, may be received as an indication of vicious disposition. The ears should be placed wide apart, spirited, small, and pointed towards each other at the end. They are sure criteria of the spirit and temper of the animal : he is seldom either vicious or playful, but the ears are laid flat back ; but when he continues them in that position, he is meditating mischief. The quick change of position, and EXTERNAL co^:formation. 247 the expression of the eye at tlie time, will enable the ot»« serv'er to distinguish between play and vice. If when at exercise, or on a journey, he canies his ears lively, throwing one backward and the other forward, and is attentive to every thing going on around him, it is a suie sisrn of spirit and strenG^th. The neck, in the saddle horse, should be long and thin, arising by a beautiful gradation from out of the breast and shoulders, fine at the top and muscular at bottom, (the mus- cles distinctly chiselled as it were, but nowhere overloaded with flesh,) growing smaller and thinner as it approaches the head, with windpipe visibly projecting. It should form an elegant but moderate curve, from the poll to the with- ers ; its under surface, but slightly curved, should enter the chest rather above the point of the shoulder. The neck of the horse is not merely formed as a cover and protection for the windpipe ; it has other and impor- tant pui"poses to perform. Upon the length of the neck depend the length and power of the levator humerus^ or raiser of the arai, a mus- cle of immense power and use in lifting and bringing for- ward the legs, and preventing stumbling. This muscle is in powerful action when a horse is running full speed with his head projected ; yet with its use and 'function, the in- ventor of the bearing-rein must have been totally imac- quainted, as when a horse is tight reined up, it is rendered nearly useless in preventing^ the animal recovering himself when falling. The unyielding restriction of the bearing rein also has a tendency to produce roaring. A long neck for a fashionable carriage horse, is indispen- sable. A short one will not bear reining^ up, so as to give that arched appearance so much sought for; and he cer- tainly looks better when his head projects considerably above the collar. In horses for light or heavy draught, the neck should be thicker than in the saddle horse. The withers commence at the tennination of the mane, and foiTn that elevated ridge before the pummel of the saddle ; they are formed by the long spinous proceses of the last cervical and first dorsal vertebrae, and are the le- vers by which the fore parts of the horse are elevated in the trot; and in proportion to the len]our ; and it is thus easily explained : not that the leg is weaker, but that its colour exposes it to be weakened ^^'hite leo-s being easily stained, from the desire to keep them clean, are more frequently washed ; and by careless grooms the legs are often left to dry of themselves : the evaporation from a wet surface produces cold, and the repetition of the practice ultimately repels the secretion of the greasy matter necessary to keep a part of so muc)i motion, soft and pliable, and inflammation and cracks aro the result ; the same may be ol)served of white hoofs, the frequent wettings rendering the horn hard and brittle. The Greys, of which there are several varieties, the sil- ver, iron, dappled, and flea-bitten, by many are valued on account of their beauty ; but during the moulting season they are objectionable, as saddle horses, from soiling their riders' clothes. The dappled grey is a gi'eat favourite, the darker the bet- ter, as he retains his colour the longest of the gi'eys ; and from being favourites, they have been improved more than any other varieties, by the addition of better blood. ^ The piebald is rarely liked as hackneys, though in a phae- ton or hght carnage, if well matched, they have a very pretty effect. Of the chesnut there are three varieties, the son-el, light, and dark ; the light have frequently large intermixtures of white ; and in the coarse breeds the whole face is white, and in all, the legs are apt to be white ; the lighter shades are supposed to be characteristic of debility of constitution. The dark cliesnuts are commonly consi- dered as of sound constitution and great endurance, but of hot and fiery tempers, and their feet more prone to contraction than any other colour. Of the bays there are various shades, light and dark, termed bright-bays, yellow-bays, and brown-bays. The dappled-bay is an esteemed colour, and so is the bright bav, if accompanied by a black mane and tail, or a dorsal list] no-. The dark bays are more esteemed, if, in addition to black manes and tails, their joints and legs are black. The bays and browns have of late years been bred with tr.uch cave, and display a coji^iderMe deal of blood. 254 THE lIOKSE-KKErtR S GUIDE. The browns not being so fashionable a colour, have u^t had so much attention paid to them, and are comparatively coarse ; but those that are well bred, are usually good There is not usually so much show as in the bays ; but they are stronger and more useful horses. In the dark brown, when the muzzle is of a tan colour, it is usually considered a mark of foodness. O The black horse presents every variety of charactei, from the most furious to the most sluggish, an-d are said to be more subject to vice, disease, and blindness than any other colour. A star in a black horse is considered a beauty, and black horses with brown muzzles and flanks, ai'e usually considered good. CHAPTER III. EXAMINATION OF HORSES FOR PURCHASE. Having found ahorse whose exterior conformation, size, and appparent strength, seem suitable to your purpose, we will now proceed to give such information as will enable the. buyer, by careful examination, to recognize those de- fects, blemishes, symptoms, and appearances, which latent disease and injuries assume, and thus prepare him to de- tect the multitudinous impositions which have been resorted to by the lower class of dealers, to disguise indications of unsoundness. Unless proper precaution is used in the examination of horses for purchase, the law will not protect a man for the consequences of his own neglect ; and it has been held that a warrantry against apparent defects is bad in law, the purchaser being expected not only to possess ordinary skill, but to exhibit ordinary caution. A defective horse is dear at any price, whilst the value of a good one, is, as compared with a bad one, as infinity to nothing. In choosing a horse, let the buyer be ever so good a judge, and his inspection ever so minute, he must take some things on tnist. A perfect knowledge can only be obtained on trial, which should always be taken, if pos- sible, but which is not always to be had. For inslance, 6om6 horses, when tunied of six or seven years olJ, aie EXAMINATION FOR PURCHASE. 255 subject to a dry chronic cough, which comes on at uncer- tain times, perhaps twice or thrice a day, sometimes after feeding or drinking; or changes of temperature may induce^ It, as when he comes into, or goes out of stable. Occasionally a dose of physic, and in some cases a little attention to his diet, will prevent re-occurrence of his cough for two or three days, or even weeks, when it will re- appear. With a respectable dealer, after using your eyes and discretion, you had better depend on the waiTantry, and his character, than by any unnecessary display of suspicion, offensively question his honesty. Nevertheless, as the trade is taken up by needy gentlemen of good standing in society, and broken down black-legs, of respectable connexions, who are ever ready to give a wan-antry not worth a dump, or satisfaction, if you are dissatisfied thereat ; if you have reasons to suspect the horse, or his master, the directions here liiid down will be found useful. Always bear in ttiind "that the observation of one symptom should induce the examiner to follow up the hiquiry into th )se other symptoms which are characteristic of the suspected disease, defect, or unsoundness. The best time to view a horse is early in the morning, in the stables, as then if there is any stiffness in the joints, or tendency to swelled legs, it will be most apparent. The horse should always be examined from a state of rest. If there are any symptoms of his having been pre- viously exercised, such as sweat about his withers, or his legs have been recently washed, it is advisable he should be"" left in his stall till cool : for there is more than one species of lameness, which becomes less apparent after exercise, and where there is a tendency to swelled legs, a smart trot and grooming will fine his legs, and render them clean. This precautionary measure is more especially to be ta- ken when you suspect your man ; for in horse-buying we have to deal with gentry who are acquainted with the sci- ence of imposition in all its ramifications. A stabhi exa- mination is the best for observing indications of wind suck ing, crib-biting, chronic cough, the state of the respiration nd for discovering vice. For this purpose, always have a hor.^e shewn quietly ; when there is much noise and bustle, there is generally 256 THE horse-keefer's guide. flomethiiig wrong ; and when die animal in agitated, sliglil lameness will escape the eye. The first thing to be observed is, that when standing evenly, the weight is thrown equally on both feet. If there be any complaint in the fore feet, one will probably be '' pointed," that is, extended before the other, or he will frecpiently alter the positicm of them, taking one up, and setting the other down ; or the hind legs will be brought under the body to relieve the fore feet of some portion of the weight. Any of these symptoms will direct your at- tention to the feet when you see him out. To judge of his respiration, it is necessary to be ac- quainted with the indications of health. (>bserve if the Hank alternately rises and falls with regularity. In health, the respiration of the horse is from four to eight per min- ute, average six in the day time ; during sleep it is seldom more than four. If quicker than ordinary, it betokens pre- sent fever, other symptoms will be developed, suc^^as in- creased pulse, heat of mouth, and dulness, while the deli- cate pink appearance which the membrane covering the partiti(m of the nostrils assumes in health, will be increas- ed in colour, But if none of these symptoms of ill-health are present, and yet the liorse heaves at the flank more than ordinary, if the weather be moderate, and the stable not oppressive- ly hot, it is probable such a horse is thick-winded. When inspiration a[)pears to be performed readily and quickly as in health by a single action, but exspiration with difficulty by an irregular and prolonged movement, or dou- ble action, the respiratory muscles appearing as if inter- rupted in the act of expelling the air, and then the flank drops suddenly, it is a symptom of broken wind. His cough should then be tried. The cough of a broken-wind ed horse is a peculiar low hollow grunt, difficult to des cribe, but when once heard easily recognized. The cough can generally be elicited by pinching the larynx or treachca, th )ugh, occasionally, this fails, for some sound as well as broken-winded horses cannot be made to cough at all. In these cases, when there is any irregular- ity in the movement of the flank, which would lead to the suspicion of bi'oken wind, and there is unusual hardness of the windpipe, which does not give way on pinching, it may EXAMINATION FOR PURCHASE. 257 be taken as a symptom of disorganization, in addition to the broken wind. If the hair is rubbed off in some, especially about the head, flanks, and tail, or he is obseived rubbing himself against the sides of the stall, there is danger of his being mangy ; and in this case his coat will be found rough and starins". The absence of the vice of kicking and biting may be infeiTed from the manner of the gi'oom when entering the stall, and by the quiet method with which he unclothes and dusts him over, and combs out his mane and tail. If he be a biter, his head will probably be tied short to the neck, or the groom will seize hold of him short by the hal- ter or bridle, sometimes giving him a shake, or looking sternly at him. Desire to see his hind and fore feet, and by the manner in which he pennits the groom to lift them, a guess may be made as to his quietness to groom his heels, or shoe. While the horse is in the act of being led out of the stable to the light, closely observe his manner and action; if the ears move in quick changes of direction, as if alaim- ed at every noise, and he hangs back on the halter, raising his feet hicrher than ordinary, and putting them down as if feariul and uncertain of his step, it leads us to suspect his eyes, though sometimes these symptoms will be observed when the eyes are perfect, if the stable has been a dark one. When the horse is shewn out, notice if he stand firm on ]jis feet, with his weight thrown boldly on his back sinews and pa>terns. If there is any appearance of shaking or totter- ing of the fore iimbs indicative of grogginess, it will be en- deavoured to be disguised by the groom continually pulling at the bit, to make him shift his legs and stand advanta- geously. A lame horse is never pei-mitted to stand still a moment, and the groom, though pretending to soothe, is in reality agitating him, while the shrewd and crafty seller will most probably endeavour to withdraw your scrutiny from the defective point, by calling your attention to bis spirit or playfulness. If any of these manoeuvres are ap- parent, be upon your guard. The gioggy horse inclines a lit' le forward at the knee, or it is readily bent by the least touch behind, he rests his weiuht on his toes, and whon standing undisturbed, brings his hind legs under him. 22* 18 258 THE horse-keeper's guide. Some young hoises, before they bave been backed, have this detbrmity, from malformation of the knee; but if, in addition to this bending forward, there is any tremulous motion of the Hmbs, it is a decided proof of the existence of that most destructive affection — Nuvicular disease. — Wliatever his age, he should be rejected — Never buy a TOTTERING HORSE. Another deception is effected by standing a horse up hill ; the shoulder is made to appear more sloping ; and dealers, to give that appearance, desire the near leg to stand before the other. Though the dealer is perfectly justified in these little manoeuvres to shew off his o^oods to the best advantaQ:e, more especially in so fancy an article as a horse, which is no more than is done and allowed by every tradesman ; the prudent purchaser will not please his eye at the ex- pense of his judgment, but see the horse on level gi'ound and with his feet placed even. If one foot is more upright than the other, that foot is diseased ; the same weight is n(it thrown on it ; and the htu'se never shams : if it is of different temperature, active disease is going on ; if an old standing complaint, the feet w\\] be fjuTid of different size, and possibly the muscles of the arm and shoulders di7Tiinished in size. Taking our position in front of the horse, we examine his fore legs; that they are in proper position ; that there is no weakness in the pasterns, or enlargement of the fet- locks ; and that the feet are of the same size, and stand square to the front. We judge of the general state of the animal's health by his breathing condition, the brightness of his eye, the coloui of the membrane lining the lid, and that of the membrane lining the nostril, which in health is of a pale pink. If it is a florid red, there is excitement of the system; and if it is pale, approaching to white, it is a sign of debility. Each nostril should be alternately closed by the hand, to ascertain that the air passages are not obstructed by polypus, or enlargement of the turbinated bones. If there is any increased discharge from the nostrils, you will probably be told it proceeds from slight cold ; in that case, an accelerated pulse and affection of the eyes are usually concomitants; nevertheless, as a precautionary measure, the branches of the under jaw should be felt for EXAMINATION FOR PURCHASE. 269 3niargeiT]ent of the glands ; if, although enlarged, they are moveable and tender, it is probably nothing more than a catarrhal affection. And here it may be necessary to ob- serve, that in deciding upon the disease with which tlie horse is afflicted, it is requisite to bear in mind the age of the animal. In examining the head of a young hoibe, should the space between the branches be hot, tumid, and tender, the membrane of the nose intensely red, with pro- fuse discharge from both nostrils, and cough and fever pre- sent itself, we may more than suspect strangles. Where, however, there is neither cough or fever, but one nostril and that the left, affected, the discharge lighter in coloui, and almost transparent, yet clammy and sticky, and th^ gland on that side adherent to the jaw bone, glanders is in- dicated. In this case, should the hning membrane of tho nostril be found pale, or of a leaden colour, with small cir- cular ulcers, having abrupt and prominent edges, there can be no second opinion on the subject. But we caution the inexperienced examiner not to mis- take the orifice of the nasal duct, which is situated in the inner side, just within the nostinl on the continuation of the common skin of the muzzle, and which conveys the tears from the eye into the nose, for an ulcer ; and wani him, in all suspicious cases, to be careful he has no chaps or sore places on his head or face ; as this dreadful disease is un- questionably communicable to the human being. As few persons will buy a horse with any symptoms of actual dis- ease, however slight, if they can help it, the inquiry is bet- ter left to a professional man, in case any of these symptoms make their appearance after purchase. His crest should feel hard and full, and firmly and clostly attached to his neck ; if it be lax, he is out of condition. His skin should feel kind, and look glossy, and the muscles of the body feel hard and spungy to the touch. In the old horse, the head grows lean and fine, and the features more striking and blood like, the neck fine, withers short, and the back sinks ; the lips exhibit a lean and shri\ellcd ap- pearance, and the lower lip hangs considerably Utelow tlie upper. In youth they are round and plu?np, and meet to- gether, and the ridges of the roof of the mouth will be found prominent. In age, the middle of the nose will some- times be found indented by the long-continued pressure of 121)0 THE IIOUSK-KKEPER S GUIDE. the nose-bniul of the head stall. In lifting his lip, if tl)*) incision teeth shut close, even, and are perpendiculai, he i» young. As he grows older, they project forward in ahci- izontal direction, and the upper and under edges do uol meet with eveiniess, the u])per projecting over the undei teeth. The longer his teeth are, the gums being dry and shrunk from them, the more advanced he is in age. This appearance of his teeth cannot be altered by the arts of the dealer. In youth, the teeth are flattened at front and rear, and long from side to side ; at eight years old they are oval ; as age advances, they become round, and in extreme old age triangular, yellow, and incrusted, and the tusks become blunt. If there are any marks of extraordinary wear in the central teeth, there is reason to suspect crib-biting, and in old cribbers the outer edge of the front teeth are worn away, and little pieces are sometimes broken ofl' by the at- trition against the manger ; if such is the case, look to the neck for marks of the " crib-biting strap." Dishonest dealers attempt to disguise age by reproducing the mark in the corner teeth by means of a hot iron or caustic — the fraud is easily detected by a horseman, as it is usually over done, and the marks do not correspond with the length, shape, and duration of the teeth, and the " bi- shopped" horse is usually loth to have his mouth meddled with. Having attentively looked over the horse as he stands, and discovered nothing objectionable to the eye, it is pru- dent to see him through his paces before proceeding to as- certain, by careful examination, what defects, blemishes, &c. which may have a tendency to produce unsoundness, he is afllicted with ; as the action of ahorse, when closely observpfj^ guides us to his defective points. He should be first walked, and then trotted, without any whip near him, slowly down the ride, allowing the animal to have the whole of the halter to himself; his head will then be entirely unconstrained, and any iiTegularities in his action'^are easily detected. The action should be scrutinized most attentively imme diately he steps off, as defects are then most visible, for, not unfrequently, lameness disappears after a few moments' ex- ercise. Should one of th« fore feet be much affected, it will be AGE OF THE HORSE, AS INDICATED BY THE TEETH. At one Year old. « '^^1 At Three Years old. At Foui' Years old. EyAMINATION FOR PURCHASE. 261 evident, by the up and down motion of the head, and th" different deg^ree offeree with which lie puts his feel to tho gi"ound, Hor.es that are lame before, drop their heads when stenninfT on the sound leg-, and raise it when the wei,o^ht is thrown on the lame leg ; but when they are lame behind, the action (though not so perceptible) is reversed; they throw up their head a little when the sound leg comes to the ground, and depress it when the lame leg propels the body, and the motion of the lame leg is slow, while the sound one is jerked quickly forward to sustain the weight. When both fore feet are equally tender (which is not un- common in groggy horses,) it is more difficult to judge of his action — it is not uneven, and the limp is not percepti- ble, but he steps short and feelingly, with a general ap pearance of contraction. Dishonest dealers, at fairs and auctions, resort to a scheme by which groggy lameness in one leo^ is disguised by making the motion even. It is known in various parts by the slang terms of diamonding, beaning, balancing, or wedging. It is performed by removing^ the shoe of the sound foot, and paring out the sole, until it yields to the pressure of the thumb. The shoe is then replaced, and a wedge of wood, a pebble, or bean, is driven in between the sole and shoe, until sufficient pain is produced to make the horse equally lame on both legs. Although the lameness is less evident, yet a person accustom--d to the action of horses, will easily detected it ; and if the animal is allowed to stand undisturbed, it will be evident something is wrong by his repeatedly shifting his legs. Another trick of these ruffians, resorted to to conceal lameness, or to give an appeai'ance cf energy to the sluggard or worn-out horse, is the torture of the lash, termed firing. The poor animal, previously to being shewn, is so barba- rously flagellated, that under the influence of terror of the further application of the whip, his attention is withdrawn fi-ora the disease, he feels not the lesser pain, but trots off heedless of his lameness, or at least show^ir.g it much less. Whenever there is much punishment, or the threat ( f it, while shewing a horse, be sure there is something to CONCEAL. In his trot, if the action is good, the foot is boldly deliv- ered with what may be almost termed an allegro move- ment. Its course is straight forward, and downwai'd, not 202 THE iiokse-kekper's guide. tlisliiiifT to either side ; the motion sliould be from th(? elbow as well as the knee ; the hind legs gathered well under the ])ody, following with regularity and precision • the toes fairly raised from the ground, and spread pretty accurately in the impress of the fore feet ; if the}' pass beyond, they are likely to over-reach. In the trot, he should go lightly witli the fore feet, but strike the ground energetically with the hind, taking a long darting sti'ide, and shooting, as it were, the body forvi^ard. In trotting, the horse that throws his legs confusedly about, should be rejected, for though most young and un- educated horses have an ungraceful and disorderly action^ the sluggard is never precise and uniform in his trot. In criticising action, attention must be paid to breed, but it should be sufficiently high in a hack, to clear all ordinary irregularities on the ground ; if it is very high, look out for trace of having worn a knee cap. Be careful to observe that he does not occasionally diop ; a casual giving way on either leg, in the trot, is a sufficient hint to reject the ani- mal, he will certainly fail when put to work. Though the best horses may stumble, if, after tripping, he springs out as if he feared the whip or spur, you may justly suspect him to be an old offender, which will induce you to look to his knees and head. Observe that he goes clear in all his paces, and that one leg does not interfere with the other ; horses that go very near are more likely to cut when tired. The carriage of the head and tail are points to which the eye of a good judge will be directed. If the tail goes to and fro when in action, like the pendulum of a clock, it is a good sign of blood and steadiness. He should now be mounted, and the trial be repeated on the stones or hard road, or, what is preferable, on a rough and stony declivity ; for there are many cases ol slight lameness which do not show on soft ground, at a walking pace, or when the horse is unburdened. If he step away boldly, the toe in a direct line with the body, the knee fairly bent, and his foot up and planted firmly down again on the ground, fearlessly and flat, without any dropping if his head, you may conclude him sound in ac- tion. His hind legs, well lifted up and tucked well under him, should follow his fore legs with regularity ; and if in running him up hill he goes without dragging his toe, yoi EXAMINATION FOR PURCHASE. 263 may infei the same behind. In the gallop, if he takes up his legs quick and dashes in his haunches, not bringing nis hind legs after him, his action is good. During this display of action, the examinant will have an opportunity of judging of the perfection of his wind ; if he does nut ride the animal himself, he should stand close to the horse at the moment he comes in to the gallop. The thick-winded horse breathes with difficulty and is soon distressed. The flanks heave much and rapidly; there is some little noise ; but the laborious heaving of the flank is the principal indication. A horse unused to exercise, or if fat, or exercised on a full stomach, will show symptoms of thick wind ; and it has been observed of great feeders, who never breathe freely until they have gone a mile or two, or begin to sweat, that they are able to do more work than others that do not labour under the same difficulty. The wheezer, in addition to being thick winded, ut- ters a sound Uke an asthmatic person when a little hurried. Wheezing may frequently be heard while at rest in the stable. The piper, or whistler, utters a shriller sound than the wheezer, but it is only heard after exercise, and that of some continuance; a short gallop up hill is sometimes ne- cessary to develope it, but the whistler is soon distressed, "Never buy a whistler; he cannot improve on your hand, and he is almost sure to get to worse," said Sir Henry Pey- ton to Nimrod ; an opinion to which I cordially subsciibe; and the same adrice may be given of all these affections of the air passages. Roaring is not heard at rest. In the majority it is only developed by exertion, which quickens the breathing, and the noise is increased in proportion as the pace is acceler- ated ; though in a few it is audible as soon as put into the trot. Knowing dealers, who wish to prevent the noise from reaching the ears of an experienced purchaser, when shewing a " Bull" of good action, start the horse a consid- erable distance before putting him to the gallop, and in re- turning, slacken the pace, so that the breathing becomes tranqud before the horse reaches the examiner; this is called " coming the long trot." Many of these lesions are consequences of inflamed lungs, or diseased alterations of the air passages, and most of them are motllfications of the 204 THE horse-keeper's guide. ?aine disease. Sometimes they exist in so slight a degree, as to be (Hscovcrahle only by quick and long-continued ex- ertion ; but, when they are .su.s{)ected, they should be trie J by a brushing gallop, though this is not always allowed. The only other simple and practicable plan to get at the state of the breathing, is the common way of making the horse cough, which if gross, and accompanied by a short groan, is conclusive, and the chai'acteristic grunt, when alarmed, is not to be misunderstuuJ. But the cough is not always marked, and therefore not infallible. If there- fore tliere is any cause for doubt and suspicion, it is better to call in a professional man, more especially as the slight- er affections are apt suddenly to terminate in the greater, without much warning, in a very short time. We now proceed to search for blemishes and those in- dications of unsoundness which are apparent to external examination, bearing in mind, any symptoms or suspicious appearances in his action, that may lead us to suspect par- ticular parts which should then be subjected to the sever- est scrutiny. Any scars about the head, should direct attention to the knees, or they may lead one to suspect there may have been an attack of mesrrims or stasi'a-ers. The neck should be searched to ascertain that both jug- ula*" veins are perfect, which is discovered by pressing on the lower part of the neck, with sufficient force to stoji the return of blood from the head ; if the vein be perfect, it will fill and swell from that point upwards towards the head. The loss of one of them, if recent, predisposes the horse to staggers or apoplexy, and he cannot be turned out to grass or straw yard without risk. The withers should be examined for bruises from the saddle, as he is unser- vi(;eable as long as heat or swelling continues. The*slightest tendency to sore back makes a horse un serviceable for many months, and not unfrequently causes him to rear and plunge on mounting. The shoulders should be examined for tumours. If there are any marks of setons or blisters about the points, it is probable he has been treated for shoulder lameness, and the attention of the examinant will be directed to the foot ; wlHcn, ninety-nine times out of a hundred, is the seat of lameness before. If that is found round and strong, with rhe heels high, we may suspect navicular disease. EXAJVIINATION FOR PURCHASE. 265 The chest and breast should also be searched for marks of rowels, setons, and blisters, for the remains of them ren- der it probable that the horse has been under treatment for inflamed lungs or chest affections, and should in prudence direct the purchaser to ascertain by a smart gallop whe- ther the mischief is of a permanent nature, more especially if the horse is naiTow-chested. The knees should be examined with the utmost care, first that they correspond in shape, and secondly, to ascer- tain whether the skin has been broken by falls ; but it does not follow that a mark or scar indicates a stumbler, and an accidental blemish should not induce us at once to con- demn a well-formed animal. A broken knee may happen from a variety of causes. The safest horse may fall by an unavoidable accident, such as a false step, from any thing giving way under the foot, as a round stone, from fatigue and over exertion, or from a bad rider. But a broken knee is a suspicious circum- stance ; it may be taken as an indication of existing or re- cent unsoundness, and the slightest mark calls for the most careful observation of every part of the horse, of his make and action, and suo^gests the naiTowest scrutiny of the legs and feet ; a tight shoe, a nail driven too close, or from bad shoeing. The toe being left too long open, causes a horse to trip, tenderness in the feet, contraction, groggy lame- ness, corns, and thrush: a scar on the head, above the eye, (for a decided fall of the horse leaves unequivocal signs there) is a suspicious sign ; when no trace of local disease can be found to account for them, the inquiry should be followed up into the horse's constitution, for the staggers or megrims may have occasioned the accident. When a scar on the knee is observed in connection with low withers, a thick and upright shoulder and pasterns, with the legs inclined under the bone, he is unwise who does not take the hint that the faulty formation has not produced its natural consequence. To discover the integ rity of the knee, is not so easy as some suppose, as occa- sionally the hair grows so well over the wound, as to leave it hardly discernible ; but on minute inspection, when there has been a scar, an interception of the gloss is apparent, as if the hair grew in an oblique direction ; should this be observed on bending the joint, the secret will be exposed. 23 i>OG niE horse-keeper's guide. The shrink shonl*! ho examined for splint, strained oi enl;»r«]^i^d flexors, and the marks of firinsr or hlisters. In inspecting the leg, the eye alone should not be trust- ed, particularly in hairy-legged horses ; but after minute- ly comparing the appearance of the two limbs, the hand should be deliberately passed down both shanks before and behind ; any difference, before or behind, points to a devi- ation from health. In the sound flat-limb, the tendon is well defined, per- fectly distinct, and has a hard tense feel that resembles the touch of a cord tightly strung. If the back sinews feel thick, the flexor tendons and their sheaths swelled and rounded, leaving no distinctive marks as it were between the one and the other, but all swelled into one mass with the bone, great mischief has at some time happened ; eith- er some of the ligaments have been ruptured, or there has been inflamation, effusion, and -adhesion of the vaginial bursae, or synovial sheaths of the llexor tendons ; or such relaxation has taken place from strain and subsequent in- flamation as will always keep him weak. When the inju- ry is recent, it is accoinpanied with more or less swelling, heat, and lameness ; by time and treatment the first are removed, but the swelling remains, and the thickning of the tendons shews the mischief that has been done. When- ever there is manifest alteration of structure here, and yet the animal is apparently sound in action, the purchaser should bear in mind that the soundness is often the effect of rest ; and should the animal be again put to work, he will become lame. — And bear in mind, in such case, you cannot return him, for no man in his senses would give a special warrantry against it. Splints, — If large, are apparent by the deviation of the outline of the leg ; if small, the hand discovers them. Every excrescence on the cannon bone, in horseman's language, is termed a splint. The true splint is in fact a local conversion into bone of a part of the temporary car- tilage, connecting together the large and small metacarpal bones. The inflammation is set up by concussion or strain Horses are lame from them, while there is inflammation in the cartilage. But when the tumour is formed, the in- flammation has subsided, and the periostrum has accom- modated itself to the enlargement, the horse is no longer lame, nor more likely to become lame from that splint, EXAMINATION FOR TURCHASE. 2G7 than one without; the same causes that produced the fiist, may produce a second. The sphnt, if so large as to interfere with action, render- ino- the horse Uable to strike, is objectionable, or so near the knee or ligaments as to interfere with their freedom of action ; otherwise they are of very little consequence be- yond the blemish destroying the line of beauty. The worst splints are those not discernible but by the lameness they produce. Any marks of firing or blistering should make the pur- chaser cautious, and endeavour to ascertain the cause ot the treatment ; after blistering, the hair is sometimes a shade different in the colour, and stares a little, is shorter and bristly, and wants the natural gloss. The fetlock joint, from being the principal seat of motion below the knee, and from its complicated structure, is par- ticularly subject to injuries. The fetlocks should be sub- jected to the strictest examination, for enlargements, which are best ascertained by carefully comparing them with each other, as any difference in size is indicative of strain- ed or even ruptured ligaments, and consequently perma- nent weakness of that important part. If the injury is recent, there probably will be heat, and pain on pressure ; and any signs of blistering or other treatment, though no enlargement or lameness is appa- rent, should induce the buyer to view the animal with the utmost suspicion. If there are any sore or callous places about the fetlocks or pasterns, he is a cutter, and possibly the marks of the foot may be visible. If there is no mal-formation to ac- count for it, it may have been done when fatigued, or it may have arisen from improper shoeing; his feet should then be examined. If an old offence, he may probably have a peculiar shoe, rather thicker and narrower in the web on the inside than the outside, and nailed onhj on the outside of the foot, and round the toe; or the opposite shoe is found filed away or bevilled off, with the hoof projecting a little over the shoe. Where the feet, though well formed, are placed closer than desirable in narrow-chested horses, and therefore apt to cut, particularly when tired, we sometimes find a shoe is adopted thinner on the inside than the outside. 209 THE horse-keeper's (iUIDE. At other times various ingenious devices, calculated ra tlicr to inciease than remedy the evil, have been resorted to, such as putting on shoes narrower on the inside, and set within llie crust, and the wall of the quarters reduced in thickness by the rasp. If none of these schemes have been resorted to, to obviate the defect, the horn of the op- posite foot will sometimes be found polished by the attri- tion ; for it is not the altnc that cuts once in a hundred times, hut the hoof. In horses that interfere, we generally find the inside quarter lower than the outer, or the toes turned outwards — the fault beinof in the leij that receives the mis- chief while sustaining the weight, not in \\\q foot xh^l gives the blow. The tired horse throws his legs about, and fre- quently cuts himself; and it is the fault of most young un- educated horses, especiallyif they have been backed or inconsiderately worked too early. If there are any symptoms of knuckling or inclination of the fetlocks forward, serious injury has happened. The hair above, and below the fetlock joint, should be carefully searched for the scars left by the operation of neurotomy , (the division of the nerves that supply the foot with sensation ;) pricking the fetlock with a pin, if you have reason to suspect it has been destroyed. About the fetlocks are frequently found little puffy tumours, absurdly denominated wind-galls, from a supposition of the famer that they contained wind. Whenever parts move and press on eacli other, and be- tween tendons, particularly about the extremities, there are placed little vesicles, or shut socks, technically termed hursce mucascB, containing synovia, or joint oil, alubncating fluid to prevent friction, in sufficient quantity for all ordi- nary purposes of the animal. But when the horse has been compelled to undergo exertion beyond that which is nat- ural and beneficial, an increased supply of synovia is se- creted, which distends the capsule : a repetition sets up chronic inflamation of the synovial membrane — morbid se- cretion and visible enlargement is the result. There are very few horses that have done much work that are with- out them. Though rest and pressure will diminish them, when once enlarged, labour will be sure to rej^roduce them ; they sel- dom occasion any local disturbance, and are of no conse- quence beyond the blemish, unless they are very large PERPENDICULAR SECTION OF THE FOOT AND PASTERNS. a Flexor tDulon, •which continues by i, nearly down to g, where it is inserted iu the coffin hone. c Sessanioid bones. d Ligament uniting sessainoid bone to large pasteru. e Navicular ornutboue. h Elastic matter or sensi- ble frog. / Part of Coffin-bone where the flexor tendon is in- fcerted. ^ m m The shank-bone. r Ligament extendini; from pasterns to knee. 8 Tendonuniting pas t rns to i>llin-bone, n The large pastern. Small pa-jtem, or coronai-ybone. ^ '. if am entuni ting navicular c Elastic matter or sensible sole p Coffin bone, q Crust, or wall. t Hornvsolf bone to coffin-bone, k Fart to bleed in sever* InHanimation of foul SECTION OF THE FOOT OF THE HORSE. a The outside crust of the gf hoof. '^~ e e Hollow sur- faces on the inner part of the homy frog. I b Coronary ring- c Horny plates, on the inner surface of the crust. g g The bars. ' di Continuation of horny lining. h Rounded part of heel. /External cleft of the frog. ._/ EXAMINATION FOR PURCHASB. 26& and in most cases may be regarded as mere indicatiuns of hard work. The pasterx is the seat of a bony tumour termed ring- bone ; it is the result of inflammation and partial conversion into bone of that portion of the cartilages of the foot which rise above and nearly encircle the coronet. These cartil- ages, extending backward considerably beyond the coffin bone, form the elastic frame of the posterior parts of the foot ; they here take on the name of the lateral cartilages. When once ossified inflammation is set up in thispart,from its tend ;ncy to spread around the pastern joint, it has taken its narre of ring-bone. When, however, the ossification appear 5 only at the quarters, it is termed ossification of tht lateral cartilages, or side bones. It is discovered by their prom'-aency and their rigidity, when pressed between the finge- and thumb. Upon the integrity of these parts de- pend the elasticity and consequent usefulness of the foot. Hov- 3ver trifling the apparent alteration of structure, it is a serious detraction from the efficiency of a hack; though, on s'ift ground, at a slow pace, the draught horse will work app''.rently sound. " V/'e now arrive at the foot, the foundation of the horse, and too much attention cannot be paid to it. If it is imper- fect all other perfecrions are valueless. The best way of judging whether there is any mal -formation of the feet, eith- er natural or the result of disease, is to front the horse, and compare the two feet together; small feet are objection- able ; and so a very large foot, that is disportionate to his size, is to be avoided. Its wall should be round, smooth, level, and of a shin- ing dark colour ; full in front, of a proper obliquity, and free from ribs or seams, and perfectly cool. Its proper ob- liquity ought to be at an angle of forty-five degrees with the plane of the shoe. If the angle is materially less, the sole is flat, or perhaps convex ; if the angle exceeds it, the foot is contracted. When the outward line or profile of the hoof is inegul ir. it marks what is called a *' shelly foot." This is decidedly bad. If there are any protuberances or rings round it, they indicate that the feet have been affected with fever to such a degree as to produce unequal growth of horn; which frequently leaver some injurious consequences in theinter- 23^ 19 270 '^^^^- IIOUSE-REEPEll's GUIDE. nal part of the hodf, such as a tlepnsition of lymph bo^ tween the horny and cartilaginous processes, which con- nect the foot and hoof together. If there is any depress- ion or hollow, it betrays separation of the foot from the hoof, and sinking of the coihn bowl, and the sole will be found bulging. No man should trust to a superficial judgment of the foot; for though he may see the form and shape of the foot to be promising, yet there are other things to be con- sidered. It may be well formed, yet thin and weak ; and those feet, externally the most perfect, are sometimes con- tracted internally, and are liable to the insidious affection ter- med navicular, or joint capsular disease. Contraction is a serious defect ; it is apparent and general, or occult (hidden) and partial. When apparent externally, which is very common a- mong high bred horses, with light heads and necks, high in tl:e withers with sloping shoulders, and that go near the ground, the foot presents more an oblong than a circular shape ; the curved Une towards the heels becoming straight, and the heels approaching each other. The frog is hard, dry, and compressed ; the foot small, and the heels up- rifdit: altoo-ether, the foot more resembles that of a mule than ahorse. But though a contracted foot is often an indication of past disease, and there is a diminution of elasticity, it by no means follows that it is an unsoundness, or incapaci- tates a horse from work. With care, such feet will work soundly to the end of their lives ; for this change in shape has been effected by gradual and slow absorption and de- posite; so that nature has had tinte to adapt the internal parts, and accommodate itself to the change ; for elongation of the foot has taken place. When such feet feel hotter than ordinary, distrust should be awakened, more especially if t-iere is a marked diflerence between the temperature of one and the other. If there is indisputable pointing, then the horse is unsound. Occult or partial contraction is not obvious externally, but there is diminished cavity of the horny box from in- crease of the sole in thickness. In this case we usually find the foot of a circular figure, more upright than nat- ural, and displaying unusual appearance of compactness of force and strength, the soles unusually hard and thick EXAMINATION FOR PURCHASE. 271 and if you have a firm unyielding sole, in a circular foot, if is a rock of dancjer, and the forerunner of navicular disease. The inner quarters of the hoof must be most minutely in.spected for sand-crack ; and it is not always easy, with- out minute scrutiny, to detect a sand-crack, where an at- tempt has been made to conceal it. A month's run in marshy ground will often close it up, and low dealers, pai'- ricularly at fairs ai.d markets, and others who gain a live- lihood by dealing in " screws," have a knack of neatly covering the crack with pitch, and the foot oiled, so as ad- roitly to conceal the crack ; any oily appearance about the hoof should excite suspicion, and any fissure at all resem- bling sand-crack should cause the horse to be peremptorily rejected. Cracks iij iicate a dry and brittle hoof. The heels should be examined for any cracks, or appearance of heat and tenderness, as they are exceedingly troublesome to cure. The frog, in its healthy state, must be firm yet pl.'able and elastic. If there is any smell, or if on squeezing the frcjg matter exudes, there is a thrush. By many people, thiTishes are considered of little impoitance ; but^when it is considered that where there is purulent matter there must have been inflammation ; and that when a horse v/ith a thrush steps on a stone, he frequently drops with ihe pain as if he was shot, to the peril of his rider and the ruin of his knees, it must be admitted they are se?''ous objections in a saddle horse. If it can l^e ascertained ti.al they are not of long standing, or that the horse has bee n placed in a situation so as to favour their approach, !>U(h as confinement in a hot moist litter, they are of no ii.oie consequence than so much diminution in his price as will cover the expense of keep and attendance while healing ; but when a thrush accompanies a foot smaller than usual, the heels wind in, and the frog rotten, let him go as he will, he will not long remain sound. The sole of the foot should be subject to close examina- tion ; in its healthy and natural state it is inclined to ba concave, but if in connexion with high heels an extraor- dinary concavity is present, it is a sign of internal contrac- tion ; if the sole is morbidly thick, and does not give way durino: great exertion, the elasticity of the foot must bo diminished. If the sole is less concave than natural, o/ approaching to flat, the foot is weak. 272 THE HORSE-KEEI'ER S GUIDE If the foot appears to have been cut unusually deep ai the angles where the shoe meets the inside heel, or if there is any peculiarity of shoeing at that part, the exami- ner may infer all is not right, and that he has corns ; and if he waits for the proof, send for the farrier to remove the shoe. The stifle is very rarely diseased ; but it should be exa- mined for enlargement, or any marks of firing, or blister ing ; and the groin should not be overlooked for rupture. The hock is one of the most important joints in the animal machine, and should always undergo the most rigid examination previous to purchase, as from its complicated structure, and the work it has to pe-form, it is the seat of lameness behind in nine cases out cf ten. When standing behind the horse, if one of the hocks is diseased, the observer will perceive the bone does not incline gradually, as in the sound limb, but there is an ab- rupt prominence. Though to tlie unpractised eye this is not always perceptible on comparing them, yet by passing the hand down the inside of both hocks, this abruptness will be felt. H there is any tenderness or heat, on pres- sure, or the marks of recent cutting on the inside of the fetlock, or unequal wear of the shoes, especially at the toe. you may su.-spect spavin. Sometimes both hocks present an enlarged appearance, though there is neither heat, pain, or lameness (for hock lameness is frequently intermittent), such hocks should always be looked upon with suspicion; they are in fact unsound: for though the animal may, with natural mal-formation or exostial growth, the result of dis- ease, discharge his usual functions through life, without a return of lameness in careful hands ; yet the probability is he will fail, if called upon for any unusual exertion, and that one day's extra work will ruin him for ever. In this case, the examinant must be guided by circumstances : if the horse has excellencies which counterbalance the defect, the price is correspondingly low, and if the work required IS but moderate, he may be serviceable for many a year. Certain forms of hock are more subject to disease: those approaching each other, termed lo v hocks, are predisposed to spavin and curb ; those in which the point of the hock inclines too much backward, are liable to spavin; and when iho hock is too upright, narrow and straight, it is subject ■>o thoroughpin. Capped hock is a soft fluctuating turaouj EXAMINATION FOR PURCHASE. 273 on the point of the hock ; it is an enlargement of one of the mucous capsules which surround the tendons inserted into that part. It is produced by blows, lying on rough atones, or kicking in the harness or stable, and is therefore frequently a sign of vice. Curb is a longitudinal swelling at the back of the hind leer, three or four inches below the hock, seen best from llie horse's side ; the enlargement is the result of a sudden strain ctf the r^nnular ligaments, or inflammation of the sheaths of the tendon. It is attended with a good deal of lameness and swellinsr at first ; but when that has subsided, and if any time has elapsed without a recurrence of the lameness, it is of no more consequence than the unsightly blemish ; but it should be remembered that curby hocks are liable to spavin. Thoroughpix is situated above the hock joint, between the flexors of the hock and foot, projecting on each side ; it is of the same nature as wind-galls, being an enlarged mucous capsule, and is indicative of severe work or over exertion. Bog, or blood, or spavin, is a swelling situated in front of the hock, towards the middle of the joint ; it is also an enlarged mucous capsule, but deeper seated ; over which one of the sub-cutaneous veins passing, the blood in which becoming obstructed in the return, increases the size of the tumour. The shanks should be scrutinized for any symptoms of weakness, and the fetlocks for marks of cutting and wind- galls. The front of the hind feet should be examined for fissure; it is a most serious defect, and generally produces lame- ness. Notice the way in which he is shod, as it leads to the discovery of lameness and defects in action ; though in dealers' stables you will rarely see any peculiarity in shoeing. If the tor of the hind foot is found to extend a little over the shoe, it is to prevent " hammer and click " from being audible. If the toes of the hind feet drag, or we find tie shoe squared off* or worn, we may suspect disease of the hocks ; and if the inside of the shoe is bevilled off, it is thi- "iign of a cutter. He should now be backed, to ascertain if he has recei •274 THK llOIiSK-Ki.EPER S L.UIDE. ved any injury of the spine ; if lie backs with difficulty, his hind quarters swaying from side to side, and when compelled to retrogade suddenly he appears as if about to fall, he has received some injury. Some horses cannot be made to back, but when urged rear on their hind legs. His loins should be searched for marks of setons, or blis- ters. Anion"- stable men it is teiTned " chinked in the chine," or, rigged in the hock. A singular symptom of diseased spine sometimes shews itself where nothing had been previously suspected ; that is, of sometimes dropi)ing when turned suddenly in the trot, the hinder quarters appearing as if paralyzed ; in one case, after several ineffectual attempts to reproduce it, it was developed by a man startling him from a stable door as he trotted past ;t up the ride. There are ritany bln-mishes and defects that render a hack unserviceable, which are of little or no consequence in harness. The greatest virtue in a gig horse is steadiness, which can only be ascertained by trial, and do not trust to the steadiness he evinces while the reins are in his owner's hands. The author of that admirable little work, " The Adventures of a Gentleman in search of a Horse," truly says, " whoever buys a Stanhope horse without first driving him himself, is a fit subject for a commission of lunacy ; it is not enough to put him on the break, he should be har- nessed at once to the Stanhope, and it is prudent to observe how he bears the ceremony of harnessing, and what kind of start he makes. Much may be predicted by his qualifi- cations for draught, or at all events his familiarity with the collar, by the degree of quiet with which he allows himself to be put to. " If the ostler runs alongside of him at setting off, as is often the case, you may be sure the horse is distrusted ; if J ou distrust it yourself, have nothing to do with him." The eyes. — The horse should now be returned to the stable for the puipose of examining his eyes, the most fa- vourable position for which is about half a foot within the Btable door. There should be no back or side lights, or the rays, falling between the eyes of the examiner and the animal, will prevent him seeing distinctly. The head should be so placed that a moderate light should fall on the eye of the horse, and the quantity of light can be easily regu latea by bringing the horse's head more cr less ftjrward EXAMINATION FOR PURCHASE. 215 until it is placed in the most favourable direction for ob- servation. Though every horseman can detect absolute blindness, yet the eye of the horse is susceptible of so many diseases, in which defective vision or partial bUndness exists in such a form, long before the sight is lost, that it requires not only more observation than most people imagine, but a person unacquainted with its anatomical structure, and the different appearances it assumes, cannot perceive it at all Tlxere are certain forms of the eye, and structural pecu liarities, that show a constitutional predisposition to disease — thus, small sleepy eyes, of a bluei.sh grey colour, or wlien they have a flat, retracted, and sunken appearance, oi those of a longish oval figure, are predisposed to opt/ial- ?n,ia, or when the eyes appear full, with a fleshy circle around them, these are all symptoms of badness of eye, and are the forerunners of blindness, particularly in the heads of coarse and fleshy horses, with heavy countenances, who usually go blind with cataracts at seven years old. Slight thickenings of the lid or puckering towards tho inner corner of the eye, a difference in size, a cloudiness, or dullness of the iris, are several indications of disease, that a purchaser should beware of In examining the eyes, both must have an equal deg.'ee «)f light; if any difference is apparent between them, one must be diseased. The cornea, or transparent part (i the eye, should be perfectly clear. Specks are best detected by standing at the shoaider ; if one is evident, and it can be clearly proved to be ^lo more than the effect of accident, no importance need he placed on it. But it is impossible to ascertain this, and therefore the safest course is to assume that natural irritability and consequent inflammation of the eye is the ca^ase. Specks on the transparent cornea are i^cnerally the re- sult of external injury ; there is seldorn more than one ; when very small and near the circumie^'ence, they are of no consequence ; but if large, or near che centre, they in terfere with distinctness of vision, and make the horse shy If opaque or milky lines are traced on its surface, it be speaks the remains of former inflammation. But it is necessary to observe that horses, before they are six years old, have not that transpironcy in their eyes vhich they dis])lay afterwards, because, while young and 276 THE horse-keeper's guide. p^-owln^, the vesselsof the eye are full ; therefore, befor© that age, it is not the brilliancy of the c/e that denotes its goodness. If there is an excess of tears, it denotes debility, and should occasion a more than ordinary scrutiny ; in fact, all horses with weeping, dull, cloudy eyes, should be rejected as unsound. It may be remarked, as a general rule, that all disease of the eye are incurable. Have nothing to do with a horse when the slightest trace of disease of the eye is visible. As it is impossible, from a superficial examination, to distinguish between simple opthalmia and inflammation of the con- junctiva, the cause of which has been a blow, or the intro- ducticji of some irritating matter, such as a piece of dirt or hay-seed, which is curable by simple means, and the spe- citic opthalmia, a spontaneous affection, which ultimately terminates in cataract and blindness. Viewed in front, the depths of the eye should be looked into; then sideways; which will assist in ascertaining the clearness and absence of specks on or within its surface. Floating in the aqueous humour (which preserves the con- vexity of the cornea) is the iris, a muscular membrane, whose dilatation and contraction forms an oval aperture, termed the pupil, which varies in size according to the quantity of light which falls upon the eye. The iris varies very little in colour in the horse, though it bears some analogy to the colour of the skin. It is rarely lighter than a hazel, or darker than a brown ; except in milk white, cream-coloured, or pied horses, when it is white, and they are termed wall-eyed. If it is of a pale variegated cinnamon colour, it is good. The pupil or aperture of the iris, is that horizontal ob- long blueish opening, which admits the light to the posterior chambers of the eye. It is important that the oval shape of the pupil is perfect, for if any irregularity or unevenness is perceived, it is a symptom that the organ has received paitial injury. In looking into the depths of the eye, through the pupil, in a strong light, it should exhibit a lively blueishness ; in a moderate light, it should be per- fectly transparent ; if milky or turbid, it is the remains of former inflammation, which will probably recur. In bringing tlie horse out of the stable to the light, if the pupil lb large, it is a bad sign ; by alternately shading EXAMINATION FOR PURCHASE. 277 and admitting liglit, if it enlarges and lessens under its dtimulus, it is an infallible sign the eye is good. B^it if the retina is unmoveable, the pupil larger than natural, and of one invariable size when shaded or exposed to intense lignt, though no disorganization is apparent, the eye ap Dearing bright, of a peculiar glossy aspect, and of a green- ish colour, the animal is blind from the disease termed glass eye — a palsy of the optic nerve. A decided cataract, or opacity of the crystalline lens, or its capsule, is easily detected ; but when very small, they may escape observation. It appears as a cloudy or pearly white substance within the pupil towards the bottom of the eye. If the pupil be round instead of a flat oval, it is an indication of cataract ; when there is the slightest deep- seated cloudiness, the eye should be condemned ; but if there is any white object before it, such as a white hat, neckcloth, waistcoat, or wall, the reflection on the cornea produces a mark having so much the appearance of a cat- aract as to have misled many an experienced observer. Therefore, before deciding, hold the crown of a black hat against the eye, and observe at the same time if the mark disappears, which it will, if it is only a reflection. If your examination has proved satisfactory, and you de- cide on purchasing ; before you part with your money, leam something of the seller. For should your bargain not turn out as you anticipate, upon further acquanintance, trial, and second examination, you will Know what chance of remedy you have against the vendor. The horse, if returned, must of course be in the same condition in which he was received, except so far as the disease for which he is returned may have progressed in the mean time. It is advisable to enquire of the seller how he has been accustomed to diet and clothe the animal ; whether his feet were stopped , and the same treatment sliould be pursued till his soundness is ascertained. Note the temperature of the stable ; if his new habita- tion should be hotter, it is probable you may induce an in- flammatoi'v attack of the lungs. Beware of putting a saddle on a new horse that does not fit him ; while the question of soundness is still doubt- ful, it is far better to use the saddle he has been accustom- ed to. 24 278 THE horse-keeper's guile If his back becomes galled while trying him, which n not an unusual occuiTence, the dealer will object to take him hack, unless full compensation is made ; and reasona- bly so, i'ur he is unfitted for sale or f THE HORSE KEErER's GUIDE. 279 The paits numbered 1, 2 and 3, are the windows, which must be as elevated as the height of the stable will per- mit. It will be observed that there are two doors to this sta- tT>\e, one at each end ; but it will be also noticed that they ':;pen so that no current of wind can affect the horses. The stable must be so paved that all the wet shall drain into the gutter, and out of that by another drain to caiTy every thing clean away. The walls of a stable should be built of brick, upon a jyrouted concrete foundation, which will effectually prevent the walls from ever becoming damp. Stoue is occasionally used ; but it has no advantage over brick. The wall should not be less than nine inches thick ; but if fourteen inches thick, it will be better. Stables should not be constructed of wood ; they are always too cold in winter, and too warm in summer. The inside of the walls may be plastered or boarded ; but the stalls should all be hned with wood in /ront, for about three feet above the manger, and sideways to the full height of the partitions. Stalls so lined, are very durable ; and when the upper part is plastered, the whole stable has a clean and comfortable appearance. Single-headed stables, that is, those wherein the stalls are ranged on one side only, are decidedly the best : dou- ble-headed stables, where the space between is contracted, are very c>bjectionable, as many accidents arise from horses kicking at each other; which some are very apt tj do, when others are leaving or entering the stables ; indeed, some mischievous horses will kick whenever another horse passes or is placed directly behind. Where the stable is double-headed, the space between the rows of stalls should not be less than six to eight feet in width. The door of the stable should be full five feet wide, and not less than eight feet high. It is too generally of a less width ; but as the custom of low and narrow door ways \s occasionally productive of accident, particularly with s!vange and shy horses, a greater width and height are recommended as far preferable. The sill of the door should be raised three or four inches above the outer sur- face ; and if bevilled off, so as to afford no obstruction to the entrance, it will oe better. Windows are very often too much neglected, or too small, or ill placed. Light thrown down from the roof, 280 TIIK STABLE by mfatis of sky11u;lits, wliich paitially open or revolve, and can l)e readily opened or closed by means of a cord, are excellent, as affording good ventilation. In all stables, high windows answer well, when of sufficient size, and so placed that the light shall not fall directly upon and affect the horses' eyes. To obviate this as far as possible, they must be high in the wall, and in sufficient number to give a good light. It is a mistaken opinion, that but little light is requisite in a stable. No horse was ever known to thrive in a dark stable; but many a good horse has had his sight seriously affected by this absurd and mischievous practice. It may answer a dealer's purpose to keep his horse from the liidit till brought out to be sold. When brought out from a dark stable into the light of day, a horse very naturally stares about him ; he looks high, carries his head high, and appears as if he had a good deal of action and anima- tion. Dark stables may thus suit particular purposes ; but they invariably injure the horse's eyes ; to say nothing of the necessity of light in the several grooming operations, as well as in the numberless cases which arise wherein immediate assistance is necessary. The roof of the stable usually forms the floor of the hay-loft : in this case the ceiling must be at least ten to twelve feet from the ground, and higher, if more than four horses be kept in the stable. Where there is no loft above, the height should he greater ; because, in summer, the sun makes the tiles or slates hot, and the stable becomes like an oven ; while, in winter, the cold, and sometimes snow lying on the roof, converts the stable into something like an ice-house. Such extremes must be avoided : they are prolifically productive of disease. It will be useful to keep a barometer in the stable ; and the nearer to the temperate point the temperature can bt3 maintained, the better. No ill scents should ever be dis- cerned in a stable ; these are easily avoided ; a due regard to cleanliness, a good ventilation, and a perfect drainage, will prevent any noisome smell, and keep the stable sweet and clean. The flooring of a stable is an essential part of the inter- nal economy, and requires particular attention. It is the j^ractice, in many places to lay the floor of stables with THE HORSE-KEEPER S GUIDE. 281 freestone ; in other places, hard small bricks, an-anged on edge, are employed. Both are good, and each has its pe- culiar advantages : the brick floor affords a firm foothold, and is easily kept clean; but it is not so durable as the pavement. — The stone is more lasting ; but it is apt to get glazed, and then the horses are likely to slip about, and may break a leg or slip the shoulder. Deeply-cut gi-ooves may prevent this. Floors paved with small stones, after the manner of a causeway, are objectionable, unless the foun- dation be made of grouting, and the stones laid in the same; otherwise, the spaces between the stones receive and retain the urine, and return it again by evaporation ; hence the stable is never sweet and seldom dry ; and damp stables are very injurious. Floorings made of asphalte, or other bitumenous concrete, on grouted foundation, are very good ; they aftbrd a good dry footing, and are easily kept clean. A very recent addition to the material previously em- ploved for flooring of stables, has been furnished ; this is cautchouc, or India-rubber. How far this may prove use- ful, has yet to be seen ; its introduction has been too recent to warrant any very decided opinion upon its merits ; but judginiT-from analogy, we consider ourselves justified in saying that it bids fair to succeed, and should it do so, there can be little doubt of its superseding all other descriptions of floorings in the stables of the wealthy. Equal in importance with the flooring of the stable, is its drainage : one of the most effectual ways of procurmg this, is to make a drain, the whole length of the stable; and have a gutter leading to a grating placed at either or both ends : the flooring of the stalls should have a slight inclination, so that the urine, &c. may drain (n- run into the gutter, and be conveyed thence into the drain. The end of the drain should never be exposed to the air, but should hare a stink-trap, or air-trap, which will effectually carry off the water, and prevent any noxious vapours from arising. Never put more than one horse in a stall; rest, in a recumbent posture, is of the utmost importance to work- ing horses ; a narrow stall is therefore, from this reason, a serious evil, as it prevents the horse from taking the rest fio essential to his being able to resume his labour. Nor can a horse do full Vv'ork, unless he have a gotxl bed : pos i>4* -2S2 THE ST.ABLE. sibly, instnnces may be known wliere a horse is cramped in a narrow stall, where he can neither lay down nor stretch his limbs, but be compelled to stand all night ; and yet such a liorse may even continue to do a good deal of work ; but, sooner or later, this kind of treatment produces the most disastrous results ; gourdy legs and greasy heels are induced, and a premature breaking up of the horse's strength is the inevitable consequence. The ventilation of stables is, comparatively speaking, a TQndern improvement ; for it was not till nearly the close of the last century that public attention was called to the evil consequences of the system previously adopted — that of closing up every aperture by which air could enter, and rendering: the stable more like a hot-bed than a restinsf place for animals which breathed and required a pure at- mosphere to breathe in. — Before this period, no groom ever thouQ:ht of admittiiiGf fresh air into a stable ; some chought it of no use, while oHiers considered it as highly pernicious. Mr. J. Clarke, of Edinburgh, was the first to protest against close stables, as an unhealthy and perni- cious custom ; and no sooner was the subject inquired into, than it was ascertained that at least one half of the diseases to which horses were so commonly subject, were produced by close, hot, unventilated stables. In guarding against this evil, however, its opposite must be avoided; stable-men generally understand that warmth is congenial to the nature of horses, and argue that, to look well, a horse must be kept warm. This is in part true but not wholly so ; we recommend warm, but nolfoul sta- bles : — this is the great distinction that should be kept in mind; foul stables are always hot, — but warm stables need not be foul; — it is the impurity of the atmosphere of the stable that does the mischief; and it is this very impurity that we strongly insist upon as the evil which must be avoided. No breathing animal can continue in the enjoyment of good health, without a constant supply of pure air: this truism is the basis of ventilation. Pure air is composed of two gases, termed nitrogen and oxygen, in the proportion of about two parts of the former to one of the latter. An animal in breathing inhales the oxygen, which is absolute ly essential to its well-being, and which, passing into the lungs, purifies the blood; the same animal gives out and rilE IIORSE-KEEPER S GUIDE. 282 other sort of gas, which is expelled by his nostrils, termed carbonic acid gas, and which contaminates and makes im- pure the air into which it is breathed. Without a contin- uous supply of good air, it is impossible for the purity of the atmosphere of the stable to be maintained; and unless it be kept up, the blond of the animal which inhales an impure air, becomes vitiated, and the system diseased ; (n% in other words, the horse becomes predisposed to a num- ber of diseases, and his constitution is readily acted upon by any change in the weather, or other exciting causes, that under a more healthy state of the blood, would not af- fect the animal. Having shown some of the evil consequences of a want of ventila^tion, we now proceed to advise as to how this de- sirable end may be obtained. Many grooms acknowledge that the stable is too hot ; and to remedy the inconvenience, make holes in the door or walls, to cool it. _ Now this is only an aggravation of the previous evil : it is not cold draughts of air that will do any good— they rather do _mis- chief'^in producing colds, coughs, and a host of other disea- ses of the chest and lungs : it is the purification of the at- mosphere that is required, that the horses may breatlis a pure and not a tainted air. We have shown that the atmosphere of a stable, under the most favourable circumstances, does not contain moie than one part out of three of pure oxygen, the gas essen- tial to health and life ; we have also shown that the horse inhales a portion of this oxygen every time he breathes, and that he exhales from his lungs another kind of gas, termed carbonic acid gas, which mixes with the air of tlie stable, and deteriorates its purity. Ventilation, properly effected, will remedy this defect, or impurity, by allowing the escape of the impure air, and substituting good in its stead. ^ The impure air which is exhaled fmm the horse s lungs, IS necessarily warmer, and of course lighter, than the sur- rounding atmosphere ; for this reason, it ascends or rises "ipwards: if there be means for its escape, it will do so ; .f there are no such means of escape, it becomes cooler, and so soon as it loses its heat it descends, mixes with the air which fills the lower part of the stable, and is breathed and re-breathed again and again, until so little pure oxy. een is left in the air of tlie stable, that the .juantity which 20 2S4 THE stahlf:. tlie animal economy demands cannot be furnished, and tlie blood becomes impure. To furnish moans for the escape of impure air, make ap- ertures, or holes, from eight to ten inciies square, in the upper part of the walls, one to each stall. Incases where a loft is over the stable, these apertures should be convey- ed through the roof, which is easily accomplished by pie- ces of zinc pipe ; by this means, the foul air, in its escape from the stable, will not affect the hay. If it be not con- venient to make an aperture for each stall, at least take care to make one at each end, and if possible, one in the middle of the roof or ceiling ; in this ease, each aperture should be rather larger than the size previously given, — if there are but two, let them be at least double the size ; if three, let each be about two-thirds the size ; and so on, that, in effect, they will furnish as much room as is equal to a square space of nine inches for each horse kept in the stable. The apertures or ventilators, when only nine in- ches either way, will not require any covering, except when the stable is occupied by less than one half the num- ber of horses usually kept therein, or quite empty ; but it will be as well if the larger spaces be made somewhat in this form, I I because that shape will keep out the cold air, while it will not in the least affect the escape of the impure air. It need hardly be said each tube or hole that is exposed to the open air, should be defended by a cap or cover, thus : / \ But it is not only necessary to provide for the escape of foul air, it is also essential that a stream of pure fresh air should be provided, in order to replace the wast of oxygen by breathing. — This may be effected by a long tube or pipe running the whole length of the stable, and open at both ends, the ends being outside the walls, and defended from vermin by a grating at each end. Along the upper part of this tube, a number of small holes must be perforated, which will admit pure air into the stable without inconve- niencing the horse; for, of course, it should not be placed at that ])art of the stable fi-onting the head of the horse ; but at the back of the stable, with the space intervening be- tween that and the stalls. The ventilation will by these simple means be complete, and the healthful operations oi ihe animal economy ensured. THE HORSE-KEEPER S GUIDE. 2S5 The hay-loft, the granary, or corn-bin, and the manger, b11 demand notice ; but in the present work, where space is hmited, a general notice will be sufficient. The hay, whether kept in a loft over the stable, or over the ccjac^h- house (which latter is preferable), should be free from taint or smell, and be often turned, so as to keep it sweet and f^'Psh. The granary, or corn-bin, should be kept free from dust, which is apt to accumulate, if not occasionally cleaned out. The manjjer, or trouijh, which contains the corn in- tended for the horse's food, is usually made of wood ; we, however, prefer those constructed of iron,* something of a stove-grate form, and fixed to one of the upper ends of the stall. The manger should be kept clean ; unless it is so, it contracts a fetid sour smell, or becomes musty ; and in either case a horse, particularly if of a delicate stomach, may be prevented from feeding. Care and cleanliness will prevent this. Mangers, if made of wood, are often as long as the stable : this is unnecessary ; thirty inches length is amply sufficient : but in depth they are rarely enough , they should be at least twelve inches deep, and of about the same breadth. It should not be flat at bottom, either within or without ; a flat-bottoined manger injures the horse about the head when risino- and about the leos or knees when pawing : from these reasons, it is best if concave within, and convex without. Previously to bringing a horse to your stable, you should enquire how he has been generally treated ; for too great a change, either in his food or treatment, may operate in- juriously. Horses purchased from a dealer have most probably been kept in a warm stable, and been fully cloth- ed, highly fed, and rarely exercised : — they may have fine coats, be in high spirits, and look lusty and well-; but they are often totally unfit for work, are easily heated by exer- tion, and subject to take cold upon the slightest change of temperature. To prevent this, make yourself acquainted with the paiticulars necessaiy, and act accordingly, sub- jecting him hy degrees to your peculiar mode of treat ment. >^* sootne and coax the horse, and get over the business as expedi- tiously as he well can. The arm strap is sometimes used; but this is so often produ(^tive of injury to the horse by throwing: him down, that we will not further recommend or describe it. Dressing after work is essential, and should not be ne- glected or slovenly done. The process itself necessarily varies : horses that have been merely slowly worked, only require to be dried and cleaned ; those that have been at fast w^ork, require more attention. In winter, the horse comes off the road, heated, wet, and muddy ; and in sum- mer, he is hot, drenched in perspiration, his coat matted, and sticking to the skin ; at times he may be cool, but wet and wretchedly muddy. In summer, after easy work, his feet and legs should be washed and dried, and his body dress- ed in the usual manner. The wisp dries where perspira- tion has moistened, the mud is removed by the currycomb, and the brush polishes the hair, and lays the dust. When thoroughly wet from rain or perspiration, he must be dried by means of the scraper and the wisp; and when heated, he must be walked about till cool, and then cleaned and dressed. The scraper is a very useful instrument : the groom, ta- king it in his hands, passes over the neck, back, belly, quarters, and sides — every place where it can operate ; ana with a gentle steady pressure, he removes the wet, mud, rain, and perspiration ; the legs are dried by a large sponge, being apt rather to be injured by the scraper : when thus treated, the horse, if hot, should be walked about a little ; if cool, he must be wisped and dried. No horse when perspiring copiously, after work, shouia be stabled or suffered to stand still ; he being then especi- ally susceptible of cold, or inflamed lungs. These evils may be prevented by keeping in gentle motion till cool. — The action of the heart, and the nerves, and their numerou*) auxiliaries, has been considerably increased, in thei-r en- deavours to aid the extraordidary muscular exertion de- manded by the taslr to which the horse has been put to. THE HO"RSE-KEEPER'S GUIDE. 29J The circulation, excited to a violent extent, does not tran- quillize itself so readily when exertion ceases ; the heart and the internal organs acting in unison, continue for a time the same energetic action which severe exertion re- quires, and, unless care be taken to prevent it, inflamma- tion ensues, from the irregulaiity ir. the distribution or cir- culation of the blood. Motion, gently kept up for a while, prevents this, from the reason that it keeps up the circula- tion of the blood, and tends to lay the extraordinory excite- ments to which the entire system has been subjected. As soon as the pulse indicates a more natural coolness, say under forty pulsations in one minute of time, further mo- tion may be suspended, and the operation of cleaning and putting the animal to rest may be commenced. The heat of the skin is not a safe criterion — the state of the pulse is the only safe guide. The horse should be led, not ridden. There ai'e other cases in which walking a horse just re- turned from work, is useful, besides when violently heated from exertion. In rainy w^eather, he may be quite wet, but not heated ; should there be no one at hand to dry his skin, he will soon begin to shiver. In any such case, walk the horse about for a time ; for were he to stand at rest while in this state, a severe cold, and all its unpleasant con- sequences, would most probably be the result. This case is exactly analagous to where an individual stands still in his wet clothes ; and the result in both instances are very nearly the same. The best way to dry a wet horse, is to rub him with wisps; this however requires both strength and experience to do well ; an idle or a neglectful stable- man may rub a horse for an hour or more, and yet not halt dry his skin. F'irst, with the scraper, take away all the \> ater you can ; then rub the skin with soft wisps, often changing them, that the moisture may thereby be absorb- ed : the legs and under part of the body should be especi- ally looked to. When the horse is thus dried, there is lit- tle probabihty of his catching cold; the friction of the wisp keeps up the circulation of the blood, and the horse may be put up without any fear of mischief accruing. It may, however, happen that a heated or wet horse can- not be immediately attended to, nor kept in motion. In such a case, give him a scraping, to remove the worst oi the wet or perspiration, and then clothe him ; this will ren- der him much less likely to tak- cold, and may be cciisid 302 GROOMING. orcd as an expedient to be resorted to in extreme cases, but only to be continued so long as tlie stable-man is pre- Viinted from giving the necessary grooming to the horse ; the moment the stable-man is at liberty, let all due attention be given. The levin<2; a horse from THE horse-keeper's GUIDE. 299 grass and putting him too suddenly into a stable, where he is fed upon oats and hay ; or by feeding him too high, with little or no exercise. Fever, when thus induced, does not require medicine ; a copious and early bleeding, is the best means of cure. — • Bleed till faintness is produced ; from one to two gallons of blood should be taken. A light and moderate diet should be given for a few days, by which time he will have recovered. A dose of eight ounces of Epsom, or Glaub- er's salts, may be given with advantage the day after the blood-letting, and repeated, if thought useful, o.n the fourth day. Let the horse be kept cool, not wari/.ly clothed, nor in a stable where the warmth is any higi^ r than temper- ate; if he be turned out into a field, when the weather is favourable, it will be as well. Inflammatio.v. — When to the first symptoms of this dis- ease, usually exhibited in a heaviness, redness of the mem- branes under the eyelids, want of appetite, and disincli- nation to motion, that of delirium or madness is added, — when the horse becomes violent, plunges about, and en- deavours to bite every thing, inflammation is then very ac- tive in operation, and must be checked. — In this case, a horse, after a fit of delirium, sometimes falls down, as if ex- hausted, and after lying fur a time, gets up suddenly, and becomes as violent as ever. The treatment in this is the same as in the previous case, early and copious bleeding, but to a greater extent; he must now be bled until per- fectly free from delirium, and at least two to three gallons of blood must be taken. — in other respects, the remedial treatment may be the same as in the preceding case. Staggers, — This is also an inflammatory disease, but is produced by very different causes to either of the prece- ding : staggers are usually the consequence of improper feeding, or rather of unwholesome food, as bad or foul hay, or rank grass ; and are evidently induced by a cause which impairs the digestive system, and leaves the stomach dis- tended with undigested food. This disease is called by a variety of names, as lethargy, apoplexy, epilepsy, vertigo, convulsions, &c. ; it presents itself under two distinct forms, which raa^ be described as sleeping staggers, and mad staggers. When the sleeping staggers attack a horse, he nangs his head as if unable to hold it up ; is dull and inactive, and 21 300 DISEASES OF HORSES. fi-equently falls asleep, even while eating, a.ul with the fl)od in his mouth : he reels or staggers about, as if intox icated, and sometimes falls down insensible ; the eyes ap- pear watery and in (lamed, and often, as well as the mouth have a yellow cast about them : the pulse is very unecjual, now slow, and then quicker than usual. — When to the watery running of the eyes and the deep stupor which at- tacks the horse, these are succeeded by paroxisms of vio- lence and delirium, the animal plunging about, and beating himself against whatever stands in his way, a wild and unconscious look in his countenance, the disease may then be termed mad staggers, inflammation of the brain beincr now present. As soon as the fit or attack of mad staggers is over, the horse falls down as if quite inactive for a few minutes ; his eyes become dim, and his limbs stretch out, as if dyino- : his fits however soon resume their impetuosity, and he becomes more furious than ever. In this state it is dan- gerous to approach him , while if nothing be done to alle viate the disease, it terminates fatally. The best remedial treatment for this disease, in either state, is early and copious bleeding, taking from four to six quarts at once, and again in five or six hours, if neces- sary. Beat up into a ball, the following ingredients, and give it immediately after bleeding : Castile soap, two drams ; Calomel and assafcetida, each - - two drams. The following purgative mixture should be given immedi- ately after the ball : Aloes, --.---._ seven drams ; Castile soap and ginger, each two drams ; Epsom salts, four ounces. The aloes and ginger should be powdered together, Lii when well mixed, with the other ingredients, in a pint and a half of rue-tea ; simmer the whole about ten minutes, and give it milk-warm. The mixture will assist the operation of the ball, and clear the stomach of the undigested mass by which it is clogged. — If the medicine fails to operate briskly, within ten or twelve hours, the rectum, or last bowel, from which the dung is voided, should be emptied by a small hand, and the following clyster administered: Water, v-'arm, one gallon ; THE HORSE-KEEPER S GUIDE. 301 Glauber's salts, and treacle, each, four ounces ; Sweet oil, half a pint. The treacle and salts should be dissolved in the vvaim water, and the oil then added. Before this clyster is administered, the lump of undi gested mattsr, or hardened dung, the chief cause of the disease, should be taken away : to do this, let a small hand be dipped in the clyster, or rubbed with sweet oil, and gently passed up the fundament, till it feels the dung, which it should then bring away. Then administer the clyster with a pipe about twelve inches long, and a strong bladder, with the clyster in it, fixed at one end, through which the clyster should be forced by twisting the bladder with your hands. As soon as it is passed into the horse, take away the pipe, and instantly hold a wisp of straw to the fundament for about ten minutes. This is a better way of administering a clyster than when given by a sy- ringe. Inflammation of the Intestines. — Like the prece- ding, this is an inflammatory complaint, and has a number of names, as enterites, gi'ipes, inflammatory colic, &c. — Over exertion, sudden change of temperature, drinking cold water while heated, or gi-eedily eating of new hay, grass, or new corn, may induce it ; but as it impairs the healthful action of the intestines, it must be removed, or it increases in virulence and often terminates fatally. The presence of the complaint, usually first exhibiting only windy colic, is indicated by the horse often lying down, and suddenly springing up again ; he refuses his food, stamps with his fore feet, and strikes his belly with his hind feet ; his body is convulsed, his b/^-s turn up, and his limbs stretch out with a spasmodic motion : his ears and feet are sometimes hot and again cold ; he f Jls into a pro- fuse perspiration, which is succeeded by shivering fits ; his endeavours to stale, evidently painful, are without success : he continually tunis his head towards his flank, as if poirt- ii.g out the seat of pain ; he then falls djwn, rolls over and turns on his back. The more advanced stage of the complaint is attended with fever, heat and dryness of the mouth, tongue white, skin hot and dry, except about the ears, which are mostly cold ; continued pain in the belly : he lies down, and rises again suddenly, but in this stage of the disease, he does 26 302 DISEASES OF HORSES. not turn on his back ; pulse quick and small ; and breath in<^ wliort and quick. If the pulse be quick, hard, and small, and any fever ox hibit itself, then the inflammation has attacked the intes- tines, and tlie remedial means must be immediately ap- plied : of these, copious bleeding is the first and most ef- ficacious : five or six quarts of blood should be taken at once ; and if the symptoms do not abate, the bleeding should be repeated a second, third, and even a fourth time ; but not so copiously as at first, the quantity being reduced to quarts, and at last to as many pints. After the first bleeding, give him a clyster, in the very same manner as recommended in the preceeding complaint, (page 76), the small hand being used to remove the hardened dung, which is almost always present in these cases. — Repeat the clys- ter every three hours, for two or three times, till success- ful. As soon as the first clyster is given, prepare and give the following drink : Castor oil, (by weight) - twenty-four ounces ; Tincture of opium, - - - half an ounce ; Warm gruel, one quart. Repeat this about twelve hours, if a passage through the .ntestines be not previously obtained. When the feverish heat has abated, the appetite partial- ly returned, and the horse in a fair way of recovery, the following restorative drink, given milk-warm, will be use- ful : Aniseeds, and carraway-seeds, each, - half an ounce ; Ginger and Castile soap, each, - - - half an ounce ; Nitre and Peruvian bark, each, ... one ounce ; Tincture of opium, two drams ; Lenitive electuary, four ounces. Mix these ingredients in a quart of warm gruel, and give it every morning or every other morning, fasting, for three or four times. Jaundice, or Yellows. — This is not, like the preced- ing, an inflammatory disease, but arises from a morbid or imperfect action of the kidneys. The use of the kidneys, m the animal structure, is that of absorbing, and passing off' to the bladder, the urinary fluid, which, if not removed, would produce disease ; an increased action thrown on THE horse-keeper's GtTIDE. 303 the kidneys, as well as giving bad oats or musty hay, or fresh gi'een tares in too great a quantity, causes inflamma- tion of the kidneys or bladder, or both ; which we shall presently notice. The Yellows, or Jaundice, is a disease which rarely ap- pears by itself; it is usually accompanied by some disease of the internal organs : its principal symptoms are — a yel- lowness in and about the mouth, and the inner parts of the eyes and eye-lids ; the urinary fluid is of a similar colour, and the dung generally hard ; the animal is dull and hea- vy, loses his appetite, has usually a low fever, and becomes weak and spiiitless. To cure this disease, first bleed the horse, more or less, according to the fulness of blood in the animal, or extent of the fever ; but not copiously, unless inflammation be in- dicated by the pulse being quick and strong, and the ex- tremities be unusually cold ; in such cases, bleed more co- piously, and afterwards inject the clyster in the way pre- scribed in page 76, repeating it once or twice in the same day. About two hours after the bleeding, give a ball made up of the following ingredients : JBarbadoes aloes, . . . _ two drams ; Powdered myrrh and Castile soap, each two drams ; Colomel, -.-.-. half a dram ; Tartarised antimony, - . . one dram. Make it up into a ball with honey, and repeat it once a day until it purges ; after which, if fever still exists, give the following fever ball : Antimonial powder, - . . two dram^ ; Castile soap and camomile powder, each - two drams; Camphor and honey, each, - - one dram ; Nitre, ------ half an oz. Mix the several ingredients into a ball with honey, and give it : repeating it a second or third time, which will generally be found suflicient. Should the bowels have been relaxed from the begin- ning, do not give the bail with the aloes, but substitute the following instead : Cascarilla, powdered, - - two drams ; Tartarized antimony, - - one and a half drain Opium, - - - - one dram : GaJomel - - - half a dram 304 DISEASES OF HORSES. Form it into a l)nll with honey, and repeat it, daily, till tha bowels are restored ; when you may give the fever ball above prescribed. Diabetes. — This is another disease of the kidneys, in- duced by feeding on musty oats, or bad hay, or by too fre- quent a repetition, by the groom, of the medicine termed " diuretic balls," which some are particularly partial to giving. It differs from the preceding disease, the jaun- dice, that being a morbid or sluggish action of the kidneys, Ml which the secretion of urine is not sufficiently active ; while in diabetes, the vei ' -pposite is the case ; here the kidneys may be said to do more than their healthy duty, and produce too copious an evacuation of thickened mat- ter, rather than the usual thin watery urine of health. The best way of curing this disease, is to allow the horse but little drink, and give him a change of food, and that of the best quality : should too free a use of diuretic medi- cine have been a producing cause, then a few small doses of aloes, given in combination with stomachics, and repea- ted till the bowels be opened, may produce the desired re- sult ; or the following stringent ball may be given with the best effects : Galls, and alum, finely powdered, each, two drams ; Peruvian bark, ... half an ounce. Make it into a ball with honey, and repeat it every morn- ing, and if the disease be obstinate, twice a day, about eve- ry twelve hours, until the urine be diminished to its usual and natural quantity and quality. In all cases of these kinds, after much medicine has been given to operate upon the bowels, the following restora- tive ball may be administered with advantage : Powdered ginger, ... two drams ; Gential root, powdered - - half an ounce ; Alum, one dram. Made into a ball with treacle, and repeated two or three times. Inflammation of the Lungs. — The term by which this disease is known among medical men, is Pnf»umonia. Its first appearances are — a shiveiing fit, extreme dulness, unwillingness to move, loss of appetite, and quickened breathing. If not removed, more decided symptoms sue ceed ; 03 coldness of extremities, oppressed pulse, expand THE horse-keeper's GUIDE. 305 eJ nostrils, considerable heaving of the flanks, purple tinfro of the nasal membrane, redness about the eye, a fixed wide position of the fore quarters ; should he attempt tc lie down, a great difficulty of breathing ; countenance beto- kening pain, and mouth hot and dry. The causes of this disease are, usually, — immoderate ex- ertion, and suddenly suppressed perspiration, induced by sudden changes from heat to cold, or the contrary. The best method of cure is to bleed freely, from one to two gal- Ions taken quickly from a large orifice, to give immediate relief to the head and arteries : in six or eight hours bleed again, but in less degree. If the horse faint before you take the quantity of blood, pin up the orifice, and give a clyster (see page 76), repeating it once or twice, if neces- sary ; and if the bowels be not opened soon, give also the followino: drink : Epsom salts, . - . - six ounces ; Castor oil, .... four ounces ; Coarse sugar, .... three ounces. Beat up the yolk of an egg into a pint and a half of tea, then well mix up the above ingredients into it, and give it milk- warm. But if the bowels be not bound, then, instead of the above, give the following : Nitre, .... half a dram ; Digitalis, .... one dram ; Emetic tartar, ... two drams : Made into a ball with aromatic confection. The horse, especially in winter, must be kept warm, not by hot air, but by a body cloth and hood, and his legs should also be bandaged, — hot air acts as a kind of poison, on fevers or inflammations, and increases every kind of inflammation ; pure, cool, dry air, will assist ; and in the course of a day or two the symptoms will abate, and the appetite will return. Farcy. — This is a disease of the absorbents — those in- ternal organs, the proper action of which carry on the digestive process, and promote the animal's health ; but which, when impaired or diseased, produce a derangement of the healthy functions, and terminate in some chronic disease, or end in death. The peculiar characteristic of farcy is, that it is the first symptom of a disease, which if not the same as glanders, is marked in several res2')ect3 aa 26* 306 DlSKASKS OF HORSES. very similar, and ultimately terminates in that contagious 6u. ■■■f^^i.