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 <rroater or smaller quantity of blood. By the number and the force 
 of^the pulsations tho dejrree of fever is indicated with considerable 
 certainty. The heat of the mouth, and of the base of the horns, will 
 oe important jruides; but a much safer one, and more clearly ascer- 
 tainin<r the extent and the nature of the fever, is the action of the 
 heart faithfully represented by the pulse. Wherever the finger can 
 be placed on an artery that is not too thickly covered by cellular 
 membrane or fat, and that has some firm substance beneath, the 
 pulse may be felt ; but most conveniently so where, at the back part 
 of the lower jaw, the artery comes from the channel between the 
 jaws, and passes over the edge of the jaw-bone, to ramify on the 
 face. 
 
 The natural pulse of the full-grown ox varies from 50 to 55 beats 
 in a minute, but is quicker in milch cows than in oxen, arid particu- 
 larly towards the period of parturition. A pulse much quicker than 
 that here stated denotes fever or inflammation; whilst one much 
 slower indicates sluggishness of the circulation, or debility. 
 
 There are other circumstances, however, to be taken into the ac- 
 count, — as the force or the weakness of the heart's action, — strong 
 and bounding at the beginning of inflammatory fever, and weak and 
 scarcely to be felt when that fever is assuming a putrid form. The 
 regularity or irregularity of the pulse is also an important considera- 
 tion as characterising the kind of irritability under which the heart 
 labours. They who have to do with cattle will find it of immense 
 advantage to study the pulse, and especially in reference to the pro- 
 priety of bleeding; for a large bleeding will, in some cases, cut the 
 disease short at once, while at other times it would destroy the re- 
 maining strength of the animal, and ensure and hasten its death. 
 
 The blood flows through the arteries principally by the impulsive 
 power of the heart. The arteries, however, possess a controlling in- 
 fluence independent of the heart, and can, under circumstances of 
 necessity or disease, supply a deficiency of action in the heart, or 
 neutralize its too violent efforts. 
 
 At the termination of the arteries, and branching from them at every 
 point of their course, are other vessels as small as a hair, or a thou- 
 sand times smaller, through which the blood must find its way. 
 These are the capillaries^ and in them, or in the glands into which 
 they enter, or which they compose, all the important offices of secre- 
 tion and nutrition are performed. These offices being discharged, 
 and the various portions of the frame being built up, the blood has 
 materially changed. From, being of a scarlet colour it has become 
 black — from being capable of supporting life it is poisonous — from 
 arterial it is changed to venous — and, these capillary vessels running 
 into each other and gradually enlarging, we begin to recognise the 
 veins. The veins commence where the arteries terminate, and by 
 them the black blood is collected, and carried back to the heart, tc be 
 thence pumped into the lungs, for the purpose of re-purification. 
 
INTRODUCTION. 2x 
 
 The blood traverses the veins also by the power of the heart, but 
 exerted in a ditferent way. When the ventricle of the heart, after 
 having contracted upon its contents, opens again, it forms a vacuum 
 into which the neicrhbouring blood flows by a mechanical principle, 
 viz. the pressure of the atmosphere. The fire-engine is supplied with 
 water from the reservoir by the same principle, although the pipe 
 through which it flows may be a quarter of a mile in length. Besides 
 this, where there are muscles by the action of which the vein may 
 be compressed, provision is made that the flow of blood shall be 
 assisted and not retarded ; for there are numerous membranous valves, 
 which open in the natural direction of the current, and would close 
 if the current were to take a retrograde course. All the veins con- 
 nected with the muscles are abundantly supplied with such valves, 
 so that, by every contraction of the muscle, or motion of the limb, 
 the blood is forced on more rapidly in its natural course, and the 
 possibility of retrograding is prevented. This accounts for the in- 
 creased flow of blood on exercise, and the greater rapidity with which 
 the blood escapes in venesection, when the jaw of the ox is moved 
 by introducing the finger into the mouth. 
 
 The Organs of Respiration. — Respiration is so absolutely essential 
 to the life of quadrupeds, that, if it is suspended for a few minutes, 
 the animal dies suffocated. The act of Respiration is the alternate 
 reception and expulsion of air into and from the lungs, and, during 
 which, the blood traverses a set of vessels in the lungs, where it is 
 exposed to the action of this air, and changed by it, and rendered 
 capable of supporting animal life. The air which is to effect a salu- 
 tary change in the iDlood is received partly through the mouth, but 
 mostly through the nostril in cattle, and enters 
 
 The Windpipe, a long tube situated in the fore part of the neck, 
 and leading from the back of the mouth to the lungs. On the top of 
 it is a triangular cartilaginous substance, which permits the passage 
 of the air either way, but closes the mouth of the windpipe when the 
 animal swallows its food, and so prevents any substance from getting 
 into this lube, and annoying, or perhaps destroying, the beast. 
 
 The windpipe consists of numerous circular ring? formed of dense 
 cartilage, and these are connected together by a strong ligamentous 
 substance which is very elastic : this peculiar structure not only 
 renders the windpipe very flexible, but keeps it constantly open. 
 The whole passage is lubricated with a viscid fluid, secreted from 
 the membrane lining its internal surface. 
 
 Immediately before it arrives at the lungs, the windpipe divides 
 into two distinct tubes, and these, as soon as they enter into the 
 lungs?, subdivide until they are too minute to be traced by the naked 
 eye and at length terminate in an innumerable series of minute cells. 
 Upon the membrane lining these cells the vessels which have con- 
 veyed the venous blood to the lungs ramify, and there is nothing 
 interposed between the air and the blood but the membrane forming^ 
 the cells, and the thin covering of the blood-vessels. 
 
22 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 The air is introduced into these cells in Uie fdllowinfr' manner: — . 
 The chest and the helly arc divided from e.ich other by a very strong 
 niuscuUir ex}Kui.sion called the di/iphragm, or uiidrill', or skirt. In its 
 natural state it is of an arched form, and bultres considerably into tlie 
 chest. \\ hen it is excited to ac*wi:n, it contracts ; it becomes strais^httr; 
 the bulging into the chest is diminished, and the carity of the chest 
 proportionally increased ; and if, at the same time, the muscles w hich 
 are between each rib, and which have the power to elevate or depress 
 the ribs, likewise act and raise them, the cavity becomes yet more 
 enlaroed ; and the consequence of this necessarily is, that there would, 
 if possible, be a vacuum between the lungs and the walls of the chest. 
 To prevent this, or, more properly speaking, forced by the inequality 
 of atmospheric pressure thus produced, air rushes into the nose, passes 
 down the windpipe, inflates and fills up the lungs, and is thus brought 
 into contact with the blood. After a short time the diaphragm and 
 the muscles of the ribs cease to act, and the former begins to bulge 
 again into the chest, and the latter to fall, and the cavity of the chest 
 is contracted, and the lungs are squeezed into their former bulk, and 
 the air which had entered is pressed out again. 
 
 A most important process, however, has been performed during 
 this entrance and expulsion of the air. Both the air and the blood 
 have been changed : the air has become poisonous, and the blood has 
 eecome capable of supporting life. A great quantity of what used to 
 be termed pure air, uxt/geii, is taken from that which was inhaled; a 
 portion of it unites with the poison of the blood — the carbon — and 
 forms carbonic acid gas — fixed air — and which is expelled when 
 the air is returned in the act of expiration; while another portion of 
 it enters into the composition of the blood, and either remains there 
 unchanged, or becomes combined with some of the multifarious sub- 
 stances that make up the blood. The air has taken carbon from the 
 blood, and communicated oxygen to it. 
 
 This change, both of the air and the blood, is not so marked in the 
 ox as in most other animals. He does not seem to have so much 
 poison to get rid of, nor needs he to steal so much vital air from the 
 atmosphere, and therefore the cow-house, however close, is seldom 
 offensive. The breath of the cow is even pleasant, and consum|)tive 
 persons have fancied that they have derived benefit from inhaling it. 
 
 The inside of the chest, and of the diaphragm, and also the whole 
 external surface of the lungs, are covered by a smooth membrane 
 called the pleura, which secretes a serous fluid, which in its natural 
 quantity preserves the surfaces moist, and prevents friction, but in 
 undue and unheiilthy quantity constitutes dropsy of the chest. 
 
 7'he Orfrans of Digestion. — 'I'he food received by all animals 
 affords, by the process of digestion, a nutritious fluid of a milky co- 
 lour, called chyle; which is absorbed into the system, and soon 
 enters the circulating mass of blood, and becomes itself converted 
 into blood : thereby repairing the waste that this fluid suffers in 
 nourishing the body, and also supplying the materials for all the 
 
I X T R O D U C T I O \ . 23 
 
 Btrangely various secretions. The orgrans of dig-estion in neat cattle 
 are nfore complicated than in the horse, or in man ; for the latter have 
 oulj' one stomach, but these have four stomachs. This, probably, 
 renders them more liable, particularly in their present domesticated 
 slate, to diseases of the digestive organs. 
 
 The gullet is a thick fleshy canafthat receives the food from the 
 mouth, In its passage into the first stomach, and having afterwards 
 returned it to the mouth for the purpose of re-mastication, once more 
 leceives it, and conveys it into a canal at its base. 
 
 The grass is cropped, and having been slightly chewed, is covered 
 U5 the mucus of the mouth, and formed by the tongue into a kind of 
 |;ellet that can be swallowed. It then passes down the gullet, and 
 arrives at this canal. If this canal vrere pursued it would lead on to 
 the manypli.es, or third stomach ; but its floor is curiously constructed. 
 It is formed of two rounded muscular bands, which may be held t(> 
 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 ch<jlc — the other, 
 that which is afterwards to be expelled from the sys.em. The sepa- 
 ration is at first but partial : more and more nutritive matter is ex- 
 tracted as the mass rolls on, and, at length, noJiing that is useful 
 remains. 
 
 This nutritive matter, the chyle, is not si:,ftered to pass far along 
 the intestinal canal, but is taken up or abso'.tved by numerous minute 
 vessels that open on the inside of the bowels, and is conveyed by 
 them into the circulation, where it is miy.oi with the blood, and con- 
 verted into blood, and prepared for builAing up the various portions 
 of the frame. All along the small intestines, — the duodenum, jtjunum^ 
 and iltum, — this separation continues to be made, and these vessels 
 at length convey away all the useful portion of the food. 
 
 The residue, having arrived at the larger intestines, which now 
 succeed, and containing no lonsfer anything that can be thus changed 
 into chyle, these vessels, the lacieals, are no longer found in cattle; 
 but nevertheless there are other vessels, absorbents, which take up the 
 fluid parts of the faeces, and extract from them what may ultimately 
 contribute to nutriment. It is on this account ihat, when an animal 
 is unable to eat, w^e can support him for a considerable period by 
 means of nutritive fluids injected into the bowels, and which can 
 only reach to the large intestines. 
 
 In most herbi 'erous animals there is a provision made by a curious 
 cell-like structu -e of the colon and caecum, (the most considerab>3 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- 
 tainin<r numerous little vesicles or bladders called ova, or eorirs ; and 
 the collection of them is denominated the ovaries. At the time of 
 conception one of these ova escapes, and slowly descends the tube 
 and enters the womb. It is the germ of the future animal, but scarcely 
 lar<rer tlian a pea. Arrived in the womb it floats there for a while, 
 and at Icnirth becomes attached to some portion of it. When it de- 
 scended ii was enveloped by two membranes or coats, and two others 
 now rapidly form over it from the uterus. They are exceedingly 
 vascular, and by means of them, and the vessels proceeding from 
 them, not only is nourishment conveyed to the foetus, but the blood 
 which has circulated through its little frame is purified. 
 
 At the fourth week it has attained the size of a mouse, and every 
 limb is to be seen nearly perfect, although in miniature. It has eyes, 
 although at present it sees not, and a mouth, but no food enters it: 
 the 'untrs perform no office, and the stomach receives no nourish- 
 ment ; but the blood of the mother is sufficient for its nutriment and 
 its growth. 
 
 In the cow and other ruminant animals there are a vast number of 
 red prominences between the membranes, consisting of thousands of 
 convolutions and ramifications of blood-vessels : they were designed, 
 probably, more completely to purify the blood, and render it more fit 
 for the nourishment and rapid growth of the quadrupeds that are des- 
 tined to contribute to the food of man. 
 
 In the fourth month the foetal calf is large, but the skin is not 
 covered with hair. About the sixth or seventh month the hair has 
 spread over it, and a* the expiration of nine months the animal is 
 sufficiently well formed and strong to change its mode of existence. 
 The womb has now attained its greatest degree of distention : it be- 
 comes irritated ; its muscular fibres begin to contract; labour comes 
 on, and, assisted by the diaphragm and abdominal muscles, the calf 
 and its membranes are expelled, and the young animal is born. 
 
 As the pelvis, from its horizontal position, may safely be nmch 
 larger in these animals than in the human female, parturition is, 
 generally speaking, not dangerous or very painful in the quadruped. 
 Difficult labours, however, and false presentations will sometimes 
 occur, of which notice will be taken in the proper place. 
 
 The Udder. — The udder is a large glandular organ, destined to 
 secrete milk for the nourishment of the young calf. As the produce 
 of the cow is confined to one, or at most to two calves at a birth, the 
 udder would perhaps have been only double, as in the mare, were it 
 not that tliis animal is intended to yield the greater part of her milk 
 for the nourishment of man. The bag is therefore quadruple, or there 
 are four distinct partitions of it. 
 
 The udder is made up of numerous minute branches of arteries, 
 from the ex-iemities of which the milk is secreted. This secretion is 
 always goincr on. The bag of a milch cow is always gradually filling, 
 fel a'c-<nsid( rable proportion of that which is given is secreted at the 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 31 
 
 time of iTiilking: for it must be evident to the most careless oliserrer, 
 that the udder could not possibly contain one-half of the milk which 
 a good dairy cow will sometimes yield. The milk is also given in 
 greater or less quantities at the will of the animal. A cow will some- 
 times not yield a drop of milk to a stranger calf, \vhile to her own she 
 will pour it out in abundance. In this she is perhaps assisted by the 
 valves which are placed over the orifice of each teat, in order to pre- 
 vent the milk from running out. When the calf is sucking, he is 
 peen to push the teat upwards, he then lifts these valves : the dexter- 
 ous milk-maid is well acquainted with the method of accomplishing 
 the same object. 
 
 NUMBER OF NEAT CATTLE IN EACH STATE, 
 
 ACCORDING TO THE CENSUS OF 1840. 
 
 1. Maine, ^!!'?^^ 
 
 2. New Hampshire, 275,562 
 
 3. Massachusetts, 282,574 
 
 4. Rhode Island, 36,891 
 
 5. Connecticut, 238,650 
 
 6. Vermont, 384,341 
 
 7. New York, 1,911,244 
 
 8. New Jersey, 220,202 
 
 9. Pennsylvania, 1,172,665 
 
 10. Delaware, 53,883 
 
 11. Maryland, 225,714 
 
 12. Virginia, 1,024,148 
 
 13. North Carolina, • 617,371 
 
 14. South Carolina, 572,608 
 
 15. Georgia, 884,414 
 
 16. Alabama, 668,018 
 
 17. Mississippi, 623,197 
 
 18. Louisiana, 381,248 
 
 19. Tennessee, 822,851 
 
 20. Kentucky, 787,093 
 
 21. Ohio, 1,217,874 
 
 22. Indiana, 619,980 
 
 23. Illinois, 626,274 
 
 24. Missouri, 433,875 
 
 25. Arkansas, 188,786 
 
 26. Michigan, 185,190 
 
 27. Florida n«.081 
 
 28. Wisconsin 30,269 
 
 29. Iowa 38.049 
 
 30. District of Columbia, 3,274 
 
 Total, 14,971,536 
 
 3 
 
EXPLANATIONS OF THE OPPOSITE CUT. 
 
 1 Tbe temporal bone 
 
 2. The frontal bone, or bone of the forehead. 
 
 3. Tlie orbit of the eye. 
 
 4. The lachrymal bone. 
 
 5. The mahir, or cheek bone. 
 0. The upper jaw-bone. 
 
 7. The nasal bone, or bone of the nose, 
 
 8. Tlie nippers, found on the lower jaw alone. 
 
 9. The eight true ribs. 
 
 10. The humerus, or lower bone of the shoulder. 
 
 11. The sternum. 
 
 12. The ulna, its upper part forming the elbow. 
 
 13. The ulna. 
 
 14. The radius, or principal bone of the arm, 
 
 15. The small bones of the knee. 
 
 16 The large metacarpal, or shank bone. 
 
 17. The bifurcation at the pasterns, and the two larger past«rn* to each fooC 
 
 18. The sessamoid hones. 
 
 19. ^I'he biturcation of the pasterns. 
 
 20. The lower jaw and the grinders. 
 
 21. The vertebra}, or bones of the neck. 
 
 22. The navicular bones. 
 
 23. The two-cotfin bones to each foot. 
 
 24. The two smaller pasterns to each foot. 
 
 25. The smaller or splint-bone. 
 
 26. The false ribs, with their cartilages. 
 
 27. The patella, or bone of the knee. 
 
 28. The small bones of the hock. 
 
 29. The metatarsals, or larger bones of the hind leg 
 
 30. The pasterns and feet. 
 
 31. The small bones of the hock. 
 
 32. The point of the hock. 
 
 33. The tibia, or proper leg-bone. 
 
 34. The thigh-bone. 
 
 35. The bones of the tail. 
 
 ^l!" I The haunch and pehds. 
 
 38. The sacrum. 
 
 39. The bones of the loins. 
 
 40. The bones of the back. 
 
 41. The ligament of the neck and its attachmenta. 
 
 42. The scapula, or shoulder-blade. 
 
 43. The bones of the back. 
 
 44 The ligament of the jieck. 
 
 45 The dentata. 
 
 46. The atlas. 
 
 47. The occipital bone, deeply depressed below the crest or lidge of thi 
 
 head. 
 
 48. The parietal bone low in the temporal fossa. 
 
 49. The horns, being processes or continuations of the trontal bone. 
 
 (32) 
 
61 81 IT 91 ei H El el \^ )I 6 8 L 9 5 t S S T 
 
 Cfl 
 
 H 
 O 
 
 O 
 
 H 
 O 
 
ON 
 
 THE DISEASES 
 
 or 
 
 HORNED CATTLE. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 INFLAMMATION. 
 
 Inflammation is the most frequent diseased condition to which 
 neat cattle are subject. This may be owing to their peculiar organi- 
 zation in respect to the four stomachs, in which the food is completely 
 prepared and digested, so as to yield all its nutriment. This compli- 
 cated apparatus was necessary in the animals that were destined to 
 afford us so much liquid nutriment while living, and good fat and 
 flesh when dead ; and who must therefore be disposed to an occasional 
 redundancy of blood in the system, and consequently to inflamma- 
 tion. 
 
 External inflammation is known by the part being swulkn, tender, 
 and hotter than in its natural state. In garget or downfall of the 
 udder, which is an inflammation of one or more quarters of the bag, 
 the affected parts are swollen, tender, and hot. 
 
 If this state of the bag is neglected, matter or pus will probably be 
 formed. This is one of the consequences of inflammation, or one of 
 the methods by which the part, and the constitution generally, are 
 relieved, and which is usually denominated the suppurative process. 
 
 Should, however, the downfall be judiciously treated, the swelling 
 subsides, and the heat and tenderness gradually vanish : the inflam- 
 mation in this case is said to be resolved. This is most to be wished 
 for, and should always be attempted in inflammatory complaints. 
 
 In black-leg, a disease frequent in young cattle, the affected part 
 loses its sensibility, and becomes dark-coloured, and is said to be 
 mnrtified. It is then speedily separated, or ought to be separated 
 from the living portions around. Mortification is usually the result 
 of violent inflammation, by which the texture of the part is speedily 
 broken down, and its vitality destroyed. 
 
 (33) 
 
51 1 N r L A y\ yi A T I O ?( . 
 
 E.vtt-inal inflammation most frequently proceeds from wounds, or 
 oruists, or otlior 'acciilriits to wliicli cattle are liable. These produce 
 ditlererit decrees of disease, accordinfr to the severity of the iiij'iry ; 
 and when tlie inllaniination runs high, or continues lonp;, it alTccts 
 the whole symeni, and brinies on fever; or, in other words, a certain 
 de'j;ree ol infliunmatory action pervades tiie oritiro frame. 
 
 ICxternal inflammation sometimes results from causes which affect 
 the whole system, but the chief mischief of which is determined to 
 particular parts, from previous weakness in them, or disposition to 
 take on inflammation. This is the case with inflammation of the 
 udder of cows, or the joints of young cattle. The whole frame had 
 been exposed to cold ; but the udder of the cow that had lately calved 
 was very much disposed to inflammation, and the joints of young 
 cattle had not acquired their full strength. In inflammatory fever, 
 also, the inflammation will settle in particular parts, from causes 
 which it is impossible to explain, as in the tongue in blain, and in 
 the limbs in quarter evil. 
 
 The swelling of the inflamed part is principally to be ascribed tc 
 the increased quantity of blood passing through it. Every little vessel 
 is distended by the additional fluid it is compelled to carry ; and there 
 is likewise a greater deposition of fluid and solid matter in the cellu- 
 lar texture of the inflamed part : for every secretory vessel is doing 
 increased duty in proportion to the blood with which it is supplied. 
 
 In the minute ramifications of the vessels, the blood is changed 
 from arterial to venous ; and it is while this change is effecting that 
 animal heat is extricated or produced. In inflammation, a great deal 
 more than the natural quantity of blood is passing through these 
 vessels : a great deal more is changed from arterial to venous ; and a 
 great deal more heat must necessarily be evolved. 
 
 The tenderness is caused by the unnatural distension of the vessels, 
 and by their pressure on the neighbouring parts, and also the pressure 
 of the natural deposit produced by inflammation. The nerves of sen- 
 Bibility likewise unite very freely with the nerves of another order 
 that supply the capillaries; and when the nerves of the capillarira 
 are irritated, those of sensibility will become irritable too, and the 
 part will become so tender as not to be touched without extreme pain. 
 
 Internal Injiammatlon. 
 
 Internal inflammation is characterised by other and often more in- 
 distinct symptoms. We can here seldom ascertain the heat or ten- 
 derness or swelling of the part, and can usually only judge of the 
 complaint by the effect which it produces on the system. Every in- 
 ternal inflammation does, however, soon affect the system. There is 
 no inflammation of any important internal part that is not quickly 
 accompanied by fever; and that fever and the degree of it are easily 
 ascertained, by the heat of the breath and the mouth and the base of 
 the horn, by the redness of the eye, and the frequency and hardness 
 
INFLAMMATION. 35 
 
 of the pulse, the loss of appetite, and, often, the cessation of rumi- 
 narion. 
 
 'Vhe sj'^mptoms of internal inflammation will be related as the in 
 flammation of each part comes before us. 
 
 Whether inflammation is internal or external, resolution is to be 
 attempted, or, in other words, the inflammation is to be subdued. 
 
 W lien it seizes any important organ, as the brain, /u7igs, bowels, 
 kidneys, eyes, udder, or womb, bleeding is to be immediately had re- 
 course to; and, after bleeding, a purging drink is to be administered: 
 sometimes it is necessary to insert a seton in the dew-lap. 
 
 In external inflammation from severe bruises, wounds, and other 
 accidents, fomentation with warm water, poultices made of linseed 
 meal — when they can be applied — and the purging drink (\o. 2), 
 give much relief. If external inflammation is considerable, it will 
 always be necessary to bleed the beast. 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 BLEEDING, ITS UTILITY — AXD IN WHAT CASES NECESSARY. 
 
 Bleeding is a most useful and powerful remedy in the cure of in- 
 flammatory complaints. It lessens the quantity of blood in the vessels, 
 and diminishes nervous power. The following are the chief diseases 
 in which bleeding is required : — 
 
 1. Where animals in a thriving state rub themselves until the hair 
 comes off, and the spot is covered with a dry scab ; while at the same 
 time the eyes appear dull, languid, red, or inflamed, the breath hot, 
 and the veins puffed up, and considerably larger than usual. 
 
 2. In all kinds of inflammatory diseases, as of the brain, lungs, 
 kidneys, bowels, eyes, wunib, bladder, shape, and udder, or in swelling 
 of the joints. 
 
 3. In the disease called blain, and in which bleeding, not only 
 general but local, and local far more than general, has tlie best possi- 
 ble effect, the tumefaction usually almost immediately subsiding, and 
 the beast speedily recovering. 
 
 4. When the glands or kernels between the jaws, or those of the 
 throat, are enlarged, and especially if they are only recently affected, 
 immediate recourse should be had to bleeding, for otherwise the lunges 
 will probably become diseased, and dangerous or consumptive hoose 
 will speedily ensue. 
 
 5. In bruises, hurts, wounds upon the head, strains in different 
 parts, and all other accidents that may occur to the animal, and in 
 wliich there is reason to apprehend considerable inflammation, bleed* 
 ing will be proper. 
 
 6. In violent catarrh or cold, bleeding is employed ; but, in sligU* 
 cases, a few fev^r drinks will restore the animal. 
 
36 BLEEDING 
 
 7. Tho yellows, whon attended with feverish symptoms, or consti 
 pation of the bowels, reijuires hleediiifr. 
 
 'I'he manner of performing this operation is too well known to re 
 quire any description. 
 
 The Fleam is an instrument in (general use for oxen, and the jugulai 
 or neck vein is that which is mostly opened. Local bleeding is, how- 
 ever, in many cases particularly serviceable. In inflammation of the 
 eye, the eye-vein is frequently cut; in foot-halt, we sometimes bleed 
 at the toe; and in inllammation of the bowels, or the udder, or even 
 of the chest, blood is advantageously taken from the milk-vein. 
 
 The quantity of blood tliat it may be proper to take away at one 
 time cannot here be determined; but must be regulated by the size, 
 strength, and condition of the animal, and the disease under which 
 he labours. In many inflammatory complaints too much can hardly 
 be taken, provided the bleeding is stopped as soon as the patient 
 appears likely to faint or to fall down. A strong healthy beasc will 
 bear the loss of five or six quarts of blood, without the least injury. 
 Larger cattle, that are attacked with inflammatory complaints, will 
 profit by the abstraction of a greater quantity; seven or eight quarts 
 tuay be taken away with decided advantage : but when it is necessary 
 to repeat the bleeding, the degree of fever and the strength of the 
 beast will reg-ulate the quantity. The blood should flow from a large 
 orifice, for sudden depletion isfarmor^ powert\il in its operation than 
 when the blood is sutfered slowly to trickle down. The blood must 
 never be suffered to fall upon the ground^ but should be received into a 
 measure^ in order that the quantity taken maybe known. No absolute 
 quantity of blood should ever be prescribed, but when extensive bleed- 
 in<r is d(nnanded, the stream should flow until the pulse falters, or 
 intermits, or the animal begins to heave violently, or threatens to fall, 
 or other circumstances show that the system is sufficiently affected. 
 The beast should not be permitted to drink cold water immediately 
 after bleeding, nor to graze in the field : the former has sometime." 
 induced troublesome catarrh, and the latter may cause the orifice tc 
 open again. If this operation is performed in the summer season, it 
 will be^most prudent to fetch the cattle out of the pasture towards 
 evening, in order that they may be bled ; and, after that, to let them 
 stand in the fold-yard all night, and drive them back to the field on 
 the following morning. 
 
 CHAPTER IIL 
 
 ON PHYSIC. 
 
 Purging medicines operate by increasing the evacuation of fiycp^ 
 from the bowels, and thus often removinu- a very considi-rable source 
 of irritation. They augment the seen tie n of the eiiWlent ves.sels 
 
PHYSIC. 37 
 
 situated on the internal coat of the intestines, and thus, by producing 
 watery stools, lessen the quiintity of fluid circulating through the 
 system They divert the increased flow of the blood from the affected 
 orofan, and determine it to the bowels, which is well elucidated in 
 red water; and they have a peculiar influence on the nervous system, 
 augmenting the energy of the nerves distributed to the intestines, but 
 diminishing it in other parts of the system. 
 
 The chief purgatives in use for neat cattle are Glauber's salts, 
 Epsom salts, Barbadoes aloes, Linseed oil, and Sulphur. In obsti- 
 nate constipation of the bowels, ten or fifteen grains of the farina of 
 the Croton nut, freshly prepared, may be added with good eflect. 
 One pound of Glauber's, or Epsom salts, will purge a full-sized 
 beast. Aloes are very properly getting into disuse : they are uncertain 
 in their etfect, they require very considerable doses of them to be given 
 in order to act alone, and if they should be received into the rumen 
 they are apt to disgust and nauseate the animal. Half an ounce, or 
 six drachms of them, however, may be added to the salts in particular 
 diseases. Where there is considerable fever, or the attack of fever is 
 apprehended, there is no purgative so beneficial as the Epsom salts. 
 In bad cases, twenty-four ounces may be given at a dose, and eight 
 ounces of sulphur every six hours afterwards, until the full purgative 
 effect is produced. Linseed oil is rapidly superseding the more ex- 
 pensive and the more uncertain castor oil: the dose is from a pint 
 to a pint and a half. As a mild aperient, and in cases where there 
 is no ^reat decrree of fever, and a violent pnrs:e is not required, 
 there are few better things than vSulphur. Where nothinj: else is 
 at hand, and the case is urgent, Common Salt is no contemptible 
 medicine : a nound of it dissolved in water will produce a very fair 
 purgative effect, but it should not be given if the animal labours 
 under fever. The following are the cases in which purgative me- 
 dicines are found useful : — 
 
 1. I have known some graziers who, when feeding old cows (dur- 
 ing summer), have given them a purging drink about every siy 
 weeks, by way of keeping off the downfall, which in general has had 
 the desired effect, and has even caused them to fatten more rapidly. 
 
 2. A purging drink is very properly given to cows soon after 
 calvingr, in order to prevent the milk fever. 
 
 3. Neat cattle are naturally of a greedy and ravenous disposition, 
 and their appetite is hardly ever satisfied. Milch cows in particubir, 
 if feeding on herbage, or other food agreeable to their palate, will 
 often continue to graze until they are in danger of suffocation. Thus 
 the powers of digestion become over-burdened, and the animal appears 
 dull and heav}', and feverish symptoms are induced. Purgatives will 
 give the most effectual relief in these cases, and if tlie appetite does 
 not return soon after the physic, a cordial ball will be useful in re- 
 storing it. 
 
 4. Cows that are turned into fresh pastures sometimes become 
 oound in their bodv, in which case a purging drink must be imme- 
 
 4 
 
38 p 11 V s I c . 
 
 diately adininistorrd, and ropealed evory twelve hours, until the 
 desired elTect is obtained : a clyster should be j^iven, if the first drink 
 does nut operate. If the costiveness is accompanied with pain and 
 feverish symptoms, inflammation of the bowels is to be suspected, 
 and must be treated accordini^ly. 
 
 5. When red-water is recent, a purging drink or two w^ll often 
 completely remove it. 
 
 6. In the yellows it is generally necessary to give a purging drink, 
 and, after that, cordial tonic drinks, in order to invigorate the digestive 
 organs. 
 
 7. When medicines are given to prevent cows from slipping theii 
 calves, they are generally preceded by physic. 
 
 8. In all inflammatory complaints, a purging drink should be ad 
 mini'^lered after the bleeding. 
 
 9. If external inflammation, occasioned by wounds, bruises, and 
 other causes, runs high, and aflfects the whole system, purgative 
 medicines are absolutely necessary. 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 ON SETONING. 
 
 The utility of setoning for the cure of several diseases incident to 
 neat cattle cannot be doubted. There are many localities in which, 
 if farmers did not adopt this precaution, they would lose great num- 
 bers of their young from tiie black leg. 
 
 In some districts the hoose in calves is very prevalent and fatal *. 
 where this is the case, they should all be setoned when they are 
 getting into condition, and before they are attacked by the disease. 
 This will either lessen the violence of the complaint or prevent it 
 altogether. 
 
 In joint evil, I have frequently inserted a seton in the dewlap with 
 decided good effect. 
 
 Setoning will be often prescribed, in the course of this treatise, in 
 inflammatory complaints ; and it acts by exciting a new and artificial 
 inflammation in the neighbourhood of the former one, and thus lessen- 
 iMg its intensity. This plainly proceeds on the principle of diverlinor 
 to another part a portion of the blood which was determined to the 
 oriofinal one, while also a new direction is given to a portion of the 
 nervous influence or power which was concentrated on it. This is in 
 accordance with the generally received medical maxim, that no two 
 violent inflammations, of different character, can exist in neighbour- 
 ing parts at the same time; and that in proportion to the intensity of 
 the one the other will be diminished. 
 
 By the discharge which a seton produces it will huewise relvevfl 
 the overloaded vessels of a neighbouring inflamed part. 
 
SETONING. 39 
 
 Mode of inserting a Seton. — The seton is commonly made of tow 
 and horse hair plaited loaether, or cord or coarse tape alone, or lea- 
 ther. It should be tolerably thick, and eight, ten, or twelve inches 
 in lenffth. Before inserting the seton, it should be dipped in oil of 
 turpentine. The seton being now prepared, an assistant is to hold 
 the animal, while the soton-needle, with the cord affixed to it, is 
 plunged into the upper edge of the biisket or dewlap, and bmught 
 r.ut a°gaiu towards its lower edge : the space between the two open- 
 ings should be from four to eight inches The seton is to be secured 
 b/ fastening a small piece of wood, or tying a large knot at either 
 end of the cord. Matter will begin to run the second day, and, after 
 that, the cord should be drawn backwards and forwards two or three 
 times every day, in order to irritate the parts, and by this means in- 
 crease the discharge. 
 
 Wlien setoning is had recourse to in inflammatory complaints, the 
 cord should be dipped in the following blistering ointment: — 
 
 Blisterivg Ointment.— Take yellow basilicnn, one ounce; cantharides, in powder, 
 three dracluns ; spirit of turpeiitine, two fluid drachms. 
 
 This ointment will be found to act efficaciously and quickly in stima- 
 latino the parts to action, and hastening on the suppurative process. 
 
 Tire root of the common dock forms a very good seton, and one 
 that will act speedily and powerfully; but the best of all, where a 
 considerable effect is intended to be produced, is the root of the black 
 hellebore. This 'will very quickly cause considerable swelling as 
 well as discharge. 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 COLD AND COUGH — HOOSE. 
 
 A SIMPLE cold, attended by slight cough and discharge from the 
 nostrils, is easily removed. Warm housing, a few mashes, and thfe 
 following drink, will usually succeed : — 
 
 RECIPE (No. I). 
 Cough and Fever Drink —Take eniPtic tartar, one draclim ; powdered dicita'is, 
 Half a'' drachm; and nitre, three drachm?. Mix, and give in a quart of tolerably 
 thick e'ruel. 
 
 There are few things, however, more dangerous, if neglected, than 
 cough or hoose ; and there are few maladies that are so often ne- 
 glected. 
 
 The farmer will tro into the cow-house, or into the pasture, again 
 
 and again, and hear some of his cows coughii'.g, and that perhaps 
 
 hardly, or hollowly, or painfully; but, while they continue to chew 
 
 the cud, and do not waste in flesh, he thinks little about it, and aufl^TS 
 
 hem to take their chance. 
 
40 COLD AND COUGH H O S E . 
 
 I'ho innainnr.uion is sliglit; the niiimnl is scarcely ill at -.ill ; IVk 
 couuii remits aiid returns, with f)r witiioul his ohservation. He adds 
 10 it, peril. ij)s, by improper treatnient. He exjxscs the beast unne- 
 cessarily to cold or wet; or he crowds his cattle into stabl'^s shame- 
 fully small compared with the number of the animals, and the air \s 
 hoi and nauseous, and charg^ed with watery fluid thrown oil" from the 
 lunt^s and from the skin. The cough increases, it becomes hoarse, 
 and"'liarsh, and painful ; and that affection is established which oftener 
 jays the fouhdation for consumption and death than any other malady 
 to which these animals are exposed. 
 
 That firmer is inattentive to his own interests who suffers a cough, 
 and especially a hoarse, feeble cough, to hang about his cattle longer 
 than he can help. He should be warned in time, before his cows are 
 getting olf thtir feed, and becoming thin, and are half dry ; for then 
 it wiifgenerally be too late to seek for advice, or to have recourse to 
 medical care: the disease has fastened* upon a vital part, and the 
 constitution is undermined. 
 
 Cough occasionally assumes an epidemic character — from sudden 
 changes of the weather, chiefly and particularly in the spring and the 
 fall oi the vear : it then spreads over a great part of the country, and 
 is often particularly severe. 
 
 The symptoms of epidemic cold or catarrh, or influenza, as it ia 
 sometimes called, are frequently serious. The beast is dull and 
 heavy, with weeping at the eyes*, and dry muzzle; the hair looks 
 pen-feathered, or starring; the appetite fails; the secretion of milk ia 
 diminished; there is considerable heaving of the flanks ; the pulse 
 is from tiO to 70, and the bowels are generally costive or sapped. 
 
 Cattle that have been tenderly managed during the winter, and 
 cows after calving, are very subject to it, especially if they have been 
 poorly fed, or driven long distances, and exposed to a cold, piercing 
 wind. 
 
 It will be necessary to commence the treatment of this disease with 
 bleeding. From four'to six quarts of blood should be taken, and then 
 a dose of physic administered. The fallowing will be a good purga- 
 tive medicine in such a case : — 
 
 RI-XIPE (l^o. 2). 
 Pitr^ivfT Drink.— Take epsnm snlts. our pound ; powdered caraway-seeds, half an 
 OULcc." Ui.>is.)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:i<l car.luliy a i.!— 
 powm-rr.l squills, two cirai luiiti ; jiowilercd •,'nin t'liaiacnm. on.; dnirl'in ; li" turo of 
 balsam i)f Tolu, half an nuin;o ; lioney, two ounces. Give it nior.imi,' and Mii;lit. 
 
 Tlv TO is anolhor \v:iy in which the worms n\ny wiih greater cpr- 
 taiiil} be got rid of. Thore are some substances whicli are immediately 
 destructive to worms when brouoht into contact with them. Some of 
 these medicaments may be taken into the circulation of the animal 
 witli perfect safety to him, and prol)ably deatli to the worms. Among 
 those which most readily enter into the circulation after bein<r swal- 
 lowed is the oil or spirit of turpentine. The breath is very soon 
 afterwards tainted with its smell, which shows that a portion of it 
 has passed into the lungs. Therefore, when other means have failed, 
 and the continuance of the violent cough renders it extremely proba- 
 ble that worms are in the air passages, the following prescription 
 may be resorted to : 
 
 RECIPE (No. 5). 
 Turpentine Drink for TVorms. —Tnke oil of tiirpoptino, two onnces ; sweet spirit 
 of nitre, one ounce ; laudanum, half an ounce ; linseed oil, four ounces. Mix and 
 give in a pint of gruel. 
 
 This may be repeated every morning without the slightest danger ; 
 and even when we are a little afraid to give it longer by the mouth, it 
 may be thrown up in the form of an injection. A pint of lime water 
 every morning, and two table-spoonfuls of salt every afternoon, have 
 also been administered with advantage when worms are present in 
 the windpipe. 
 
 Before I quit the subject of hoose, I must repeat my caution against 
 the use of spices and cordials for the cure of this disease. Hundreds 
 of animals are yearly lost by this mode of treatment. As ea.sily may 
 a fire be put out by pouring oil upon it, as hoose, attended witli fever 
 (and it is so attended nine times out of ten), be subdued by the fiir- 
 rier's comfortable, or, in other words, highly stimulating, and almost 
 intoxicating drink. 
 
 Sliould the case a])pear to be obstinate, the exhibition of half doses 
 of physic every second or third day will often be useful, with the 
 following drink, morning and night, on each of the intermediate 
 days : — 
 
 RECIPE (No. C). 
 
 Take digitalis, one scruple; emetic tartar, half a drachm; nitre, three drachms' 
 powdered squills, one drachm; opium, one scruple. Mix, and give with a pint of 
 giuel. 
 
 A seton in the dewlap should never be omitted ; and if the disease 
 seems to be degenerating into inflammation of the lungs, the treat- 
 ment must be correspondingly active. 
 
 The termination of hoose that is most to be feared is consumption. 
 That will be indicated when the discharge from the nose becomes 
 nurulent, or bloody, and the breath stinkimj, and the cough oontinuea 
 to be violent, while the beasl feeds badly, and the eyes b^orin to ap 
 
COLD AND COUGH II O S E . 43 
 
 pear sunk in the head, and he rapidly loses flesh. The best remedy 
 here, so far as b-jth the owaer and the animul are concenied, is tiie 
 pole-axe of the butcher; for in the early part of the disease the meal 
 is not at all injured, and may be honestly sold. If, however, it is 
 wished that an attempt should be made to save the animal, the cough 
 and fever drink (No. 1, p. 46) may be given daily; more attention 
 should be paid to the warmth and comfort of the beast; and, if the 
 weather is favourable, it should, after a while, be turned into a salt 
 marsh, either entirely, or during the day. 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 INFLAMMATION OF THE LUNGS. 
 
 When common catarrh has been neglected, it will sometimes ran 
 on to inflammation of the lungs, or the beast may be attacked with 
 this disease without any of the previous symptoms of catanh. This 
 is a very serious complaint, and requires the most prompt and deci- 
 sive treatment. 
 
 The symptoms are dulness, shivering, and cough that is particu- 
 larly sore; the ears, roots of the horns, and legs are sometimes cold, 
 but not invariably so, as the quantity of cellular membrane about the 
 legs is often sufficient to keep them warm in spite of the nature of 
 the complaint; the breath and mouth are hot; the rnouth is gerierally 
 open, and there is a ropy discharge from it ; the beast will often lie 
 down, and can scarcely be induced to move; the flanks heave very 
 laboriously, and the head is protruded, showing the great difficulty 
 of breathing. The pulse is not always much increased in number, 
 but is oppressed, and can sometimes scarcely be felt. 
 
 Inflammation of the lungs is caused by the perspiration bein^ ob- 
 structed from sudden and great changes of the weather, especially 
 when accompanied with wet. Cattle that are driven long distances, 
 and then exposed to the cold and damp air of the night, are particu- 
 larly liable to it. In most cases it can be traced to the cattle being 
 imprudently exposed to cold ; but when the cause is not so apparent, 
 it oftenest attacks those that are in crood condition. 
 
 Young cattle, and particularly calves, are more subject to this dis- 
 ease than older ones; and in them it must be principally attributed 
 to their being in a state of plethora, that is, having a redundancy of 
 blood in their systems. 
 
 Sometimes the membrane covering the lungs and lining the chest 
 is the part principally attacked ; the disease is then termed pleurisy, 
 and is in this form often complicated with rheumatism, but it is more 
 usual for the substance of the lungs to be affected in common with 
 their envelopments. 
 
44 I N F L A M M A T I O N O F T HE LUNGS. 
 
 Copious bleedintr is ll\e remedy most to be depended on for siib- 
 duini^- llio innainiiiation, iind shoul i be bad recourse to as soon as the 
 disease is discov(>red. 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 su<lden and great change of pasture; dysentery is 
 a disease almost peculiar to the spring and autumn alone. It must 
 be confessed, however, that diarrhoea is sometimes the precursor of 
 dysentery in its worst form. 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 DYSENTERY, SLIMY FLUX, OR SCOURING ROT. 
 
 It has been just observed that this disease is most prevalent in the 
 spring and autumn, particularly in low, wet, and swampy situations. 
 It is one of the most fatal diseases to which oxen, and dairy cows in 
 particular, are subject, and destroys more than any other malady. 
 
 It begins with frequent and painful efforts to expel the dung, which 
 is thin, slimy, stinking, and olive-coloured. The animal, as appears 
 from his restless state, suffers much pain, frequently lying down and 
 soon rising again. There is also a frequent rumbling noise in the 
 intestines. If the disease is neglected, or improperly treated, the 
 beast gradually gets thin, although for awhile he retains his appetite, 
 and continues to ruminate; at length he evidently begins to get weak, 
 rumination is imperfectly performed, and the food passes from him 
 half digested. As this disease is often the consequence of a previous 
 affection of the liver, considerable tenderness will be discovered on 
 the spine, a little beyond the shoulders. This is one of the methods, 
 and a very good one, by which the farmer endeavours to ascertain 
 whether a beast which he is thinking of purchasing has the scouring 
 rot. As the disease proceeds, the dewlap hangs down and has a 
 flabby appearance; the dung runs off with a putrid and offensive 
 smell, and, as it falls upon the ground, rises up in bubbles, and a 
 membranous or skinny-like substance is often seen upon it : this is 
 occasioned by the natural mucus, which was given to defend the 
 Dowels, being discharged. In proportion to the quantity of mucus 
 that mingles with the faeces, the whole is rendered more adhesive, 
 and the bubW^es are larger, and remain longer on the dung. When 
 this is the case the disease is always obstinate, and generally fatal 
 
66 DYSENTERY 6l C . 
 
 Tho hair all over the body soon appears pen-fealhrred or starinor. 
 Fev(Tish symptoms also accompany the complaint: the eyes become 
 dull and iuHamed, there is much working of the flanks, and the pulse 
 's quick. 
 
 The causes of this dreadful malady are — takincr cold at the time 
 of calving; long journeys; exposure to sudden vicissitudes of the 
 weather; and, atter l)cing over-lieated in travelling, being turned into 
 damp pastures, &c. Poor keep is a very frequent cause, and espe- 
 cially when connected with exhaustion from constant milking; and 
 It is more especially the consequence of the cows being badly fed in 
 the winter. Some cold wet lands are particularly liable to give the 
 rot; yet where the land and treatment are similar it prevails more in 
 some dairies than in others, depending much on the breed of the 
 cattle. Old cows that are fed on sanded pastures are very subject to 
 this complaint. 
 
 In all cases the animals should be taken from grass, and put into a 
 large cow-house, or an open yard, where they can be sheltered from 
 the weather, and kept on dry food, such as good hay, ground oats, 
 barley, and beans. An equal proportion of each of the three last 
 articles and of linseed cake will make an excellent food for cattle 
 labouring under dysentery. A quantity proportionate to the size and 
 appetite of the patients should be given two or three times a day, or 
 if they are much reduced and their appetite is quite gone, a thick 
 gruel should be made of these ingredients, and administered three or 
 four times a day. 
 
 This disease consists in inflammation of the lining membrane of 
 the large intestines. It will then be evident that bleeding, propor- 
 tioned to the suddenness and violence of the attack, and the apparent 
 degree of fever, should be first resorted to. 
 
 If the eyes are inflamed, with heaving of the flanks, and painful 
 rwitchings of the belly, accompanied by severe straining and appa- 
 rent gripings in the expulsion of the excrement, the abstraction of 
 blood is indispensable. 
 
 The purgative drink (No. 2, p. 47) should precede the use of every 
 other medicine, in whatever state the bowels may be. It will prepare 
 for the safer use of astringents. In almost every case there will be 
 something in the bowels, which, if it did not cause the disease, con- 
 tributes to keep it up. The proprietor of cattle, and he who professes 
 to treat their diseases, should know that there can be nothing more 
 dangerous than to attempt s'uddenly to stop a violent purging, espe- 
 cially one that assumes the character of dysentery. Let that which 
 offends in the bowels be first got rid of, and the disease will some- 
 tunes cease of itself, or, if it does not, astringents may then be admi- 
 nistered with safety. 
 
 The safest and the most effectual astringent mixture for the scour- 
 ing rot is that which was recommended in page Gl. It may be given 
 once or twice in the day, according to the violence of the complaint 
 
 A.le should never be given in these cases. The astringents may bw 
 
DVSIiVTERY,&C. 5T 
 
 commenced twenty-four hcjrs after the purgative has been adminis- 
 tered. 
 
 If the disease does not speedily yield to this treatment, it will not 
 be prudent to continue the use of such large quantities of astringent 
 medicines for any considerable time. The following drink may then 
 06 given, and continued morning and night for five or six days : — 
 
 RECIPE (No. 18). 
 .astringent Drink tcith Mutton S«c«.— Take miitlon suet, one pound ; new milk, two 
 quarts; boil tliein together until tlie suet is dissolved; then add opium, powdereil, 
 half a drachm; ginger, one drachm, having previously well mixed them with a 
 spoonful or two of fluid. 
 
 When the dysentery' is stopped, the beast should very slowly and 
 cautiously be permitted to return to his former green food. Either 
 during the night or the day, according to the season of the year, he 
 should be confined m the cow-house, and turned out twelve hours 
 only out of the twenty-four. Water should be placed within reach 
 of the animal, in the cow-house, and, if possible, in the field ; for 
 there are few things more likely to bring on this disease, or more 
 certain to aggravate it, than the drinking of an inordinate quantity of 
 water after long-continued thirst. 
 
 These precautionary measures should be continued for a considera- 
 ble time ; for there is something very treacherous in this malady, and 
 it will often suddenly return several weeks after it has been appa- 
 rently subdued. 
 
 In those cases, and they are much too numerous, which totally 
 
 resist the influence of the medicines already recommended, other 
 
 means should be tried. The alum whey has sometimes succeeded, 
 
 and is thus prepared : — 
 
 RECIPE (No. 19). 
 
 Jilvm Whey. — Take alum, half an ounce; milk, two quarts. Boil them together 
 for ten minutes, and strain. 
 
 This may be administered twice every day. 
 
 The disease may not yield even to this. It will then be evident 
 that it is the consequence of some other disease, and, probably, of the 
 liver, the vitiated bile secreted hy which is keeping up the purgincr. 
 It is almost a forlorn hope to attack such a case; but the beast may 
 be valuable, and, at all events, we cannot be worse off. The only 
 medicine that can have power here is mercury, for it seems to exert 
 its chief influence on the liver and the discharge of bile. The mildest, 
 and at the same time the most effectual, form in which it can be ad- 
 ministered, is that of the blue pill, half a scruple of which may be 
 given morning and night, rubbed down with a little thick gruel. 
 There is very little danger of salivation : yet it may be prudent to 
 give half a pound of Epsom salts every fifth or sixth day ; and most 
 certainly to give them every second day, and discontinue the Hue 
 pill, if the mouth should become sore, or the breath stinking, or there 
 should be a more than usual discharge of saliva from the mouth. 
 
 In many cases there is found a schirrous state of the third and fourth 
 stomachs in cattle that have died of, or been destroyed for, ihis disease. 
 
58 R E D - W A T E R . 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 RED-WATER. 
 
 T/iE nature of this disease has been very much misunderstood. It 
 consists of a dischartre of high-coloured urine, and therefore has been 
 attributed to an inflammatory aflection of the kidneys. It will gene- 
 rally be found to begin in another organ, the liver, and to be connect- 
 ed, in the tirst stage at least, far more with disease of that gland than 
 of the kidney. 
 
 There are evidently two distinct species of red-water. 
 
 One, but which occurs most seldom, begins with decided symp- 
 toms of fever. There is shivering, succeeded by increased heat of the 
 body ; the muzzle dry ; working of the flanks ; urine of a red colour, 
 evidently tinged with blood, and occasionally consisting almost en- 
 tirely of blood, discharged in small quantities, and frequently with 
 considerable pain ; loss of appetite. As the disease proceeds, the 
 animal loses strength ; the bowels become constipated or very loose; 
 and the urine of a dark colour, approaching to black. 
 
 Very early in the complaint the loins become exceedingly tender, 
 and the animal shrinks when they are pressed upon ; some heat is 
 likewise felt there, showing evidently the seat and nature of the dis- 
 ease. It sometimes proceeds from cold, particularly when beasts are 
 turned into low pasture grounds at the spring of the year. It also 
 frequently seizes young cattle that are feeding, or in good condition ; 
 for a fulness of blood in the system renders them more liable to the 
 complaint. 
 
 Sometimes inflammation of the kidneys proceeds from external 
 injuries ; such as a violent bruise across the loins, in consequence of 
 other beasts ramping on them, or a severe blow in the region of the 
 kicy^eys. 
 
 The discharge of bloody urine may either proceed from inflamma- 
 tion of the kidneys or a rupture of some of the blood-vessels, and in 
 either case blood is discharged with the urine, and may be often de- 
 tected in clots; whilst in the other kind of red-water, although the 
 urine is dark in colour, it does not contain blood. The former disease 
 is more frequent with hulls and oxen, and the latter with milch cows. 
 
 When the kidneys are inflamed, and the animal evinces tenderness 
 on pressing the loins, the treatment should consist of blood-letting, 
 
 f 'Urging, and the application of sheep-skins and stimulants to the 
 oins. But in some cases where blood is discharged with the urine 
 without any inflammatory appearances, the exhil)ition of astringents 
 and stimulants, such as the following, have effected a cure : — 
 
 RECIPE (No. 20). 
 Take oil of juniper, two to four drachms: tincture of opium, one ounce; oil o 
 turpentine, one ouuctt. Mix, and give in a pint of linseed tea, once or twice a day 
 
RED-WATER. 69 
 
 7Vu€ red-wnter is a disease of the diijestive orf^ans, principally of 
 tlie liver; and the dark colour of the urine is owing to the presence 
 of vitiated bile, probably loaded with carbon, and not to blood, as 
 used to be supposed. 
 
 The more frequent causes are connected with the nature of the 
 pasture. There are some farms, or particular parts of the farm, where 
 red-water is almost sure to follow when cattle are turned upon them. 
 Low marshy grounds are apt to produce it, and also pastures with 
 much woodland, and especially in the latter part of autumn, when 
 the leaves are falling. Some have said that elm-leaves are apt to 
 cause red-water ; others attribute the disease to the oak; and many 
 more to some of the numerous species of ranunculuses that abound in 
 our marshy and woodland pastures. The truth of the matter, how- 
 ever, is, that no one knows what plant is most concerned in the affair ; 
 and all that the farmer can do is to observe what pastures most fre- 
 quently produce red- water, and at what season of the ye?.r and to 
 use them as much as he can for other stock in the dangerous seasons. 
 
 A removal from a poor to a luxuriant pasture, or from a low marshy 
 situation to a dry and lofty locality, are frequent causes of red-water; 
 and it often occurs after a long succession of dry weather. 
 
 Cows that are dried of their milk are often attacked by it, when 
 put into luxurious pasture, while, perhaps, it does not affect those 
 that are still milked. The reason of this is plain enough : — the super- 
 fluous nutriment not being carried off by the udder in the form of milk, 
 the digestive organs are deranged, and the secretions of the ver be- 
 come vitiated. 
 
 Some breeds of cows are more disposed to red-water than others, 
 and especially if they are brought from a distance, and the quality of 
 their pasture materially changed, whether from good to bad, or from 
 bad to good. A cow that has once had an attack of red-water is very 
 liable to a repetition of the complaint. The farmer is obliged to take 
 a great deal of care properly to manage the change of pasture with 
 her, and, notwithstanding all his care, she will probably have two or 
 three attacks of the disease every year. It will behove him to consider 
 how far it is prudent to keep such an animal. No beast that is sub- 
 ject to periodical complaints of any kind should be kept, for it may 
 easily be prepared for the butcher, and disposed of with little or no 
 loss to the farmer. 
 
 The symptoms of red-water are at first purging, which is usually 
 followed by constipation ; the appetite is impaired ; the pulse and 
 breathing quickened ; and the former, though bounding at the heart, 
 is often weak. The membranes of the nostrils and eyelids are pale, 
 and the legs cold ; the milk is diminished, and rumination ceases. 
 The urine, from being brown, often becomes black, and the disease 
 is, in this state, often denominated black-water. 
 
 The red and the black water are diseases that require prompt and 
 careful treatinent; for, although, in some slight cases, the beast dof-a 
 rot seem to be much affected by either, and works or yields her milk 
 
60 RED- WATER 
 
 as well as evi^r, yot ere long it preys upon the constitution, and the 
 animal gradually wastes away. 
 
 It is folly 10 wait in order to see whether nature will efTect a cure. 
 Except in beasts suddenly put upon more than usually rich pasturage, 
 .t never is or can be a salutary discharge. It must be preying upon 
 the system and wasting the strength, and the sooner it is got rid of 
 ihe better. It attacks milch cows oftener than others, and it is more 
 injurious to them than to others. While it lasts, it often materially 
 .esscns the quantity of milk, and, even after it is removed, the animal 
 s slow in returning to her former strength. 
 
 The first thing to be done is to remove the cause of the disease. 
 The pasture should he changed. A more open and a drier situation 
 should be found, and where the grass, although succulent and nutri- 
 nous, is not very plentiful. If there is considerable fever, or the 
 animal should appear to be really ill from the discharge, she should 
 •je taken under shelter, and fed on mashes, with a very little hay ; or 
 a few turnips or carrots may be allowed her if they are in season. 
 
 Bleeding is often necessary at the onset of this disease, but it 
 should always be practised with moderation, and in many cases ab- 
 stained from altooether. About two hours after bleeding, the follow- 
 ing drink should he administered : — 
 
 RECIPE (No. 21). 
 
 Takeepponi, or jrlauher salts, one pniiiul ; cinder, half an ounce; carhnnats of anr.- 
 ■lonia, half an ounce. Pour one quart of boiling water upon the ingredients, stir 
 hem well, and give when new-milk warm. 
 
 A quarter part of this drink may be given every six hours, until the 
 Dowels are freely opened, and the medicitue may be assisted by clys- 
 ters. The successful treatment of the disease very much, or altoge- 
 ther, depends on early and thoroughly opening ihe bowels. If this 
 IS early accomplished, the animal will almost certainly recover. If it 
 IS neglected, or the constipation cannot be overcome within the first 
 two or three days, the termination will probably be fatal. 
 
 When the bowels are properly acted on, mild lUiraulants may be 
 exhibited, such as — 
 
 RECIPE (No. 22). 
 Take ginirer, one drachm ; gentian, one drachm ; and spirit of nitrous ether, one 
 ounce. Mix, and give in a pint of gruel. 
 
 If, with the amendment of the other symptoms, the urine she. 
 appear black, a diuretic, — such as one ounce of nitre, — may be givt ; 
 vvith the above drink, or even the more powerful stimulant, spirit of 
 turpentine, in doses of one or two ounces. 
 
 If, after the bowels have been well opened, and the fever is some- 
 what abated, the discharge of blood still continues, and in as great a 
 quantity as before, it will be right to have recourse to astringents, yet 
 such as will not irritate an' stimulate the kidneys; and even these 
 should be administered cautiously. Constipation attended the early 
 anil most violent stage of the disease — some remission, at least in the 
 
RED- WATER. 61 
 
 fever and the pain, if not much diminution of discharge, attendea the 
 removal of the couvStipation : it must, therefore, be danirerous to con- 
 fine the bowels again. The following prescription will be as effica- 
 cious as any : — 
 
 RECIPE (Xo. 23.) 
 Take, oak bark, powdered, half an ounce; powdered catechu, two drams; and 
 opium, powdered, half a scruple ; mix together in a pint of gruel or warm water. 
 
 This may be given morning and night, for a week, cautiously 
 watching the state of the bowels, and suspending the astringent, and 
 even having recourse to physic, if the bowels should again be con- 
 fined. 
 
 The recovery of the animal is denoted by the restoration of the 
 pulse and breathing to the natural standard, and the return of the 
 appetite, together with the healthy appearance of the urine. It is 
 essential, however, to exercise the greatest caution with regard to 
 the food for some little time, bearing in mind that the digestive 
 organs have been greatly impaired.* 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 GARGET, OR THE DOWNFALL IN THE UDDER OF COWS. 
 
 This is a disease of the utmost consequence to the owners of neat 
 cattle. Young cows in high condition are most liable to it, espe- 
 cially at the time of calving. Such as are aged are chiefly subject to 
 it during hot and sultry weather, particularly those which are fattened 
 for the shambles ; when this is the case, the loss is considerable, for 
 a summer's keep is generally thrown away. 
 
 This disorder makes its appearance in one or more quarters of the 
 udder, which become swollen, hard, hotter than usual, and painful 
 when pressed. If the patient is a milch-cow, the secretion of milk is 
 
 * [Red Water. — Charles Waistell, in the London Farmers' Journal, says: For a full- 
 grown cow dissolve two pounds Epsom salts in two or three pints of boiling water, 
 and give it when new milk warm; then keep her six or eight hours without food. 
 If then the salts should not have operated, give four or five quarts warm water, and 
 drive her about gently ; in a quarter of an hour it will operate; then give her as 
 much warm water as she will drink, and turn her out to graze, if the weather be 
 dry. •* My brother, J. Waistell, of West Park, has used the above remedy for up- 
 wards of thirty years, and has not in all that time lost one beast by the red water. 
 Before he commenced using it, he almost invariably lost cattle annually by that dis- 
 ease. His cattle were less frequently afflicted than formerly, which he attributes to 
 his having underdrained a great part of his farm, which was wet and boggy. The 
 remedy was communicated to him by a relation, Mr. Kendall, a cow-keeper, who io\ 
 many years kept many cows, and occupied part of Mary-le-bone Park, at London." 
 
 6 5 s-l 
 
0^ GARGET. 
 
 lessptied, ^nd minirlrd with blood, pus, nnd corruption. At otlier times 
 the lu/W of milk is totally st()j)j)ed, and the tuineiied quarter procoeda 
 to a state of suppuration. It not unfrequeutly happens that the hind 
 extreniitii^s, at the same time, become swollen and inflamed, espe* 
 cially about the hip joint, hock, and fetlock, which disables the ani- 
 mal from getting; up, almost from movinjr. 
 
 It is inflammation of one or more quarters of the udder, and is most 
 commonly induced by the animal catching cold. It particularly at- 
 tacks those cows that have a redundancy of blood in the system, or 
 are of a gross habit of body. Young heifers are not always exempt 
 from it. 
 
 It will be necessary, as soon as the downfall is discovered, to bring 
 the animal out of the pasture, and take away from three to five quarts 
 of blood, according to her size or strength. If she is bled at night, it 
 will be proper on the next morning to give her the purging drink, 
 No. 2, (p. 47), or if a stout beast. No. 15, (p. 57). 
 
 The cow should be sparingly fed for a day or two on mashes with 
 a little hay, and afterwards turned on rather short pasture. As this 
 is a disease either confined to, or most violent and dangerous in, cows 
 that are in high condition, it will be quite necessary to keep the 
 patient for a while on spare diet. The ground oats, and barley, and 
 clover-hay, and oil-cake, that are sometimes given, cannot fail to 
 aggravate the complaint. 
 
 The following ointment should be well rubbed into the affected 
 quarter, immediately after milking, but it must be carefully washed 
 oflf again with warm water before the milk is drawn. 
 
 RECIPE (No. 24). 
 Mercurial Garget Oivtment. — Take soft soap, one pound; niercurial ointment, 
 Iwo outlet's ; camphor, rubbed down with a little spirit of wine, one ounce : rub llieni 
 well toj,'etl)er. 
 
 This ointment will penetrate into the diseased part of the udder, 
 and be of very great service. 
 
 In obstinate cases the iodine has been applied to the indurated 
 udder with great success. 
 
 RECIPE (No. 25). 
 Iodine Ointment.— Take, hydriodate of potash, one dram ; and lard, seven drami 
 rub them well together. 
 
 A portion, varying from the size of a nut to that of a filbert, accord- 
 ing to the extent and degree of the swelling and hardness, should be 
 well rubbed into the affected part morning and night. 
 
 It may sometimes be advisable to give the hydriodate internally, 
 and from eight to twelve grains may be administered morning and 
 night in a little gruel, with very good eff'ect. 
 
 During the continuance of the disease, the bowels must be kept 
 open with half-doses of No. 2, (p. 47). The fever drink, No 1 
 (p. 46), will also be useful, or one more decidedly diuretic, as 
 
 RECIPE (No. 26). 
 Diuretic Drink —T^kp, powderrd nitre, one ounce ; powdered resin, two ounces 
 'finger, two drams : mix thejn wvil together in a little treacle and give tiiem lU 
 warm jrin;!. 
 
GARGET. 63 
 
 After the purulent arid bloody discharge has ceased, and the teat 
 seems to be free from inflammation, and nearly of iis natural 5>i7e, 
 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<r in the lioiiiestead, she should not be moved, 
 however exjiosed may be her situation. It would sometimes be dan- 
 gerous to drive her even a hundred yards. 
 
 The usual symj)toms of the approach of calving are uneasiness, 
 slijrht lifting of the tail, lying down and getting up, the evident 
 labour-throe, gentle at first, and increasing in force, and the com- 
 mencement of the protrusion of the membranes from her shape. The 
 still earlier symptoms, and preceding the labour by a few days, are 
 enlargement of the udder, and redness of the space between her shape 
 and the udder. 
 
 The labour having actually commenced, the membranes will more 
 and more protrude, until they break, and the fluid by which the calf 
 was surrounded will escape. If her pains are strong, the cow should 
 for a while be scarcely meddled with ; but if an hour or more elapses, 
 and no portion of the calf presents itself, the hand, well greased, 
 should be introduced, in order to ascert iin the situation and position 
 of the calf. 'I'he natural position is w ilh the f )re feet presenting, and 
 the muzzle lying upon the fore-legs. If the fcetus is found in this 
 position, and advanced into the passage, some time lomjer should be 
 allowed to see what nature will do; and the strength of the animal 
 may, if necessary, be supported by some gruel, with which a pint of 
 warm ale has been mixed, being horned down. As soon, however, 
 as the throes begin to weaken, and before that, if no progress has 
 been made, manual assistance must be rendered. 
 
 Here it will be recollected that there are two objects to be accom- 
 plished, — the saving of the lives of both the mother and the young 
 one, and that, consequently, the means at first employed should be 
 gentle. The hand should be introduced, and the fore-legs of the calf 
 laid hold of and drawn down, the efforts of the operator being em- 
 ployed at the moment of the throes of the mother. If the legs are 
 brought forward a little way, care should be taken that the head is 
 accompanying them. The hand will sometimes be sufficient for this 
 purpose. If the head cannot be moved by the hand, a cord must be 
 procured with a slip knot at the end, which is to be passed carefully 
 into the passage, and, the mouth of the young animal being opened, 
 fastened round his lower jaw. The end of this must be given to an 
 assistant, who should be instructed to pull gently, but firmly, at the 
 moment of the throes, while the principal operator is endeavouring to 
 draw on the feet. 
 
 Should not this succeed, it will appear that, either from the narrow- 
 ness of the pelvis, or the size of the foetus, there w'ill be difficulty and 
 dan^rpr in accomplishing its extraciion. The operator must then begin 
 to think less of the safety of the calf, and endeavour to secure that 
 of the mother. Two other larcre cords or ropes must be procured, and 
 one fastened round each leg. The service of two assistants will now 
 be required. One should pull at the head, and the other the feet, 
 while the operator a.scei tains the progress that is made: too muct 
 
TREATMENT OF THE COW 67 
 
 force, however, should not immediately be used, for tlie chance of 
 savino- the young one must not yet be given up. This not succeeiling, 
 greater power must he applied, until the assistants begin to use their 
 full strei.gth, pulling steadily, and with the pains of the cow, if they 
 still continue. 
 
 in the natural position of the calf, the young one is almost uniformly 
 extraoied by these means, and its life is preserved ; for both the mo- 
 ther and her progeny will, without serious injury, bear the employ- 
 ment of more force than would by some be thought credible. When 
 the womb is unable to discharge its contents, and the throes are 
 diminishing, or perhaps ceasing, much benefit may be derived from 
 the administration of the ergot of rye, which appears to act as a 
 stimulus specifically on the uterus : two drachms of this medicine, 
 finely powdered, may be given in a pint of ale, and repeated several 
 times, if required, with intervals from half an hour to an hour. 
 
 The fcetus is not, however, always presented naturally, and it 13 
 the duty of the operator to ascertain its exact position in the womb. 
 This he will not find much difficulty in accomplishing. 
 
 The most usual false position is the presentation of the head, while 
 the feet of the calf are bent and doubled down under his holly, and 
 remain in the womb. A cord must be passed as before around the 
 lower jaw, which is then to be pushed back into the womb. The 
 operator now introduces his hand, and endeavours to feel the situation 
 of the feet. He is generally able to find them out, and to fix a cord 
 round each pastern, or at least about the knee, and then he can usually 
 bring them into the passacre. The head is next to be brought forward 
 again by means of the cord ; and, the three cords being afterwards 
 
 ftulled together, the foetus is extracted. Should the calf have been 
 ong fixed in the passage, and be evidently much swelled, it is cer- 
 tainly dead ; the head may then he opened in order to lessen its bulk, 
 and the extraction accomplished as before. 
 
 When the feet present, and the head is doubled under the rim of 
 the passage, the case is more difficult, and the calf is very rarely 
 saved : indeed it may be reckoned to be dead if it has remained in 
 this position for any considerable time. Cords are first to be placed 
 round the feet; the hand must be afterwards passed into the womb, 
 and the situation of the head exactly ascertained, and the cord passed 
 round the lower jaw. The calf being then pushed farther back into 
 the womb, the head must be brought into the passage, and. the three 
 ropes being pulled together, the delivery effected as quickly as may 
 be, without the exertion of more force than is necessary. 
 
 The last false presentation I shall mention is t'lat of the breech 
 tlie tail appearing at the mouth of the shape. The hand is to h 
 passed into the uterus, and the cords fastened round each hock. The 
 calf is then to be pushed as far back as possible into the womb, and 
 the hocks, one after the other, brought into the passage, the ropes 
 bein^ shifted as soon as oossible to the fetlock. Witl. the exertion 
 
f^ BEFORE AND DURING C A I. VINO. 
 
 of fonsi(ler,il»le force, llic calf may now be extracted, and sometimes 
 vvit'ioiil serious injury. 
 
 By studyintr these cases the operator will be enabled to adapt hid 
 measures U) every case of false presentation; and they are numerous. 
 Great force must sometimes be used to etV* ct tiie extraction of tiie 
 calf. Tiie uniu'd edorts of five or six men have been employed, and 
 (allhounh such practice can scarcely he defended in any cas^), a 
 horse has sometimes been attached to the cords. The foetus has been 
 nec(>&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<r and urine may flow away, ll 
 not unrrequenlly happens, that as soon as the cow Ix'tjins thoroughly 
 to pur<ie she gets up and walks ahout, although still continuing for a 
 while in a very weak state. 
 
 In order to make her as comfortable as possible, the cow should he 
 shifted from side to side twice in the day ; all filth of every kind 
 should 1)6 carefully removed, a warm cloth thrown over, and warm 
 gruel or linseed-tea frequently offered to her with mashes, if she will 
 eat them. 
 
 It will be a very bad symptom if she begins to swell, and there are 
 frequent belchings of very fcBtid gas. If the digestive powers are thus 
 weakened there is but little hope. The following ball should then be 
 given, still continuing the purgative medicine if necessary : — 
 
 RECIPE (No. 31). 
 Cordial Drink.— Take caraway powder, one ounce: gentian, powdered, half an 
 ounce ; gmger, powdered, half an ounce ; essence of peppermint, 20 drops. 
 
 Thi?, in the form of a ball, will probably find its way into the paunch. 
 Half the quantity of the above ingredients should also he given morn- 
 ing and nicrht as a drink, in a pint of warm ale, and the same quantity 
 of til in gruel. 
 
 If the cow should continue to swell, relief must be obtained by 
 means of the flexible pipe for that purpose; and, if the proprietor has 
 the pump which should accompany the pipe, some gallons of warm 
 water in which a little ginger has been boiled may be thrown into 
 the paunch, in order to wash out a portion of its contents. Should 
 not the pipe be at hand, an opening may be made into the paunch at 
 the flank with a sharp-pointed knife, in the usual manner; or, if the 
 case is becoming absolutely desperate, the operator will be justified 
 in enlaro-ing the opening so as to admit the hand, and gradually take 
 out the greater part of the undigested food. The edges of the wound 
 Bhould then be brought together and held by two or three stitclies, 
 the divided skin and the wall of the paunch being included in each 
 stitch. 
 
 There is one thing that should not be omitted, and that is the at- 
 tempt, two or three times every day, to bring back the milk, by dili- 
 gently stroking the teats. As the drying up of the milk is the earliest 
 symptom of the attack of the disease, so the return of it is the happiest 
 promise of recovery. 
 
 If the cow does not get up on the third or fourth day, there is but 
 little chance that she ever will. The case, however, should not be 
 abandoned, for she has done well even after the fourteenth day. 
 
 If the udder is hard and knotty the camphorated oil (No. 11, p. 53) 
 should be well rubbed over it twice every day ; and if it is very hot 
 and tender, fomentations of warm water should be used, but no cold 
 lotion is admissible in such a case. 
 
 As the cow is frequently unwilling, and sometimes unable, to take 
 
TIIEBLAIN,&C. 73 
 
 Rufficicnt nutriment herself, some nutridons food should be horned in ; 
 and there is nothing better than good thick gruel. Two or three quarts 
 given four times every day will be enough. All sweet things, which 
 farmers are so apt to give, should be omitted ; the food in the paunch 
 is sufficiently ready to ferment, without giving any sugar. 
 
 A cow labourino under milk fever should scarcely ever be left. She 
 naturally grets very tired of coughing so long, and sometimes attenintp 
 to shift hel-self, and would get sadly bruised if assistance were not 
 afforded ; besides which, in the early stage of the disease, and occa- 
 ^onally afterwards, there is some affection of the brain, and the 
 animal" is half unconscious of what she does, and would beat herself 
 dangerously about if care were not taken of her. 
 
 I must again repeat that prevention is better than cure ; and that 
 the best preventive of milk fever is not to let her be in too hi^h con- 
 dition, but to take four or five quarts of blood from her, and give her 
 a physic drink eight or ten days before the expected time of calving. 
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 THE BL A 1 N , & C . 
 
 This is b) no means an unfrequent disease, and is commonly known 
 by the name of hlahi, hawkes, or gargf/se. 
 
 The animal appears dull and languid, the eyes red and inflamed, 
 with tears trickling from them. A swelling begin* about the eyes, 
 and occasionally appears on other parts of the body ; but the charac- 
 teristic symptom is that there are generally blisters under the tongue, 
 or at the back part of the mouth ; the pulse is quicker than natural; 
 there is more or less heaving of the flanks ; and the bowels are some- 
 times constipated. When the complaint is not checked at the onset, 
 there is often a copious flow of saliva from the mouth, mixed often 
 with a purulent, bloody, stinking discharge ; the beast becomes ex- 
 tremely w^eak and reduced, and is in danger of being suffocated by 
 the great and rapid enlargement of the tongue. 
 
 Causes. — Those cattle are the most subject to this complaint that 
 are in high condition, and feeding on rich pasture grounds. It ap- 
 pears in many cases to be brought on by a redundancy of blood in 
 the system, or from the beast taking cold while in that state. It is 
 most prevalent in the summer months, especially when the weather 
 is hot and sultry, but it occurs at all times of the year, and in pastures 
 oi' every kind, yet oftenest in low, marshy situations. 
 
 This is a disease which must not be triflod with for a moment. I 
 have known it prove fatal in the course of one day ; and when ne- 
 glected at the beginning it has speedily assumed a malignant charac- 
 ter, which bafiied every attempt to arrest its progress. 
 7 
 
^4 T II E B L A I N , &: C . 
 
 The remedy, and often a very expeditions one for this disease, is 'o 
 cut deeply, and from end to end, the l)ladders that w ill he found along 
 the side of and under the tongue. They will appear to be filled wit.h 
 a glutinous matter, and, although there may not he much hleedirg 
 from them at first, considerable bloody fluid will gradually ooze out, 
 the swelling of the mouth and head will subside, and the beast will 
 be very much relieved. All the curious operations of thrusting sticUa 
 and tar down the throat have this for their object, to break tlieso 
 bladders, but which is most easily and completely effected by t'le 
 knife. 
 
 If, however, much fever has accompanied the enlargement of the 
 tongue, it will be prudent to take away five or six quarts of blood, 
 and to crive a physic drink, and particularly if, on the day following 
 the operation, the beast should continue to be feverish. The mouth 
 may lik-ewise be washed wnth a solution of the chloride of lime in 
 water, in the proportions of one drachm of the pow^dered chloride to a 
 quart of water, while the mouth is very otfensive; and with equal 
 parts of tincture of myrrh and water afterwards, in order to promote 
 the healing of the ulcer. 
 
 If the fever continues, the fever drink (No. 1, p. 46) may be given 
 morning and night, and the bowels kept open by the purging drinks 
 (No. 2 or 7, p. 47 and 5«). 
 
 Should considerable weakness and loss of appetite remain when 
 the fever seems to be subdued, the following tonic drink may be 
 given: — 
 
 RECIPE (No. 32). 
 Tbntc Drink.— Take gentian, two drachms ; tartrate of iron, one drachm ; ginger, 
 one drachm. Mix, and give in a pint of gruel. 
 
 This may be repeated daily, or twice a day, as circumstances may 
 require. 
 
 It will sometimes happen that the animal will for some days refuse 
 to eat, on account of the soreness of the mouth. Thin gruel should 
 \e always placed within his reach, and plenty of thick gruel admi- 
 nistered with the horn. 
 
 The person who has to attend on cattle that have the blain should 
 talce care that none of the discharge from the mouth comes in contact 
 with any sore place, for very troublesome ulcers have been produced 
 by this means. If there is any fear that a sore place has been thu« 
 inoculated, the lunar caustic should be applied to it. 
 
THE BLOOD, 
 
 & C . 7~3 
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 THE BLOOD, BLOOD-STRIKING, BLACK-LEG, QUARTER EVIL, OR BLACK- 
 QUARTER. 
 
 The disease \v"hich I am now to describe is indicated by these 
 curious names, and a great many more, in various parts of the country. 
 Very few of these names, however, are misplaced, for they indicate 
 some variety, or symptoms, or stage of this dreadful malady. It 
 would be much better recognized by the title of Inflammatory Fever. 
 
 Its attack is confined almost entirely to animals that are in high 
 condition, or rapidly improving; I should say, too high condition, 
 and too rapidly improving. In some instances the disease will give 
 some warning of its approach, but, generally, the beast appears to be 
 to-day perfectly well, and to-morrow he will be found with his head 
 extended, his flanks heaving, his breath hot, his eyes protruding, his 
 muzzle dry, his pulse quick and hard — every symptom, in short, of 
 the highest state of fever. He utters a low and distressing moaning ; 
 he is already half unconscious ; he will stand for hours together 
 motionless, or if he moves, or is compelled to move, there is a pecu- 
 liar staggering referrible to the hind limbs, and generally one of them 
 more than the other: by and by he gets uneasy, he shifts his weight 
 from foot to foot, he paws faintly, and then lies down. He rises, but 
 almost immediately drops again. He now begins to be, or has already 
 been, nearly unconscious of surrounding objects. 
 
 There are many other symptoms from which the different names 
 of the disease arose. On the back or loins, or over one of the quar 
 ters, there is more or less swelling; if felt when it first appears it is 
 hot, and tender, and firm, but it soon begins to yield to the touch, 
 and crives a sinofular cracklingr noise when pressed upon. One of the 
 
 O O r? I'll 1 
 
 limbs likewise enlarges, sometimes throUj^h its whole extent, and 
 that enormously. It, too, is at first firm, and hot and tender, but it 
 soon afterwards becomes soft and flabby, or pits when pressed upon, 
 i. e., the indentation of the finger remains. When examined after 
 death, that limb is full of red pulrid fluid : it is mortified, and seems 
 to have been putrefying almost during the life of the beast. Large 
 ulcers break out in this limb, and sometimes in other parts of the 
 body, and almost immediately become gangrenous ; pieces of several 
 pounds in weight have sloughed away ; three-fourths of the udder 
 have dropped off, or have been so gangrenous that it was necessary 
 to remove them, and the animal has been one mass of ulceration. 
 The breath stinks horribly; a very offensive, and sometimes purulent 
 and bloody fluid runs from the mouth ; the urine is high-coloured or 
 bloody, and the faeces are also streaked with blood, and the smell 
 Iroin them is scarcely supportable. 
 
76 T II E B LOOD , & C. 
 
 In tliis state the beast will sometimes continue two jr three days, 
 at other times he will die in less than twelve hours from the first 
 attack. In a few instances, however, and when the disease has been 
 early and properly treated, all these dreadful symptoms gradually 
 disappear, and the animal recovers. 
 
 Although much evil has resulted from the putrefied carcases of the 
 beasts that have died of inflammatory fever being suffered to lie about, 
 yet it does not appear that there is anything infectious in the disease. 
 It is true that if one bullock on a farm dies of the blood, many will 
 usually follow; but it is only because they have been exposed to the 
 same exciting cause. Fortunately, also, for the farmer, it is almost 
 confined to young cattle. Those that are between one and two years 
 old are most subject to it; but some of three and four years are occa- 
 sionally attacked by it, and I have seen others of double that age die 
 under it. Milch cows, or lean cattle, are in a manner exempt from it. 
 
 It is to a redundancy, or overflowing of the blood, the consequence 
 of the sudden change from bad to good living, that this disease most 
 commonly owes its origin. It is most prevalent in the latter part of 
 the spring and in the autumn ; and very often, at those seasons of the 
 year, proves destructive to great numbers of young cattle in differeni 
 parts ol the kingdom. It is sometimes, however, seen in the winter 
 and the early part of the spring, when the cattle are feeding on tur- 
 nips. Some situations are more subject to this complaint than others. 
 It is most frequent in low, marshy grounds, and pastures situated by 
 the side of woods. 
 
 It is a disorder of high condition and over-feeding. The times of 
 the year and the character of the cattle prove this. It occurs in the 
 latter part of the spring, when the grass is most luxuriant and nutri- 
 tive, and the autumn, when we have the second flush of grass; and 
 the animals attacked are those principally that are undergoing the 
 process of fattening, and that have somewhat too suddenly been re- 
 moved from scanty pasturage and low feeding to a profusion of herb 
 age, and that of a nutritious and stimulating kind. The disease 
 sometimes occurs when the cattle have been moved from one pasturage 
 to another on the same farm ; but more so when they have been 
 brought from poor land, at a distance, to a richer soil. There are in 
 the latter case two preparatory causes, — the previous poverty, and 
 the fatigue and exhaustion of the journey. 
 
 Farmers may endeavour to account for it, if they please, from their 
 beasts having fed on certain acrimonious or poisonous plants, as the 
 ditTerent species of the crowfoot, or some others; but there cannot be 
 a moment's doubt that the evil is to be traced to their own bad ma- 
 nagement, and to that almost alone. I will not say that there may 
 not bo some atmospheric agency. The blood is much more prevalent 
 in some years than in others, and more fatal when it does occur; but 
 if the fact is carefully examined, rapid vegetation has then succeeded 
 o a cold and thriftless seasc^n, and thus the causes of which 1 have 
 spoken have been more powerfully called into action^ while the influ- 
 
THEBLOOD,&C. 77 
 
 ence of the atmosphere may have materially modified the charactei 
 of the disease after it had been produced. 
 
 In examining cattle that die of this complaint the affected part or 
 parts are found mortitied, and emit a peculiar cadaverous smell; and 
 there is a glutinous or bloody ichorous fluid of a very offensive smell 
 between the skin and flesh. In two instances I found the membranes 
 of the brain mortified, being here and there of a livid colour, and 
 easily torn. 
 
 This disease rarely admits of cure, but fortunately it may in general 
 be prevented. If the malady is discovered as soon as it makes its 
 appearance, the beast should be immediately housed, and then from 
 four to eight quarts of blood taken away, according to the age and 
 size. Two hours after bleeding give the following purging drink 
 (No. 2, p. 47), which will be found of a proper strength for young 
 cattle from the age of one to two years. 
 
 The bleeding should be repeated in three or four hours, if the 
 animal is not materially relieved; and a third bleeding must follow 
 the second, if the fever is unabated. There must be no child's play 
 here ; the disease must be knocked down at once, or it \vill inevitably 
 destroy the beast. The physic likewise must be repeated until it h2if 
 its full etiect. 
 
 As soon as the bowels are well opened, the fever drink (No. 1, p. 
 46) should be administered, and repeated morning, noon, and night, 
 all food except a little mash being removed. 
 
 At the first appearance of the disease, the part principally affected 
 should be fomented several times in the course of the day with hot 
 water, and for at least an hour each time. For this purpose there 
 should be two or three large pieces of flannel in the water, that after 
 one of them has been applied thoroughly hot and dripping to the part 
 affected, another equally hot may l)e ready when this gets cold. 
 
 As soon as the fever begins evidently to subside, and the beast is 
 more himself, and eats a little, the fever medicine must not be pushed 
 too far. It should be remembered that this is a ease of highly in- 
 flammatory disease, which soon passes over, and is often succeeded 
 by debility almost as dangerous as the fever. The ox, therefore, must 
 not be too much lowered ; but, the fever abating, the following min- 
 gled tonic and fever medicine should be given : — 
 
 RECIPE (No. 33). 
 Mildest Tonic Drink.— Take gentian, two drachms ; emetic tartar, half t -liachM 
 nitre, lialf an ounce ; spirit of nitrous ether, half an ounce. Give in gruel. 
 
 If this does not bring back the fever, it may be safely continued 
 once every day until the ox is well; or the quantities of the gentian 
 may be increased, and the emetic tartar lessened, and at length alto- 
 gether omitted, the nitre being still retained. 
 
 A seton (of black hellebore root if it can be procured) should be 
 inserted into the dewlap; and, if the beast can be moved, it shouh' 
 be driven to much scantier pasture. 
 
 Should not the disease be discovered until there is considerable 
 7* G 
 
T8 1 II E B L O O D , & C . 
 
 swell'njT, and a era klinfj noise in some tumefied part, a cure is seldom 
 efiected. BleediiifT, at tliis sta^e of the complaint, can seldom be 
 resorted to, or, at least, one moderate bleedint^ only should be prac- 
 tised, in order to subdue any lurkinjjr ftver that may remain. If a 
 cure is in these cases attempted, the drink No. 13, p. 54, should be 
 l^iven, \vhic-h may invifjorate the systrm by its cordial and tonic 
 powers, and prevent the mortification extendinjr. 
 
 The swelled parts should be frequently bathed with equal portions 
 of vinecrar and spirits of wine, made as hot as the hand will bear; or, 
 if ulceration seems to be approaching', slight incisions should be 
 etlected along the whole extent of ilie swelling, and the part bathed 
 with spirit of turpentine made hot. 
 
 If ulceration has commenced, accompanied by the peculiar foetor 
 that attends the disease, the wounds should be first bathed with a 
 disinfectant lotion. 
 
 RECIPE (No. 34). 
 
 Disinfectant Lotion. — Take solution of chloride of lime in powder, a quarter of an 
 ounce; water, a pint. Mix. 
 
 The hot spirit of turpentine should be applied immediately after 
 this, and continued in use until either the mortified parts have slough- 
 ed off, or the sore begins to have a healthy appearance. The tincture 
 of aloes or Friar's balsam may then follow. 
 
 Since so little can be done in the way of cure, we next anxiously 
 inquire whether there is any mode of prevention. The account w'liich 
 I have given of the disease immediately suggests the prevention, viz., 
 to beware of these sudden changes of pasture; now^ and then to take 
 a little blood from, or to give a dose of ])hysic to, those beasts that 
 are thriving unusually rapidly, and, whenever the disease breaks out 
 on the farm, to bleed and to purge, and remove to shorter and scantier 
 feed every animal that has been exposed to the same exciting causes 
 with those that have been attacked. The farmer should be particu- 
 larly W'atchful during the latter part of the spring and the beginning 
 of the autumn : he may thus save many a beast, and the bleeding and 
 the physic wall not arrest, but rather assist their improvement. He 
 who will not attend to a simple rule like this will deserve the loss 
 that he may experience. 
 
 CHAPTER XX. 
 
 MURRAIN, OR PESTILENTIAL FEVER. 
 
 This is not the fever which I have just described, more rapidly, 
 and to a greater extent, assuming the typhoid and malignant form, 
 although there is a considerable similarity between the diseases, but 
 ii is distinguished by some peculiar and fatal characters. It has from 
 jme to time destroyed immense numbers of cattle on every part of 
 
MURRAIN, OR PESTILENTIAL FEVER. 79 
 
 the continent of Europe. Its ravages have someriiries heen dreaatuf 
 in Great Britain. In the spring- of the year 1714 more than 70,(106 
 cattle died of this pest in England. 
 
 Fortunately of late years this destructive malady has been rompa- 
 rativ^ely unknown among us, except that in some unfavourable dis- 
 tricts a few casr.? have occurred every year. Its latest visitation, 
 clothed with all its most dreadful attributes, was in 1768. It is thua 
 described by Dr. Layard, an intelligent physician of that period : — 
 '' The animal was found with its head extended, that its laborious 
 breatliing might be accomplished with less dread of suffocation; 
 tnere was considerable ditlicuhy in swallowing; enlargement of the 
 glands under the ear, and frequently swelling of tiie whole of the 
 head ; uneasiness about the head ; seemingly itchiness about the 
 ears; dulness; frequent, but not violent heaving. To these succeeded 
 staggering and great debility, until the animal fell, and was after- 
 wards either unable to stand long at a time, or to stand at all. A 
 constant discharge of green bilious stinking faeces now appeared: the 
 breath was likewise offensive; the very perspiration was sour and 
 putrid ; the head swelled rapidly ; the tongue protruded from the 
 mouth; and the saliva, at first stinking, but afterwards purulent, 
 bloody, and more and more offensive, flowed from the mouth. A 
 crackling was heard under the skin when the back or loins were 
 pressed upon ; tumours appeared, and abscesses were formed in va- 
 rious parts ; they multiplied and they spread, and discharged a dread- 
 fully stinking fluid. 
 
 " By and by a fresh access of fever seemed to supervene ; the 
 breath got hot, and the extremities were cold; the purging increased, 
 and was even more offensive; the urine and the dung excoriated the 
 neighbouring parts as they passed away ; and on the seventh or ninth 
 day the animal usually died." 
 
 If a milch cow was attacked her milk dried up gradually, her 
 purging was more violent, and her debility more rapid than that of 
 other cattle. Bulls and oxen were not so violently seized as cows 
 and calves ; and cows with calf, and weakly cow-calves, were most 
 in dangrer. If cows slipped their calves they usually recovered. 
 Calves received the infection from the cow, and the calf, on the other 
 hand, often infected the cow. 
 
 The disease was epidemic. It depended on some atmospheric in- 
 fluence, which we are unable to understand ; but at the same time it 
 was contagious, and that to a very great degree. If it once appeared 
 on a farm, almost all the cattle were sure to be affected : yet it was 
 ascertained that the power of infection did not extend more than a 
 few yards; and that a hedge alone often separated the dead from the 
 living. The murrain seemed mostly confined to cattle, for horses 
 and sheep, and swine and dogs, lived in the midst of the infection 
 and escaped, and even some neat cattle seemed to possess a security 
 from infection. 
 
 The favourable symptoms were eruptions on various parts of the 
 
so M i; R R A I X , OR PESTILENTIAL F K V E R . 
 
 Dody, not indeed too numerous, and their brcnking and discharging ;t 
 considerable quantity of purulent matter. If from exposure to cold, 
 or other improper treatment, the boils were repelled, or if they gra- 
 dually lessened and disappeared, death was an almost inevitable 
 consequence. If the dung became more consistent, and the urine not 
 so highly coloured, and the mouth cooler, and the beast began to 
 brighten up, and look a little cheerfully around him, there was hope; 
 but if the boils receded, and the scouring becam-^ constant, and the 
 breath was hot, and the horns were cold, and the dilFicuJty of breathing 
 increased, and the animal groaned at every motion; if the eye sunk, 
 and the pulse intermitted, and the beast was almost unconscious, 
 and a cadaverous smell proceeded from him, it was seldom that he 
 escaped. 
 
 On examination after death, the whole of the cellular texture under 
 the skin was found to be distended either by air or a sanious fluid, 
 and in most cases partly by both. The air rushed out when the skin 
 was punctured, and stunk most abominably ; and the cellular texture 
 and the muscles were rendered livid and black by the dark fluid which 
 they contained. The brain and its membranes were inflamed, and 
 the ventricles filled and distended. The mouth and nose, and fauces 
 and throat, and the frontal sinuses to the very tip of the horn, were 
 filled with ulcerations and with pus. The lungs were inflamed in 
 patches, and filled with tubercles. The liver was large, and so rotten 
 that it was torn by the slightest touch. All the vessels of the liver 
 and the gall-bladder were gorged with greenish fetid bile. The 
 paunch was distended with wind, and undigested and, generally, 
 hardened food. The third stomach contained between its leaves a 
 quantity of dry and hardened food, so hard and brittle that it might 
 be almost powdered ; and the fourth stomach, or rennet bag, was 
 empty, but highly inflamed and gangrened in various places. The 
 intestines were also beset with livid and black spots. The uterus 
 of those that were in calf was gangrened, and the smell from the fluid 
 which it contained was almost insuflferable. 
 
 It seemed to be a high degree of fever, which had speedily run on 
 to a typhoid and malignant form, and by which every part of the 
 frame was poisoned. 
 
 We have not for a long while been visited to any great extent by 
 this malady, and should it again occur, the veterinary art is far more 
 advanced than it was many years ago, and there is reason to hope 
 that it would not be so destructive as in times past. 
 
 The treatment would be, first, and the most important thing of all. 
 to separate the diseased from the sound : to remove every animal that 
 seemed to be in the slightest degree affected to some isolated portion 
 of the farm where contact with others would be impossible. It would 
 be imprudent to remove those that appeared to be unaffected, because 
 it would be impossible to know that the virus did not lurk in their 
 vo/ns, and thus the poison might be conveyed to other parts of the 
 
MURRAIN, OR PESTILENTIAL FEVER. 81 
 
 farm. The sick only should be taken away, and that as speedily as 
 p>>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<d b, 
 lh(! experiments of an accomplished chemisl. If you will undertake the task of 
 Dnvin? them submitted to the tests of such a person, I will send you a suflicient 
 quantity to make trial with. If the experiments should result successfully, and the 
 nediciiie prove valuable, the labour would be well expended, as I know of no -ertain 
 jr plausible cure for murrain in cattle, a disease occasioning,' the loss of Miousands 
 aninially in this country. The principal part of the article (whether the virtuous 
 portion or not I cannot saj) is mineral— jinlirins from the wei^rlit." 
 
 Another extract. — ' I send you t7Po papers of the murrain powder, being two dosea. 
 For fear of mistake ! wrote the directions on them wtic.i jl received them." 
 
 The two powders were placed in the hands of Professor Benjamin Hallowell— as 
 eminent for scientific attainments as he is remarkable for simplicity of manners and 
 benevolence of heart. In a tew days he was good enough to return the powder, with 
 an exact duplicate of it, and the following memorandum: — "The powder contains 
 380 grains ; it is composed of .340 grains o{ nitrate of potash (salt-petre) and 40 grains 
 of bu/e armcnian intimately mixed" — be it remembered that the above quaiiti'y 
 makes /tro doses — and the directions are: "dissolve in a pint of water." It will be 
 easy to try a remedy so strongly and plausibly recommended ; and, if found effectual, 
 the public will owe an obligation to all who may assist in diffusing a knowledge 
 of it. 
 
 Thus we come at the following recipe for murrain :— Take nitrate of potash, 170 
 grains ; bole armenian, 20 grains. Dissolve in a pint of water, and give. — S.] 
 
 CHAPTER XXI. 
 
 THE EPIDEMIC OF 1840 AND 18 4 1. 
 
 Since the last edition of this work was pnhlished a new disease 
 has appeared amonijst cattle and sheep, and for the last two years it 
 has spread through the kingrdoni as an epidemic, scarcely sparino- a 
 single parish from its visitation. Though not by any means usually 
 fatal in its effects, it has yet altogether destroyed a great number, 
 and the pecuniary loss has been still greater from the debilitating 
 effects which it has produced or left behind. It has been proved to 
 be extremely infectious, and it is difficult to say whether the greater 
 number of cases have been thus produced or spontaneously occasioned. 
 It has sometimes appeared amongst the cattle of a farm, scarcely 
 sparing a single case; and again, after some months' absence, it has 
 re-appeared on the same farm amongst the sheep, or perhaps the 
 swine. In some cases, and on some occasions, the symptoms of the 
 disease have been very slight, and the cases have soon got well with- 
 ci't any medical treatment; but in other cases the sj^mptoms have 
 *'<'en extremely severe, and attended with danger. It has usually 
 tiappened that the earlier and the later cases have been somewhat 
 slight, and the middle ones rruch more dangerous. In this respect il 
 
EPIDEMIC OF 1840 AND 1841. 85 
 
 has resembled other epidemics. The cause of this disease is altoge 
 ther unknown: it is probably owing to soiTie atmospheric agency, 
 the nature of which it is impossible to ascertain. 
 
 The disease is decidedly constitutional, though manifestino" itself 
 'ocally in a peculiar manner: its nature is that of a low fever, oreat 
 debility quickly s'i])ervenino, and sometimes exhibilinjT a tendency to 
 outridity. If the very earliest symptoms are observed, it will orener- 
 ally bo found that cold extremities, a staring coat, and indeed a cold 
 fit is exhibited ; but a reaction soon follows, in which the limbs be- 
 come hot, and then saliva issues from the mouth, and the tongue is 
 somewiiat swollen. At the same time some degree of tenderness in 
 the feet is manifested, and the pulse is quickened and the beast is 
 altogether feverish. The soreness of the mouth and feet increases, 
 small bladders are found on the tongue, the lips and other parts of 
 »he mouth, and likewise between the hoofs, and sometimes also on 
 the teats. The animal gradually ceases to feed, from the pain expe- 
 rienced in the act, and sometimes the appetite itself fails. The blad- 
 ders become opaque, and at length burst and discharo-e a watery 
 fluid ; and this increases the soreness of the parts. The flow of saliva 
 increases, and in a few days the cuticle sloughs ofT. Sometimes there 
 are swellings along the back and loins, which appear to contain air. 
 The disease thus continues, becoming gradually more severe until 
 four or five days from the commencement, when amendment generally 
 takes place, and the beast gradually -ecovers. Sometimes, however, 
 the complaint becomes complicated \%ith inflammation of some oro-an 
 — such as the lungs, and the danger is then much greater, or it may 
 take on a low typhoid form, under which the animal may sink. In 
 milch cows the udder is often alFeeted, occasionally much inflamed, 
 and attended with danger. 
 
 The treatment of this disease must be moderate in its character, and 
 should consist in checking the fever, relaxing the bowels, healincr the 
 sores on the mouth and feet, and afterwards assisting the streno-th 
 with tonics. 
 
 Bleeding should in general bp abstained from, unless there is some 
 severe local inflammation present, calculated to increase the debility; 
 but the following laxative should be administered without loss of 
 time : — 
 
 RECIPE CNo. 38). 
 Take epsom saUs. half a pound ; sulphur, two or four ounces ; nitre, half an ounce ; 
 finger, two draclnns; spirit of nitrous ether, one outice. Dissolved in warm water 
 or gruel, atui repeated once a day for several days. 
 
 The following liniment may be applied to the mouth several times 
 a day : — 
 
 RECIPE (No. 30). 
 
 Take alum and white vitriol, of each half an ounce ; treacle, a quarter of a pint. 
 Dissolved in a pint of warm water. 
 
 The feet should be carefully pared, and if much inflamed a poultice 
 may be applied; but if not so, and there is a sore, equal parts o<" 
 
8G EPIDEMIC OF 1840 AND 1841. 
 
 tlncfure cA myrrh nnd butyr of nntiniony. Or.e application of thia 
 caustic is grenerally siilficient, and the sore shou.'d afterwards be 
 dressed once a day with the following: — 
 
 RECIPE (No, 40). 
 Jistrinpmt Powdcr.-^Tane .)Iiie vitriol, powdt^red, half an ounce; powdered alum, 
 hulf an ounce; pr*';)arL'd clialk, two ounces; arinenian bole, one ounce. Mix. 
 
 Lip<sped and oatmeal orpuel should be offered to drink, and mashes 
 with the best food that can be procured. If the weather is fine, it 
 will be better to continue the cattle at grass; but if housed, ney 
 should be kept clean and dry. When the bowels are relaxed puA 
 there appears much weakness, the following tonic should be / f i 
 daily : — 
 
 RECIPE (No. 41). 
 fake powdered ginper, one draclun ; powdered caraway seeds, one dracNai gen- 
 tian, powdered, four drachms; spirit of nitrous ether, one ounce. To >^ .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- 
 in<r. In the first case, there are frequent and violent, but ineffectual, 
 erforts to stale. There is true and proper inflammation of the neck of 
 the bladder. This may be occasioned by cold, but is more frequently 
 produced by the animal having fed on heathy pastures, and on the 
 hot and stimulating plants that abound there. The broom is a fre- 
 quent cause of this disease. 
 
 It is of much consequence to be enabled to distinguish this from 
 inflammation of the bladder itself. In the early stage of inflamma- 
 tion of the neck of the bladder no urine will be voided, while it will 
 be discharged mudi more frequently than usual, and apparently in 
 larger quantities in true inflammation of the bladder; and when at 
 length, in inflammation of the neck of the bladder, urine is voided, it 
 is after much straining, and is evidently and forcibly squeezed out 
 from the over-distended but closed vessels. The most certain way, 
 however, of distinguishing the one from the other, is to introduce the 
 hand into the rectum ; the distended bladder will then be plainly felt 
 below. It may sometimes be detected by examination of the outside 
 of the belly. 
 
 The course to be pursued is sufficiently plain — the bladder must 
 be emptied, or more fluid will pour into it until it actually bursts 
 For some time before the fatal termination of the complaint in the 
 rupture of the bladder, not only the constant straining, but the heav 
 ing of the flanks, the quickness of the pulse, the loss of appetite, the 
 cessation of rumination, and the shivering fits, will sufficiently indi- 
 cate the extent of the danger. The better way of emptying the blad- 
 der is, if possible, to relax the spasm of its neck. It is the spasmodic 
 action of the sphincter muscle of the neck of the bladder that is the 
 cause of the obstruction. A very large bleeding will sometimes ac- 
 complish this; but it must be a large one, and continued until the 
 animal is exhausted almost to fainting. 
 
 To bleeding, physic should succeed, in order to lower the system, 
 and relax the spasm; but no medicine must be given that would in 
 the slightest degree increase the flow of urine. Sulphur, or aloes, or 
 both combined, would be indicated here. 
 
 Should not the flow of urine be re-established, mechanical means 
 must be resorted to. Here a skilful practitioner should be consulted. 
 The water may be readily drawn from the cow by a catheter; but in 
 the ox, from the curvature of the penis, this would be a very difficult 
 affair. Some have recommended to cut down upon the penis, behinci 
 the bag, and lay open the urethra, and so pass a catheter into the 
 
8S I N F L A M :\1 A T I O iN OF THE BLADDER. 
 
 blniklrr ; but tins will produce a wound, difTicnlt to hoal from the pas 
 satre and excoriation of the urine. Others would puncture the bjad 
 der throu<i|;h the rectum, a.rid others throufrh the belly; but both ope- 
 rations may be accompanied and followed by various unpleasant 
 circumstances. 
 
 'I'he catheter lately invented by Mr. Read, and which, by curiously 
 accommodatin"' itself to the curvature of the urethra in the horse, will 
 readily enter the bladder and evacuate it without any painful or dan- 
 p^erous operation, is not applicable to the ox, at least in common 
 hands; for there is a (ioul)le curvature in his penis and urethra, 
 throujrh which no catheter, however flexible, will. pass. A good 
 vet(>rinary 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 p<irtion of very 
 tliick cruel, and repeal tlio dose iiioriiing and iiijilit. 
 
 It should not. however, be for'jotten, that in cows that are near 
 parturition this discharge of urine is not unfrecjuent, and arises from 
 irritation of the bladder, caused by the pressure of the foetus, or from 
 sympathy with the uterus, now much excited, — and not from actual 
 inflammation. When she has calved, this will gfradually cease; oi 
 a dose of salts, followed by one -^r two of the powders just recom- 
 mended, will afford immediate and considerable relief. In some 
 cows this incontinence of urine has been produced by the retention 
 of a dead calf in the womb beyond the natural period, and it being 
 at the same time in a state of putrefaction. The mingled influence 
 of long-continued pressure, and of proximity to a large body in a state 
 of decomposition, will occasionally produce a state of extreme irrita- 
 bility. Tiie animal should have warm mashes once or twice daily. 
 
 Connected with this is a not unfrequent disease, and especially in 
 ihe summer, and in cows in high condition, namely : — 
 
INFLAMMATION OF THE SHAPE. 89 
 
 INFLAMMATIONOF THE SHAPE. 
 
 The external parts are very much swollen, and pustules or bolls 
 appear about them, that break and discharcre much matter; and there 
 is also a considerahle discharge of rrlairy fluid from the vaurina. 
 
 This sometimes occurs after difficult calvintj, or from takinpr cold 
 when the calving has been easy and natural : it has occasionally fol- 
 lowed bulling, and it has been seen at other times, and arises from 
 causes that could not be ascertained. Every action of the animal 
 shows that she labours under extreme irritation, and suffers a great 
 deal. 
 
 She should be bled and physicked. It will often be advisable to 
 give a second dose of the physic, after an interval of three days. The 
 shape should be well fomented several times in the day with warm 
 water, until the swelling begins to diminish. A common goulard- 
 wash, consisting of one ounce of the extract of lead to a quart of 
 water, with the addition of an ounce of spirit of wine, will then be 
 serviceahle. 
 
 An unpleasant gleet will often remain for a considerable time after 
 the swelling h.is subsided and the ulcers have healed. An astringent 
 injection will then be useful. The one that should be first tried is 
 composed of six ounces of bruised oak bark, boiled in two quarts of 
 water until it is reduced to three pints. If this should not succeed, a 
 solution of alum, in the proportion of a quarter of an ounce to a quart 
 of water, may be tried. A common injection syringe, of tolerably 
 large size, will be the best instrument for throwing up the injection. 
 
 CHAPTER XXIII. 
 
 STONE IN THE URINARY PASSAGES, OR BLADDER. 
 
 There seems to be a greater disposition to the formation and reten- 
 tion of calculi, or stones, in the urinary passages of the ox, than of 
 the horse. The manner in which cattle gather their food, the half- 
 cutting, and half-tearing, by whicii the roots of a portion at least of 
 the herbage are taken into the mouth and swallowed, and the pro- 
 pensity which almost all cattle have to swallow earth, in order to 
 prevent the acid fermentation of the food in the pauncli — these things, 
 account for the more frequent collection of sand and gravel in the 
 bladder of cattle than of horses. 
 
 This sand and gravel is the foundation of, or the preparation for, 
 the future formation of stone in the bladder; and when the stone 
 begins to form, it is far more likely to be detained, and to accumulate 
 in size, in the bladder of the ox, than that of the horse, because the 
 urethra is very much smaller and more curved in its course. 
 
90 STONE 1 iN THE U II I N A R V PASSAGES. 
 
 Sionc in the bladder m^y be susj)ected, wlion there is much fore 
 ac<*oin|);\iiied by a frocniont tiiriiiiig" of the head, and earnest ga'/,e ».,^ 
 the tl, inks; when the hind linihs tremble, and there are ineir»ctUo.i 
 fiidi^avours to pa^;s urine, or it is evacuated in small (juantities, and 
 niin<iled with [)lood. 
 
 'I'he suspicion may very easily be reduced to certainty, by examin- 
 in(T the bladder with the band introduced into the rectum, or last gut. 
 The bladder of the ox, as has already been described, lying so much 
 more in the pelvis than the bladder of the horse does, the stone cannot 
 fill of bein<r fflt if there is one. 
 
 The presence of stone in the bladder having been thus proved, th a* 
 faviner will pursue the most judicious course who sends the bea?i 
 immediately to the butcher; for no medicine will dissolve it, and t' 
 animal will lose condition ev(>ry 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<r, pliysickiiif^r, and 
 fomoiitations, arc the principal \vea|)ons employcfl. The blood should 
 be taken from the jurrular, for that is supplied by veins coming fro:n 
 the inllamed parts. If the bleedincr is ever local, the lid should be 
 turned down, and the linintr membrane lig-htly scarified. A few drops 
 of blood thus obtaintnl will often do a irreat deal of good. The 
 fomentation havin(r been continued for a day or two, one of the two 
 foUowinjr lotions should be used, a few drops of it being introduced 
 into the eye two or three times every day :— 
 
 RECIPE (No. AX) 
 Sedative Eye Lotion (I),— Take, dried loaves of foxglfive, powdered, one and a half 
 ounce: iiifnse tlieni in a pint of Cape or dry raisin wine, for a fortnight, and keep 
 Oie infusion for use. 
 
 There cannot be a better sedative in the early stage of inflamma- 
 tion of the eyes. 
 
 In many cases this alone will effect the temporary or perfect 
 removal of the inflammation; but should not the eye improve, or 
 should it appear to become insensible to the influence of the tincture, 
 try the next prescription : — 
 
 RECIPE (No. 44). 
 Sedative. Eye Lotion (2).— Take, extract of goulard, two drachms; spirituous tine- 
 tur(! of dj^ritalis (niude in the same manner as the vinous in the last recipe), two 
 drachuis; tincture of opium, two drachms ; water, a pint : this should also be intro- 
 duced into the eye. Two or three drops at a time will suffice. 
 
 The inflammation being subdued by the one or the other of these 
 ap'plications, or even bidding defiance to them, and assuming a chro- 
 nic form, a lotion of a different character must be had recourse to. 
 
 RECIPE (No. 45). 
 Strengthening Lotion for the /<:i/e.— Take, white vitriol, one scruple; spirit of wine, 
 a drachm ; water, a pint: mix them together, and use the lotion in the same manner 
 as the others. 
 
 When the inflannmation runs high, the transparent part of the eye 
 is apt to ulcerate, and a fungous substance sprouts, and sometimes 
 protrudes through the lids. This should be very lightly touched with 
 a solution of nitrate of silver, or, if it is very prominent, it should be 
 cut off, and the base of it touched with the caustic. 
 
 A seton in the dewlap will always be beneficial in inflammation 
 of the eye, and it should either be made of the black hellebore root, 
 or a cord well soaked in turpentine. 
 
 Of one circumstance the breeder of cattle should be aware — that 
 blindness is an hereditary disease, and that the progeny of a bull that 
 has any defect of sight is very apt to become blind. 
 
 If the case is neglected, inflammation of the eye will sometimes 
 run on to caricer, and not only the eye, but the soft parts around ii, 
 and even the bones, will be affected. 
 
 When this termination threatens, the globe of the eye will usually 
 ttirn to a bottle-green colour, then ulceration will appear about th« 
 
DISEASES OF THE EYE. 93 
 
 centre of it, and either the funtrus of wliich I have spoken Avill sprout, 
 and the eye will become of three or four times its natural size, or it 
 will gradually diminish and sink into the orbit. The fluid discharirpd 
 from it will be so acrid that it will excoriate the parts over which it 
 runs, and the lids will become swollen and ulcerated. 
 
 The radical cure, and the most humane method to be adopted with 
 regard to the animal, is to remove the eye. Here the assistance of a 
 veterinary practitioner will be indispensable. 
 
 If the owner does not think proper to adopt this method, let him 
 at least try to make the poor beast as comfortable as he can. The 
 part should be kept clean, and when there appears to be any addi 
 tional inflammation, or swelling-, or pain, the eye should be well 
 fomented with a decoction of poppy-heads. Let none of the stimu 
 lating ointments or washes of the farrier be used. This would be 
 cruelly pimishing the animal, when no good purpose could possibly 
 be effected. 
 
 Sometimes the centre of the eye is not so much affected as the haw 
 at the inner corner of it. When that part merely enlarges from the 
 inflammation of the eye generally, the digitalis or the Goulard wash 
 will usually abate the swelling; and he would be both ignorant and 
 cruel who would remove it on account of simple enlargement accom- 
 panying inflammation ; but when it becomes hard and schirrous, and 
 especially if fungous granulations begin to spring from it, the case 
 assumes a different character. No sedative or other lotion will lessen 
 the schirrous or the fungous tumour. It must be removed by an ope- 
 ration; — it must be cut away. The method of accomplishing this by 
 a skilful practitioner is not difficult. The beast must be thrown, and 
 the head held firmly down by an assistant. The operator then passes 
 a curved needle, armed with a double strong silk, through the body 
 of the tumour, and, drawing a portion of the silk through it, gives the 
 needle and the end of the silk to be held by another assistant. He 
 pulls the silk gently, but firmly, until he draws the tumour as far as 
 possible from the corner of the eye, so that the attachment of its base 
 may be seen. The operator then with a knife dissects it out, or with 
 a pair of scissors snips it off. No bleeding of any dangerous conse- 
 quence will follow, and the blood that is lost will abate the inflam- 
 mation, and ease the pain which the animal had previously endured. 
 The removal by ligature is a slow and not always effectual method 
 of proceedins; for it may not be possible to apply it accurately 
 around the verv base of the tumour, and then the enlargement will 
 probably be reproduced. It is also necessary to tighten the ligature 
 every day, or every second day, and at each time the contest with 
 ihe beast must be renewed if this mode of removing the tumoiir is 
 adopted. 
 
g^ T U E II O O V E . 
 
 CHAPTER XXV. 
 
 THE HOOVE, HOVEN, OR BLOWN. 
 
 This disease is a distention of the rumen, or first stomach, by the 
 gas which is extracted from certain substances undergoing- the process 
 of fermentation within it. The herbage is hastily gathered at first, 
 and received into the rumen, in order to undergo there a process of 
 maceration, by means of which it may be more perfectly ground 
 down, and all its nutritive matter extracted when it is subjected to a 
 second mastication. 
 
 The rumen has been described as divided into various compart- 
 ments, and its coats containing a strong muscular structure. By the 
 action of these muscles the food is made slowly to traverse these 
 compartments in the order in which it was received ; and the journey, 
 «n the ordinary state of health, occupies suflTicient time for the herbage 
 to be to a certain degree macerated or softened, but not for that pro- 
 cess of fermentation to be set up to which all vegetables are liable. 
 
 Supposing an ox to be suddenly turned into new and luxuriant 
 pasture, he sets to work, and gathers the herbage rapidly and greedi- 
 ly ; so much so that the stomach is unable to propel forward the dif- 
 ferent portions of food as they are received, but becomes overloaded 
 ind cloo-ored, and at leno-th ceases altogether to act upon its contents. 
 
 c?o ' r> 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<? 
 me of th\.= i>;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<d can seldom be managed unless he is thrown, when the yard 
 should be drawn out, and all the sore places bathed with the foUow- 
 ing lotion : — 
 
 RECIPE (No. 59). 
 Lotioji for Bull- burnt.— Take Goulard's extract, one ounce; spirit of wine, two 
 ounces; water, half a pint. Mix. 
 
 A few applications of this will give speedy relief, and heal the 
 sores. 
 
 The shape of the cow will sometimes inflame and swell, accom- 
 panied with considerable pain at the time of staling, and also a thin 
 ichorous discharge. The part should he washed with this lotion, or a 
 little of it ejected up the shape with a syringe. 
 
 CHAPTER XXX VII. 
 
 THE COW-POX. 
 
 This disease used to be generally confounded with sore teats, until 
 the immortal Jenner discovered its preservative power against small 
 pox. Other scientific men have since proved that it is identical with 
 small-pox, — that it is, in fact, the small-pox of the cow. 
 
 It appears under the form of pustules or vesicles on the teats, which 
 are easily broken in milking, and which, left alone, break of them- 
 selves, and discharge a thin, unhealthy fluid. The pustules are sur- 
 rounded by a broad circle of inflammation, and if neglected, or roughly 
 handled, occasionally run into ulcers, very foul, and dilficult to iieal. 
 
COW-POX. 121 
 
 At the time of, or a little before, the appearance of the pustules, 
 the animal droops, refuses to feed, ceases to ruminate, and labours 
 under considerable fever. The eyes are heavy and dull; the cow 
 moans and wanders about by herself, and her milk materially lessens, 
 and at length is almost suspended. 
 
 It will rarely be prudent to bleed, but the bowels should be fairly 
 opened, and the fever drink, {So. 1, p. 46), given once or twice in 
 thu day, according to the apparent degree of fever. The teats should 
 be frequently washed with warm water, and the following lotion ap 
 plied morning and night : — 
 
 RECIPE (No. 60). 
 
 Lotion for Cote -pox. —Take sal ammoniac, a quarter of an ounce; white wine 
 vinegar, lialf a pint ; camphorated spirit of wine, two ounces; Goulard's extract, an 
 ounce. Mix, and keep them in a bottle for use. 
 
 If the ulcers become very foul, and difficult to heal, they must be 
 treated in the way recommended for garget. 
 
 It is well known that these eruptions give a similar disease to the 
 milker. Pustules appear about the joints of the hand, and the ends 
 of the fingers ; and there is sometimes considerable fever, pain in the 
 head and limbs and loins, shivering, vomiting, and a quickened pulse. 
 The pustules burst in three or four days, and sometimes become trou- 
 blesome sores difficult to heal ; and if unfortunately the patient should 
 have rubbed his cheek or his lips with the diseased hand, tlie ulcers 
 will appear there also. 
 
 It was the observation that persons who had had this disease of the 
 cow were usually exempt from small-pox, which led to the most im- 
 portant discovery in medicine that has been made in modern times. 
 
 There is another eruption on the teat of the cow that bears no in- 
 considerable resemblance to the true cow-pox, and that has been 
 confounded with it. The pustules are smaller: they are not so round, 
 nor so deep; nor have they the blue colour of the others, and they 
 contain pus or matter from the very first. They will readily yield to 
 the ointment for sore teats recommended in Recipe 29 (p. 75). 
 
 Even without any application to them, the scabs usually peel off iv 
 a few days, and the skin underneath is quite sound. If, however, 
 these are carelessly rubbed off in the act of milking, troublesome 
 ulcers are apt to ensue. 
 
 It is of much importance to the farmer to be able to distinguish 
 between these two eruptions. The first is contagious, and may be 
 communicated to the milk-maid, and, by her, to other cows. It is 
 the true cow-pox. The second is not contagious, and is> 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<rprous coinphiint; 
 for there is not only obstruction usually in the maiiT/plies, or third 
 stomach, which is employed in rubbin<r down the hard fibrous food, 
 an 1 now brcomes overloaded and clog<red, but the paunch itself is 
 generally filled with undiirested food, and rumination has ceased. 
 
 Here airain everything- dej)ends on dilutinir tiie hardened mass, and 
 opening the bowels. The rtrst dose of medicine should consist of a 
 quarter of a pound of Epsom salts, dissolved in a gallon of warm 
 water. It will not be forgotten that by introducing the pipe a little 
 way, or far down the gullet, the medicine may be thrown at once into 
 the third and fourth stomachs, or into the first. If it is introduced 
 only a little way, and the pump worked gently, the fluid will pass 
 on through the canal at the base of the gullet, which was described 
 in the early part of the work, and enter the third stomach. Flowing 
 through this in considerable quantities, it will perhaps dissolve, and 
 wash out the hardened mass contained between the leaves of the 
 many plies, while the salts will open the bowels, and by emptying 
 them solicit the food forward from the gorged stomachs. 
 
 If, after the bowels have been well opened, rumination should not 
 return, it will be prudent to have recourse again to the stomacli- 
 pump. the tube of which should now be pushed farther down the 
 gullet until it enters the paunch. Plenty of warm water being now 
 pumped in, and with some force, it will stir up the contents of the 
 pauncn, and cause them to be disgorged into the canal leading to the 
 true stomach; or vomiting will be excited, and the greater part of it 
 thus brought away. The stomach will probably act up6n the little 
 that remains, rumination will again be established, and the animal 
 will speedily recover. 
 
 There are few things so dangerous to young cattle as being thus 
 sapped or costive. It is the foundation of fever, and of many a 
 serious complaint. As soon as the dung is observed to be hard, a 
 mild dose of physic should be given to every calf. A little attention 
 to this would keep the breeding stock in good order; and their pre- 
 servation, and health, and rapid thriving would abundantly repay the 
 little additional tronole and expense. Farmers in general, however, 
 are shamefully caieless here; and no notice is taken of half the dis- 
 eases under which their stock of every kind plainly and evidently 
 labour, until they are past all cure. It is also matter of general ob- 
 servation, that a calf that has a considerable tendency to costiveness 
 is slow in getting fat and preparing for the market. 
 
 All cattle are subject to occasional costiveness, and which should 
 be removed as early as in the calf, as being the frequent root of much 
 evil. It is either one of the symptoms of the beast labouring under 
 inflammatory fever, or it lays the foundation for inflammatory fever. 
 A purge of hpsom salts, or even of common salt, if the other should 
 not be at hand, will not cost much, and would save the life of many 
 a beast: let not the farmer, however, follow up the farrier's practice 
 of giving a cordial drink two or three days after the physic, under 
 
THE HOOSE IN CALVES. 129 
 
 the notion of removing flatulence, and promoting digestion, and invi- 
 erorating the system. The fever, of wliich this costiv^eness is either 
 the foreiunner or the cause, would only be hastened and aggravated 
 liy this absurd system of stimulation. 
 
 THE HOOSE IN CALVES. 
 
 This disease in the adult animal has already been considered : in 
 the calf it assumes different and more aggravated symptoms, and is 
 more speedily connected with consumption and death. The moment 
 a calf is observed to cough violently, he should be removed from the 
 pasture, and put under tolerably warm shelter and taken care of. A 
 bleeding and a dose of physic, and a fever pow'der, will then usually 
 restore the animal to perfect health. 
 
 At times the hoose is epidemic among cattle, and hundreds of them 
 die. Proper treatment at first will, in the majority of cases, remedy 
 the evil ; but should the animal get rapidly w^orse, and his cough be 
 peculiarly violent and distressing, care should be taken to examine 
 the first that happens to die, on the farmer's own estate, or that of 
 his neighbour, and if the windpipe and the air-tubes below should be 
 found filled with the worms which have already been described, re- 
 course should be had to the spirit of turpentine, which will often 
 succeed in destroying them. The principle on which the turpentine 
 acts has been already explained. The following will be found a good 
 formula for its administration to calves from six to twelve months 
 old:— 
 
 RECIPE (No. 64). 
 Take oil of turpentine, one ounce; linseed oil, three or four ounces; finger, pow- 
 iered, one drachm. Mix. To be repeated at the interval of a week, as often as may 
 be required. 
 
 _ A cure has also been obtained by the exhibition of half a pint of 
 lime-water every morning and a table-spoonful of salt the same after- 
 noon. The origin of these worms has not yet been satisfactorily 
 developed ; but it is supposed that the eggs are taken with the watei 
 absorbed by the blood-vessels, and thus enter the windpipe, where 
 they are hatched : but one thing is certain, that in nine cases out of 
 ten the farmer may attribute all the losses he sustains to neglect of 
 the calf, or premature exposure of him to cold and w^et. 
 
 CANKER IN THE MOUTH. 
 
 The teeth of the young calf follow each other in rapid succession 
 and, as is the case with the human infant, the cutting of the teeth is 
 aitended by soreness of the mouth, and disinclination°to eat. Numer- 
 ous pimples also appear about the gums and membrane of the mouth, 
 and these often run together, considerable ulceration follows, and the 
 animal pines away through lack of nutriment. The gums and tonoue 
 are sometimes considerably swollen, and no small deo-ree of fever is 
 excited. The first business is to evacuate the bowels? Epsom salts 
 will here also constitute the preferable medicine, given in doses of 
 one or two ounces, and repeated daily until the proper efle^t is nro 
 
\']0 POSTSCRIPTTO 
 
 duced. As a local application, equal parts of tincture of myrrli and 
 water may be advantatreously applied to the mouth, or a solution of 
 common alum in water in the proportion of half an ounce of alum to 
 a pint of water. Should any considerable degree of fever accompany 
 the soreness of the mouth, the fever drink alre?idy recommended may 
 be given in half doses, with a scruple of magnesia added to each. 
 
 POSTSCRIPT 
 
 THE DISEASES OF CATTLE. 
 
 One of the mopt fatal and extraordinary diseases with which any country lias IxieH 
 Infected is that which, in Ohio and other western States, is called the Trembles. 
 Professor Drake, of tiie Transylvania University, and more recently Doctor J. J. 
 Mcllhenny, of Springfield, Ohio, have both published their views on the subject ; and 
 if they have not succeeded in prescribing any effectual remedy, it has not been for 
 want of diligence of research and an obvious benevolence of motive which do them 
 honour. As resulting from the use of the meat and milk of cattle infected with the 
 trembles, is believed to occur one of the most terrible diseases to which the human 
 family is liable, called the Milk Sickness, alias Sick Stomach, " there is, says Dr, 
 Mcllhenny, " no disorder that fills the minds of persons residing within the infected 
 districts with more horror, with more dread, with more foreboding of death, than 
 does this disease." He considers the trembles in cattle to be clearly of vegetnb/a 
 origin, that is produced by animals eating the vegetable, and through them commu- 
 nicated to tlie person or animal that partakes either of the meat, butter, or milk. 
 
 Dr. T. B. Johnston, whose residence is in Southern Indiana, sa3s that he never 
 ki.ew the trembles to prevail where there was not a free growth of weeds. " I well 
 know that it is circumscribed, that a small section will produce the disease, then an 
 exemption for some distance, when it will again recur. So of some farms; a portion 
 will produce it, and the other will not. In fact, there is not a county from Floyd to 
 in»> 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 rar<!ly ever mental aberration." 
 
 Professor Drake enumerates the animals liable to this disease, as the cow, horse, 
 ■heep, Jiofr, dog, goat (doubtful), and the mule and i)uzzard. " The characteristic 
 eymptoms," says he, " are so much alike in all, that an account of them in one of 
 the species will serve for the whole," and he selects the cow. 
 
 " In the earliest stajres of this malady, in the cow, it may not display its exist- 
 ence!, if the attack be not violent and the animal left to itself; for iu the bejrinning, 
 as in all stages of the disordf^r, the appetite seems to be unimpaired, and tlie thirst 
 not increased. Even this early stajre, not less than the more advanced, appears, 
 however, to be attended with constipation of the bowels. The animal at length 
 oefins to mope and droop, to walk slower than its fellows, and to falter in its sail. 
 .f, under these circunistances, it should be driven, and attempt to run, the debility 
 aufl stilTiiess of its muscles are immediately apparent. It fails rapidly, trembles, 
 Danls, and sometimes seems blind, as it runs aj/ainst obstacles, but this may arise 
 .rom vertiiro ; at length it falls down, lies on its side quivering, and is not, perhaps, 
 able to rise for several hours, sometimes never. Now and then, the quivering amounts 
 to a slight convulsion. When the disease is not violent, the animal, after a lon;:|*T 
 or shorter period, is a'jain on its feet; but its capacity for muscular effort is greatly 
 unpaired, and, if hurried in the slishtest degree, it is seized with trembling and stiff- 
 ness, and may even fall again. Of the state of the circulation, when it lies seriously 
 II, but little is known, as the pulse has not been inspected. One observer perceived 
 vliat the nnse of a heifer was hot, but others have found that part and the skia 
 generally cool. Perhaps their observations were made in different stages of the dis- 
 ease. While lying unable to walk, the animal will still eat freely, and also take 
 drink, but does not seem to have excessive thirst. Its costiveness continues to the 
 last when the malady goes on to a fatal termination. Of the symptoms which pre- 
 cede dissolution we could not obtain a satisfactory account. Our witnesses generally 
 declared, however, that the abdomen does not swell in any stage of the disease. 
 When it assumes a chronic form, the animal is liable, for weeks and even months, 
 to muscular infirmity under exercise, looks gaunt and thin, its hair assumes a dead 
 appearance, and sometimes falls off in considerable quantities, especially from the 
 neck." 
 
 Finally, as to the remedy for this dreadful disorder in cattle, we quote Professor 
 Drake — Dr. Mcllhenny's observations applying to the treatment of milk-sickness in 
 the human subject — and then append the article on mad-itch and black-foot frona 
 Governor Vance with the following introductory remarks : — 
 
 " Treatment of the Trembles.— We met with no medical gentleman who had snb« 
 jected animals labouring under this disease to a systematic, or even varied empirical 
 treatment. All the people of the district have one and the same indication to fulfil, 
 that of opening the bowels. When this can be effected, the animal, they say, scarcely 
 ever dies— when it cannot, death occurs. For the fulfilment of this indication, epsoin 
 salts has been administered in very large quantities, even to p<)nnds, but without 
 effict. Drenches of lard and various mixtures have ^Iso been siven, with no satis- 
 factory result. Judge Harold, near South Charleston, has exhibited calomel followed 
 by lard— no esseiitial benefit. Dr. Toland has administered the oil of turpentine, in 
 doses of eight, twelve, and sixteen ounces, without advantage. An opinion is pre- 
 valent that drenching animals injures them by causing them to struggle. On the 
 whole, we found among the people of the district a total want of confidence in all 
 kinds of cathartic medicines ; and an exclusive reliance on Indian corn. Some pre 
 ferred old corn, some new, and others that which had been frost-bitten. This is fed 
 to all those species of animals that are accustomed to eat it, and is said never to be 
 refused. The more the animal will eat, the greater is the hope of the owner. It is 
 eaid to produce purffing, when every other means have failed, and then, it is affirm- 
 ed, recovery is almost certain. On these points we found but one opinion in the 
 district. Several of its physicians, after trying other things, had, with the people, 
 settled down on this. 
 
 '• We found blood- lettinsr not in favour. Dr. Toland supposes it has, generally, been 
 eninloyed at too late a period. Many non-professional persons spoke of ha\ing re* 
 Boried tu it without advantage, and 'yime thought it had done harm. 
 
THE DISExVSES OF CATTLE. 133 
 
 " TTiroii^hout the disease, rest is considered a sine qua non to the favourable effect 
 of any measure, and of itself, in mild cases, sufficient ; that is, if tJiey be not aijgra- 
 rated by exercise, the disease will wear itself out, or spontaneously subside." 
 
 Other diseases of cattle which prevail in Ohio and the West have been thus de- 
 pcribed to us by Governor Vance of Ohio, a gentleman alike distinguished for the 
 study and the practice of what is useful and amiable, rather than the ornamental — 
 hence his great and deserved popularity. 
 
 From Goverrtor Vance, of Ohio. 
 
 [Mad Itch.— Tlie effect of cattle following hogs that are fed on green corn, cut up 
 and thrown to them when in the roasting-ear state, is very fatal. The hogs will 
 chew the corn-stalk, and extract all the sap, and then throw it out. These fibrea 
 thus thrown out, with all the sap extracted, will be eaten voraciously by the cattle. 
 It contains no nutriment to give fermentation to enable the animal to ruminate; 
 and it thus lays dormant and inactive in the many folds, or stomach ; becomes per- 
 fectly compact and undigestahle ; creates fever, and in the end destroys the animal. 
 
 Cattle destroyed by eating these fibres of the corn-stalk will first show the symp- 
 tom by a wild stare of the eye, and in its first stages will frequently become cross, 
 and even atfack their keepers. They will then begin to rub the nose and head against 
 the fence until the skin and flesh are torn and lacerated in a most frightful manner, 
 and in the end die in great misery. I have lost many fine cattle jn this vvay, and 
 have never been able to save one thus afilicted. The entire symptoms are similar to 
 what is called the mad itch, which I have no doubt is created by the same cause, bv 
 taking into many folds indigestible matter incapable of fermentation and rumina- 
 tion. 
 
 Black Foot.— There is a late complaint amongst our cattle in the west, called the 
 olack foot. It is fatal to stock, destroying them in a few hours. The attack is (gene- 
 rally in the fore leg or foot ; the animal becomes stiff, and moves with great difficulty, 
 the flesh turning black from the foot to the body, causing mortification and imme- 
 diate death. This disease has never been in my stock, and I only speak of it frnm 
 information ; but it is said to be very fatal, and as far as I have heard we are witli- 
 out a cure or preventive to arrest its progress.] 
 
 12 
 
ESSAY 
 
 ON THE 
 >U)"^ 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 
 lon<r journey, they are considered as quite equal to horses. Our far- 
 mers are so satislied with their utility and economy, that no arguniont 
 would induce them to change." 
 
 Hence it is seen that no reasoning is necessary to recommend tne 
 ox to general use in all that portion of America, and this evidence 
 has been adduced to prevail upon southern readers to reflect on the 
 subject, by showing, what many of them do not know, that already, 
 in many of our States where the folks are nice judges of economical 
 and labour-saving machines, animate and inanimate, oxen are actually 
 substituted, and horses altogether banished for all farming purposes, 
 and that their speed on long journeys is quite equal to that of horses. 
 On the point o{ speed we shall speak again and conclusively, when we 
 shall have dismissed the one in hand, to wit: — capacity to bear heat! 
 
 It was for a long time believed that the ox was a native of P]urope, 
 and that in the Aurock, running wild in the forests of Poland, his 
 original type was to be found ; but Cuvier's researches in compara- 
 tive anatomy have established the belief that the cow is a native of 
 Southern Asia, and thence may be deduced an argument that there 
 is nothing in the natural constitution of the ox which forbids his 
 manifesting his entire capabilities in southern climates. If there 
 were, how is it that in South America he reaches his highest deve- 
 lopeuients of size and power] As one of the Commissioners to South 
 America, Chancellor Bland, in a report which Mr. vVdams pronounced 
 to be one of the ablest papers ever presented to the government, thus 
 describes the ox-carts employed, and the wonderful powders of endu- 
 rance of this patient animal in crossing the pampas of Buenos Ayres. 
 It speaks conclusively to both the objections — want of speed and of 
 f/ower to bear heat. 
 
 " The Tucuman and Mendoza carts, at a little distance, looked 
 like thatched cabins slowly moving over the plain — the whole ma- 
 chine is destitute of a nail or a bit of iron; its great coarse wheels 
 are not less than eight feet in diameter ; six oxen, in general noble 
 strong animals, move it; the two front pair have a great length of 
 cord by which they draw; and the load of the cart, which, on an 
 average, is not less than four thousand weight, is pretty nearly 
 balanced on the axletree; the body of the cart is either covered with 
 raw hide or thatch, made of reods or straw; and with a collection of 
 brushwood, as fuel, tied on the top, and brought from the westward 
 of the pampas, these carts are seen crossing the plains in caravans 
 of from thirty to forty together. On the journey the oxen are unyoked 
 occasionally through the da}' and night, and permitted to seek their 
 food round about. Thus without any other provision than what is 
 
U S E O F O X E N . 121 
 
 necessary for himself, the carrier pursues his way over a waste o{ 
 thirty days or six weeks passage. From Buenos Ayres to iVU'udoza 
 the distance is nine hundred miles, and the journey is performed in 
 about tliiity days."' 
 
 In some parts of England they formerly had ox races, and it is said 
 mat some years ago an ox ran four miles, over the course at Lewis, 
 for one hundred guineas, at the rate of fifteen miles the hour. 
 
 We are told that in India bullocks are used for the saddle and 
 coach, and that there travelling oxen are curried, clothed and attend- 
 ed, with as much solicitude, and much greater kindness, than we 
 bestow on our best horses. The Indian cattle are extremely docile, 
 and quick of perception, patient and kind ; like the horses, their chief 
 travelling pace is the trot; and they are reported by those who h<ive 
 ridden them often, to perform journeys of sixty successive dayb at 
 Vhe rate of thirty to forty^-five miles a day. 
 
 To come back to our own country on this point, it is worthy of 
 bf^ing here added that in an address delivered before the Barnweil 
 Agricultural Society of South Carolina in 16-21, Dr. J. S. Bellinger 
 remarked, that ''in the lower districts of our State they appear fully 
 to appreciate the value of their labour in heavy drafts. Vv ith those 
 of us who have attempted the use of them, oxen appear fully calcu- 
 lated to answ-er the many purposes upon our farms to which we almost 
 exclusively apply the more expensive, though nobler animal, the 
 horse." 
 
 Time was when the horse was not considered " the nobler" of the 
 two ; else why the many cautions in Scripture in favour and in honou 
 of the ox — thou shalt not muzzle the ox — thy ox shall not labou. 
 on the Sabbath day — thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's wife nor 
 his maid — nor his ox! 
 
 The late James M. Garnett, of Virginia, honoured be his name by 
 all friends of American agriculture, stated in one of his addresses — 
 "A gentleman of my acquaintance had a mixed team of horses, 
 mules, and oxen — in each season his horses failed first, the mules 
 next, although both were fed upon grain and hay ; and the oxen, fed 
 exclusively on hay and gv:\ss,Ji?ihhcd the crop. But to come down to 
 the present time and nearer home, in Maryland, at the hottest season 
 of the year and the most busy one with the planter, the same teams 
 of oxen are worked, during the whole day, hauling very heavy loads 
 of crreen tobacco for weeks together, and do well without any food 
 but the grass of common pasturage on being turned out at night — 
 whereas horses, working steadily in the same way, on the national 
 road in wagons, consume twenty-five pounds of hay, and grain at the 
 rate of four bushels of oats per day for the five horses, or four-fiftha 
 of a bushel for each horse — or, what is considered equivalent, four 
 bushels of corn in the ear — making of oats at the rate of two hundred 
 and thirty-two bushels for each horse for a year ! 
 
 As to horse ])ower on the national road, th'3 following is the answer 
 from Major Tliruston: — 
 12* 
 
ir^^ ESSAY ON THE 
 
 '* Cumberland, Maryland, Nov. 17, l^i'i : — The gemral result, (foi 
 tii»\y tlillor wiilely in llieir opinions), obtained by conrersation with 
 the oldest feanisltrs on the national road, is this — A five-horse team 
 with a load of sixty cvvt. (the average) will make d<iily, throughout 
 ihe year, fifteen miles per day ; the weight of the empty wagon be- 
 tween one and a half and two tons. At this work horses will not 
 last as long as at farm-work by one-third, certainly. They average one 
 fcet of shoes montlily, each horse; cost of shoes, one dollar each per 
 month ; feed, four bushels of oats per day, or four-fifths of a bushel per 
 day to each horse ; the same of corn in the ear ,• hay, twenty-five 
 pounds. On this subject they are uniform in their statements. This 
 amount of food is enough, and not more than will be consumed." 
 
 But the comparison in point of expense will be extended in an- 
 other part of this essay. 
 
 In answer to the argument against oxen now under consideration, 
 and the one which has had most influence in restricting the use of 
 them, we now offer the views urged by the illustrious Madison, 
 whose pen simplified and enliiihtened every subject it touched, as 
 could not but happen with a mind so pure and so bright. 
 
 The objections generally made to the ox are — 1st, that he is less 
 tractable than the horse; 2d, that he does not bear heat as well ; 3d, 
 that he does not answer for the single plough used in our corn-fields; 
 4th, that he is slower in his movements ; 5th, that he is less fit for 
 carrying the produce of the farm to market. 
 
 The first objection is certainly founded in mistake. Of the two 
 animals the ox is the most docile. In all countries where the ox is 
 the ordinary draught animal, his docility is proverbial. His intracta- 
 bility, where it exists, has arisen from an occasional use of him only, 
 with long and irregular intervals; during which, the habit of disci- 
 pline being broken, a new one is to be formed. 
 
 The second objection has as little foundation. The constitution of 
 the ox accommodates itself as readily as that of the horse to different 
 climates. Not only in ancient Greece and Italy, but throughout Asia, 
 as presented to us in ancient history, the ox and the plough are asso- 
 ciated. At this day, in the warm parts of India and China, the ox, 
 not the horse, is in the draught service. In every part of India the 
 ox always appears, even in the train of her armies. And in the hottest 
 parts of the West Indies, the ox is employed in hauling the w^eighty 
 produce to the seaports. The mistake here, as in the former case, 
 has arisen from the effect of an occasional employment only, with no 
 other than green food. The fermentation of this in the animal, heated 
 by the weather, and fretted by the discipline, will readily account for 
 his sinking under his exertions ; when green food even, much less 
 dry, with a sober habit of labour, would have no such tendency. 
 
 The third objection also is not a solid one. The ox can, by a pro- 
 per harness, be used singly, as well as the horse, between the rows 
 of Indian corn; and equally so used for other purposes. Experience 
 may be safely appealed to on this point. 
 
USEOFOXEN. 139 
 
 In the fourth place, it is alleffed that he is slower in his rnove- 
 nnents. This is true, but in a less decrree than is often taken for 
 granted. Oxen that are well chosen for their form are not worked 
 after the age of about eight years, (the age at which they are best 
 fitted for beef), are not worived too many together, and are suitably 
 matciied, may be kept at nearly as quick a step as that of the horse, 
 might I not say quicker than that of many of the horses v.'e see at 
 work, who, on account of their age, or the leanness occasioned by 
 the costliness of the food they require, lose the advantage where they 
 might have once had it 1 
 
 The last objection has most weight. The ox is not as well adapted 
 as the horse to the road service, especially for long trips. In common 
 roads, which are often soft, and sometimes suddenly become so, the 
 form of his foot and the shortness of his leg are disadvantages; and, 
 on roads frozen or tnrnpiked, the roughness of the surface in the 
 former case, and its hardness in both cases, are inconvenient *o his 
 cloven foot. But where the distance to market is not gre£., where 
 the varying stale of the roads and of the weather can be consulted, 
 and where the road service is less in proportion to the farm service, 
 the objection is almost deprived of its weight. 
 
 In cases where it most applies, its weight is diminished by the 
 consideration that a much greater proportion of service on the farm 
 may be done by oxen than is now commonly dont , and that the ex- 
 pense of shoeing them is little different from that of keeping horses 
 shod. It is observable that when oxen are worked on the farm over 
 rough frozen ground, the}' suffer so much from the want of shoes, 
 however well fed they may be, that it is a proper subject for calcula- 
 tion whether true economy does not require for them that accommo- 
 dation, even on the farm, as well as for the horses. 
 
 A more important calculation is, w-hether, in many situations, the 
 general saving by substituting the ox for the horse would not balance 
 the expense of hiring a conveyance of the produce to market. In the 
 same scale with the hire is to be put the value of the grass and hay 
 consumed by the oxen; and in the other scale, the value of the corn, 
 amounting to one-half of the crop, and of the grass and hay consumed 
 by the horses. Where tne market is not distant, the value of the 
 corn saved would certainly pay for the carriage of the market portion 
 of the crop, and balance, moreover, any difference between the 7alue 
 of the grass and hay consumed by oxen, and the value of the oxen 
 when slaughtered for beef. In all these calculations, it is doubtless 
 proper not to lose sight of the rule, that farmers ought to avoid pay- 
 ing others for doing what they can do for themselves. But the rule 
 has its exceptions, and the error, if it be committed, will not lie in 
 :lepartinor from the rule, but in not selecting aright the cases which 
 :^all for the departure. It may be remarked that the rule ought to be 
 more or less general, as there may or may not le at hand a market 
 by which every produce of labour is convertible into money. In the 
 10 
 
I 40 E S S A Y O .N T II E 
 
 Did countries, this is much more the case than in new ; and in new, 
 iuuch more the c;ise near tow ns than at a distance from them. In 
 liiis, as ill most other parts of our country, a chancre of circumstances 
 ■9 takinir phice \vhi(-h readers everytliing raised on a farm more con- 
 vertible into mon(>y than formerly; and as the chanjre proceeds, it 
 wil be more and more a point for consideration how lar the labour in 
 doin<r what mi^ht be bouy^ht, could earn more in another way than 
 the amount of'^the purchase. Still, it will always be prudent, for 
 reasons which every experienced farmer will understand, to lean to 
 the side of doin : rather than hiring or buying what may be wanted." 
 
 The next most serious charge against the ox is constitutional slow- 
 ness (if motion, which, as many suppose, no course of education can 
 overcome, but which may be set off in comparison with the greate\ 
 speed of the horse, as yEsop illustrated the difference in the long run 
 between the pace of the ' tortoise arid the hare /' — " The greater haste 
 the less speed," is a proverb suited to this case as to that. It has 
 already been seen that ox-teams travel over the ever-verdant pampas 
 of Buenos Ay res, at the rate of thirty miles a day, for a month toge- 
 ther. Twenty years ago, the writer of this held correspondence with 
 Commodore Jacob .Jones, himself a practical farmer, and an habitually 
 close and judicious observer, and then commanding our squadron in 
 the Mediterranean, on the subject of Andalusian horses, cattle, and 
 other animals, with a view to the importation, under authority from 
 ihe Albemarle Agricultural Society, of such as might be deemed 
 essentially superior to animals of the same species in America; and 
 we now quote from his letter as apjdicable to the questions both of 
 speed and susceptibility to heat: — "The cattle that I have seen in 
 Spain appear to be nothing superior to ours, nor have I seen anywhere 
 on the coasts of the Mediterranean any that appear better than those 
 in America, except a race of white cattle at Naples used for the 
 draft. I was informed by a gentleman who, in supplying the govern- 
 ment with timber, had used thirty yoke of them for two years, that 
 during that time they had constantly travelled froiii twenty to twenty- 
 five miles a day. They are generally fifteen hands high ; their bodies 
 long, thin, and deep; legs long; small light head; sharp muzzle re- 
 sembling deer ; colour entirely white, except black nose, ears, and 
 tuft of the tail. They are most frequently worked in the thills of the 
 cart, and are as spirited and walk as quic/,. as a horse, and appeared 
 not to suffer from heat more than a horse." 
 
 To show, however, that we are not dependent on any foreijrn stock, 
 it may be stated that the small, pale-red old field ox about Salisbury 
 in Maryland will travel twenty-five miles in a day, with heavy loads 
 of lumber groing, and returning empty, over the sandy roads of that 
 region; while it may be affirmed, after particular inquiry, that t^e 
 distance made by the heavy-bodied, grain-devouring, Conestoga 
 horses on the national road between Cumberland and Wheeling 
 averages not ove- sixteen miies, six horses with loads of from six to 
 eight thousand pjunds. 
 
USE OF OXEN 
 
 141 
 
 To the letter from Major Thru ston already given niay be added the 
 following, which goes somewhat more into detail, from Mr. Agnew, 
 Postmaster at Wheeling, Virginia: — 
 
 mieeling, Nuv. 23c/, 1843. 
 J. S. Skinner, Esq. 
 
 Dear Sir, — Your favour requesting me to obtain information re. 
 specting horses, wagons, &c., was received in due course of mail; 
 but as f was just leaving for Pittsburgh, I was compelled to defer 
 answering until my return. I conferred with several wagoners, and 
 give below the result of their united opinions. 
 
 Respectfully, your ob't. servant, 
 
 David Agnew. 
 
 i. The usual average daily travel of Inad- 
 ftd wasoiis ? 
 
 ? w many horses, and their average 
 COST or value ? 
 
 3. The average time that horses so em- 
 ployed will last ? 
 
 t. At what a?e is it considered safe to 
 put tliein to sucli labour? 
 
 g. What the average cost of shoeing each 
 horse per annum ? 
 
 6. What is the usual feed of kind and 
 
 quantity, and to how many oats is it 
 equivalent v. here oats are not used? 
 
 7. As to hay — is it in regular use on the 
 
 road, or does cut straw, or what, take 
 the place of it ? 
 
 8. What is the usual weight of their load 
 
 exclusive of their waijons, and what 
 the weight of the w agons ? 
 
 9. 
 
 10. 
 
 W^hat is the first cost of wagon-har- 
 ness per horse, and hov/ long will a 
 set of harness last ? 
 What is the cost of a wagon in pro- 
 portion to what it will carry — and 
 about how long will a wagon last 
 with ordinary care ? 
 
 Sixteen miles. 
 
 Six horses, average cr^st of each sixty-five 
 
 dollars. 
 Seven years. 
 
 Five years. Many are used at three and 
 
 four years. 
 Fifteen doiiars. 
 
 Oats is the only feed in use. Four and a 
 half bushels is allowed per day for 
 six horses. 
 
 Cut straw is not used. Hay is in regular 
 use. 
 
 The weisht of loads varies from sixty to 
 eitrhty hundred pounds ; sevonty hun- 
 dred pounds is the usual weight ; 
 wagon's weight about :i5<K) lbs. 
 
 A wauon of the largest size used on the 
 national road costs S?50; harnesa 
 per horse, S-0; and u ill last six years. 
 
 A wasron thai will rarrv 3,0"0 lbs. costs 
 SloO; 4.000 lbs. gluO'; .5.((iiO lbs. $175; 
 ti,000 lbs. .§200; 7,000 lbs. and up- 
 wards, Si50; and with ordinary care 
 will last four years. 
 
 In support of the adaptation of the ox to the mad for heavy draft 
 and long journeys, the last authority which it is deemed necessary to 
 produce" is one of unquestionable validity ; being no other than the 
 testimony of the late Timothy Pickering. Being called on for hi.g 
 knowledo-e of the employment of ox-teams for the transportation of 
 military stores during the revolution, when he acted as Quarter-Mas- 
 ter-Gerieral under General Washington, the following is extracted 
 from an interesting reply, in which other views are embraced, con- 
 nected with other aspects of the subject, to be presently considered : 
 
 "When in August, 1781, disappointed in the expected co-operation 
 »)f a French fleet against the enemy in New York, the commander- 
 in-chief decided on the expedition against the British aimy under 
 Lord Coruwallis^n Virginia, I received his orders to provide for 
 
1 42 E S S A Y O N T H E 
 
 moving the troops destined for that service. Tlie ^(.r-teams effectually 
 peiforined the transportalion of bag-gage and stures lo llic points where 
 lliey were relieved by water conveyances. From the head of Kik in 
 Maryland (sixteen miles eastward of the Susquehanna) to James' 
 River in Virginia, near three hundred miles, tlie ox-teams (without 
 loads) travelled expeditiously. The heavy artillery, shot, shells, &c., 
 hrought from the head of Elk by water, ^vere landed on the shore of 
 James' River, 1 think at or near Jamestown, whence they were trans- 
 ported by the ox-teams to our camp before Yorklown, a distance, I 
 believe, of about fourteen miles. In the performance of this service, 
 those teams were of essential importance. 
 
 '• The late Colonel Jeremiah VVadsworth of Connecticut (one of 
 the most judicious and efficient men in bunness that 1 ever knew) 
 was then the contractor for supplying the French army with provi- 
 sions, teams, carriages, — in a word, with everything necessary for it, 
 in the quarter-master's and commissary's departments. I introduce 
 his name, because he had provided a great number of ox-teams and 
 wagons for the use of the French army during the same campaign, 
 and these also travelled to Virginia. 
 
 " I always understood that the great transportation of provision and 
 stores from Massachusetts and Connecticut to the troops on Hudson's 
 River, was almost wholly performed by ox-teams during- the war. 
 
 "Just at the close of the war, in the summer of 1783, I recollect 
 being at the house of an agricultural gentleman of Princeton, in New 
 Jersey, where Congress was then sitting, and that Charles Thomson, 
 the Secretary, was present. One of Arthur Young's Agricultural 
 Tours in England lay on the table, and gave rise to a conversatii)n 
 on the use of oxen for the draft, particularly v.'hen geared with collars, 
 hames, and traces, like horses; and Mr. Thomson related the follow- 
 ing fact, now, for substance, perl'ectly in my recollection. Travelling 
 in that part of Chester county in Pennsylvania which lay between 
 Lancaster in that State and Newport on Christiana creek, Mr. Thom- 
 son fell in with a team of a novel character in that country, being 
 composed of one pair of horses and one pair of oxen : and the latter 
 were accoutred with harness like horses, only with the collars turned 
 upside down. His curiosity being excited, he stopped and made some 
 inquiries, and received from the driver an account as follows : that 
 he and a neighbour, each having a horse-team and wagon, had enter- 
 ed into a contract to transport a quantity of flour (I thii\k in a given 
 time) to Newport; that in the midst of the work one or two of his 
 horses failed, (fell sick or died), and he was not in circumstances 
 conveniently to procure others ; but he had a pair of oxen, and he 
 concluded to try whether they would supply the place of his horses; 
 that he made the experiment and succeeded. He told Mr. Thompson 
 that the oxen were more useful to him than horses; for after some 
 fall-rains, when the roads had become miry, he continued to carry 
 his full complement of barrels of flour, while his neighbour's horse- 
 
\ISE OF OXEN. 
 
 143 
 
 team, frequently getting stalled^ (the familiar term in Pennsylvania 
 when a team gets set fast in a slough), compelled him to lessen his 
 loads. But he added, that in returning from Newport with their 
 wagons emplT/, his neighbour had the advantage m speed, although 
 none in the actual performance of the contract." 
 
 Thus it appears that as Rome is said to have been saved by the 
 cackling of geese, the labour of oxeti contributed on a critical occa- 
 sion to the establishment of the American Republic. So much in 
 answer may we not say in refutation, of the objection made to these 
 animals in comparison with horses for heavy draft even o/i 'he road. 
 
 OX-SHOES AND MACHINE FOR SHOEING OXEN. 
 
 A great impediment to the use of oxen on our public roads in the 
 winter season, is the liability of their feet to get sore for want o^ shoes 
 — a great scandal on the intelligence and humanity of all southern 
 fanners — for nothing can be easier or more simple than the manner 
 of doing it in New England, where cattle driven on the roads in 
 winter are as regularly shod as horses. In the hope of introducing a 
 practice recommended equally by interest and humanity, a view is 
 here given of the frame used for that purpose, and tlie smith who does 
 not provide himself with one ought not to receive the patronage of 
 any enlightened neighbourhood. 
 
 The frame, as here exhibited, should be seven and a half feet long 
 t)y three and a half wide, and five and a half high, consisting of foul 
 upright posts A AAA, and two horizontal bars on each side B BB B, 
 
144 
 
 ESSAY O N T II E 
 
 joined by mortices. In the bars of one end, at the distance of ten 
 inches from each other, are two pcrijeiidicular stanchions, the one 
 fixed, the other moveable, and fastened hy a key D, wliich are let 
 into the bars and form a head stall. The lower bars of the sides are 
 eiirhteen inches from the ground. Immediately under the upper bar 
 on~the right side is a windlass E E, separated in the centre, working 
 in the polts, and a block K let fall from the bar— with one end pass- 
 ing over, and moving upon the opposite beam, is a broad leather strap 
 six feet long, attached by an iron ring at the other end to the staples 
 in the windlass. To give sufficient stability, the posts may either be 
 let into the ground, or framed into sills, with end braces. 
 
 The ox to be shod is led into the frame, and his head confined ir 
 the head stall. The strap is brought under the lower part of the bell) 
 and fastened to the windlass, by turning which his hind feet are 
 raised six or eight inches from the ground. The foot is theri lashed 
 by a cord to the upper surface of the lower bar. In this situation 
 the shoes are easily set. By moving the strap till it comes near tlie 
 fo.e-legs the other part of the body is raised, and the shoes set on the 
 fore-feet in like manner. 
 
 The shoe is the arc of a circle, of the thickness of a common horse- 
 shoe, from half to three-quarters of an inch wide, flattened to double 
 that width at the hind part. The flat or hind part covers the frog, the 
 tenderest part of the foot. The heel and toe are either corked or raised 
 to make a level with the heads of the nails. Five or six nails are 
 sufBcient to secure it. Particular care must be taken by the smith in 
 shoeing that the toes of the shoes do not extend quite to the extremity 
 uf the hoof, in which they impinge on each other, and by the motion 
 of the feet are easily thrust off. These directions are given by Berija- 
 min Coleman, Esq. of Virginia, and are illustrated by the following 
 sketch : 
 
USE OF OXEN. 145 
 
 For the speed of an ox-team in the plough we mio;ht rely on tlie 
 numerous certificates of committees for the last twenty years, in 
 which our agricultural annals abound, from Soston in the north to 
 Baltimore at least going south. These testify in innumerable cases 
 to their ploughing five or six inches deep, an eiglith of an acre tho- 
 roughly well, at the rate of an acre in four hours. Making the most 
 liberal allowance, however, for the favourable circumstances under 
 which the work has been done at this rate, and it may still be safely 
 assumed that a yoke of oxen, well trained, will turn over more than 
 an acre of strong land in eight hours. 
 
 All that we have contended for is more than confirmed by the fol- 
 lowing testimony taken from a very interesting letter from Governor 
 Hill, dated 7th December, 1843, on the use of oxen in the lumberino 
 business in Maine. He says — "My own experience in this matter 
 is quite recent, and of course limited. I have at this time cattle jf 
 my own raising, which, having been taught to step quick, and having 
 worked in the same team with horses, will side by side travel as fast 
 and plough as much in a day as the same number of horses. A pair 
 of these oxen will turn over with a plough that carries twelve inches 
 of the last j^ear's corn or potatoe ground, or easy stubble land, from 
 one and a half to two acres in a day, working eight hours, four in 
 the foren.oon and four in the afternoon. Oxen well fed vrith hay and 
 a portion of Indian corn or meal, will in the heat of summer stand it 
 to work daily from eight to ten hours." 
 
 At the Exhibition of the Maryland Agricultural Society in 1823, 
 {quorum pars fui). in the view of hundreds of spectators, an ox-team 
 started in competition with five horse-teams, and was the second in 
 completing an equal quantity of ground, and would have been the 
 first if the horse-team had cleared out the middle furrow ; but sup- 
 posing that when ready to start the horse has a little the advantage 
 of foot, it is to be considered that for small jobs and short bouts his 
 competitor can be more quickly hitched up, and the work despatched 
 by the time the horse would be geared: — such cases as we have 
 stated abound in all the accounts of the proceeding's of agricultural 
 societies. A writer in the Memoirs of the Massachusetts AgTicultural 
 Society, speaking to a community who neither could nor would be 
 deceived on a matter so well understood by, and so deeply interestino- 
 to them, says — " The principal argument of ihe advocates for the 
 cultivation by horses in Marj'land seems to be the superior speed of 
 the horse. Now tliis must proceed from an imperfrci traittinir of the 
 cattle. With us our cattle will plough an acre of ground much belter, 
 and in as short a time, as a pair of horses would do it, unless thev 
 can trot their horses in the plough • s" they will get in a ton of hay 
 in as short a time." Here we are well persuaded the sagacious 
 w^riter hits the nail on the head, when he suggests that the objection 
 on the score of speed must arise from an ^''imperfect trninina: nf the 
 -'tie.'''' He must possess an imperfect knowledge of the difference 
 jjtween t'np h-bils of the New Kngland and the Southern jduughman 
 13 
 
1 10 ESSAY ON THE 
 
 who is not prepared to admit that in notliing is that diiTerencc greatei 
 than in tljeir treatment of all tiieir cattle, and more especially their 
 vxen. In this very dilference, in fact, is to he found the solution of 
 the question, and this brinjrs us to the point for nralvin<r tlie sufr<rrs- 
 tions we propose on the breed, gearing, training, and general treat- 
 ment of the ox. 
 
 As to the breed, there can be no doubt that if reg-ard were had alone, 
 tc the working qualities of cattle, a skilful breeder might in a series 
 of years, not very long, manufacture out of our own country cattle a 
 race which would be as distinguished for quickness of motion and 
 endurance as, by like care and attention and skill, the improved short 
 horns have been made, and established for early maturity, symmetry 
 and disposition to lay on flesh and fat on the most valuable parts. 
 There is, however, in the two cases, this obvious diilerence in the 
 system of breeding the horse and ox, which is a matter of necessity 
 militating against the ox and detracting from him on the score of 
 action, leaving it even a subject of surprise that he should be as quick 
 as he is. While the horse, for instance, is bred and cultivated with 
 a view to the possession and display of a single quality, either high- 
 bred for light harness or the saddle, or cold-blooded, with weight to 
 be thrown into the collar, for the plough or heavy loads, for the cart 
 or the wagon, true economy compels the husbandman as to his cattle, 
 to keep in view and to combine, as far as he can, several objects in 
 some degree incompatible with each other, and with the highest attain- 
 able detrree of excellence in any particular one of them. Few, for in- 
 stance, could afford to breed cattle with exclusive reference to the pail^ 
 the yoke, or the shambles ! For either of these objects a different breed 
 would be taken, while, under all circumstances, for all these purposes 
 combined, we should pronounce in favour of the North Devon. It is 
 from this stock that the famous New England oxen are descended. Be- 
 ing of moderate size, and active and thrifty, they are adapted to a wider 
 range of country; and being in itself an unmixed distinct natural 
 breed, if we may say so, it transmits and preserves its peculiar quali- 
 ties with remarkable uniformity as to shape, size, colour, temper and 
 action ; and without demanding, in order to keep them up to the 
 mark, that practised skill and extraordinary care in the selection of 
 the breeding stock which has been for many years exercised in the 
 formation of some other artificial breeds, choosing for that purpose 
 individuals in every case most free from the defects, and possessing 
 the greatest number of the points which it may be the object of the 
 breeder to establish. 
 
 In a correspondence between Dr. Mease of Philadelj)hia and some 
 English stock-breeders of celebrity, one of them, I\Ir. Chandler, who 
 had repeatedly gained prizes at Smithfield for the cattle he had raised 
 or exhibited, says in his answer to certain inquiries — "Not being an 
 advocate for very larcje animals or for feeding to an excess, I have 
 endeavoured from experience to make use of that description of 
 animals which pny best for the food they eat, and are the readiest safe 
 
U S E O F O X E N . in 
 
 v.hen fit for market. I have in consequence used the iVnrth Beimin. 
 They are the best breed that I am acquainted with for the united 
 purposes of labour and feeding, being very active, fast walkers, quick 
 feeders, of a very good quality when slaughtered, and of a size now 
 very generally preferred in our markets to the very large beasts, being 
 from°one hundred to one hundred and fifty stune of eight pounds. 
 Tbey are worked in yokes from four to six to a plough, and plough 
 upwards of an acre per day ,• indeed they work harder than any other 
 oxen in this country, for Devonshire is a very hilly country. Ths 
 Devonshire cows are not of a large size, but very handsome forms, 
 quick feeders, and give milk of a very rich quality. I should suppose 
 that a yearling bull would not be procured in either Devon or Hcie- 
 ford, from the'^first breeds, for less than one hundred guineas." 
 
 It is stated in the communications to the Board of Agriculture in 
 England, vol. iv., that ten North Devon cows of Mr. Congon pro- 
 duc'ed on an average five dozen pounds of butter per week in summer, 
 and two dozen in the winter; or, in other words, two hundred and 
 sixty-eight pounds per cow. His thirty cows averaged an annual 
 profit of^'13, 14s. 8c^., or $G0.52 per head. 
 
 Another fact u-hich weighs heavily in favour of the ox is, that his 
 size is not diminished by labour; a consideration dwelt upon with 
 emphasis by the late John Lowell of rtlassachusetts, eminent alike 
 for his knowledge and for his public-spirited use of it. In a report 
 in 1825, he remarks — "There was another very interesting fact dis- 
 closed on this examination. There were three fine five year old steeid 
 of Joseph Eastbrooks, two of which had been worked hard from the 
 ag-e of three, and the third had never had a yoke around his neck. 
 The judges, and better judges there could scarcely be than my asso- 
 ciates, could perceive no sensible difference in the value of the worked 
 and unworked cattle of the same age, owned by the same man; arid 
 with the same treatment and food, the unv/orked oxen often were in 
 no decrree superior to those which had been submitted to labour. 
 Gieat Britain might learn a lesson from this example if her farmers 
 could have been present." 
 
 Were it admitted, as perhaps it should be, that an ox will consume 
 more hay or Ion? provendei than a horse, it must also be conceded 
 that the horse refuses much that will well sustain the ox — and the 
 objection can at any rate only apply in all its force where the owner 
 is near enough to market to send his hay for sale. Now as the grain- 
 crop is more condensed in proportion to value, and admits of much 
 easier transportation to market, the horse being the consumer, accord- 
 ing to Mr. Stabler's calculation, of ninety bushels more of grain, is 
 in that view and in that proportion the more expensive animal of ihe 
 two. In a national point of view it is worthy of remark that he con- 
 sumes too the very staple which ffoes most efficiently to increase and 
 sustain the population and strength of a country; very few, perhaps, 
 have reflected "n the number of people who may be kept on the food 
 of one horse. I'ur example, the usual allowance for a '-lave is a peck 
 
n ^ E S S A Y O N T II E 
 
 of corn-mcal and tlirco and a half pounds of meat for a wook, besides 
 sail fish and ve<retahh^s; not enoujrh, sup|)osin<r the meat to be con 
 verted into hay, lo keep the horse he drives for a single day. 
 
 Another view which must not be overlooked is, that tlie ox makes 
 much more and belter manure than the horse. He is, in fact, a much 
 better machine for grinding down by his ruminating process into 
 manure, all the provender which cannot be taken for sale from the 
 farm. It is in ^ew cases economical, often not even with hogs, tj 
 consume the grain on the farm; and of all things that eat it, not 
 exceptinof poultry and pigeons, the horse is the most expensive, as 
 he gives it back in no way but by his labour, and therefore is the last 
 animal that should be kept when it can be avoided. 
 
 We proceed to the practical suggestions which it is believed will 
 be useful to those who may feel persuaded to adopt our recommend- 
 ations. 
 
 Breaking. — The sooner this is commenced, the more complete 
 will be the command of the teamster. It would be well, if conve- 
 nient, to have them named and haltered, and taught to stand and to 
 start, to " gee" and to " haw," wiien not more than a year old, and 
 slightly worked in the summer and autumn after they are two. Gee 
 and haw are the terms used in most parts of the country. The first 
 indicates that the yoke is to incline ofT to the right, or from the near 
 side on which the driver should always take his stand. The yoke, 
 however, should not be put on their necks until they are to be work- 
 ed, as they might acquire a habit of running off in it, which it will 
 be found very difficult to correct. 
 
 The directions which follow are taken principally from practical 
 observations by T. P. Stabler, of Montgomery county, who has per- 
 formed in Maryland all the requisite labour on a farm of one hundred 
 and sixty acres, with but one horse in addition to his oxen, and of 
 Mr. Gilman, then of Alexandria. " The proper time," says Mr. Sta- 
 bler, " for putting them to work, is at three years old ; and such as 
 have not been handled, as above recommended, while growing, should 
 be driven round the field for a day or two, before being yoked, so as 
 to tire them." The propriety of this is proved by the greater ease 
 with which they are broken, when taken and yoked directly out 
 of a drove, before they have time to recruit from the fatigue of tra- 
 velling. Instead, then, of being yoked two together, they should b« 
 tied by the horns (with a rope slipped over and resting on the top of 
 the head) to the side of a house, taking care that there be no place 
 for the horns to become entangled, and stand tied in this manner till 
 thty cease to pull by the cord, which will in most cases be in a day 
 or two. They may then be led very readily, and taught to turn, stop^ 
 or start, singly, just as a colt may be, instead of counling two toge- 
 riier at first, which any man in the care of horses would condemn, as 
 being most likely to end in the destruction of one or both, whi3h bag 
 r.ot unfrequently happened with young steers when forcibly yoked 
 iO;rether in the firs^ instance 
 
C 5 E O F O X E iN . 119 
 
 " When two youn^ cattle," says Mr. Stabler, '• are yokrd ami 
 turned loose with their tails tied together to run and plunne ab«ut, 
 they are almost certain to acquire a habit of running away ; and even 
 ishould this not be the case, one, and sometimes both, lose a part of 
 their tail in these violent exertions. When they are sufficiently 
 broken to the halter, they may be placed side by side, for the purpose 
 of receiving the yoke, having reference to their relative size, strength, 
 and mastership ; because, if one is stronger and more free than the 
 other, he should be placed on the off-side that the team may rather 
 incline to, than from the driver." 
 
 If one should be larger than the other, he will be likely to be 
 stronger and more free; and, should they be put to the plough, the 
 furrow ox being the larger, the yoke will be kept nearer a level than 
 in the other case. It requires but little observation to see that ihey 
 are easier to be turned to the right, or made to " gee," than to the left, 
 or to '• haw," or " come hither ;" therefore, if the master-ox be on the 
 off-side, he will assist in controlling the near or left one in "coming 
 round ;" but when reversed, and the master-ox on the near side, and 
 he not altogether willing to " come here," the team is some time 
 stationary ; for let the then off-ox be ever so willing to obey the voice 
 of the driver, the horn of the near one speaks a contrary language, 
 equally intellicrible. After the yoke is put on securely, their tails 
 should" be well tied together, and they sniTered to stand tied as before 
 until a strong pen is built round them, not more than sixteen or 
 eighteen feet in diameter, taking: care that the ends of the rails do not 
 extend inwardly. The ropes should then be loosed, if possible, in 
 3uch a way that they will not be sensible of it. Here they will soon 
 learn to turn themselves about, without one violent exertion, or the 
 least fright. They should be tied up as before, at night, their tails 
 untied, and the yoke removed, to be replaced in the morning as be- 
 fore ; and the day following they may be led or driven in a larger 
 space. By this time the cause will be gained in a manner calculated 
 to insure a prime pair of cattle. They may now be attached to some- 
 thing- lio-ht, and led about for a few hours, daily and gradually in- 
 creasing the draft, and greasing their necks occasionally, to prevent 
 o-allin<T. When put to the ciirt or harrow with others already 
 broken, contrary in the usual practice, they should be placed before 
 instead of behind them; by which arrangement it will be found that 
 if frightened the old cattle will not let them run ; but, if otherwise, 
 thev. by running ag-ainst the older ones, may frighten them also. 
 
 \\\ Kentucky they practise another mode of breaking steers, which 
 is thus described : — Where the establishment is a large one, and 
 there are some to be broken in, every year, the fixture and practice 
 here recommended would seem to be eligible and judicious — '• Get a 
 strong- post eight feet long by tv.-o thick ; plant it three and a half 
 feet in the ground, well rammed ; round or level the top of the post, 
 and leave a pin to it, or make a mortice and insert a strong tvo-incik 
 pin of tough w ood in it, perpendiculurly at the top, six or eight inc'^es 
 13* 
 
^•"0 E SS A Y ON T II E 
 
 lonjr. Then get a ton^rh sapling, twfMity-five feet lonf^; measure off 
 at the small end of it the usual length of a yoke, and bore the holes 
 Inr your bows. Then bore three holes, or more if you choose, four, 
 eiglit, and twelve feet from the other end of the saplinof, of the size 
 of the i)in in the top of the post, givinir the shortest lever first, draw 
 your steers up, let them be young or old, gentle or wild, it makes no 
 dillerence; yoke them to the end of the pole; but instead of tying 
 their tails together, if you uish to avoid bob-tailed oxen, tie their 
 loins together with a good rope, wrap up their head halters, clear the 
 front, and let them go; round and round they will go with a rush; 
 drunk — drunker still they grow, until groaning, down they drop. 
 For a while they lie panting and looking wild ; at length they leap 
 as if suddenly frightened, rush round and round again, grow drunk 
 and drop again. Leave them, they will repeat the experiment, until 
 reeling, they will stop or stand. In a few hours you may lead them 
 around by their halters. Uncouple them from the pole, or yoke them 
 to your cart, and drive them where you please with safety. The 
 preceding method is recommended with confidence from personal 
 knowledg'c by Mr, William P. Hart, of Kentucky. 
 
 There is no point in the comparison between oxen and horses which 
 more strongly illustrates the economy of ox-power than the difference 
 in the expense of gearing. 
 
 For each horse employed on public roads, where it is in constant 
 use, the harness costs, according to the best information, as has been 
 seen, twenty dollars; being one hundred and twenty dollars for a 
 team of six, leaving the swingle or whifiie-trees, as they constitute a 
 part of the wagon, out of the question; and this harness is not ex- 
 pected to last more than six years; while for six oxen, the whole 
 gearing, consisting of three yokes and two chains, would not cost 
 more than twenty dollars, and would probably last twenty years. 
 
 A singular method of accustoming young animals to draw is prac- 
 tised in France ; and, although it must be admitted that few nations 
 have been more the slaves of routine and of old habits, or slower in 
 the progress of improvement in agricultural implements, yet the 
 system they pursue in this instance, as here illustrated, looks and 
 reads so plausibly as to appear worthy of trial, and to bespeak confi- 
 dence in its efficacy. It is well known that nothing is more humbling 
 to the wildest and most indomitable animal than the sufferings of 
 extreme hunger,- and among the French, in the very act of satisfying 
 its cravings, they habituate young animals to the yoke and harness. 
 For this purpose they attach them to the manger by means of a cord 
 ■which runs through a ring, at the extremity of which a weight is at- 
 tached, as represented at A, in the annexed Plate, so that the animal 
 may, at pleasure, approach or recede from the manger. A collar is 
 put on the animal with two cords fixed to a bar or swindle-tree, to 
 *-hich another cord is attached at B, which passes through the pulley 
 at C, and to which is suspended a weight as at D, to be increased or 
 oiminished -it pleasure. Things being thus arranged, fodder is put 
 
U S E F O X E N. 131 
 
 in the rack. The animal, when pressed with hnng-pT, approaches hi3 
 lood, in doing which he raises the weight, and keeps it suspended as 
 long as he continues to eat, and thus contracts the hahit of drawing 
 in a few days. He is free to relax his exertions, for whenever he 
 recedes, the weight reposes on the ground. 
 
 " In many respects," says Mr. Gil man, " proud man mu.st look up to 
 the beast as his superior : man's reason is replete with error; but in- 
 stinct, or the inference drawn by a brute, from certain sounds and mo- 
 tions, after having once learned their purport, is infallible. I have seen 
 the best drilled soldier mistake, for the instant, advance arms for recover 
 arms, bnt never saw a well-trained ox mistake gee for haw, or haw 
 for gee: hence, system is indispensable in the management of work- 
 ing cattle. He who would work them with ease and facility, should 
 maintain a strict uniformity in his conduct towards them. They must 
 have names ; therefore, calves intended to be raised for working 
 should be named while young, to which they become f\\miliar by the 
 time they are ready for the yoke. Anything appropriate to their 
 colour, shape. &c., is proper; such as bright, broad, line, spark, back, 
 star, turk, golden, &.c." 
 
 "The buffaloe breed of cattle, or those without horns, will not an- 
 swer well for working, as horns are necessary in backing a cart, and 
 in carrying it down hill. This may be obviated by having a plain 
 harness vvith breeching fastened to the yoke of the oxen to the 
 tongue, as is the practice in Pennsylvania. Oxen should never be 
 changed in the yoke after having been broke; the near and off-ox 
 shoufd always remain as. such ; by changing them, they become con- 
 fused, and all the benefit of their tuition is lost." 
 
 " A temporary change, however, can be made in one instance to ad- 
 vantage ; this is when they hang off from each other, as they are apt 
 to do In bad travelling, when they get fretted; they then cut each 
 other's feet with their shoes ; shifting them puts this out of their head 
 for that time." 
 
 " There are, however, several ways in which oxen may be geared 
 for work; they are willinir to earn their bread any way; they have 
 been tried and found to pull by a yoke on the neck, by a shaft lashed 
 across the forehead, and traces to its ends ; by traces fastened to the 
 horns; by harness like horses; and they will pull by the tail. From 
 these various modes, it is the husbandman's duty first to study tho 
 nature and convenience of the ox : secondly, economy and his own 
 convenience, and then select that which embraces most of these de 
 sirable objects." 
 
 " There are but two of these modes mentioned that can be adopted 
 with any degree of satisfaction or success ; these are the yoke and 
 the harness." From the former being in general, not to say universal 
 use, the inference is a natural one, that some inconvenience must at- 
 tend the latter. The form of the ox is one objection to harness ; his 
 DPlly is so much wider than his shoulders, it is embraced so hard by 
 tile Iron traces as to impede his wind, as well as to be injured bj 
 
1 r/2 ESSAY N I H K 
 
 g'lllinsf. Tin" y<'l<iN f'n the othrr Iranti, hciiKT of liurd wood, pppcars 
 to be an inslrmiienl ihai would gall, but 1 never knew anj injui}- 
 done by it. The neck of the buHock seems by nature fitted for tlie 
 yoke; the skin, naturally thick, soon beconaes so callous as not to be 
 hurt by friction ; it is there his strength lies, even to a proverb. 
 
 In point of economy, there is a wide disparity between the harness 
 and yoke ; the expense of the former to that of the latter, for eight 
 yt ars' wear, would be as ten to one, and the time of trearing and un- 
 gearing is as three to one ; in other words, a yoke will cost only five 
 dollars, which will average eight years' wear, and can be put to oxen 
 in two minutes. 
 
 A yoke which is properly made for oxen of equal size and strenirth 
 will have no particular end for the near or off-ox ; but the bows bpiiiij 
 sometimes untrue, will fit to the neck better one particular way. This 
 the nice teamster will observe, and always put them so. An ox can 
 feel as sensibly as a man the pains of tight or unfitting accoutre- 
 ments; but not being so fluently gifted, and being too noble and 
 patient to shrink on that account from his task, it particularly be- 
 hooves every driver (who cannot all day wear a key or penknife in 
 the foot of his boot) to be vigilant that the tackle sits easy and free 
 on his team. 
 
 When oxen are unequally matched as to strength, the strongest is 
 apt to carry his end of the ycike several inches before the other; this 
 makes the yoke uneasy to them, and is soon remedied by putting the 
 staple of the yoke nearest to the end of the strong ox. It does not. 
 however, always follow^ that the stronger ox carries the fore end of 
 the yoke. It often occurs that an inequality of strength begets such 
 ambition in the weaker ox as will ruin him by his overstraining him- 
 self for an even yoke. The driver should be attentive to this circum- 
 stance (if it ever occurs with him), and remedy it, as has been just 
 pointed out. 
 
 It is unnecessary, in yoking well-tutored oxen, to lug the yoke 
 round the yard after them, as they are easily called to that. I have 
 often called the ox I wanced from a drove of all sorts of cattle. Stand 
 the yoke on one end; take out the off-ox's bow; steady the yoke 
 with the left hand, and with the right hold up the bow towards the 
 ox, and beckoning with it, call him by name to you ; slip the bow 
 under his neck; turn the yoke down upon it; enter it in the bow- 
 holes, and put in the bow-pin ; then take out the other bow, and 
 lifting up the near end of the yoke with the left hand, with the bow 
 in the right call the near-ox also by name, who will come and " bow 
 his neck to the yoke," and is harnessed the same as his companion. 
 
 An ox-goad to drive with is made of hickory, or any tough wood, 
 three and a half to four and a half feet long, as may suit the whim 
 of the driver, about the size of a man's finger, with a prick or sharp 
 point of iron in the end, projecting not more than a quarter of an 
 inch. This is more cheap and simple, and has been found to answer 
 much better than a whip, or a long green withe. The I'^dicrous 
 
C SE F X El-. 1^3 
 
 practice of using the latter, and of having a driver on both sides of 
 the team to keep tiiern straight, or of fastening a rope to the horn of 
 the near-ox for the same purpose, cannot be too soon exploded. 
 Rioing on oxen is a shameful lazy practice, that should also be done 
 away uith. Oxen may, and ought to be so taught, that by speaking 
 to them and making a kind of beckoning motion with the goad, they 
 will come to ; or, in other words, turn to the left without the trouble 
 of an assistant on the off-side, or a rope to pull them round. 
 
 I would have one thing remembered in driving oxen, (which also 
 applies to every species of servants), I mean the impolitic habit of a 
 uniform harsh deportment, and of keeping the goad constantly going 
 over them ; it is a needless tax upon the lungs and sinews ; the oxen 
 will not do so much work for it; and, what is worse, tiiey become so 
 callous from this perpetual rough discipline, that tney cannot easily 
 be brought to any extra exertion when it is indeed necessary. 
 
 The benefit of" a calm management has been very apparent to me 
 when I have been diiving: in company with these peevish geniuses ; 
 and coming to a steep hill, I w^ould then speak sharp and determined 
 to my team, and ply the goad pretty freely, if necessary. This treat- 
 ment, so novel, would be tully appreciated ; every one of them would 
 pull as for his life, and the hill would be quickly surmounted ; while 
 the driver who has always been speaking harshly, and always been 
 plying his goad, could not here make use of any new argument to 
 stimulate his cattle to the exigence of the moment. The consequence 
 was, he would often have to receive assistance from a team no stronger 
 than his own. Drivers should acquaint themselves with the burthen 
 of their oxen, and never load them beyond it ; it discourages and 
 hurts them. 
 
 Because they are very strong, many unthinking taskmasters appear 
 to believe them omnipotent. When they are properly taken care of, 
 they are not apt to be sparing of their strength ; they are sometimes 
 profuse with it. 
 
 I have often been beset with difficulties when at v/ork alone in the 
 woods with a yoke or two of oxen, and have then thought 1 could 
 perceive traits of reason in them ; for, in proportion to ray anxiety 
 and exertions to extricate myself, have I seen their's spontaneously 
 to increase. 
 
 That all cattle should be sheltered in cold and wet weather, is ob- 
 vious to every person ; but to those that work, it is indispensable ; 
 their health and strength depend upon it. 
 
 From the severity and duration of our winters at the northward, 
 our barns are generally spacious, and calculated to hold as much as 
 possible of ou'r grain and hay. No doubt, however, but this is good 
 economy in ever'v climate in the United States; as the farmer loses 
 as much in quantity and quality of his produce in a short time, by 
 stacking out, as would build a barn. 
 
 Our old-fashioned barns, I believe, are not susceptible of much im- 
 provement. Those which cattle are wintered in are built a small 
 
 11 
 
154 ESSAY ON THE 
 
 distance fr )m the house on a rising- ^ound, with a yard opened to, 
 ^iM'.i desccndintr a little towards the south, if such a spot be near; il 
 bein^ thereby warmer, kept cleaner, and the wash enriches the adja- 
 cent ground. The barn has two larjre doors opposite each uther foi 
 the convenience of driving loads of grain and hay; on one or boili 
 sides of this thoroughfare is a stall for cattle, say ten feet wide anc 
 six and a half high, and running the whole width of the barn; so 
 that if a barn were forty feet long, the stalls would take up ten feet 
 on each end, and twenty would of course be the width of the tho- 
 roughfare; which latter being also used as the threshing-floor, is 
 floored with two-inch plank, well joined. 
 
 The partition between this and the stalls is only three feet high, 
 for the convenience of feeding cattle, whose crib joins the partition, 
 and is thus made : — A piece of timber, the length of the stall, about 
 four inches thick by eight wide, is laid down on edge, parallel with 
 the partition, and two and a half feet from it; this makes a crib on 
 the floor, being the most natural one that cattle can have to feed at. 
 It is perfectly clean, as the stall-floors have a gradual descent of about 
 three inches. Immediately over this timber is another smaller one 
 of the same length, fixed to the joist above ; in both of these timbers 
 from end to end holes are bored at three feet distance, and smooth 
 round stations or studs, three inches in diameter, are fixed therein ; 
 round each of these stations is bent a small hickory hank or hook, 
 sufficiently loose to play up and down thereon ; a wooden bow passing 
 through this hoop, embraces the neck of the ox, who is thereby kept 
 at his post, yet still has every rational liberty. He has room to eat his 
 food, lay down, or stand at his pleasure. (See drawings on page 161.) 
 These stalls have small windows, four feet from the floor, and a con- 
 venient distance from each other, through which to throw the manure. 
 Satisfactory experience of the safety and economy of this mode of 
 housing cattle has made it universal in that quarter. 
 
 On tying up cattle for the night, respect should be had to mastery 
 among them; the strongest should be put in first, and at the further 
 end from the door, and so on, according as they hold dominion over 
 each other, leaving the cows, yearlings, &c., next the door, in case 
 of civil war among them. 
 
 It is interesting when " the curfew tolls the knell of parting day," 
 and the farmer's boy opens his stall-door and gives a nod of invitation 
 to his " leading characters," to see them forming a line of march, 
 entering the door, and taking their places precisely according to rank, 
 withoiit martial music, word of command, or confusion. 
 
 The thorough-bred teamster never suffers himself to partake of his 
 fepfvst before his oxen have begun theirs. They require little else in 
 winter but good wholesome hay and water; but when sufficient time 
 cannot well be allowed them to dine on hay, then corn in the ear is 
 the best thing that can be given them. Pumpkins are also very grate- 
 ful to them, and being remarkably prolific, may be raised with little 
 irtnible. In \\inter, cattle are tied up and fed at about sunset; ted 
 
USE OF OXEX. 155 
 
 again at eigl t o'clock; again at daylight; then at sunrise they ara 
 ready for the labours of the day. This mode of feeding is considered 
 preferable, being fresher in small quantities, eaten more freely, and 
 less liable to get under their feet, and be wasted. 
 
 Carts being cheaper than wagons, and handier about the ordinary 
 business of a farm, are therefore to be desired. Different kinds of 
 bodies may be attached occasionall}' to one pair of wheels ; an open 
 one for hay, sheaves, &c., and a close one for fruit and vegetables. 
 The naked wheels are handy to haul spars, poles, and all kinds of 
 long timber on. In hitching a cart to the oxen, the tongue or spire 
 thereof passes into the ring of the ox-yoke, as far as the shoulder in 
 the tongue will permit; an iron instrument called a agoes pin, resem- 
 bling the capital letter U, is put on the end of the tongue, embracing 
 it above and below, and the copes pin is inserted throiigrh the end of 
 the tongue and through the copes. This copes is for the purpose of 
 hitching the second yoke of oxen to, when necessary. (See drawing 
 on page 164.) 
 
 Vvlierever oxen and yokes are used, chains become indispensable; 
 four of these, each ten feet long, with a hook in each end, or part cf 
 them with a ring in one end and a hook at the other, are enough foi 
 two or three yokes of oxen. 
 
 The drawings opposite are necessary for a better understanding of 
 what has been said. 
 
 Fig. 1 represents a cart-tongue hitched to a yoke, as in the act of 
 drawing; a is the copes pin, which goes throuo-h the tongue, and by 
 which the yoke draws; b is the copes by which the second pair is 
 hitched, when necessary. 
 
 Fig. 2, a stanchion and bows, by which cattle are secured at their 
 crib ; a, the cap lies flat on top of their neck ; the end of the bow at 
 b is sometimes like a button, and is put in the hole at c, and springs 
 into its place. 
 
 At Fig. 3 is the model of a yoke for a middling sized pair of oxen. 
 Whole length, three and a half feet; distance of bow-holes, a to c, 
 twenty inches; from b to b, in the clear, six and a half inches. The 
 bows being something of an oval form, and c to c being the greatest 
 swell, and where the ox's shoulders come, the staple e should be in 
 a direct line between, so that the strain will come right, in drawing: 
 d d may be flat keys or round pins of wood ; one in each bow is suffi- 
 cient. The stuff of which the bows are made must be at least one 
 and a half inches in diameter. 
 
 There is no good reason why the ox should not be worked singly ;< 
 so might cows when not at the pail very well do the single ploughing, 
 and haul light loads in. carts; and it would be yet more economica 
 and expedient to spay and work heifers under certain circumstances. 
 In Spain and France it is a common practice. Every judicious farmer 
 will endeavour to get all possible remuneration for the certain expense 
 attendant upon the keepmg^cf evert/ 1 hi 7is[ that consumes the produce of 
 his land. Even tiie dog that eats what would keep a pig, besides guard 
 
loP) 
 
 ESSAY ON THE 
 
 iu'j; his house, protecting his fields, and finding his game, is made by 
 ihu calcuhiling New KiitrJand man to churn his butter. 
 
 It is observed that less food is necessary for sj)a}ed heifers to keep 
 and faiten them than is reijuired for the ox; and Mr. Marshall, in 
 his rural economy of Yorkshire, remarks, that it is a fact well esta- 
 blished in the practice of that district, that they work better, and have 
 better wind than oxen. 
 
 It is a common thing- to see a single ox in a cart at Norfolk in 
 Virginia, among a people as little as any other observant of improve- 
 ments going oi\ in agricultural machinery. 'I'hat whole ^States, even 
 where oxen are used, should forego the use of single oxen, serves to 
 show how prgiverbially slow is the change of habits among anricultu- 
 rists. Large hulls of immense strength are often kept and fed through 
 the entire year, for the sole purpose of their services for eight or ten 
 cows, when they might haul immense quantities of wood and manure 
 in vehicles adapted to the purpose. 
 
 For an ox working singly, some recommend a single harness with 
 the collar reversed ; but for the reasons he gives, and which are ob- 
 vious, the single yoke recommended by Mr. Stabler, and here exhi- 
 bited, is greatly to be preferred. When the collar is used, and the 
 draught heavy, the pressure of the traces on the sides is obviated by 
 the yoke. The length for a single yoke must be proportioned to the 
 thickness of the animal, so that the traces \\ ill be as far apart when 
 fastened to a small hook on the under side of each end as is required 
 to prevent his sides from being chafed. The following wili pUow the 
 proper shape of the single yoke ; — 
 
 It will be observed that by placing the hooka pr •^r,^,^c\'t '-tirly 
 through the ends of the yoke, the draught is applied preciooly as in 
 the double yoke, and the bow consequently keeps its prope.* pi'ace. 
 
 Mr. Stabler, a nice observer and a practical man, residing in a 
 middle State, sets it down that a horse when at work must have al 
 
USE OF OXEN. 157 
 
 least three gallons of crrain a day, and for six months in the year one 
 hundred and twenty-five pounds of hay per week. Supposing iiim to 
 be at work only two-thirds of his time, and during the remainder to 
 be kept on hay or pasture alone, he must consume upwards of ninety 
 bushels of grain, and two thousand eight hundred and seventy-five 
 ].ounds of hay in a year, which latter is amply sufficient, with such 
 pasture as the horse must have, (and some additional coarse food in 
 the winter), to keep the ox in prime order for work without ihe use 
 of any grain. Thus it appears, that for every ox substituted for a 
 horse, there are ninety bushels of grain saved in the year. 
 
 From data given, Mr. Stabler shows a saving on four oxen instead 
 of four horses in twelve years, of (wo thousand four hundred andjffy 
 d(jl/ars — and concludes his observations on the subject with this 
 wholesome advice : — 
 
 " It cannot be too strongly urged upon those who are about em- 
 barking in agricultural pursuits as a means of securing a livelihood, 
 (and who may be free from many of the prejudices entertained against 
 oxen), to make the experiment at least, and give the thing di fair 
 trial, before they encumber themselves with that mofh, a stock of 
 farm-horses ; in doing which, it will easily be seen they hazard no- 
 thing ; for should any w ish to abandon the plan after a sufficient 
 trial, one summer's grass will enable them to obtain, in cash, an ad- 
 vance on the first cost of theii cattle, if young and thrifty ; and su lj 
 are always to be had." 
 
 J. S. S 
 
 14 
 
SHEEP HUSBANDRY 
 
 DISEASES OF SHEEP. 
 
 Be thou diligent to know the sta'^-f thy jiock.' 
 
 The subject ot sheep husbandry, as adapted to the LTnited States, 
 involves so many considerations, that no system can be recominended 
 for universal adoption, so much do the objects to be kepi in view de- 
 pend on the circumstances of the farmer — the food at his command 
 and the markets within his reach. The most that can be done with 
 promise of usefulness is to describe the characteristics of the bcveral 
 races of sheep which are known to be in the country, and, laying 
 down some general principles as applicable to sheep husbandry, 
 under all views of the subject, leave the farmer to determine how far 
 It may be expedient to appropriate a portion of his capilaJ and care 
 to the business of sheep raising-, and what breed promises to yield 
 the bpst return. While one farmer convenient to a large market will 
 naturally look to the butcher as his best customer, another will find 
 his interest in the adoption of a breed that will best meet the demands 
 of the manufacturer. The one chooses a kind of sheep that will in 
 the shortest time give him the best return in meat,- the other bestows 
 his care on the one whose yZeece will brintr him the most money, the 
 carcase being regarded only as subsidiary to that end. And again, 
 where lamb and mutton are the principal objects, the choice of the 
 breed may depend on the quality of the soil and the abundance of the 
 pasture : where these are rich and luxuriant, a breed which ripens 
 soonest, and is most inclined to fat, as the Bakewell, or a yet much 
 larger sheep — a variety of the Lincolnshire — called the Cofswold 
 breed, will be preferred more especially, and as long as the butcher 
 has to consult the prevalent and vulgar taste for fatness, above all 
 other qualities of meat. 
 
 On the other hand, for the far greater portion of the United Slates, 
 where pastures are more scanty, and the animal is exposed without 
 regular feeding or care to all the vicissitudes of climate, a more hardy 
 race, as tne improved Sotith-down, is to be preferred. Here it may be 
 added that the present race of South-downs, such as have been im- 
 
 (158) 
 
DISEASES OF SHEEP. 159 
 
 ported to the United States, as will hereatter be seen, are as mi, eh 
 meliorated and improved in form and early maturity over the little 
 old animal of that name, of times gone by, as is the improved short- 
 horned breed of cattle on the original stock upon which they were 
 built. 
 
 This improvement of the South-down has been accomplished, not 
 by crossing and dovetailing with other breeds, but by a much safer 
 process, one which guarantees a continuation of its established ex- 
 crdlence under ordinarily good management; by crossing to be sure, 
 but by crossing with and upon their own blood ; the best South-down 
 ram upon the best South-down ewe; thus perfecting the shape and 
 disposition of the breed until a British writer entitled to great weight 
 has expressed the opinion in respect of it which we anticipate will 
 prevail and be acted upon before a great many years throughout the 
 greater portion of the United States, to wit :— "that, " taking all their 
 qualities fairly into account, the South-down excels for general pur- 
 poses any breed in Great Britain." The intelligent reader will, 
 however, be the better enabled to judge for himself, when the pecu- 
 liar qualities of the several breeds shall have been, as we propose, 
 impartially and more particularly described. 
 
 Fluctuation of price has heretofore restricted, and will continue to 
 limit, investments in fme-woolled sheep; and this uncertainty of price 
 is the consequence of two causes which but too strongly forbid the 
 hope of long-continued uniformity in that particular, to wit : — the 
 fluctuating tariff policy of the country, rising or sinking in the scale 
 as one party or another gains or loses the ascendant; and then again 
 liable to be depressed by the ready facility with which in a short 
 time the supply may be brought up to and above the level of the 
 demand ; making it so uncertain whether the remunerating price of 
 one year may not be followed by a ruinous depression the next. 
 Under all circumstances, the grazier of sheep that yield a wool of 
 moderately good quality, can probably make his calculations with 
 more certainty; for, should the prospect justify it, he has but to 
 withhold his flock another year from the butcher, to avail himself of 
 a rise in the wool-market. In New England, the calculation is, that 
 if the fleece be carefully shorn when ripe, and the pelt carefully 
 stripped from the carcass when the sheep dies, his death can be at- 
 tended with no positive loss at any rate, let it die when or how it 
 may. Takings all the chances of reasonable profit, in the existing 
 condition of the country, there can be no doubt that the sheep hus- 
 bandry of the United States, in all the States, south and west of 
 Pennsylvania especially, might be sooner extended, with less outlay, 
 and a surer prospect of remunerating results, than could almost any 
 other branch of industry, if sheep-masters could be brought to bestow 
 upon it a degree of care and of regular management approaching to 
 that which this interesting business commands in older countries. 
 Have we not in the ice-bound regions of the north convincing proof 
 that in the vast expanse of the middle and southern States, the rear- 
 
1 GO s II y. E p II i; s b a n d ii y . 
 
 ing of shoop ftr the butcher, and of wool for the manufacturer, oufrht 
 to be a leading object of attention '? Yet look at the table hereafter 
 to be presented, of the nuinl)er of sheep to the acre in the States of 
 Maryland and N'irginia, and the Carolinas, with their fine possessions 
 of cheap mountain land, compared with the number in Vermont and 
 New York ! It would really seem as if these old southern States 
 were animated by th;it antipathy to this emblem of meekness and 
 innocence wliich the g-reat cynic "of Roanoke" once avowed on the 
 floor of congress would prompt him to go "out of his way at any 
 time to kick a sheep r"* New York, one sheep for every two and a 
 half acres; Maryland and Virginia, one for every thirty-three; South 
 Carolina, only one for every hundred ; and Arkansas, one for every 
 thousand acres ! 
 
 Were it allowable in this mere introduction to a work on the diseases 
 of sheep, the whole subject of sheep husbandry is one which might 
 be profitably, if it were well discussed, opening as it does so wide a 
 field for observation and lecture. All that we can take space to do 
 will be to call attention to the unemployed capacities of tlie country 
 for doubling its flocks from Pennsylvania to the southern and western 
 limits of the Union; and he who runs may read tlie addition which 
 may thus so easily, and with so little cost 'je made to the aggregate 
 wealth of the country. 
 
 How different the calculation and the practice in the north, where, 
 incredible as it may appear, it is truly a common thing for farmers 
 to go round as winter ap))roaches and buy up large numbers of old 
 sheep at a price little, if any more, than the worth of their skins, the 
 |:rofit of the speculation consisting in part in the value of the carcass 
 as food for their hogs. The pelt being first taken otF, the carcass is 
 boilftd, or tri/ed, as they term it, for the tallow it will yield; the 
 residuum is given to their hogs, meal being mixed tlierewith, not 
 long before they are slaughtered. 
 
 It has been somewhere said that our enlightened minister in Eng- 
 land was thought to be "boiling the ewe" with John Bull, when he 
 alluded to this practice in New Entjland ; hence we may suppose 
 that sheep have been brought to no such base uses in Great Britain ; 
 but it has been many years since the writer was assured at Brighton, 
 Massachusetts, that flocks of sheep were sometimes sent with droves 
 of hogs from Vermont to that market, to constitute, in part, their 
 cheapest provision on the way; and very recently Mr. Hyde, a re- 
 spectable and extensive mail contractor from Vermont, sustained in 
 his statement by Mr. Russel, formerly a member of congress from 
 New York, declared the system of buying up and appropriating old 
 sheep, as before stated, to be a matter of common occurrence. The 
 facts arc here mentioned to show to the owners of millions of acres 
 of unappropriated hilly and mountain lands from the western branch 
 of the Sus(iuelianna to the State of Alabama, that very nice calcu- 
 lators of profit and loss find their account in raising sheep, even 
 
DISEASES OF SHEEP. 161 
 
 where land is from twenty to one hundred dollars an acre, and with- 
 out stipulating for hi^h prices for mutton and for wool. 
 
 In viewing this branch of industry as it is pursued in other coun- 
 tries, it must be conceded that in none of them is the sheep to be 
 found in such variety as in England, nor are the principles of sheep 
 management anywhere better understood. Ten years since, the 
 number in England was estimated at thirty-two millions, and the 
 value of wool at seven millions pounds sterling; while in the United 
 States, one of which is larger than England, there were not exceed- 
 ing twenty millions of sheep in 1840. 
 
 But here again, as in other industrial pursuits, the superiority of 
 British husbandry is reierable, not to more advanced knowledge, but 
 to lower wages for labour, and to their greater humidity of climate, 
 which enables them to provide succulent rye and other grass pastures 
 in early spring, but more especially in the productiveness of their 
 turnip husbandry. Each contributes to sustain and extend the other, 
 and both to supporting and increasing population. But the vast crops 
 of turnips on which English sheep are folded, are produced with an 
 outlay of labour in quantity that nothing but the cheapness of it 
 would warrant, and at an expense after all which shows how as ne- 
 cessary capital is to the best system of tillage as it is to the prosecu- 
 tion of mercantile or any other business. How great again must be 
 the profits of the turnip crop, direct and indirect, to authorise a tenant 
 en land loaded with taxes to go to an expense of nearly fifty dollars 
 per acre in putting in his root crop, as may be seen in the article Ap* 
 praisement, in that inestimable work for the American agriculturist, 
 Governeur Emerson's edition of the American Encyclopedia, pub- 
 iished by Carey & Hart of Philadelphia. The details as there given 
 of expenditures in putting in only seventeen acres of Swedish tur- 
 nips, are estimated at nearly nine hundred dollars, a sum actually 
 paid for the crop in the ground, in a case stated by the in-coming 
 tenant. Owing to the mildness of their winter, the turnip crop is 
 left on the land^ and sheep are hurdled on small loCs at a lime. The 
 land is thus wonderfully sustained and improrod ftr the production 
 of barley and wheat, yielding of the latter in m'c-r.y cases forty, fifty, 
 and sixty bushels, and that^in light land. Hov .^cra.rably adapted 
 too would be these two products thus auxiliary to ■^ixh other, turnips 
 and sheep, to the sandy lands in some of the coai t:es along our 
 southern seaboard! In England, both Old and a\vfj, instead of 
 leaving, as is done in some of the southern States, lar.'-f. r.umbers of 
 sheep to die off, of poverty and old age, breeding from t!X- vorst, and 
 to the last, and thus producing a diseased and rickety s+oci', they ars 
 systematically sorted out, fattened at a given age, and handed ovei 
 to the butcher. 
 
 The best sheep-masters in England fatten and sell off th-^ir ewes, 
 
 at four or at most five vears old. It was the opinion of the celebrated 
 
 Mr. Ell man, a British farmer of high and liberal character, that 
 
 thuuo-h an old ewe would bring a large lamb, yet such a lamb will 
 
 14*= 
 
102 SHEET HUSBANDRY. 
 
 not generally make a lanre or fine sheep ; nor will it, as he thought, 
 fatten so well as a lamb from a younger ewe. He made llie bame 
 observations on cdws, sows, mares, and even bitches. 
 
 There is an almost universal readiness to l)elii've that by saga- 
 ciously crossing diiferent breeds, the best qualities of all may be 
 obtained in one, and the worst of any one bred out. But experiments 
 Have not verified these speculative attempts, either with sheep or 
 cattle; and even if admitted to be practicable, it would require rare 
 skill, the fruit of great sagacity and experience, to carry it out suc- 
 cessfully. The prudent farmer, therefore, will do better, having first 
 made himself distinctly acquainted with the inherent peculiarities of 
 the dilTorent races within his reach, to make his choice of some par- 
 ticular one, which, under all circumstances, promises to pay best fur 
 his ouil.iy of attention and capital. Having done that, if a man of 
 pride and diligence, he will go on breeding systematically, until in a 
 few j'ears he may be proud to exhibit his flock to the best judges. 
 Entering upon sheep husbandry with that feeling, he will be ex- 
 tremely careful in the first instance in the selection of his breeding 
 ram. Mr. Eliman, the distinguished English farmer and sheep- 
 master before referred to, recommends one ram for a flock of eighty 
 or one hundred ewes, unless a lamb ram be used, in which case he 
 advises only forty ewes. Great care should be taken that some bad 
 point in the form, or old stain in the blood of the ram chosen, does 
 not counterbalance the good points which it is desired he should 
 communicate to his progeny. He will reserve from his whole flock 
 the very best ewe lambs to the number necessary to keep up his re- 
 gular stock of breeding ewes; he will have his ram let to his ewes 
 on a given day, to ensure the yeaning of his lambs at the very season 
 which his best judgment tells him will be most advantageous; and 
 he will take care that his flock comes into the feeding yard in good 
 season and in good condition, well knowing that according to the 
 maxim of the shepherd, sheep well summered are already half wiii' 
 tered. He will be careful to sort out and get rid of all unthrifty and 
 unsightly individuals, and to ensure a flock of uniform healthiness 
 of condition and comeliness in the eye of the practised and sagacious 
 observer; he will regularly sell off all after a given age. It may be 
 as confidently remarked of sheep as it may of every production of 
 the animal and vegetable world, that to attain a high degree of ex- 
 cellence, it should be, not forced, but well kept, and never stinted in 
 infancy or during that period which nature has assigned to its growth. 
 Without careful attention to this, it is impossible to establish for any 
 flock of sheep the character of excellence. No after-management or 
 nourishment can eradicate the effects of neglect or short feed at this 
 period. It not only diminishes the frame, but impairs the constitu- 
 tion. Hence, in regard to sheep, it is obviously necessary so to have 
 ambs yeaned at a season when the ewe ma" be well sustained with 
 what may be requisite to ensure a good supply of milk, and that 
 snould consisi of good sound clean hay, or well-cured corn-blades, 
 
DISEASES OF SHEEP. 163 
 
 with some vegetables in winter, as being necessary alike in a medici 
 nal point of view, and as tending to increase the quantity of milk 
 Or if vegetables, either turnips, potatoes, or sngar-beets, have not, or 
 cannot be provided, then the season of ypaning, a matter always 
 under the control of the sheep-master, should be postponed until the 
 rye lots, sowed with express reference to this subject, may afford the 
 best pasture, or at all events, in the absence of that provision, until 
 the grass has " taken a start." And herein Great Britain may well 
 boast her eminent advantage over us ; one that with a view to sheep 
 yet more than to cattle husbandry, more than counterbalances the 
 great boon of Providence to these United States, Indian corn. If the 
 political economist were called upon to indicate the broadest basis 
 and most fruitful source of English wealth and population, he might 
 probably designate the introduction of turnip culture. 
 
 Lord Townshend, in the reign of George III., having accompanied 
 that monarch to Hanover, there saw turnips cultivated in open fields, 
 as fodder for cattle, brought home the seed, and in spite of the ridicule 
 Mhich was cast upon the undertaking, he succeeded in persuading 
 some of his tenants to plant them, and thus it happened that the 
 heaths and wastes of Norfolk, that might have to this day remained 
 in their original barrenness, were converted into magnificent vegetable 
 and grain fields. Fed oiT to sheep that are folded to consume the 
 turnip on the ground, the land is at once cleared of weeds, and highly » 
 manured, so that the original value of the turnip as fodder, great as 
 that is, does not equal the resulting benefits in the preparation of the 
 soil for heavy crops of grain. Thus the old system of fallowing has 
 been superseded, and, as has been eloquently said by an English 
 writer, "•' Mighty nature renews her strength, not by indolent repose, 
 *'H in alterations of energy." 
 
 Oonsidering how lately, and, as it were, accidentally this vegetable 
 ^as introduced into England, it is marvellous to witness its progress 
 md effects. From being cultivated only in gardens for cattle, as late 
 as the beginning of the eighteenth century, Colquhoun, in his statis- 
 tical researches, estimates their value at fourteen millions of pounds 
 sterling; and two years since, a respectable writer puts it down as 
 being equal to the interest of the national debt. It was in view of 
 such facts that our enlightened and eminent fellow citizen, Nicholas 
 Bidiile, so well qualified by liberal education, various attainments, 
 and philosophic turn of mind, to speak with wisdom and force on all 
 usi^ful subjects, was prompted to remark in one of his luminous dis- 
 courses on agriculture — ''It is strange how things so lowly acquire 
 national importance; the best farming is that which will give tho 
 irreatest mass of sustenance to animals, since the less land required 
 for animals, the more can be given to the maintenance of human be- 
 m^J's. That fine farming region of England had reached the limit of 
 siUDnortincT animals: it has more than doubled or quadrupled its 
 p<;wer In that respect; and nov/, odd as the mingling of such dissi- 
 milar notions may seem, it is scarcely an exaggeration to saj?, that 
 
164 SHEEP II L S li A N D R Y . 
 
 England's power is basod upon its iron, its coal, and its turnips!'' 
 Tlius we find that sheep, since the introduction of turnip culture io 
 Enjjland, have increased Irom sixteen to upwards of thirty-two uiil 
 lions. 
 
 Embracing with pleasure every opportunity to do honour to the 
 names of tliose real benefactors of agriculture like Lord Townshcnd, 
 who contribute unostentatiously to iTiultiply tiie cciufurts of life, in 
 the same connection it may be well (or the special beuelil of those 
 who alTect to ridicule book farming and learned farmers, to reiiiark, 
 en passant, that the greatest agricultural improvements in all countri(^s 
 have been introduced by Gentlemen Farmers; to them the best in- 
 formed annalists of English agriculture acknowledge that country to 
 be indebted for the turnip, for clover, for sanfoin, for lucerne, potatoes, 
 cabbages, &c. While it is admitted that this vegetable has supplied 
 in England the great desideratum, winter foud for sheep and cattle, 
 and given to the supplies of both prodigious extension, it cannot be 
 denied that she enjoys for success in turnip husbandry two great 
 means which, for better and for worse, are denied to, or are not pos- 
 sessed by us. It is better for us in the long run, that labour is too 
 dear to bestow on the culture of this vegetable, in the present condi- 
 tion of the countr}', that immense outlay in preparing and manuring 
 the land which attends it in England. It is worse for us if we could 
 command the labour, that our climate is generally too arid for ita 
 growth, in anything like the abundance yielded by the turnip crops 
 in England ; and such is the severity of our frosts and its action on 
 the earth, that it would not be practicable to feed them off to folded 
 sheep as in England, where they are confined by hurdles to small 
 portions of the field at a time, and moved to fresh lots every morning. 
 Against this English crop, however, valued as before stated, we have 
 (though not, it must be admitted, altogether available as a substitute 
 for turnips in sheep husbandry) our three hundred and seventy-seven 
 niiUions, five hundred and thirty-one thousand, eight hundred and 
 seventy-five bushels of Indian com! which she reckons not at all 
 among her cereal grains. Yet it does not by any means follow, that 
 because the turnip is not so well suited to our climate, therefore we 
 cannot profitably raise them, especially the rutabaga variety, and if 
 not them, other vegetables accessary, if not indispensable, in northern 
 climates, to the increase of our flocks of sheep. 
 
 In looking for the reason why sheep should be a source of a large 
 proportion of the income and wealth of the farmer, in the snow-clad 
 regions of Vermont, where his sheep go into the fold-yard in No- 
 vember, to be fed until May, one of the most obvious would seem 
 to be that the climate is better adapted to hay and to potatoes. Look 
 at the statistics in these respects, of Virginia, for example, with hei 
 forty-four millions eight hundred thousand of acres, and Vermont, 
 tontaining but two millions one hundred and seventy-five thousand, 
 we find that the former produces of hay but three hundred and sixly- 
 Ibur thousand seven hundred and eight tons, and of potatoes only two 
 
DISEASES OF SHEEP. 1^'^ 
 
 millions nine hundred and forty-four thousand six hundrevi and ^iMy . 
 bushels, while Vermont produces of hay eight hundred and thirty- 
 six thousand seven hundred and thirty-nine tons, and eight millioi.s 
 eioht hundred and sixy-nine thousand seven hundred and fifty-one 
 bushels of potatoes ; and somewhat in correspondence with these 
 crops, and to indicate the connection of sheep-rearing in some mea- 
 sure with them, Virginia, where the sun shines and the grass grows 
 on the face of the earth almost every day in the year, carries, as will 
 hereafter be seen, bid one sheep to every ihirty-ihrec acres within her 
 borders, while her frost-bitten, snow-clad sister in the north, carries 
 one for every two or three acres, and feeds them during five months 
 in winter, being content to drive them from one to two hundred miles 
 to market, or to get for the wool an average price for the last twenty- 
 two years varying from forty-four up to eighty cents per pound, ex- 
 cept this year, when it is put down at thirty cents. 
 
 It may as well be noted here in reference to the general manage- 
 ment of sheep — indeed of all domestic animals — that in nothing is 
 there more gross neglect than in omitting to snli them regularly and 
 abundantly. In Spain, where fine wool has been for ages one of 
 their chief staples, one hundred and twelve pounds of salt is^ given 
 in five months *o one thousand sheep. The late celebrated English 
 farmer and writer on agriculture allowed his sheep daily each from 
 two to four ounces of salt when on dry pasture, and when fed on 
 turnips they were not stinted at all in the use of salt. It is asserted 
 a-, a ^act in the Cyclopedia before referred to, that in all cases they 
 should have access to common salt; and many are the authorities to 
 prove that a Uee use of salt is a preventive of rot and other diseases. 
 We proceed now in fulfilment of an intimation, and for the reason 
 already given, to submit a brief sketch of the characteristics of the 
 few races from which the farmer, having recourse to those now ac- 
 cessible to him in our country, must make his selection, repeating 
 the warning that by no skill, in combination, or any artificial mixture 
 of bloods, °need he expect to get united the fine fleece of the Saxony 
 merino, the early maturity a^nd obesity of the new Leicester, the 
 weight of the Lincolnshire, or yet larger Cottswold, and the hard- 
 ness and fine mutton that give eminence to the South-down. There 
 may yet be room to improve any particular breed of cattle or sheep 
 by that skill in the choice of breeding stock and perfection in man- 
 agement, which care and experience only can beget, but we much 
 doubt whether anv new breed can be firmly established that shall 
 represent the excellencies without the defects of different natural 
 races, and one that will, at the same time, endure! All such made-up 
 breeds, upon the least relaxation of attention, or the least mistake in 
 sorting with a view to breeding stock, will fly to pieces and exhibit 
 vhe de?ects with which nature is sure to reward the impertinent at- 
 tpmpts of ignorance and presumption to interfere with her fundamental 
 vvs and purposes. A wavward dame is she, to be consulted, not 
 .varted ; she will accept and repay all efforts of art to carry out her 
 
1 OG SHEEP HUSBANDRY. 
 
 designs, and to improve lior works according to her laws, and even 
 leaves room for and invites the exercise of skill and diligence, but 
 will not be crossed in her path or permit things which she has 
 ordained to be distinct, each with its nature adapted to peculiar cir- 
 cumstances and ends, to be mingled up with any hope of forming a 
 new organization better in all respects than she had designed. 
 
 In Kngland, the South-down sheep is infinitely improved in all 
 that can give it value, except the grain and flavour of the mutton, 
 wliich time immemorial has been esteemed superior, but that has 
 been accomplished, not by mingling with it the blood of any other 
 family, but by selection and care in breeding and feeding. The de- 
 scription of the different breeds of sheep will be confined to those 
 which it is known have been imported into the United States in such 
 numbers as to give latitude of choice to those who may propose to 
 look to the rearing of sheep as an object more worthy of attention 
 than it has been hitherto generally regarded — and first of the Spanish 
 Mkkino. This is the head spring of all the known flocks of fine- 
 wooUed sheep. While their name would indicate that they were 
 imported into Spain from beyond sea, their exportation from that 
 country was strictly prohibited for ages, until as late as 1765, by 
 spe-ial license from the King, two hundred were sent to the Elector 
 of Saxony, where, according to the best authority, IMr. .Tarvis of Ver- 
 mont, they were made an object of government attention. A board 
 of scientific agriculturists was appointed to draw up rules and direc- 
 tions for their management, and to disseminate the breed throughout 
 the electoral dominions. Woollen manufactures were likewise en- 
 couraged, and the good effects of this wise policy, says Mr. Jarvis, 
 soon became apparent, in the increased wealth of the country, and 
 the amelioration of the condition of all classes of society. He adds, 
 when the merino was first introduced into Saxony, that State, and all 
 the rest of Germany, were dependent upon England and France for a 
 supply of a considerable part of their woollen goods ; but at this time 
 Saxony, as well as several other States of Germany, manufacture all 
 the woollen goods that are necessary for their consumption ; in addi- 
 tion to which Saxony now exports a considerable amount of woollen 
 goods annually, and the rest of Germany an immense amount of 
 wool. Mr. Jarvis is of opinion that while, owing to the different 
 systems of management that prevail, the Saxony descendant of the 
 Spanish sheep has become more and more tender and infirm of con- 
 stitution, its fleece has been certainly somewhat improved in this 
 country; and in reference to the suitableness of our own country to 
 the growth of the finest wool, he says, — "About six years ago I 
 compared my merino wool with fifteen or twenty samples of the 
 Paular flock that had been sent me from Spain where I purchased, 
 and eight of the ten judges who examined the two, gave a decided 
 preference to thai taken from the backs (f my shccp^ He goes on to 
 Siy, — " Mr. James Shepherd, who carried on the factory at North- 
 T^mpton, and who purchased my merino wool for several years^ told 
 
DISEASES OF SHEEP. ICT 
 
 Jne., that the superfine hroadcloths made from my wool handled softer 
 than did those from the best imported Spanish wool he could pur- 
 ciiase; where," adds he, and there need be no better judge, "the 
 merino has been bred with attention and care, the wool has not dete- 
 riorated in any other country exQept England, and the deterioration 
 there has undoubtedly been owing to the uncommon humidity of the 
 climate." Here, then, is evidence sufficient to satisfy the most 
 skeptical on the point of adaptation of climate and food to the pro- 
 duction of the finest wool, where circumstances invite the farmer to 
 choose his breed with an eye to the manufacturer as his customer ; 
 and the testimony of Mr. Jarvis goes further to prove that if England 
 owes the superiority of her turnip crop for coarse-woolled sheep to 
 the moisture of her climate, for the same reason she can never supply 
 her own manufacturers with fine wool. 
 
 It is not deemed necessary to give the history of the introduction 
 of the merino into the United States, further than to state that the 
 first, a buck and two ewes from the Rambouellet flock in France, 
 were sent into New York by Chancellor Livingston, then Minister 
 to France. The Hon. David Humphreys, who had been minister to 
 France afterwards, got in two hundred more through Portugal into 
 Connecticut. These importations remained unnoticed and almost 
 unknown, until the embargo of 1807 and the non-intercourse cut off 
 our supply of woollen goods from England; attention was drawn to 
 the necessity of making ourselves independent of a foreign supply of 
 an article as it were a necessary of life, and in 1809 and 1810 several 
 thousand merinoes were sent from Spain to the United States b}' Mr. 
 Jarvis of Vermont, and Mr. Grove of New York, and distributed 
 chiefly in the northern States, but in smaller numbers as far south as 
 Norfolk and Richmond. Subsequently, to wit, in 182G, there arrived 
 in New York, Boston, and other ports, tvro thousand five hundred 
 Saxony merinos. Such is the basis of the flocks now kept, of pure 
 and of mixed blood, in our northern States, where, according to some 
 interesting statistical accounts on the subject of sheep and wool, 
 compiled in 1836, by Messrs. Benton and Barry, the average price of 
 wool was per pound, in 
 
 1827, 36 cents. 1832, 41 cents. 
 
 1828, 40 " 1833, 52^ » 
 
 1829, 29 " 1834, 50 « 
 
 1830, 40i " 1835, 57 " 
 
 1831, 58 " 1836, 58 " 
 
 Since then, the price has been, according to the best accounts we 
 can get, in 
 
 1 838, from 45 to 47 cents. 
 
 1839, from 45 to GO " 
 
 1840, from 43 to 44 " 
 
 1843 from 25 to 30 " 
 
 12 
 
168 S II E E P II U S B A N D U Y . 
 
 Here may be aptly inserted the following articles from the February 
 niiiubi r of the Alhany "Cultivator," to assist the judgment of those 
 who would di'cide on the best information as to the j)rospects for a 
 roinunoratinjT pricii for the coarser kinds of ionir wool. It will be seen 
 that under the influence of the present tarilf, and the probability of its 
 remaining for some time undisturbed, a large amount of capital is 
 finding its way to employment in woollen manufactures by the esta- 
 blishment of branches of it, hitherto unattempted in tliis country. 
 
 " We have great pleasure in laying before our readers the follow- 
 ing letter from Samuel Lawrence, Esq., of Lowell, in answ^er to one 
 we addressed him, enclosing samples of wool from some Leicester 
 sheep, owned by Mr. Howard, associate editor of the Cultivator. It 
 will be seen from this letter that rapid advances are making in this 
 country in the manufacture of such goods as require long wool, such 
 as is produced by the breeds of sheep known as Cotswolds, Leices- 
 ters, Lincolnshires, &c. ; and that the increasing demand for this kind 
 of wool affords encouragement to the breeders of these sheep, which 
 they have not heretofore enjoyed. It will be seen, also, that Mr. S. 
 expresses great confidence in the belief that the prospects of the wool 
 grower are fully equal to those of any other branch of husbandry." 
 
 " Lowell^ January 10, 1844. 
 " Editors of the Cultivator, 
 
 " My numerous engagements at the opening of the year have pre- 
 vented an earlier reply to your respected favour of the 28th ult. 
 
 " I have examined the two samples of wool, and am of opinion that 
 they are admirably adapted to combing purposes for the manufac- 
 ture of Mouslin de Laines. The staple is long, strong, and lustrous, 
 qualities not desirable for felting purposes, especially the two latter. 
 I judge these samples to be from Colswold sheep, a breed which it 
 is very desirable to propagate in tiiis country, as the worsted business 
 is just coming into existence. The secret of England's advance of 
 all ihe world in the manufacture of worsted goods, lays in the fact of 
 her possessing better breeds of sheep for the production of combing 
 wools, and not from her superior skill in working them. 
 
 " ^rhe icorsted business, in its various shapes, is to be of immense im- 
 portance in this country ; and it affords me sincere pleasure to be able 
 to say to you that it has already been commenced in this State upon a 
 liberal scale, by parties whose means and intelligence are a guaranty 
 uf its success. A great deal of talent and skill have been brought to 
 bear upon this branch of industry; and if I am not greatly deceived, 
 the time is near when old England herself will be astonished at our 
 success. A number of hundred looms on mouslines are already in 
 operation, and more in progress. Li addition to th.^ works already 
 prijer-.ted, a company is 7iow being formed in Bostu/i, with a capital 
 of a million of dollars, for loorks on mouslin de laines, f<LC. 
 
 " In reply to your inquiry about the kinds and qu ii:tities of woo! 
 used in the Middlesex mills, I have to say that we use about a millioii 
 
DISEASES OF SHEEP. 
 
 169 
 
 of [)'/imds yearly, of such kin(3s as are considered in this cnuni y the 
 choicest produced ; say full-blood Saxony, and Saxony mixed with 
 Morino. We are very fastidious in the selection of our wools, bcih 
 as regards the blood and condition; and, in consequence, we aro in 
 the habit of paying prices which many manufacturers think absurd. 
 
 " 1 am clearly of the opinion that no branch of agriculture promises 
 better than the culture of wool, and 1 sincerely hope more attention 
 will be given to it than has been paid for the last few years. 
 
 " Your's, Samtel liAwnENCE." 
 
 According to the following table it will be seen that the aggregate 
 amount of capital in 1810, in woollen manufactures, was under six- 
 teen millions ; here is to be an addition, according to Mr. Lawrence, 
 of one million in a single new branch of it. 
 
 Name of State, &,c. 
 
 WOOL. 
 
 1. Maine, 
 
 2. New Hampshire, . 
 
 3. Massachusetts,... 
 
 4. Rhode Island, 
 
 5. Connecticut, 
 
 6. Vermont, 
 
 7. New York, 
 
 8. New Jersey, 
 
 9. Pennsylvania, . .. 
 
 10. Delaware, 
 
 11. Maryland, 
 
 1-2. Virginia, 
 
 13. North Carolina, .. 
 
 14. South Carolina, . . 
 
 15. Georgia, 
 
 16. Alabama, 
 
 17. Mississippi, 
 
 18. Louisiana, 
 
 19. Tennessee, 
 
 20. Kentucky, 
 
 21. Ohio, 
 
 22. Indiana, 
 
 23. Illinois, 
 
 24. Missouri 
 
 25. Arkansas 
 
 26. Michigan 
 
 27. Florida, 
 
 28. Wisctnsin, 
 
 29. Iowa, 
 
 30. Disl. of Columbia, 
 
 Total, 
 
 No of 
 
 fullMlg 
 
 mills. 
 
 151 
 
 152 
 207 
 
 45 
 157 
 239 
 890 
 
 49 
 
 346 
 
 3 
 
 39 
 
 47 
 1 
 
 4 
 
 5 
 
 206 
 
 24 
 
 4 
 
 16 
 
 2,585 
 
 No. of 
 woollen 
 manufac- 
 tories. 
 
 24 
 
 66 
 144 
 
 41 
 119 
 
 95 
 3-23 
 
 31 
 
 235 
 
 o 
 
 29 
 
 41 
 
 3 
 
 3 
 
 1 
 
 26 
 
 40 
 
 130 
 
 37 
 
 16 
 
 9 
 
 1 
 
 4 
 
 1.420 
 
 Value of 
 manufac- 
 tured 
 goods. 
 
 §412,366 
 
 795,784 
 
 7,082,898 
 
 842,172 
 
 2,494,3)3 
 
 1,33 1,9.53 
 
 3,537.337 
 
 440,710 
 
 2,319,061 
 
 104,7(i0 
 
 235,900 
 
 147,792 
 
 3,900 
 
 1,(!0U 
 
 3,000 
 
 14,290 
 
 151,246 
 
 685.757 
 
 58,867 
 
 9,540 
 
 13,750 
 
 129 
 
 9.734 
 
 800 
 
 No. of 
 
 persons 
 
 employed. 
 
 532 
 
 893 
 
 5,076 
 
 961 
 
 2,356 
 
 1,450 
 
 4,636 
 
 427 
 
 2,930 
 
 83 
 
 388 
 
 222 
 
 "4 
 
 6 
 
 10 
 
 45 
 200 
 935 
 103 
 
 34 
 
 13 
 1 
 
 37 
 
 Capital in- 
 vested. 
 
 20,696,999 [ 21,342 
 
 §316,105 
 
 740,:i45 
 
 4,179,8.50 
 
 6i^5,350 
 
 1,931,335 
 
 1,40(;,950 
 
 3,469,349 
 
 314,650 
 
 1.510,546 
 
 107,000 
 
 117,630 
 
 112,350 
 
 9,^00 
 
 4,300 
 
 2,000 
 
 25,600 
 
 13-,000 
 
 537,985 
 
 77,954 
 
 26,205 
 
 5,100 
 
 12,600 
 
 34 120 
 
 15,765,124 
 
 South-down. — Let those who would properly appreciate this ex- 
 cellent race, banish from their thoughts the diminutive mottled origina. 
 South-down stock of the olden time, with the idea of which the name 
 is apt to be associated in the mind, and contemplate the portrait here 
 15 
 
170 
 
 SHEEP HUSBANDRY. 
 
 presented of the Duck imported in 1838, by E. Pientice, of Mount 
 1 1 ope, near Albany. 
 
 
 The Sheep on the Green Grass. 
 
 Mr. Prentice says they are " in size between the Cotswold and oui 
 native sheep, and will weifrh in ordinary flesh from one hundred and 
 sixty to two hundred pounds; the one of which this is an eng'raving, 
 ■weighs one hundred and eighty pounds. They are of round, full and 
 beautiful form, and of great weight for their apparent dimensions, 
 possessed of extraordinary vigour and constitution, fitting them for 
 great endurance of keep and exposure. In one flock of about fifty, I 
 have never known an invalid for an hour, or one low in flesh, though 
 their pasture has often been as short as I have ever known one, on 
 which sheep have been sustained." 
 
 Of the improved South-down, as they are at this day in great per- 
 fection in England, no further description need be added than the 
 following sketch by Mr. Allen^ editor of the American Agriculturist, in 
 an interesting account of his visit to Mr. Webb, an English farmer, 
 in company with the Hon. Andrew Stevenson, then our minister to Eng- 
 and, whose judgment as an agriculturist was well displayed, and 
 vhose least service to his country was important, if it consisted in 
 .;electing and bringing home some of the finest specimens of South- 
 down to be found in Great Britain. 
 
 " To give an idea of the weight of Mr. Webb's animal, the South- 
 down b ick selected by Mr. Rotch, though only six months old, 
 weighed one hundred and fifty-two pounds on the scales; bishop 
 Mead's, sighteen months old, two hundred and forty-eight pounds; 
 and Mr. Stevenson's, of the same age, two hundred and fifty-four 
 
DISEASES OF SHEEP. 171 
 
 pounds, wki.e "i wether, exliibited at Cambridg-p on Christmas day, 
 1840, weighed dressed, with the head en, two hundred pounds, aside 
 from yielding twenty-eight pounds rough tallow. The average weic^lit 
 of his wethers, however, at eighteen or twenty months old, is hut 
 about thirty to thirty-five pounds per quarter. The bucks shear from 
 nine to eleven pounds; and the average shearing of the whole tlock 
 is six pounds fifteen ounces, and of a quality of wool that we thought 
 better than the generality of South-downs. The fleece is close uniJ 
 con:ipact, and, we should think, would resist rain, sleet, and snow, 
 nearly as well as the best Merino." INIr. Allen adds, respecting Mr. 
 Webb's sheep, — "They are very hardy, and are never housed in 
 winter, but lie in the open fields, and are fed upon hay, with cut 
 turnips, sugar-beets, or mangel wurtzel. In the summer they are 
 taken to a poor pasture by day. at a distant part of the farm, for 
 change and exercise; and tov/ards night are brought near home, and 
 folded on vetches, clover, or rape. The lambs, after weaning, are 
 turned into fair pasture, and fed about a pint each per day, of beans, 
 oil-cake, or some kind of grain. Mr. Webb says he is an advocate 
 for good feeding, and that a good animal always pays for it. This is 
 our doctrine, and if people want South-downs to starve, they had 
 better take up with the smallest of the old unimproved race." 
 
 The editor of the Cultivator adds — '' Messrs Bement and McTntyre, 
 in the vicinity of this city, have beautiful flocks of South-downs; and 
 the flock of Mr. Rotch, of Butternuts, in this State, is one of the best 
 in the Union, embracingr, as it does, the blood of the Duke of Rich- 
 mond's, and Messrs Ellrnan's and Grantham's flocks, and now that 
 of Mr. Webb's." 
 
 " Mr. Rotch's sheep have proved perfectly hardv, wintering finely 
 on nothing but hay ; and we have little doubt that where fine qualities 
 of wool are not the great object in sheep-growing, the South-downs 
 will prove to be one of the best breeds for the farmer." 
 
 To ascertain the number and the whereabouts of the importers and 
 breeders of this admirable race of sheep, unequalled for mutton, un- 
 less it be to gratify the coarse taste for fr/t meat, the reader has but to 
 consult the pages of the Cultivator, the American Ao-riculturist. and 
 other journals, for the names of Prentice, Rotch, Bement, Mclntire, 
 Bagg, and others. The prices, we believe, are from twelve to twenty 
 dollars for thorough breeds. 
 
 The Dishley or BnkewclL, or new Leicester sheep. — With this breed 
 all persons at all conversant with sheep-breeding must be acquainted ; 
 so much so, that it is deemed only necessary to »ay that accordingr to 
 our ok servation, which has been not very limited, being amongf the 
 earliest importers of seme of the best of them from one of the best 
 
 flocks in England, they have been thus accurately characterised : 
 
 " Heads clean, straight, and broad ; bodies round and barrel-shaped ; 
 eyes fine and lively; bones fine and small;" carried, as we thinir 
 by Mr. Bakewell in this last point to an extreme. An English writ 
 of high character, Mr. Ellman, describes the wool of the Bakewt 
 
1 7 "2 s H i: i: r ii r s b a .\ i) u y . 
 
 as being "lono^, fine, and well c;ilciilato(l for combing, and fle* cefl 
 weighing about ciubty-livr j)ounils at two years old. Thc^y fatten kindly 
 and early, and are the most popular sheep for the market, but are not 
 very sure breeders nor good nurses." Mr. James Bagg, of .Mont^ro- 
 tiery, New York, a very large importer of cattle, sheep, and hogs, 
 presents a comparison and an estimate of the value of the only breeds 
 to which we deem it necessary to call the attention of American 
 farmers. The reader will draw his own conclusions. 
 
 *' A Saxon lamb, six months old, weighing 18 lbs. at 8 cents, $1.44 
 
 Merino lamb, " " " 20 " " l.GO 
 
 ]]akewell " " " 30 " " 2.4l 
 
 Cotswold, " " " 60 " " 4.80 
 
 South-down, " " " 50 " " 4.00 
 
 In the second, their wool. 
 
 Saxon fleece, weighing 3 lbs. at 50 cents, $1.50 
 
 Merino " " 3 " "40 " 1.20 
 
 Bakewell » " 5 " "30 " 1.50 
 
 Cotswold" " 10 " "36 " 3.60 
 
 South-down " " 5 " "40 " 2.00 
 
 " The above, I think, will show the difference in value of the 
 lambs and fleeces, but no one is to suppose that eight cents per pound 
 is the value of the Cotswold or South-down lamb. They are now 
 worth about twenty to twenty-five dollars each. 1 would not sell at 
 ■» less price. 
 
 " In the third place, the sheep when full grown. 
 
 Saxon sheep, weighing 50 lbs. at 6 cents, $3.00 
 
 Merino " " 60 " "6 " 3.60 
 
 Bakewell " " 110 " "6 " 6.60 
 
 South-down " " 120 " "6 " 7.20 
 
 Cotswold " " 240 " "6 " 14.40 
 
 " The Bakewell I consider a sheep not at all adapted to this cli- 
 mate, being of a tender constitution, hard to keep, wool coarse, small 
 fleece ; another objection is, when the wool is a few inches long, it 
 parts and leaves the back of the sheep naked ; and when exposed to 
 cold storms, the animal is much injured, and many of them die. The 
 Saxon and Merino I find much alike, both of a weak constitution, 
 and require great attention to keep them alive, through the winter ; 
 they are also very bad nurses ; a great difficulty in rearing their lambs. 
 I have conversed with many gentlemen who keep large flocks of 
 Merino and Saxon sheep, and they all agree what I have stated re- 
 specting them to be correct, but they say we must have fine wool. 
 
 "I must say that the Souih-down and Cotswold siieep have ex- 
 ceeded my expectation. I have seen some of the South-down wool 
 manufactured into cloth fine enough for any man; and if people get 
 the pure-blooded South-down sheep, they have an animal in every 
 
DISEASES OF SHEEP. 173 
 
 respect that is wanted ; their nuUton superior to anv in the -^'orld 
 of a hardy constitution ; the wool good ; and no sheep will live on 
 shorter pasture. The South-down has a hrown face and legs, oi 
 drirk grey. 
 
 •' 1 consider the Cotswold sheep a hardy animal well adapted for 
 this country ; but they want better keep than the South-down ; they 
 make great weight, and their fleeces are heavy. I had last year 
 nighteen Cots\\x)ld ewes whose fleeces averaged ten and a half 
 po"unds, and one buck whose fleece weighed eighteen and a quarter 
 pounds. I sold a lamb to Mr. Haviland of Long Island, who had it 
 shorn at one year old ; the fleece weighed twelve and a half pounds 
 clean wool. I saw some of this breed of sheep slaughtered in Glou- 
 cester, England, which weighed seventy-five pounds per quarter. A 
 noted breeder there informed me that they often exceeded that weight. 
 
 " Some may say tliat the South-down and Cotswold lambs cannot 
 weigh one hundred pounds at the age stated. If any doubt it, if they 
 wilf call on Bagg and Watt, of Montgomery, New York, they can 
 see lambs of five months old much heavier. 
 
 '' Muntgomery, N. F., July 21, 1840." 
 
 Those who have rich pastures and abundant food, and whose objecl 
 is to supply the butcher, would probably best adopt the Culswold^ 
 already spoken of by Mr. Bagg, of which we find, among other in- 
 ducements, great size and aptitude to fat. with more hardiness and 
 better constitiition than the Bakewell. The following item in the 
 seventh volume of the Cultivator may prove interesting on some of 
 these points : — 
 
 " I cannot leave this place without giving you some description of 
 six Cotswold wether sheep, bred and fed by Mr. Dunn, w'ith refer- 
 ence to the whole inhabitants of Albany. Mr. Kirkpatrick, who 
 purchased them, says the heaviest sheep weighed two hundred anc' 
 ten pounds, and the' fat on the ribs measured five and a quarter inches. 
 I saw the smallest; the thickness of fat irom my own measurement 
 was four and a quarter inches; the price twenty-two dollars each 
 and the meat sold in the market readily for twelve and a half cents 
 per pound. The fleeces from these sheep averaged about ten pounds 
 each ; these are facts from the breeder and the butcher without dimi- 
 nution or addition. ^^ • H. Sotham." 
 
 " P. S. Perhaps it will be as well to observe that these lambs were 
 not thought sufficiently good to reserve for breeders, and were the 
 culls of his males." 
 
 An English paper slated that a fleece weighing twenty-three pounds 
 was taken from a Cotswold ram in 1840, owned by .1. Gcald of Pot 
 more. 
 
 Jlbany, Feb. 27, 1840. 
 
 Later still, in 184.3, a sheep nf the Cotswold brerd was slaughtered 
 m Albany; live weight, two hundred and sixty pounds; carcass, 
 dressed with head en, two hundred and ten pounds; showing a differ^ 
 15* 
 
174 SHEEP HUSBANDRY. 
 
 ence of less thnn one-fifth between the live and death weight. It if 
 
 added th.il ilie only i^^^cd of this sheep durincr the past suiiiiuer was 
 clover pasture, hurdled with others from 15lh of Octoher to 15th of 
 November. From that time to his bein<r slaiiirhtered and exhibited, 
 2Jd of February, he was fed, with three !Souili-(lown bucks, .inder 
 cover, with turnips, buckwheat, and clover; one bushel of turnips 
 and thres quarts of buckwheat, toirether with two pounds of hay, 
 were fed to the tour daily. It is enough to ensure confidence in the 
 accuracy of this statement that it appears to be from the editor of the 
 Cultivator himself. 
 
 The Lincolnshire Sheep are described by Mr. Ellman as being 
 "faces white; bones larjre; leg's white, thick, and rough; carcass 
 long, thin, and weak ; wool fine and long, from ten to eighteen inches, 
 weighing per fleece, when killed at three years old, an average of 
 about eleven pounds; flesh coarse grained ; slow feeders, calculated 
 only for the richest pastures; constitutions tender." 
 
 Mr. L. D. CletY, of Somers, New York, had a large flock of this 
 breed in 1 840, and states in the Cultivator of that year that he had 
 "raised in IS3'J from sixty-four ewes, (chiefly ewes two and three 
 years old), ninety-two lambs, and had not lost a single lamb by reason 
 of exposure." That when his ewes were older, " more than half had 
 twins." Mr. C. says further, in 1811 — "The present winter my 
 priinest wethers went to market about the first of December, twenty- 
 four in number; six of these sheep were three years old, and gave a 
 total dead weight of eight hundred and seventy-nine pounds, or one 
 hundred and forty-six and a half pounds per carcass, equal to thirty 
 six and a half pounds per quarter; and I am informed that one of 
 these sheep gave thirty-six pounds of caul or rough fat." This breed 
 is sometimes mistaken, or passed olT for the Dishley or Leicester 
 breed, which is more perfectly formed, of perhaps somewhat earlier 
 maturity, but not so large by eight or ten pounds to the quarter. 
 
 The CoTswoLD. — The same English writer, in whom we have 
 already expressed our respectful confidence, treats of the Cotswold 
 sheep as one of the " varieties" of the Lincolnshire, the " Treswater" 
 being another, and describes the Cotswold as "in most respects re- 
 sembling the parent breed, but superior; wool not so longf as that of 
 the origfnal sort; mutton fine grained and full sized, capable of great 
 i;aprovement by proper crossing. Mr. Thomas Wells, of Hnmpnett, 
 has favoured us with the followingr particulars on the improved con-- 
 dition of this excellent breed: — "The Cotswold sheep, previously to 
 b'ungcrossed with the Leicester, were of large size, well woolled, and 
 g ood^sucklers, but high on the shoulders, with a hollow behind, in- 
 clined to a thin fore-flank and coarseness in b )ne. Li their improved 
 state, they are rendered not only much finer in bone, but fit for market 
 in half the period they were formerly, as they were not fatt'^d until 
 three or four years old ; but now they are seldom offered to a butcher 
 Ht more than two years. Their size is not quite so large as before the 
 cross, but wien fat, average about the same weight, which by com- 
 
DISEASES OF SHEEP. 175 
 
 mon feeding- is about fourteen or sixteen stone, and will by extraor- 
 dinary feeding arrive at about twenty-five or twenty -six stone. As 
 yearling's they possess the strikino qualification of averaging under 
 good management ten or eleven stone, which is found to answer 
 much better than keeping them longer, ^i'hese merits, in addition to 
 the great weight of combing wool they produce, has greatly increased 
 their value. It is highly requisite to guard against breeding them too 
 fine. If they are well bred they are equally as hardy as they were 
 formerly, but if bred too fine they lose in constitution, are unable to 
 support their young;, produce meat of a bad quality, and not having 
 a proportionate quantity of lean, their wool becomes short and too 
 fine in quality, and they frequently become naked bellied, which oc- 
 casions great loss in the weight of their fleece." It is this " breeding 
 too fine," in other words too closely, that has impaired the constitu- 
 tion of the Bakewells or Dishleys, made them bad nurses, and dimi- 
 nished too much the proportion of lean meat. The true problem for 
 the sheep farmer is what breed will ijive him one year with another 
 the greatest profit to the acre. If pasturage be short, it is clear that 
 a greater number of sheep of smaller size will gather more in a given 
 time than a smaller number of heavier sheep ; and we believe that 
 keeping in view the resources for maintaining sheep through the yeir, 
 the safer plan is to take a breed of hardy constitution and of a size not 
 ito large, such as the South-down, and thus hit the happy medium ; 
 and, in the creneral way, we have no hesitation in hazarding the 
 opinion for what it is worth, that the same principle — moderate size 
 and thriftiness of habit and hardiness of constitution — is the one on 
 which it is most expedient for American husbandmen to act, in the 
 great majority of cases, in regard not only to sheep, but to cattle, 
 hogs, horses, and even poultry. 
 
 At a meetings of the Pennith Agrricultural Society in England, in 
 1S39, the awards of the judges were in favour of the middling sized 
 sheep. At the dinner, on the health of the judges being proposed, 
 INIr. Gray, the chairman, speaking on the comparative profits to the 
 grazier of large and small sized sheep, made the following among 
 other remarks : — 
 
 "I dare say that the opinion of the judoes with respect to sheep 
 has been much censured, although I declare I have not heard any 
 observations to that effect. My reasons for sujjpnsing so is this — 
 that people who have not great experience in the qualities and niceties 
 connected with every description of stock, are apt to look principally 
 at that which fills the eye, and to form a favourable opinion of animals 
 upon a large scale; and this is particularly the case with respect to 
 the Leicester sheep. I have had considerable experience with sheep 
 of this description, havino- in former times kept a flock of between 
 nine hundred and one thousand Leicester ewes, and therefore I have 
 some title to speak upon the subject. I say, then, that the largest 
 sheep are the least profitable. If it can be ascertained, as I believe 
 it has been, that vou can feed on an acre of land a greater number or 
 
176 SHEEP HUSBANDRY. 
 
 pounds of imittnii in carcases of from ei'^litren to twenty pounds pel 
 quarter than in carcases of from twenty-eiyht to thirty pounds, tlien 
 every one must a^ree that tlie advantaj^es are on the si(U; of the smallei 
 carcases. The reason (jf this is uhvious. In times of drought and 
 scarcity, a small animal can C(jllect as much food as a larjj^er one, and 
 havinir a smaller c ircass, it derives much more advantage from it. 
 While, therefore, the larger animal is losing in condition, the smaller 
 one, if not improving, remains stationary ; and when the period arrivea 
 at which ahundance of food can be obtained, it almost immediately 
 reassumes its position, and is fit to go to the market sooner than the 
 larger animal. I do not presume to offer anything like dictation lo 
 this meeting, but I am confident that those giMitlemen present, who 
 have had experience on this subject, will bear me out in saying thai 
 there are advantages in breeding the description of stock to which I 
 have been referring, which do not attach to animals of better appear- 
 ance and larger size." 
 
 Nevertheless, we should say, that if the farmer have at command 
 a superabundance of grass and corn, which it would be his interest 
 to convert into meat, that its value may be more condensed and ])or- 
 table, thtm the most economical machine or animal is that one which 
 above all will, as a machine, soonest convert that superabundance of 
 food into meat of a kind that will bring the best return in the market. 
 
 In all ages, among nations in any degree removed from the lowest 
 stage of barbarism, a census in some form has been deemed neces- 
 sary to an understanding of their condition, resources, and means of 
 defence; and the fullness and accuracy of these periodical returns 
 laay be said in some sort to mark the progress of political science 
 and civil polity. As yet the census of the United States is altogether 
 defective in many particulars connected with important questions of 
 political economy, and there is too much reason to believe that the 
 actual rr>turns have been made with a de<rree of carelessness and want 
 of uniformity sufficient to create distrust in the results as they have 
 been published. Yet such as it is, it forms the most reliable means 
 of calculation on questions like the one in hand. We have, it seems, 
 no return, for instance, (as we happen to have had occasion to observe) 
 either of the number of mules or of the turnip crap in the United States. 
 In the following table we have embraced the returns of hay and of 
 potatoes, as these in the northern States constitute the chief food of 
 sheep, as before said, for four or five months in the year. We have 
 added to the table, as nearly as could well be ascertained, the number 
 of acres to a sheep in the several States and territories ; and the reader 
 will be struck with the fact, that while fine wool may be transported 
 at such a trifling expense in proportion to its value, they should be in 
 such a very large proportion located very near to the wool market, 
 and on laud which bears the hi<rh(>st 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 ba<r, and there is not half the 
 danger of inflammation which there is w hen the cord is gnawed and 
 torn by the teeth. 
 
 Except the lambs are very weakly, and the ewes much exhausted 
 and emaciated, it will not he requisite to give any medicine after 
 yeaning. In the great majority of cases the animals will do a great 
 deal better without it. Should, however, tonic medicine be necessary, 
 I know nothing better than the following: — 
 
 RECIPE (No. 1). 
 Take gentian root, powdered, one tlraclim ; caraway powder, half a drachm; tine 
 lure of caraway, ten drops. Give in a quarter of a pint of tliick gruel. 
 
 If the ewes will not feed well at all, they should be forced with 
 good gruel, and the best is made of equal parts of oat and linseed 
 meal. 
 
 SECTION II. 
 
 THE DISEASES OF YOUNG LAMBS. 
 
 These are numerous, and many of them dangerous ; some belong- 
 ing exclusively to the period which I have been describing, and others 
 often occurring' when the animals get a little older. 
 
 COAGULATION OF THE IMILK. 
 
 I have spoken of this w^hen treating of the diseases of calves. The 
 lamb is, if possible, more subject to this curdling of the milk than 
 the calf is, and it carries off the finest and best of the flock. The 
 farmer likes to see his lambs growing fast ; but it is possible to make, 
 more haste than good speed. The lamb may have excess of nutri- 
 ment, and particularly of its mother's milk. When a lamb thrives at 
 an extraordinary rate, the bag of the mother should be examined, and 
 if it is too large and full, it will be prudent to milk away daily a little 
 of its contents ; otherwise the yet weak stomach of the young animal 
 may have more coagulated milk in it than it can digest. All the milk 
 that is swallowed by the young lanib coao-ulates in the stomach, and 
 if it accumulates too fast, the stomach will become perfectly choked 
 with it, and the lamb will be destroyed. Two pounds of curdled milk 
 have been found in the stomach of a lamb. When a thriving lamb, 
 with a healthy mother having a full bag, begins all at once to be dull, 
 and stands panting and distressed, and can scarcely be induced to 
 move, and is considerably swelled, it is probably from this cause. 
 
 In tliis disease there is often apparent purging of a light colour, 
 
DIARRIKEA. 189 
 
 n^hich is in fact the whey passing off whilst the cnrd accumulates 
 and produces obstinate constipation. 
 
 The first thing to be done is to administer an alkali, to nissolve 
 the mass, such as magnesia, in doses of half an ounce twice a day ; 
 after which two to four drachms of Epsom salts, with a little ginger, 
 dissolved in warm water, and the warm water often repealed, if ne- 
 cessary, by means of the stomach-pump. The farmer with a valuable 
 flock of sheep will find the stomach-pump as useful for them as for 
 cm tie. When the bowels have thus been opened, and the curdled 
 milk has in some measure passed oft", the stomach may be strength- 
 ened by occasional doses of the Tonic Drink for Cattle (No. 32, p. 
 81). The ewe and lamb should then be turned into scantier pasture. 
 
 i DIARRH(EA. 
 
 There is not a more destructive disease among young lambs than 
 this. It frequently attacks them when they are not more than a day 
 old, and carries them off in the course of another day. Oftener it does 
 not appear until they are nearly a week old, and the lambs have not 
 then a much better chance : but if they are two or three n* mths old, 
 and have gained a little strength, they may, perhaps, weather tlie 
 disease. The causes are various, but not always difficult to discover: 
 they are generally referrible to the neglect and mismanagement of the 
 farmer. It may be the consequence of absurd and cruel exposure to 
 cold. For sheep generally, and more particularly for lambs, I once 
 more repeat it, and I would impress it on the mind of the farmer and 
 the practitioner, shelter and comfort are the first and grand things to 
 be considered. I do not mean confinement in a close and ill-ventiluted 
 place, but that defence from the wind and snow which it would cost 
 the farmer little to raise, and for which he would be amply paid in 
 one season. If it probably arises from cold, the remedy is plain — 
 better shelter, and, for a few days, housing. 
 
 It is sometimes attributable to want of proper support: the ewe, if 
 it is her first lamb, may have deserted it, or she may have little milk 
 to give it; and the combined influence of starvation and cold produ'.'ea 
 diarrhoea sooner than anything else.* Warmth and new cow's milk 
 are the best remedies. 
 
 Not unfrequently the mother's m.ilk seems to disagree with the 
 Iamb. It is naturally aperient. It may occasionally be too much so. 
 If her leats are full, and she evidently has plenty of milk, this will 
 probably be tlie case. She should be fed on dry meat for a day or 
 two, or should be turned out only during the day, and housed at night, 
 
 * [Mr. S. W. Jewett, of Weybridge, Vermont, says — "It is generally caased by 
 '.ating raw or early cut hay. The best method to cure or prevent is to give tlivni 
 ^a<ly a few messes of wheat in the sheaf; a regular quantity of salt at all times. If 
 it occurs in the winter, steep, in brine, ripe hay in the seed; wheat clialf is good, as 
 ' • a small quantity of oats, and a few pine or hemlock lops. Keep them a few 'Jays 
 ripe hay, or corn ftidder. — S.J 
 
190 DISEASES OF YOU.NG LAMBS. 
 
 whon sne snould be allowed a little hay. While the food is altered 
 the bowt'ls should he well cleansed. 'I'iiere may he soiuething amiss 
 about the ewe, which causes the milk to he thus purgative and un- 
 wholesome. The best purgative for sheep is the following : — 
 
 RECIPE (No. 2). 
 Pvrrrivg Drink for Sherp.—Tukn Epsfun salts, two ouiicos ; powdored caraways, a 
 qiiarliTr of an ounce; warm tliiii gruel surticient lo dissolve the salts. 
 
 This beinfT given to the mother will likewise be of service to the 
 lamb, by helping to carry olF any acidities or crudities from the sto- 
 mach or bowels. 
 
 In a disease so fatal, and which runs its course so rapidly, no time 
 idlkto be lost, and therefore astringent medicine should be administer- 
 ed to the lamb as speedily as possible. 
 
 RECIPE (No. 3). 
 Astringent Drink for Lambs.— Tnkfi compound chalk powder with opium, a drachm; 
 gentian, a .scruple ; essence of peppermint, three drops. Mix with a little thin starch, 
 and give morning and night. 
 
 If the animal should still linger on, and the purging should not be 
 much abated, it is probable that the milk of the mother is most in 
 fault. The lamb should then be taken from her, and fed with cow's 
 milk boiled, to every pint of wiiich a scruple of prepared chalk has 
 been added, the astringent drink being continued as before. 
 
 If the puroing abates, the medicine should be immediately sus- 
 pended, or not tjiven so frequently, lest costiveness should follow, a 
 disease which I shall presently describe, and which is also very fatal. 
 
 The lamb with diarrhcea should be docked on the first appearance 
 of the disease, if the operation had not been previously performed, 
 ind the hair should be carefully cut away under the tail, otherwise it 
 IS liable to become clotted. It will adhere together, and form an 
 obstruction about the anus, so that the fa?ces cannot be discharged. 
 The least ill consequence of this will be very great soreness about 
 the part; but in many cases the animal will die in consequence of the 
 obstruction, before the existence of it is suspected. 
 
 The colour of the discharge will considerably influence the mode 
 of treatment. If it is of an olive-green colour, the drink should be 
 persevered in; and on every third day half a table-spoonful of castor 
 oil should be administered. If it is of a white colour, it may probably 
 proceed from coarrulation of the milk, and should be treated as advised 
 in a previous page. 
 
 If the lamb is two or three months old, the medicine should be 
 corrf'spondingly increased, and he has a better chance: if he is five 
 or six months old, he will only be lost throutrh the negligence of the 
 farmer or attendant. The same means must be pursued ; but another 
 thing must be added, and that of the greatest importance, — a change 
 of pasture from a succulent to a bare and dry one. The removal to a 
 Ktubble-field is a frequent and very successful practice. 
 
COSTIVENESS. STAGGERS 191 
 
 C S T I V E N E S S . 
 
 When no evacuation appears to be effected, but the animal is non- 
 rinually straining-, two circumstances must be carefully examined 
 :nto, — first, whether there is the obstruction of which I have just 
 spoken, utterly preventing the discharge of the dung, and a speedy 
 remedy being at hand, namely, the removal of the clotted wool ; or 
 whether, after the straining, some drops of liquid faeces may not be 
 perceived : this, although often mistaken for costiveness, clearly in- 
 dicates a very different state of the bowels ; they are actually relaxed, 
 — too much so, and the straining results from irritation about the 
 anus. 
 
 Actual costiveness, however, is not an unfrequent complaint, and 
 must be speedily attacked; for it is either the accompaniment of 
 fever, or it will very speedily lead on to fever. The existence of fever 
 should be carefully in(juired into: heaving of the flanks, restlessness, 
 and heat of the mouth, will be sufficient indications of it. Bleeding 
 in proportion to the degree of fever, and the age and strength of the 
 lamb, should then be had recourse to. Next, the bowels must be 
 opened ; one-fourth of the Purging Drink (No. 2, p. 200) will be the 
 best thing that can be given, and it should be repeated every sixth 
 hour until the desired effect is produced. The lamb should be turned 
 into greener and more succulent pasture, and especially where there 
 is any fresh flush of grass; and if, after a while, he should altogether 
 refuse to eat, he m ny be drenched with gruel, in which a little Epsom 
 salts should always be dissolved. While this affords nutriment, it 
 will cool the aniaial, and open the bowels. 
 
 STAGGERS. 
 
 Many lambs are lost from this disease, and the farmer most cer- 
 tainly has here no one to blame but himself. It attacks the most 
 thriving lambs, and especially when they are about three or four 
 months old ; and it arises from the farmer making a great deal more 
 haste than usual in fattening them for the market. It resembks the 
 blond in cattle, and is usually produced by the same causes. 
 
 The lamb will appear to be in perfect health. All at once he will 
 stand still, heaving violently at the flanks, and with the head pro- 
 truded ; or he will wander about with great uncertainty in his walk 
 and manner: he will then all at once fall down and lie strugo-ljng 
 upon his back until he is helped up, or dies. Sometimes he is very 
 much convulsed. 
 
 Bleeding must be resorted to immediately, and afterwards the 
 bowels well onened by means of the Purging Drink. To this some 
 cooling febrifuge m.edicine should succeed. 
 
 RECIPE (No. 4). 
 Cooling Ferer nnnk. — Take powdereil digitalis, one smiple; emetic tnriar, len 
 i^r-iins; nitre, twM ilracbms. Mix with tiiick gruel, aiui let it be given twice *v(>rj 
 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 at<r, four mines ; tu tins add, tinrlnrf nf ^linj/tr, a diacliMi ; riiiciiirc of gentian, a 
 drai liiM ; iMulinf; water, an diukc!. 'I'In.-' should l)e fiivi'ii every six tuMirs, until tho 
 bowels are opened, and half the quantity on eacli ot the four next mornings. 
 
 The same treattnent recommended for cattle for tliis disease is like- 
 wise equally desir.ible for sheep, the dose being about one-sixth or 
 one-eigl)th less in quantity. 
 
 SECTION IX. 
 
 THE YELLOWS, OR JAUNDICE. 
 
 Sheep are subject to several sad affections of the liver, among 
 which ranks that destructive disease the rot. Jaundice is a less for- 
 midable malady, but often sufficiently destructive. It consists of a 
 superabundant discharge of bile, or an obstruction of the biliary tubes ; 
 and in either case a considerable quantity of bile enters into the cir- 
 culation, penetrates into the capillary vessels, and thus tinges the 
 skin. A superabundant discharge of the bile is the most frequent 
 cause. 
 
 The liver seems to be a very tender organ in fatted and pampered 
 sheep, aud easily inflamed or put out of order. In the half-starved, 
 half-wild varieties of the sheep, inflammation of the liver and jaun- 
 dice seldom occurs; btit too high living exhibits its injurious conse- 
 quences in tliis organ first of all. It is often seen, after sheep have 
 been moved into fair but not too luxurious pasture, that if they have 
 escaped the blown, a yellowness has soon begun to steal over the 
 eyes and the mouth, and the skin generally; and the animal has been 
 dull, and has disliked to move, and has sometimes been purged, but 
 more frequently costive, and the urine has been of a dark yellow- 
 brown colour. The liver could not maintain its healthy state under 
 ♦his injudicious increase of nutriment. When the farmer and the 
 shej)herd have either neglected to observe this, or to adopt the pro[>er 
 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 bog<ry. poachy ground. On upland pasture, with 
 a light sandy soil, it is never seen ; and in good sound pasture, in a 
 lower situation, it is only seen when, from an unusually wet season, 
 ♦hat pasture has become boggy and poachy. It is also proved to 
 nenionstration, that land that has been notoriously rotting grciind, has 
 
T II E R O T . 205 
 
 been mmlfred perfectly sound and healthy by beinff well nnder- 
 drained, ihut is, by being made dry. There are hundreds of ihou- 
 Bands of acres, on which a sheep, forty years ao-o, could not pasture 
 for a dav without becoming rotten, that are now as healthy as any in 
 the kingdom. 
 
 We can also tell the kind of wet ground which will give the rot. 
 Wherever the water will soon run olT, there is no danger; but where 
 it lies upon the surface of the ground, and slowly evaporates, the rot 
 is certain. One part of a common shall be enclosed ; or if it has not 
 been drained, at least the hollows in which the water used to stand 
 are filled up, and the surfice is levelled : no rot is caught there. On 
 the other side of the hedge there are these marshy places, these little 
 stagnant ponds, where evaporation is always going forward, and the 
 ground is never dry — a sheep cannot put his foot there without being 
 rotted. These are plain, palpable facts, and they are sufficient for 
 the farmej's purpose, without his puzzling his brains about the man- 
 ner in which wet grourvd produces diseased liver. 
 
 He may be assured that it has nothing to do with the animal'd 
 feeding on stimulating or poisonous herbs. It has nothing whatever 
 to do with the food. It depends on the wetness or dryness of the 
 pasture. 
 
 How is it, then, that when so great a part of the country is under- 
 drained, the rot should continue to be almost as prevalent as everl 
 Why is it not so prevalent where the ground has been properly under- 
 drained] There are fields in every well-managed farm in which the 
 rot is never known; there are others in which it still continues to 
 depopulate the flock. 
 
 The draining rnay not be equally effectual in both. It might have 
 been carelessly, superficially performed in the one case; or the soil 
 of the two pastures may be Vi ry different. The one may be liyht 
 and porous, and a little draining may effect the purpose : the soil of 
 the other may be heavy and tenacious, and drains not more than a 
 )^ard asunder would scarcely keep it dry. What is more to the pur- 
 pose, but less thought of, there may be little nooks and corners in the 
 field that have not been underdrained. A few minutes' trampling 
 upon them will be fatal to the sheep, and one or two of them upon 
 the whole farm will render all the labour bestowed on every othei 
 part absolutely nugatory. 
 
 It is surprising how soon the animal is infected. The merely 
 going once to drink from a notedly dangerous pond has been suffi- 
 cient. The passing over one suspicious common in the way to or 
 from the fair, and the lingerins" only for a few minutes in a deep and 
 poachy lane. Then it can easily be conceived what mischief one or 
 two of these neglected corners, in which there may be little swamps 
 oerhaps only a yard or two across, may do in a farm in other respects 
 well managed, and perfectly free from infection. 
 
 The disease of the liver terminating in or constituting the rot, is, 
 then, dependent on moisture, and that retained for a certain lime on 
 18 
 
20" DISEASES OF SHEEP. 
 
 the svirfarp of the (rround, so that tlie |)rocoss of evnporation m<iy have 
 coinmonced : it is also j)rohal)le that the decomposition of vejrcuible 
 matter {^rowing on the surface has much to do in producing tho 
 cojiiphiint. 
 
 li' shcep-hrccdcrs would get more into the habit of having oxen to 
 turn upon tlic aftermath of tiicir low and dangerous pastures, instead 
 of venturing s<» fr('{]n(Mitly to send their sheep there, because they 
 cannot alTord to lose that portion of the crop, they would not suffer 
 the grievous losses which sometimes almost break them down. 
 
 The preventive, then, seems plain eno\igh. On good sound ground 
 the sheep need not fear the rot; and other stock should be kept on 
 the farm to pasture on the suspicious or dangerous places. The 
 draininir should be effective where it is attempted, and no nook or 
 corner should escape. 
 
 Can anything be done by way of cure"? Probably there may, and 
 a great deal more than the farmer imagines. All, however, depends 
 upon the stau:e of the disease. The liver may be diseased, but it 
 must not be disorganised ; it must not be tuberculated or ulcerated ; 
 and the flukes must not have burrowed too deeply into it. The 
 farmer, from habitual observation of his flock, must have discovered 
 it at the very coirimencenunt of its attack, or he must have been 
 made aware of it by the examination of some sheep that died, or that 
 had been slaughtered for the use of his family. Then he may do 
 good. Good is often done without his help. A succession of dry 
 weather will often stop, or at least retard, the ravages of the rot. If 
 moisture be the cause of it, he must remove that cause. He must 
 change the pasture, and drive his flock to the driest ground his farm 
 contains; and besides this, he nmsl give a little dry meat — a little 
 hay. Some have advised to feed the suspected sheep altogether on 
 hay. This is carrying the matter a little too far : for in the prime of 
 the season the sheep will pine for the grass, and rapidly lose condi- 
 tion for want of it. A change to a thoroughly dry pasture will some- 
 tiuics do wonders. At all events, it is worth trying. The anim.als 
 must, however, be carefully watched, and if it is not evident from 
 their more cheerful countenance and manner, and the diminution or 
 disappearance of the yellowness, that the disease is giving way, 
 advantage must be taken of their present condition, and they must be 
 turned over to the butcher. Let the farmer at least do something: 
 let him either sell them at once, reckoning, and generally rightly, that 
 the first loss is the least; or let him set to work and endeavour to 
 combat the disease: but do not let him stand with folded arms, and 
 sufler the best of his flock to dwindle away one after another. 
 
 As for the medical treatment of the rot in sheep, there are a great 
 rr.dny nostrums, but few% if any, have stood the test of extensive 
 experience. This has partly arisen from a cause which has already 
 been hinted at — the disease not !)( ivig recognised and attacked before 
 it has mode much inroad on the constitution, and when, or perhaps 
 when only, it will yield to medicine. But 1 believe that with regard 
 
THE ROT. 207 
 
 to the fairest cases every medicine has occasionally failed, or failed 
 almost ai3 often as it has succeeded. We must in no case despair: 
 tlie disease has sometimes been suspended, and the sheep has reco- 
 vered. Let not, howev'er, the practitioner b.^ deluded into the use of 
 calomel, or blue-pill, or any preparation of mercury, because the rot 
 is an affection of the liver. Mercury rarely seems to agree with the 
 lierbivorous animals in any form. L have seen it do much harm in 
 some affections of the liver, and I have known many animals de- 
 stroyed by the use of it. 
 
 There is, however, a drug, or, rather, a very common and useful 
 condiment, which 1 believe has entered into the composition of every 
 medicine by which this complaint has been successfully treated ; I 
 mean common sail. The virtues of this substance are not sufficiently 
 estimated, either as mingled with the usual food, or as an occasional 
 medicine. All herbivorous animals ^e fond of it. It increases both 
 Vi3 appetite and the digestion. Cattle will greedily eat bad forage 
 that has been sprinkled with it, in preference to the best fodder with- 
 out salt; and it seems now to be a well-ascertained fact, that domes- 
 ticated animals of all kinds thrive under its use, and are better able 
 to discharge the duties required from them. 
 
 The consideration of this induced the use of salt in various com- 
 plaints, and especially in the rot, which is an affection of one of the 
 most important of the digestive organs; and it has not deceived the 
 expectations that were raised as to its sanative power. 
 
 As, however, the rot is a disease accompanied by so much debility, 
 and wasting of flesh as well as of strength, tonics and aromatics are 
 usually mingled with the salt; but first of all the bowels are evacu- 
 ated by some of the usual purgatives, and the Epsom salts are the 
 best. The following prescription should then be tried : — 
 
 RECIPE (Xo. 10). 
 Mixture for the Rot. — Take, common salt, eight ounces; powdered gentian, two 
 ounces ; ginger, one ounce ; tincture of colonilio, four ounces : put tlie wliole into a 
 quart bottle, and add water so as to fill the bottle. 
 
 A table-spoonful of this mixture should be given morning and night 
 for a week, and then the following mixture may be given at night, 
 while the former is continued in the morning, and by which the 
 flukes will be destroyed, as the worms in the bronchial tubes some- 
 times are in the hoose of young cattle. 
 
 RECIPE rxo. 11). 
 Second JiTtxture for the Rot. — Take, of recipe No. 10 'above\ a quart ; spirit uf tur- 
 pentine, three ounces: shake them well together when first mixed, and whenever the 
 medicine is given. Two table-spoonfuls are the usual dose. 
 
 The mominof dose should be griven on an empty stomach, and the 
 evening dose before the night's feed is given, if the animal is housed. 
 
 All the hay should be salted, and some have recommended that 
 even the pasture should be impregnated with salt. This is easily 
 managed. A little plot of ground may be selected, or a portion of a 
 
208 DISEASES OF SHEEP. 
 
 fiold hurdlod off, and salt scattorod over it as equally as possible, and 
 in the proportion often busliels to an acre. Tliree weeks afterwards 
 the sheep may be turned on it to g^raze, stocking the ground after the 
 rate of ten sheep to an acre; in the meantime the field from which 
 they are taken may be brined in the same manner. When they have 
 eaten the grass (juite close, they may be changed back to the other 
 plot, and so on as often as may be necessary, strewing at each change 
 five bushels of salt per acre on the pasture, 'i'he sheep will fatten 
 at a rapid rate if the disease is not too much advanced, and the dis- 
 ease will sometimes be arrested even in the worst cases. 
 
 Tt must, however, be confessed, that although sheep are often saved 
 from the rot by the use of salt, they have rarely been perfectly restored 
 to their former health. The taint is left; they are more disposed tu 
 receive the infection from a slight cause; and, six or twelve months 
 afterwards, they frequently die of hoose or inflamed bowels : there- 
 fore, it will be the interest of the farmer to fatten them as soon as 
 possible, and sell them to the butcher. The butcher will always tell 
 by the appearance of the liver whether the sheep had at any former 
 time been rotted. In some few^ cases lambs have been procured from 
 ewes thus cured, but they have seldom lasted longer than one or two 
 seasons. 
 
 SECTION XI. 
 
 THE FOOT-ROT. 
 
 Although this disease resembles the last in name, it is altogether 
 different in character. It is not so fatal as the liver rot, but it is 
 sadly annoying: it is of very frequent occurrence, and it seems to be 
 increasing. 
 
 It is, like the rot, peculiar to certain pastures ; but there is more 
 variety in this than is found with regard to the rot. There we nmst 
 have stagnant water, and the process of evaporation going forward. 
 For the production of the foot rot we must have s(f/ ground, and it 
 does not seem much to matter how that softness comes about. In 
 the poachy and marshy meadow, in the rich and deep pasture of the 
 lawn, and in the yielding sand of the lightest soil, it cannot, perhaps, 
 be said that it is almost equally prevalent, but it is frequently found. 
 Soft and marshy ground is its peculiar abode. The native mountain 
 sheep knows nothing about it : it is when the horn has been softened 
 by being too long in contact with some rich and moist land, that the 
 animal begins to halt. This softness is connected with ur^natural 
 growth of horn, and with unequal pressure; and the consequv nee is 
 that some ]>art 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<r, lor the vermin will spiediiy collect and burrow in 
 any s})ot whicii llie ointment may not have reached. 
 
 The tick is many times as large as the louse, but not so frequently 
 ^ound. When not gcr<,^ed with blood it is flat, but vvhpn bloated it la 
 round, and brown or black, and varies in size from a pin's head to a 
 sn)all bean. W hen one of them fastens itself upon the sheep, it 
 si-ems to retain precisely the same situation for some weeks, or even 
 months, and yet the young ticks are found round the old ones, resem 
 bjing numerous red points, but becoming brown as they increase in 
 size. They, too, select the sheep that is debilitated by want of pro- 
 per nourishment or by disease. 
 
 The lick is more frequent on some grounds than on others. On 
 some farms, even although badly managed, it is seldom found ; on 
 others it is scarcely to be got rid of, even although the sheep should 
 be healthy. It would seem as though it were bred in the ground, 
 and that one part only of its existence is spent on the sheep. Some 
 shepherds set diligently to work, and pick them off. This, however, 
 is an almost endless task. Others dress the sheep with turpentine, 
 which usually destroys them; but the scab ointment is the surest 
 reniedy, as well as preventive. 
 
 The sheep is tormented by two species of flies. The one endea- 
 vours to lay its eggs on the muzzle, and thence, speedily hatched by 
 the moisture and warmth of the breath, the animalcule, or larva, 
 creeps up the nostril, and finds its May into the frontal sinuses, or 
 some of the cells above the nose, and there fastens itself, and lives 
 and grows, until it becomes a large worm : it then creeps again dowr 
 the nostril, assumes the form of a grub, burrows in the earth, and in 
 due time appears in the form of a fly. It is only during the time of 
 the depositing of the egg that the sheep are disturbed or injured, and 
 then they may be seen huddling together on the barest part of the 
 pasture, with their noses close to the ground, and by continual shaking 
 of the head and stamping, endeavouring to prevent the depositin"- of 
 the egg. When the little worm has reached its destined situation, it 
 seems no longer to trouble the animal ; and these bnfs are found in 
 the heads of some of the largest and fattest sheep. This is the des- 
 tined place of this worm, and nature would not make it destructive, 
 or even much annoying, to the animal by which it is to be supported. 
 
 Another species of fly, or perhaps several other species, are far 
 more troublesome and injurious. At some uncertain time after shear- 
 ing, and seemingly oftener occurring to those that were early than to 
 those that were later sheared, the sheep will be struck with the fly 
 This will be discovered by the uneasiness of the animal. It is not 
 the itching of scab, for it is before the usual appearance of that dis 
 ease, and when the sheep was shorn there was not the least appear- 
 ance of it. The sheep will hang down their heads, stand for awhile 
 as if listening, then bow up their backs, violently shake their tails, 
 stamp fcriously with their feet, gallop away for a short distance, and 
 
LICE, ETC. 221 
 
 then turn round and try to bite the affected part. The tail is evidently 
 the part ot'tenest attacked. 
 
 On being caught, there will probably be found little lumps or 
 bladders on various parts, but particularly about the tail ; and if these 
 are pierced, they will be found to contain numerous little maggots. 
 If there are any sores about the animal made in the shearing, they 
 will become full of maggots in different stages of maturity, and these 
 vermin will crawl through the wool, over almost every part of the body. 
 
 In warm weather they are peculiarly annoying and destructive. I 
 have seen them spreading from the root of the tail to the head of the 
 sheep, deepening every sore, eating even through the sound skin in 
 various places, and penetrating to the very entrails. 
 
 A sheep struck by the fly should not be neglected a single day, for 
 the maggots wiil sometimes do irreparable mischief in a very short 
 space of time. The wool should be cut off round the places where 
 the maggots seem principally to prevail, and they should be carefully 
 picked out: but this will not effectually destroy them; for many will 
 crawl far away out of the reach of the looker. Some ointment or pow- 
 der must be applied, which will at the same time heal the sores and 
 destroy the maggot. An application of this kind may be obtained 
 in some of the preparations of lead. The following will be very 
 useful : — 
 
 RECIPE (No. 19). 
 
 Fly Poicder for Sheep. — Take white lead, two pounds ; red lead, one pound ; and 
 mix tliem together. 
 
 While one man holds the sheep by the head, let another have a 
 dredger or pepper-box containing some of the powder in his right 
 hand, and a stick in his left : let him introduce the stick near the tail 
 of the animal, and draw it gently along the back as far as the head 
 raising the wool, and scattering in the powder as he proceeds. Then 
 let him dip his hand in some of the coarsest whale oil, and smooth 
 down the wool again, smearing the whole of the fleece with the oil. 
 This will not only destroy the maggfots, but prevent the future attack 
 of the fly. There are few flies that will approach anything that 
 smells strongly of this oil : it would, therefore, be a good practice to 
 smear the sheep with a little of it after shearitig. No injury could 
 possibly be done to the wool, but, on the contrary, its growth woui''/ 
 be promoted. 
 
 If, however, the flies have made any deep wounds or ulcers, somo 
 of the powder should be mixed up with tar, and the ointment gently 
 rubbed on the sores. 
 
 [Judge Eostwick.of Delaware county, N. Y., dips his lambs in a decoction of to- 
 bacco, just 5trong enoiiirh to kill the ticks in a minute or two. One man takes the 
 lamb bj' the forelegs and hoad, and dips him in the vessel so as just to leave the head 
 out. It is then raised and held over the kettle while another presses the liquor out 
 i»f the flf-ecp back into the kettle. 
 
 Ma£r'r"ts originatitiii from fly-blows on wounds, may be prevented by dressinjr the 
 Wound with tar, and may he destroyed by an application of honey, when spirits of 
 turpentine wnjiid prove ineiicctual. — S. 
 19* 
 
2'22 DISEASES OF SHEEP. 
 
 SECTION XIV. 
 
 SORE HEADS 
 
 This disease is connected with, or often produced by, the .striking 
 of the fly, and especially in woody countries. Next to the tail, the 
 head is the part most frequently and seriously attacked, and in defend- 
 injr themselves from their tormentors, the sheep are continually 
 striking their heads with their hind feet, until at length a considerable 
 sore or ulcer is formed. No sooner is this done, than the fly perse- 
 cutes the poor animal with tenfold fury, anxious to lay its eggs on or 
 near the wound ; and the ulcer will often spread so far and so rapidly, 
 as to be very difl!icult to heal, and occasionally it will destroy the 
 sheep. 
 
 'J'he first thing to be done is to procure a cap or coverincr for the 
 head, made of soft leather, or of hrown paper, if leather cannot be 
 procured. This should be cut so as to protect the whole of the head, 
 and yet not to come too close to the eyes. Then the following oint- 
 ment must be prepared : — 
 
 RECIPE (No. 20). 
 Oivtmevt for Sore Heads —Take hiack pitch, two pounds ; tar, one poiinfl ; flovvcra 
 •)f £:iil|)liur, one pound. Melt tliem in an iron pot over a very ?lo\v tire. .«tirring to- 
 pettier tiie iiijL'redieiits as they heuin to tnelt, but carefully watciiinjr the compound, 
 and removing ttie pot from the tire the moment tiie inpredients are well mixed, and 
 before tliey liejjin to boil, for they would tiien rapidly swell to an extraordinary ex- 
 tent, and tlie wliole mass would run over into tlie fire. 
 
 While this ointment is warm and soft, it should be thickly spread 
 upon the leather, and the cap fitted to the head. If this be done in 
 the evening, when the fly begins to cease to torment the sheep, the 
 animal will be quiet, and the ointment will gradually cool, and stick 
 close to the head. 
 
 Some spread the ointment over the head without the cap, making 
 a kind of charge, a few flocks of wool being scattered over the top 
 of it; and if it should be somewhat too liquid for this purpose, it is 
 stiffened by the addition of a little yellow resin. It is difficult, how- 
 ever, to confine the ointment to the sore when it is thus applied, and 
 it is very apt to run over the eyelid and the face, to the great annoy- 
 ance of the animal. 
 
 In some parts of Scotland there is another disease of the head that 
 is speedily fatal. If the sheep are suffered to rest for l^he night neai 
 the summit of the Grampians, or the hills of Galloway, the head will 
 become enormously swelled, and ulcers will break out, as if the animal 
 had been bitten by a venomous reptile. A great portion of the scalp 
 often comes ofiT, and the animal generally dies. The shepherds there 
 call it the head-ill, and the malady is kept from spreading only by 
 removing the flock from these elevated and dangerous spots. Th* 
 cause of this disease is uncertain : probahly it is produced by the eat 
 ing of som*^ noisonous plant. 
 
D I A R R II tE A , OR PURGING. 223 
 
 SECTION XV. 
 
 UIARRIKEA, OR PURGING. 
 
 The tull-crrown sheep is almost as subject to purg^in* as is the 
 ^amb, but it is not so difficult to be cured, nor is it so fatal. A sheep 
 «an scarcely be turned into fresh pasture in the spring without begin- 
 ning to scour, and especially when warm w-eather is succeeding to 
 cold, and the grass shoots rapidly; but this in most cases is bene- 
 ficial rather than injurious. Il rouses the digestive organs to full and 
 healthy action, and the sheep that scours a little when first turned 
 into the meadow or on the marsh, is sure to thrive more quickly after- 
 wards. The purging, however, must not be too violent, nor continue 
 too long. 
 
 The looseness caused by feeding on young succulent grass, seldom 
 lasts more than a few days; but if it should continue longer, the 
 sheep must be removed to inferior pasture, and a little hay allowed 
 them if they can be induced to eat it : some dry sound old seeds should 
 also be put before them, and the following powder administered : — 
 
 RECIPE {No. 21). 
 ^strinn-eif Powder for Sheep. — Takp prepared chalk, a q.iarter of an ounce; singer, 
 half a draclim ; catechu, powriereil, half a drachin ; powdered opium, two grains. Give 
 this in a little gruel once or twice daily until the purging abates. 
 
 A favourite remedy with some farmers, and succeeding in slicrht 
 cases, but inefficacious in severe ones, is suet boiled in milk. Others 
 give a very curious medicine: it consists of the lime dug out of an 
 old wall, and mixed with tar. What good purpose the tar can an- 
 swer, I cannot conceive, and the lime would be superseded by the 
 prepared chalk recommended in the last recipe. 
 
 When the disease abates, the sheep must not be turned out aornin 
 on their former pasture, but on the best old grrass land which the farm 
 will yield ; and even then, a little good hay and corn should be daily 
 allowed them. 
 
 The farmer should be careful that he does not confound the conse- 
 quence of the diarrhoea with costiveness. When there is much mu- 
 cous discharge, it is very stick}% and adheres to the wool under the 
 tail, and glues it to the rump, thus forming a naechanical obstruction 
 to the passage of the dung. The sheep straining very hard, careless 
 observers have supposed that he was costive, and have given him a 
 strong dose of physic, and thus added fuel to the fire. 
 
 There is but one form of the disease under which all hope is pre- 
 eluded, and that is when it is connected with chronic cough or con- 
 firmed hoose. That animal may be patched up for a little while, but 
 he will most assuredly perish. 
 
 It is necessar}' to make a distinction between diarrhcea and dysen- 
 tery, the latter being attended "with considerable fevei ind the evacua* 
 
2*34 DISEASES OF SHEEP. 
 
 lions are often slimy and bloody, and ilie disease sometinnes terminates 
 fatally in a few days. It soiiietinies follows diarrhoea, but is gene- 
 rally produced by change of food or pasture and exposure to bad 
 weather. Lambs aie rather more liable to the disease than sheep, 
 and it has been found to attack them very frequently on coming from 
 low lands to iiigh. The treatment should consist in giving mild laxa- 
 tives, such as — 
 
 RECIPE (No. 22). 
 Take linsoed-oil, two ounces ; jjowdercd opium, two grains ; to be mixed with lin- 
 seed tea. Linseed and oatuieal };ruel should be iriven several times a day, and llie 
 second day the medicine No. 21 sliould be administered. 
 
 SECTION XVI. 
 
 INDIGESTION AND DEBILITY. 
 
 Bad management, and that alone, causes the appearance of these 
 complaints in a flock. When sheep have been over-driven, and ex- 
 cessively wearied ; or ewes have had twins, and have afterwards 
 been kept with their lambs on scanty pasture, where there was not 
 enough even for the mother; or have yeaned very early, before there 
 was any flush of grass; or, during the winter, have not yet been sup- 
 plied with a proper quantity of hay or corn — in all these cases, the 
 sheep are apt to pine away. They do not seem to relish their food, 
 but wander over the field picking a little here and there, the belly 
 being tucked up and the back bowed. 
 
 The remedy for this is simple enough if the sheep have not been 
 
 neglected too long. It is plain that the powers of digestion are 
 
 weakened or suspended, and the object to be accomplished is to rouse 
 
 them once more to their proper tone and action. A mild purgative 
 
 should lay the foundation for this. Half the Purging Drink (No. 2. 
 
 p. 200) should be given, and this followed up by tonics or stomachics. 
 
 Some farmers content themselves with giving a little good caudle for 
 
 two or three successive days, and with general go^d effect, except 
 
 that its sweetness is objectionable. The following mixture will be 
 
 preferable : — 
 
 RECIPE (No. 23). 
 
 Tovic Drink for Debility. — Take ppntian and powdered caraway-seeds, of each an 
 ounce ; Colombo and grineer, of each half an ounce. Poiir a qeart of boi'injr « ater 
 upon them, and let the infusion stand three days, well stirrine it every da\ Then 
 pour oft'tiie cb^Tr li(juid, and boltl(> 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 /<?/• Cloudiness ov the Eye. — Take corrosive sublimate, four grains; rub it 
 down wifh spir/t of wine, half an ounce; and add water, a pint. 
 
 Although, perhnps, it would be prudent to send the sheep decidedly 
 and coniirmedly l)lind to the butcher, lest they should perchance be 
 drowned in a ditch, or some serious accident should occur to them, 
 yet it is pleasing to observe how w^ell they shift for themselves, and 
 what little harm comes to them. For the first few days they are 
 awkward and confused, but, after that, they keep to their own walk, 
 and take with the others, or even by themselves, the accustomed way 
 home; and, some one of the flock takes the blind sheep under his 
 protection, and is always at his side in danger, and tells him the way 
 that he is to go by many a varied and intelligible bleat. 
 
 [Grub in the head of sheep, is a trouhlesome disease in some parts of the United 
 States. 
 
 The editor of the Cultivator, Vol. X., says :— The Grub in the head of a sheep, is 
 the larva or mag:!;ot of a fiy. which deposites its egg in the nose, {renerally in the 
 month of Auiiust. The ejrj: soon hatches, and tlie younjr majrgot soon makes its way 
 up into the cavities called the frontal sinuses, where it attains its growth, causing 
 constant irritation and disease, and not unfrequently death Arrived at its growth, 
 it falls to the earth, enters it, and in a short time emerges a perfect insect or fly, 
 ready to commence the career of re-production and destruction. We formerly lost 
 many sJieep from the grub, and could find no cure for them, or but very partial ones> 
 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<r, (Micouiaged by liis brutal master 
 iieedlossly to worry tlie Hock. They are too trecjuently seriously 
 lamed, and the ears almost torn from their heads, I'he proprietor of 
 sheep should never forgive wanton cruelty of this nature. 
 
 The treatment of wounds in sheep is very siiiiple, and consists 
 mostly in avoidin*? the burning; irons and caustics, of which tlie far- 
 rier, and sometiii,es the shej)herd, are too fond. 
 
 The first thing is to clean the wound thoroughly with a sponge and 
 warm water, and to remove those parts whicli are much lacerated, or 
 in a manner torn off. If it is a simple cut wound and the edges are 
 rot far separated, all that will be necessary to be done will be to 
 ap])ly daily a little tincture of alo s, and to cover the part that the 
 flies ma}' not deposit tlieir eggs on the sore. If it is a wide and gap- 
 ing wound, the ednres of it must be brouuiit as nearly and accurately 
 together as possil)Ie, and confined by one or two or more slitcht^s 
 passed through them with a crooked needle and waxed thread, and 
 which the shepherd should always carry with him. 7'he only dress- 
 incr wanted here will be the tincture of aloes, with occasional foment- 
 ations if there is r.iuch inflammation; but the wound should be more 
 carefully covered from the tlies, either by a bandage or pitch plaister, 
 or for a small wound, a little iar will answer. 
 
 No dependence is to be placed on the accounts which are given by 
 some authors of the udders of the ewes being sucked by snakes. The 
 reptile has never been seen thus employed ; but sheep are sometimes 
 bitten by the viper, and a few have been destroyed by the swelling 
 having been neglected, and inflammation widely spreading. It is 
 difficult at all times to discover the accident. V\ henever a sheep is 
 lamed, the affected limb should be well examined; and at other 
 times, if he is evidently ill, and the illness accompanied by local or 
 general swelling, careful search should be made into the nature of 
 the mischief. The wound inflicted by a viper will be very small, 
 but there will be swelling and heat about it, and a^eat deal of ten- 
 derness. 
 
 The best application is oil of turpentine, which should be well rub- 
 bed over and around the part; while a quarter of an ounce of harts- 
 horn, and four ounces of sweet oil, may be given to the animal, and 
 repeated in half an hour if the part should continue to swell, or the 
 sheep appear to be seriously ill. Some shepherds, when they sus- 
 pect an accident of this kind, rub the part well with an onion, and 
 doubtless with considerable effect: the turpentine, hoMever, is more 
 effectual, and should be obtainea as speedily as possible. 
 
GENEilALCA 
 
 SECTION XIX. 
 
 GENERAL CAUTIONS. 
 
 1 WILL conclude this account of the diseases and treatment of sliCfe^ 
 »ith a few general observations, which may be useful to the farmei 
 »«■ well as the veterinary surgeon. 
 
 It is an old maxim, and a most excellent one, that prevention is in 
 every case far better than the cure ; and there cannot be the least 
 doubt that by a little attention, and the exercise of common humanity 
 towards these useful and nf^glected animals, there need not be half 
 the diseases, and scarcely a fourth part of the deaths that occur. 
 
 In the first place the farmer should look more than he does to the 
 actual state, and health, and comfort of his flock. Instead of riding 
 or walking in among them every day, and, in a manner, making every 
 animal pa'ss muster^'before him, he frequently contents himself with 
 looking at them from a distance, or perhaps he does not look at them 
 at all for many a day. 
 
 He deserves to be unfortunate who, in the lambing season, is not 
 early and late among his ewes. Many a ewe is lost by rough hand- 
 .ino-; many more by not receiving the requisite assistance in difficult 
 parlurition : many a lamb is deserted by its mother ; many a one pal- 
 sied by lying on the cold wet ground, and many more through want 
 of being frequently and carefully suckled. 
 
 The owner will'be induced by a regard to his own interest to take 
 into due consideration many a circumstance connected with the season 
 and state of his flock, that would never enter into the mind of the 
 looker-on, but on which the comfort, and thriving, and perhaps the 
 very life of the sheep depend. Many a lamb dies for want of a little 
 shelter in an inclement season; but many more die when the winter 
 is mild, and the spring is early. In the one case they are lost from 
 cold and starvation: in the other from being in too high condition, 
 and iiaving too much milk. The shepherd will often go on in the 
 same regular way whatever be the state of the season: it is the pro- 
 prietor alone who will have sufficient consideration to allow additional 
 food and shelter in the one case, and in the other to stock as hardly 
 as may be, before and during the lambing. The proprietor alone will 
 consider as much as he ought when he should suckle, and feed, and 
 shelter the weakly ; and keep back and prevent the suckling, and 
 milk the dam, and stock hard, the lambs being thriving and the wea 
 ther kindly. These are affairs about which the generality of lookers 
 on scarcely concern themselves, and into which the best of them will 
 not enter so anxiously as the master. 
 
 The most important circumstance to be attended to at all times 
 
 and particularly at the lambinir season, is shelter, — not confinement 
 
 but shelter from the searching north and east wind. There should no? 
 
 be a lambing-field without a shed in it, or at least without some plac« 
 
 20 
 
230' DISEASES OF SHEEP. 
 
 surroiindpd with brushwood fa<r<rots en tlie north and east sides a* 
 least, if not all round; and into whifh the weakly lan.bs and ewes 
 nray be driven, and in stormy weather the whole Hock may take re- 
 (wTH with manifest advantatre. 
 
 Next in importance to shelter stands food. The animal may be 
 stinted in his growth, and prepared for scab by starvation ; or he may 
 be inevitably destroyed by over-feeding, or by sudden change of food. 
 The unhealthy seasons for sheep, putting the rot for a mo:n:ient out 
 of the question, are not the winter, when no grass grows, nor the 
 summer, when it is all burned up, but the spring and the autumn, 
 when there is plenty, and too much to eat. They contrive to live, if 
 not to fatten in tlie two former seasons, but they perish from exeess 
 or change of tood during the latter two. 
 
 There is one disease, however, which is caught, or the foundation 
 for which is laid in the summer, and that is the rot; but from what 
 has been stated with regard to this disease, a proper system of hus- 
 bandry, and attention to little unsuspected, but most dangerous, nooks 
 and corners, would materially limit the ravages of the rot. 
 
 The grand fault in the management of sheep, and of all domestic 
 animals, is, that the farmer pays so little personal attention to them, 
 and pursues one undeviating course, the same that he learned from 
 his father, whatever be the state of his flock, and whatever the state 
 of the season. To this must be added — the most absurd, and the 
 most injurious of all — a spirit of fatalism ; a submission, not without 
 repining, but without an effort to avert them, to many and serious 
 lo8ftes, which a little care and personal trouble might have prevented 
 
ON THE 
 
 DISEASES OF SWINE. 
 
 It is only very lately that any persons have condescended to taka 
 into consideration the maladies of swine, and they are little under 
 stood. The diseases that have been recog-nised are not numerous, 
 but they are exceedingly fatal ; and that fatality is increased by the 
 difficulty of managing these unruly animals. 
 
 The most frequent disease, and as fatal as any, i/* — 
 
 INFLAMMATION OF THE L ? N G S . 
 
 This complaint is known among the breede'5 and fatteners of swine 
 by the term of risino; of the lipids. There seems to be a peculiar 
 tendency in every malady of this animal to take on a highly inflam- 
 mator)' character. It is the consequence of the forcing system that is 
 adopted in the fattening of the hog. It resembles the blood or inflam- 
 matory fever of oxen and sheep, — a general and hioh degfree of fever, 
 produced on a system already strongly disposed to take on intense 
 inflammatory action from the slightest causes. Every little cold is 
 apt to degenerate into inflammation of the lungs in the fatted or fat- 
 tening hog; and so many cases of this sometimes occur in the same 
 establishment, or the same neighbourhood — in fact among those who 
 are exposed to the same exciting cause, that the disease is mistaken 
 for an epidemic. There is no doubt that when this heaving of the 
 lights begins to appear in a herd of swine, a great many of them are 
 sooner or later affected by it, and die. It is the cough or cold that is 
 epidemic, but it is the plethora and inflammatory state of the animals 
 that cause it to be so general as well as fatal. 
 
 The early symptom is cough. A cough in a hog is always a suspi- 
 cious circumstance, and should be early and promptly attended to 
 The disease is rapid in its progress. The animal heaves dreadfully 
 at the flanks; he has a most distressing cough, which sometimes 
 almost suffocates him, and he refuses to eat. The principal guiding 
 symptom will be the cough getting worse and worse, and becoming 
 evidently connected with a great deal of fever. 
 
 In many cases congestion takes place in the lungs, and the animal 
 dies in three or four days: in others he appears for a v/hile to be 
 get'.insf better; but there is a sudden relapse, a frequ(nt dry husky 
 couyh comes on, there is little appetite, rapid wasting, and the hog 
 dieb in a few weeks, evidently consumptive. 
 
 16 (231) 
 
232 DISEASES OF SWINE. 
 
 The first tbiriCT tliat is to be done is to bleed, anH the most conve- 
 nient place to bleed the liojr is from the palate. If an imaginary line 
 is drawn from between th(> 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<Tth of the arm of the 
 lever, is the ease with which the weight is raised. High 
 withers, however necessary to safety and cose, are not 
 
'J-\S THE HORSE-KEETEr's GUIDE. 
 
 essential to the race or dranijht horse : low withers usually 
 appear thick, and it is diilicult to keep the saddle in its 
 proper place. Dealers, therefore usually shew a horse 
 witli his head up hill, to make him appear to stand well 
 uyt before. 
 
 The shoulders should be deep, and extend obliquely 
 downward and forward, from a little below the withers to 
 the jioints. On the ij^ood or bad c<mstruction of the shoul- 
 der, action materially depends, and good action is almost 
 equivalent to strength. 
 
 A long and oblifjue shoulder is an indication of elastici- 
 ty and vspeed, for the freedom and rapidity of action of the 
 fore limbs depend on the relative angle of the bones in re- 
 gard to each other. The abruptness or prominence of the 
 shoulder is a consequence of the upright position of the 
 scapula ; and when the shoulders are low and upright, the 
 weight of the animal is throwm directly on his fore legs, 
 and the shock is conveyed, as it were, through a solid co- 
 lumn, to the annoyance of his rider, and the injury of his 
 legs and feet by the concussion. If the humerus is long, 
 his legs stand under him, and he has not only difficulty in 
 putting them forward, with weight on his back, but is liable 
 to stumble ; and when he does trip, the load he carries, be- 
 ing more forward than the points of support, prevents him 
 from recovering himself. Such horses usually prove un- 
 easy goers. 
 
 But though an upright shoulder is a sure mark of an un- 
 pleasant and unsafe saddle horse, and commonly a slow 
 one, it is far from a disadvantao^eous formation in the hea- 
 vy draught horse. Indeed, in the latter case, it is an ad- 
 vantage ; for while it permits him to throw his whole 
 weight into the collar, and affords an easy bed for that 
 part of his harness, it allows sufficient action for the work 
 he has to do; in horses for heavy draught, extensive ac- 
 tion necessarily causes the collar to sit uneasily. 
 
 The breast, or counter, in the saddle lunse, should 
 not be too wide at the points ; if too broad, the horse is 
 usually awkward in his trot ; a fault in the saddle horse, 
 ')Ut an excellence in a draught horse, whose breast cannot 
 oe too wide, or too heavy. 
 
 Position of the fore legs, when viewed in front : thev 
 should be straight, widest apart at the breast, and graduaJ 
 ly yet blightly approaching each other, ae they descend to 
 
EXTERNAL CO-N FORMATION. 24S 
 
 wards the fetlock When the approximation is too great, 
 the animal is liable to cut by striking the fetlock with the 
 opposite foot, though this more frequently occurs from 
 weakness of the pasterns, or mal-position of the elbow 
 joint. The degree of width must depend on the purpo- 
 ses for which the horse is required The legs of a heavy 
 draught horse can scarerly be too far apart ; but if too wide 
 in the saddle horse, it is usually accompanied by a lumber- 
 ing action. 
 
 Viewed from the horse's side, the leg should descend in 
 a straight line from the elbow to the fetlock, with the the 
 of the foot placed immediately under the point of the 
 shoulder. If the foot stands beyond that line, the action 
 will be confined ; though such horses arc generally safe ; 
 if much behind, the centre of gravity is rcm_oved beyond 
 the pillars of support, and the animal is much more liable 
 to fall. 
 
 The fore arm should be large, broad, muscular, long 
 and tapering towards the knee. The strength of the fore 
 arm may be estimated by its breadth, and the extent of its 
 action by its length. In proportion as the fore arm is long, 
 will the shank be short ; a formation favourable to the 
 strength, speed, and extensive action, though where a pran- 
 cing action is desired, and utility is sacrificed to appear- 
 ance, the arm must be shorter, and the shank longer. 
 
 The knees should be large and flat, broad from front 
 to back ; when proceeding from the straight line of the 
 leg, the horse is called " calf-kneed." 
 
 The pasterns are situated between the fetlock joint 
 and the top of the hoof. Experience alone among horses 
 will point out the most advantageous position of the pas- 
 terns : long pasterns confer elasticity, and are commonly 
 pleasant, easy and speedy in the gallop ; but they are weak, 
 liable to strain, and injury of the back sinews ; upright 
 pasterns are not only unsafe but unpleasant to the rider, 
 and injurious to the horse. There should be length and 
 obliquity enough to give pleasant action, and no more ; 
 but unless he is very much ill-used, a pastern a Uttle too 
 long for a saddle horse is a less evil than one a little too 
 short. All that need be said on the subject is, that weight 
 requires a short, and speed a long pastern. 
 
 The feet should be placed firm and flat on the ground, 
 
250 THE lIOHSE-KEIii'ER S GUIDE. 
 
 parallel with each other, and pointing straight to the front. 
 The toot should be nearly round, smooth, and of a dark 
 colour, without any signs of brittleness ; wide at the heels ; 
 the sole concave, with a large and sound frog, and the bars 
 or intiections of the tvall distinct. The wall of a perfect 
 foot is cylindrical, the posterior part having the same slope 
 as the front. 
 
 The inclination in a sound foot is about forty-five degrees, 
 highest at the toe, but regularly declining in height towards 
 the quarters : when it is much more oblique, it indicates 
 weakness; the horn of the wall will then be found so thin 
 as hardly to bear the nails, the heels low, the sole flat, and 
 the bars small in size ; such feet cannot stand work, are 
 subject to corns, strains of the fetlock, and are liable to be 
 pricked in shoeing, and if attacked with founder are irre- 
 parably injured. Whoever buys a horse with such feet, 
 will sooner or later have cause to lament his bargain. If 
 it is more upright, the sole will be thick and concave : and 
 if the wall is high and deep at the heels, (if not the result 
 of bad shoeing, which is easily ascertained by the action,) 
 such feet are liable to contraction, gi'ogginess, sand- 
 crack, &c. 
 
 The chest. Upon the form of the chest depends the 
 value of the animal ; without plenty of room for those im- 
 portant organs, the lungs, there can be little speed, and less 
 endurance. And the external indication of the size of the 
 lungs, is the form and size of the chest. 
 
 The capacity of the chest depends more on the form 
 than the circumference, for where the girth is equal in two 
 animals, one may have much larger lungs than the other. 
 
 Narrow-chested horses can stand no fatigue, have sel- 
 dom good digestion, are difficulty to keep in condition, and 
 are purged by the slightest thing, a draught of water or a 
 brushing gallop. They are usually light in the carcase, and 
 long in the leg, and in the language of the stable *' have 
 too much day light under them." 
 
 Hound-chested horses are generally slow, strong, and 
 easily kept in condition ; but they are apt to accumulate 
 flesh, and are easily blown, and, from the circular form oi 
 their chests, are unable to enlarge its capacity when in- 
 creased circulation requires it. But for speed and endu- 
 rance, the most desirable form of the chest is that it be deep, 
 •ind barrel out behind the elbow ; it cannot be too deep in 
 
EXTERNAL CONFORMATION. 25 i 
 
 tlje girtli in any horse, Such a form is of the utmost ad- 
 vantage in a horse of speed, not only by giving capacity 
 to the chest, but by giving more room for the attachment 
 of those muscles, on and between the ribs, which are call- 
 ed into exertion, by effecting increased expansion of the 
 chest, and relieving the distress of the animal. 
 
 The barrel, or sides, should be deep and round, and 
 not flat. When a horse is flat-sided, the belly is pendant, 
 and such horses usually have bad action, and are only fit 
 for slow work. 
 
 The back should be straight and sufficiently long to 
 leave room for the saddle. The advantage or disadvantage 
 of a long or short back depends entirely upon the purposes 
 for whici the horse is required. F(jr general purposes, a 
 horse with a short carcass is perferred. They are pro- 
 verbially hardy, can carry great weight, and endure much 
 fatigue. But on the other hand, their action is confined, 
 they are seldom fast, and sometimes uneasy in their paces, 
 and apt to over-reach. A long back is favorable to ease and 
 rapidity of progression, but is unfavorable to strength or 
 bearing heavy weight. Saddle backed horses, that is, when 
 the back is sunk, are also weak, but very easy hi their paces. 
 
 The loins cannot be too broad or too muscular in any 
 description of horse, for breadth here gives strength with- 
 out inteifering with speed. The loins should also be 
 straight. At the junction of the back and lions, in some 
 horses, there is an indentation, which shews imperfection 
 in the construction of the spine ; it is a serious defect, and 
 is termed " badly loined." When the curve is upwards, 
 though it confers strength, it is an unsightly defect, the elas- 
 ticity of the spine is diminished, and tlie horse's paces are 
 unpleasant ; it is termed roach-backed, and from their 
 hind legs being brought too much under them, they are 
 very apt to over-reach. 
 
 The quarters are considered by judges to be most im 
 portant joints in the frame : on their developement depend 
 his power and speed. Their muscularity denotes power, 
 and their depth, breadth, and width indicate the advanta- 
 geous direction of that power. When there is want of 
 breadth from the haunch bones backward, shown Dy the 
 low setting on of the tail, as exemplified in the cart horse, 
 there is usually confined and slow action, unless compen- 
 sated for by d-Cipth and width. 
 
252 THE HORSE-KKEPER S GUIDE. 
 
 Widrli of naunch and well spread thighs are charactf;r- 
 istic of the well-bred horse, and give security against cut 
 ting as it progresses. 
 
 The hocks are most important and complex joints 
 upon whose proper formation are essentially connected the 
 excellence and value of the animal. They should be large 
 lean bony joints, broad and flat as you stand by the side, for 
 their breadth is dependant upon the length of an important 
 lever ^the os calcisj, which corresponds with the heel in 
 man, into whose points are inserted the most powerful of 
 the muscles used in bending the leg. In draught horses, it 
 is comparatively short and upright, and consequently their 
 rtiide is limited; but in speedy horses it is long, which has 
 die effect of bending the leg to the proper position under 
 the body. 
 
 Position of the hind legs. Viewed from behind, 
 tlie thigh should bo well spread, descending to the ground 
 perpendicularly without any inclination inward or outward, 
 either of the hock or pasterns; the weight and strain will 
 be then equally borne by the various parts. 
 
 The proper position of the hind foot of a hackney is, 
 when the horse is standing with them both equal or opposite 
 each other, about three or four inches behind a line railing 
 from the stifle joint. If the legs are behind this point, he is 
 said to " have his legs behind him." On the fixture and 
 position of the hind leg depends his speed ; the nearer lie 
 can place his hind legs under his body to the centre of gravi- 
 ty in the gallop, the greater will he his power and celerity, 
 and that power depends on the formation of his hock, for 
 in proportion to the length and power of his hnck will be 
 his spring. 
 
 Colours and markings. By many persons, the good 
 or bad qualities of horses are supposed to be connected 
 with particular colours, that their temperaments and apti- 
 tude for exertion are traceable to the colour of the skin. 
 That some colours are not so prevalent among well-bred 
 horses, and that other colours are more common among 
 horses of no breeding at all, is apparent to every observer; 
 but I am disposed to consider they have been so bred, be- 
 cause their price is very often influenced by what happens 
 to be a fashionable colour, and that predisposition to disease 
 (jr a[)titude for work depends more on breeding and form 
 than on colour. 
 
EXTERNAL CONFORMATION. 253 
 
 Again, it is often asserted, and with positiveness, that 
 white legs are predisposed to cracks and grease Even 
 thouf^h we very often see white heels cracked, I do not 
 see the necessary connexion between the disease and the 
 C(>]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<jr work till it is heal- 
 ed, which is not to be effected in a day ; and it is alsj a 
 point for calculation, whether he may not chance to fall 
 sick, while standing in high condition in stable j in which 
 case the dealer would be subjected to heavy loss. 
 
 It is therefore not prudent to remove his shoes, or in 
 fact to do any thing with the animal which may cause 
 doubt or cavil, until you have finally decided upon keep- 
 ing him. 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 THE STABLE, AND GROOMING. 
 
 Before we proceed to the management of the horse in 
 the stable, it will be as well to say something about the 
 stable itself. This should have been constructed so as to 
 contribute to the health and comfort of the horse ; and be 
 well aired, dry, well drained, light, and sufficiently spacious 
 to allow the necessary grooming operations to be duly per- 
 formed. It should also be sheltered from the coldest winds, 
 and be easy of access. 
 
 A fault not sufficiently avoided in stables, is the crowd- 
 ing too many horses together in a comparatively small 
 space : in this case, the temperature is liable to very con- 
 siderable alterations of heat and cold — transitions injurious 
 to health, and productive, of a train of diseases affectiD-g tha 
 chest and lungs. 
 
THE STABLE 
 
 Stables which do not contain more than from three to 
 six stalls, are most conductive to the health and comfort 
 of horses. This drawing and the ground plan exhibit the 
 best an-ano^ement for a building of this kind. 
 
 I C O R N I R I N 
 
 S 
 
 1 
 
 KT 
 
 U T T 
 
 7 
 
 S...F.EEI ^- 
 
 .B.r.EEI.,- 
 
 MANCER 
 
 RACK 
 
 'MNCER! ragk 
 
 Vk 
 
 -S-EEEIL 
 
 r 
 
 t/4NCER 
 
 PACK 
 
 The first section shews the stable in its complete form 
 ft is intended for three horses. This section may be con 
 ftidered as the oround plan, in which the size and formatioi 
 of the several parts are distinctly defined. 
 
> 
 
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. 
 
 >^* 
 
<iWC GROOMINO. 
 
 ^ CHAPTER V. 
 
 GROOMING. 
 
 To enable the stable-man to do justice to the horses nn- 
 ^er his care, he must be alhnved the usual stable impie- 
 ■'Tients, as pails, brushes, brooms, forks, sponges, combs. 
 *.o\vels, horse-clothes, &c. — it will then be his fault the 
 horses do not receive the attention they require. The skill 
 and care of the groom may be estimated by the condition 
 and general well-being of the horses ; if they look well, the 
 care of the groom need not be doubted. 
 
 The duties demanded of a groom vary materially ; in 
 some places, he has charge of two horses only — one f<jf 
 his master and another fur himself: at others, he may have 
 two horses and a <ri<T • or even three horses. Two horses 
 are usually deemed a sufficient number for a groom to look 
 ifter ; but three can be well taken care of. Should there 
 *)e a fourth horse, the groom will then require the assis- 
 tance of a stable-boy, who, under directicm and discipline 
 ■»f a good groom, soon becomes an useful helpmate, and 
 attains to a very good knowledge of stable duties. 
 
 One of the essential qualifications either for a groom or 
 stable-boy, is a patient, unvarying kindness to the horses 
 under his care : another ecjually important feature, is clean- 
 liness, nr)t only as regards the horse, but also as to the sta- 
 ble, as well as in himself; for to keep the horse and the sta- 
 ble clean, involves the whole duty of the groom, — a duty 
 easily learned when inclination and perseverance step in to 
 give effect to practical instruction. 
 
 Our remarks for the proper performance of the stable 
 duties, will commence with the rrft)rning, and proceed with 
 the usual daily r(;utine ; embracing some useful sugges- 
 tions as to the oreneral treatment of horseson beinsfbrouGrht 
 m after a ride, a drive, or the completion of his usual daily 
 task. 
 
 The gi-oom should be in the stable at least an hour be- 
 fore the horse is wanted : he should then give the horse a 
 little water, and his morning feed of corn ; during the 
 time the animal is eating his breakfast, his litter should b-3 
 sbock up, and the stable swept ; which when done, it will 
 
THE HORSE-KEEPER^S GUIDE. 287 
 
 be til le to dress the horse, or to take him to 6xerclse. — 
 This method of procedure will vary with the seasons : in 
 summer, it will often be advisable to exercise the horse a 
 little before breakfast, giving him water in the stable, or 
 while out, and his corn at returning ; but in winter, he 
 should be dressed in the morning, and exercised or pre- 
 pared for work in the forenoon : at mid-day he is again 
 fed. During the remainder of the day, the horse should 
 receive another dressinsf, and be asrain exercised, unless 
 he has to go out upon the road. 
 
 Horses for gig or road work are usually fed four times 
 a day ; saddle-horses have three feeds in the course of the 
 same period. — Where (our feeds a day are allowed, they 
 should be given at stated periods, say, the first in the mor- 
 ninor, atrain at noon, the third at or about four o'clock, and 
 the last, or supper, about eight or nine o'clock, when the 
 stable should be closed, and the horse left for the night. — ■ 
 If but three feeds only be ordered, let them be given at 
 morning, noon, and night. — The daily allowance of corn 
 for a horse, supposing the animal to be of a medium size 
 and capacity, should be from twelve to sixteen pounds per 
 dpy ; and for every pound of barley, beans, or other simi- 
 lar food, given to the horse, about the same quantity of oats 
 should be deducted : the whole quantity is to be divided 
 into nearly equal portions, and one part given at each time 
 fi' feeding. Barley usually weighs about fifty pounds to 
 •"he bushel, while oats, unless unusually heavy, rarely ex- 
 ''eed forty pounds. Roots, such as caiTots and potatoes, 
 where they can be steamed and grlven warm, form an ex- 
 cellent change in the dietary of the stable. Barley and 
 cut straw is another useful substitute : but in this case, the 
 barley should be steeped in water ten to twelve hours be- 
 fore it is given. A post-master at Southampton is said to 
 have kept his horses upon this kind of food for a long pe- 
 riod ; and it is ascertained that they worked as well or bet- 
 ter upon this, than when they had so much oats. — Two 
 pecks of barley and one bushel of straw were the daily 
 allowance. 
 
 Every horse should be dressed at least once a day, be- 
 sides the cleaning which is given after work ; by this means 
 the skin is kept in good order, and the friction exerts a ben- 
 eficial influence upon the pores, c<jnducive alike to health 
 and apx^oarance. The operation is simple, and is perfor- 
 
268 GROOMING. 
 
 rneil by means of a brush, a cm rycorr b, and a wisp of straw 
 or (lorseliair. Tlie brush removes the dust or other matter 
 winch adheres to tlie roots of the liair, and fills the pores ol 
 the skin. The currycomb serves to raise and separate the 
 hairs that become matted together by perspiration and dust, 
 'i'he wisp may l)e considered as a duster ; it removes the 
 liL»liter dust and loose hairs not taken away by the brush; 
 polishing the hair, and rendering the skin smooth and glos- 
 sy. The brush, as before observed, penetrates to the roots 
 of the hair, and clears the skin; while the wisp acts on the 
 surface, and cleans and polishes the hair. It is also used 
 to raise the temperature of the skin, and diy the hair, when 
 Uie horse comes in cold and wet. 
 
 In dressing a horse in the stable, the groom removes its 
 fitter to the head of the stall, and turns round the horse, to 
 have his head to the light. With the brush in one hand, 
 usually in the left, and the currycomb in the other, he com- 
 mences on the left side of the horse, and goes on till the 
 head and fore-quarter are finished; his hands then change 
 tools, and the like duty is performed to the right side of 
 the horse. 
 
 Much care and patience are necessary to clean the heid 
 pioperly, the hairs running in such various ways, added 
 to the inc(palities of the fcice requirintr mere nicety thpn 
 any other parts, excepting the feet ; the bort-e is also som-^- 
 times impatient of his head being so lonr nnder the groom's 
 hands : from these reasons, it is often too i-\och neglectel 
 by careless grooms ; which should never So ^emitted. - 
 The dust about the roots of the hair, ir^n^e s^nd outsid'^ 
 the ears, is removed by a few strokes o^ vh. » b^Tsh ; biU 
 the hair itself is polished by quickly and rti.'^.a^t^ly draw- 
 ing the hands over the entire ear. 
 
 The whole of the fore part of the horse beh.o conrpleted, 
 the horse's head is again turned towards the lapr^'cr, and 
 secured there, that the body and hind quarters may receive 
 'lieir share of attention. It is usual to throw a little straw 
 under the hind feet, to keep them off the stones. The 
 cloth(Js should now be taken to the door, and shaken ; and, 
 .f dry weather, exposed tothe air while the horse is dressing 
 
 Every part of the body having undergone the required 
 brushing and currycombing, the dust being entirely remo 
 ved from the skin, and the hair well polished, the whole 
 bjdy should be passed over with the wisp, a'\d then the 
 
THE horse-keeper's GUIDE. 289 
 
 most laborious part of the dressing is concluded. The 
 Morse's clothes are now put on ; his mane, foretop, and 
 tail, combed aud brushed so as to hang equally and grace- 
 *\illy ; the eyes, nostrils, muzzle, anus, and sheath, are 
 cj.refully wiped with a damp clean sponge ; and the teet 
 picked out, and, if necessary, washed. Should the legs i^e 
 soiled, or wet with urine, wash them with warm water and 
 soap, and rub them till perfectly dry. When the legs do 
 not require washing, they should be well brushed, and pol- 
 ished partly by the wisp, but chiefly by the hands : the 
 bed being then looked to, the horse is done up foi the 
 morning. 
 
 When the weather is fine, and not too cold, it will be 
 preferable to perform the operation of dressing out oi 
 doors. But wherever done, it should be done properly. 
 Idle and careless grooms rarely take the necessary trouble ; 
 hence they should be looked after, and made to do that 
 which a sense of duty ought to be enough to prompt. It 
 is not enough that the surface of the horsj be cleaned ; the 
 wisp is all very well, but the brush is essential ; the skin 
 may look clean and glossy ; but if the brush has not been 
 used as it ought to have been, the neglect may be easily 
 detected if the fingers of the hand be rubbed over and in- 
 *:o the horse's skin ; if insufficiently performed, a white 
 greasy stain will be communicated, which will never be 
 the case if the horse has been well and thoroughly dressed. 
 
 When the horse is about chanGfinor his coat, either the 
 brush or the currycomb should be very lightly used ; at 
 this time, a damp wisp will be sufficient for all essential 
 'Purposes, until the new coat has grown sufficiently. 
 
 The ears and legs require most looking to ; they sliould 
 oe often inspected, and the groom's attention directed par- 
 ticularly to them. Where the horse's legs have but little 
 hair on them, they require a good deal of hand-rubbing ; 
 and on no account should the legs, particularly when of a 
 'vhite hue, be suffered to become discoloured by dung or 
 urine being allowed to dry on them. 
 
 Viciousness in horses should be controlled, if it cannot 
 be wholly prevented ; or a groom may suffer severely from 
 a bite or a kick, that may injure him for life. Biting may 
 ne prevented by putting on a muzzle ; or by tying his head 
 up so elevated as to check this propensity. Kicking horses 
 are most dangerous ; they require great care on the part 
 25 
 
2y() GROO?IIMo. 
 
 of tlio c;roo7T), as tlioy sometimes strike out so quickly a. J 
 so m;ilicii»usly, that tlie groom is in great clanger. A swii ;n 
 held in the hand, in the view of a kicker, and lightly ??jj 
 plied vvlienever he attempts to kick, may be useful ; out 
 generally speaking, the groom must try his best t(> 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 le<Ts of horses are most particularly subject to dirt 
 and mud ; hence they often require washing, which is fre- 
 quently done by stuble-men, but unfortunately they rarely 
 take the trouble to dry them ; they are sutlered to dry of 
 themselves ; the consequence is, evaporation commences, 
 and although the inflammation which ensues may be al- 
 layed by subsequent treatment, yet greasy heels are too 
 commonly induced by this mode of treatment. There is 
 but one way to avoid these mischiefs, and that is, either be 
 sure to dry the feet whenever you wash them, or do not 
 wash them till you can dry them. 
 
 The bed. — A grood bed is essential to a hard or fast- 
 workmg horse, and the best material for it is wheat-straw 
 or oat-straw ; the straw or haulm of beans or pease will 
 not make a good bed, and can be more advantageously 
 used as fodder. 
 
 A bed is not well made unless it is as level and even as 
 a mattrass ; nor should it have any lumps or perceptible in- 
 equalities in it. If the straw be cut into two by a hay- 
 knife, it will spread the better. Spread the litter well out, 
 and let it be levelled on the top, and square behind ; it 
 should slope from each side, and from the head, towards the 
 centre. If an inexpert stable-man have to do this, let him 
 be properly taught — let him learn how to use the fork, and 
 how to spread the litter. Let him have a pattern-bed made 
 in an adjoining stall by an experienced hand, and let him 
 copy this ; a week's practice this way will be quite enough; 
 if he do not learn in that time, he is not worth any further 
 teaching. 
 
 The soiled litter and dung should be removed every 
 morning, unless the horses are going to work ; in which 
 case it may be delayed till they are gone. The dry litter 
 should then be thrown forward, and the wet and soiled lit- 
 ter carefully removed to the manure heap, or put out to 
 dry ; the stalls and gangways may then be swept well out, 
 and now and then, if necessary, and the weather be fine 
 and dry, a pail-ful of wat r m? y be thrown down, to rende^ 
 
THE horse-keeper's GUIDE. 293 
 
 the cleaning-out more perfect. After the stall is dry, spread 
 the dry litter well out, and add to the top as much fresh 
 clean straw as is required to make up a good comfortable 
 bed. 
 
 Once a week, or thereabout, all the bed should be taken 
 away, and entirely renewed ; but never cover wet and 
 soiled litter \vitVi clean straw — it is a lazy and a dirty, as 
 \\ ell as a wasteful practice. 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 TREATMENT OF THE FEET. 
 
 Every time that a horse comes in from work, be sure to 
 examine his feet, particularly the fore feet, for it often hap- 
 pens that a stone gets fixed in between the shoe and the 
 frog, and if suffered to remain there, even for a few hours, 
 may cause a bruise or lameness, which a little care may 
 prevent : indeed, whatever gets into the foot, whether sand, 
 gravel, or stone, should be carefully removed ; this will 
 take but a few minutes, and will pay well for the little 
 trouble it occasions. 
 
 Stoppixg THE FEET, is Only practised on the fore feet, 
 and when judiciously performed, is attended with very 
 good effects : but if the sole is flat and thin, it will be best 
 avoided : the less moisture such a formed foot receives, 
 the better, as it makes the sole yield too readily, and may 
 tend to lame the horse. A mixture of clay and cow-dung 
 is the stopping mostly used : clay, itself, is too hard ; tow 
 is often used for gig and roadjiorses, or horses that have 
 tbrushy feet : moss is also useful fjr the same pui-pose. 
 
 The manner of stopping a horse's feet is to fill the sole 
 so as to be on a level with the shoe ; tow or moss should 
 oe put in dry, and water poured on it once or twice a 
 day, according to the moisture required. The object of 
 stopping a horse's feet is to prevent the sole becoming 
 hard and frigid from being too dry, and so laming the 
 horse. 
 
 Some horses require their feet to be stopped much oft- 
 
 ener than others ; as a general rule, stop a horse's feet 
 
 the night previous to his being shoed ; once a week wil] 
 
 gCDHj-ally be found sufficient : from Saturday night till Mon 
 
 25* 
 
294 TREATMENT OF THE FEET. 
 
 day morning, is a very good time to apply the- sloppir ^ , 
 but in hot summer weather, twice or three times a week 
 will not he found too often. 
 
 It is sometimes the practice to anoint the crust or wall 
 of the foot, that is, the part of the hoof which presents it- 
 self to the eye, when the horse is standing on his feet ; 
 whether this plan is good or not, depends on the foot it- 
 self. To render a rigid, strong foot elastic, the horn should 
 be saturated with water : and to keep it elastic, the oint- 
 ment should be ajjjjlied before the water evaporates ; 
 while to keep a thin, weak foot hard and unyielding, with- 
 out making it brittle, an ointment should be used to pre- 
 vent the absorption of water, in wet weather, a thin foot 
 should be oiled before the horse goes out, and a stiong 
 thick foot after the horse comes in : in hot dry weather, 
 the ointment sh(juld be renewed every second or third day. 
 
 The oil usually had for this purpose, is fish oil, for an- 
 o nting the hoof; but a mixture made of equal quantities 
 of tar, lard, oil, and bees'-wax, is a better and more dura- 
 ble application. 
 
 Shoeixg. — The proper and timely performance of this 
 necessary operation, is of the utmost consequence to the 
 well-being oi' the horse. — Generally speaking, a month is 
 the time between the last and the succeeding shoeing. 
 Care should be taken every time the horse comes in from 
 his work, to examine his shoes as well as his feet ; for want 
 of this, it sometimes happens that a shoe drops off in the 
 middle of a journey ; not only is time then lost, but the 
 foot becomes injured, and probably the horse lamed. 
 
 Fast-working horses require to have the feet pared at 
 least once a month, without reference to whether they need 
 new shoes, or not. If the horn be suffered to gi'ow, the 
 action of the horse becomes impeded ; he cannot step out 
 properly, or place his foot firmly on the ground ; from this 
 reason it is necessary, at least once a month, to pare off 
 the superfluous horn, unless the horse should be one having 
 a deficiency of horn ; in which case, he may go five weeks 
 or even more. At any time, should there be a loose or 
 broken nail, or a clench started, or if the horse be cutting, 
 call in the farrier at once. 
 
 The shoe, and the proper time and mode of its appli- 
 cation varies, in accordance with the weight of the horse 
 and its action, particularly with reference to the state of 
 
THE horse-keeper's GUIDE. 295 
 
 tne roads, and the nature of his work. — This part of the 
 subject may however be left to the farrier, who will be but 
 little fit to be intrusted if he requires to be told what to 
 do ; he should be the adviser, not the advised. 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 OSSERVATIONS AND SUGGESTIONS RELATIVE TO THE 
 DISEASES OF HORSES. 
 
 It is the usual practice, when treating of the diseases 
 to which horses are subject, to give a long list of disorders, 
 the bare perusal of which might induce a belief that the 
 stable would be little less than a hospital, and the groom 
 totally inadequate to the performance of his proper duties, 
 unless skilled in a knowledge of veterinary practice. We 
 shall avoid this, bv showini2: the cause of disease, and means 
 of preventicm, and treat the subject in a manner so as to 
 enable the horsekeeper readily to recognize the nature 
 rather than the na??ie of the disease, and instruct him in 
 the use of such medicines as may in many instances be 
 sufficient to arrest the complaint, and tend to restore the 
 healthful functions of the animal. 
 
 Diseases mainly arise from obstructed or impaired di- 
 gestion. So long as the several organs of the animal body 
 contiime to perform their due and proper parts, so long 
 may health and strength be calculated upon ; but so soon 
 as the animal economy is disarranged, and the action of 
 any one or more of the organs rendered less capable of 
 its proper energy, a predisposition to disease is engendered, 
 which the slightest exciting cause may bring into active 
 operation. 
 
 By predisposition to disease, we mean that state of the 
 animal system, which is induced by bad or improper food, 
 by want of proper attention, impurity or foulness of the 
 stable, exposure to variations in the atmosphere, or other 
 causes, which affect some organic and internal part of the 
 animal structure, or impair the purity of the blcod : in 
 such a case, actual disease may not be present, or at least 
 not perceptible by any oi;twar4 indication; yet the slight- 
 
29G DISEASES OF HOUSES. 
 
 est exciting cause, or sudden expobure to weather checked 
 perspiration, or the hkc, may cause a serious indisposition, 
 that, under a more favcurahle state of the horse's consti- 
 tution, might probably have passed over without leaving 
 any serious proof of its existence. 
 
 Predispositi(;n to disease is, then, that liability of the 
 constitution to an attack of illness, which care and atten- 
 tion will often prevent; but which neglect or bad grooming 
 ft-t once induces or increases. 
 
 We have before noticed, in our remarks on the ventil- 
 lation of the stable, that pure dry air is essential to a 
 healthy state of the blood ; we need scarcely add that 
 good nourishing food is equally essential to the well-being 
 of the animal ; to understand this properly, a few words 
 on the digestive powers of the horse will not be inappro- 
 priate. 
 
 The food taken by the horse is gathered up by his lips, 
 and being cut by the action of the front teeth, is conveyed 
 thence to the grinders, by which it is thoroughly masticated. 
 or chewed; it is then, by the united action of the tongue 
 and other muscles, conducted to the gullet, from whence 
 it descends into the stomach. Here it is acted upon by a 
 powerful solvent, provided by nature for the purpose of 
 accelerating the digestive operation, called the gastric juice, 
 and reduced to a'pulpy mass, termed chyme; this mass, 
 yet but imperfectly digested, is then propelled into the first 
 bowel, where other intestinal juices commingle with it, 
 and perfect the digestive process ; it is now termed chyle ; 
 and it is in a state ready for combining with the blood. — 
 The chyle now enters the small intestines, and is conveyed, 
 by a peculiar motion of the bowels, to certain minute ori- 
 fices, called absorbent vessels : in this part of the process 
 the pure chyle, now a milk-like fluid, is absorbed by these 
 ves.'iels ; the other portion of the food eaten by the animal, 
 the excrementitious part, having had all the nourishment 
 extiacted in the course of the digestive process, is propelled 
 by the same pecuhar motion of the bowels, previously 
 noticed, along the whole extent of tbe intestinal canal, or 
 gut, and ultimately expelled the body. — The pure chyle 
 .8 conveyed, by the absorbent vessels, into a large receiv- 
 ing tube, called the thoratic duct, from which it is received 
 by a vein near the heart, and taken t-.^nce to the heart 
 
THE horse-keeper's GUIDE. 29' 
 
 Itself; fi'om whence, after being acted upon by the vityl 
 air, or oxygen, in the lungs, the blood now completely 
 perfected, is received, as required, by the left ventricle, ')i 
 main passage from the heart, and conveyed thence, by the 
 circulating channels, over the whole system. 
 
 This brief description of the digestive process is, as fai 
 as possible, divested of the technical names of the several 
 intestinal organs employed or engaged during the diges- 
 tive process ; our object being to sho\v how that process is 
 conducted, and to prove from thence, that if bad or impro- 
 per food were given to the horse, or if by needless ex- 
 posure to weather while the animal was heated by exer- 
 cise or chilled by cold and wet, some one or other of those 
 organs were to be affected, either by its action being im- 
 paired, or unnaturally excited, the system would be affec- 
 ted, the blood vitiated, and the health of the animal, there- 
 by, materially endangered. 
 
 This view of the dig^estive ororans of the horse will also 
 enable the reader the better to judge how far it may be 
 safe and prudent to attempt a cure, without calling in the 
 aid of the famer or the veterinary surgeon. As a general 
 rule, it may be observed, that in diseases of a chronic char- 
 acter, that is, of a slow or lingering nature, a greater lati- 
 tude lor the endeavour to cure may be assumed; but in 
 diseases of an acute kind, that is, when the effects are im- 
 mediate and evident, then greater care should be exerci- 
 sed ; ctiid unless the disease quickly yield to the remedial 
 endeivours, proper advice should be called in, particularly 
 in at.ute inflammatory complaints, where the attacks are 
 usuctdy sudden, rapid in their progress, and, unless soon 
 civocked, often dangerous in their result. 
 
 Catarrh, Cold, or Chill. — A large class of diseases 
 may be included under these general terms; f^r although 
 the horse may have what is usually called a cold or chill, 
 yet if this cold or chill be neglected or improperly treated, 
 fever or inflammation succeeds, which may terminate 
 fatally, or leave behind a chronic cough, an evil that should 
 be anxiously guarded against. 
 
 Thefiist observable symptoms of a horse being thus at- 
 tacked, are — slight shiverings ; a dischartre, chiefly watery, 
 
 •om the nose ; the eyes become similarly affected ; and, a? 
 the diseases uroijresses, a cough m(jre or less violent, v.'itb 
 
298 DISEASES OF HORSES. 
 
 quick pulse, comes on, followed by sore throat and eviaeul 
 difficulty of swallowing ; the discharge from the nose thick- 
 ens, increases in quantity, and assumes a yellow a2:)peai- 
 ance. 
 
 This complaint is usually cured in a few days. Confine 
 the horse in a stable of a mean temperature, say of from 
 50 to 60 degrees, as shown by the barometer, and clothe 
 him warmly. If he be in good condition, take from him 
 two to three quarts of blood, and then give him the follow- 
 ing mixture : 
 
 Fresh powdered aniseeds and 
 
 carraway-seeds, one ounce each ; 
 
 Dover's powders, - _ . two drams; 
 
 Balsam of sulphur, - - . two ounces . 
 
 Beat the balsam of sulphur into the yolk of a hen's egg, 
 and then add the powders, mixing all well. When you 
 give it to the horse, give it in a pint of warm gruel in which 
 two table-spoonsful of treacle have been stirred. Repeat 
 it every night, or on alternate nights, for thiee times. — 
 About an hour after the drink has been administered, give 
 the horse a warm bran mash ; and repeat the mash two or 
 three times a day. 
 
 If the cough be troublesome, give him a pectoral mix- 
 ture, made as follows : 
 
 Elecampane, and diapente, each, - - one ounce ; 
 Cream of tartar, and nitre, each, - - one ounce; 
 Tincture of opium, half an ounce. 
 
 Beat up, as in the former case, two ounces of balsam of 
 sulphur into the yolk of a hen's egg, and then add the oth- 
 er ingredients, mixed up all together as a kind of electua- 
 ry. — Dissolve it in a pint of warm gruel, and give it to the 
 horse in the morning, fasting : do not give him any food 
 for two hours, and then let him have a mash of scalded 
 bran and bruised oats, and warm water. Repeat this every 
 alternate day, for three times. Clothe him warmly, give 
 him warm mashes and warm water, two or three times a 
 day ; and use him to a little gentle exercise, by walking 
 him out for a short time in the middle of the day. 
 
 Fever, and Inflammation. — In our account of the pre- 
 ceding disease, we stated that a cold or chill was usu:.Ily 
 attended with a fever or inflammation ; but that which we 
 are now about to describe mostly arises from excess ot 
 blood, and is usually produced by rem(.>vin<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<l incurable scourge of the stable. 
 
 The first appearance of farcy is indicated by small tu- 
 mours, or liard lumps, with a sort of communication like 
 corded veins ; these lumps usually appear on the inside 
 nf the thigh and fore legs, but are not necessarily confined 
 to these parts, sometimes appearing upon the shoulders, 
 about the ribs, on the cheeks, and other parts of the body. 
 These lumps somewhat resemble what are termed surfeit 
 lumps, but differ from them, when they break, in not gra- 
 dually drying up, and getting well ; the farcy buds, when 
 they burst, forming a small peculiar kind of ulcer, which, 
 if not removed by the proper means, become larger, more 
 numerous, and very offensive, until the horse is glandered 
 — the too general result of this pestilential disease. 
 
 This disorder rarely yields to medical treatment, from 
 the reason, perhaps, that its real seat is internal, and has 
 taken hold of the system even before its external appear- 
 ance is indicated. However, as it has been successfully 
 treated, we will suggest that, if the horse be worth the 
 expense of a cure, the attempt be made ; but it should be 
 under the advice of a veterinary surgeon, as requiring 
 more skill and experience than usually fall to the share of 
 the groom. 
 
 Glanders. — This is the most malignant, most pestilen- 
 tial, and most incurable disorder to which horses are sub- 
 ject, and is as fatal to them as hydrophobia to dogs ; it is 
 also highly dangerous to the stable helpers, being, like ca- 
 nine madness, communicable to the human subject, and 
 equally fatal to them as to the animal by whose deadly 
 bite the inoculation takes place. — Its contagious character 
 is another of its fearful accompaniments, rendering it the 
 bane of society, the scourge of the stables, and the ruin 
 of many a horse proprietor. 
 
 Our suggestions in reference to this pestilential disease, 
 will be as to the means of prevention or detection ; for as 
 to cure, all attempts would be useless, and any advice 
 would therefore be superfluous. 
 
 The principal means by which this disease is communi* 
 cated, is by contagion. Hot, impure, and dirty stables, 
 may and no doubt have induced it ; and excessive work, 
 with poor living, may also so impair the animal's cnnstitu 
 tion as to predispose it to receive this or any other ^ufeo 
 
THE HOKSE-KEEPEk's GUIDE. 307 
 
 tiv as disease. Supposing, however, the horse to be sound, 
 an J moderately well kept and attended to, and his stable 
 clean and well ventilated, we may then assert that, although 
 a horse be brought into immediate neighbourship, (as in a 
 team together), but not into actual contact, with anothei 
 attacked with glanders, the disease will not be communi- 
 cated to the healthy horse, except by positive contagion, 
 or rather inoculation. 
 
 Most persons understand that inoculation means the 
 conveying into the blood, or some other of the internal 
 vessels or organs, the virus or matter taken from some 
 other animal or subject, — Now, in the case under conside- 
 ration, we will suppose that the infectious matter exists, 
 and may have tainted the water-pail, the manger, or other 
 part of the stall, or the like, particularly as the running 
 from the nose of the glandered horse is very contagious. 
 A sound horse is introduced into the stable, and drinks out 
 of the same pail, or trough, or eats from the same manger, 
 or his nose touches, or he rubs himself against some part 
 of the stall which has been in contact with the diseased 
 horse ; the moment the contact takes place, the absorbetit 
 or sponge-like action ensues, either by means of the nos- 
 tnl receiving the infectious virus, or some part of the skin 
 being injured, the inoculation is made, and the sound horse 
 will, in a very short time, exhibit ample evidence that the 
 contasfious characteristics of this fell disease have been 
 communicated. 
 
 This disease, incurable as it is ascertained to be, is not 
 however equally rapid in its progress in all horses ; in 
 some its deleterious poison is speedily conveyed over the 
 whole system in a very few weeks, and the result is speed- 
 ily fatal ; while in others it progresses so tardily, that the 
 animal appears scarcely to suffer by it for a considerable 
 space of time ; its result, however, even in these cases, is 
 equally certain, although more remote, and after under- 
 mi ling the constitution of the animal, will eventually cause 
 his premature dissolution. 
 
 The moment that glanders is believed to have made its 
 appearance, be careful to separate the suspected horse 
 fiom the rest, and under no circumstances permit any of 
 the others to come in contact with him : the manger he 
 eats from, the pail he drinks from, the brush or comb used 
 in dressing him, must all be kept from touching any other 
 
308 OlSEAABd OF HORSKS. 
 
 horse. In a few clays, perhaps a week or twj, your sii9» 
 picions wiJl be removecf or confirmed. IF it be glanders, 
 a perceptible prostration of constitutional vigour will be 
 apparent, the membrane of the nose will be ulcerated, 
 and will iiave a glutinous discharge, and the lungs will 
 8ubseque)itly be ulcerated : little if any fever appears in 
 this disease; and in this respect it differs from other die- 
 eases in which the noetrils discharge a mucous (not gluti 
 nous^ lisi-liarge. A test is recommended, to prove the 
 fact of glanders, or net, which is to let the matter from 
 the nose drop into a pail of water-— if it be glanderous, 
 but not without, it will sink to the bottom. This, though 
 not an infallible test, is a very good one. — However, as 
 soon as ^ou have good reason to believe that glanders 
 really doea exist, call in the veterinary surgeon, and act 
 under his advice ; or if the animal be not worth the ex- 
 pense likely to be incurred, (a cure cannot be for a moment 
 calculated upon,) let the next consideration be to terminate 
 the glanders and its existence together. 
 
 Wounds — Having treated of the principal internal dis 
 eases of horses, we shall now say a few words on wounds ; 
 here cau.-.e and symptoms are not necessary, the wound 
 furnishing evident proof of its nature and existence ; our 
 remarks will, therefore, have only reference to the means 
 of cure. 
 
 Wounds are — simple, as cuts, or the like ; or compound, 
 as broken and lacerated : the first are easily treated ; lit- 
 tle else benig generally necessary than to bring the divided 
 parts together carefully by means of the needle and thread, 
 and a few stitches through the skin only : an adhesive plas- 
 ter should then be fixed on the sides of the wound near ics 
 edges, after which it should be dressed with Friar's balsam, 
 or tincture of aloes, and the whole secured by a bandage. 
 Where the ends of the wounded skin are so far apart as 
 net to admit of bringing them together by the needle and 
 thread, apply a poultice or fermentation; and if the part 
 form intc a swelling, and be about to break, you may accel- 
 erate this by using the following digestive iinement : 
 
 Olive oil, fresh and good, - four ounces : 
 
 Spirits of turpentine, - - an ounce and a half ; 
 
 Tim ture of camphor, - - one unce ; 
 
 Tmc*.ure of ooium, - - one ounce. 
 
THE horse-keeper's GUIDE. 309 
 
 When you make this, mix the whole well together with 
 the yolk of a fresh egg, and bottle it for use. Apply it 
 freely, warm, to the wound, but do not touch the surround- 
 ing swelling, — that must be bathed with evaporating lo- 
 tion. When the wound has broken, wash the part clean 
 with warm water, and dress it daily with Friar's balsam. — 
 If proud flesh appear, it must be kept down by a careful ap- 
 plication of some caustic, which you had better purchase 
 where you can ask advice how to use it. 
 
 Compound or fractured wounds required a different and 
 more careful treatment ; and the aid of the experienced 
 farrier or veterinary surgeon ought, in these cases, to be 
 called in, — it is generally the cheapest, and always the 
 safest, mode of proceeding. 
 
 If the horse be slightly bruised at any time, the follow- 
 hig application will be found useful, if well mixed together 
 and applied : 
 
 Vinegar and spring water, each, - - - six ounces ; 
 
 Sal ammoniac, two ounces ; 
 
 Tincture of camphor, each two ounces ; 
 
 Tincture of aloes, one ounce. 
 
 Wounds are often attended with local inflammation ; 
 that is, the part injured becomes hot, swollen, and painful ; 
 it is, in this case, said to be inflamed. When inflammation 
 is thus local, and external, warm fomentations, or poultices, 
 (which is a kind of fomentation,) or cold applications, may 
 be applied with advantage, according to circumstances. — ■ 
 Fomentations, by opening the pores of the skin, promote 
 perspiration, and so decrease the swelling, and lessen pain ; 
 while cold applications promote evaporation, and so assist 
 in restoring health to the part affected. 
 
 Clean hot water is the best FomentatiOxV ; it should bo 
 used as hot as can be without paining the horse ; continue 
 to foment the part affected for some time, having a fresh 
 supply of hot water : half an hour is the least time a fo- 
 mentation should be continued. A sponge is useful to fo- 
 ment with, especially if the leg be the part to be fomen- 
 ted. 
 
 Poultices should also be applied as warm as they can 
 be safely borne, and are best made of those articles which 
 best retain heat and moisture. Bran mash, mashed turnips 
 or very thick oatmeal gruel, are excellent materials foi 
 poultices ; linseed meal, alone, makes the best poultice, and 
 
310 DISEASES OF HORSES 
 
 some of it should always be added toany other ingrelienl 
 Bandages, warm, often renewed, act in like manner. 
 
 Cold water is a very useful Lotion; a little vinegar maj 
 be added, to promote evaporation; or the addition of a 
 small quantity of spirits, as brandy, or gin, will answer the 
 same purpose. 
 
 Bleeding — Is useful in most inflammatory attacks, 
 in severe wounds, and in other cases when fever is likely 
 to present itself The neck vein, and the thigh vein, are 
 the parts from which the greater quantity of blood may he 
 taken ; but the eye vein or toe vein are also occasionally 
 had recourse to, when the disease requires rather local blee- 
 ding than a copious discharge of inflamed or heated blood. 
 
 Theoretical advice will be but an indifferent guide to 
 the proper position of these veins ; while a few practical 
 lessons from an experienced person wall tend to prevent in- 
 jury, and teach far better than written suggestions. 
 
 The natural pulse of the Horse beats from 35 to 45 in 
 the minute: in fever and inflammations, it rises higher, 
 sometimes to 80, 90, and even 100. The pulse is the most 
 important indicator of any deviation from health; the most 
 convenient spot to examine it is at the edge of the lowei 
 JTw, a little before the angle. 
 
 Good Ball for removal of Worms. 
 
 Emetic tartar, - - - ten drams ; 
 
 Best sulphur, - - - five ounces ; 
 
 Ethiop's mineral, - - three ounces ; 
 
 Powdered cascarilla, - two ounces. 
 
 Mix these up into six balls, and give one each morning, 
 fasting ; let the horse have only slightly warmed water for 
 a few days, and an occasional warm mash. 
 
 Do not work him much while he is under this treat- 
 ment. 
 
 Purgative Ball for a Horse. 
 
 Barbadoes aloes, - - - seven drams ; 
 
 Castile soap, and ginger, e^^^h, two drams ; 
 Oil of aniseed, . . . . twenty drojis. 
 
THE horse-keeper's GUIDE 
 
 Mix this up into a ball with palm oil or larJ, and give it^ 
 having prepared the horse for it by warm mashes given a 
 day or two before the purgative ball, and give him only 
 warm water to drink, and a few warm mashes after, as 
 well as before the medicine. 
 
 A ball is a convenient mode of administering medicine 
 to horses : it should be made of the size of or rather less 
 than a pullet's egg ; linseed meal, or molasses, may be ad- 
 ded to the ingredients of which the physic is to be compo- 
 sed, to form it. In giving it, let the horse stand, with a 
 halter on it, with its head turned out of the stall, place 
 yourself before the horse, and let an assistant stand on the 
 left side, to steady the horse's head, and keep it from ri- 
 sing too high : sometimes he may be required to hold the 
 horse's head. Seize the horse's tongue in your left hand, 
 draw it out a little, and place your little finger fast upon 
 the lower jaw : with your right hand cany the ball smartly 
 alono- the roof of the mouth, and leave it at the root of the 
 tongue ; close the mouth, and hold the head till you ob- 
 serve the ball descend the gullet on the left. — If the hcrse 
 seems loth to swallow the ball, give a little water, and die 
 ball will soon disappear. 
 
 THE EM*. 
 
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