R. B. HlNMAN COLLECTION Professor of Animal Husbandry 1921-1943 New York State College of Agriculture At Cornell University Ithaca, N. Y. DATE DUE 4UG° 1974- W^!\ * CAVLORO MINTEDINUSA. Cornell University Library SF 197.Y68 1853 Cattle, being a treatise on their breeds, 3 1924 nn3 424 029 Cornell University Library The original of this book is in the Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924003424029 CATTLE W. YOITATT. W. C. L. MARTIN, BEING A TREATISE ON THEIR BREEDS, MANAGEMENT, AND DISEASES, COMPRISING A FULL HISTORY OF THE VARIOUS RACES ; THEIR ORIGIN, BREEDING, AND MERITS J THEIR CAPACITY FOR BEEF AND MILK ! THE NATURE AND TREATMENT OF THEIR DISEASES ; THE WHOLE FORMING A COMPLETE GUIDE FOE THE FARMER, THE AMATEUR, AND VETERINARY SURGEON, WITH 100 ILLUSTRATIONS. EDITED BY A. STEVENS. NEW-YORK: C. M SAXTON, AGRICULTURAL BOOK PUBLISHER, 1853. tlatered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1851, ty C. M. SAXTON, in the Clerk's Office of the District Court for the Sc uthern District : f '', ■. x. Yuri EDWARD O. JENKINS, PRINTER, 114 Xassan-stroet, New- York. PREFACE TO THE AMERICAN EDITION. Si j>r«..J.'i>ting an edition of Youatt to the American public, the Amencan editor may justly say, that, of all the treatises on cattle, none is so valuable as his. Mr. Youatt was a man of rare ability; a scholar, distinguished for the extent, variety, and elegance of his attainments ; for his power of research, historieal, and scientific ; for the brilliancy of his style ; and as a veterinary surgeon of profound knowledge, in both the science and practice of his art, and of devotion to its pursuit. Scarcely any man of all the world was so happily fitted as he, to produce a great historical and medical work on cattle. And while he was so peculiarly qualified to write such a work, the circumstances that originated it were .eminently the ones to insure him success in the undertaking. An association existed in England, under the name of The Society for the diffusion of useful Knowledge. Men of eminence in every variety of learning were its members ; the publication of practical treatises in all depart- ments of useful knowledge, its object. Appreciating r the ability of Mr. Youatt to give the world a valuable work on the history, breeds, management, and diseases of cattle, this Society enlisted him in its production. In preparing this treatise for publication,- the American editor has abridged it of the history of local and inferior breeds of cattle in England, in which the American farmer and amateur has no interest. There is not a page in the whole, but has been carefully considered, and, where it required, its matter advanced to the present state of. PREFACE. knowledge on the subject. In doing this, many works on the subject, published since Mr. Youatt's, have been examined. The chief of these is, The Ox, by Mr. W. C. L. Martin, one of the officers of the London Zoological Society. The editor has consulted three recent German treatises on the diseases of cattle. The most valuable of these is by Gunther, who has applied homoeopathy to animals. In addition to the ordinary modes of practice, the editor has given the treatment of Gunther. It is within his knowledge, that the prescriptions of homoeopathy have been eminently successful in the diseases of both horses and cattle. This method of managing their diseases will be valuable to those who adopt the school of Hahnemann, while it detracts nothing from the work as a manual of ordinary veterinary practice. Thousands of copies of Youatt and Martin are annually sold in England, and, there, opinion has established them as standards in their branch of knowledge. This American edition commends itself by its small price, and its intrinsic value, and should sell in thousands. Great credit is* due to the American publisher, for giving to the public this edition, beautiful alike for its embellishment and its typography. CONTENTS. Pag" Preface .-...•.... 3 Chapter I. — The Natural Histoky of the Ox. — His Zoological character — domesticated before the Flood . ..... 9 Chapter II. — The British Ox. — No satisfactory description of cattle by early writers — in the feudal times— occasional wild cattle — those of Chillingham Park — Present cattle classed according to the size of their horns — the middle-horns probably the original breed— they are found where the natives retreated from their invaders — essentially the same wherever found . . . .11 Chapter III. — The Middle-horns. — The Devons — The proper form and shape of cattle — the Devons tried by this test — the Devon bull— the Devon cow — the working properties of the Devon ox — his disposition to fatten — value of the cow for the dairy— attempted orosses — the vale of Exeter— South Devon cattle — Somersetshire cattle — pure Devons on the borders of Devon — gradual change of character — the present cattle — The Herefords — description of them — com- parison between them and the Devons — fattening properties — Sussex cattle — description — comparison with Devons and Herefords — Sussex cow — West Sus- sex cattle — Wales — general character of the Welsh cattle — Pemrrokes — Glamorgans — former character of them — present breed — late improvement — Anglesey cattle — Scotland — the West Highland cattle — the Hebribes — Description of the true Kyloe — Hebridean management — The outer Hebrides — the tacksman — Argyllshire — the cattle — rearing — Cantire — the Shetland- ers — description — management — Aberdeen'— description of the cattle — the Kintoreox — Ayrshire — present state — cattle — opinions of their origin — their value as dairy-cows — produce— profit — fattening properties of the Ayrshires — management ......... 15 Chapter IV. — Polled Cattle. — Galloways— Description of the Galloways- general excellence of the Galloways — comparisons between the feeding qualities of Derons and Scots — Angus — the polled cattle — comparison between them and the Galloways— Norfolk — the original breed horned — source of the present breed — Suffolk — description— extraordinary instances of produce . 63 CONTENTS. Chafter V. — The Irish Cattle. — The aboriginal breed middle-horns — the Kerry Cow— the prevailing breed were probably the Cravens — Improvement slower in Ireland than in England — Mr. Waller's improvements in Meath — Lord Masserene — Lord Famham — the Earl of Rosse — Sir H. V. Tempest . 77 Chapter VI.— The Long-horns. — Originally from Craven — the larger and smaller breed — early improvers — the blacksmith of Linton — Sir Thomas Gres- ley — Mr. Webster — Bloxedge— Robert Bakewell— his principles— his success — anecdotes— Twopenny — Mr. Fowler— Shakspeare — Description of D — Mr. Fow- ler's sale — Mr. Prinsep— Description of the Improved Leicesters— strangely rapid deterioration and disappearance of them — Derbyshire — description of cattle — Shropshire — the old Shopshires— the present breed . . .81 Chapter VII. — The Short-horns.— Description of the old breed — Sir W. St. Quintin — Mr. Milbank — Mr. C. Colling — history of his purchase of Hubback — Favorite — the Durham ox — cross with the polled Galloway — Bolingbroke — Johanna — Lady — prices fetched by Lady's progeny — sale of Mr. C. Calling's stock— Mr. Charge of Newton — Mr. Mason of Chilton— Mr. G. Coates's Short-Horn Herd-Book — history of remarkable short-horns — the milking pro- perties of the improved short-horn undervalued — not calculated for work — cor- rections of Berry— his two histories of Short-horns — Dutch cattle not imported — Dobisou — Bailey— Culley — law against importation— Short-horns not crossed with white wild cattle — C. Colling not exclusive improver of Short-horns— Colling increased the size of his cattle — Hubback had no Dutch blood— an account of him — Galloway crosses or alloy — made by chance — R. Colling. The improved Yorkshire cow — she unites the two qualities — quantities of milk yielded by her — description of her — Yorkshire — North Riding once oooupied by black cattle alone — succeeded by the old Holderness — crossed with the improved breed — West Riding — Mr. Mitton's Badsworth — Lincolnshire — the unimproved Lincolns — the present improved Lincolns — the Lincolnshire ox . . . . . . . . . . .95 Chapter VIII.— The Foreign Breeds op Cattle. — The Alderney — quantity and excellence of milk — fattens readily — Nagore cattle .... 138 Chapter IX. — The Structure and Diseases of the Head of the Ox. The skeleton — the head — shortness and breadth of forehead in the bull — fine small headjn the female — extent of frontal sinuses — inflammation of them — the horns — their growth — treatment of fracture of them — age as indicated by the horns — the distinguishing character of the different breeds — influence of sex— horned Galloways — comparison between the horned and hornless cattle — The brain peculiar conformation of the brain and spinal marrow — The ear— difference of in different cattle — diseases of— The eye — fracture of the orbit — wounds, tumors — The eyelids — eruptions on them— enlargement of haw — inflammation of the eye— cataract— gutta serena — cancer — Fracture of the skull — Hydatids in the brain — water in tho head— apoplexy — inflammation of the brain — looked jaw epilopsy— palsy— neurotomy— ""i"™ U9 CONTENTS. Til Chapter X.— The Anatomy, Uses, and Diseases, op the Nostrils and Mouth.— The nasal bones — sense of smelling acute — bleeding from the nose — leeches in it — polypus — coryza— glanders— farcy — The bones of the mouth — the lips — the bars of the mouth — the pad in the upper jaw — the teeth — the age indicated by them — the tongue — the oshyoides — gloss-anthrax orblain — thrush in the mouth — the glands and blood-vessels of the neck — the parotid gland — barbs or paps — the soft palate — the pharynx ...... 179 Chapter XI. — Anatomy and Diseases op the Neck and Chest. — The muscles of the neok and chest — the crest of the bull — form and size of the neck — arteries of the neck — bleeding — bleeding places — the milk-vein with reference to bleed- ing — The heart — inflammation of its bag — the bone of the heart — the pulse — the capillary vessels — inflammation — Fever — inflammatory fever — quarter-evil — black quarter — typhus fever — The veins — varicose veins — The structure and form of the chest — the brisket — indications of its different forms— The ribs — proper form and direction of— the spine— the larynx— the round curled form of the epiglottis — the windpipe — tracheotomy — the sweetbread — the bronchial tubes — catarrh or hoose — epidemic catarrh — the malignant epidemic— murrain — -epidemic sore mouth and feet of 1840— sore throat— inflammation of the pha- rynx — puncturing the pharynx — bronchitis — multitude of worms often found in the air-passages — inflammation of the lungs — acute pneumonia — epidemic ditto —pleurisy — chronic pleurisy — consumption — importance of recognizing the peculiar cough of consumption fc 208 Chapter XII. — The Structure and Diseases of the Gullet and Stomach, The peculiar structure of the gullet of ruminants — choking — the oesophagus- probang — stricture of the gullet — rupture of ditto — the cesophagean canal — the rumen or paunch — the reticulum or honeycomb — the manyplus or manifolds — the abomasum or fourth stomach — the oesophag'ean canal continued — the mus- oular pillars of its floor — they yield to a solid substance — circumstances under which fluids pass over them into the third and fourth stomachs, or between them into the rumen — the food macerated in the rumen — passes through all the compartments of it — thrown into the reticulum — its honeycomb structure — the pellet formed — forced into the cesophagean canal — re-ascends the gullet — remas- ticated — returned — passes along the canal into the manyplus — the leaves of the manyplus— the fibrous parts of the food— indigestible substances in the paunch —concretions in ditto— distension of the rumen from food— ditto from gas— hoove — the stomach pump — the chloride of lime — loss of cud— poisons — yew — corrosive sublimate — diseases of the reticulum — diseases of the manifolds — clew- bound — fardel-bound — malformation of manyplus — diseases of the fourth stomach ... ...... 278 Chapter XIII.— The Anatomy and Diseases of the Spleen, Liver, and Pancreas.— Anatomy and function of the spleen— inflammation of it— enlarge- ment— The liver—inflammation of it — hsomorrhagc— jaundice or yellows— The pancreas .... .... 819 Tiii CONTENTS. Chapter XIV.— The Anatomy and Diseases of the Intestines.— The duode- num—jejunum — ileum — csocum — colon — rectum — enlargement of the mesenteric glands— inflammation of the bowels- -wood-evil— moor-ill— diarrhoea— dysentery — jcolic — strangulation — the cords or gut-tie — introsusception — inversion of the rectum— constipation— calculi— worms— dropsy— hernia or rupture . 32S Chapter XV. — The Urinary Organs axd their Diseases.— The kidneys— red water — black water — inflammation of the kidneys — the ureters — the bladder — urinary calculi — stone in the kidney — ureters— bladder — urethra— rupture of the bladder — inversion of ditto ...... 366 Chapter XVI. — Parturition. — Abortion or slinking — symptoms of pregnancy — treatment before calving — natural labor — the ergot of rye — mechanical assist- ance — unnatural presentation — free-martins — the Caesarian operation — embry- otomy — inversion of the womb — rupture of ditto — protrusion of the bladder — retention of the foatus — attention after calving — the cleansing — flooding — dropping after calving — puerperal or milk fever — sore teats — garget — milk- sickness or trembles— cow-pox ....... 382 Chapter XVII. — The Diseases and Management of Calves. — Navel-ill — conr stipation — diarrhoea — hoove — castration — method of castration by torsion . 422i Chapter XVIII. — The Diseases of the Muscular System and the Extrem- ities. — Rheumatism — swellings of the joints — ulcers about the joints — opened joints— sprains — diseases of the feet — foul in the feet . . . 428 Chapter XIX. — The Diseases of the Skin.— Structure of the skin — sensible and insensible perspiration — hide-bound — mange — mad itch — lice — warbles — angle-berries — warts ........ 438 Chapter XX. — A List of the Medicines Used in the Treatment of the " Diseases of Cattle — ^Ethiop's mineral — aloes — alteratives — alum — ammonia — anodynes— antimonial powder — blue vitriol — butyr of antimony — antispas- modics — astringents — blisters — calamine — Colombo — calomel — camphor — can- tharides — carraways — castor oil — catechu — caustics — chalk — chamomile — charges — chloride of lime — clysters — cordials — corrosive sublimate — croton — diaphoretics — digitalis — diuretics— drinks — elder — emetic tartar — Epsom salts —fomentations— gentian— ginger— Glauber's salts— Goulard's extract — helle- bore, black — iodine — ipecacuanha. — laudanum — linseed — linseed oil — lunar caustic — mashes — mercurial ointment — mint — myrrh — nitre — pitch — poultices — *rgot of rye — common salt — setons — spirit of nitrous ether — spirit, rectified — sugar of lead — sulphur — tar — tonics — turpentine, common — turpentine, spirit of— vinegar — white lead— white vitriol ...... 447 CHAPTER I. THE NATURAL HISTORY OF THE OX. The Ox belongs J;o the class mammalia, animals having mammae, or teats ; the oudeu ruminantia, ruminating, or chewing their food a second time-; the tribe bovidce, the ox kind ; the genus bos, the ox, the horns occupying the crest, projecting at first sideways, and being porous or cellular within ; and the sub-genus bos tau^us, or the domestic ox. Distinguished according to their teeth, they have eight incisors, or cutting teeth, in the lower jaw, and none in the upper. They have no tusks, but they have six molars, or grinding teeth, in each jaw^ and on each side. The whole would, therefore, be represented as follows : — The ox, incisors f, canines %, molars $-£. Total, 32 teeth. The native country of the ox, reckoning from the time of the flood, was the plains of Ararat, and he was a domesticated animal when he issued from the ark. He was found wherever the sons of" Noah migrated, for he was necessary to the existence of man ; and even to the present day, wherever man has trodden, he is found in a domes- ticated or wild state. The earliest record we have of the ox is in the sacred volume. Even in the antediluvian age, soon after the expul- sion from Eden, the sheep had become the servant of man ; and it is not improbable that the ox was subjugated at the same time. It is recorded that Jubal, the son of Lamech, who was probably born during the life-time of Adam, was the father of such as have cattle. The records of profane history confirm this account of the early domestication and acknowledged value of this animal, for it was wor- shipped by the Egyptians, and venerated 'among the- Indians. The traditions of every Celtic 'nation enroll the cow among the earliest productions, and represent it as a kind of divinity. 1 * ? 10" CATTLE. The parent race of the ox is said to have been much larger than any of the present varieties. The Urus, in his wild state at least, was an enormous and fierce animal, and ancient legends have thrown around him an air of mystery. In almost every part of the Con- tinent, and in every district of England, skulls, evidently belonging to cattle, have been found, far exceeding in bulk any now known. There is a fine specimen in the British Museum : the peculiarity of the horns will be observed, resembling smaller ones dug up in the mines of Cornwall, preserved, in some degree, in the wild cattle of Chillingham Park, and not quite -lost in our native breeds of Devon and East Sussex, and those of the Welsh mountains and the High- lands. We believe that this referred more to individuals than to the breed generally, for there is no doubt that, within the last century, the size of the cattle has progressively increased in England, and kept pafte with the improvement of agriculture. We will not endeavor to follow the migrations of the ox from Western Asia, nor the change in size, and form, and value, which it underwent, according to the difference of climate and of pasture, as it journeyed on toward the west, for there are no records of this on which dependence can be placed ; but we will proceed to the subject of the present work, the British Ox. CHAPTER II. V THE BRITISH OX. In the earliest and most authentic account that we possess of the British Isles, the Commentaries of Caesar, we learn that the Britons possessed great numbers of cattle. No satisfactory description- of these cattle occurs in any ancient author ; hut they, with occasional exceptions, possessed no great bulk or beauty. Caesar tells us that the Britons neglected tillage, and lived on milk and flesh ; and other authors corroborate this account of the early inhabitants of the British Islands. It was that o'ccupation and mode of life which suited their state of society. The island was divided into many petty sovereignties ; no fixed property was secure ; and that alone was valuable which might be hurried away at the threat- ened approach of an invader. Many centuries after this, when, although one sovereign seemed to reign paramount over the whole of the kingdom, there continued to be endless contests among the feudal barons, and still that property alone was valuable which oould be secured within the walls of the castle, or driven beyond the invader's reach ; an immense stock of provisions was always stored up in the various fortresses, both for the vassals and the cattle ; or it was con- trived that the latter should be driven to the demesnes of some friendly baron, or concealed in some inland recess. When the government became more powerful and settled, and property of every kind was proportionably secured, as well as 'more equally divided, the plough came into use ; and agricultural produc- tions were oftener cultivated, the reaping of which was sure after the labor of sowing. Cattle were now comparatively neglected, and, for some centuries, injuriously so. Their numbers diminished, and their size appears to have diminished, too ; and it is only within the last 150 years that any serious and successful efforts have been made jnaterially to improve them. In the comparative roving and uncertain life which our earlier and ater ancestors led, their cattle would sometimes stray and be lost. The country was then overgrown with forests, and the beasts betook themselves to the recesses of these woods, and became wikjj and^ 8ome\hiie» ferocious. They, by degrees, grew so numerpus, as to be 12 CATTLE. dangerous to the inhabitants of the neighboring districts. Ope of the' chronicles informs ns, that many of them harbored in the forests in the neighborhood of the metropolis. Strange stories are told of some of them, and doubtless, when irritated, they were fierce and dangerous enough. As, however, civilization advanced, and the forests became thinned and contracted, these animals were seldomer seen, and at length almost disappeared. A few of them j'et remain in Chatel- herault Park, belonging to the Duke of Hamilton, in Lanarkshire ; and in the park of Chillingham Castle, in Northumberland, the seat of the Earl of Tankerville. The wild breed, from being untameable, can only be kept within walls, or good fences ; consequently, very few of them are now to be met with, except in the parks of some gentlemen, who keep them for ornament, and as a curiosity. Their color is invariably white, muzzle black ; the whole of the inside of the ear, and about one-third of the outside, from the tips downward, red ; horns, white, with black tips, very fine, and bent upward ; some of the bulls have a thin, upright mane, about an inch and a half -or two inches long k The weight of the oxen is from thirty-five to forty-five stone, and the cows from twenty-five to thirty-five stone the four quarters (fourteen pound to the stone). The beef is finely marbled, and of excellent flavor. The six year old oxen are generally very good beef ; whence it may be fairly supposed that, in proper situations, they would feed well. At the first appearance of any' person, they set off in full gallop, and, at the' distance of about two hundred yards, make a wheel round, and come boldly up again in a menacing manner ; on a sud- den they make a full stop at the distance of forty or fifty yards, look- ing wildly at the object of their surprise ; • but upon the least motion they all again turn round, and fly off with equal speed, but not to the same distance, forming a shorter circle, and again returning with a more threatening aspect than before ; they approach probably within thirty yards, when they again make another stand, and then fly off; this they do several times, shortening their distance, and advancing nearer and nearer, till they come within such a short dis- tance that most people think it prudent to leave them. When the cows calve, they hide their calves for a week or ten days in some sequestered situation, and go and suckle them two or three times a day. If any person come near the calves, they clap their heads close to the ground, to hide themselves : this is a proof of their native wildness. The dams allow no person to touch their calves, without attacking them with impetuous ferocity. When any one happens to be wounded, or is grown weak and feeble through age or sickness, the rest of the herd set on it and gore it to death. The breeds of cattle, as they are now found in Great Britain, are almost as various as the soil of the different districts, or the fancies THE BRITISH OX. 13 of the breeders. They Jiave, however, been very conveniently classed according to the comparative size of the horns; thq long horfis, originally from Lancashire, much improved by Mr. Bakewell, of Leicestershire, and established through the greater part of the midland counties ; the short horns, mostly cultivated in the northern counties, and in Lincolnshire, and many of them found in every part of the kingdom where the farmer attends much to his dairy, or a large supply of milk is wanted ; and the middle horns, not derived from a mixture of the two preceding, but a distinct and valuable and beautiful breed, inhabiting principally the north of Devon, the east of Sussex, Herefordshire, and Gloucestershire; and, of diminished bulk, and with somewhat different character, the cattle of the Scottish and the Welsh mountains. The Alderney, with her crumpled horn, is found on the southern cost, and, in smaller numbers, in gentlemen's parks and pleasure-grounds every where ; while the polled, or horn- less cattle, prevail in Suffolk, and Norfolk, and in Galloway, whence they were first derived. These, however, have been intermingled in every possible way. They are found pure only in their native districts, or on the estates of some opulent and spirited individuals. Each county has its own mongrel breed, often difficult to be described, and not always to be traced — neglected enough, yet suited to the soil and to the climate ; and, among little farmers, maintaining their station, in spite of at- tempts at improvements by the intermixture or the substitution of foreign varieties. The character of each important variety, and the relative value of each for breeding, grazing, the dairy, or the plough, will be consi- dered before we inquire into the structure or general and medical treatment of cattle. Much dispute has arisen as to the original breed of British cattle. The battle has been stoutly fought between the advocates of the middle and the long horns. The short horhs and the polls can have no claim ; the latter, although it has existed in certain districts from time immemorial, was probably an accidental variety. We are very much disposed to adjudge the honor to the " middle horns." The long horns are evidently of Irish extraction, as in due place we shall endeavor to show. Britain has shared the fate of other nations, and oftener than they, has been overrun and subjugated by invaders. As the natives re- treated, they carried with them some portion of their property, which, in those early times, consisted principally in cattle. They drove along with them as many as they could, when they retired to . the fortresses of north Devon and Cornwall, or the mountainous re- gions of Wales, or when they took refuge in the wealds of east Sus- sex ; and there, retaining all their prejudices, customs and manners, 14 CATTLE. were jealous of the preservation of that which reminded them of their native country before it yielded to a foreign yoke. In this manner was preserved the ancient breed of British cattle. Difference of climate wrought some change, particularly in their bulk. The rich pasture of Sussex fattened the ox into its superior size and weight. The plentiful, but not so luxuriant herbage of the north of Devon, produced a smaller and more active animal, while the privations of Wales lessened the bulk and thickened the hide of the Welsh runt. As for Scotland, it set its invaders at defiance ; or its inhabitants retreated for a while, and soon turned again on their pursuers. They were proud of their country, of their cattle, their choicest possession ; and there, too, the cattle were preserved, un- mixed and undegenerated. Thence it resulted, that in Devon, in Sussex, in s Wales, and in Scotland, the cattle have been the same from time immemorial ; while in all the eastern coast, and through every district of England, the breed of cattle degenerated, or lost its original character; it consisted of animals brought from every neighboring and some re- mote districts, mingled in every possible variety, yet conforming itself to the soil and the climate. - Observations will convince us that the cattle in Devonshire, Sus- sex, Wales, and Scotland, are essentially the same. They are middle horned ; not extraordinary milkers, and remarkably for the quality rather than the quantity of their milk ; active at work ; and with an unequalled aptitude to fatten. They have all the characters of the same breed, changed by soil, climate, and time, yet little changed by man. We may almost trace the color, namely, the red of the Devon, the Sussex, and the Hereford ; and where the black alone are now found, the menrory of the red prevails. Every one who has com- pared the Devon cattle with the wild breed of Chatelherault park, or Chillingham castle, has been struck with the great resemblance in many points, notwithstanding the difference of color, while they bear no likeness at all to the cattle of the neighboring country. For these reasons we consider the middle horns to be the native breed of Great Britain, and they shall first pass in review before us. CHAPTER III. THE MIDDLE HORNS. THE DEVONS. The north of Devon has been long celebrated for a breed of cattle beautiful in the highest degree, and in activity at work and aptitude to fatten unrivalled. The native country of the Devons, and where they are found in a state of the greatest purity, extends from the river Taw westward, skirting along the Bristol Channel ; the breed becoming more mixed, and at length comparatively lost before we ar- rive at the Parrett. _ Inland it extends by Barnstaple, South Molton, and Chumleigh, as far as Tiverton, and thence to Wellington, where again the breed becomes unfrequent, or it is mixed before we reach Taunton. More eastward the Somersets and the Welsh mingle with it, or supersede it. To the south there prevails a larger variety, a cross probably of the Devon with the Somerset ; and on the west the Cornish cattle are found, or contaminate the breed. The Devonshire man confines them within a narrower district, and will scarcely allow them'to be found with purity beyond his native county. ' From Port- lock to Biddeford, and a little to the north and the south, is, in his mind, the peculiar and only residence of the true Devon. From the earliest records the breed has here remained the same ; or if not quite as perfect as at the present moment, yet altered in no essential point until within the last thirty years. That is not a little surprising when it is remembered that a considerable part of this district is not a breeding country, and that even a proportion, and that not a small one, of Devonshire cattle, are bred'out of the county. On the borders of Somerset and Dorset, and partly in both, extend- ing southward from Crewkern, the country assumes the form of an extensive valley, and principally supplies the Exeter market with calves. Those that are dropped in February and March, are kept until May, and then sold to the drovers, who convey them to Exeter. They are there purchased by the Devonshire farmers, who keep them for two or three years, when they are sold to. the Somersetshire graziers, who fatten them for the London market ; so that a portion of the Devons, and of the very finest of the breed.come from Somer- set and Dorset. 16 CATTLE The truth is, that the Devonshire farmers were, until the last cen- tury, not conscious that they possessed anything superior to other breeds ; but, like agriculturists everywhere else, they bought and bred without care or selection. It is only within the last one hundred and fifty or sixty years that any systematic efforts have been made to improve the breeds of cattle of the kingdom ; and we must ac knowledge, that the Devonshire men, with all their advantages, and with such good ground to work upon, were not the first to stir, and, for a time, were not the most zealous when they were roused to ex ertion. They are indebted to the nature of their" soil and climate fo» the beautiful specimens which they possess of the native breed oi our island, and they have retained this breed almost in spite of themselves. A spirit of emulation was at length kindled, and even the Devon? have been materially improved, and brought to such a degree of perfection, that, take them all in all, they would suffer from inter- mixture with any other breed. Whatever be the breed, there are certain conformations which are indispensable to the thriving and valuable ox or cow. When we have a clear idea of these, we shall be able more easily to form an at- curate judgment of the different breeds. If there is one part of tho frame, the form of which, more than of any other, renders the animal valuable_, it is the chest. There must^be room enough for the heart to beat, and the lungs to play, or sufficient blood for the purposes of nutriment and of strength will not be circulated ; nor will it thorough- ly undergo that vital change which is essential to the proper discharge of every function. We look, therefore, first of all to the wide and deep girth about the heart and lungs. We must have both : the proportion in which the one or the other may preponderate, will de- pend on the service we require from the animal ; we can excuse a slight degree of flatness on the sides, for he will be lighter in the forehand, and more active ; but the grazier must have width as well as depth. Not only about the heart and lungs, but over the whole of the ribs, must we have both length and roundness. ; the hooped, as well as the deep barrel is essential ; there must be room for the capa- cious paunch, room for the materials from which the blood is to be provided. There should be little. space between the ribs and the hips. This seems to be indispensable in the ex, as it regards a good healthy constitution, and a propensity to fatten ; but a largeness and droop- ing of the belly is excusable in the cow, or rather, though it diminishes the beauty of the animal, it leaves room for the udder ; and if it is also accompanied by swelling milk veins, it generally indicates her valine in the dairy. This roundness and depth of the barrel, is most advantangeous in proportion as it is found behind the point of the elbow, more than between the shoulders and legs; or low down between the legs, THE DEVONS. rather than upward toward the withers :' for it diminishes the heaviness before, and the comparative bulk of the coarser parts of the animal, which is always a very great consideration. The loins should be wide, for they are the prime parts ; they should extend far along the back : and although the belly should not hang down, the flanks should be round and deep. The hips, without being ragged, should be large ; round rather than wide, and present- ing, when handled, plenty of muscle and fat. The thighs should be full and long, close together when viewed from behind, or have a good twist, and tlie -farther down they continue close the better. The legs short, varying like other parts according to the destina- tion of the animal ; but decidedly short, for there is an almost inse- parable connection " between- length of leg and lightness of carcass, and shortness of leg and propensity to fatten. The bones of the legs, and they only, being, taken as a sample of the bony structure of the frame, generally, should be small, but not too small — small enough for the well-known accompaniment, a propensity to fatten ; but not so small as to indicate delicacy of constitution, and liability to disease. Last of all, the hide — -the most important thing of all — thin, but not so thin as to indicate that the animal can endure no hardship ; movable, mellow, but not too loose, and particularly well covered with fine long and soft hair. We shall enter more fully and satisfac- torily into this subject in the proper place ; but this bird's-eye view may be useful. We return to the Devon cattle. W^^at^S^^^iami DEVON BULL. 18 CATTLE. The more perfect specimens of the Devon hreed are thus distin- guished. The horn of the bull ought to be neither too low nor too high, tapering at the points, not too thick at the root, white below, and of a yellow or waxy color at the tip. The eye should be clear, bright, and prominent, showing much of the white, and have around it a circle of a dark orange color. The forehead should be flat, in- dented, and small, for, by the smallness of the forehead, the purity of the breed is very much estimated. The cheek should be small, and the muzzle fine : the nose must be of a clear yellow. The nos- tril should be high and open : the hair curled about the head. The neck should be thick, and that sometimes almost to a fault. Excepting in the head and neck, the form of the bull does not materially differ from that of the ox, but he is considerably smaller. There are exceptions, however, to this rule. ,/*Ss WORKING DEVON OX. The head of the ox is small, very singularly so, relatively to his bulk ; yet it has a striking breadth of forehead, It is clean and free from flesh about the jaws. The eye is very prominent, and the ani- mal has a pleasing vivacity of countenance, distinguishing it from the heavy aspect of many other breeds. Its neck is long and thin, admirably adapting it for the collar, or the more common and ruder yoke. It is accounted one of the characters of good cattle, that the line of the neck from the horns to the -withers should scarcely deviate THE DEVON S. 19 from that of the back. In the Devon ox, however, there is a pecu- liar rising of the forehand, reminding us of the blood-horse, and essentially connected with the free and quick action by which this breed has ever been distinguished. It has little or no dewlap depending from its throat. The horns are longer than those of the bull, smaller, and fine even to the base, and of a lighter color, and tipped with yellow. The animal is light in the withers ; the shoulders a little oblique ; the breast deep, and the bosom open and wide, par- ticularly as contrasted with the fineness of the withers. The fore- legs are wide apart, looking like pillars that have to support a great weight. The point of the shoulder is rarely or never seen. There is no projection of .bone, but there is a kind of level line running on to the neck. These are characteristic and important points. Angular bony pro- jections are never found in a beast that carries much flesh and fat. The fineness of the withers, the slanting direction of the shoulder, and the broad and open breast, imply strength, speed, and aptitude to fatten. A narrow-chested animal can never be useful either for working or grazing. With all the lightness of the Devon ox, there is a point about him, disliked in the blood or riding-horse, and not approved' in the horse of light draught — the legs are far under the chest, or rather the breast projects far and wide before the legs. We see the advantage of this in the beast of slow draught, who rarely breaks into a trot, ex- cept when he is goaded on in catching times, and the division of whose foot secures him from stumbling. The lightness of the other parts of his form, however, counterbalances heaviness here. The legs are straight, at least in the best herds. If they are in- kneed, or crooked in the fore-legs, it argues a deficiency in blood, and comparative incapacity for work ; and for grazing, too, for they will be hollow behind the withers, a point for which nothing can compen- sate, because it takes away so much from the place where good flesh and fat should be thickly laid on, and diminishes the capacity of the chest and the power of creating arterial and nutritious blood. The fore-arm is particularly large and powerful. It swells out suddenly above the knee, but is soon lost in the substance of the shoulder. , Below the knee, the bone is small to a very extraordinary degree, indicating a seeming want of strength ; but this impression immediately ceases, for the smallness is only in front — it is only in the bone : the leg is deep, and the sinews are far removed from thp bone, promising both strength and speed. It may perhaps be objected that the leg is a little too long. It would be so in an ani- mal destined only to graze ; but this is a working animal, and some length of leg is necessary to getliim actively over the ground. There is a very trifling fall behind the withers, but no hollowness, and the line of the back is straight from them to the setting on of the 20 CATTLE. tail. If there is any seeming fault in the beast, it is that the sides are a little too flat. It will appear, however/that this does not in- terfere with feeding, while a deep, although somewhat flat chest is best adapted for speed. The two last ribs are particularly bold and prominent, leaving room for the stomachs and other parts concerned in digestion to be fully developed. The hips, or huckles, are high up, and on a level with the back, whether the beast is fat or lean. The hind quarters, or the space from the hip to the point of the rump, are particularly long, and well filled up — a point of importance both for grazing and working. It leaves room for flesh in the most valuable part, and in- dicates much power behind, equally connected with strength and speed. This is an improvement quite of modern date. The fullness here, and the swelling out of the thigh below, are of much more consequence than the prominence of fat which is so much admired on the rump of many prize cattle. The setting on of the tail is high ; on a level with the back ; rarely much elevated or depressed^ This is another great point, as con- nected with the perfection of the hind quarters. The tail itself is long and small, and taper, with a round bunch of hair at the bottom. The skin of the Devon, with his curly hair, is exceedingly mellow and'elastic. Graziers know that there is not a more important point than this. When the skin can be easily raised from the hips, it shows that there is room to set on fat below. The skin is thin rather than thick. Its appearance of thickness arises from the curly hair with which it is covered, and curly in pro- portion to the condition and health of the animal. These curls run like little ripples on water. Some of these cattle have the hair smooth, but then it should be fine and soft. Those with curled hair are more hardy, and fatten more kindly. The favorite color is a blood red. This is supposed to indicate purity of breed ; but there are many good cattle approaching almost to a dark bay. If the eye is clear and good, and the skin mellow, the paler colors will bear hard work, and fatten as well as others ; but a beast with pale hair, and hard under the hand, and the eye dark and dead, will be a slug- gish worker, and an uprofitable feeder. Those of a yellow color are said to be subject to diarrhoea, or scouring. These are the principal points of a good Devon ox ; but he used to be, perhaps is yet, a little too flat-sided, and the rump narrowed too rapidly behind the hip bones ; there was too much space between the hip bones and the last rib ; and he was too light for tenacious and strong soils. A selection from the most perfect animals of the true breed — the bone still small and the neck fine, but the brisket deep and wide, and down to the knees, and not an atom of flatness all over the side — these have improved the strength and bulk of the Devon ox, without THE DEvONS, 21 impairing, in the slightest degree, his activity, his beauty, or his pro- pensity to fatten. DEVON OX. Commencing to Feed. There are few things more remarkable about the Devon cattle than the comparative^ smallness of the cow. The bull is a great deal less than the ox, and the cow smaller than the bull. This is some disad- vantage, and the breeders are aware of it ; for, although it may not be necessary to have a large bull, and especially as those of any extraordinary size are seldom handsome in all their points, but some- where or other present coarseness or deformity, it is almost impossi- ble to procure large and serviceable oxen, except from a somewhat roomy cow. These cows, however, although small, possess that roundness and projection of the two or three last ribs, which make them actually more roomy than a careless examination of them would indicate. The cow is particularly distinguished for her full, round, clear eye, the gold-colored circle round the eye, and the same color on the inside skin of the ear. The countenance cheerful, and the muzzle orange or yellow. The jaws free from thickness, and the throat from dewlap. The points of the back and the hind quarters different from those of other breeds, having more of roundness and beauty, and being free from angles. 22 CATTLE. The qualities of the Devons may be referred io three points ; their working, fattening, and milking. DEVON cow. Where the ground is not too heavy, the Devon oxen are unrivalled at the plough. They have a quickness of action which no other breed can equal, and very few horses exceed. They have a docility and goodness of temper, and stoutness and honesty of work, to which many horses cannot pretend. It is a common day's work, on fallow land, for four Devon steers to plough two acres with a double furrow plough. Four good steers will" do as much work in the field, or on the road, as three horses, and in as quick, and often quicker time, although farmers calculate two oxen equal to one horse. The prin- cipal objection to Devon oxen is, that they have not sufficient strength for tenacious, clayey soils : they will, however, exert their strength to the utmost, and stand many a dead pull, which few horses could be induced or forced to attempt. They are uniformly worked in yokes, and not in collars. Four oxen, or six growing steers, are the usual team employed in the plough. The opponents of ox-husbandry should visit the valleys of north or south Devon, to see what this animal is capable of performing, and how he performs it. The profit derived from the use of oxen in this district arises from the activity to which they are trained, and which is unknown in any other part of the kingdom. During harvest time, and in catching weather, they ar.e sometimes ti ctted along with the empty wagons, THE DEV0N3. at the rate of six miles an hour, a degree of speed which no other ox but the Devon has been able to stand. >> It may appear singular to the traveler, that in some of the districts that are supposed to be the very head-quarters of the Devon cattle, they are seldom used for the plough. The explanation, however, is plain enough. The demand for them among graziers is so great, that the breeders obtain a remunerating price for them at an earlier age than that at which they are generally broken in for the plough. They are usually taken into work at about two years old, and are worked until they are four, or five, or six ; they are^then grazed, or kept on hay, and in ten or twelve months, and without any further trouble, are fit for the market. If the grass land is good, no corn, or cake, or turnips, are required for the first winter^ but, of course, for a second winter these must be added. The grazier likes this breed best at five years old, and they will usually, when taken from the plough, fetch as much money as at six. At eight or nine years, or older, they are rapidly declining in value. After having been worked lightly on the hills for two years, they are bought at four years old by the tillage- farmer of the vales, and taken into hard work from four to six ; and, what deserves considera- tion, an ox must be thus worked in order for him to attain his fullest size. If he is kept idle until he is five or six, he will invariably be stinted in his growth. At six he reaches his full stature, unless he is naturally disposed to be of more than ordinary size, and then he con- tinues to grow for another half year. The Devon oxen are rarely- shod, and very rarely lame. Their next-quality is their disposition to fatten, and very few rival them here. Some very satisfactory experiments have been made on this point. They do not, indeed, attain the great weight of some breeds ; but, in a given time, they acquire more flesh, and with less consumption of food, and their flesh is beautiful in its kind. It is mottled, or marbled, so pleasing to the eye and to the taste. For the dairy, the Devons must be acknowledged to be inferior to several other breeds. The milk is good, and yields more than an average proportion of cream and butter ; but generally it is» defi- cient in quantity. There are those, however, and no mean judges, who deny this, and select the Devons even for the dairy. Such is not, however, the common opinion. They are kept principally for their other good qualities, in order to preserve the breed; and because, as .nurses, they are indeed excellent, and the calves thrive from their small quantity of milk more rapidly than could possibly be expected. This aboriginal breed of British cattle is a very valuable one, and seems to have arrived at the highest point of perfection. It is heavier than it was thirt- years ago, yet fully as active. Its 24 CATTLE. aptitude to fatten is increased, and its property as a milker jnight be improved, without detriment to its grazing qualities. Those points in which the Devons were deficient thirty years ago, are now fully supplied, and all that is now wanting, is a judicious selection of the most perfect of the present breed, in order to pre- serve it in its state of greatest purity. Many of the breeders are as careless as they ever were ; but the spirit of emulation is excited in others. Mr. Davy, of North Molton, lately sold a four-year old bull, for which the purchaser had determined to give one hundred guineas had it been asked. The Devon cattle are more than usually free from disease. The greater part of the maladies of cattle, and all those of the respira- tory system, are owing to injudicious exposure to cold and wet ; the height and thickness of the Devonshire fences, as affording a com- fortable shelter to the-cattle, may have much to do with this exemp- tion from disease. The Devons have been crossed with the Guernsey breed, and the con- sequence has been, that they have been rendered more valuable for the dairy ; but they have been so much injured for the plough, and for the grazier, that the breeders are jealous to preserve the old stock in their native purity. The treatment of the calf is nearly the same in every district of North Devon. The calves that are dropped at Michaelmas, and some time afterward, are preferred to those that come in February, notwithstanding the additional trouble and expense during the winter. The calf is permitted to suck three times every day for a week. It is then used to the finger, and warm new milk is given it for three weeks longer. For two months afterward it has plenty of warm scalded milk, mixed with a little finely-powdered linseed-cake. Its morning and evening meals are then gradually lessened ; and, when it is four months old, it is quite weaned, Of the other districts of Devonshire little need be*said. Toward the south, extending from Hartland towards Tiverton; the Devons prevail, and in their greatest state of purity. There are more dairies than in the north, and supplied principally by the Devon cows. Such are the differences of opinion even in neighboring districts, that the later calves are here uniformly prefeiTed, which are longer suckled, and afterward fed with milk and linseed-meal. Advancing more to 'the south, and toward the borders of Corn- wall, a different breed presents itself, heavier and coarser. We have arrived now in the neighborhood of Devonport, where larger cattle are required for the service of the navy ; but we must go a little more to the south, and enter on the tract of country which extends from Tavistock to Newton Abbott, before we have the South Devons in full perfection. They are a mixture of the Devons With the native breed of the country ; and so adapted do they seem to be to the THE DEVONS. 25 soil, that all attempts to improve them, so far as grazing and fatten- ing go, have utterly failed.. They are often 14 cwt. to the four quarters ; and steers of 2J cwt. are got with fair hay and grass to weigh from six to nine cwt. They bear considerable resemblance to the Herefords, and sometimes the color, and the horn, and the white face, are so much alike in both, that it is difficult to distinguish between them, except that they are usually smaller than the Herefords." There are few parts of the country in which there is such bad management, and utter neglect of the preservation of the breed, as in this and the most eastern part of Devon. It is not properly a grazing district, except in the neighborhood of Tavistock ; but young cattle are rather brought forward for after-grass or turnips elsewhere than finished here for. the market, and the method in which this is con- ducted is not to be commended. If a calf look likely to fatten, it is suffered to run with the cow ten or twelve months, and then slaugh- tered. If others, that had not before shown a disposition to thrive, now start, they are forwarded as quickly as may be, and disposed of; and therefore it is that all those that are retained, and by which the stock is to be kept up, are the very refuse of the farm. Yet the breed is not materially deteriorated. It has found a congenial climate, and it will flourish there in spite of neglect and injury. The grand secret of breeding is to suit the treed to the soil and climate. It is because this has not been studied, that those breeds, which have been invaluable in certain districts, have proved altogether profitless and unworthy of culture in others. The South Devons are equally profitable for the grazier, the breeder, and the butcher ; but their flesh is not so delicate as that of the Devons. They do for the consumption of the navy ; they will not suit fastidious appetites. The farmers in the neigborhood of Dartmoor breed very few cat- tle. Their calves are usually procured from East Devon, or even from Somerset or Dorset. They are reared at the foot of the moors for the use of the miners. All, however, are not consumed ;• but the steers are sold to the farmers of the South Hams, who work them as long as they are serviceable ; they are then transferred to the graziers from Somersetshire, or East Devon, or Dorset, by whom they are probably driven back to their native country, and prepared for the market of Bristol or London. A very curious peregrination this, which great numbers of the west-countiy cattle experience. As we now travel eastward, we begin to lose all distinctness of breed. The vale of Exeter is a dairy district, and, as such, contains all kinds of cattle, according to the fancy of the farmer. There are a few pure Devons, more South Devons, and some Alderneys ; but the majority are mongrels of every description : many of them, how- ever, are excellent cows, and such as are found scattered over ■ Corn- wall, West Devonshire, Somerset, and part of Dorset. As we advance along the south and the east, to Teignmouth, Ez- 2 26 CATTLE. mouth, Sidraouth, and over the hill to the fruitful vale of Honiton. we do not find oxen so much used in husbandry. The soil is either a cold hard clay, or its flints -would speedily destroy the feet of the oxen. The same variety of pure Devons and South Devons, ancj natives of that particular district, with intermixtures of every breed, prevail, but the South Devons are principally seen. Some of these cows seem to unite the opposite qualities of fattening and milking. A South Devon has been known, soon after calving, to yield more than two pounds of butter a day ; and many of the old southern native breed are equal to any short horns in the quantity of their milk, and far superior to them in its quality. The Devon cattle prevail along that part of the county of Somer- set which borders on Devon, until we arrive in the neighborhood of Wincaunton and Uchester, where the pure breed is almost lost sight of. In the north of Somerset, few of the Devons are to be seen ; but along the coast, and even extending as far as Bristol and Bath, the purest breed of the Devons is preferred. They are valued for their aptitude to fatten, their quickness and honesty at work ; and they are said to be better milkers than in their native county. They are of a larger size, for the soil is better, and the pasturage more luxuriant. It is on this account that the oxen bred in some parts, and particularly in the Vale of Taunton, although essentially Devons, are preferred to those from the greater part of Devonshire, and even from the neighborhood of Barnstaple and South Molton. They are better for the grazier and for the dairy ; and, if they are not quite so active as their progenitors, they have not lost their docility and freeness at work, and- they have gained materially in strength. The farmers in the south and south-west of Somerset are endeavor- ing to breed that sort of cattle that will answer for the pail, and the plough, and grazing — a very difficult point ; for those' that are of the highest proof ^exhibiting those points or conformations of par- ticular parts which usually indicate a propensity to fatten) are gene- rally the worst milkers, both as to quantity and quality. This being, however, a dairy county, as well as a grazing one, or more so, the principal point with them is a good show for milk. They are, for the most part, of the Devon red, and the best suited for all purposes of any in the West of England. All that is necessary to keep them up in size and proof, and of a good growth, is to change the bull every two years. This is a very important, although an overlooked and unappreciated principle of breeding, even where the stock is most select. No bull should be longer used by the same grazier, or some degree of deterioration will ensue. It must, nevertheless, be confessed, that in the greater part of the county^ and where the Devons are liked best for husbandry and for grazing, experience has taught many farmers to select another breed for the dairy. THE DEVONS. 27 Our cuts of the two Devon bulls given, are portraits of animals of distinction ;- the first characterized by great substance, and the second by eminent fineness and style; and both are wanting in nothing essential to the Devon bull, while they are both marked bv great excellence. "•"-^^s^ DEVON BOLL. While our views regard the general breeding of Devons, as seen in the practice of the mass of breeders in Devonshire, it is yet proper to say that there are some few breeders who have carried their cattle forward to a degree of excellence that would seem incapable of further advancement ; and which is now so high that we may perhaps call it perfection. In point of working form they are not deteriorated, and yet they have all the maturity of the short horn, and are equal to any breed in the abundance of meat on the prime parts, and in the high quality of that meat, it being marbled and sparkling in the highest degree. The leading breeders are Mr. James Quartly, of Champson Mol- land, and his brother, Mr. John Quartly, of Molland ; Mr. Eichard Merson, of Brinsworthy ; and Mr. James Davy, of Flitton Barton, all in Devonshire. Mr. James Quartly has been, more than any other breeder, distinguished as a winner of prizes at the shows of the Royal Agricultural Society of England, and the other gentlemen named have been successful often at these shows, though as the 28 CATTLE. breeders of the animals shown, more than as the exhibitors. Indeed, Mr. Merson has himself never shown, and yet has bred several ani- mals that have won in the hands of others. The Messrs. Quartlys, the inheritors of an ancient stock, suc- ceeded to the herds' of their father, the late Mr. Quartly, and their uncle, the present Mr. Francis Quartly, who, from age, has declined further breeding. From their predecessors they have obtained both reputation and excellence in their cattle, and they are more than maintaining the high character derived from their father and uncle.* Mr. Merson, also, succeeded his father as a breeder, and, like his father, -ranks at the top of the profession. His cattle are remarkable for an abundance of fine meat on the choice parts, great evenness, very early maturity, and milking quality unsurpassed by any Devons ; and indeed their milking capacity, as a herd, is extraordinary, many of his cows equaling the short horns in quantity, while the milk still preserves the known superior richness of the Devon race. Mr. Davy likewise inherits both the herd and the reputation of his father, a distinguished breeder, and his aim has been, like Mr. Merson's, to have animals not only of great excellence of carcass, but of superior milking capacity. Mr. George Turner, of Barton, near Exeter, in Devonshire, has in the last few years entered the field of competition with these ancient breeders, and, deriving his cattle from them, is breeding with dis- tinction. Of late years, Devon bullocks have appeared in the Smithfield Club shows, and, when the numbers exhibited are considered, have been far more successful than any other breed. At a recent show of the Club, there were only thirteen Devons shown, and three won prizes, and that, too, in a competition with one hundred and seven beasts, which were mainly short horns and Herefords. Two of these were exhibited by the Earl of Leicester, and one was good enough to carry off the Gold Medal, as the best ox in the yard. The Earl of Leicester, and his father before him, and their tenant, Mr. Bloomfield, all of Norfolk, are well known breeders of Devons. They have derived much of their late blood from the Messrs. Quartlys, Mr. Merson, and Mr. Davy. * It may be mentioned that animals bred by Messrs. James and John Quartly, won every prize for Devons save one, at the last show of the English Agricultural Society at Exeter, in Devonshire, July, 1850, and this was by far tho best and most numerous show Of Devons ever made.— Editor. THE HEREFORDS. THE HEREFORDS. The Hereford white-faced breed, with the exception of a very few Alderney and Durham cows, have almost exclusive possession of the county of Hereford. The Hereford oxen are considerably larger than the Devons. They are usually of a darker red ; some of them are brown, and even yellow, and a few are brindled ; but they are prin- cipally distinguished by their white faces, throats, and bellies. Jn a few the white extends to the shoulders. The old Herefords were brown, or red-brown, with not a spot of white about them. It is only within the last fifty or sixty years that it has been the fashion to breed for white faces. Whatever may be thought of the change of color, the present breed is certainly far superior to the old one. The hide is considerably thicker than that of the Devon. Compared with the Devons, they are shorter in the leg, and also in the carcass ; higher, and broader, and heavier in the chine ; rounder and wider across the hips, and better covered with fat ; the thigh fuller and more muscular, and the shoulders larger and coarser. Mr. Marshall gives the following account of them : it is tolerably . correct, but does not sufficiently distinguish them from their kindred breed. " The countenance pleasant, cheerful, open ; the forehead broad ; eye full and lively ; horns bright, taper, and spreading ; head small ; chap lean ; neck long and tapering ; chest deep ; bosom broad, and projecting forward ; shoulder-bone thin, fiat, no way pro- tuberant in bone, but full and mellow in flesh ; chest full ; loin broad ; hips standing wide, and level with the chine ; quarters long, and wide at the neck ; rump even with the level of the back, and not drooping, nor standing high and sharp above the quarters ; tail slender and neatly haired ; barrel round and roomy ; the carcass throughout deep and well spread ; ribs broad, standing flat and close on the outer surface, forming a smooth, even -barrel, the hind- most large and full of length ; round bone small, snug, not promi- nent ; thigh clean, and regularly tapering ; legs upright and short ; bone below the knee and hock small ; feet of middle size ; flank large ; flesh everywhere mellow, soft, and yielding pleasantly to the touch, especially on the chine, the shoulder, and the ribs ; hide mel- low, supple, of a middle thickness, and loose on the neck and huckle ; coat neatly haired, bright and silky ; color, a middle red, with a bald face, characteristic of the true Hereford breed." They fatten to a much greater weighty than the Devons, and run from fifty to seventy score. (A tolerable cow will average from thirty-five to fifty score.) They are not now much used for husbandry, though their form adapts them for the heavier work ; and they have all the honesty and docility of the Devon ox, and greater strength. 30 CATTLE. if not his activity. The Hereford ox fattens speedily at an early age, and it is more advantag-eous to the farmer, and perhaps to the coun- try, that he should go to market a three years old, than to.be kept longer to be employed as a beast of draught. They are far worse milkers than the Devons. This is so generally aknowledged, that while there are many dairies of Devon cows in various parts of the countiy, (none of which, however, are very profitable to their owners,) a dairy of Herefords is rarely to be found. HEREFORD WORKING OX. To compensate for this, they are kindly feeders. Their beef may be objected to by some as being occasionally a little too'large in the bone, and the forequarters being coarse and heavy ; but the meat of the best pieces is often very fine grained and beautifully marbled. There are few cattle more prized in the market than the genuine Herefords. The Devons and the Herefords. are both excellent breeds, and the prejudices of the Devonshire and Herefordshire farmers for their peculiar breed being set aside, a cross* for the yoke or beef of the one will often materially improve the other. The Devon will acquire bulk, and the Hereford a finer form and activity. The Herefords are evidently an aboriginal breed, and descended from the same stock as the Devons. If it were not for the white THE HEREFORDS. SI ■ face, and somewhat larger head and thicker neck, it would not at all times- be easy- to distinguish between a heavy Devon and a light Hereford. Their white faces may probably be traced to a cross with their not distant relations, the Montgomeries. The Hereford cow js apparently a very inferior' animal. Not only is she no milker, but even her form has been sacrificed by the breeder. Herefordshire is more a rearing than a feeding county, and therefore the farmer looks mostly to the shape and yalue of his young stock ; and, in the choice of his cow, he does not value her, or select her, or breed from her according to her milking qualities, or the price which the grazier would, give for her, but in proprotion as she possesses that general form which experience has taught him will render her likely to produce a good ox. Hence the Hereford cow is comparatively small and delicate, and some would call her ill-made. She is very light-fleshed when in common condition, and beyond that, while she is breeding, she is not suffered to proceed ; but when she is actually put up for fattening, she spreads out, and accumulates, fat at a most Jxtra- ordinary rate. -«2*5SS ----^_^:.>^i-lTi HEREFORD FEEDING OX. The breeder has been taught by experience, that when" the cow, although she should be somewhat roomy, is too large . and masculine, the ox wijll be brawny and ooarse, and perhaps a little 32 CATTLE. sluggish at work, and even somewhat unkind and slow in the process of fattening, and these are objections which, most of all, he would be unwilling to have justly made. The Hereford cow is therefore somewhat undersized ; and it not unfrequently hap- pens that she produces a bull-calf that grows to three times her ,own weight. HEREFORD COW. -Kindly as the Hereford ox fattens, very few are grazed in their native country : even the beasts which the home consumption requires are principally heifers and old cows. The oxen are sold at five and six years old, in tolerable condition, at the Michaelmas fair in Here- ford, to the graziers of Buckinghamshire and the neighborhoring counties, by whom they are principally preferred for the London market. The fertility of the soil in Herefordshire has been very much over- rated. The traveler, and the superficial observer have been misled by the luxuriant woods and rich alluvial soil upon the banks of its- rivers. The pasture-grounds are generally poor, and the herbage is not nutritious, and therefore the farmer naturally confines his chief atten- tion to his rearing-stock. The dairy has been comparatively neglected ; for experience has proved that the breeding qualities of a cow are materially lessened, and even her form is deteriorated, by her being inclined to give a large quantity of milk. SUSSEX BREED. ate :• , : . v->.- :^yfe' -tyt&iUKr- - THE SUSSEX OX. THE SUSSEX CATTLE. Some of the ancient Britons sought refuge from the attacks of their invaders, amid the fastnesses of the Weald of East Sussex. Thither they drove, or there they found, some of the native-cattle of the country ; and, they anxiously preserved them free from all admix- ture. The resemblance between the Sussex and the Devon oxen is very great. They unquestionably betray the same origin. The Sussex ox has a small and well formed head, compared with many other breeds, and even with the Hereford, but evidently coarser than that of the Devon ; the horns pushing forward a little, and then turning upward, thin, tapering and long — hot so as to confound this breed with the long horns. The eye is full, large and mild in the ox; but with some degree of unquietness in the cow. The throat clean, and the neck, compared with either the long horns or the short ones, long and thin, yet evidently coarser than that of the Devon. '. At the shoulder is the main difference, and the principal defect in the Sussex cattle. There is more wideness and roundness on the withers — it, is a straighter line from the summit of the withers toward the back — there is no projecting point of the shoulder when the ani- mal is looked at from behind, but the whole of the fore-quarter is thickly covered with flesh, giving too much weight to the coarser and less profitable parts. This is counterbalanced by many admira- 2* 34 CATTLE. ble points. If there is more weight in front, the fore legs are neces- sarily wider apart, straighter, and more perpendicular than in the Devon; they are placed more under the body rather than, seeming- to be attached to the sides. The fore-arm is large and muscular, but the legs, although coarser than those of the Devon, are small and fine downwards, and particularly below the fetlock. The harrel is round and deep — the back straight — no rising spinal processes are to be seen, but rather a central depression ; and the line of the back, if broken, is only done so by a lump of fat rising between the hips. The belly and flank are capacious — there is room before for the heart and lungs to prepare and circulate the blood, and there is room behind, in the capacious belly, for the full development of all the organs of digestion ; yet the beast is well ribbed home, the space between the last rib and the hip-bone is often very small, and there is no hanging heaviness of the belly or flank. The loins of the Sussex ox are wide ; the hip-bone does not rise high, nor is it ragged externally ; but it is large and spread out, and the space between the hips is well filled up. The tail, which is fine and thin, is set on lower than in the Devon, yet the rump is nearly as straight, for the deficiency is supplied by a mass of flesh and fat swelling above. The hind quarters are cleanly made, and if the thighs appear to be straight without, there is plenty of fulness within. » The Sussex ox holds an intermediate place between the Devon and Hereford, with much of the activity of the first, and the strength of the second, and the propensity to fatten, and the beautiful, fine grained flesh of both. Experience has shown that it possesses as many of the good qualities of both as can be combined in one frame. The Sussex ox is of a deep chestnut-red — some; however, pre- fer a blood-bay : deviation from this color indicates some stain in the breed. The hide of the true Sussex is soft and mellow ; a coarse, harsh, thick hide denotes here, as in every other district, an ill-bred or an unthrifty beast. The coat is short and sleek. There is seldom found on the Sussex ox that profusion of soft and wavy, and, occa- sionally, long hair, which, although it may have the appearance of roughness, is consistent with a mellow and yielding hide, and one of the truest indications of more than usual propensity to fatten. The Sussex cow, like the Hereford one, is very inferior to the ox ; she seems to be almost another kind of animal. The breeder has endeavored,, but with comparatively little success, to give to the heifer the same points that the ox possesses. The Sussex cow ought to have a deep red color, the hair fine, and the skin mellow, thin and soft ; a small head, a fine horn, thin clean and transparent, which should run out horizontally, and afterwards SUSSEX BREED. 35 turn up at the .tips ; the neek very thin and clean made ; a small leg ; a straight top and bottom, with round and -springing ribs"; thick chine ; loin, hips, and rump wide ; . shoulder flat — but the projection of the point of the shoulder is not liked, as the cattle subject to this defect are usually coarse ; the legs should be rather short ; carcass large ; the tail should be level with the rump. THE SUSSEX COW. The Sussex cow does not answer for the dairy. Although hei milk is of very good quality, it is so inferior in quantity to that o! the Holderness or the Suffolk, that she is little regarded for the making of butter or cheese. There is one great fault about the Sussex cows, seemingly incon- sistent with their propensity to fatten, and which cannot be remedied. Their countenance" indicates an unquiet temper; and they are often restless and dissatisfied, prowling about the hedge-rows, and en- deavoring to, break pasture, and especially if they, are taken from the farm on which they were bred. They are principally kept as breeders, all the use being made of them at the same time as dairy cows of which circumstances will admit. And it cannot be denied that they are generally in fair con- dition, even while they are milking ; and that no beasts, except their kindred, the Devons and the Herefords, will thrive so speedily after they are dried. The secretion of milk being stopped, the Sussex cow will fatten even quicker than the ox. It must, however, be ac- knowledged that the Sussex cows are not perfect, even as breeders ; CATTLE. and that, unless a great deal of care is taken that the cow shall not be in too good condition at the time of calving, she is subject to puerperal fever, or " drooping ;" while many a calf is lost from the too stimulating quality of her milk. WALES. To the Principality we naturally look for some trace of the native breed of cattle, for the Welsh were never entirely subdued by any of the early invaders. The Romans possessed merely a por- tion of that country ; the Saxons scarcely penetrated at all into Wales, or not beyond the county of Monmouth ; the Welsh long re- sisted the superior power of the English under the Norman kings ; and it wals not until late in the thirteenth century that the Principali- ty was annexed to the crown of England. We therefore expect to find more decided specimens of the native productions of our island : nor are we altogether disappointed. The principal and the most valuable portion of the cattle .of Wales are the middle horns. They are, indeed, stunted in their growth, from the scanty food which their mountains yield, but they bear about them, in miniature, many of the points of the Devon, Sussex, and Hereford cattle. THE PEMBROKE OX. GLAMORGANSHIRE BREED. 37 THE PEMBROKE CATTLE. Great Britain does not afford a more useful animal than the Pem- broke cow or ox. It is black ; the great majority are entirely so ; a few have white faces, or a little white about the tail, or the udders ; and the horns are white. The latter turn up in a way characteris- tic of the breed, and indeed the general form of the cattle undenia- bly betrays their early origin. They have a peculiarly lively look and good eye. The hair is rough, but short, and the hide is not thick. The bones, although not small, are far from large ; and the Pembroke cattle are very fair milkers, with a propensity to fatten. The meat is generally beautifully marbled. They thrive in every situation. THE GLAMORGANS. The Glamorganshire fanners, of half a century ago, took great pride in their cattle, and evinced much judgment in their breeding and selection. There was one principle from which they never deviated : — they admitted of no mixture 'of foreign blood, and they produced the Glamorgan ox, so much admired for activity and strength, and aptitude to fatten ; and the cow, if she did not vie with the best milkers, yielded a good remunerating profit for the dairyman. They w.ere of a dark brown color, with white bellies, «tnd a streak of white along the back from the shoulder to the tail. They had clean heads, tapering from the neck and shoulders ; long white horns, turning upward ; and a lively countenance. Their dewlaps were small, the hair short, and the coat silky. If there was any fault, it was that the rump, or setting on of the tail, was too high above the level of the back to accord with the modern notions of symmetry. Their aptitude to fatten rendered them exceedingly pro- fitable when taken from the plough at six or seven years old, and they were brought to great perfection on the rich English pastures — frequently weighing more than twenty scores per quarter. The beef was. beautifully veined and marbled, the inside of the animal was well lined with tallow, and the Glamorgans commanded the highest price both in the metropolitan and provincial market. Among the Glamorgan-vale browns good cow-beef weighed from eight to ten score pounds per quarter, although some weighed as much as twelve or thirteen scores. Ox-beef is from twelve to fourteen scores per quarter ; some, however, reached eighteen and even twenty scores. During the French revolutionary war, the excessive price of corn attracted the attention of the Glamorganshire farmers to the increased CATTLE. cultivation of it, and a great proportion of the best pastures were ^turned over by the plough. The natural consequence of inattention and starvation was, that the breed greatly degenerated in its disposition to fatten, and, cer- tainly, with many exceptions, but yet, in their general character, the Glamorganshire cattle became and are flat-sided, sharp in the hip- joints and shoulders, high in the rump, too long in the legs, with thick skins, and a delicate constitution. Therefore, it must be acknowledged at present, and perhaps jt must long continue to be the fact, that the Glamorgans, generally, are far from being what they once were. They continue, however, to maintain their character for stoutness and activity, and are still profitably employed in hus- bandry work.' The beef is still good, marbled, and good tasted'; and in proportion as the value of the ox to the grazier has decreased, the value of the cow has become- enhanced for the dairy. He who is accustomed to cattle will understand the meaning of this ; and the kind of incompatibility between an aptitude to fatten in a little time, and on spare keep, and the property of yielding a more than average quantity of milk. iSstSso, GLAMORGAN OX. This is the breed which is established in the populous districts of Glamorgan. The Glamorgan cattle bear a close resemblance to the Herefords in figure, -although inferior to them in size ; they feed ANGLESEY BREED. 39 kindly — the flesh and fat are laid equally over them — the beef is beautifully marbled, and they yield a more than average quantity of milk. They are fattened to perfection at five years old, but not often at an earlier age : and will become sufficiently bulky on the good pastures of the vale without any artificial food. ■ GLAMORGAN COW. The cut is the portrait, and gives a faithful representation of the present improved breed of Glamorgan dairy-cattle. The average quantity of milk given by the cow is about sixteen quarts.per day. Although we place the cattle of North Wales as " middle-horns," we confess that we are a little approaching to the next division, " the long-horns." There is, however, a great deal of the character of "the middle-horns " about them, "and marking their common origin. THE ANGLESEY CATTLE. The Anglesey cattle are small and black, with moderate bone, deep chest, rather too heavy shoulders, enormous dewlap, round barrel, high and spreading haunches, the face flat, the horns long, and, characteristic of the breed with which we will still venture to class them, almost invariably turning upward. The hair is apparently coarse, but the hide is mellow : they are hardy, easy to rear, and well-disposed to fatten when transplanted to better pasture than their native isle affords. 40 3ATTLE. =* =a 53 P£AS£ SG THE ANGLESEY OX The Angleysey cattle are principally destined for grazing. Great numbers of them are purchased in the midland counties, and pre- pared for metropolitan consumption ; and not a few find their way directly to the vicinity of London, in order to be finished for the market. In point of size, they hold an intermediate rank between the English breeds of all kinds and the smaller varieties of Scotch cattle ; and so they do in the facility with which they are brought into condition. If they are longer in preparing for the market, they pay more at last ; and, like the Scots, they thrive where an English beast would starve. THE WEST HIGHLANDERS. 41 SCOTLAND. Scotland contains several distinct and valuable breeds of cattle, evidently belonging to our present division, " The Middle Horns." The West Highlanders, whether we regard those that are found in the Hebrides, or the county of Argyle, seem to retain most of the aboriginal character. They have remained unchanged, or improved only by selection,, for many generations ; indeed from the earliest accounts that we possess of Scottish cattle. The North Highlanders are a smaller^ coarser, and in every way inferior race, and owe the greater part of what is valuable about them to crosses from the Western breed. The North-Eastern Cattle were derived from, and bear a stong resemblance to, the West Highlander, but are of considerably larger size. The Ayrshire Breed are second to none as milkers. The Galloways, which scarcely a century ago were middle- horned, and with difficulty distinguished from the West Highlanders, are now a polled breed — increased in size, with more striking resem- blance to their kindred, the Devons — with all their aptitude to fatten, and with a great hardiness of constitution. THE "WEST HIGHLAND CATTLE. The cattle of the islands on the Western coast have the honor of being, or, at least, of retaining the character of the primitive breed, and whence are procured the purest and best specimens to preserve or to improve the Highland cattle in other districts. Skirting the coast, from the promontory of Cantire to the northern extremity of Scotland, is a range of islands — the Hebrides, about half of them inhabited by man. Little is known of the history of the Hebrideans, except that they descended from the same stock with the Irish and the Highlanders ; and, at no very remote period, the inhabitants were singularly uncul- tivated, ignorant, idle, and miserable. After the union between the English and Scottish kingdoms, and when civilization had commenced on the mainland, the Hebrideans began to be reclaimed, and that was chiefly manifested in, and pro- moted hy, a change of occupation. Although they did not abandon their seafaring life, they began to be agriculturists. Their cattle, which had been totally neglected, and their" value altogether unknown, retained their primitive character. The Hebrideans for the first time became aware of this, and they bred them in greater numbers, and a few of the most intelligent farmers endeavored to improve them by selections from the best specimens of their native stock ; the result 42 CATTLE. has been, that the breeds of some of these Islands now bear the highest price among the Highland cattle. ,-A *A2sSSs WEST HIGHLAND BULL OF TUB ISLES. In a group of islands, extending nearly two hundred miles from north to south, there will be considerable difference in the character and value of the breed ; but through the whole of them the striking peculiarities of the Highland cattle are evident. The principal differ- ence is in the size, and in that the cattle of the southernmost island, Islay, claim the superiority. This island is sheltered by its situation from the storms to which most of the others are exposed, and the pasturage is better ; the cattle are earlier ready for the market, and attain a greater weight. This increase of size would not be of advan- tage on the northern islands, or even on the mainland — the cattle, deprived of a portion of their hardihood, would not be proof against the inclemency of the weather, and would starve on such scanty forage as the Highlands in general supply. Breeders are so much aware of this, that they endeavor to preserve the purity and value of their stock, by selecting, not from the districts where the size has increased, but, by almost general consent, from the Isle of Skye, where the cattle are small, but are suited to the soil and to tlw climate ; and can be most easily and securely raised at the least expense ; and, when removed to better provender, will thrive with a rapidity almost incredible. The origin of the term Kyloe is obscure, but is said to be a cor- THE WEST HIGHLANDERS. . 43 ruption of the Gaelic word which signifies highland, and is pronounced as if spelled Kael. The Highland bull, or kyloe, should be black, or pale" red, the head small, the ears thin, the muzzle fine, and rather turned up. He should be broad in the face, the eyes prominent, and the countenance calm and placid. The horns should taper finely to a point; and, neither drooping too much, nor rising too high, should be of a waxy color, and widely set on at the root. The neck should -be fine, par- ticularly where it joins the head, and rising with a gentle curve from the shoulder. The breast wide, and projecting well before the legs. The shdulders broad at the top, and the chine so full as to leave but little hollow behind them. The girth behind the shoulder deep ; the back straight, wide, and flat ; the ribs broad, the space between them and the hips small ; the belly not sinking low in the middle ; yet, on the whole, not forming a round and barrel-like carcass. The thigh tapering to the hock-joint ; the bones larger in proportion to the size than in the breeds of the southerndistricts. The tail set on a level with the back. The legs short and straight. The whole car- cass covered with a thick, long coat of hair, and plenty of hair also about the face and horns, and that hair not curly. The value of the West Highland cattle consists in their being hardy, and easily fed ; in that they will live, and sometimes thrive, on the coarsest pastures ; that they will frequently gain from a fourth to. a third of their original weight in six months' good feeding ; that the proportion of offal is"* not greater than in the most improved larger breeds ; that they will lay their flesh and fat equably on the best parts ; and that, when fat, the beef is close and fine in the grain, highly flavored, and so well mixed or marbled, that it com- mands a superior price in every market. Forty years ago, the treatment of cattle was, with very few excep- tions, absurd and ruinous, to a strange degree, through the whole of the Hebrides. With the exception of the milch cows, but not -even of the calves, they were all wintered in the field : if they were scantily fed with hay, it was coarse, and withered, and half-rotten ; or if they got a little straw, they were thought to be well taken care of. The majority got little more than sea-weed, heather, and rushes. One- fifth of the cattle, on an average, used to perish every winter from starvation. When the cold had been unusually severe, and the snow had lain long on the ground, one-half of the stock has been lost, and the remainder have afterward been thinned by the diseases which poverty had engendered. It proved the excellency of the breed, that, in the course of two or three months, so many of them got again into good store-condi- tion, and might almost be said to be half-fat, and could scarcely be restrained by any fence : in fact, there are numerous instances of these cattle, which had been reduced to the most dreadful state of 44 CATTLE. impoverishment, becoming fattened for the butcher in a few months, after being placed on some of the rich summer pastures of Islay, Lewis, or Skye. The cows were housed during the winter ; the litter was never removed from them, but fresh layers of straw were Occasionally laid down, and so the floor rose with the accumulation of dung and litter, until the season of spreading it upon the land, when it was taken away. The peculiarity of the climate, and the want of inclosed lands, and the want, too, of forethought in the farmer, were the chief causes of this wretched system of winter* starvation. The rapidity of vegetation in the latter part of the spring is astonishing in these islands. A good pasture can scarcely be left a fortnight without growing high and rank ; and even the unenclosed, and marshy, and heathy grounds, are comparatively luxuriant. In consequence of this, the farmer fully stocked, or overstocked, even this pasture. He crowded his fields at the rate of six or eight beasts, or more, to an acre. From their natural aptitude to fatten, they got into tolerable condition, but not such as they might have attained. Winter, however,' succeeded to summer : no provision had been made for it, except for the cows ; and the beasts that were not properly fed even in the summer, lan- guished and starved in the winter. The Hebrides, however, have partaken of that improvement in agriculture of which we -shall have frequently to speak when describ- ing the different districts of Scotland. "In the island of Islay, the following is the general system of management among the better kind of farmers, and the account will apply to the Hebrides generally, and to Argyleshire. The calves generally are dropped from the 1st of February to the middle of April. All are reared ; and for three or four months are allowed to suck three times in the. day, but are not permitted to draw any great quantity at a time. In summer, all the cattle are pastured ; the calves are sent to their dams twice a day, and the strippings, or last part of the milk, is taken away by the dairy-maid. The calves are separated from their dams two or three weeks before the cast-cows are sent to the cattle-tryst at the end of October, the greater part of them being driven as far as the Lowland districts, whence they gradually find their way to the central and southern counties of England. The calves are housed in the beginning of November, and are highly fed on hay and .roots (for the raising of which the soil and climate are admirably adapted) until the month of May. When there is plenty of keep, the breeding cows are housed in November, but . in general they are kept out until three or four weeks before calving. In May the whole cattle are turned out to pasture, and, if it is practicable, those of different ages are kept separate ; while, by THE WEST HIGHLANDERS. 45 shifting the cattle, the pasture is kept as much as possible in eatable condition, that is, neither eaten too bare, nor allowed to get too rank, or to run into seed. In the winter and the spring all the cattle except the breeding cows are fed in the fields ; the grass of which is preserved from the 12th of August to the end of October. When these inclosures be- come bare, about the end of December, a little hay is taken into the field, with turnips or potatoes, once or twice in the day, according to circumstances, until the middle or end of April. Few of the farmers have these roots to give them, and the feeding of the out-lying cattle with straw is quite abolished. If any of them, however, are very materially out of condition, they are fed with oats in the sheaf. At two, or three, or four years old, all except the heifers retained for breeding are sent to market. There is no variety of breeds of cattle in the Hebrides. They are pure West Highlanders. Indeed, it is the belief of the Hebridean farmer, that no other cattle will thrive on these islands, and that the Kyloes could not possibly be improved by being crossed with any others. He appeals to his uniform experience, and most correctly so in the Hebrides, that attempts at crossing have only destroyed the symmetry of the Kyloes, and rendered them more delicate, and less suitable to the climate and the pasture. By selection from the choicest of the stock, the West Highlander has been materially improved. The Islay," the Isle . of Skye, and the Argyleshire beast, readily obtains a considerably higher price than any other cattle reared in the Highlands of Scotland. Mr. M'Neil has been eminently successful in his attempts to improve the native breed. He has often obtained £100 for three and four-year-old bulls out of his stock ; and for one bull he received £200. He never breeds from bulls less than three years, or more than ten years old ; and he disapproves, and rightly in such a climate, of the system of breeding in and in. He also adheres to that golden rule of breeding, the careful selection of the female ; and, indeed, it is not a small sum that would induce the Hebridean farmer to part, with any of his picked cowsJ It is true that grazing has never been the principal object of the Hebridean farmer, or has scarcely been deemed worthy of his atten- tion. It will be concluded from what we have said of the milking pro- perties of the Kyloe, that the dairy is considered as a matter of little consequence in the- Hebrides ; and the farmer rarely keeps more milch cows than will furnish his family with milk and butter and cheese. The Highland cow will not yield more than a third part of the milk that is obtained from the Ayrshire one at no great distance on the main land ; but that milk is exceedingly rich, and the 'butter procured from it is excellent. 46 CATTLE. Oxen are never used for the plough, or on the road, en any of the Hebrides. We have stated that more than 20,000 of the Hebridean cattle" are conveyed to the mainland, some of which find their way even to the southernmost counties of England ; but, like the other Highland cattle, their journey is usually slow and interrupted. Their first resting- place is not a great way from the coast, for they are frequently win- tered on the coarse pastures of Dumbartonshire ; and in the next summer, after grazing awhile on the lower grounds, they are driven farther south, where they are fed during the second winter on turnips and hay. In April they are in good condition, and prepared for the early grass, on which they are finished. Many of these small cattle are permanently arrested in their journey, and kept on low farms to consume the coarse grass, which other breeds refuse to eat ; these are finished off on turnips, which are given them in the field about the end of autumn, and they are sold about Christmas. ? - ' "< THE WEST HIGHLAND COW. In the Outer Hebrides the black cattle are small but well pro- portioned, and on the tackmen's farms they are generally of good, breed, *nd, although not heavy, very handsome. They are covered with a thick and long pile during the winter and spring ; and a good pile is considered one of the essential qualifications of g. cow. The most common colors are black, red, brown, or brand' ered, (that is, a mixture of red and brown in stripes— brindled.) A whitish dun color is also pretty frequently seen. The breed ***, GALLOWAY OX IN GOOD CONDITION. The breeding of cattle has been, from time almost immemorial, the principal object of pursuit with the Galloway farmer. The soil and face- of the country are admirably adapted for this. The soil, although rich is dry-and healthy. There are many large tracts of old grass land, that have not been ploughed during any one's recol- lection, and which still maintain their superior fertility ; while the finer pastures are thickly covered with natural white clover, and other valuable grasses. The surface of the ground is irregular, sometimes rising into small globular hills, and at other times into abrupt banks, and thus forming small fertile glens, and producing shelter for the cattle in the winter and early vegetation in the spring. In the low ' districts there is little frost and snow, but the climate is mild and CATTLE. rather moist ; and thus a languid vegetation is supported during the winter, and pastures constantly retain their verdure. The young cattle are chiefly bred and reared to a certain age upon the higher districts, or upon the inferior lands in the lower grounds. A few cows are kept in the richer soils to produce milk, butter, and cheese for the families ; but it is found more porfitable to breed and rear the cattle upon inferior lands, and afterwards to feed them upon the finer ground and the rich old pastures. There would be no ob- jection to this if the Galloway farmers would afford their young stock a little shelter from the driving blasts of winter. -The regular Galloway breeders rarely sell any of their calves for veal ; which is obtained only from those who keep cows for supply- ing the villagers with milk, and from the few dairy farms where cows are kept for making cheese. The best heifers are retained as breeders, in order to supply the place of those whose progeny is not valuable, or who are turned off on account of their age. The other female calves are spayed during the first year. The spayed heifers are usually smaller than the bullocks, but they arrive sooner at maturity ; they fatten readily ; their meat is considered more delicate, and, in proportion to their size, .they sell at higher prices than the bullocks. FAT GALLOWAY OOW. Mr. Culley says, " In Galloway they spay more heifers than per- haps in all the island besides, and in this too their method is differ- THE POLLED GALLOWAYS. CT ent from any other part I am acquainted with, for they do not cas- trate them until they are about a year old." They are now generally* spayed much earlier than they used to be, but some of the breeders adhere to the old custom. The young cattle are rarely housed after the first winter ; they are on their pastures day and night, but in cold weather, they re- ceive hay and straw in the fields, supporting themselves otherwise on the foggage left unconsumed after the summer grass. Many of the farmers are beginning to~learn their true interest, and the pastures are not so much overstocked in summer as they used to be, and a portion of herbage is left for the cattle'in the winter; therefore, al- though the beasts are not in high condition in the spring, they have materially increased in size, and are in a proper state to be trans- ferred to the rich pastures of the lower district. GALLOWAY COW. The Galloway cows are not good milkers ; but although, the quantity of the milk is not great, it is rich in quality, and yields a large proportion of butter. A cow that gives from twelve to sixteen quarts per day is considered very superior, and that quantity pro- duces more than a pound and a half of butter. The average, how- ever, of a Galloway cow cannot be reckoned at more than .six or eight quarts per day, during the five summer months after feeding her calf. During the next four months she does not give more than half that quantity, and for two or three months she is dry. It has been said that the young (galloway cattle are more exposed than others to Redwater, particularly on grass lands wanting lime. 68 CATTLE. Quarter Evil is also a frequent and fatal disease among these young cattle. When the Galloways become two years old, they will yield in " hardiness to none, and are comparatively exempt from every complaint. It has been remarked in this, as in some other breeding districts, that cows and heifers of good quality are to be met with everywhere, but that it is difficult to find a Galloway bull free from defect. Too many breeders have become careless from this circumstance. They have been contented with a bull of moderate pretensions, and the form and value of their cattle have been depreciated ; yet not to the extent that might be feared, for the imperfections of" the sire do not always appear in the progeny, but the sterling characteristics of the Gallo- way cattle break out again, although obscured in one generation. A bullock well fattened will weigh from 40 to 60 stones at 3 or 3| years old, and some have been fed to more than 100 stones imperial weight, at 5 years old. GALLOWAY BULL. It has often and truly been remarked, with regard to the Galloway cattle, that while in most other breeds of Scotland there may be some good beasts, but mingled with others of a different and very inferior- kind, there is a uniform character, and that of excellence, here ; one bullock: ^selected at haphazard may generally be considered a fair sample of the lot. The breeders know, from long experience, THE POLLED GALLOWAYS. what kind of cattle will please the farmers in Norfolk, by whom they are chiefly prepared for the London market, and to that kind they most carefully adhere. The drover likewise becomes, by his pro- fession, an excellent judge of cattle, which he often purchases in large lots. He is unable to handle half of them, but long practice has taught him to determine at a glance whether they are of equal value and will prove good feeders. There is, perhaps, no breed of cattle which can be more truly said to be indigenous to the country, and incapable of improvement by any foreign cross, than the Galloways. The short-horns almost every- where else have improved the cattle of the districts to which they have traveled ; at least in the first cros^s produced manifest improve* ment ; but even in the first cross, the short-horns have done little good in Galloway, and, as a permanent mixture, the choicest southern bulls have manifestly failed. The intelligent Galloway breeder is now perfectly satisfied that his stock can only be improved by adher- ence to the pure breed, and by care in the selection. The Galloway cattle are generally very docile. This is a most valuable point about them in eveiy respect. It is rare to find even a bull furious or troublesome. During the last fifty years a very great improvement has taken place in the rearing and grazing of cattle in Galloway.- Most of the great landholders farm a portion of their own estates, and breed and graze cattle, and some of them very extensively. Agricultural societies have been established in the counties of Kirkcudbright and Wigton, and all the land-proprietors, and the greater ^>art of the tenants, have become members of them. These societies have been enabled to grant numerous premiums for the best management and rearing of stock, and the consequence has been very considerable improvement in the breed of cattle, on the undeviating principle, however, of selection and adherence to the pure breed. COMPARATIVE FEEDING PROPERTIES OF THE SCOTS AND DEVONS. Francis, Duke of Bedford, in 1795, commenced a series of experi- ments to test the feeding properties of the various breeds of cattle ; and there were few breeds whose relative qualities .and value were not put fairly to the test at his estate of Woburn Abbey, and one breed after another was abandoned, until at his death in 1802, he was balancing between the Devons and Herefords. His brother, who succeeded him, gave preference to the Herefords for feeding, and the West Highlanders for grazing. He abandoned the Devons only as not suiting the soil of Woburn. The following are experiments made between Devons and West Highlanders and Galloways. 70 OATTLE. " Twenty Devons and twenty Scots were bought in October, 1822, and wintered. " Ten of each sort were fed in a warm straw-yard upon straw alone, but with liberty to run out upon the moor. " Ten were fed in a meadow, having hay twice every day until Christmas. " They afterwards lay in the farm-yard, and had oat-straw and hay, cut together into chaff. They were then grazed in different fields, equal proportions of each sort being put into the same field. " Those that lay in the warm straw-yard with straw only, were ready as soon as the others, although the others had an allowance of hay during the winter. " Sixteen of each were sold at different times ; March 24th, 1824, being the last sale. The Scots were ready first, and disposed of be- fore the Devons. The Sects cost 11. 12s. lOrf. each, amounting to 122/. 5s. id.; they sold £ s. d. for 2352. 18s. 6d. Gain by grazing 113 13 2 The Devon%cost 72. 6s. 6d. each, amounting to 1172.4s., and they sold for 2502.; but not being ready, on the average, until between six and seven weeks after the Scots, and estimating their keep at 3s. 6d. per week each, amounting to 182. 14s. 6d., and this being subtracted from 2502., there will remain as the sum actually obtained for them 231/. 5s. 6d. Gain 114 1 6 £ s. d 54 14 44 8 8 10 5 4 10 13 8 Making a balance in favor of the Devons of 8 4 The remaining four of each breed were kept and stall-fed on turnips and hay. The Scots sold at 151., and the Devons at 84?., the account of which will be as follows : — Four Devons at 71. 6s. 62., cost 292. 6s.; they sold for 842.; leaving gain by stall-feeding Four Scots at 11. 12s. 10rf., cost 302. lis. 4(2.; they sold for 752.; leaving gain by stall-feeding Making balance in favor of Devons Or total balance, adding the above 8s. id. in favor of Devons This experiment seemed to establish the superiority of the Devons for both grazing and for stall-feeding. But as the gain by the four stall-fed Devons was half as much as that by the sixteen Scots at straw-yard, it was determined that another experiment should be made, in which the whole should be fed alike, both at grass and in the stall. Twenty Scots and twenty Devons were again bought in October, and sold at different times, but always in equal number of each at each time, the last sale taking place in March. The twenty Devons cost 1892. 9s.; they sold for 3702. 17s. 10<2.; leaving £ s. d. for feeding * 181 8 10 The twenty Soots cost 2122. 3s.; they sold for 3742. 5s. Id.; leaving for feeding — 162 1 1 Balance in favor of the Devons £\g g 9 THE ANGU§ POLLS. 71 We condense the second experiment. Two Scots were fed on English linseed cakes ; two Devons on unboiled linseed ; two others, on- boiled linseed, and another pair of Demons on foreign, all of them having as much hay and chaff as they could eat. It was a losing concern in every case ; the value of the manure was not equal to the difference of the cost and the selling prices, and strange as it may appear, the greatest loss was sustained when the beasts were fed on oil cake, the next when foreign cake was used, the next when boiled linseed was used, and the least of all when the simple unboiled lin- seed was given. ANGUS POLLED CATTLE. - There have always been some polled cattle in Angus ; the country people call them humiies or clodded cattle. Their origin is, so remote, that no account of their introduction into this country can be obtained from- the oldest fanners or breeders. The attention of some enter- prising agriculturists- appears to have been first directed • to them about sixty years ago, and particularly on the eastern coast, and on the borders of Kincardineshire. Some of the first qualities which seem to have attracted the attention of these breeders were the pecu- liar quietness and docility of the doddies, the easiness with which they were managed, the few losses that were incurred from their in- juring each other in their stalls, and- the power of disposing of a greater number of them in the same space. ANGUS ox. »»T. CATTLE. PDIL Mil JiPl ANGUS OX, FEEDING. A few experiments upon them developed another valuable quality — their natural fitness for stall-feeding, and the rapjdity with which they fattened. This brought them into much repute. They have much of the Galloway form, and by those unaccustomed to cattle wouid be often mistaken for the Galloways. A good judge, however, would perceive that they are larger, somewhat longer in the leg, thinner in the shoulder, and flatter in the side. Climate and management have caused another difference between the Angus doddies and the Galloways. The Galloways have a moist climate ; they have a more robust appearance, a much thicker skin, and a rougher coat of hair than the Angus oxen. The Angus cattle are regularly kept in- straw-yards during six months of the year, receiving turnips with their fodder every day, and in summer are grazed on dry and warm pastures. By this mode of treatment they look and feel more kindly than the Galloways. The greater part of them, are black, or with a few white spots. The next general color is yellow, comprehending the brindled, dark red, and silver-colored yellow. They are a valuable breed, and have rapidly gained ground on the horned cattle, and become far more numerous, particularly in the Lowlands ; and when the agriculturist now speaks of the Angus breed, he refers to the polled species. THE ANGUS POLLS. 73 ANGUS COW, FAT. TEe quantity of milk yielded by the dairy cows is various. In the hilly districts from two to three gallons are given per day, but that is very rich. In the lowlands the cows will give five gallons during the best of the season. ' The cows of this district were formerly regarded as some of the best dairy-cows- in Scotland, but since the breed has been more improved, and greater attention . paid to the fattening qualities, they have fallen off in their character for the pail. About half of the milk is consumed at home, the rest is made intc butter and cheese. The butter, as is generally the case in this part of Scotland, is good, but the cheese poor and ill-flavored. No oxen are used on the road, and few for the plough. The Angus polled cattle, like many other breeds, are exceedingly valuable in their own climate and on- their own soil, but they do not aaswer the expectations of their purchasers when driven south. They yielded a good remunerating price, but they are not quite equal to their ancestors the Galloways in quickness of feeding, or fineness of grain. They attain a larger size, but do not pay the grazier or butcher so well. 74 CATTLE. NORFOLK POLLED CATTLE. Until the beginning of the last century, and for some years after- ward, the native breed of Norfolk belonged to the middle-horns. They have, however, been almost superseded by a polled breed. From a very early period, a great part of the Galloway cattle were prepared for the Smithfield market on the pastures of Norfolk and Suffolk. Some of .the Galloways, accidentally, or selected on account of their superior form and quality, remained in Norfolk ; and the farmer attempted to neutralize and to rear in his own county a breed of cattle so highly valued in the London market. To a cer- tain degree he succeeded ; and thus the polled cattle gradually gained upon the homed, and became so much more numerous and profitable than the old sort, that they began to be regarded as the peculiar and native breed of the county. NORFOLK COW. They retain much of the general form of their ancestors, the Gal- loways, but not all their excellencies. They have been enlarged but not improved by a southern climate and a richer soil. They are usually red; some, however, are black, or either of these colors mixed with white, with a characteristic golden circle about the eye. They are taller than the Galloways, but thinner in the chine, flatter in the ribs, longer in the legs, somewhat better milkers, of greater weight when fattened, bu. 4 . not fattening so kindly, and the meat not quite equal in quality. THE POLLED SUFFOLK. 76 SUFFOLK. The Suffolk Dun used to be' celebrated in almost every part of the kingdom, on account of the extraordinary quantity of milk that she yielded. The dun color is now, however, rarely seen in Suffolk, and rejected as an almost certain indication of* inferiority. The breed is polled. The Suffolk, like the Norfolk beast, undoubtedly sprung from the Galloway ; but it is shorter in the leg, broader and rounder than the ^Norfolk, with a greater propensity to fatten, and reaching to greater weights. SUFFOLK COW. The prevailing and best cdlors are "red, red and white, brindled, and a yellowish cream color. The bull is valued if he is of a pure unmingled red color. . Exaggerated accounts have been given of the milking of the Suf- folk cow, and she is not inferior to any other breed in the quantity of milk that she yields. In the height of the season some of these cows will give as much as 8 gallons of milk in the day ; and 6 gal- lons is not an unusual quantity. The produce of butter, however, is not in proportion to the quantity of milk. The bulls are rarely suffered to .iYe after they are three years 76 CATTLE. old, however excellent they may be, for the farmer believes that if they are kept longer they do not get a stock equally good, and par- ticularly that their calvss are not so large after that period. Nothing can be more erroneous or mischievous. A bull is never in finer con- dition than from four to seven years old. Having obtained by accident, or by exertion, a good breed of milkers, the Suffolk people have preserved them almost by mere chance, and without any of the care and attention which their value demanded. SUFFOLK BULL. The Suffolk cow, poor and angular as she may look, fattens with a rapidity greater than could be expected from her gaunt appear- ance. Whence she obtained the faculty of yielding so much milk, is a question that no one has yet'solved. Her progenitor, the Galloway, has it not. The Holderness could scarcely be concerned ; for more than a hundred years ago, the Suffolk, dun was as celebrated as a milker as the breed of this county is at present, and the Holderness had not then been introduced into the county of Suffolk. The fat- tening property derived .from the northern breed is yet but little impaired. The cow is easily fattened to forty or five-and-forty stones, (500 to 600 lbs.) and the quality of her meat is excellent. CHAPTER V. THE IRISH CATTLE. Before we enter on the consideration of the two remaining breeds of English cattle, the long and the short-horns, we will take a very rapid glance at the Irish cattle. They are evidently composed of two distinct breeds ; the middle and the long-horns. The middle-horns are plainly an aboriginal breed. They are found on the mountains and rude parts of the . country, in almost every district. They are small, light, active, and wild. The head is small, although there are exceptions to this in various parts ; and so numerous, indeed, are those exceptions, that some describe the native - Irish cattle as having thick heads and necks ; the horns are short compared with the other breed, all of them fine, some of them' rather upright, and frequently, after projecting forward, then turning back- ward. Although somewhat deficient in the hind-quarters, they are high-boned, and wide over the hips, yet the bone generally is not heavy.< The hair is coarse and long ; they are black, brindled, and black or brkdled, with white faces. Some are finer in the bone, and finer in the neck, with a good eye, and sharp muzzle, and great activity. They are exceedingly hardy ; they live through the winter, and sometimes fatten on their native mountains and moors ; and when removed to a better climate and soil, they fatten with all the rapidity of the aboriginal cattle of the Highlands and Wales. They are gene- rally very good milkers, and many of them are excellent. The cow of Kerry, a portrait of which is here presented, is a favorable specimen of them. The cow of Kerry is truly a poor man's cow, living everywhere hardy, yielding, for her size, abundance of milk of a good quality, and fattening rapidly when required. The slightest inspection of the cut will convince the reader of the difference between this breed and both the larger and the smaller long-horned Irish one. These cattle usually are small, and. are confined to the hilly and moor grounds. Some are of considerable size, elsewhere, and are improved in form as well as in weight. The horns, usually of middle 78 CATTLE. length, turn up ; as do the horns of those on the mountains ; they are shorter in the leg, shorter in the body ; their loins and haunches are heavy and wide ; although the hair is thick, the hide is mellow, and they thrive with rapidity. This breed is now not to be met with pure, exept inland on the mountains ; being nearly worn out elsewhere by the repeated crosses with the Leicester, Hereford, and Devon ; but for the dairy, all the farmers still prefer those cows with most of the native Irish blood. The other breed is of a larger size. It is the old or the pai-tially improved Craven or Lancashire beast. It is the true long-horn ; the horns first taking a direction outward, then forming a curve, and returning towards the face, sometimes threatening to pierce the bones of the nose, at other times so to cross before the muzzle that the animal is unable to graze. The following cut represents this large variety of Irish cattle, and is evidently identical with the Craven or Lancashire. In Tipperaiy, Limerick, ,Meath, a great part of Munster, and particularly in Eos- common, many of these cattle are found, which are most valuable animals. Ii'ISH LONG HORNS. 79 Whence these long-horns originally came, is a question. There is no doubt that they very much resemble the English long-horns-, and have been materially improved by them ; but whether Ireland or England was the native country of this breed, will never be deter- mined. Ancient records are silent on the subject; and in both countries we can trace the long-horns to a veiy remote period. Many persons have concluded that the English long-horns sprung from some of the imported Irish ones. Others, however, with more reason, finding the middle-horns in every mountainous and unfre- quented part of the country, and the long-horns inhabiting the lower and more thickly inhabited districts, regard the middle-horns as the pure native breed, and the long-horns to have been a stranger race, and introduced probably from Lancashire, where a breed of cattle of the same character and form is found. IRISH CATTLE. However this may be, there was a variety of circumstances which rendered the march of improvement much more rapid in England than in Ireland. While the British long-horns had materially im- proved, those in Ireland had not progressed in the slightest degree. More than a century ago, zealous agriculturists in Meath com- 80 3ATTLE. menced improvement. Mr. Waller introduced some old Lancashires. Sixty years afterwards, was brought over one of the new Leicester breed, and there was scarcely a cottager near him that did not possess a cow displaying some traces of the Leicester blood. The Earl of Bective and Mr. Noble contributed to -the improvement of the breed in this part of Ireland. • About the same time, Lord Massarene and others introduced some fine long-horned cattle into Antrim ;• and Lord Farnham into Ca- van. In Langford, the Earl of Rosse ; in Clare, Sir Edward O'Brien, Mr. Doxon, Mr. Moloney, and Mr. Blood. In Roscommon, the Messrs. Finch ; and indeed almost every county and barony of Ire- land had its zealous and successful improver of the native breed, until, in the richer and more cultivated districts, the cattle became of as great a size and as perfect form as any of the midland districts of England. There are at the present two kinds of these cattle in Ireland, in character essentially different ; the larger, which we have described, and a smaller, prevailing principally in the north of the island. At first view, perhaps,' these would appear to be the same cattle, only smaller from poor keep and bad management ; but their horns, long out of all proportion, clumsy heads, large bones and thick hides, bulkiness of dewlap contrasted with their lightness of carcass, in fine, an accumulation of defects about them, clearly mark them as being of far inferior value. In process of time, the English long-horns, although of the im- proved Bakewell breed, began to lose ground even in their native country ; or rather a rival with higher merits appeared in the .field. The short-horns began to attract the attention of the breeder ; and their propensity to fatten, and earlier maturity, soon became evident. There were not wanting spirited agriculturists in Ireland, who quick- ly availed themselves of this new mode of improving the Hibernian cattle. Sir Henry Vane Tempest was one of the first who introduced the short-horn bull. The improvement effected by the first cross was immediately evidei t in the early maturity of the progeny. The pure short-horn, or this cross with the long-horn, weighed as much at three years old as the pure long-horn used to do at. five. But the first experiment in a great degree failed. The reputation of the short-horn, however, becoming more spread in England, other attempts were made to introduce him into Ireland, and the experiments were more systematically conducted. And great improvement has been effected in the Irish cattle of late years, by the importation of the Durham breed. They have dis- placed a cross of the long-horn Leicester on the Irish cow, and the farmers of the country now prefer a cross of the Durham bull on the Irish cow, to the pure breed, as being less delicate, and giving a richer and greater quantity of milk. CHAPTER VI. THE LONG-HORNS. In the. district of Craven, a fertile corner of the West Kiding of Yorkshire, there has been, from the earliest records of British agri- culture, a peculiar and valuable breed of cattle. They were distin- guished from the home-breds of other counties by a disproportionate aiid frequently unbecoming length of horn. In the old breed this horn frequently projected nearly horizontally on either side, but as the cattle were improved the horn assumed other directions. ; it hung down so that the animal could scarcely graze, or it curved so as to threaten to meet before the muzzle, and so also as to prevent the beast from grazing ; or immediately under the jaw, and so to lock the lower jaw ; or the points presented themselves against the bones of the nose and face, threatening to perforate them. In proportion as the. breed became improved, the horns lengthened, and they are characteristically distinguished by the name of " The Long-Horns." Cattle of a similar description were found in the districts of Lanca- shire bordering on Craven, and also in the south-eastern parts of Westmoreland ; but tradition in both of these districts pointed to Craven as the original habitation of the long-horn breed. If there gradually arose any difference between them, it was that the Craven beasts-were the broadest in the chine, the shortest, the handsomest, and the quickest feeders ; the Lancashire ones were larger, longer in the quarters, but with a fall behind the shoulders, and not so level on the chine. Whence these cattle were derived was and still is a disputed point. The long horns seem to have first appeared in Craven, and gradually to have spread along' the western coast, and to have occu- pied almost exclusively the midland counties. There are two distinct breeds ; the smaller Cravens inhabiting the mountains and moorlands, hardy, useful, valued by the cottager and little farmer on account of the cheapness with which they are kept, the superior quantity and excellent quality of the milk which they yield, and the aptitude with which they fatten when removed to better pasture. The larger Cravens, occupying a more level and rieher pasture, are fair milkers, although in proportion to their size 4* CATTLE. not equal to the others ; but possess a tendency to fatten and acquire extraordinary bulk, scarcely inferior to that of short-horns. As either of these found their way to other districts, they mingled to a greater or less degree with the native cattle, or they felt the influence of change of climate and soil, and gradually adapted them- selves to their new situation ; and each assumed a peculiarity of form which characterized it as belonging to a certain district, and rendered it valuable and almost perfect there. The Cheshire, the Derbyshire, the Nottinghamshire, the Staffordshire, the Oxfordshire, and the Wiltshire cattle were all essentially long-horns, but each had its dis- tinguishing feature, which seemed best to fit it for its situation, and the purposes for which it was bred. Having assumed a decided character, varying^ only with peculiar local circumstances, the old long-horns, like the Devons, the Herefords, and the Scotch, continued nearly the same. There is no authentic detail of their distinguishing points. From hints given by old writers, we may conclude that some of them at least were characterized by their roundness and length of ".arcass, coarseness of bone, thickness and yet mellowness of hide, and lie rich quality although not abundant quantity of their milk. mmm mm *Bm ! OLD CRAVEN LONG-HORN BULL. THE LONG-HOKNS. 88 Here were evident materials for some skillful breeder to work upon ; a connection of excellencies and defects by no means inseparable. That which was good might be rendered more valuable, and the alloy might be easily thrown off. It was not, however, until about the year 1720 that any agriculturist possessed sufficient science and spirit to attempt improvement in good earnest. A blacksmith and farrier, of Linton, in Derbyshire, on the very borders of Leicestershire, who rented a little farm, has the honor of standing first on the list. His name was Welby. He had a valuable breed of cows, which came from Drakelow house, a seat of Sir Thomas Gresley, on the banks of the Trent, about a mile from Burton. He prided himself much in them, and they deserved the care which he took in improving them and keeping the breed pure ; but a disease, which defied all remedial measures, carried off the greater part of them, thus half ruining Welby, and putting a stop to his speculations. Soon after this Mr. Webster, of Canley, near Coventry, distinguished himself as a breeder. He too worked upon Sir Thomas Gresley's stock, some of whose cows he brought with him when he first settled at Canley. He procured bulls from Lancashire and Westmoreland, and is said to have had the best stock of cattle then known. ' One of his admirers says that " he possessed the best stock, especially of beace, that ever were, or ever will be bred in the kingdom." This is high praise, and is evidence of the excellent quality of Mr. Webster's breed. It is much to be regretted that we have such meagre accounts of the proceedings of the early improvers of cattle. Little more is known of Mr. Webster than that he established the Canley breed, some portion of .whose bjood flowed in every improved long-horn beast. The bull, Bloxedge, (the Hubback of the long-horns;) indebted to accident for the discovery of his value, was out of a three-year old heifer of Mr. Webster's, by a Lancashire bull, belonging to a neigh- bor. When a yearling, he was so unpromising that he was discarded and sold to a person of the name of Bloxedge, (hence the name of the beast,) but turning out a remarkably good stock-getter, Mr. Webster re-purchased him, and used hitn for several seasons. Now appeared the chief improver of the long-horns, to whom his cotemporaries and posterity have adjudged the merit of creating as it were a new breed of cattle. It is a disgrace to the agriculture of the times that Bakewell should have been suffered to pass away without some authentic record of the principles that guided him, and the means by which his objects were accomplished. The only memoir we have of Robert Bakewell is a fugitive paper in the Gentleman's Magazine, from which every writer has borrowed. Robert Bakewell was born at Dishley, in Leicestershire, abqut 1^25. Having remarked that domestic animals in general produced others 84 CATTLE. possessing qualities nearly similar to their cwd, he conceived that he had only to select from the most valuable breeds such as promised to return the greatest possible emolument, and that he should then be able, by careful attention to progressive improvement, to produce a breed whence he could derive a maximum of advantage. He made excursions into different parts of England, in order to inspect the different breeds, and to select those that were best adapted to his purpose, and the most valuable of their kind ; and his residence anji his early habits disposed him to give the preference to the long-horn cattle. We have no account of the precise principles which guided him in the various selections which he, made ; but Mr. Marshall, who says that he " avas repeatedly favored with opportunities of making ample observations on Mr. Bakewell's practice, and with liberal communica- tions from him onall rural subjects," gives us some clue. He speaks of the general principles of breeding, and when he does this in con- nection with the name of Bakewell, we shall not be very wrong in concluding that these were the principles by which that great agri- culturist was influenced. " The most general principle is beauty of form. It is observable, however, that this principle was more closely attended to at the out- set of improvement (under an idea, in some degree falsely grounded, that the beauty of form and utility are inseparable) than at present, when men, who have long been conversant in practice, make a dis- tinction between a " useful sort " and a sort which is merely " hand- some." " The next principle attended to is a proportion of parts, or what may be called utility of form, in distinction from beauty of form ; thus the parts which are deemed offal, or which bear an inferior price at market, should be small in proportion to the better parts. " A third principle of improvement is the texture of the muscular parts, or what is termed flesh, a quality of live stock w*hich, familiar as it may long have been to the butcher and the consumer, had not been sufficiently attended to by breeders, whatever it might have been by graziers. This principle involved the fact that the grain of the meat depended wholly on the breed, and not, as had been before considered, on the size of the animal. But the principle which engrossed the greatest share of attention, and which, above all others, is entitled to the grazier's attention, is fattening quality, or a natural propensity to acquire a state cf fatness at an early age, when in full keep, and in a short space of time ; a quality which is clearly found to be hereditary." Therefore, in Bakewell's opinion, everything depended on breed ; and the beauty and utility of the form, the quality of the flesh, and the propensity to fatness, were, in the offspring, the natural conse- quence of similar qualities in the parents. His whole attention was THE LEICESTER LONG-HORNS centered in these four points ; and he never forgot that they were compatible with each other, and might be occasionally found united in the same individual. Improvement had hitherto been attempted by selecting females from the native stock of the country, and crossing them with males of an alien breed. Mr. Bakewell's good sense led him to imagine that the object might better be accomplished by uniting the superior branches of the same breed, than by any mixture of foreign ones. On this new and judicious principle he started. He purchased two long-horn heifers from Mr. Webster, and he procured a promis- ing long-horn bull from Westmoreland. To these, and their progeny, he confined himself; coupling them as he thought he could best in- crease or establish some excellent point, or speedily remove a faulty one. As his stock increased, he was enabled to avoid the injurious and enervating consequence of breeding too closely "in and in." The breed was the same, but he could interpose a remove or two between the members of the same family. He could preserve all the excellences of the breed, without the danger of deterioration; and the rapidity of the improvement which he effected was only equaled by its extent. Many years did not pass before his stock was unrivaled for the roundness of its form, and the smallness of its bone, and its aptitude to acquire external fat ; while they were small consumers of food in proportion to their size ; but, at the same time, their qualities as milkers were very considerably lessened. The grazier could not too highly value the Dishley, or new Leicester long-horn, but the dairy- man, and the little farmer, clung to the old breed, as most useful for their purpose. It was his grand maxim, that the bones of an animal intended for food could not be too small, and that the fat, being the most valua- ble part of the carcass, could, consequently, not be too abundant. In pursuance of this leading theory, by inducing a preternatural small- ness of bone, and rotundity of carcass, he sought to cover the bones of all his animals, externally, with masses of fat. Thus, the entirely new Leicester breed, from their excessive tendency to fatten, produce too small a quantity of eatable meat, and that, too, necessarily of in- ferior flavor and quality. They are in general found defective in weight, proportionably to their bulk, and, if not thoroughly fattened, their flesh is crude and without flavor ; while, if they be so, their carcasses produce little else but fat, a very considerable part of which must be sold at an inferior price, to make candles instead of food, not to forget the very great waste that must ever attend the consumption of over-fatterted meat. This great and sagacious improver, very justly disgusted at the sight of those huge, gaunt, leggy, and misshapen animals with which CATTLE. his vicinity abounded, and which scarcely any length of time or quantity of food would thoroughly fatten, determined upon raising a more sightly and a more profitable -treed ; yet, rather unfortunately, his zeal impelled him to the opposite extreme. Having carefully, and at much cost, raised a variety of cattle, the chief merit of whteh is to make fat, he has apparently laid his disciples and successors under the necessity of substituting another that will make lean.' Mr. Bakewell had many prejudices opposed to him, and many difficulties to surmount, and it is not therefore to be wondered at if he was more than once involved in considerable embarrassment ; but he lived to see the perfect success of his undertaking. He died when verging on his seventieth year. His countenance bespoke activity and a high degree of benevolence. His manners were frank and pleasing, and well calculated to maintain the extent sive popularity he had acquired. His hospitality to strangers was bounded only by his means. Many anecdotes are related of his humanity towards the various tribes of animals under his management. .He would not suffer the slightest act of cruelty to be perpetrated by any of his servants, and he sternly deprecated the barbarities practised' by butchers and dro- vers ; showing, by examples on his own farm, the most pleasing in- stances of docility in every animal. Mr. Bakewell's celebrated bull Twopenny was the produce of the Westmoreland bull, out of old Comely, one of the two heifers pur- chased from Mr. Webster ; therefore he was, by the side of his dam, a direct descendant of the Canley blood.' Mr. Bakewell had afterwards ,a more valuable bull than this, named D. He retained him principally for his own use, except that he was let for part of a season to Mr. Fowler, and that a few cows were brought to him at five guineas a cow. He was got by a son of Twopenny, out of a-daughter and sister of the same bull, she be- ing the produce of his own dam. Starting a few years afterwards, and rivaling Mr Bakewell in the value of his cattle, was Mr. Fowler of Rollwright, in Oxfordshire. His cows were of the Canley breed ; most of them having been pur- chased from Mr. Bakewell ; and his bull Shakspeare, the best stock- getter that the long-horn breed ever possessed, was got by D, out of a daughter of Twopenny, and therefore of pure Canley blood. Mr. Marshall gives the following description of this bull, and verv interesting and instructive it is. It is a beautiful explication of some of the grand principles of breeding. " This bull is a striking specimen of what naturalists term accidental varieties. Though bred in the manner that has been mentioned, he scarcely inherits a single point of the long-horned breed, his horns excepted. In 1784, then six years old, and somewhat below his usual condition, though by no means low in flesh, he was of this description. THE LEICESTER LONG-HORNS. 87 " His head, chap and neck remarkably fine and clean ; his chest extraordinarily deep — his brisket down to his knees. His chine thin, and rising above 1 the shoulder-blades, leaving a hollow on each side behind them. His loin, of course, narrow at the chine ; but remark- ably wide at the hips, which protuberate in a singular manner. His quarters long in reality, but-in appearance short, occasioned by a singular formation of the rump. At first sight it appears as if the tail, which stands forward, had been severed, one of the vertebrae extracted, and the tail forced up to make good the joint ; an appear- ance, which, on examining, is occasioned by some remarkable wreaths of fat formed round the setting on of the tail ; a circum- stance which in a picture would be a deformity, but as a point is in the highest estimation. The round bones snug, but the thighs rather full and remarbably let down. The legs short and their bone fine. The carcass, throughout, (the chine excepted) large, roomy, deep, and well spread. x " His horns apart, he had every point of a Holderness or a Tees- water bull. Could his horns- have been changed, he would 'have passed in Yorkshire as an ordinary bull of either of those breeds. His two ends would have been thought tolerably good, but his middle very deficient ; but being put to cows deficient where he was full, (the lower part of the thigh excepted,) and full where he was deficient, he has raised the long-horned breed to a degree of perfection which, without so extraordinary a prodigy, they never might have reached." No wonder that a form so uncommon should strike the improv- ers of this breed of stock, or that points they had been so long striving in vain to produce should be fated at a high price. His Owner was the first to estimate his worth, and could never be in- duced to part with him except to Mr. Princep, who hired him for two seasons, at the then unusual price of eighty guineas a season. He covered until he was ten years old, but then became paralytic and useless. At a public sale of Mr. Fowler's cattle, 1791, the following prices were given for some of the favorite beasts — a sufficient proof of the estimation in which the improved Leicesters were then held : Bulls. — Garrick, five years old, £250 ; Sultan, two years old, £230 ; Washington, two years old, £215 ; A, by Garrick, one year old, £157; Young Sultan, one year old, .£210; E. by Garrick, one year old, £152. Cows. — Brindled Beauty, by Shakspeare, £273 ; Sister to.Garrick, £1 20 ; Nell, by Garrick, £136 ; Young Nell, by brother of Garrick, £126; Black Heifer, £141 ; Dam of Washington, £194. Fifty breed of cattle produced £4,289 4*. 6d. Another improver of the long-horns was Mr. Princep of Croxall, in Derbyshire. He was supposed at that time to have the best dairy CATTLE of long-horn cows in the whole of the midland counties. He origi- nally bred them from a cow of the name of Bright, who was got by Mr. Webster's Bloxedge, the father of the Canley blood, and he much improved his breed through the medium of Shakspeare. It was remarked, that every cow and heifer of the Shakspeare blood could be recognized at first sight as a descendant of his. What was the result of all these combined efforts ? Was a breed produced worthy of the talents and zeal of all these skillful agricul- turists ? On the Leicestershire cattle, and in particular districts in the neighboring counties, the change was great and advantageous, so far as the grazing and fattening, and especially the early maturity of the animals, were concerned. mm- m NEW LEICESTER LONG-HORN BOLL. What is now become of this improved long-horn breed ? Where is it to be found ? It was a bold and a successful experiment. It seemed for a while to answer the most sanguine expectation of these scientific and spirited breeders. In the districts in which the experi- ments were carried on, it established a breed of cattle equaled by few, and excelled^by none but the Herefords. It enabled the long- horns to contend, and often successfully, with the heaviest and best THE LEICESTER. LONG-HORNS. 89 of the' middle-horns. It did more ; it improved, and that to a material degree, the whole breed of long-horns. The Lancashire,' the Derbyshire, the Staffordshire cattle became, and still are, an improved race ; they got rid of a portion of their coarse bone. They began to , gain their flesh and fat on the more profitable points, they acquired a somewhat earlier maturity, and, the process of improvement not being carried too far, the very dairy-cattle obtained a' disposition to convert their aliment into milk while milk was wanted, arid, after that, to use the same nutriment- for the accumulation of flesh and fat. The mid- land counties will always have occasion to associate a feeling of respect and gratitude with the name of Bakewell. H£Sllf(t NEW LEICESTER LONG-HORN COW. Mr. Marshall thus describes the improved Leicesters in his own time, which was that of Bakewell, Princep, and Fowler. " The forend long ; but light to a degree of elegance. The neck thin, the chap clean, the head fine, but long and tapering. " The eye large, -bright and prominent. " The horns vary with the sex, &o. Those of bulls are compara- tively sljort, from fifteen inches to two feet ; those of the few oxen that have been reared of this breed are extremely large, being from two .and a half to three and a half feet long ; those of the cows nearly as, long, but much finer, tapering to delicately fine points. Most of them 90 CATTLE. t hang downward by the side of the cheeks, and then, if well turned, as many of the cows are, shoot forward at the points. " The shoulders remarkably fine and thin, in bone ; but thickly- covered with flesh — not the smallest protuberance of bone. " The girth small, compared with the short-horn and middle-horn breeds. " The chine remarkably full when fat, but hollow when low in con- dition." This is considered by accurate judges to be. a criterion of good mellow flesh. The large hard ligaments, (the continuation of the ligaments of the neck, united with those of the vertebrae of the spine itself,) which in some individuals, when in low condition, .stretch tightly along the chine, from the setting on of the neck to the fore part of the ioins, is said to be a mark of the flesh being of a bad quality. They are only proofs of great strength in the spine, and, probably, in the animal generally ; and indicating that the meat will be sinewy and tough. " The loin broad, and the hip remarkably wide and protuberant." A wide loin, with projections of fat on the hips, may be desirable ; but there can be neither beauty nor use in the protuberance of the tuberosities of the bone. A full hip may be of advantage, but scarcely a protuberant ORe. " The quarters long and level ; the nache of a middle width, and the tail set on variously, even in individuals jof the highest repute. " The round-bones small, but the thighs in general fleshy ; tapering, however, when in the best form toward the gambrels. " The legs small and clean, but comparatively long. The feet in general neat, and of the middle size. " The carcass as nearly a cylinder as the natural form will allow. The ribs standing out full from the spine. The belly small. " The flesh seldom fails of being of the first quality. " The hide of a middle thickness. " The color various ; the brindle, the "finch-back, and the pye, are common. The lighter, the better they are esteemed. " The fattening quality of this improved breed, in a state of ma- turity, is indisputably good. " As grazier's stock, they undoubtedly rank high. The principle of the utility of form has been strictly attended to. The bone and offal are small, and the forend light; while 'the chine, the loin, the rump and the ribs are heavily loaded, and with flesh of the finest quality. In point of early maturity, they have also materially gained. In general, they have gained a year in preparation for the butcher ; and although perhaps not weighing so heavy as they did before, the little diminution of weight is abundantly compensated, by the- superior excellence of the meat, its earlier readiness and the smaller quantity of food consumed. THE LEICESTER L0XG-HOR.NS. 91 " As dairy-stock, it does not admit of doubt that their milking quali- ties have been very much impaired. " As beasts of draught, their general form renders them unfit ; yet many of them are sufficiently powerful, and they are more active than some other breeds used for the plough, or on the road ; but the horns generally form an insuperable objection -to this use of them." THE LONG-HORN FEEDING OX. But what is become of Bakewell's improved long-horn breed ? A veil of mystery was thrown over most of his proceedings, which not even his friend Mr. Marshall was disposed to raise. The principle "on which he seemed to act, breeding so completely " in and in" was a novel, a bold, and a successful one. Some of the cattle to which we have referred were very extraordinary illustrations, not only of the harmlejsness, but the manifest advantage of such a system ; but he had a large stock on which to work ; and no one knew his occa- sional deviations from this rule, nor his skillful interpositions of remoter affinities', when he saw or apprehended danger. ' The truth of the matter is, that the master spirits of that day had no sooner disappeared, than the character of this breed began imper- ceptibly to change. It- had acquired a delicacy of constitution, in- consistent with common management and keep ; and it began slowly, bu£* undeniably, to deteriorate. Many of them had been bred to that CATTLE. degree of refinement,- that the propagation of the species was not always certain. In addition to this, a powerful rival appeared in the field, the short-horns of the Tees. They presented equal aptitude to fatten, and greater bulk and earlier maturity. Westmoreland was the native land of the long-horns. Webster brought thence the father of the Canley stock ; and Bakewell sought the father of his breed there : but even in Westmoreland the short- horns appeared ; they spread ; they established themselves ; in a man- ner superseded the long-horns. They found their way to southern districts ; they mingled with the native breeds ; a cross from them generally bestowed increase of milk, aptitude to fatten, and early maturity. It is true, that a frequent recourse to the short-horn, was generally necessary in order to retain" these advantages, but these advantages were bestowed, and might be retained, except in a.few districts, and for some particular purposes. Thus they gradually established themselves everywhere ; they were the grazing Gattle of the large farmer and the gentleman, and another variety of them occupied' the dairy. The benefits conferred by the improved long- horns remained, but the breed itself gradually diminished ; in-some places it almost disappeared ; and at the present moment, and even in Leicestershire, the short-horns are fast driving the long-horns from the field. DERBYSHIRE. !^^S»^iKp lf *ft .'-,$■ ■JSF<' ?i- IMS'- ■' WBkm THE DERBY BREED. The preceding cut is'a faithful portrait of one of the best of them. The horns are altogether characteristic. The Derbyshire cows were originally long-horns ; and although of a somewhat inferior breed, they were very useful animals, and espe- cially in the dairies of this county, the cheese of which has long been admired. What cross gave them their peculiar character, and espe- cially their singular horns, it is ngw impossible to determine. The head was frequently thick and heavy, the chops and neck foul, the bone too large, the hide heavy, and the hair long ; even the bag was often overgrown and covered with hair — a circumstance very objec- tionable to the dairyman ; they were little disposed, to take on flesh and fat, yet they were excellent dairy cows. DERBY BULL. This cut gives a faithful representation of the old Derby bull. This breed, however, has gradually died away, and it is comparatively seldom that a pure Derby can now be met with. The short-horns have taken possession of this portion of the territory of the long-horns also, and there are few dairy farmers now, and especially in the neighborhood of Derby, that have any long-horns in their dairies ; and yet it is confidently asserted that some cows of the ancient stock have yielded as much as seventeen pounds of butter in a week. 94 CATTLE. THE SHROPSHIRE CATTLE. The old Shropshire . cattle, with a cut of one of which we are enabled to present our readers, was of a long-horn hardy kind — of all colors, but generally brown mixed with bay and white, and with a streak of white running along the back and under the belly. They were raw-boned, cow-legged, and far from being handsome. They were, however, good milkers and fit for the dairy. mtamMBBm THE OLD SHROPSHIRE OX. Very few of the old sort are now left, but a cross between the Shropshire and the Holderness has been established, by which in- crease of size has been obtained, hardihood, and a greater quantity of milk. They are very docile ; and when red or spotted they are in great request : the spotted are accounted the most valuable. CHAPTER VII. THE 8H0RT-H0KN8. This account of the Short-Horns is by the Eev. Henry Berry, than whom there •were few more zealous breeders of cattle. It must^ be admitted that the short-horns present themselves to notice under circumstances of peculiar interest. Possessing in an eminent degree qualities which have generally been considered in- compatible, and attractive to the eye by their splendid frames and beautifully varied colors, it is not surprising that they have become objects of public curiosity ; that they have realized for their breeders enormous sums ; and that, in our own island, and in every foreign country where agriculture is attended to, they are in increasing de- mand. It might tend to throw much light on the science of breeding, could these animals be traced, in their improvement, to an earlier period than has been found possible. • From the earliest periods as to which we have any accounts of our breeds of cattle, the counties of Durham and York have been cele- brated for their short-horns, but principally, in 'the first instance, on account of their reputation as extraordinary milkers.* It may be asserted, on the best evidence, that, as a breed, they have never in this particular been equaled. They were generally of large size, thin-skinned, sleek-haired, bad handlers, rather delicate in constitu- tion, coarse in the offal, and strikingly defective in girth in the fore- quarters. As milkers, they were most excellent ; but when put to fatten, were found slow feeders; producing an inferior meat, not marbled or mixed fat and lean, and in some cases the-lean was found of a particularly dark hue. A period of more than one hundred years has now elapsed since the short-horns, on the banks of the river Tees, hence called the Teeswater breed, had assumed a very different character to the fore- * Before this a large and valuable description of cattle had existed on the western coast of the continent Of Europe, and extending from Denmark to the confines of France. They were celebrated for the great quantities of milk whioh they yielded, and some of them exhibited an extraordinary aptitude to fatten. At what particular' time they found their way to England, or by whom they were imported, is unknown j| but there is a tradition that, towards the close of the seventeenth century, a bull and some cows were introduced into Holderness. — Youatt. 96 CATTLE. going description. In color, they resembled the short-horns of the present day, being occasionally red, red and white, and roan, though the last not then so prevalent as now. They possessed a fine mellow skin and flesh, good hair, and light offal, particularly wide carcasses, and fore-quarters of extraordinary depth and capacity. "When slaughtered, their proof was extraordinary, and many instances are recorded of the wonderful weight of their inside fat. AN OLD STYLE TEESWATER BULL. The remarkable merit, which existed in the Tees water may, with propriety, be ascribed to a spirit of improvement which had some time manifested itself among the breeders on the banks of the Tees, whose laudable efforts were well seconded by the very superior land in the vicinity of that river. No doubt can be entertained that they proceeded on a judicious system of crossing with other breeds, because it was utterly impossible to raise such a stock as the Tees- water from pure short-horn blood. One cross to which they referred -was, in all probability, the white wild breed; and if this conjecture be well-founded, it will be apparent whence the short-horns derived a color so prevalent among them: It is also asserted that, about the period in question, Sir William St. Quintin, of Scampston, imported bulls and cows from Holland, which were crossed mih. the stock of the country. It would tend to THE SHORT-HORNS. 97 little advantage to conjecture as to what other breeds were resorted to, if any : this much is certain, that great improvement was soon manifested, and a valuable variety established, as the two following instances will prove. Mr. Milbank, of Barmingham, bred and slaughtered an ox, which, at five years old, weighed four quarters, one hundred and fifty stones, (2114 lbs.) of fourteen pounds to the stone, producing six- teen stones of tallow ; and a cow bred from his stock, slaughtered by Mr. Sharter, of Chilton, at twelve years old, weighed upwards of one hundred and ten stones. (1540 lbs.) From Mr. Milbank's time, the Teeswater cattle continued to sus- tain their excellence and celebrity in various hands, until Mr. Charles Colling adopted them. Whatever had been the merits of the Teeswater cattle, it is cer- tain Mr. Colling greatly improved them ; and though it has been asserted that his suceess was the result of chance, arising from the possession of an animal, with the merits of which he was at one pe- riod unacquainted, the writer of this article is of opinion- that Mr. Colling's success resulted from a deliberate and well-considered plan. He found the Teeswater, like all other extravagantly large cattle, frequently of- loose. make and disproportion. He was sensible, also, of the difficulty of breeding, with anything like certainty, large good animals ; and though he has declined on all occasions to throw any light on his views and proceedings, the writer thinks he can detect, in the very outset, and through the progress of his practice, a reso- lution to reduce the size of this breed, and at the same time, and by that means, to improve its form. This he is supposed to have effected, in the first instance, through the medium of a bull, called Huhback, an animal respecting which there has been much controversy, princi- pally touching the purity of his blood, a question now of little im- portance, because it is admitted on all hands that Mr. Colling adopted another cross, which prevails in a majority of superior short- horns of the present day. It may, notwithstanding, be matter of interest to state a few particulars respecting this bull. ' Without entering on an inquiry by what circumstances Hubback's title to be considered of pure blood is supported or weakened, it may suffice to observe, that it appears probable he possessed on one side the imported blood. The possessor of his dam was' a person in in- digent circumstances, and grazed his cow in the highways. When afterwards she was removed to good land, near Darlington, she be- came so fat that she did not again breed ; and her son, having the same feeding propensity in a high degree, was useful as a bull during a very short period. The quality of his flesh, hide, and hair are supposed to have been seldom equaled ; and as he was smaller than the Teeswater cattle, he was eminently calculated to forward Mr. CATTLE. Colling's views. There are no superior short-horns which do not claim descent nearly, or remotely, from Hubback.* After the use of this bull, Mr. Charles Colling proceeded with success to produce superior animals ; and the number of bulls he disposed of by letting was highly encouraging. But the circum- stance which brought the short-horns into most extensive notice was the production of the Durham Ox, an animal which speaks volumes in favor of this blood. The ox was the produce of a cow which had been put to Favorite. At five years old, the Durham ox was sold to Mr. Bulmer, of Harmby, near Bedale, for public exhibition, for 140/. in February, 1801. He was at that time computed to weigh 168 stones, of 14 lb., (2352 lbs.), his live weight being 216 stones, (3024 lbs.) and this extraordinary weight did not arise from his su- perior size, but from the excessive ripeness of his points. Mr. Bul- mer traveled with him five weeks, and then sold him and his car- riage, at Botherham, to Mr. John Day, on the 14th May, 1801, for 250/. On the 14th of May, Mr. Day could have sold him for 525/. On the 13th of June, for 1000Z. On the 8th of July, for 2000Z. Mr. Day traveled with him nearly six years, through England and Scotland, till at Oxford, on the 19th February, 1807, the ox dis- located his hip-bone, and continued in that state till the 15th April, when he was obliged to be slaughtered, and, notwithstanding he must have lost considerably in weight, during these eight weeks of illness, his carcass weighed — Four quarters, 165 stones 12 lbs. (2322 * This is true, because Hubback was the sire of the dam of Mr. Charles Colling's bull, Foljambe, who was the grandsire of Favorite ; and there has not been for many years any superior short-horn not descended from Favorite. Mr. Charles Colling ia said to have considered that the bull, Foljambe, was the one who did his stock the greatest good ; and this is not improbable, as Foljambe was the sire both of the sire and dam of Favorite. Hubback, however, must have been a remarkably good animal, and considering the short time during which he was used by Colling, proved himself a first-rate stock-getter. The following account of Hubback we had from Mr. Waistell, of Alihill, who, although his name does not appear conspicuously in the Short-Horned Herd Book, deserves much credit for his discrimination here. He used to admire this bull as he rode bj; the meadow in which he grazed ; and at length attempted to purchase him. The price asked, SK., seemed much, and the bargain was not struck. Still he longed foE the beast ; and happening to meet Mr. Kobert Colling near the place, askednis opinion of the animal. Mr. Colling acknowledged that there were good points about him ; but his manner induced Mr. Waistell to suspect that Mr. Colling thought more highly of the bull than his language expressed, and ho hastened the next morn- ing, concluded the bargain, and paid the money. He had scarcely done so before Mr. R. Colling arrived for the same purpose, and as the two farmers rode/home together, they agreed that it should be a joint speculation. Some months passed by, and either Mr. Waistell's admiration of the bull cooled, or his partner did not express himself very warmly about the excellences of the animal, and Messrs. Waistell and R. Colling transferred Hubback to Mr. C. Col- ling, who, with the quick eye of an experienced breeder, saw ihe value of the beast. Mr. Waistell expressed to us (October, 1832) his regret (natural enough) at having been induced to part with him, and his extreme disappointment that when Hubback was ' so sold, Mr. Charles Colling confined him to his own stock, and would not let him serve even one of Mr. Waistell's cows. — Youatt. THE SHORT-HORNS. lbs.) ; Tallow, 11 stones 2 lbs. (156 lbs.) ; Hide, 10 stones 2lbs; (142 lbs.) ; total 2620 lbs. This was his weight at eleven years old, under all the disad- vantages of traveling in a jolting carriage, and eight weeks of pain- ful illness. Had he been kept quietly at Ketton, and fed till seven years old, there is little doubt he would have weighed more than he did at ten years old, at which age his live weight was two hundred and seventy stones, (3780 lbs.) from which, if fifty be taken for offal, it leaves the weight of the carcass two hundred and twenty stones, (3080 lbs.) It is a well-ascertained fact, that, during his career as a breeder, Mr. Colling tried several experiments in crossing, and the breeds to which he resorted on these occasions being very considerably smaller than the short-horns, this circumstance tends to corroborate the writer's opinion that he considered it desirable to reduce their size. The cross with the Kyloe led to no results worthy enumera- tion, but that with the polled Galloway must not be passed over without comment. Before stating the circumstances attending this experiment, it may be proper to observe that no breed of cattle pro- mised so successful a cross with the short- horns as' the Galloway. They were calculated, by their deep massive frames and short legs, to bring the short-horns nearer the ground, and to dispose their weight in a more compact manner : their hardy habits would be es- sentially useful, and the quality of their flesh and hair were such as to render the experiment still more safe, and they could be obtained of a red color ; even without the sanction of a successful experiment, they were admirably adapted to cross with the short-horn, standing frequently too high from the ground, not very well ribbed home, and often of loose, disjointed frame. To this breed Mr. Colling resolved to resort ; and though at the time when he_ did so, the event was regarded with some degree of ridicule by the pure-blood advocates, and comments passed which would have deterred ordinary men from the exercise of their judg- ment, Mr. Colling persisted. Mr: Colling's short-horned bull Bolingbroke was put to a beauti- ful red polled Galloway cow, and the produce, a bull-calf, was, in due time, put to Johanna, a pure short-horn — she also produced a bull-calf. This grandson of Bolingbroke was the sire of the cow, Lady, by another pure short-horned dam, and from "Lady has sprung the highly valuable family of improved short-horns, termed, in re- proach, the alloy. How far the alloy was derogatory, let facts testify.* * The, dam of Lady was Phoenix, also the dam of the bull Favorite ; and as the grandson of Bolingbroke is not known to have been the sire of any other remarkably good animal, it is most probable that the unquestionable merit of Lady and her descendants is to be attributed more to her dam than to her sire. — Youatt. 100 CATTLE. Mr. Colling was favored by circumstances in his object, which was to take one cross, and then breed back to the short-horn — the only course in which crossing can be successfully adopted. To breed from the produce of a cross directly among themselves will lead to results believed conclusive against crossing ; but to take one cross, and then return and adhere .to one breed, will, in a few generations, stamp a variety with sufficient certainty. It will probably be admitted that the prejudice against this cross was at the highest at the time of Mr. Charles Colling's sale. The blood had then been little, if at all, introduced to other stocks, and it was manifestly the interest, whatever might be the inclination, of the many breeders who had it not, to assume high ground for the pure blood, and to depreciate the alloy. Under these untoward cir- cumstances for the alloy, what said public opinion, unequivocally certified by the stroke of the auctioneer's hammer ? Lady, at four- teen years old, sold for two hundred and six guineas. Countess, her daughter, nine years old, for four hundred guineas. Laura, another daughter, four years old, for two hundred and ten guineas. Major and George, two of her sons, the former three years old, the latter a calf, for two hundred guineas, and one hundred and thirty; be- sides a number of others, more remotely descended from Lady, which all sold at high prices. Lady and her descendants sold for a larger sum than any other family obtained. A Catalogue of Mr. C. Colling's Sale of Short-Horned Cattle, October 11th, 1810. COWS. • Age Names. Out of. Got by. Sold foi Os. 83, Bonght by. ii, Cherry, Old Cherry, Favorite, J. D. Nesham. 4, Kate, Comet, 35, Mr. Hunt. 5, Peeress, Cherry, Favorite, 170, Major Rudd. 2 Countess, Lady, Cupid, 400, Do. 6, Celina, Countess, Favorite, 200, Sir H. Ibbetson. 4, Johanna, Johanna, Do., C A grandson of 130, H. Witham. 14, Lady, Old Phoenix, < Lord Boling- ( broke. Washington, 206, C; Wright. 8, Gathelone, C A daughter of the ( dam of Phoenix, 150, G. Parker. 4, Laura, Lady, Favorite, 210, Mr. Grant 3, my, Daisy, Comet, 410, Major Rudd. 6, Daisy, Old Daisy, 5 A grandson of \ i avorite, 140, Major Bower 4, Cora, Countess, Favorite, 70, G. Johnson. 4, Beauty, Miss Washington, Marske, 120, C. Wright. W. C. Fenton. 4, Red Rose, Eliza, Comet, 45, 3, Flora, Do., 70| Earl of Lonsdale 3, Miss Peggy, 5 A son of Fa- ( vorite, 60, O. Gascoigne. 8, Magdalene, J A heifer by Wash- t ton, Comet, 170, Champion. THE SHORT-HORNS. 101 Age. Names. 6, Comet, 9, Yarborough, S, Major, 3, Mayduke, 2, Petrarch, . a 5 Northumber '•\ land, 1, Alfred, 1, Duke, 1, Alexander, 1, Ossian, 1, Harold, BULLS. Out of. Got by. Price. Os. 1 Bought by. f Messrs. Wetlierel], Young Phoenix. Favorite, 1000, < I Trotter, , Wright, and I Charge. Dam by Favorite. Cupid. .65, A Gregson Lady, Comet, 200, Mr. Grant. Cherry, Old Venus, Do., 145, Mr. Smithson. Do., 365, Major Rudd. . Do., 80, Mr. Buston. Venus, Do., 110, Mr. Robinson. Duchess, Do., 105, A. Compton. Cora, Do., 63, Mr. Fenton. Magdalene, Do.! 76, Earl of Lonsdale. Red Rose, Windsor, 50, Sir C. Loraine, 2249. BULL-CALVES, UNDER ONE YEAR OLD. Names. - Ketton, Young Favorite, George, Sir Dimple, Narcissus, Albion, Cecil, Oct of. Cherry, Countess, Lady, Daisy, Flora, Beauty, - Peeress, Got by. Comet, Do., Do., Do., Do., Do., Do., Price. Gs. 50, 140, 130, 90, 15, 60, 170, 665. Bought by. Major Bower. Skipworth. Mr. Walker. T. Lax. Mr. Wright.' T. Booth. H. Strickland. Age. Names. Out of. HEIFERS. Got by. 3, Phoebe, Dam by Favorite, 2, Duchess I., Do. 2, Young Laura, Laura, 2 '{ Y tess S ' C0Un " Countess, a T "' S Dam by Washing- 2, Lucy, I ton / 1, Charlotte, Cathelene, 1, Johanna, Johanna, Comet, Do., Do., Do., Do., Do., Do., Price. Os. 105, 183, 101, 136, _35, 808 Bought by Sir H. Ibbetson. T. Bates! Earl of Lonsdale. Sir H. Ibbetson. 132, Mr. Wright. R. Colling. G. Johnson. HEIFER-CALVES, UNDER CNE YEAR OLD. Fought by. Names. ' Ont of. Got by. Lucilla, Laura, Comet, Calista, Cora, Do., White Rose, Ruby, Cowslip, LUy, Red Rose, Yarbro', Do., Comet, Price. as. 106, Mr. Grant, -n $ Sir H. V. Tem- ™,l pest. 75, Mr. Strickland. 60, Major Bower. 25, Earl of Lonsdale. 306. 102 CATTLE. From the above it appears that seventeen cows were sold for JE2802 9s.; eleven bulls, £2361 9s.; seven bull-calves, £687 15s.; seven heifers, £942 18s.; five heifer-calves, £321 6s. In all forty- seven were sold, for £7115 17s. THE REV. H. BERRY'S COW. Mr. Charge of Newton, near Darlington, and Mr. Mason of Chil- ton, in the county of Durham, were only second to Mr. Charles Colling in his interesting and useful pursuit. Mr. Mason started early with animals derived, it is believed, from Mr. Colling, in the very commencement of his career ; and Mr. Charge, who had long possessed a most valuable stock of Teeswater cattle, had at an early period crossed them with Mr. Colling's best bulls, and was one of the spirited purchasers of Comet, at a thousand guineas. Mr. Ma- son's successful sale sufficiently stamps the value of his stock at that period, 1829. It would be unfair to omit mention of a veteran breeder, to whom the advocates for the preservation of pedigree are indebted for the " Short-horn Herd Book" — Mr. George Coates. He is now one of the oldest authorities on the subject, and was once the possessor of a very superior race of short-horns, though somewhat coarse. Portraits have been preserved of some very good animals bred by THK SH0RT-I10RX3. 103 him ; and he had the satisfaction to dispose of his bull Patriot for five hundred guineas. Mr. Coates fell into an error, but too common, and generally equally fatal : he, fancied, his own stock the best, and disdained to cross them with Mr. Colling's ; which, as others afterwards proved, would have been a most judicious proceeding. The consequence was, Mr. Colling's sale having settled the public judgment and taste, Mr. Coates's stock fell into disrepute. If an apology be requi- site for this statement of an undeniable fact, it will be found in the utility of holding up such an example as a caution to those who may be in danger of falling into a similar error. It is considered that the specimens already appealed to, and the fine animals whose portraits accompany this account, will render su- perfluous any attempt more particularly to describe the short-horns. Of course they will be found to vary greatly ; but sufficient may be collected from what is presented to the reader, to inform him as to the character of this superior breed of cattle. The next object, then, will be to show their capabilities to make a return for food consumed, and the unparalleled early period at which such return may be made. Indeed, early maturity \s the grand and elevating character- istic of the short-horns, and their capacity to continue growing, and at the same time attaining an unexampled ripeness of condition at an early age, has excited the wonder, and obtained the approba- tion, of all not blinded by prejudice. In order to do justice to the subject, and to show that these pro- perties are not all of recent acquirement, but were possessed in an eminent degree by the Teeswater cattle, it will be requisite to give a few facts in evidence. Sir Henry Grey (of Howick) bred two oxen, which were fed by Mr. Waistell, and when six years old weighed 130 stones each, 14lbs. to the stone (1820 lbs.) ; their inside fat being extraordinary. A heifer, three years old, bred by Miss Allen (of Grange), fed on hay and grass alone, weighed 90 stones, (1360 lbs.) Two three years'-old steers, bred by the same lady, and similarly fed, weighed respectively 92 and 96 stones, (1288 lbs! and 1344 lbs.) Mr. Waistell's four years'-old ox, by the" grand-sire of Hubback, weighed 110 stones, (1540 lbs.) A four years'-old ox, bred by Mr. Simpson (of Aycliffe,) fed on hay and turnips only, weighed 135 stones, (1890 lbs.) A five years'-old heifer, bred by a bishop of Durham, weighed 110 stones, (1540 lbs.) , A cow of Mr. Hill's, slaughtered in Northumberland, weighed 127 stones, (1738 lbs.) Mr. George Coates, before-mentioned, slaughtered a heifer, by the sire of Hubback, which, fed on turnips and hay, weighed, at two years and two month* old, 68 stones, (932 lbs.) 104 CATTLE. An ox and heifer, bred by Mr. Watson (of Manfield,) weighed, at four years, old, within a few pounds, ] 10 stones each, (1540 lbs.) A sister to Mr. G. Coates's Badsworth, having run with her dam, without oil-cake or meal, met with an accident, and died when seven months old ; she weighed 34 stones, (4*76 lbs.) A steer, by a brother to the above heifer, three years and two months old, weighed 105 stones (1470 lbs.) ; and another steer, by the same bull, exactly three years old, weighed 95 stones, (1330 lbs.) Both were kept as store-beasts till two years old. An ox, bred by M. Hill (of Blackwell,) slaughtered at six years old, weighed 151 stones, 10 lbs. (2124 lbs.) ; tallow, 11 stones. The Ho wick red ox, seven years old, weighed 152 stones, 9 lbs., (2137 lbs.); tallow, 16 stones, 7 lbs. Mr. Charge's ox, seven years old, weighed 168 stones, 10 lbs. (2352 lbs.) ; tallow, 13 stones. The foregoing instances of weight and proof show, that in the Teeswater cattle, Mr. Charles Colling had good materials with which to commence. Let us now refer to a later period, and state some particulars respecting their descendants, the short-horns. In the year 1808, Mr. Bailey, the agricultural historian of Durham, informs us, he saw, at Mr. Mason's (of Chilton,) a cow, not less remarkable in point of fat than the Durham ox. 'At that time, the depth of fat, from the rump to the hips, in a perpendicular position, was not less than twelve inches ; and the shoulder score at least nine inches thick. . Mr. Robert Colling's heifer; which was exhibited as a curiosity, was estimated, at four years old, to weigh 130 stones, (1820 lbs.) The same gentleman sold, in Darlington Market, on the 18th of April, -1 808, a two years'-old steer for 22?.; the price of fat stock being at that time seven shillings per stone ; 66 stones 6 lbs. weight, or 924 lbs. At Mr. Sesham's (of Houghton-le-Spring,) Mr. Bailey saw a steer, 25 months old, completely covered with fat over the whole carcass, and supposed to be the fattest steer of his age ever seen. Butchers estimated him to weigh 75 stones, (1050 lbs.) Neiuier of the last-mentioned were of large size, and would not have weighed above 40 atones (560 lbs.), had they been no fatter than those usually slaughtered. Mr. Wetherell (of Field House) sold at the fair in Darlington, in March, 1810, two steers, under three years old, for 47Z. 10s. each. The price of cattle at that fair, 10s. per stone ; 'weight 1330 lbs. each. Mr. Arrowsmith (of Ferryhill,) who ied off his short-horns at two years old, furnished the following particulars of the prices he obtained from the butchers, viz. • In 1801, sold four for 25?. each ; two steers, and two heifers. In 1802, sold six for I'll. 10s. each ; .three steers, find three heifers. In THE SHOK.T-HONRS. . 106 1803, sold four for 111. each. In 1804, sold six for 18?. 10*. each. In 1805, sold six for 17?.- 10s. each ; two steers, and four heifers. In 1806, sold four for 16?. each. In 1807, sold eight for 18?. each. In 1808, sold eight for 19?. each. The time of selling; from the beginning to the latter end of May. In the first winter they got straw in a fold-yard, with nearly as many turnips as they could consume ; in May they went to grass ; in November put to turnips through the winter, and turned to grass the first week in May. A twin heifer, belonging to Mr. Arrowsmith, calved the last week in April, being kept the first year as the store-Stock, was entered for a sweepstakes, to be shown in June, at which time she would be two years old. She was immediately turned to grass. In November she was estimated to weigh 28 stones (392 lbs) ; when she was put to ruta baga, and hay, and oil-cake, of which latter she ate 4 cwt., with 2 bushels bean-meal, and 1 bushel barley. She went to grass again on the first of May, and from that period had neither oil-cake nor meal. On the 23d of July, it was the opinion of judges that she weighed 58 or 60 stones (820 lbs.) ; having gained 30 stones (420 lbs.) in 30 weeks. In April, 1808, Mr. Bailey saw, at Mr. Arrowsmith's, eight year- lings, intended for feeding. They were very lean, not more than 15 stones (210 lbs.) each ', and had they been offered for sale in a fair, no person, unacquainted with the breed, would have given more for them than 41. 10*. or 51. per head. Mr. Walton (of Middleton in Teesdale) had been, in 1808, in the habit of selling his' steers, at two years and a quarter old, at from 2,01. to 30?. each ; their weight being 50 to 54 stones (TOO to. 750 lbs.) fed solely on vegetable food. « Mr. Mason (of Chilton,) in an experiment -to ascertain the weight of beef gained by the food given (turnips,) found three steers, under three years oldj to have gained 20 stones (280 lbs.) each in 20 weeks. The three steers averaged 70 stones (980 lbs.) each. In 1816, Mr. Nesham's steer, three years and a half old, obtained the premium offered by the Durham Agricultural Society; his weight was, the 4 quarters, 96 stones, If lbs. (1347±); tallow, 11 stones, 7 lbs. (154 lbs.); hide, 8 stones, (112 lbs.) .Major Rudd (of Cleveland) obtained the premium offered by the Cleveland Agricultural Society in 1811, for the best steer, under three years old, and fed on vegetable food. The steer was slaughtered when three years and thirteen • days old ; the weight of his four quarters was 96 stones, (ia441bs.) ' The late Mr. Robertson, of Berwick-upon-Tweed, furnished the^ following particulars of short-horns, bred by him, and fed, with few exceptions, on vegetable food : — 17,94. — An ox, four years ten months old; four quarters, 145 5* 106 CATTLE. stones, 3 lb.; tallow, 24 stones, 7 lb., (2208 lbs.) A steer, under four years old ;' four quarters, 106 stones ; tallow 19 stones, 7 lb., (1747 lbs.,) 1814. — A steer, three years nine months old; four quarters, 101 stones, tallow, 15 stones, (1624 lbs.) 1815. — A steer", three years eleven months old; four quarters, 112 stones 7 lb.; tallow, 28 stones, (1839 lbs.) A heifer, three years eight months old; four quarters, 89 stones, (1226 lbs.) 1817. — A steer, three years two months old ; four quarters, 95 stones, 10 lb.; tallow, 17 stones, 10 lb. (1528 lbs.) 1822. — An ox, four years and a half old ; four quarters, 135 stones ; tallow, 21 stones, (2184 lbs.) Own brother to the foregoing, three years and a half old ; four quarters, 133 stones ; tallow, 21 stones, (2170 lbs.) A steer, three years ten months old ; four quarters, 124 stones; tallow, 17 stones, (2074 lbs.) A steer, three years eight months old; four quarters, 112 stones, (1568 lbs.); tallow not weighed. LORD ALTHORP'S COW. A steer, bred by Col. Cook, of Doncaster, fed on potatoes and straw, was slaughtered when two years and twenty-two days old ; his four quarters weighed 72 stones, (1008 lbs.) Mr. John Rennie (of Phantassie,) fed, in 1823, a steer, from eigh- THE SHORT-HORNS. 10? teen to twenty months old ; the four quarters of which weighed 945 lbs. .. S The same gentleman fed a steer, aged two years four months, whose four quarters weighed 1 23 1 lbs.; also a steer, aged three years six months, whose four quarters weighed 1369 lbs.; tallow, 241 lbs. Should the foregoing statement be considered extended, it will, at least, be admitted, that its ample detail establishes the credit, of the short-horns as an invaluable breed to the grazier. In the commencement of this account, however, it was stated that they possess a combination of qualities, considered incompatible in other breeds, viz., the disposition to feed rapidly, in union with dairy qualifications. LORD ALTHORP S HEIFER. There is a very general impression that animals disposed to fatten rapidly seldom give much milk. It is true, that every perfection in cattle — whether it be one of form, of quality of flesh, of disposition to fatten, or to yield milk — can be promoted and retained solely by the breeder's devoted attention to his particular object ; and if one object be allowed a paramount importance in the breeder's practice, other objects will suffer, in proportion as they are neglected. The carcass of the short-horns has ever been so surprising, and so, 108 CATTLE. justly valued, that many persons have allowed that completely to occupy their attention, and the dairy has been disregarded. In such a state of things, every advance towards one point has been to recede from another ; because what tends to enhance a particular quality, will also enhance a defect, provided such defect was of previous existence. The objections, which exist among breeders, for various and some cogent reasons, against crossing with the stocks of each other, una- voidably lead to the practice of breeding in and in ; which, in case of any original deficiency of the milking property, must unquestionably go on to render that deficiency greater. Bad milking, in a breed of animals which were ever distinguished as good milkers, is not a ne- cessary consequence of improvement in the animal in other respects, but a consequence of the manner in which such improvement is pursued. Short-horns, inferior to none for the grazier, may always be selected and bred with the most valuable dairy properties. There are many instances of the highest bred short-horns giving upwards of four gallons of milk night and morning ; and attention only is re- quisite, on the part of the breeder, to perpetuate this quality to any desirable extent. A moderately good milker will be found to yield as much' butter in the week as. one giving an enormous quantity; the milk being unquestionably of very superior quality ; and, indeed, it should be the case, that the animal economy, which leads to an ex- cessive secretidn of flesh and fat, should also be productive of other rich secretions. Wherever the improved short-horns have been crossed with other cattle, their superiority is equally manifest, in respect of dairy quali- fications, as in every other. An opinion generally prevails that the. short-horns are unfitted for work ; and in some respects it is admitted they are so : but the correct reason has not been assigned, and the question may fairly come briefly under notice. They are willing and able to work, but surely cattlo which, as the preceding account proves, will go as profitably to the butcher at two years old as any other breed at three, and as many even at four, ought never to be placed in the yoke. No beast, in the present advanced state of breeding, ought to be put upon a system which arose out'of the necessity of obtain- ing compensation by work for the loss attending a tardy maturity. But where it may be convenient, the short-horns, particularly the ' bulls, wprk admirably, as their great docility promises : And as good . bulls are apt to become useless, from acquiring too much flesh in a , state of confinement, moderate work might, in most cases, prove beneficial. The specimens which accompany this account will render little comment necessary on their form. With deference, however, it is submitted to the breeders of short-horns, that they should avoid THE SHORT-HORNS. 109 breeding from too close affinities, and, while they steer clear of coarseness, should ■ require a sufficiency of masculine character in their males. This is a point in which many short-horns are rather defective, and it is one of infinite importance. The length of the carcass should be medium, as well as that of the legs, and a hardier animal, with equal size and on a more profitable scale, will be pro- duced. The facilities for making this improvement are sufficiently numerous, the short-horns being now more generally diffused. That wider diffusion also multiplies the means of selecting for milk ; a quality which should not be lost sight of ; for it is the combination of perfections whifih has conferred, and will perpetuate, the superiority of this breed of cattle. ' LORD ALTHOBP S BULL. The colors of the short-horns are red or white, or a mixture of the two, combining in endless variety, and producing, very frequently, most brilliant effect. The white, it is very probable, .they obtained from an early cross with the wild breed ; and whenever this color shows itself, it is accompanied, more or less, with a red tinge on the extremity of the ear ; a distinctive character, also, of the wild cattle. No pure short-horns are found of any colors but those above named. 110 CATTLE. " So far Mr. Berry, whose admirable account of the short-horns our readers -will duly estimate." Thus Mr. Youatt finishes Mr. Berry's, and commences his part of the account of short-horns, which begins on page 131, and goes to page 137. CORRECTIONS OF MR. BERRY, AND FURTHER HISTORICAL NOTICES OF SHORT-HORNS. The American Editor deemed it proper to give the account of the short-horns written for this work by Mr. Berry, and printed by Youatt. It is to be regretted that Mr. Youatt should 'not have done in reference to the short-horns, what he did in reference to all the other races of English cattle, — written their history himself. Although adopting and therefore endorsing this history, he yet, in two quite important notes, pages 95 and 99, very materially qualifies one position, and wholly contradicts and destroys another most important one of Mr. Berry. Entirely unconnected, with any particular stock or short-horn interest, Mr. Youatt was eminently fitted from capacity and impartiality to investigate, and then to write the history of the short-horns ; and in this respect presents a strong contrast to Mr. Berry, who, from interest, was a partisan; and devoted to views sustaining that interest. In England, it is said that Mr. Berry's first history, printed in 1824, and reprinted in 1830, was written to further the interest of Mr. Whittaker, then a breeder ; and certain it is that the only breeder of that day — 1824 to 1830 — who finds a place in that his- tory, is Mr. Whittaker. It is further said that Mr. Berry became hostile to Mr. Whittaker ; that under this feeling of enmity, his second history (the one here given) was written, in which not the most distant allusion is made to Mr. Whittaker, or his stock ; and that in this second history his object was to serve himself, as in the first one he had served Mr. Whittaker. Be this as it may, it is given as told. No one would have a right to complain that the interest of Mr. Whittaker was promoted by the first history ; or that of Mr. Berry by the second, had truth been observed and made the means of that advancement. In the first of these histories, the object seems to have been solely to put forth Mr. Charles Colling as the entire creator of the short- horns in the great perfection they presented in his day, and exhibit at present ; and Mr. Whittaker as his chief successor. In the second? history (the one in Youatt) the object appears to be the same as regards Mr. C. Colling, and to show that the short-hom and Galloway alloy, or cross, is superior to the true short-horn. In this second one Mr. Berry's interest was to be promoted, as he had a large, stock, wholly of the Galloway alloy. SHORT-HORNS. Ill In Mr. Berry's first history, there is much matter that is omitted in the second ; and much in the second not to be found in the first ; and much in each that is discordant with the other. In the first one the Galloway alloy is not named at all ; in the second that cross is all that is held of any importance in the breeding of C. Colling. The points in Mr. Berry's account, here printed, (his second his- tory,) which will be noticed and refuted, are . 1. The asserted importation of cattle from Holland about one hun- dred years since, and the union of their blood with the then existing short-horns of the valley of the Tees. 2. The assertion that about one hundred years since, the breeders of short-horns, in their pretended improvement, " proceeded on a judi- cious system of crossing with other breeds, and one to which they referred was in all probability the white wild breed." 3. The claimed exclusive improvement effected in the Short-horns by C. Colling. 4. The assertion that Mr. C. Colling adopted, as the rule of his breeding, the reduction of the size of the short-horns bred by him. 5. The account given of Hubback, in which it is impliedly said that he was not a pure short-horn, and that he possessed on one side the Dutch blood, and that from fat he early became useless. 6. The whole account of the Galloway cross ; the value of that cross in consequence of th,e Galloway blood, and the assertion that the cross was made deliberately and with a view to the improvement of the short-horns. 1. There was no importation of Dutch cattle, from Holland. Mr. Youatt in a note, page 95, says : " a large and valuable de- scription of cattle existed on the western coast of the continent of Europe, and extending from Denmark to France. They were cele- brated for the great quantities of milk which they yielded, and some of them exhibited an extraordinary aptitude to fatten. At what particular time they found their way to England, or by whom im- ported, is unknown." Mr. George Culley, who wrote in 17S5, says : "I remember a gentleman of the county of Durham, (a Mr. Michael Dobison,) who went in the early part of his life into Holland, in order to buy bulls ; and those he brought over, I have been told, did much service in improving the breed ; and this Mr. Dobison, and his neighbors even in my day, were noted for having the best breeds of short-horned cattle, and sold. their bulls and heifers for very great prices. But afterwards some other people of less knowledge going over, brought home some bulls, that in all probability introduced into that coast the disagreeable kind of cattle well knowfl to the breeders upon the river Tees, and called lyery, or double leyered, that is, black fleshed ; and the flesh, (for it does not deserve to be called beef,) is black and coarse grained as horse flesh." * 112 CATTLE. Mr. Berry, in hjs first history (of 1824), says positively, that " Sir William St. Quintin, of Scampston, imported cows and bulls from Holland." In his second, (page 96 of this volume,) he qualifies this positive assertion to the following, viz.: " it is asserted that about the period in question (1 740) Sir William St. Quintin, of Scampston, im- ported bulls and cows from Holland." Mr. Bailey, in his Agricultural Survey of Durham, says : " an at- tempt to improve the Teeswater breed (which I suppose was more with regard to size than any other quality,) was made by Mr. Mi- chael Dobison, of the Isle, near Sedgefield, who brought a bull out of Holland, that is said to have improved the breed. A few years after, some other adventurers went over to Holland, and as great bulls were then considered the criterion of perfection, they brought home a complete lyery animal with immense buttocks, which did a great deal of mischief ; but there were some intelligent breeders that steered clear of this evil ; and from them the pure Teeswater breed has descended to the present time." All the authorities for importations of Dutch cattle from Holland td England, last century, have here been quoted. Mr. Youatt had ob- viously investigated this point, and he says : " At what particular time they found their way to England, or by whom they were imported, is unknown ; but there is a tradition, that towards the close of the seventeeth. century, (prior to 1700,) a bull and some cows were in- troduced into Holderness." He does not mention Michael Dobison. Mr. Berry states that " it is asserted that Sir William St. Quintin, of Scampston, (which is in Holderness, Yorkshire,) imported bulls and cows from Holland ;" but he does not mention Dobison in either of his histories. Mr. Culley states : " I remember a Michael Dobison, who went in the early part of his life into Holland, to buy bulls, and I have been told these bulls did much service in improving the breed." Martin, in his history of cattle, says, " by what crosses the Teeswater strain became established, it is scarcely possible to say ; there is, we believe, some reason for thinking that one was with the semi-wild white breed, and another with choice cattle, imported di- rectly from Holland." Martin, one of the scientific officers of the Zoological Society of London, is distinguished for his extended re- search in the department of the history of cattle. Both Martin and Youatt quote Culley ; and neither gives any credit to the assertion that Dobison imported bulls from Holland. Bailey, in his Survey of Durham, gives it little or no credit, saying that it is said that Dobi- son's bull improved the breed ; and yet Bailey distinctly states his belief that Dobison's attempt to improve the Teeswater cattle was more with regard to size than any other quality. The elder Mr. Colling, father of Charles and Bobert Colling, was contemporaneous with Dobison, and lived within five miles of him. Mr. Culley was born in 1735, at Denton, within fifteen miles of Dobi- SHORT-HORNS. 113 son, and resided at Denton until he was thirty-two years old, and knew Dobison personally. Mr. Bailey knew both Mr. Colling, Sen., and Mr. Culley. Bailey began his investigations in 1795, and Cul- ley wrote in 1785. Mr. Bailey names Thomas Corner, who was ninety years old at the time, as his authority for saying that " Mr. Milbank, of Barningba-m, and Mr. Croft, of Barford, were the most , eminent breeders, and were considered as having the best and purest breed, at that period ;" " and Mr. George Culley says that he has repeatedly heard his father state the same particulars ." Can there be a doubt that Mr. Bailey and Mr. Culley, had ample means to know every particular as to Mr. Dobison ? and they communicate nothing. They record a tradition, and do no more. This floating tradition of an importation, found a resting place in Holderness, with St. Quintin ; and in Durham, with Dobison. It was about 1750 that Dobison lived at the Isle, and was breed- ing. Bailey fixes this period. Now, at the period, at which it is said there were bulls and cows imported from Holland by. Dobison, Sir William St. Quintin, and others, there existed a statute of Parliament, forbidding the importa- tion of cattle into England. In the 18th year of the reign of Charles II., which was the year •1600, the Parliament of.England passed an act providing as follows : " The Importation of all great Cattle shall be deemed a common Nuisance. If any (except for the necessary provision "of the Ship,) shall be imported from beyond Sea, any Constable, Churchwarden, Sir Henry's widow. 76. Mr. Mills. 96, Mr. BinnS. 45, Mr. Parrington. 52, R. Wilkinson. 68, John Wood. 41, Mr. Vansittart. 87, Mr. Mills. 112, do. 58, Mr. Vansittart. 27, do. 63, Countess of Antrim. 36, Mr. Dobson. HEIFERS. Age. Name*. Young Tragedy, Matchless, Artless, Helen, Sin. Wynyard, Phenomenon, Wynyard, do., Dam. Tragedy, Matron, Anna Boleyne, Elvira, Price. Gs. 70, 40, 56, 71. Bayer. Mr. Bower. Mr. Hutchinson. Sir B. Graham. Mr. Cook. Patch,* Careless, Hire HEIFER CALVES. Dam. Wynyard, do., do., Calista, * Grades, half blood. trios, Gi. 11, 54, 16, Bayer. R. Wilkinson. Mr. Bower. Mr. Smith. Namee. Noble, Albion, Pilot, Sire. • Wynyard, do., do., BULL CALVES. Dam. Nell Gwynn, Anna Boleyne, Princess, Price. Gi. Bayer. 51, Mr. Jackson. 52, " Rev.G. Barrington. 42, Countess of Antrim. Age. Name. Sire BULLS. Dam. 7, Wynyard, Phenomenon, Princess, 1, Wellington, Wynyard, Alexina, Price. Buyer. Gs. 210, Mr. Mills. 71, Countess of Antrim. Total, £1618 for 25 animals. nRt<£ eft SHORT-HORNS. 131 Of the breeders contemporaneous with the Collings, the most prominent were Sir Henry >Vane Tempest, Col. John Trotter, and Mr. Mason. These gentlemen all derived their animals to commence with ' from the Ketton and Barmpton herds ; Sir Henry's and Col. Trotter's being entirely from Kobert Colling. It was the singular fortune of the Colonel, to sell three cows to Col. Melish' for 2100 guineas, (£2210,) a high evidence of the superiority of his breeding, and the excellence of his cattle. Col. Melish resold one of the three to Major Bower for 800 guineas. This was just twice the price of the highest of the cows in Charles Colling's sale. Col. Trotter bred that very superior bull Baron, (58,) sold to Mr. Duncomb at a Very- high price. He was used with great success by Mr. Duncomb. Mr. Mason was coeval nearly with the Collings, and continued breeding until 1829, when he sold, and his herd realized great prices. The leading purchaser was Lord Althorp, (afterwards Earl Spencer,) who reared a large and valuable stock from this source, which num- bered about 150 when he died ; they were by his legatee, Mr. Hall, sold for very great prices, one bull reaching 400 and another 370 guineas, and some cows going to 200 guineas. Sir Henry Vane Tempest of Wynyard, was clearly the leading breeder other than the Collings, during the period of the existence of the Ketton and Barmpton herds ; and so far as permanent influ- ence on the present short-horns is concerned,, the best breeder. He commenced by the purchase from Robert Colling of a cow of his very extraordinary Princess tribe. From her are descended the famous and unsurpassed tribe of the Princess family, so distinguished in this day ; and which is now, in its pure state, in England, solely in the possession of Mr. John Stephenson, of Wolviston, 'county of Durham.* Sir Henry died in 1813, and his widow, the Countess of Antrim, continued the Wynyard herd till 1818, when she sold ofi her cattle. At her sale Mr. Stephenson purchased the cow Ange- lina, of the Princess family, and from her he has reared his present herd of that tribe, of which his cattle wholly consists. Of the breeders of the present day, Mr. Stephenson and Mr. Bates of Kirkleavington, are more distinguished for the high style and quality of their cattle than any others in England. As a bull breeder, Mr. Stephenson has no equal. Mr. Bates commenced his breeding with the Duchess tribe, the last of which, owned by C. Colling, he bought, and until his death in 1849, it remained wholly in his pos- session. It has now been distributed at very large prices. Mr. Bates resorted to Mr. Stephenson's blood, and through Mr. Stephen- son's bull Belvedere, [1706,] greatly improved his short-horns. His prominent prize animals were got by Belvedere. * The only other persons possessing females of this blood in its pure state, are Col. Sherwood, and Ambrose Stevens, of New York. They derived theirs from Mr. Ste- phenson, and in 1849 and '50 imported eight heifers and cows from him. 182 CATTLE. i^\~ HEAD OF MR. STEPHENSON & CELEBRATED DULL WATERLOO. The above cut of the head of Mr. Stephenson's celebrated bull Waterloo presents to the reader the very perfection of a fine short- horn head. The horn is small, well-placed and regular ; the fore- head is broad and indented ; the eye large, prominent, and bright, yet placid ; the nose small and tapering ; the muzzle fine and clean ; the nostril- wide and large ; the lips thin and delicate ; the cheek thin, clear, and fine ; the neck small at the union with the head ; the throat clean and well cut up ; the whole head small and beauti- ful, yet grand, and showing great constitution and stamina. Such a head will always have connected with it quality of the very highest kind good hair — good handling — good flesh — feeding capacity. §o far, the American Editor ; and Mr. Youatt now resumes. tHE SHORT-HORNS. 133 The Yorkshire cow, which now almost exclusively occupies the London dairies, is an unanswerable proof of the possibility of uniting the two qualities, fatting and milking, perfectly, but not at the same time : — they succeed to each other, and at the periods when it suits the convenience of the dairyman that they should. Years ago the Yorkshire cow was, compared with other breeds, as great a favorite in the London market as at present. She yielded more milk, in pro- portion" to the quantity of food consumed, than could be obtained from any other breed ; but when the dairyman had had her four or five years, she began to fall off, and he dried her and sold her. It took a long time to get much flesh upon her ; and when he cal- culated the expense of bringing her into condition, he found that his cheapest way was to sell her for what she would fetch, and that sel- dom exceeded hi. By degrees, however, the more intelligent of the breeders began to find that, by cautiously adopting the principle of selection — by finding out a short-horn bull whose progeny were generally milkers, and crossing some of the old Yorkshires with him, — but still regard- ing the milking properties of the dam, and the usual tendency to possess these qualities in the offspring of the sire, — they could at length obtain a breed that had much of the grazing properties of the short-horn in the new breed, and retained, almost undiminished the excellences of the old breed for the pail. Thence it has happened that many of the cows in the London dairies are as .fine specimens of the improved ' short-horns as can possibly be produced. They do not, perhaps, yield quite so much milk as the old ones, but what they do yield is of better quality ; and whether the dairyman keeps them a twelvemonth or longer — and this is getting more and more the habit of these people — or whether he milks them for three or four years — as snon as he dries them, they fatten as rapidly as the most celebrated of the high bred short-horns. We give a fair specimen of one of these cows : the character of the Holdemess and the short-hom beautifully mingling. A milch cow good for the pail as long as wanted, and then quickly got into mar- ketable condition, should have a long and rather small head ; a large- headed cow will seldom fatten or yield much milk. The eye should be bright, yet peculiarly placid and quiet in expression ; the chaps thin, and the horns small. The neck should not be so thin as com- mon opinion has given to the milch cow. It may be thin towards the head ; but it must soon begin to thicken, and especially when it approaches the shoulder. The dewlap should be small ; the breast, if not so wide as in some that have an unusual disposition to fatten, yet very far from being narrow, and it should project before the legs ; the chine, to a certain degree fleshy, and even inclining to fullness ; the girth behind the shoulder should be deeper than it is usually found in the short-horn ; the ribs should spread out wide, so as to 134 CATTLE. give as round a form as possible to the carcass, and. each should project farther than the preceding one to the very loins, giving, if after all the milch cow must be a little wider below than above, yet as much breadth as can possibly be afforded -to the more valuable parts. She should be well formed across the hips and on the rump, and with greater length there than the milker generally possesses, or if a little too short, not heavy. If she stands a little long on the legs, it must not be too long. The thighs somewhat thin, with ar slight tendency to crookedness in the hock, or being sickle-hammed behind : the tail thick at the upper part, but tapering below ; and she should have a mellow hide, and little coarse hair. Common opinion has given to her large milk-veins.; and although the milk-vein has nothing to do with the udder, but conveys the blood from the fore part of the chest and sides to the inguinal vein, yet a large milk- vein certainly indicates a strongly developed vascular system — one. favorable to secretion generally, and to that of the milk among the rest. S^^^smnwatSS^^ - THE YORKSHIRE COW. The last essential in a milch cow is the udder, rathpr large in pro- portion to the. size of the animal, but not too large. It must be sufficiently capacious to contain the proper quantity of milk, but not THE SHORT-HORNS. 135 too bulky, lest it should thicken and become loaded with fat. The skin of the udder should be thin, and free from lumps in- every part of it. The teats should be of moderate size ; at equal distances from each other every way ; and of equal size from the udder, to nearly the end, where they should run to a kind of point. When they are too large near the udder, they permit the milk to flow down too freely from the bag, and lodge in them ; and when they are too broad at the extremity, the orifice is often so large that the cow can- not retain her milk after the bag begins to be full and heavy. The udder should be of nearly equal size before and behind, or, if there be any difference, it should be broader and fuller before than behind.. The quantity of milk given by some of these cows is very great. It is by no means uncommon for them, in the beginning of the sum- mer, to yield 30 quarts a day ; there are rare instances of their hav- ing given 36 quarts ; but the average may be estimated at 22 or 24 quarts. It is said that this milk does not yield a proportionate quantity of butter. That their milk does noi contain the same pro- portionate quantity of butter as that from the long-horns, the Scotch cattle, or the Devons, is probably true ; but we have reason to be- lieve that the difference has been much exaggerated, and is more than compensated by the additional quantity of milk. The prejudice against them on this account was very great, and certain experiments were made, by the result of which it was made to appear that the milk of the Kyloe cow yielded double the quantity of butter that could be produced from that of the short-horn. Two ounces were obtained from the milk of the Kyloe, and one from that of the short- horn,-. This aroused the advocates of the short-horns, and they instituted their experiments, the result of which was much less to the disad- vantage of the breed. Mr. Bailey, in his survey of Durham, .gives "an account of an experiment made by Mr. Walton of Middleton. He took from his dairy six cows promiscuously, and obtained the following quantity of butter from a- quart of the milk of each of • them : ; — No. 1, 3 oz. 6 dwts.; No. 2, 1 oz. 6 dwts.; No. 3, 1 oz.' 12 dwts.; No. 4, 1 oz. 10 dwts.; No. 5, 1 oz. 14 dwts.; No. 6, 1 oz. 6 dwts.; total, 10 oz. 8 dwts.; which, divided by 6, leaves nearly 1 oz. 14f dwts., or about | of the weight of butter from the milk of a short- horn that . the same quantity of milk from a Kyloe yielded! Then, the increased quantity of milk yielded by the short-horn gave her decidedly the preference, so far as the simple produce was con cerned. This experiment brought to light another good quality in the short-horn, which, if not altogether unsuspected, was not sufficiently acted upon — that she improved as a dairy-cow as she got older. The cow, a quart of whose milk produced more than 3 oz. of butter, was 136 CATTLE. six years old, the other five were only two years old ; the experi- ments proved that her milk was richer at six years old, than it had been at two. This deserves investigation. Another circumstance is somewhat connected with such an in- quiry. The Kyloe and the long-horn cattle seem to care little about change of situation and pasture ; but the short-horn is not so easily reconciled to a change ; and her milk is not at first either so abun- dant or so good as it afterwards becomes. There is a great difference in the quantity of food consumed by different breeds of cattle, and that the short-horns occupy the high- est rank among the consumers of food is evident enough ; but we never could be persuaded that the difference of size in the same breed made any material difference in the appetite, or the food con- sumed. When they stand side by side in the stall or the cow-house, and experience has taught us the proper average quantity of food, the little one eats her share, and the larger one seldom eats more, even when it is put before her. There are occasional differences in the consumption of food by different animals, but these arise far oftener from constitution, or from some unknown cause, than from difference in size. Experience does, however, prove, beyond the possibility of doubt; that the larger cattle, the breed and other cir- cumstances being the same, yield the greatest quantity qf milk. Experience has also proved another thing — that the good grazing points of a cow, and even her being in fair store condition, do not necessarily interfere with her milking qualities. They prove that she has the disposition to fatten about her, but which will not be called into injurious exercise until, in the natural process of time, or de- signedly, she is dried. She will yield nearly as much milk as her unthrifty neighbor, and milk of a superior quality, and at four, five, or six years old, might be pitted against any Kyloe, in the quality of her milk, while we have the pledge that it will cost little to prepare her for the butcher, when done as a milker. On this principle many of the London dairymen now act, when they change their cows so frequently. The following observations were made by Mr. Calvert, of Brampton, on the quantity of butter yielded by one of his short-horns. The milk was kept and churned separately from that of the other stock, and the following is the number of pounds of butter obtained in each week,— 7, 10, 10, 12, 17, 13, 13, 13, 15, 16, 15, 12, 13, 13, 13, 14, 14, 13, 12, 12, 13, 11, 12, 10, 10, 8, 10, 9, 10, 7, 7, 7. There were churned 373 pounds of butter in the space of 32 weeks. The cow gave 2S quarts of milk per day, about. Midsummer, and would average nearly 20 quarts per day for 20 weeks. She gave more milk when pastured in the summer than when soiled in the house, in consequence of the very hot weather. She was lame six weeks from foul in the feet, which lessened the quantity of milk. short-Horns. 137 LINCOLNSHIRE. There is a large, coarse short-horn prevailing, particularly in Lin- colnshire, denominated in the quotations of the Smithfield markets " Lincolns," but they have no further affinity with the improved short-horns than as the latter have been referred to for their improve- ment, which has been accomplished to a considerable degree. LINCOLNSHIRE OX. Breeders, with judgment, called in the aid of the short-horn, and speedily and effectually completed their object. They took away the disposition to make lean beef 6nly, although in very great quantities ; and if they could not perfectly give to the Lincolns their own early maturity, they 'materially quickened the process of fattening. This cut is a fair. specimen of the modern Lincoln, with a cross of the Durham, and ready for the market. It was sketched by Mr. Harvey, as it stood in Smithfield. An improved Lincolnshire beast is therefore now a very valuable animal ; and if a finer grain could be given to the meat, his great quantity of muscle, compared with that of fat, would be no disadvan- tage. CHAPTER VIII. THE ALDERNEYS. •n' ! I ' il .w#mll k /CI IB 11 III II 111 IP " •111 I fS \1L jsB93a . :T£x\ v wW&l\ MlllfrJ g^Bg§^S=!£l THE ALDERNEY BULL. The Normandy cattle are from the French continent, and are larger and have a superior tendency to fatten ; others are from the islands of the French coast ; but all of them, whether from the con- tinent or the islands, pass under the common name of Alderneys. They are found mainly in gentlemen's parks and pleasure-grpunds, and they maintain their occupancy there partly on account of the richness of their milk, and the great quantity of butter which, it yields, but more from the diminutive size of the animals. Their real THE ALDERNEYS. 139 ugliness is passed over on these accounts ; and it is thought fash- ionable that the view from the breakfast or drawing-room of the house should present an Aldemey cow or two grazing at a little distance. OHf THE ALDERNEY COW. They are light red, yellow, dun or fawn-colored ; short, wild- horned, deer-necked, thin, and small boned ; irregularly, but often very awkwardly shaped. Mr. Parkinson, who seems to have a determined prejudice against them, says that " their size is small, and they are of as bad a form as can possibly be described ; the bellies of many of them are four- fifths of their weight ; the neck is very thin and hollow ; the shoul- der stands up, and is the highest part ; they are hollow and narrow behind the. shoulders ; the chine is nearly without flesh ; the hucks are narrow and sharp at the ends ; the rump is short, and they are narrow and light in the brisket." .This is about as bad a form as can possibly be described, and the picture is very little exaggerated, when the animal is analyzed point by point ; yet all these defects are so put together, as to make a not unpleasing whole. * The Alderney, considering its voracious appetite 1 — for it devours almost as much as a short-horn — yields very little milk. That milk, 140 CATTLE. however, is of an extraordinarily excellent quality, and gives more but- ter per quart than can be obtained from the milk of any other cow. Some writers on agricultural subjects have, however, denied this. The milk of the Alderney cow fits her for the 1 situation in which she is usually placed, and where the excellence of the article is regarded, and not the expense : but it is not rich enough, yielding the small quantity that she does, to pay for what she costs. On the South coast of England, there is great facility in obtaining the Alderney cattle, and they are great favorites there. One excellence it must be acknowledged that the Alderneys pos- sess ; when they are dried, they fatten with a rapidity that would be scarcely thought possible from their gaunt appearance, and their want of almost every grazing point, while living. Some have assigned to the Norman or Alderney cattle a share in the improvement of the old short-horns ; but the fact does not rest on any good authority. EAST INDIAN CATTLE. Several varieties of these have been imported, and attempts made to naturalize them, but with varied success, and among them the Nagore cattle. THE SHORT HORNS. HI They are used in India by the higher orders, to draw their state carriages, and are much valued for their size, speed, and endurance, and sell at very high prices. (I«5» THE NAGORE BULL. They will travel, with a rider on their back, fifteen or sixteen hours in the day, at the rate of six miles an hour. Their action is particularly* fine — nothing like the English ' cattle, with the side- way, circular action of their hind legs. — The Nagore cattle bring their hind legs under them in as straight a line as the horse. They are very active, and can clear a five-barred gate with the greatest ease. THE ANATOMICAL STRUCTURE AND DISEASES OF CATTLE. CHAPTER IX. THE STRUCTURE AND DISEASES OF THE HEAD OF THE OX. Having described the various breeds of cattle, and touched in- cidentally on some of the principles of breeding, we are now prepared to enter into the consideration of the structure of the ox. This will afford us opportunity of more satisfactorily elucidating the peculiari- ties, or points, on the development of which the excellence of the beast, for certain purposes, is supposed to depend; and will also enable us to understand the nature and proper treatment of the diseases to which neat cattle are subject. The first "is an important but disputed topic : it has been founded too much on mere assertion ; it has varied with the caprice of individuals, or the fashion of the day ; and it has rarely been" referred to principle, and to the neces- sary effect of certain conformations on the capacity of the animal for certain purposes : the latter, more important still, has been alto- gether neglected, for until lately there did not exist, in the English language, and scarcely in any other, a scientific and satisfactory ac- count of the nature and causes and cure of the maladies of neat cat- tle ; but these animals were, with few exceptions, abandoned to the tender mercies of those whose practice may be characterized as a compound of ignorance and brutality. For the purpose of future reference, we first introduce the skele- ton of the ox. SKEiETON OF THE OX. 149 SKELETON OF THE OX. a, The upper jaw-bone. x, b, The nasal bone, or bone of the nose. y, c, The lachrymal bone. z, d, The malar, or eheek bone. 1, t, The frontal bone, or bone of the fore- 2, head. /, The horns, being processes or continu- 3, ations of the frontal. g, The temporal bone. 4, h, The parietal bone low in the temporal fossa. 5, t, The occipital bone, deeply depressed .6, below the crest or ridge of the head. 7, j, The lower jaw. 8, k, The grinders. 9, 1, The nippers, found on the lower jaw alone. 10, m, The ligament of the neck, and its at- ", tachments. 12, n, The atlas. 13, o, The dentata. 14, p, The orbit of the eye. 15, q, The vertebras, or bones of the neck. 16, r, The bones of the back. 17, s, The bones of the kins. 18, t, The sacrum. u, The bones of the tail. v, w, The haunch and pelvis. 19, The eight true ribs. The false ribs, with their cartilages. The sternum. The scapula, or shoulder-blade. The humerus, or lower bone of tha shoulder. The radius, or principal bone of t\ arm. The ulna, its upper part forming tb elbow. The small bones of the knee. The large metacarpal or shank-bone The smaller or splint bone. The sessamoid bones. The bifurcation at the pasterns, and the two larger pasterns to each foot. The two smaller pasterns to each foot. The two coffin-bones to each foot. The navicular-bones. The thigh-bone. , The patella, or bone of the knee. The tibia, or proper leg-bone. The point of the hock. 17, The small bones'of the hook. 18, The metatarsals, or larger bones of the hind leg. 19, The pasterns and feet. 141 CATTLE. SECTION OF THE HEAD OF THE OX. a, The horn, showing it to be a process of the frontal bone, and the manner in which it is hollowed. b, The frontal bone. <.', The frontal sinus, extending from the nasal bone almost to the tip of the horn and the great foramen. d, The condyloid process of the occipital bone, and the foramen through which the spinal chord passes from the skull. e, The cavity of the skull. f, The petrous portion of the temporal bone appearing in the cavity of the skull. g, The passage to the internal part of the ear. ft, The foramen, lacerum or irregular foramen, through which several of the nerves escape from the space, and some of the blood-vessels enter. i, The foramen ovale — ovale foramen. The anterior condyloid foramen. The posterior do. The basilar process of the occipital. The sphenoid bone. - The crista galli of the ethmoid bone. Tho pterigoid bono. The perpendicular portion of the pala- tine bone. The nasal bone. The ethmoid bone. The superior turbinated bone. The inferior turbinated bone. The lower cell of the ethmoid, so large in the ox, as to be termed by some the middle turbinated bone. The maxillary sinus. The cells of the palatine bone. The superior maxillary bone — its pala- tine process. The grinders. The anterior maxillary bone, destitute of incisor teeth THE FRONTAL SINEUS. 145 The head of the ox may be divided info two parts — the skull and the face. The cut, page 144, represents a section of both. The cranium or skull, that portion of the head which contains and protects the brain, is composed of eight bones : two frontals e, p. 143, and 6, p. 144 ; one parietal, h, p. 143 ; two temporals, g, p. 143, and/, p. 144 ; one occipital, i, p. 143 ; and dirndl, p. 144; one ethmoid, n, and r, p. 144 ; and one sphenoid, m, p. 144. The frontal bones extend from the nose to the superior ridge of the skull ; presenting a flattened but irregular surface, and entirely bare of muscular or fleshy, covering. KS GILBERT HEAD OF A SHORT-HORN BULL. THE FRONTAL BONES. Nature has given to most cattle a formidable weapon of offence, the horn. To be effective, it must be securely based ; and it could only be so, or it could best be so, by this expanse of frontal bone. From this bone the horn springs, and it is in fact a continuation of the frontal, (see a, p. 144.) The forehead of the bull is considerably shorter and broader than that of the cow or the ox in every breed. This shortness and breadth of forehead is not only characteristic of difference of sex, but it Is regarded, and properly, as an essential 146 CATTLE. point in a bull. A deficiency here argues deficiency of constitutional power, and materially diminishes his value as a stock-getter ; a cow with a large head and broad forehead, in other respects loses the most valuable points of the feminine character — she is neither a good milker, nor a good mother, nor does she often fatten kindly ; there is coarseness in her whole form, and her very flesh is coarse, when slaughtered. There is no point more generally assented to by breeders that this — that a fine small head, tapering towards the muzzle, usually indicates a good milker and-a good feeder, and a good temper too. The cut of the head of the bull, page 145, except somewhat too narrow a muzzle, is a good illustration of the masculine character of a superior bull of the improved short-horn breed. In some species of hornless cattle the expanse of this bone not being wanted as a base for the horn, is not found ; but the frontal bones begin to contract a little above the eyes, and terminate in a comparatively narrow ridge at the summit of the head. This narrow- ness of the parietal ridge is a characteristic of the purity of the breed and its grazing qualities, particularly among the Galloway and Angus cattle, showing fineness of form, and smallness of bone everywhere. THE FRONTAL SINUSES. If this expanse of bone were solid, its weight would be enormous, and it would weigh the animal down. To obviate this, it is divided into two plates, separated by numerous cells ; these extend through the whole of the bone, even through the parietal and occipital bones. Hence the frontal sinuses extend from the angfe of the eye. to the foramen through which the brain escapes from the skull, and to the very tip of the horn (vide a and c, p.144.) There is a septum, or division, in the centre of the frontal sinuses. Commencing about half way up the nose, the septum is wanting at the lower part, and the two nostrils are thrown into one ; and the frontal sinuses communicating with the nasal, there is one continuous cavity from the muzzle to the tip of the bone of the horn, and from one nostril to the other. INFLAMMATION OF THE FRONTAL SINUSES. The whole of this cavity is lined by a prolongation of, the mem- brane of the nose, and when one part of it is inflamed, the whole is apt to be affected. This accounts for the very serious character •which a discharge from the nostril sometimes assumes in cattle. The sooner a gleet from the nose of an ox is examined and properly treated the better, for the inflammation is extensive generally. After a little cough, with slight nasal discharge, we occasionally THE FORAMINA OF THE FOREHEAD. 147 find the beast rapidly becoming dull and drooping, and carrying his head on one side. Either grubs or worms have crept up the nostril, and are a source of irritation there ; or inflammation, at first merely of the membrane of the nose, and connected with common cold, has extended along the cavity, and is more intense in some particular spot than in others ; or has gone on to suppuration, and matter is thrown out and lodged there, and generally about the root of one of the horns. The veterinary surgeon either opens the skull at the root of the horn, or, in a more summary and better way, cuts off the horn at its root. More than a pinv of pus sometimes escapes ; and although there may not be throwing out of pus, yet the inflammation will be materially relieved by the bleeding that follows such an operation. The opening into the sinus which is thus made should be speedily closed, or the air will render the inflammation worse than before. On account of the vast extent of cavity from the communication between all the partitions of the sinus, the ox occasionally suffers much from the larva of a species of fly that creeps up the nose and lodges in some part ; the annoyance is sometimes so great as to be scarcely distinguished from phrenitis. This does not often happen ; for the sinuses are more the accidental than the natural and regular habitation of these insects. THE USE OF THESE SINUSES. These plates of the skull are separated from each other at least an inch at all places, and in some parts more than double that distance (see cut, p. 144). The skull is the covering of the brain. The wea- pons of offence spring from the skull, and are often used with terrible effect about the skull. The polled cattle use their heads as weapons of offence, and butt each other with tremendous force. If the frontal bone were so solid as almost to resist the very possibility of fracture, yet if the brain lay immediately underneath it, the concussion from the shock of their rude encounters would be dangerous, and often fatal. Therefore the bones are divided into two plates, and separated as widely as possible from each other, where, as at the parietal crest, and the root of the horn, the shock is most likely to fall. There are also inserted between the plates numerous little perpendicular walls, or rather scales of bone, (see c, p. 144,) of wafer-like thinness, which give sufficient support to the outer plate in all ordinary cases, and by their thinness and elasticity afford a yielding resistance capable of neutralizing almost any force. If the external plate is fractured, the inner one is seldom injured. THE FORAMINA OF THE FOREHEAD. There are marks of contrivance in the structure of the head of the ox, which should not be passed over. The large expanse of the 148 CATTLE. ox's forehead requires much nervous influence, and a great supply of blood ; and, therefore, there are two foramina, or holes one for the escape of the nerve, and the other of the artery. Each of these, however, must be of considerable bulk, and they have to run over a surface, where they are exposed to much danger. There is pro- vision made for this — a curious groove in. which they run for some distance above and below, securely defended by the ridge of bone on either side, until they give off various branches, and are so diminished in bulk, that they are comparatively out of the reach of injury. If the nerve or the artery were injured, the nervous influence and the blood 'would be supplied by other ramifications. THE ARCH UNDER WHICH THE TEMPORAL MUSCLE PLATS. A strong process of the frontal bone goes to contribute to the formation of the zygomatic arch, under which the head of the lower jaw moves and is defended ; and the act of mastication is thus securely performed. In the ox the teeth are never weapons of offence ; he may gore and trample upon his enemy, but he does not bite him : and his food is leisurely gathered in the first imperfect mas- tication, and still more lazily and sleepily ground down in rumination ; this arch therefore need not be, and is not, capacious and strong. It is, from situation and the general shape of the head, exempt from vio- lence and injury; and therefore the arch not only does not project for the purpose of strength, and to give room for a mass of muscle that is not wanted, and the frontal bone does not enter into its com- position at all. (See g and e, p. 143.) THE HORNS. The froncals in the ox in their prolongation make the horns. The foetus of three months has no horn ; during the fourth month it may be detected by a little irregularity of the frontal bone, and by the seventh month is. evident to the eye elevating the skin. It now gradually forces its way through the cutis or skin, which it has accomplished at the time of birth ; and, continuing to grow, detaches the cuticle or scarf skin from the cutis, and carries it with it ; and this gradually hardening over it, forms the rudiment of the future covering of the bone of the horn. Beneath this cuticle the horn soon begins to form ; but it continues covered until the animal is twelve or fifteen months old, giving a skinny roughness, which then peals off, showing the shining and perfect horn.. The horn then is composed of an elongation of the frontal bone, covered by a hard coating, origi- nally of a gelatinous nature. Its base is a continuation of the frontal bone, and is hollow or divided into numerous cells, (a and c, p. 144,) all communicating with each other, and lined by a continuation of the membrane of the nose. FRACTURE OF THE HORN. 149 The bone of the horn is exceedingly vascular ; the most vascular in the whole frame, for it has not only vessels for its own nourish- ment, but for that of its covering ; it is much roughened on its sur- face, and is perforated by innumerable vessels. It is on this account that when it is broken the bleeding is so great — it would scarcely be more profuse from the amputation of a limb. FRACTURE OF THE HORN. Young bullocks will often too early use their horns. In this way the horn occasionally gets fractured. If the bone of the horn is broken, but the external covering is not displaced, nothing is neces- sary but to fix splents to the part, and bind well up, so that the fractured edges shall be kept securely in place, and in a few weeks all will be well. Sometimes the horny covering is torn off. If the bone is not frac- tured, it will be best to leave it to nature. There will be a great deal of haemorrhage at first ; but this ceasing, leaves the bone covered by coagulated blood This hardens and forms a temporary case for the bone. In the meantime another process commences at the base of the bone. A dense flexible substance is found there, and this begins rapidly to thicken and harden, and to assume the character of good horn ; it then runs up the bone, displaces the crust of coagulated blood as it grows, and covers the bone completely and, much "resem- bles and is nearly as strong as the original horn. At other times, after the horny covering has been torn on?, the bone will be found to be fractured, but the parts not perfectly sepa- rated. They must be brought in exact apposition, bound-carefully up, and confined with splents, or strong bandages. Union between the edges of the bone will speedily take place, new horn grow over, and there will be scarcely a mark of the accident. At other times, not only is the horny covering torn off, but the bone is also perfectly separated. The bone will never be reproduced ; nature will often attempt it, and a rude mass will be formed, .half bony and half cartilaginous. To prevent this, the horn must be sawed off level below the fracture, and the nearer the head the better, because it will be the sooner covered by a prolongation of the cuticle. The hot iron must be frequently passed over the level surface, after which this reproduction will seldom be attempted ; or, if it is, may be easily destroyed by the cautery. As soon as the bone has been sawed off level, and the bleeding stopped, and the cautery applied to the exposed surface, the part must be bound up as quickly as possible with one tar-cloth above another, so as completely to exclude the air : for the air being now admitted unrestrained to the frontal sinuses, so irritable, it may produce dangerous inflammation. Cases are frequent in which inflammation of the brain or lock-jaw have followed a broken 150 CATTLE. horn, and from this cause — the exposure of the lining, membrane of the cells of the head to the unaccustomed stimulus of the air. COMPOSITION AND GROWTH OF THE HORNY COVERING. The horn is exceedingly thin at its base, and appears as a con- tinuation of the cuticle ; dissection cannot trace any separation be-* tween them ; but maceration has proved that the cuticle and the covering of the bone of the horn are two distinct substances. In the ox, from a prolongation of the cuticle proceeds the covering of the bone of the horn, or at least the basis of it. The rings at the base of the horn,- and which gradually recede from the base, prove this : but the horn thickens as it grows out, and this thickening, and the greater portion of the horn, are derived from the vascular substance that surrounds the bone, and which is fed by the innumerable ves- sels, that are interposed between it and the horn. RINGS OF THE HORN. I These rings have been considered as a criterion by which to de- termine the age of the ox. At three years old, the first distinct one is usually observed : at four years old two are seen ; and so on, one being added on each succeeding year. Hence the rule, that if two be added to the number of rings, the age of the animal would be given. These rings, however, are perfectly distinct in the cow only ; in the ox they do not appear until he is five years old, and are ofter confused : in the bull they are either not seen until five, or cannot be traced at all. They are not always distinct in the cow ; the two or three first may be, but then come mere irregularities of surface^ that can scarcely be said to be rings, and which it is impossible to count. If a heifer goes to bull when she is about two years old, there is an immediate change in the horn, and the first ring appears ; so that a real three-year-old would carry the mark of a four-year- old. After the beast is six or seven years old, these rings are so irregular that the age indicated by the two horns is not always the same. A difference of one year is seen, and in some instances the horns do not agree by two years at least. As a process of nature, it is far too irregular for any certain dependence. THE DEGREE OF FEVER ESTIMATED BY THE HORN. The farrier and the cow leech, when examining a sick beast, feel the root of the horn and the tip of the ear. There is much good sense about this. If the temperature is natural in both, there is no great degree of fever ; but if the ears are deathy cold, it shows that the. blood is no longer circulating through the small vessels, but con- gesting round some important organ, the seat of inflammation — and OCCASIONAL HORNS ON THE GALLOWAYS. 151 nothing pah be more dangerous. He also gains from the horn an indication quite as important. The horn at the base is very thin ; as much so as the cuticle or scarf-skin, and covers one of the most vas- cular bones in the whole body. Nowhere else can the practitioner get so near to the circulating fluid, or to so great a quantity of it. He, therefore, puts his hand on the root of the horn, to see the pre- " cise temperature of the blood, and thus to judge of the degree of general fever or constitutional disturbance. THE HORNS THE DISTINGUISHING CHARACTER OF THE DIFFERENT BREEDS. We have classed the different breeds of cattle- according to the length of horn, and we cannot have a better guide. In the crosses between them,' the horns follow a determined course ; as long as the breed remains pure, cattle may be increased or diminished in size, be changed in the proportions of various parts for certain purposes — be made true grazing or dairy cattle, but the horn remains the same ; it is the distinguishing badge of the breed. In the present race of short-horns there is a great variety in the form of the horn. Some think this of little or no consequence ; we are not of that number. It sometimes tells tales of crosses long gone by or forgotten, and totally unsuspected ; and it is possible that they indi- cate certain peculiarities, excellences or defects-, reaching perhaps to no great extent, yet worthy of notice. A treatise on the horns of cattle might be made a very interesting work ; but it would require experience that rarely falls to one man's lot, and an unusual freedom from hypothesis and prejudice. THE INFLUENCE OF SEX ON THE HORNS. ■• Of the influence of sex on' the horn, we have proof every day ; but it is exerted in our domestic cattle in a manner different from all other ruminants. It is the head of the male, when in his wild state, that is usually horned ; the castrated male loses his altogether, or wears diminutive ones ; while the female is generally hornless. On the contrary, the tame bull is distinguished by a short, straight, in- significant and ugly horn ; while a weaker, but longer, handsomer, and beautifully curved horn adorns the head of the ox ; and a still more delicately-shaped one the cow. OCCASIONAL HORNS ON TUB GALLOWAYS. The most singular horn is that which now and then hangs from . the brow of some polled cattle. It is no prolongation of the frontal bone ; is not attached to that or any bone of the head ; but grows from the skin, and hangs down on the side of the face. 152 CATTLE. THE FRONTALS IN P0LL3D CUTTLE. The frontal bones hold the same situation in polled cattle. They reach from the nasal bones to the parietal ridge ; but they materi- ally diminish in breadth towards the poll. The breeders of polled cattle consider this a proof of pureness of blood, and of the pos- session of a disposition to fatten. Large cavities between the plates of the frontal bone are found in the polled as well as in the horned breed ; but they are not so deep, nor do they extend beyond the frontals, varying much in the different breeds of cattle. COMPARISON BETWEEN THE HORNED AND HORNLESS BREEDS. There was a time when this question was much discussed. It was taken for granted, by those who had more theory than practi- cal experience, that . the horns were not only useless but a serious evil; and a scientific surgeon has scrupled not to 'say, that, "on a very moderate calculation, the loss in farming stock, and also in animal food, is very considerable from the production of horns and their appendages." The fact, however, has never been thoroughly determined, whether the Galloway, or the Kyloe, is the most profita- ble grazing stock; each has its advocates, and each is excellent. But it has been determined, that during the reign of the Bakewel- lian stock, no cattle displayed such a propensity to fatten as the long-horns ; and as the chest became deeper and more circular, and the aptitude to fatten developed itself, the horn lengthened. It has also been determined, that for grazing and milking properties, and particularly for early maturity, no cattle can vie with the short-horns. The existence of horns, or the length of the horn, have in them- selves no connection at all with grazing, or with milking : a beast does not fatten the quicker because there are no horns to consume a portion of the nutriment, nor is he longer in getting into condition because he has them. They are ornamental ; they cost the breeder nothing ; they are useful for various purposes'; and they bring so much clear gain to the manufacturer. The hornless cattle may, however, be packed closer than the others, and, destitute of the natural weapon of offence, are less quarrelsome and more docile. THE OTHER BONES OF THE SKULL. We shall be very brief in our iccount of the other bones of the skull,,as little of a practical nature is connected with them. The Parietal bone. — In the ox (h, p. 143,) not the smallest portion of it appears on the superior part of the head ; but it is found at the back of it, usurping the place of the occipital bone, giving attachment to the muscles of the neck, and particularly to its strong supporting ligament (m, p. 143). It, however, spreads along the side below the horn, giving it some support ; and it unites there PECULIARITIES OF THE BRAIN OF THE OX. 163 with the temporal bone, and contributes to the strength of the part. The Temporal bones. — These bones (17, p. 143 and 144,) have no stress upon them in cattle ; are small, deep in the temporal fossa, and destitute of the squamous suture. The most important difference is the form of the superficial cavity which receives the head of the low- er jaw, and which is peculiarly adapted to the lateral grinding mo- tion of rumination. The Occipital lone. — This bone is, in the ox, deprived of almost all importance. There is no crest, no tuberosity, and very small con- dyles, for attachment to the neck ; and even its base, although a lit- tle widened, is much curtailed in length. . It, however, still contains the great foramen through which the spinal marrow escapes from the skull (t, p. 142, and 5 and I, p. 144). There are two foramina for the passage of nerves. . The Sphenoid and Ethmoid bones are of little importance here. THE BRAIN. All these bones unite to form the cranial cavity in which the -brain is contained. It is surrounded by membranes. Comparing the bulk of the two animals, the brain of the ox is not more than, one- half the size of that of the horse. The medullary substance which forms the roots of the nerves is as large, and some of the nerves, and particularly the olfactory nerve, or that of smell, are as much de- veloped ; the deficiency is in the cineritious part — that part connect- ed with the intellectual principle. The medullary substance is that by which impressions made by surrounding objects are conveyed to the brain, and received there, and the volitions of the mind transmitted, and motion given to every part : the cineritious is that portion where the impressions are received, and registered, and pondered upon, and made the means of intellectual improvement, and from which the mandates of the will proceed. The senses of the ox are as acute as those of the horse ; he sees as clearly, hears as quickly, and has the sense of smelling in greater perfection ; but he has not half the sa- gacity. He partly has it not, because he does not receive the educa- 1 ion of the horse ; but more, because nature, by diminishing the bulk of the intellectual portion of the brain, has deprived him of the power of much improvement. Yet the difference is in degree, and not in kind. He possesses sufficient intellect to qualify him for the situa- tion in which nature has placed him. PECULIARITIES OF THE BKAIN OF THE OX. Of the peculiarities of the brain of the ox we will say little, for they are unconnected with that which is the object of our treatise, the useful knowledge of the animal. The posterior part of the 1* 154 . CATTLE. brain, under the cerebellum, or little brain, and at the commence- ment • of the spinal chord, is a condensation of medullary matter, (the medulla oblongata,) whence proceed the nerves that are con- nected with the involuntary motions of life, and by which the heart beats, and the lungs play, and the intestines propel the food. In cattle this part is, in proportion to the size of the animal, of great bulk, for they have to contribute to the food of man ; and the heart must strongly beat, and the stomach and the intestines must be" constantly and actively at work, to furnish the requisite quantity of milk when living, and abundance of flesh and fat when slaughtered. The ox, however, is, in a manner, exempt from labor. Even in the districts in which he is employed on the farm or the road, his work is slow. At the termination of this medulla oblongata com- mences the spinal chord, whence proceed all the nerves connected with the voluntary motions of the body. Now, although the medulla oblongata is proportionally larger in the ox than in the horse, for the reason we have just stated, the spinal chord is considerably smaller, because so much muscular power is not needed. THE EAR. In homed cattle, the ears, often comparatively small, and, from their situation, limited in their motions, and seldom erect, are little regard- ed. The bull has usually the shorter horn and the larger ear ; in some breeds, particularly the Kyloe, and the Kyloe bull more especially, it has much to do with the beauty of the head. > In polled cattle, the ear, of a fair size but not too large, freely movable, and well fringed, corresponds with the beautifully curled forehead, and is a point of some importance. A large ear is general- ly objected to, as indicating coarseness of form, and possibly of flesh. The only advantage of a large ear would be, that it might be better able to discharge one of its functions, to guard the. eyes from injury. A person cannot long observe an ox, without admiring the adroit use he makes of his eais for this purpose : but even the weight of the ear would probably interfere with the requisite rapidity of motion. The ear of the ox is furnished with two additional muscles, for this purpose. DISEASES OF THE EAR. The ears of cattle are comparatively exempt from disease. The passage into the ear is tortuous and guarded with hair. The irreg- ularities of the conch are large and abrupt. The inconveniences which arise from the introduction of insects inttj the ear seldom oc- cur. To contusions these organs are much exposed, producing swell- • ing abscess, and deafness. Fomentations will afford the principal means of relief or cure, with occasional washing out of the ear with DISEASES OF THE EAR. 155 warm water, or soap and water, and the application of a weak solu- tion of Goulard, while much inflammation remains, and of a still weaker solution of alum, when the inflammation has subsided. Simple inflammation of the ear is a rare disease in cattle. It is recognized by the animal carrying his head a little on one side ; this is plainly referable to the ear from the heat and tenderness of its base both within and without, and a kind of immobility of the ear, resulting from the pain which the animal suffers in moving it. Bleed- ing from the neck vein, a dose of physic, and fomentation of the part, will usually give relief ; and afterwards a lotion composed of a drachm of the extract of lead and the same of laudanum added to four ounces of water : a little of this may be poured into the ear, and the ear gently squeezed so that the lotion shall find its way to every part of it. Sometimes the beast is much annoyed by an itching of the ear. A dry scurfiness spreads over a greater or less part of the skin of the inside of the ear. A healing ointment will afford the most ready cure. A little must be gently but well rubbed into the inside of the ear, until the scurfy skin is softened, and be repeated daily. The ointment is thus composed : — melt together four pounds of lard, and one of common resin ; set them by to cool, and when they begin to thicken, stir in one pound of calamine powder, rubbed down to a slate of the greatest possible fineness. In a very few instances a collection of fluid will appear between the cartilage and the inner skin of the ear. The tumor must be opened from end to end. Still more rarely fungous granulations spring up from the base of the ear. They must be cut down with a knife. Nitrate of silver must then be applied over the exposed surface, and an alum wash, not too strong, afterwards used. Homoeopathic Treatment, — If there be a foreign body in the ear, it should be removed, and arnica water be injected with a small syringe. If insects are the cause, a little oil is to be poured into the ear. If the inflammation, from being neglected, has passed into suppuration, pus is the best topical application : elaborated by the vital force in the wound, it serves chiefjy to disintegrate the particles which have been contused or otherwise injured, to effept the expulsion of foreign bodies, such as splinters, &c, and to dispose the edges of the wound to unite by means of fleshy granulations, It is a great mistake then to remove it ; it diminishes of itself as the granulations aoquire suf- ficient consistence to form the tissue of a cicatrix. To fulfill its des- tination, it must be of good quality. Where its quality or characters are not such as they should be, there only art should interfere, as well to facilitate the cure of the wound itself as to secure and pre- serve the adjoining parts. The means to which we are to have recourse are : arnica, internally and externally, in wounds, &c, of every kind ; mercurius vivus and asafwtida, in ulcers which secrete 156 CATTLE. a liquid and fetid pus ; arsenicum, in such as have hard and everted edges, with pain, inflammation, and pus of bad odor; chamomilla, sepia, and arsenicum, when granulations grow up too luxuriant ; silicea, when the pus is thick and of bad color ; acidum phosphorieum, when£ after a wound, the skin contracts adhesion to the bone. When a real abscess is formed, arsenicum is the remedy to be employed. However, pulsatilla is very useful in deep-seated ab- scesses. When the swelling has been caused by insects, the ear should be well washed, and arnica. water injected into it! Petroleum is by some considered the best remedy in such cases. Some doses of sulphur must be taken internally. The orbit of the eye is of a quadrilateral shape in the ox, (A, p. 143,) and very strongly formed above, to defend it from the violence to which, from its situation, it is too much exposed, and below, in order to protect the lachrymal sac, and the commencement of the canal through which the superfluous moisture flows from the eye to the nose. The orbit, and particularly the upper part, the superciliary ridge, is very subject to fracture. The parts must be placed in their natural situation ; must be confined there ; and inflammation prevent- ed by bleeding, physicking, &c. The ox is often wounded in the eye, either by the horn of one of his fellows or the prong of the brutal attendant. Here must be no probing, but fomentations, bleeding, and physic. It is too much owing to the thoughtless or brutal conduct of those who have the management of cattle, that the ox, oftener than any other domestic animal, is subject to bony tumors about the eyes, or on the edge of the orbit. These tumors appear generally on the external part of the orbit ; they increase with greater or less rapidity ; they take a direction which may or may not interfere with vision ; occasionally they bend towards the eye, and press upon it, and are' sources of torture and blindness. If the tumor is on the upper part of the orbit, and is attached by a kind of pedicle, it may be sawed off, and the root touched with the cautery ; m other situations we shall generally be confined to the use of external stimulants. The best is the cautery. We shall not, perhaps, dare to apply it directly to the part, but there is a method by. which we may obtain the advantage of a very high degree of temperature without destroy- ing the skin. An iron is to be prepared, somewhat hollowed, a,nd rather larger than accurately to contain the tumor in its hollow. A piece of bacon-rind, with a little of the fat attached to it, is then to be cut to the shape of the tumor, and so as to cover it ; and be- ing placed over it, the iron, heated nearly red hot, is to be applied upon it, and firmly held there for the space of two or three minutes, THE EYELIDS AND THEIR DISEASES. 1B7 and afterwards more lightly applied until the rind is dried or burned. The object of this is to bring a degree of heat, far above that of boiling water, but nat so great as of red hot iron, to bear upon the part. The fat about the rind is heated to that degree which will probably be sufficient to rouse the absorbents, and induce them to take up the bone, without destroying the life of the part ; for 'we shall see presently that it is a tumor of a peculiar character. This may be repeated two or three times; with intervals of two days. Should the tumor not diminish, nothing more can be done ; for these bony growths in cattle, arising from local injury, have very little life in them, and soon degenerate into a state of caries, or decay of the bone. Sometimes these tumors spring from the back of the orbit, pro- duced by the injury or perforation of the bone. No cure can be ef- fected ; if the eye should become painful, and intensely inflamed and begin to protrude, there is but one course, to destroy the animal. External bony tumors frequently ulcerate, and the bone becomes carious or decays. No possible good can be done here, and human- ity and interest require us to put a speedy termination to the animal. The eyes are placed quite on the sides of the face, for the ox, in a state of nature, being exposed to the attacks of ferocious animals, needs an extended field of vision to perceive danger in every quarter. He is oftener the pursued than the pursuer, and requires a lateral, instead of a somewhat forward direction of the eyes. The eyes are prominent, to increase the field of vision, and are made so by the mass of fat accumulated at the back of them. A prominent eye is a good point in a beast ; it shows the magnitude of this mass of fat, and therefore the probability of fat being accumulated elsewhere. This prominence, however, should not be accompanied by a ferocious or unquiet look ; neither the grazing nor milking beast can have too placid a countenance, or be too quiet and docile. THE EYELIDS AND THEIR DISEASES. The eye is supported and covered by the lids, which were designed to close at the approach of danger, and so afford protection to the eye ; to supply it with the moisture necessary to preserve its trans- parency ; to shield it from the light when diseased ; and to close over it, and permit the repose which nature requires. At the edge of the lids is a cartilage, to preserve their' form, and to enable them to close accurately ; and along these edges are numerous little openings, which pour out an unctuous fluid that defends them from the acrimony of the tears. Cattle are subject to a pustular eruption on the edges of the eyelids, accompanied sometimes by great soreness, and considerable ulcera- tion. It bids defiance to every application, except the mild nitrated ointment of mercury, and occasionally it does not yield even to that ; yet on the approach of winter, it frequently disappears spontaneous- 158 CATTLE. ly. It indicates a foul habit of body, and is often connected with mange ; and unless proper means are taken, it will assuredly return in the following spring. Purges of sulphur will be found useful ; but a course of alterative medicine will be most serviceable, which should consist of one part of ^thiop's mineral, two of nitre, and four of sulphur ; and be given half an ounce to an ounce every night, according to age and size. Warts on the eyelids are best removed by the scissors — the root being afterwards touched with the nitrate of silver. The ox has a contrivance for cleansing the eye from annoying sub- stances. A haw, or flat piece of cartilage, of a semicircular form, is placed within the corner of the eye. When its use is required, the eye is drawn back by the retractor muscle, and the mass of fat at the inner side of the eye is forced forward, and drives the haw be- fore it over the eye. When the retractor ceases to act, the fatty substance returns to its place, and draws back the haw within the corner of the eye. This part of the eye is disposed to disease. The little portion of fleshy substance towards the inner edge of the cartilage, and the caruncle, or small fleshy body, placed at the corner of the eye to give a proper direction to the tears, take on inflammation from sym- pathy with the eye generally, or from injury, dust or gravel ; they swell prodigiously, and the haw is protruded over the eye, and can- not return. Ulceration appears, and a fungous growth springs up. Every means should be adopted to save the haw, for the removal of it will torment the animal as long as he lives. If the disease is connected with inflammation of the eye generally, all will subside with that inflammation, and this may be hastened by the application of a Goulard wash, or diluted tincture of opium. If it is a disease of the part itself, the zinc lotion must be used (two grains of white vitriol dissolved in> an ounce of water, and the vitriol gradually increased to four grains ; the application of it confined as much as possible to the part, and the liquid not being suffered to get to the sound part of the eye.) A perseverance in the use of the zinc wash will often do wonders. When it loses its power, a lotion of corrosive sublimate may be adopted, first of half a grain to an ounce of water, and gradually increased to two grains. If it becomes necessary to extirpate the part, the beast must be cast ; keep open the eye with the fingers ; a crooked needle armed with strdng silk, must be passed through the cartilage, by means of which the part may be drawn out as far as possible ; and then, with a pair of crooked scissors, the haw may be neatly dissected out. If the ulceration extend to any of the parts behind, or to the neigh- boring tissues, they also must be removed. Considerable bleeding will probably follow the operation, and some inflammation of the neighboring parts ; but they must be subdued by proper means. OPHTHALMIA. 159 If fungus sprout, it must be touched with caustie ; there is little danger attending the operation. ' The eyelids are more subject to disease in the ox than in any oth- er domestic animal. If any foreign body gets into the eye, and re- mains long there, the eyelids partake of the irritation ; become hot and tender, and much thickened, ai>d will continue thickened some- times after the inflammation of the eye has subsided. Fomentations will be proper here. Occasionally there is cedematous swelling of the eyelid, especially where the pasture is damp and marshy. These enlargements are too little thought of, and left to nature to re- lieve ; but they indicate a degree of general debility, and a disposi- tion in the eyes to disease. Many old cattle have eyelids either dis- tended with fluid infiltrated into the cellular texture, or from which a portion of the fluid had been removed by absorption, but a deposit remained, indicated by the impression of the finger being left upon the lid, and are more or less out of condition, or will not fatten kindly, or have lately had inflammation of the eyes, or will be attacked by it soon afterwards. A curious^appearance — not disease — has been observed in the eye- lids of fat bullocks. A certain portion of gas has been infiltrated into the cellular tissue. If this is a dissight, scarification may be made on the lid, and the gas gradually pressed out. The eye of the ox generally is large and flattish ; the transparent • cornea is quite convex. The pupil is of a transverse oblong form ; and the iris dark, but varying with the color of the animal. It is on account of the cornea of the ox being so convex, and the lens also more than usually convex, that many cattle appear to be short-sighted, at. least while they are young, when they will approach near to a stranger, before they appear to have made a satisfactory examination of him. OPHTHALMIA. Ophthalmia is frequent in the ox. It has a periodical character, and will disappear and return until it has its natural termination — blindness'. The cases of simple ophthalmia, however, proceeding from the introduction of foreign bodies into the eyes, blows, or being the accompaniment of other diseases, and then yielding to medical treatment, are numerous in the ox, and, therefore, as it is not always possible in the early stage to distinguish the one from the other, the disease may be attacked with more confidence;. The means of cure are bleeding and physic, as the constitutional treatment ; and fomentations, cold lotions — opium in tincture — sat- urnine lotions — zinc lotions, as local applications ; the opium during the acute stage, the lead as soon as the inflammation begins to sub- side, and the zinc as a :onic, when the inflammation is nearly sub- dued. 160 CATTLE. The periodical nature of the disease being once apparent, send the animal to the butcher, or hasten to prepare it for sale ; ophthalmia is certainly hereditary in cattle. To combat general inflammation of the eye, bleeding, physicking, and fomentations are the principal weapons. The blood should be taken from the jugular, for that is supplied by veins coming from the inflamed parts. If the bleeding is ever local, the lid should be turned down, and the lining membrane lightly scarified. A few drops of blood thus obtained will often do a great deal of good. Fomen- tations having been continued for a day or two, one of the two fol- lowing lotions should be used, a few drops of it being introduced into the eye two or three times every day : Sedative Eye Lotion. — Take, dried leaves of foxglove, powdered, one and a half ounce : infuse them into a pint of Cape or dry raisin wine, for a fortnight, and keep the 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 re- moval of the inflammation ; but should the eye not improve, or be- come insensible to the tincture, try this : Sedative Eye Lotion. — Take, extract of goulard, two drachms ; spirituous tincture of digitalis (made in the same manner as the vinous in the last recipe), two drachms ; tincture of opium, two drachms -, water, a pint : this should also be introduced into the eye. Two or three drops at a time will suffice. The inflammation being subdued by the one or the other of these applications, or even bidding defiance to them, and assuming a chron- ic form, a lotion of a different character must be had recourse to. Strengthening Lotion for the Eye. — Take, white vitriol, one scru- ple ; spirit of wine, a drachm ; water, a pint : mix them together, and use the lotion in the same manner as the others. When the inflammation runs high, the transparent part of the eye is apt to ulcerate, and a fungous substance ' sprouts, and some- times protrudes ■ through the lids. This should be very lightly touched with a solution of .nitrate of silver, or, if it is very promi- nent, 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 chord 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 cancer, and not only the eye, but the soft parts around it, and even the bones, will be affected. OTHER DISEASES OF THE EYE. 161 When this termination threatens, the globe of the eye -will usually turn to a bottle-green color, then ulceration will appear about the centre of it, 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 discharged 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 most humane method to be adopted with regard to the ani- mal, is to remove the eye. If the owner does not think proper to adppt this, let him try to make the beast as comfortable as he can. The part should be kept clean, and when there appears to be any additional inflammation, or swelling, or pain, the eye should be well fomented with a decoction of poppy-heads. Homoeopathic treatment. — The cure is easily effected, when the case is taken in time ; commence with a few doses of aconitum, which is to be employed at first from hour to hour ; then at longer intervals. Resort afterwards to arnica. If it be too late, conium must be given, which is also indicated when aconitum and arnica have removed the inflammatory symptoms, but there is an exudation between the laminae of the cornea. Cannabis, belladonna, or euphra- sia, in two ounces of distilled water, form an excellent topical appli- cation ; but they should also be used internally. If the ophthalmia has- been occasioned by a foreign body in the eye, it calls for a dif- • ferent treatment. Extract the foreign body with a bit of moistened linen ; conium then removes the symptoms, and if there have been any injury, arnica should be prescribed, both externally and inter- nally. Ophthalmia caused by cold soon yields to aconitum, bryonia, dulcamara, and euphrasia. - When the disease proceeds from an internal cause and is peri- odical, it is hereditary, or depends on the deposition on the eye of a morbific principle difficult to be determined. The chief means to be employed are sulphur, euphrasia, pulsatilla, cannabis, conium, and causticum. Belladona might also be tried. Calcarea c'arbonica is useful in the case of turbid vision with a bluish tint of the cornea — the lids not being affected. OTHEU DISEASES OF THE EYE. There is a singular disease of the eye, not properly ophthalmia, sometimes epizootic among cattle, that sadly frightens the owner when it first appears. Young cattle pasturing on wet and woody ground are suddenly seized with swellings of the tongue and throat, and eruptions about tlie membrane of tha mouth, and the eyes be- come intensely inflamed, and superficial ulcers appear on the cornea. This is only one of nature's- methods, singular indeed, of getting rid of something that offended the constitution ; and the way is to let iier nearly alone. The skillful practitioner foments with warm water, 162 CATTLE. or, if the eyes are closed, applies an evaporating lotion of cold water, with a little spirit, and possibly gives gentle physic ; and he soon has the satisfaction to see the inflammation disappearing, and the ulcers gradually healing, which he hastens by a very weak zinc wash. The ox is subject to Cataract, but it is not often seen, because periodical ophthalmia is not frequent in him ; as soon as its existence is ascertained, the animal should be prepared for slaughter. Gcttta sebena, or palsy of the optic nerve — blindness in one or both eyes, yet the perfect transparency of the eye preserved — is a rare disease among cattle ; it is no sooner recognized than the beast is destroyed. Cancer of the eye, or a perfect change of the mechanism of the eye into a fleshy, half-decomposed substance, that ulcerates and wastes away, or from which fungous growths spring that can never be checked, is a disease of occasional occurrence. The remedy would be extirpation of the eye, if it were deemed worth while to attempt it. There is a very curious disease of the eye. The common symp- toms of ophthalmia appear, as injection of the conjunctiva, dimness of the cornea, weeping, and swelling of the lids ; the inflammation increases ; and, on close examination, a small white worm, about the size of a hair, and an inch in length, is found in the aqueous humor, that fluid which is immediately behind the cornea. It is evident that the only way to get rid of, or destroy this worm, is to puncture the cornea, and let it out ; and this has been resorted to. In some cases, however, not many days pass before another worm makes its appear- ance, and the operation is to be performed a second time, and the ox eventually loses that eye. Three or four days before the appearance of the worms, one or two minute bodies, of a reddish- white color, are seen at the bottom of the anterior chamber of the eye. The disease appears about June, and is not seen after December. FRACTURE OF THE SKULL. One class of the diseases of the head to which cattle are exposed will fall under £he title of compression of, or pressure upon, the brain. Although it is a curious fact, that portions of the external or cineritious part of the brain may be cut away without the animal being conscious of it, yet the slightest pressure cannot be made upon the brain with- out impairment of consciousness, or loss of the power of voluntary motion. The very construction of the skull of the ox, which gives a degree of security from ordinary danger, deprives us of all means of relief, in case of compression of the brain from fracture, and therefore the animal should always be consigned to slaughter. HYDATIDS AND TUMORS IN THE BRAIN. Cattle are subject to a disease in which the animal goes round and WATER IN THE HEAD. 16S round. First, some degree of fever comes on — she perhaps scarcely eats — rumination is suspended — the muzzle dry — the ears and roots of the horns hot — the breathing laborious, and the hair rough. It is fever without any evident local determination. Perhaps she is bled and physicked ; but on the following day, the thing begins to speak for itself ; she turns round and round, and always in the same direc- tion : it is pressure upon the brain ; no operation can relieve such an animal from the hydatid. But is the pressure of the hydatid the only one that can affect the brain, or produce this peculiar motion ? Would not effusion of blood, or of any fluid, on some portion of the bjfain, produce the same effect ? There may have been a too great determination of blood to the head, and some little vessel may have given way. It is worth trying for a day or two at least, and the cow will not be much the worse for slaughter in that time. «She should be bled copiously ; and a stronger dose of physic be given. In some instances, perhaps in the majority, the animal will do well. A spare diet at the time, and a while afterwards, will be plainly indicated. Success will not, however, attend every case. It is a disease peculiar to young cattle. It seldom attacks any beast after he is a year and a half old. Veterinary writers, in those countries where the hydatid in cattle \s known, very properly remark that it may be discovered in young stock, by the softening of the bone at a particular part ; because the frontal sinuses are not fully developed in young beasts. The hydatid may then be punctuated with an awl, or better with the trephine ; but we recommend that young cattle thus affected should be imme- diately destroyed. WATER IN THE HEAD. There is another species of pressure on the brain, to which young cattle are subject, and sometimes even in the foetal state — hydroce- phalus, or water in the head. The fluid is usually found between the membranes, and exists in so great a quantity, and enlarges the head to such a degree, that parturition is difficult and dangerous ; and it is often necessary to destroy the progeny to save the mother. "We have seen hydrocephalus appear after birth in very weakly calves ; but do not recollect an instance in a healthy one ; and in almost every case it has been fatal : . therefore such an animal should be put to death. In the adult animal, the pressure of a fluid on the brain will occasionally be a source of general disease, or death : but it will then be an accumulation of fluid in the ventricles' of the brain, and not indicated by any change in the size or form of the skull. The symp- toms will very much resemble those of apoplexy, except that they are milder, and the malady is slower in progress — and the network of minute arteries and veins in the ventricles are usually considerably enlarged. 164 CATTLE. APOPLEXY - . Cattle are very subject to sudden determination of blood to the head. They are naturally plethoric ; are continually under the in- fluence of a stimulating and forcing system ; and that without exer- cise by means of which the injurious effects of that system might in a great measure be counteracted. The very object in our manage- ment of the ox, is to clothe him with as much flesh and fat as possi- ble ; therefore he is subject to all the diseases connected with a redundancy of blood, and to apoplexy among the rest. There are few premonitory symptons in these cases. Had the beast been closely observed, it might have been perceived that he was indisposed to move — that the breathing was a little laborious, and the eye somewhat protruded. The animal seems to be struck all at once — he falls — breathes heavily and stertorously — struggles with greater or less violence, and then dies — sometimes in five minutes — oftener after a few hours. If there is time to do any thing, the beast should be bled, and as much blood taken as can be got. A pound and a half of Epsom salts should be given, and this followed up with doses of half a pound until it operates ; its action should afterwards be maintained by six-ounce doses of sulphur every morning. The congestion of the brain being removed, and also the conges- tion which, to a certain degree, prevails evsrywhere, the beast should be slaughtered ; for he is liable to a return from causes which would not, previous to his first attack, have in the slightest degree affected him. Homoeopathic treatment. — As soon as the precursory symptoms are perceived, a few doses of aconitum are given, which has been found a sure means of preventing a fatal termination, especially if the beast be fed moderately, employed properly, and not worked too severely during hot weather. Arnica, belladonna, nux vomica, and laurocerasus may also be used in the premonitory symptoms witb^good effect ; also mercurius and opium. PHBBNITIS. Phrensy or sough in cattle is ■'veil known to the farmer and prac- titioner. There is generally, at first, much oppression and heaviness ; the animal can scarcely be induced to move ; the eyes are protruded and red ; the respiration hurried ; and delirium, more or less intense, rapidly succeeds. The beast rushes at everything in its way ; it is in incessant action, galloping about with its tail arched, staggering, falling, bellowing ; its skin sticking to its ribs, and the sensibility of the spine strangely increased. As, however, the previous oppression and stupidity were much less, so is the succeeding violence increased ; not even a rabid ox is PHRENITIS. 165 more fearful, and it is somewhat difficult to distinguish between these two diseases. In the early stage of phrenitis, although there may be lowness or oppression, there is nothing like apoplexy, or want of consciousness. There is more method in the madness of the rabid than the phrenitic ox. The latter will run at everything which presents "itself, but it is a sudden impulse ; the former will plot mis- chief, and lure his victims within his reach. Much more foam will be discharged from the mouth of the rabid than the phrenitic ox. The causes are much the same as those of apoplexy, too stimulat- ing food, and too much blood ; to which may generally be added some immediately exciting cause, as hard and rapid work in sultry weather, over-driving, TWELVE MONTHS. FIFTEEN MONTHS. The last cut gives the curious and diminutive appearance of all the incisors at fifteen months old. It would appear difficult to ob- tain sufficient food to support good condition. It is somewhat, so, and it may be in a great measure owing to these changes in the teeth, and the difficulty of grazing, that young beasts are subject to so many disorders from seven or eight months and upwards, and are so often out of condition. At fifteen months old, the corner teeth will not be more than half their natural size ; the centre ones yet more diminished ; and the spaces between them almost equal to the width of the teeth. The faces of the teeth will be lengthened ; the triangular mark will di- minish, principally in the central teeth ; while another more or less deeply shaded, will begin to appear around the original mark. AH this while the second set of teeth, the permanent ones, have been growing in their sockets, and approaching towards their gums. The process of absorption commences in the whole milk tooth, and as much in the crown or body of it as at its root. The process of diminution now is confined to the central teeth, and they gradually waste away until they are no larger than crow-quills. About the end of eighteen months, _ or a little before, the two central milk teeth are pushed out or give way, and the two central permanent teeth appear. The cut gives the mouth at eighteen months old, the two per- manent central incisors are coming up, and the other six milk teeth remain. The bone in front of the lower jaw is taken away, in order 192 CATTLE. that the alveoli, or cells for the teeth, may be exposed. The second pair of incisors have almost attained their proper size, but not their proper form. The third pair are getting ready, but the jaw is not yet sufficiently widened for the development of the fourth pair. EIGHTEEN MONTHS. TWO YEARS. PAST. The process of absorption will still be suspended with regard to the two outside pairs of milk teeth, but will be rapid with regard to the second pair, and a little after the commencement of the second year they will disappear. The cut represents the two year old beast, with four permanent incisors and four milk teeth. Now the remaining milk teeth will diminish very fast, but show no disposition to give way, and at three yeass old there will be six permanent incisors, and often apparently no milk teeth"; but if the mouth is examined, the tooth that should have disappeared, and the tooth that is to remain until the next year, are huddled together and concealed behind the new permanent tooth. They are often a source of annoyance to the animal ; and the tooth whose turn it was to go must be drawn. The three year old mouth then, as represented in this cut, should contain six permanent incisors and two milk teeth. At the commencement of the fourth year, the eight permanent in- cisors will be up ; but the corner ones will be small. The cut gives a four year old mouth, or perhaps one a month or two after four years ; so that the beast cannot be said to be full-mouthed, i. e., THE TEETH. 199 all the incisors fully up, until it is five years old. It will be seen, however, in this mouth of four years, that the two central pairs are beginning to be worn down at the edges, and that in a flat direction, or somewhat inclining towards the inside. THREE YEARS. PAST. FOUR YEARS. PAST. At five years old, the teeth are all fully grown, but this mark has extended over the whole set, and all the teeth are a little flattened at the top ; while on the two centre ones there begins to be a dis- tinct darker line in. the middle, bounded by a line of harder bone. From this time the age for a year or two can only be guessed at, and a great deal will depend up- on the manner in which the ani- mal is fed. The beast most out, and compelled most to use his incisor teeth, will have them worn farthest down. As a i general rule, but admitting of many exceptions, at seven years old, this line is becoming broad- est and more irregular in all of the teeth; and a second and broader, and more circular mark appears within the centre of the former one, the most distinct in the central, or two central pairs — and which at eight years has spread over the six central inci- rlv . E ybabs. past. sors. 9 194 CATTLE. At eight years a change takes place which cannot be mistaken. The process of absorption has again commenced in the central inci- sors ; it is slow in progress, and is never carried to the extent seen in the milk teeth, but is sufficiently plain, and the two central teeth are evidently smaller than their neighbors. A considerable change has also taken place on the surface of the teeth ; the two dark marks are rubbed into one in all but the corner teeth. - At ten, the four central incisors are diminished in size, and the mark is becoming smaller and fainter. The cut represents the mouth at this age. At eleven, the six central ones are smaller ; and at iwelve, all of them are very considera- bly diminished ; but not to the same extent as in the young beast. . The mark is now nearly ■ obliterated, except in the cor- ner teeth, and the inside edge is worn down to the gum. The beast is now getting old ; the teeth continue to diminish, and the animal, after fourteen or sixteen years old, is often not able to maintain full condi- tion. He must then be partly fed, yet there are many instan- ces in which favorite bulls last more than twenty years, and cows of the same age who pasture with the rest of the dairy, and give a fair quantity of milk. Some writers have asserted that a good cow will continue good until that age ; but both in quantity and quality of milk, as a general rule, a good cow will not continue to breed and give milk until twenty years ojd. This method of judging of the age of, cattle by the teeth is more satisfactory than by the horns, and little imposition can be prac- tised, whether the animal be young,or old. From six to nine we can only guess at the, age ; but we can form a shrewd guess, and can scarcely be out more than a few months. In the horn we are subject to imposition ; we are obliged to ask questions as to the first calf; and, when the animal gets old, the rings often present a confusion of which the best judges can make nothing. The grinders will rarely be examined to ascertain the age of a . beast. They are too difficult to be got at ; and the same depen- dence cannot be placed upon them. The calf is generally born with two molar teeth ; sometimes with three in each jaw, above and be- TEN YEARS. THE TONGUE. 193 low. The fourth appears about the expiration of the eighth month, and the fifth at the end of the year, about which time the first mo- lar is shed. The second is displaced at the end of the second year, and so with the rest, at intervals of a year ; but the sixth molar, which is from the beginning a permanent tooth, does not appear un- til the sixth year. THE TONGUE. The tongue occupies the base of the mouth. It is firmly held by muscles principally attached to the os hyoides, a singular bone common to it and the larynx. The tongue is composed of the union of these muscles, which extend their fibres through every part of it, and with which is intermingled a considerable quantity of fatty matter. It is covered by the membrane of the mouth, but curiously modified ; it resembles more the cuticle or scarf-skin, but the • internal layer is fibrous and sensitive, and between the two is a soft, reticulated sub- stance, which serves as a bed for the papillae, or little eminences scattered all over the tongue, some of which, at least, are supposed to be the terminations of the gustatory nerve, or that branch of the fifth pair of nerves on which the sense of taste depends. The use of the tongue,, generally/ is to dispose of the food between the grinders during mastication ; to collect it afterwards, and, by the as- sistance of the liars, form it into a pellet for swallowing ; it is also the main instrument in drinking. The outer covering of the tongue of the ox is hard and rough. The peculiar way in which the food is gathered renders this necessary ; it helps to collect the grass to- gether and form it into a roll before it is brought between the pad of the upper jaw and the incisor teeth of the lower one ; it serves to clean the muzzle from annoyances to which it is exposed by means of dirt or insects ; and it likewise wipes from the nostril the filth that is discharged from it in various diseases of the membrane of the nose or the air passages, to which the ox is so subject. The reader will remark the spur projecting from the centre of the body of this bone, fig. 1. In some animals it is from two to three inches in extent, and penetrates deeply into the root and body of the tongue ; and from its sides, roughened for the purpose, there spring, through the whole extent of the bone, powerful muscles (the genio- hyo-glossi muscles, belonging to the chin, the hyoid bone, and. the tongue), whose object is to draw down the tongue within the mouth, and limit its action. * There is nothing about the ox which requires confinement of the tongue ; but, on the contrary, he has need of one possessing an ex- traordinary freedom of motion, and the os hyoides is small. Its spur (1. p. 196) is a mere tubercle. There is no penetration or con- finement of the root of the tongue. The muscles springing from it 196 CATTLE. are diminutive and weak, and have little or no power over the body of the tongue. HYOID BONE, OR OS HTOIDES. 1. The spur. 2. The basis, or greater cornu or horn. 3. The inferior lateral cornu. 3 .The middle cornu. 4. The superior lateral eomu. 5. The epiglottis. 6. The arytson&id cartilage. 7. The thyroid cartilage. 8. The cricoid cartilage. 9. Rings of the trachea. 10. The interposed ligamentous substance between the rings. 11. The Rimso glottidis, or entrance into the windpipe. In the hyoid bone of the ox, the muscle (the hyo-glossus-longus, the long muscle belonging to the hyoid bone and the tongue) has its origin in an attachment to the corner near the spur • but there are two joints to give greater freedom of motion, "and not only so, but the bifurcation of the superior lateral cornu, swelled out into a head or tubercle, has no unyielding cartilaginous attachment to the temporal bone, and is fitted into a curious socket, formed between the mastoid process of the temporal bone, and a plate of bone let down on purpose, and in which it plays loosely, yet securely. GLOSS-ANTHRAX, MAIN, OB BLACK TONGDE. There is a disease of the tongue in cattle, which, from its sudden attack, fearful progress, and frequently fatal, termination, requires par- ticular notice. *■ The animal is dull, refuses food, and rumination ceases. A discharge of saliva appears from the mouth ; it is at first limpid and inoffensive, but it soon becomes purulent, bloody, and exceedingly fetid; the head and the neck begin to swell; they be- come enormously enlarged ; tb.3 respiratory passages are obstructed ; the animal breathes with the greatest difficulty, and is, in some GLOSS-ANTHRAX, BLAIN, OR BLACK TONGUE. 197 cases, literally suffocated. This is the Blain, or Gloss- anthrax — inflammation of the tongue, or black tongue. On examination, the tongue is apparently enlarged, but is, in fact, only elevated from its bed between the maxillary bones ; and the cause being examined, large vesicles or bladders, red, livid, or purple, are found running along the side and base of the tongue, and particu- larly towards its anterior part. These bladders are strangely rapid in their growth ; become of a very great size ; quickly break ; and form deep ulcerations. Others immediately arise in their immediate neigh- borhood, of similar character, but of still larger size. Sometimes the animal dies in twenty-four hours from the first attack ; but at other times fever rapidly succeeds, of a typhoid or malignant kind. In a few cases these bladders have been found on the upper part of the tongue, and even nearer to the top of it than to the fraenum. The tongue soon becomes really enlarged, and particularly when the lateral or inferior parts of it are the seats of disease. General inflammation of it speedily follows, and that part of it on which the ulcers first appeared, becomes mortified, and may be cut into, or cut away, without the animal expressing the least degree of pain. Incisions into the tongue are not followed by blood, but they bring to view tissues decomposed at some points, and black at others, and bearing the marks of incipient gangrene. The primary seat of the disease is the membrane of the mouth beneath or above the tongue. Dissection has proved the membrane at the base of the mouth to be the part primarily concerned. Examination shows intense inflammation, or even gangrene of the part, and also inflammation and gangrene of the oesophagus, the paunch, and the fourth stomach. The food in the paunch has almost offensive smell ; that in the manyplus is hard and dry. Inflammation reaches to the small intestines, which are highly inflamed, with red and black patches in the coecum, colon, and rectum. We cannot speak with confidence as to the cause of this disease : indeed, it is, in a great majority of cases, unknown. We have seen it at all seasons, and under all circumstances, — in stall-fed cows, whether newly bought, or those used to their situation and in pasture. When it becomes epidemic — when many cases occur about the same time, and over a considerable extent of country, and in town dairies as well as country ones, it is usually in the spring or autumn. Most epidemics of an inflammatory character occur at those periods, for the process of moulting is then going forward, and the animals are, to a certain degree, debilitated, and disposed to inflammatory complaints ; and these assume a low and typhoid, and then a malignant, form, much oftener and much more speedily in cattle than in other domes- ticated animals. There appears to be a deficiency of courage and nervous energy in cattle, compared, with the horse, and a consequent inability to contend with disease. This affords a key to the progresB 198 CATTLE. and treatment of many of the maladies to which these animals are subject. These epidemics, although dependent on, and produced by, some atmospheric agency, required a predisposition in the animal to be afflicted by the disease. While the blain sometimes assumes an epidemic character, there can be no doubt of its being contagious, and especially under the malignant form. The disease is not communicated by the breath ; but there must be actual contact. The beast must eat from the same manger, or drink from the same trough, or be in such a situation that the saliva, in which the niras seems to reside, shall be received on some abraded or mucous surface. The malady is readily communi- cated when animals graze in the same pasture. The farmer should be aware of this, and should adopt every necessary precaution. This is one of the maladies which may be communicated from the brute to the human subject. The danger, however, so far as it can be ascertained, is trifling, and easily avoided ; and a man may attend on a hundred of these animals .without injury : he has to take care tltat the saliva or discharge from the mouth does not touch any sore place, or lodge upon the lips ; and if he should fear that it may have come into contact with any little wound or sore,' he has only to apply lunar caustic over the part, and there will be an end of the matter. The treatment of blain is very simple ; and, if adopted in an early period of the disease, effectual in a great majority of cases. Blain is, at first, a local malady, and the first and most important means to be adopted will be of a local character. It is inflammation of the membrane of the mouth, along the side of and under the tongue, and characterized by the appearance of vesicles or bladders ; perhaps pellucid at first, but becoming red or livid, as the disease advances ; These vesicles must be freely lanced from end to end. There will not be much immediate discharge ; the bladder was distended by a substance imperfectly organized, or of such a glairy or thick nature as not readily to escape. If this operation be performed when the saliva first begins to run from the mouth, and be'fore there is any unpleasant smell or gangrenous appearance, it will usually effect a perfect cure. If the mouth be examined four-and-twenty hours after- ward, the only vestige of the disease will be an incision, not looking very healthy at first, but that will soon become so and heal. If the disease has made considerable progress, and the vesicles begin to have a livid appearance, or perhaps some of them have broken, and the smell is becoming very offensive, the mouth must be carefully examined, and any bladders still remaining whole, or new ones beginning to rise, must be deeply and effectually lanced, and the ulcers washed half-a-dozen times in the day, or oftener, with a diluted solution of the chloride of lime (a drachm of the powder to a pint of water.) By means of a syringe or piece of sponge, this may be brought into contact with every part of the ulcerated surface GLOSS-ANTHRAX, OR BLAIN. 199 In a very short time the unpleasant smell will diminish or cease, ar.d the ulcers will begin to assume a more healthy character. When all fetor is removed, the mouth should be bathed with a lo- tion composed of equal parts of tincture of myrrh and water, or a pretty strong solution of alum, and a fourth part of the tincture of catechu. » This treatment will be usually successful if the ulceration has not assumed too much of the gangrenous character, and if -symptomatic or low fever has not appeared in too intense a degree. These are very important circumstances, and should not be passed lightly over, for several of the most fatal diseases are of comparatively little im- portance, and easily got rid of in the early stage, and neglect pro- duces all the danger. The blain, although easily cured when at- tacked in its early state, becomes uniformly fatal if neglected. In these early stages of the blain, the disease should not be always so simply treated, and the mere lancing of the vesicles the only means adopted ; but it should be the first thing done, and that on which there is the greatest dependence, as attacking the fountain-head of all the after mischief, and getting rid of the danger of suffocation at least. The blain, suffered to take its course, speedily becomes connected with fever, and that fever is not long in taking on a typhoid form ; even then we should certainly extract blood. Four, or five, or six quarts should be taken away, according to the size of the beast, and theurgency of the case; or rather we would bleed until we begin to perceive its effect on the general circulation. In addition to this, as constipation usually accompanies the com- mencement of fever, and is never absent in cases of blain, we should administer a purgative— from a pound to a pound and a half of Epsom salts ; and likewise throw up some laxative injections. Let Epsom or Glauber salts, or the common culinary salt, be dissolved in simple water or thin gruel. They want nothing to in- sure or increase their effect. The practitioner may not be called in until gangrenous ulcers fill the mouth, and the membrane of the mouth, and the tongue itself, seem to be sloughing away in pieces ; ulcers, perhaps, have also be- gun to appear externally behind or under the jaw ; and, most of all to be dreaded, and frequently accompanying the worst stages of blain, ulcers begin to break out about the feet, and particularly at the, junction of the hair and the hoof, and threaten the loss of the hoof. Chloride of lime must be used from morning to night, until the cangrenous character of the ulcers is changed, and then the tinc- ture of aloes, or the tincture of myrrh substituted. Ulcers in any other part, particularly about the feet, must undergo a similar treatment. Chloride of lime, the solution being by degrees strength- 200 CATTLE. ened, will remove the fetor, and usually give the ulcer a healthy- surface. No bleeding will be required here : the stage of acute fever is passed. Physic should be given — one dose at least, whatever is the state of the bowels, and even although, the diarrhoea of -typhoid fever should be established; but, at the- sane time, the system must be roused and supported. A double dose of aromatic powder should accompany the physic ; and, after that, the gentian, calum- bo, and ginger roots should be regularly administered in powder, suspended in gruel. - Two drachms of gentian and calumbo, and one of ginger, will constitute an average dose, and may be repeated morning and night. The practitioner should pay considerable attention to the food. It is not always that the appetite fails in this disease ; nay, may remain unimpaired to the last; but the soreness' of the mouth, has prevented the animal from eating or ruminating. He should be fed with gruel — some of it always within his reach, and he will sip no inconsiderable quantity of it. More should be poured down, or given by the stomach-pump — the latter being the better way of administering it. When poured down bodily, it will generally find its way into the rumen, and there be retained, and in a manner lost ; but when given from the small pipe of the pump, and not too strongly forced on, it will trickle down the gullet, and be likely to flow on into the fourth, or true digesting stomach, and be converted into immediate nutriment. This is one of the numerous class of diseases, under which the animal either cannot labor a second time, or to which the constitu- tion betrays an evident insusceptibility for a considerable period. Cattle recovered from the blain have been purposely subjected to contagion, without effect. Homoeopathic treatment.- — The first thing to be done is to scrape the pustules with a curved knife, an iron spoon, or a wisp of straw, after which the part is to be well cleaned by means of a cloth steeped in oil. Once the pustules have been removed, the tongue should be touched every day with a cloth steeped in water, to which some drops of arsenicum have been added. This plan will suffice in most cases. If symptoms of the disease still remain, for instance, a fetid state of the breath, &c, acidum phosphoricum, alternately with rnercurius solubus, daily. THEUSH IN THE MOUTH. There is a disease, sometimes epidemic, especially in the spring and winter, when the weather is unusually cold and wet, that may be mistaken, and has been so, for blain. It consists in the appear- ance of pustules, or sometimes vesicles, not merely along the side and at the root of the tongue, but all over the mouth, and occa- THE SALIVARY GLANJS. 201 sionally even on the outside of the lips. These pustules break, and minute ulcers succeed, which may run a little into each other ; but they oftener speedily heal. This is very harmless. There is sometimes a slight degree of fevpr, rarely such as interferes with the appetite, but never to indi- cate danger. The disease, may last ten days, a fortnight, or more ; but gradually yields to mild doses of physic ; the beast may thrive the better afterwards for having got rid of something that was op- pressive to the constitution. Homoeopathic treatment. — This requires more especially the em- ployment of aconilum, and of mercuriusvivus. Acidum nitri also is very effectual, especially in dry inflammation. Carlo vegetahilis is specific in treating induration succeeding to inflammation : conium. lycopodium and silicea, are also recommended in this case. THE SALIVARY GLANDS. The food, when first gathered, is rolled hastily into a pellet, and swallowed, without being mingled with much of the moisture of the mouth ; but the second mastication is another affair — the food is not only to be thoroughly broken to pieces and ground down, but brought into that softened and pultaceous state, in which it can be thoroughly acted upon by the gastric juice, and digestion performed. The mouth is furnished with various glands, which secrete a limpid fluid of a somewhat saline taste, and called the saliva, by which the food is thus softened. These are differently named, according to their situation. The parotid gland, or the gland in the neighborhood of the ear, is the largest and most important of them. It occupies the hollow which extends from the root of the ear to the angle of the lower jaw. It consists of a vast number of little glands connected by cellular tissue, each having its minute duct to convey away the fluid that is secreted, and these ducts communicating with one another, and join- ing together to form one main branch, termed the parotid duct, through which the united stream is conveyed into the mouth. The following cut will give the reader a sufficient notion of the situation and connections of this gland, and also of~ the bloodvessels of the neck, and principal muscles of the upper part of it. 1. The splenitis (spleen-shaped) muscle, occupying almost the whole of the upper and side part of the neck, and extending from the parietal ridge, as far down as the fourth and fifth vertebrae of the back.. It arises by two tendons, one from the atlas, and the other from the mastoid process of the temporal bone : it is attached superiorly by tendinous and fleshy fibres to the ligament of the neck, and inferiorly by fleshy fibres to the transverse processes of the bones of the neck, and the fore part of the spine. There is one muscle on each side of the neck. When they act together, they erect 9* 202 CATTLE. and support the head and neck ; when either acts alone, it inclines the head and neck on that side. It is the muscle on which, with the trapezius in the next cut, the form of the upper part of the neck principally depends. 2. The inferior oblique (taking an oblique direction). A deeper- seated muscle on each side of the neck, from the first to the second bones of the neck. 8. The superior oblique. Likewise a deeper-seated muscle, from the ftrst bone of the neck to the portion of the parietal bone which forms the poll. Both acting together, they elevate the head ; — either acting alone, turns it on that side. When the hand is passed down the side of the cervical ligament, even near to the poll, the muscles of the neck will be observed to become rapidly thicker. The thickness of the neck of the ox lies principally below ; so it is in almost all ruminants, and particularly in the deer tribe ; there- fore these muscles are large. 4. A portion of the levator humeri (the 'elevator of the arm), re- versed. It arises by an aponeurotic expansion from the parietal ridge, and by a strong tendon, from the mastoid process of the temporal bone, and from the four first bones of the neck, and, con- necting itself with the ligament of the neck, it goes to the muscles of the shoulders and the upper bone of the arm. When the head is made a fixed point, one of them, acting alone, draws forward the shoulder and arm ; when the shoulder is made the fixed point, it THE SALIVARY GLANDS. 203 turns the head and neck ; or, the shoulder still being the fixed point, and both acting, the head is depressed. This muscle is large in the ox. It is united with the rhomboideus longus (the long rhomboid- shaped muscle), and evidently contributes materially to the forma- tion of those sub-cutaneous muscular fibres, -which are substituted forthe proper sub-cutaneous muscle of the neck. Inferiorly it is di- vided into three branches' — the one, thin and inferior, goes to the anterior extremity of the. sternum ; the second, at the inferior part of the arm, furnishes a tendon, which is inserted with that 1 of the pector- alis transversus (the transverse muscle of the chest) into the hu- merus ; while the superior division giv.es a strong tendinous expan- sion, which spreads over, and loses itself upon the outer face of the humerus. 5. The subrscapulo-hyoidus, (belonging to the substance under- neath the shoulder, and to the hyoid bone,) from the shoulder-blade to the body of the hyoid bone, to draw backward that bone. 6. The sterno-maxllaris, (belonging to the sternum and- the lower jaw,) from the cartilage in front of the chest to the angle of the lower jaw. It is attached to the lower jaw by means of a bifur- cated tendon. The posterior branch is inserted into the masseter muscle, on which it acts as a kind of bridle in the usual process of mastication, and more particularly as tending to limit the lateral and grinding motion of that muscle. The other goes on and attach- es itself to the buccinator muscle, immediately to be described. Thus they act quite as much as muscles of mastication, as they are con- cerned in the bending of the head, and perhaps more so. The whole muscle may act on the head — the separate portions of it on the function of mastication. 7. The steino-hyoidus, from the sternum to the hyoid bone, and to the thyroid cartilage of the larynx, in order to draw the bone and the cartilage downward and backward. 8. The masseter, (masticating muscle) covers the greater part of the side of the superior maxillary bone, and is inserted into the rough- ened surface of the. angle of the lower jaw bone. 9. The buccinator (the muscle by which the human being blows the trumpet) extends from the alveolar borders of the upper and under grinders, over the cheeks, and the membrane of the mouth, and -to the angle of the mouth. It tightens the membrane of the mouth, and thus principally assists in the disposal of the food in the mouth, and also in retracting the angle of the mouth. 10. A branch of the os hyoides. 11. The stylo-maxillaris, from the styloid process of the occipital bone to the angle of the lower jaw, to draw it backward, and to open it. 12. That portion of the stylo-maxillaris, which is called the digas- tric, is seen here, 13. The little flat muscle, the stylo-hyoideus, is bere represented ; 204 CATTLE. extending from the styloid process of the occipital, to the angle of the corner of the hyoid bone, and its action confined to the retracting and elevating of the corner of that bone. 14. A muscle of the larynx. 15. The parotid gland, (the gland in the neighborhood of the ear,) the greater part of it reversed, to show the parts beneath. 16. The parotid duct, winding within the angle of the jaw, and escaping again at a very, little distance, and in company with the maxillary vein and artery climbing up the cheek, and perforating the buccinator muscle, in order to discharge its contents into the mouth. The orifice is generally found about the third or fourth grinder. The situation of, the duct should be carefully observed, for obstruction and fistula of this duct is frequent in the ox, and operations of various kinds may be necessary. 17. The submaxillary gland (the gland under the jaw). Its com- mencement is. almost as high as that of the parotid, but behind it ; thence it reaches down to the angle of the jaw, and there begins to take a direction forward between the branches of the lower jaw, and terminates in a duct which opens on either side of the freenum of the tongue. 18. Lymphatic glands (glands containing lymph) of the neck. 19. Lymphatic glands found between the branches of the lower jaw ; neither belonging to the submaxillary nor sublingual glands, but often confounded with them. They become inflamed and enlarged in almost every case of catarrh. These glands often enlarge to a very considerable degree, suppurate, and troublesome ulcers ensue. 20. The jugular vein (the vein of the throat), previous to its bifurcation, and pointing out the usual situation for bleeding. 21. The submaxillary vein, returning the blood from the tongue, the mouth, and the face generally. It is scarcely lost at all within the angle of the lower jaw, but runs along the edge of it, and might be opened with advantage in some affections of the face. When it emerges from the jaw, and begins to Glimb up the face, it is found between the parotid duct and the submaxillary artery. 22. The larger branch of the jugular above the bifurcation receiv- ing the blood from the upper part of the face and neck, and also from the brain. It is so near to the parotid gland, that it would be difficult to bleed from it there. The bifurcation is sometimes com- pletely covered by the parotid gland. We must therefore be always content with bleeding below the division of the jugular in cattle. 23. The temporal vein (the vein of the temple). 24. The trunk of the parotidean and auricular veins (the veins of the parotid gland and of the ear). 25. The internal jugular, and particularly its passage below the subscapulo-hyoideus muscle. The path of the internal jugular by the side of the carotid, under, $hat muscle, is marked by a dotted line. INFLAMMATION OF THE PAROTID GLAND 205 26. The carotid ratery, where it emerges from below the subsca- pulo-hyoideus muscle. Its path under that muscle, by the side of the internal jugular, is also marked by a dotted line, showing the connection of the two vessels. The figures are placed at the spot where it would be most convenient to operate, if circumstances should require that a ligature should be passed round the carotid. 27. The submaxillary artery given off from the main trunk, and pursuing its course anteriorly, to bury itself beneath the angle of the lower jaw. It is afterwards seen emerging from under that bone in company with the sub-maxillary vein, and the parotid duct, and be- ing the lowest of the three. 28. The temporal artery, at which the pulse may often be conve- niently examined. 29. One of the arteries supplying the parotid gland. 30. The eighth pair of nerves, or the motor organic nerves. 31. One of the linguales, or nerves by means of which the tongue is moved. INFLAMMATION OF THE PAROTID GLAND. The parotid gland, in cattle, is very subject to inflammation. Con- tusions or wounds of the part are frequent causes of inflammation ; and this gland, in the ox, sympathizes strongly with catarrhal affec- tions of the upper air-passages. A bullock will rarely have hoose, accompanied by any degree of fever, without some enlargement and tenderness of the parotid. There is scarcely an epidemic among cattle, one of the earliest symptoms of which is not swelling of the head and neck. These swellings under the ear are guides on which we place much, and perhaps the greatest, dependence, in judging of the intensity and danger of the disease ; and particularly, and most of all to be dreaded, its tendency to assume a typhoid form. These enlargements have been confounded with strangles/ but through want of proper examination of the parts. Inflammation of the. parotid gland is accompanied by heat and tenderness of the part, and which render the beast unwilling to eat, or to ruminate ; and sometimes by so much swelling as to threaten immediate suffocation. This is one of the varieties of swelling about the head of cattle characterized by the expressive term of strangullim. The swelling of the parotid gland extends oftener and more rap- idly downward than upward, reaching the throat, and pressing upon all the neighboring vessels. When there is much swelling, suppura- tion and abscess are at hand, and should be encouraged by fomenta- tion ; and as soon as any motion of pus can be detected, the tumor should be freely lanced ; the fluid will readily escape, and the ab- scess fill up : but if the swelling be suffered to burst, ulcers will be formed, exceedingly difficult to heal, and that will too often run on to gangrene. It is a singular thing that while the flesh of the ox is CATTLE. one of the supports of human life, and no food contributes more or healthier nutriment, there is no animal in which grangrenous ulcers are so frequently formed, or in which they are so corroding and ma- lignant. From inflammation, apparently of only an inconsiderable portion of the parotid gland, we have known ulcers of the most offensive character extend from ear to ear, and expose the most im- portant vessels of the upper part of the neck. This inflammation is to be combated by fermentations, cataplasms, and, occasionally, blisters, in the early stage ; bleeding and physick- ing must be resorted to, according to the degree of general fever ; and after the ulcer has formed, the chloride of lime must be used to arrest the progress of gangrene, and the tincture of aloes to heal the part after the bursting of the abscess. Mild purgatives will be very useful, each of them containing aromatic or tonic medicine. Obstruction to the passage of the saliva will sometimes occur in the duct ; swelling will ensue at the place of obstruction ; and, at length, the fluid continuing to accumulate, will burst the vessel, and a fistulous ulcer will be the result. THE SUBMAXILLARY GLANDS. The second source of the saliva is from the submaxillary glands. The bulk of the maxillary gland is seen at fig. 17 (p. 202,) even posterior to the parotid gland. The direction within the branches of the jaw is also plainly traced ; and there is a continuation of glandular substance, or a collection of little glands extending on either side within the branches of the jaws, the common duct from all of which pierces through the substance at the root of the tongue, and opens on either side of the frsenum. The termination of the duct is particularly evident in cattle, and is very curiously constructed ; a cartilaginous plate doubles upon itself, and serves as a covering, or roof, to the little teat-like orifice of the duct. BARBS OR PAPS.. Occasionally in catarrh, and oftener when the membrane of the mouth generally is somewhat inflamed, and the pustules of which we have spoken appear in various parts, these little projections like- wise become red and enlarged, and the beast is said to have the barbs or paps. To burn or cut them away, converts temporary inflammation into serious and even gangrenous ulcers. A dose of physic, and, if necessary, a moderate bleeding, will usually cause the barbs to disappear, or, if a little disposition to ulceration should ap- pear, an alum wash will be all that is needed. In cases of deep abscess, which sometimes appear under the tongue, from inflammation, or, much oftener, from improper treat- ment, the chloride of lime will be the first and chief application. It must be injected to the very bottom of the sinuses, and continued to THE PHARYNX. 207 be used, several times in the day, while any unpleasant smell is per- ceived. To this will succeed the alum-wash, or an infusion of catechu. THE SUBLINGUAL GLANDS. The third source of the saliva is from numerous glands scattered over the membrane of the mouth generally, but principally collected at its base and under the tongue, and therefore called the sublingual glands. They consist of small collections of glands, with minute openings into the mouth, but which also a little enlarge, when there is tendency to inflammation in the mouth. No harm can ever come of these gigs and bladders, if let alone. On every part of the cheeks and lips these little glands are found ; and the quantity of saliva obtained from all of these, especially when they are excited to action in mastication or rumination, is very great. THE VELUM PALATI, OR SOFT PALATE. Advancing to the back part of the mouth, we find a curtain di- viding it from the pharynx, or cavity immediately above the gullet. It is formed of a continuation of the membrane of the mouth ante- riorly, of that of the nose posteriorly, and it hangs from the cres- cent-formed border of the palatine bone, p. 144. It reaches from the palate almost to the entrance into the gullet and the windpipe. The food is returned to the mouth in the natural process of rumina- tion, and also in vomiting, which occurs very rarely indeed, or, at least, regurgitation from the rumen, for we much doubt whether true vomiting, or the return of food from the fourth stomach, was ever seen in cattle. THE PHARYNX. The food having passed beneath this soft palate, reaches a funnel- shaped cavity between the mouth and the gullet and windpipe. It is lined by a membrane full of little glands, that pour out a viscid fluid, by which the pellet of food is covered and prepared to pass more readily down the gullet. "Within this membrane are muscles that contract with considerable force ; and the food, almost beyond the action of the tongue, is seized by these muscles and forced along the pharynx to the entrance into the oesophagus or gullet. CHAPTER XI. THE ANATOMY AND DISEASES OF THE NECK AND CHEST. In order to understand the proper conformation of these parts, differing so materially as they do in a kindly feeding and an unprof- itable beast, and differing, too, so much in various breeds, each excellent in its way, we must have recourse ,to two anatomical plates, which include, as much as possible, the whole muscular system of the ox. 1. Orbicularis oris (the ring-shaped muscle of the mouth). This muscle is found within the border of the lips, and constituting their principal substance and thickness, forming two semi-ovals, and united together at the angle of the lips. It is large and mixed with ten- dinous fibres, because the lips are powerfully employed in the ox in grasping and assisting in tearing off the food, 2. The elevator of the upper lip, and angle of the nose. 3. The Zyffomaticus (arising near the yoke-formed arch under which the temporal muscle passes) lies along the middle of the side of the face ; it also assists in the motion of the lips, and particularly in retracting the angle of the lips. This is particularly developed in the ox t for it has much to do in the gathering of his food. .ANATOMY OF THE NECK AND CHEST. 209 4. The depressor of the lower eyelid, a sub-cutaneous muscle of considerable development. 5. The depressor of the lower lip, lying along the side of the lower jaw, and going to the inferior lateral part of the under lip, and .to separate the under lip from the upper. *6. Obicularls palpebrarum (the ring-shaped muscle of the lids), employed in keeping the eyes open. When this muscle ceases to act the eye closes, from the elasticity of the cartilage at the edge of the lid. 7. The levator of the upper eyelids. - 8. The depressor of the ear. This is a singular muscle, lying im- mediately under the skin ; running over, and attached to, the parotid gland ; and reaching from the outer side of the root of the ear, down to the very larynx. The ears of the ox have an extensive, although slow motion, and have to de'fend the. eyes from insects. 9. The different portions of the levator humeri, through the whole of their course: the upper part of thismuscle was described at p. 202. On this muscle the form of the lower part of the neck princi-" pally depends, and it is much more developed in some breeds than in others. However thin and deer-like we may wish the neck of the ox to be at the setting on of the head, we look for plenty of muscles at the bottom of it, or we shall have neither strength nor substance in any part of the animal. 10. The sterno-maxillaris, described at p. 203. 11. The trapezius (the quadrilateral muscle). This muscle is united with the rhomboideus longus, and forms the exterior muscular layer immediately below the integument, and above the splenius. (See p. 202, and also the next cut). On this, and on the splenius beneath, depends the form of the upper part of the neck and withers, and, in some breeds, the cervical portion of it is particularly fine. The combined action of the whole is to raise the scapula, and draw the bone forward. 12. The latissimus dorsi, so called from its extent, being the widest muscle of the back, and reaching over the whole of the upper and side part behind the scapula, of which bone it is a muscle, drawing it backward, and elevating its inferior extremity. It is thin ; much adipose matter insinuates itself between the fibres, and gives it a false appearance of substance. 13. The peetoralis major (the -larger pectoral muscle). It is the only pectoral muscle, properly so speaking, for the minor is not found. There are, however, the .transverse pectorals, of which we shall give an account presently. From the ensiform cartilage at the termination of the true ribs, and even from the external oblique muscle of the belly, it extends forward, strongly attaching itself to the fourth, fifth, and sixth "pieces of the sternum, and also the lesser tubercle of the humerus, and the inner part of the end of the scapula or shoulder-blade. It draws the scapula into an upright position. 210 CATTLE. 14. The external oblique muscle of the abdomen. It extends over the whole of the inferior and lateral portions of the belly, giving sup- port to the contents of the belly ; assisting in the evacuation of the faeces and urine, and also in that of the foetus, and being a valuable auxiliary in the process of breathing. Although it has not so much work to perform as an auxiliary muscle in respiration, or in support- ing the abdomen and its contents in the shocks to which they are occasionally exposed in rapid motion, yet this and the other oblique muscle have a great deal more constant labor than is generally sup- posed in supporting the immense \yeight of the distended paunch, and sometimes powerfully contracting upon it. These oblique mus- cles, which constitute the flank pieces of various kinds in the carcass, are of considerable thickness, and never overlooked by the butcher when examining a beast. 15. The fflutceus maximus, or great muscle, belonging to the but- tock, principally constitues the anterior, middle, and external parts of the haunch. Its attachments are very complicated, and its action is what its situation at once indicates, either to flex and bring forward the hind limbs upon the loins, or the pelvis and loins upon the hind limbs, accordingly as either is made a fixed point. This muscle is the one which is most largely concerned in propelling animals for- ward, and is in cattle a large one, though relatively, for no great speed is usually required from them, nor any sudden and powerful flexion of the limbs. This muscle is brought into view in cattle by raising the aponeurotic expansion of the fascia lata, and it is con- cealed superiorly and posteriorly by the prolongation of the semi- tendinosus muscle. 16. Fascia lata. This muscle, although we have termed it a. fascia or envelope, is a fleshy and tendinous expansion over the whole of the anterior and external surface of the thigh, whence it spreads be- low the stifle. Its chief use is to strengthen the muscles beneath ; but, besides this, it assists the extension of the leg on the thigh and the flexion of the thigh on the pelvis. Its fleshy portion is divided into two, and its tendinous expansion extends over all the muscles of the quarters, and unites with the principal flexor muscle of the thigh — the adductor magnus. This is a part of the beast where we look for plenty of muscle and fat, and we can hardly find quarters too long and too well developed. 17 and 18. The biceps femoris, or two-headed muscle of the thigh. It flexes the leg upon the thigh, and. contributes to turn the leg in- ward. In cattle, it has no spinal prolongation, and it does not ascend beyond the ischial tuberosity. 19. The foramina belonging to the sub-cutaneous abdominal vein. The preceding numbers refer to the cut, page 202 ; those follow- ing; to the cut on the next page. ANATOMY OF THE NECK AND CHEST. 211 1. The splenitis lying under the trapezius, and already described in p. 201. 2. The anterior portion of the trapezius, extending along the edge of the cervical ligament, from the back of the head to within the superior part of the scapula, and raising the scapula and carrying it forward, already alluded to, p. 209. 3. The rhomboideus lomgus (the long diamond-shaped muscle). It has already been stated that this muscle in the ox is united with the trapezius, and forms the superior and lateral part of the neck, extend- ing from the head to the' withers. It varies materially in different breeds. Nothing can be so unlike as the ridge, or crest of the neck, in the Devon and the Galloway,' or even the Devon and the Here- ford. In all cattle it is proportionally large, because the neck gene- rally was designed to be fleshy ; a fine crest, the neck gradually thickening below, may be considered as a point of beauty in cattle. 4. The serratus anticus major (the anterior part of the great saw- shaped muscles, or those by which the shoulder of the animal is attached to the trunk, and the weight of the trunk supported). These muscles of the shoulder are numerous in the ox, and are sepa- rated from each other by cellular and adipose matter. The strength of attachment which rapid motion renders necessary, is not wanted, but the accumulation of the flesh and fat goes on wherever it can. The serrated muscles are seen prolonged upon the side behind the shoulder. 5. One of the insertions of the. levator humeri. 6. A portion of the serratus muscle, occupying the posterior and inferior portion of the neck, where the neck emerges from, or enters into the chest. It consists of the union of two or three muscles, par- ticularly one lying across upon the first ribs. It is composed of a long band, larger posteriorly, which takes its origin about the middle 212 CATTLE. of the fourth rib, and spreads forward over the three anterior ribs, and even to the vertebrae of the withers. 7. Another head of the levator humeri. 8. The triceps extensor brachii, or three-headed extensor of the arm. Two of the portions are here seen, the onfe from the external part of the shoulder to the outer tubercle on the bone of the arm, and also on the outer parts of the elbow ; and the other occupying the angular space between the shoulder-blade and the bone of the arm ; the muscle has its principal lower insertion in the posterior and superior part of the elbow. There is a third portion on the interior of the scapula and the bone of the arm. The action of the compound muscle is evidently to bind the humerus, or bone of the arm, on the shoulder-blade, and thus to extend and throw forward the lower part of the limb. These muscles are small in cattle for these evident reasons, that strength is not required in the ox, as a beast of burden, and bis speed never taxed to any extent ; and because needless flesh here would be precisely in the part where it is coarsest and least valuable. The diminution of muscle on the external part of the shoulder, and the accumulation of cellular and fatty-matter between it and the trunk, being the reverse of what we find in the horse, are apt illustrations of the skill with which every animal is adapted to his destiny. 9. Another portion of the serrated muscles, belonging to- the hack and ribs. These are principally muscles of respiration ; they elevate the ribs, and bring them forward, and thus expand the chest, and assist in the process of inspiration. This is a small muscle, because from the idle life of the ox, his breathing is seldom hurried. 10. The internal oblique muscle, or inner layer of muscles constitu- ting the walls of the belly. These muscles assist the external ones in supporting the weight of the belly, and compressing its contents. Being placed somewhat farther back than the external oblique, they will offer less assistance in respiration, but contribute more to the expulsion of the urine and faeces. 17. The iliacus internus, or inner and larger muscle belonging to the flanks, occupies the upper and inner space between the spine and the thigh. Its use is to bring the thigh under the haunch, which, in the slow-motioned ox, is rarely performed with much rapidity or force, therefore it is not large. It enters into the composition of the aitch bone and the upper part of the round. 18, 19, 20. The glutcei muscles fie on the upper, and outer parts of the haunch, and the good or deficient form of the quarters de- pends upon them. They are valuable in the ox, as indicating the general muscularity of the system. This may, however, be carried too far. Contributing to the formation of the rump, and, in a cer- tain degree, of the round, they constitute some of the tenderest and most valuable parts of the ox. DESCRIPTION OF THE NECK. 213 21. The pyriform (pear-shaped) muscle, found within the cavity of the pelvis, and on the inside of the aitch-bone and the rump. Large and composed of soft fibres, in the ox. Its office is to assist in the extension of the haunch. 22. Levator caudce brevis (the shorter elevator of the tail). It is used in common with other muscles to move the tail, 23. Levator caudcB longus (the long elevator of the tail). 24. Depressor caudce, by which the tail is pressed upon the haunch, and that sometimes with a force that would scarcely be thought possible. 25. The intertransversal muscles, whose oblique fibres run from the base to the edge of the bones of the tail, through its whole extent, and by which the lateral motions are effected. By the union of all of these muscles the tail is made a most effective instrument in driving away or destroying thousands of winged blood-suckers, by which the animal would otherwise be tormented. 26. The rectus femoris, or straight muscle of the thigh, runs along the whole of the anterior portion of the thigh, from the ilium to the patella, or knee-cap. It is a very conspicuous muscle in the round, and helps to extend the thigh and advance the haunch. 27. The vasti muscles, so called from their occupying the greater part of the thigh. The three branches are commonly distinct, but they are not much developed, for they have not the work ■ to do. The butcher thinks that there is a great difference between the round of the beast that has worked, and of another that has not ; and he is right, for nothing tends so much to the development of tne muscular system as regular exercise. 28. The great adductor, or bringer forward of the thigh. This muscle occupies the external face of the posterior part of the thigh. It rises as high as the spine of the sacrum, and reaches the anterior portioa of the leg by three different branches or heads, and thence is called the triceps adductor femoris. It bends the leg upon the thigh ; it carries the whole limb backward in the act of kicking, and also assists in elevating the fore part of the body in preparing for a leap. It is large, reaching along, the spine, to the very angle of the croup. 29. The semitendinosus, so called from its half-tendinous construc- tion, constitutes, with the next muscle, the posterior and internal face of the haunch and thigh. It is a flexor or bender of the leg. 30. Adductor tibiae longus (the long adductor, or bringer forward of the thigh ;) sometimes called, from its construction, the semi-tendi- nosus muscle. It is a flexor or bender the leg. The reader is now prepared to enter with us, so far as we can without being too dryly anatomical, into the consideration of the form and structure of the neck and trunk of cattle ; and particularly as con- nected with the production of milk while living, and beef when dead. 214 CATTLE. DESCRIPTION OF THE KECK. The neck of the ox (see cut of skeleton, p.' 143,) is composed of seven bones. In cattle there is great shortness of the neck generally— shortness, and yet magnitude of every bone — the avoidance of smooth surface, and the springing out, above and below, and on one' side and the other, of processes which are long, broad, and roughened ; and .there is not an elastic movement about the whole of this part of the animal, and the neck is level. The intention of nature is plain enough in the construction of the neck of the ox. All these widened, roughened, tuberous- bones are for the attachmemt of muscles — the accumulation of flesh. True, these are not the prime parts of the animal, but we see the commencement of the principle. The animal was destined to produce flesh and fat for our nourishment. , A little of the arched form of the neck may be traced in the Devon ox, and is no detriment either to his appearance or his actual value ; although common consent seems to have determined that the line from the horns to the withers should scarcely deviate from that of the back. Is this trait of the thorough bred horse, here appearing in cattle, connected with that activity in work for which this breed has ever been unrivaled ? The Sussex, and Hereford, and Pembroke, and Welsh, generally, and all the Scots, horned or hornless, have, occa- sionally at least, this rising of the forehand ; and we must be per- mitted still to retain this form of the neck, as one of the characteristics, and no defect, of the middle-hprns, who, in particular districts, and for particular purposes, will still remain and be duly valued, when the triumph of the short-horns is complete in their universal diffusion. We must go even a \ttle further than this, and claim the rising crest as an essential point in every good bull of every breed. It shall be what, in the majority of cases, it perhaps is, nothing more than an accumulation of fat about the ligament of the neck, and the splenius and complexius muscles ; but it indicates that broad base of muscle beneath — that bulk and strength of neck, so indicative of the true masculine character. We refer to the Devon bull (p. ] 1), to whom, indeed, it belongs, in virtue of his breed — and, we refer, also, to the West Highland bull (p. 42), who has the same claim to it, and also, •to the Old Craven bull (p. 82) ; to the New Leicester bull (p. 88), and even to the short-horned bull (p 109). The actual bulk of muscle, however, in any part of the ox is not so much greater as the extended and roughened surfaces would lead us to imagine. The head, or the insertion of the muscle, may be spread over the whole surface of the bone ; but we have not proceeded far in our examination of that muscle, before we find that its structure, at least in the unworked *ox, is not compact muscle. A great deal THE PROPER FORM AND SIZE OF THE NECK. 215 more cellular and adipose substance is inserted, not only between the different muscles, but between the little divisions or bundles of which each muscle is composed ; and, in fact, between 'the very fibres of the muscle itself; and that to so great an extent, that in a well-fatted beast it is almost impossible to meet with any simple muscle. The whole is marbled — streaks of fat, enclosed in cellular substance, run parallel with almost every fibre. This, at least, is the case with many breeds of cattle, and always is in good cattle. THE PROPER FORM AND SIZE OP THE NECK. Some breeds of cattle used' to be remarkable for the fineness of the neck at the setting on of the head, and this was considered to be one of their greatest beauties, as well at the surest proof of the purity of their breed : this was long the case with the Devon ox, and when, by chance, this fineness extended to the withers, and was accompanied by a shoulder almost as oblique, as that of a thorough-bred horse, the animal was imagined to be perfect. He was a beautiful and a valua- ble animal, and particularly as this fineness of the neck and withers was usually contrasted in him by a deep breast and an open and wide bosom. That man, nevertheless, deserved the thanks of the Devon- shire breeders, who first by selection and breeding a little diminished this fineness of the neck ; he did not impair the general beauty of the animal ; he did not lessen his activity in the slightest degree ; but he increased his size, and his aptitude to fatten too. In the Ayrshire cow of twenty years ago we had a specimen of the extent to which a clean neck and throat might be carried, without perhaps diminishing at all the milking properties ; but materially to the disadvantage of the farmer when her milking days were past. This prejudice in favor of the small neck led the farmers even to prefer their dairy-bulls according to the feminine aspect of their heads and necks. Perhaps the disparity of size which then existed between the northern and southern cattle might somewhat justify them in choosing the smallest variety of the new breed. This, however, having passed over, the Ayrshire breeder, still fond of a neck finely shaped toward the head, has produced one a great deal thicker toward the shoulder and breast ; and this not interfering, as expe- rience has now taught him, with the milking qualities of the animal, while it gives aptitude to fatten afterwards. Mr. Marshall, describing the New Leicester breed, speaks of the forend being long, but light to a degree of elegance ; the neck thin, the chap clean, and the head fine ; the shoulders remarkably fine and thin, as to bone, but thickly covered, with flesh, and not the smallest pro- tuberance of bone discernible. He also thus speaks of Mr. Fowler's celebrated bull Shakspeare : — His head, chap, and neck were remark- ably fine and clean ; but his chest was extraordinarily deep, and his brisket down to his knees. 216 CATTLE. The short-horn, in his state of greatest and most unnatural fatness, has, or Ought to have, a tendency to fineness of the neck, at the setting on of the head, however that neck may rapidly increase in bulk, and, in the opinion of some, give too great a weight to the fore- quarters. The splenitis, trapezius, and complexus muscles are those which have most to do with the usual bulk of the superior part of the neck, and with that which it may attain under the process of fattening. The splenitis may be seen at fig. 1, p. J202; the trapezius is depicted at fig. 11, p. 208 ; and the rhomboideus longus, with which the trapezius is united, is brought into view at fig. 3, p. 211. The complexus major is situated under them. Some of it rises as low as the transverse processes of the four or five first bones of the back, and from all, except the two higher of the bones of the neck. It therefore has its greatest bulk about the lower part of the neck, and on it, and the fatty matter connected with it, the form and bulk of that portion of the neck depend. Its office is to raise the neck, and elevate and protrude the head. The form of the under part of the neck is much influenced by the levator humeri, which is seen at fig. 4, p. 202 ; fig. 9, p. 208 ; and, still lower down, by the pectoral muscle, for there is but one in the ox, seen at fig. 13, p. 208. Considering, however, the laxity of the muscular fibre in the ox,' and the interposition of fatty matter in every part of the muscular system, this muscle can acquire considerable bulk, and is that on which the form and bulk of the neck, at its lower and more important part, principally depend. Whatever may have been said of fine and small necks, the neck must rapidly thicken as it descends, or we shall have a general lightness of carcass, which will render the animal comparatively worthless as a grazing beast. There are other muscles, however, placed under the complexus — viz., the complex*./ minor, and the large and small recti, and oblique muscles, concerned in the . lateral motion of the head, which have considerable size, and contribute materially to the bulk of the neck. THE ARTERIES OF THE NECK. Before we leave the neck, we should describe the principal blood- vessels which are brought into view in the cut at p. 202. The caro- tid artery (fig. 26, pp. 202 and 205,) and some of its ramifications, are the only arteries that we could bring into view. The carotid artery on either,, side proceeds from the heart — escapes from the chest with the windpipe and the gullet ; and, approaching the windpipe, and clinging to its posterior surface, climbs the neck, supplying the different parts with blood, until it arrives at the larynx, where it divides into two branches — the external and internal. The external spreads over the faje and external part of the head — the THE ARTERIES OF THE NECK. 217 internal enters the skull and is tbe main source whence the brain derives its arterial blood. Smaller streams are sent to the brain from the vertebral arteries, which, defended andpartly concealed in canals formed for them in the bones pi the neck, after having fed the neigh- boring' parts, likewise expend -the remainder on the brain, entering by the great foramen, through which the spinal chord escapes. A third and smaller branch, leaving the main trunk high up in the neck-, sends a small vessel to the brain, under the . title of the occipital artery. « We can conceive of very few, if any,' cases in which it would be either necessary or advisable to bleed from an artery in the ox. The temporal is, in a manner, out of reach ; and the artery of the fore- head is so defended by its bony canal, as not to be easily got at ; besides which, in bleeding from an artery, there will always be extreme difficulty 8'ither in getting the quantity of blood wanted, on account of the contraction of the, vessel, or of stopping the haemor- rhage, if the blood flow freely. There is one circumstance which will strike every one, and that is —except the larger vessels immediately from the heart — the smallness of the arteries, and the largeness of the veins. What enormous ves- sels are the jugulars and milk veins ! And what a torrent of blood will 'pour from them if a large incision be made! We shall bear this in mind as we pass on. The submaxillary artery has been already described (fig. 27, pp. 202 and 205,) pursuing its course anteriorily, to bury itself beneath the angle of the lower jaw, whence it speedily emerges again, and close to the angle of the jaw. This should be remembered when we are feeling for the pulse, tt occurs under some circumstances of disease, that it is difficult, or impossible, to ascertain the pulse at the jaw, and should, therefore, teach us to go at once to the side when there is any difficulty about the jaw. The temporal artery is much larger, because it has a great surface to ramify upon and to feed : the figure will point out the spot at which the pulse will usually be most conveniently felt. The anterior auricular artery is also large. -It supplies not only the anterior muscles of the ear, but also the temporal muscle, deeply lodged in the temporal fossa. The pulse may be very readily felt by means of it, and perhaps more readily than from the temporal. The superciliary artery, escaping from the foramen above the orbit of the eye, is a considerable one. It forms two branches, of which one goes to the root of the horn, and contributes to the vascularity and nutriment of that part. The other descends downward, on tho side of the face. The occipital artery is small, the brain of the ox, which a branch, of this artery supplies, being small compared to his size. 10 218 CATTLE. THE VEINS OF THE NECK. We here recognize the two jugulars which are found in most ani- mals. The smaller, or internal jugular (fig. 25, p. 202,). is deeply seated, and no practical advantage can be taken of it, save the knowledge, that in inflammation and loss of the external vein from bleeding, the return of the blood from that side of the face and head "would be facilitated by the internal one, for nature is wonderfully ingenious in making provision for carrying on the circulation. * BLEEDING. The jugular is the usual place for bleeding cattle. The vessel is easily got at ; is large, and can scarcely be missed by the clumsiest operator. The strap round the neck, in order to raise the vein, should be dispensed with. It presses equally on both sides of the neck ; and serious consequences are sometimes produced by this sudden stoppage of the return of so much of the blood by the vein. If the vein be pressed upon by the finger, a little below the intended bleeding place, it will become sufficiently prominent to guide any one. The instrument should be the lancet, but one considerably broad- shouldered. A large vessel will bear a proportionably larger orifice ; and the good effect of bleeding depends more on the rapidity with which the blood is abstracted, than on the quantity drawn. The cowherd, or the owner of cattle, would do better to confine himself to the stick and fleam, for the hide of the ox is so thick, and the edge of the lancet is so apt to turn, that it requires a little experience and tact to bleed with certainty and safety. In the abstraction of blood, and especially at the commencement of a disease, or while inflammation runs high, the rule is to let the blood flow until the pulse plainly indicates that the circulation is affected. All other bleeding is worse than useless — it is sapping the strength of the constitution, and leaving the power of the enemy Un- impaired. Bad necks in cattle, after bleeding, are not common. They must be treated by fomentations and emollient lotions at first, and when these fail, the application of the heated iron to the lips of the wound ; or, in very bad cases, the introduction of setons, or the injection of the zinc-wash into the sinus. BLEEDING PLACES. If any affection of the mouth, or the nasal passages, should de- mand local bleeding, cattle may be bled from the palatine vessels or veins of the mouth. If the operator cuts but deep enough, plenty of blood will be obtained. The cephalics before, and the saphena THE MILK, OR SUB-CUTANEOUS ABDOMINAL VEIN. 219 veins behind, are proper places for bleeding — and some say the milk, or sub-cutaneous abdominal vein. This last vein is large enough for the speedy abstraction of any quantity of blood in the shortest period ; but the jugular is the most convenient bleeding- place in particular cases ; and the only question is, whether any local advantage can be obtained by opening the sub-cutaneous abdominal. THE MILK, OR SUB-CUTANEOUS ABDOMINAL VEIIT. This vein first comes into view under the abdomen, at the com- mencement of the cartilaginous circle of the false ribs. It emerges from two foramina, or openings, (the situation of which is pointed out by fig. 18, p. 208.) It approaches, on either side, the mesian line of the abdomen, and burying itself between the thighs, it pur- sues its course towards the inguinal vein. Sometimes it unites with the superpubian vein, and occasionally gives a branch to the sub- pelvian. In the neighborhood of the cartilaginous circle, it presents two branches, the one external and superior, the other internal and inferior. The first springs from various cutaneous ramifications, reaching even to the thorax, and anastomosing or communicating with some of the sub-cutaneous veins of the thorax. The other branch penetrates within the cartilaginous circle, and "goes to unite with a principal division of the veins of the sternum. This milk vein is derived from numerous ramifications from the walls of the chest, as far anteriorly as the breast bone, and taking in some of the external intercostals. ' It belongs to the respiratory sys- tem more than to any other. As it advances posteriorly along the abdomen, it creeps by the side of the udder, or of the scrotum, and empties itself partly into the inguinal, and partly into the sub-pelyian vein. As it travels along the abdomen and the groin, it receives some muscular and cutaneous fibres, but nothing more. Its use is to assist in returning the blood from these parts, and also by this round- about journey, and these curious connections, to- establish a free com- munication between the anterior ■ and posterior cav&, or the blood which is returned from the anterior and posterior portions of the body. This may be a matter of considerable consequence in certain states of the constitution. Should we have recourse to the milk vein in order to obtain the benefit of local bleeding ? We should in cases of abdominal inflam- mation, for we should unload the vessels of the walls of the abdo- men, and probably assist in unloading some of the internal vessels too, and we should abate the danger of peritoneal inflammation. For yet stronger reasons, we should have recourse to it in thoracic affection, for most of the smaller ramifications which compose -this vein come from the thorax, and there is greater sympathy, and there are more numerous connections between the outer and inner portion of the wall of the chest than of the abdomen. But if we were to 220 CATTLE. have recourse to bleeding' from this vein, in garget, or any inflamma- tory affection of the- udder, we should betray our ignorance of anatomy ; and still more so should we do it if we regarded this milk vein as having any further connection with the secretion of milk, than as being a kind of measure or standard of the power and de- velopment of the vascular system, with the existence of which- the secretion of milk, as well as the secretions generally, is essentially connected. THE HEART. We can trace the veins in their course down the neck to the heart, and the arteries working their way upward from the heart, the great source of the circulation of the blood. The lungs, on either side,, are inclosed in a separate and perfect bag ; each lung has its distinct pleura or membrane. The heart lies between these two membranes ; and, more perfectly to cut off all injurious connection between the lungs and the heart — all communication of diseased — the heart is inclosed in a pleura, or bag, of its own, termed the pericardium. This membrane closely invests the heart; it supports it in its situa- tion, prevents too great dilatation when it is gorged with blood, and too violent action when it is sometimes unduly stimulated. Notwith- standing the confinement of the heart by the pericardium, it beats violently enough against the ribs under circumstances of unu- sual excitation ; and were it not thus tied down, it would often bruise and injure itself, and cause inflammation in the neighboring parts. INFLAMMATION OF THE PERICARDIUM. This membrane is occasionally the seat of obscure, unsuspected, and fatal diseases. The cow is a greedy animal ; she swallows al- most everything that comes in her way. She will pick up large pins, needles, and nails. A friend of ours lost a cow from some disease which neither he nor the medical attendant understood. On opening her, a piece of wire, two inches in length, was found stick- ing in the pericardium, and which had produced extensive ulceration and gangrene there. We are strongly inclined to believe that these diseases occur oftener than has been suspected; these pointed substances, which in other animals take very strange but generally comparatively harm- less courses, in order to work their way out of the body, select in the cow this dangerous and fatal course. The proprietors of cattle, and of cows particularly — for the cow chiefly, or almost alone, has this strange propensity— should be careful as to the manner of feed- ing them. THE HEART. THE HEART. In all animals the existence of life Is connected . with, or rather dependent upon, the constant supply of fresh arterial blood. There is not a secretion that can be performed, or a function discharged, or a single motion accomplished, without the presence of this vital fluid. The heart is the grand engine by which it is circulated through: the frame. It is a large muscle, or combination of muscles, totally independent of the will, and working' without cessation and without fatigue, from, the first day of existence until its close. It is the forcing pump by which the vital current, .having completed its course, is made to flow again and again to every part of the system. It consists of four cavities, surrounded by muscular walls, which, stimu- lated by the organic nerves, can contract upon, and drive out, and propel forward, the fluid which they contain, and then, left to them- selves, can instantly re-assume their open dilated state by their inhe» rent power of elasticity. A portion of the blood has completed the circulation, and enters the upper cavity of the heart — the right auricle — where it accumu- lates as in a reservior, until there is enough to fill the second and lower cavity on the same side — .the right ventricle — when the auricle suddenly contracts and drives the blood forward into the ventricle. But this blood is in a venous state, having just come from the veins, and will not support life ; then it must change its character before it is thrown back again into the circulation. It must be con- veyed into the lungs, there to be exposed jto the influence of the atmospheric air, and purified, and arterialized. For this purpose, the ventricle, stimulated by nervous energy, contracts, and as. it con- tracts, it drives a little of the blood back, but it forces more under a dense fringed membrane which hangs around the opening between the auricle and the ventricle, and this. membrane, thus raised up all round, closes the.opening, and prevents the return of the principal part of the blood that way, and it is urged through another opening into the lungs. These fringes, which, in the dilated state of the ventricle, hang loose, but which are forced up as the blood insinuates itself behind them when the ventricle contracts, discharge the function of a perfect valve: they are tied down to a certain extent by cords attached to their edges, and which spring from certain fleshy or muscular columns that arise within ihe ventricle. The e'dges, therefore, are permitted to be elevated, until they have attained , a horizontal direction, and meet each other, and perfectly close the opening, and then are stopped by these tendinous cords, which oppose their strength to the further elevation of the fringes, and that regulated or increased by the muscular power of the columns beneath. In the ox, the venous system is very large. The vessels are 222 CATTLE. numerous and large, and blood in large quantities pours on toward the right auricle and ventricle of the heart. These 'tendinous cords, and the muscular columns beneath, are very large and strong, in order to afford adequate resistance to the greater pressure of the blood. In this ventricle, there is also a band or fleshy muscle, run- ning across from one side to the other, the double effect of which is beautifully evident, viz., to prevent this cavity from being too much dilated, or possibly ruptured, when the blood flows rapidly into the heart ; and to assist the ventricle in contracting on the blood. A small- er and more tendinous band runs across the same ventricle, lower down, and for the same purpose. From the peculiar arrangement of the circulatory system, there is always this pouring on of blood to be arterialized ; for the secretion of milk, or the deposition of fat, con- stitute the daily, unremitting duties of the animal. There is given, not only to provide against accident, but to fit the heart for this incessant hard work, this supplemental muscle, in the form of a fleshy band stretching across from one side to the other, preventing dilata- tion and assisting in contraction. The blood is driven out of the right ventricle into the lungs, and is there exposed to the action of the atmospheric «ir, and purified ; thence it is returned to the left auricle, passes into the left ventricle, and, by the contraction of that cavity, is propelled through the arteries. The aortas are the large vessels which first receive the blood from the heart in order to carry it through the body. The vessels from the left ventricle, which carry the arterial blood through the frame, and those from the right ventricle, that convey the venous blood to the lungs, alike spring from the muscular and fleshy septum, or wall, that separates the cavities of the heart, and divides that organ into two distinct parts. The ventricles of the heart of the ox have con- stant and hard work to do, and additional strength is given by the insertion of a bone into the septum at the base of these arteries, more belonging to the aorta than to the pulmonary artery, but meant as a support to both. The heart is subject to inflammation. It is principally recognized by the strength of the pulse, and by the bounding action of the heart, evident enough when the hand is placed on the side of the chest, and which may be seen and heard even at a distance. THE ARTERIAL SYSTEM. The blood is carried on through the arteries by the force of the heart. These are composed or three coats ; the outer, or elastic, by which they yield to the gush of blood ; the- muscular coat, by which the artery contracts again when the gush of blood has passed ; and the inner, or smooth, glistening coat, which lessens the friction of the blood against the side of the vessel, and its consequent gradual retar- dation in its course. INFLAMMATION. 223 THE PULSE. The muscular coat of the artery can be felt giving way to the gush of blood : and the expansion of the artery, as the blood passes, is called the pulse. Every one who knows the least about cattle is sensible of the importance of- the indications to be obtained by the pulse. The heat of blood may be felt at the root of the horn ; and the rallying of the blood round some important, but inflamed part, may be guessed at by means of the coldness of the ear,' or the extremities : but by the pulse we. ascertain the state of the general system, and the increased force or debility of that central machine on which every secretion and every function depends. It has been stated that the pulse is not easily felt at the jaw. The temporal artery will generally be sufficiently distinct ; but it will be most convenient to ascertain the beating of the heart itself, by placing the hand on the left side, a little within and behind the elbow. The average pulse of a full-grown healthy ox is about forty. THE CAPILLARIES. The blood continues to circulate along the arteries, until they and their ramifications have diminished so much in size, as to be termed capillaries, or hair-like tubes, although many of them are not one- hundredth part so large as a hair. The heart ceases to have influence here. No force from behind could drive the blood through vessels so minute. Another power isxalled into exercise, namely, the influence of the organic motor, or moving nerves, on the muscular sides of these little tubes. This is by far the most important part of the circulation. The blood is carried through the arteries mechanically, and without change in them ; it is returned through the veins mechanically, and almost without change in them also : but it is in the capillary system that every secretion is performed, and that the nutrition of every part, is effected. The arteries and veins are mere mechanical tubes; the capillaries are connected with the vital principle — they are portions of life itself. INFLAMMATION. The arteries are subject to inflammation, yet so rarely in the ox as to render it unnecessary to detain us in describing it; but a similar affection of. the capillaries constitutes the very essence and the most dangerous part of every other disease. Inflammation is increased action of these vessels. When the increased action is. confined to a few capillaries, or a small space, or a single organ, the inflammation is said to be local ; but when it embraces the whole of the system, it assumes the name of fever 224 CATTLE. If inflammation be the consequence of increased action of the capillaries, the object to be effected is to reduce that inordinate action to the healthy standard, before the part has become debili- tated or destroyed by this overwork. Bleeding is one of the most effectual measures, and especially local bleeding. The increased action of the vessels, and the consequent redness, heat and swelling of the part, are at once the consequence of inflammatory action, and tend to prolong and to increase it. A copious bleeding, therefore, by relieving the overloaded vessels, and enabling them once more to contract on their contents, is indicated. To this physic will follow, and there is scarcely an inflammatory disease in the ox in which it can, by possibility, be injurious. Mashes and cooling diet will be essential. As to external applications, they will be best treated of when the different species, of inflammation are discussed ; but, as a general rule, in superficial inflammation, and in the early stage of the disease, cold lotions will be the most useful ; in cases of deeper-seated injury, and of considerable standing, warm fomentations will be preferable. The first will best succeed in abstracting the inflammatory heat ; the other will relax the fibres of the neighboring parts, which press upon, and^ perpetuate, the injury, and will also restore the suspended per- spiration. Cases, however, continually occur in which the most opposite treatment is required in different stages of inflammation. We have described fever as general capillary action, and with or without any local affection ; or it is the consequence of the sympathy of the system with inflammation of some particular part. The first is called pure or idiopathic fever ; the other symptomatic fever. Pure fever is frequent in cattle. A beast, yesterday in good health, is observed to-day— dull, the muzzle dry, rumination and grazing having quite ceased, or being carelessly or lazily performed, the flanks heave a little, the root of the horn is unnaturally hot, the pulse is quickened, and is somewhat hard. The animal is evidently not well, but the owner cannot discover any local affection or disease ; he gives a dose of physic ; perhaps he bleeds ; he places a mash before his patient, and, on the following day, the beast is considerably better, or well ; or possibly, the animal, although apparently better in the morning, becomes worse as the day advances, and at about the hour, or a little later, when he was seen on the preceding day. This is but. a slight attack of fever, without local affection, or intermittent fever, still without local determination, and which goes on for three or four days, returning, or being aggravated at a particular hour, until by means of cordial purgatives the chain is broken. At other times, the fever remains without thes6 imtermissions. INFLAMMATORY FEVER. It increases daily, notwithstanding the means employed, and at length assumes the form of pleurisy, or enteritis, or some local inflamma- tory complaint. The general irritation has here concentrated itself on some organ either previously debilitated, or at that time predis- posed to take on inflammation. It is pure or idiopathic fever, as- suming, after a while, a local determination. This is a serious, and frequently a fatal case ; for the whole system having been previously affected, and, probably, debilitated, and disposed to take on inflam- matory action, the proper remedies cannot be so fearlessly and suc- cessfully used. Local means of abating inflammation must here be pushed to their full extent. Symptomatic fever is yet more frequent and dangerous. No or- gan of consequence can be long disordered or inflamed, without the neighboring parts being disturbed, and the whole system gradually sharing in the disturbance. By the degree of this general affection, by the heat of the mouth, and the frequency of the pulse, a judg- ment is formed not only of the degree of general disturbance, but of the intensity of the local affection. The subsidence of the pulse, and the return of the appetite, and the recommencement of rumina- tion, are indications both of. the diminution of the general irritation, and the local cause of it. Some have denied the existence of this essential fever in cattle, but the facts that have been stated cannot be doubted. It would be scarcely necessary to recur to this were there not so many instan- ces of bad and dangerous practice in the early treatment of these cases. If fever were plainly recognized, the owner or the surgeon would be more anxious to get rid of the local affection before the system was materially affected ; and if he was aware of pure and essential fever, he would endeavor to remove it before it took on local determination. These are the golden rules of practice, which no nonsensical theories should cause any one for a moment to forget. INFLAMMATORY FEVER THE BLOOD BLOOD-STRIKTNG BLACK-LEG^ QUARTER-EVIL, OR BLACK-QUAHTER. Thousands of cattle fall victims every year to a disease, which, from its virulent character and speedy course, may be termed inflam- matory fever. A disease of this character, but known by a. number of strange yet expressive terms, is occasionally prevalent, and ex- ceedingly fatal among cattle in every district. It is termed black- quarter, quarter-evil, joint-murrain, blood-striking, shoot of blood, &c; and although it may not, at any time, embody all the symp- toms of either of these diseases, according, at least, as they are un- derstood in some parts of the country* there are few cases in which the prevailing symptoms of most of them are not exhibited in some of the stages. 10* CATTLE. Cattle of all descriptions and ages are occasionally subject to in- flammatory fever ; but young stock, and those that are thriving most rapidly, are its chief victims. So aware is the proprietor of young short-horn cattle of this, that while he is determined to take full ad- vantage of their unrivalled early maturity by turning them on more luxuriant pasture than prudence would always dictatej he endeavors to guard himself by periodical bleeding, or by the insertion of setons in the dewlap of all his yearlings. This disease is sometimes epi- demic, that is, the cattle of a certain district have been pushed on too rapidly ; they have lurking inflammation about them, or they have a tendency to it ; and, by-and-bye, comes some change or state of the atmosphere which" acts upon this inflammatory predisposition, and the disease runs through the district. There are few premonitory symptoms of inflammatory fever. Of- ten without any, and generally with very slight indications of previ- ous illness, the animal is found with his neck extended ; his head brought, as much as he can affect it, into a horrizontal position ; the eyes protruding, and red ; the muzzle dry ; the nostrils expand- ed ; the "breath hot ; the root of the horn considerably so ; the mouth partly open ; the tongue enlarged, or apparently so ; the pulse full, hard, and from 65 to 70 ; the breathing quickened and laborious ; the flanks violently heaving, and the animal moaning in a low and peculiar way. Sometimes the animal is in full possession of his senses, but gen- erally there is a degree of unconsciousness of surrounding objects : he will stand for an hour or more without the slightest change of pos- ture, he can scarcely be induced to move, or when compelled to do so, he staggers ; and the staggering is principally referable to the hind quarters ; rumination has ceased, and the appetite is quite gone. After a while he becomes more uneasy, yet it is oftener a change of posture to ease^his tired limbs, than a pawing : at length he lies down, or rather drops ; gets up almost immediately ; is soon down again ; and debility rapidly increasing, he continues prostrate ; some- times he lies in a comatose state ; at others, there are occasional but fruitless efforts to rise. The symptoms rapidly increase : there is no intermission ; and the animal dies in twelve to twenty-four hours. In a majority of cases, and especially if the disease has been prop- erly treated, the animal seems to rally a little, and some of the symp- toms appear, from which the common names of the disease derive thefr origin. The beast attempts to get up : after some attempts he succeeds, but he is sadly lame in one or both of the hind quarters. If he is not yet fallen, he suddenly becomes lame ; so lame as to scarcely be able to move. He has quarter-evil — joint-murrain. This is not always an unfavorable symptom. The disease may be leaving the vital parts for those of less consequence. If the apparent return of strength continues for a day or two, we may en- INFLAMMATORY FEVER. 227 courage some hope, but we must not be sanguine ; for it is too often only a temporary and delusive respite. One of the symptoms now most to be dreaded is the rapid pro- gress of that which has already begun to appear — tenderness on the loins and back. The patient will not bear even the slightest pressure on these parts. The oase is worse if to these be added swellings about the shoulders, and back, and loins, with a peculiar crackling emphysematous noise, as if some gas were extricated in the cellular membrane, and the process of decomposition had com- menced during the life of the animal. Worse even than this is the appearance of sudden, hard, scurfy patches of what seems to be dead skin. It is a kind of dry gangrene, and it is the commence- ment of a sloughing process, extensive and rapid to an almost in- conceivable degree. Now, we have black-quarter, with all its fear- ful character. The ulcers first appear about the belly, the quarters, and the teats, but they spread everywhere, and particularly about the mouth and muzzle. The mouth is invariably ulcerated, and the tongue is blistered and ulcerated too ; and there is either a discharge of sanious, offensive, or bloody fluid from the nose and mouth, or considerable haemorrhage from both of them. Now, the urine, which had before been high-colored, becomes darker, or bloody ; the dung likewise has. streaks of blood over it, and both are exceedingly fetid. In this state the animal may continue two or three days, until it dies a mass of putridity; unless there has been an honest, active assistant, who never shrinks from his duty, and who will properly dress the ulcers and administer the medicines. Many a beast has been saved even at this point of the disease. The first favorable symptom will be a slight diminution of the fetor — the ulcers will then speedily heal, and the strength return. The chief appearance after death will be venous congestion every- where. The larger and the smaller veins will be black, and dis- tended almost to bursting. It is a striking illustration of the pecu- liar vascular system of the animal, and speaks volumes as to the mode of treating this and similar diseases. The congestion is everywhere. It affects both of the pleuras, the intercostal and the pulmonary, and the whole substance of the lungs. It extends over the peritoneum, and more particularly over the mu- cous membrane of the intestines ; and patches of inflammation and ulceration are found in every part of the colon. These are the ap- pearances when the animal is carried • off during the inflammatory stage of the disease. If the complaint has assumed a putrid type, there is effusion, the smell of which can scarcely be borne, both in the chest and belly ; with adhesion and agglutination of all the small intestines ; often CATTLE. vomicae in the lungs, and effusion in the pericardium. Every stomach is inflamed, and the fourth ulcerated through. The substance of the liver is broken down. There are ulcerations generally of the smaller; and always of the larger, intestines ; and in every part of the cel- lular membrane there are large patches of inflammation running fast into gangrene. There cannot be a doubt respecting either the nature or treatment of such a disease. It is, at first, of a purely inflammatory charac- ter, but the inflammation is so intense as speedily to destroy the powers of nature. The capillary vessels must have been working with strange activity, in order to fill and to clog every venous canal. The congestion prevails in the cranium as well as in other parts, and the distended vessels press upon the substance of the brain, and that pressure is propagated to the commencement of the nerves ; and hence debility, and staggering, and almost perfect insensibility. As the congestion early takes place, the coma, or stupor, is early in its appearance. The nervous energy being thus impeded, the power of locomotion seems first to fail ; then general debility succeeds, and at length other parts of the vasculap system are involved. The mouths of the excretory ducts can no longer contract on their contents;. hence fluid is effused in the chest and in the belly, and in the cellular membrane ; and hence, too, the rapid formation of others. The vital powers generally are weakened, and in consequence of this there is the speedy tendency of every excretion to putridity, and the actual commencement of decomposition, while the animal is yet alive. The blood shares in this abstraction or deficiency of vitality, and hence the disposition to ulceration, gangrene, and dissolution, by which the later stages of the disease are characterized. Inflammatory fever, although not confined to young stock, is far most prevalent among them. It appears principally in the spring and fall of the year, for then we have the early and late flush of grass. On poor ground it is comparatively unknown ; but the young and the old stock, in thriving condition, need to be closely watched when the pasture is good and the grass springing. If it be at times epidemic, it is only when the season, or the eagerness of the farmer, have exposed the constitution to an excess of otherwise healthy stimulus, and when the animal is in a manner prepared for fever. When the early part of the spring has been cold and ungenial, and then the warm weather has suddenly set in, nothing is so common as inflammatory fever ; but the change in the temperature, or other qualities of the atmosphere, has had only an indirect effect in pro- ducing this ; it is the sudden increase of nutriment which has done the mischief. When cattle are moved from a poor to a more luxu- riant pasture, if the new .grass be sufficiently high, they distend the paunch almost tp bursting, and hoove is the jesult ; but if tha INFLAMMATORY FEVER. 229 change be more in the quality than in the quantity of the food, the evil is more slowly produced, and it is more fatal — a disposition to inflammation is excited, which wants but a slight stimulus to kindle into a flame. It is the penalty which the breeder must pay, or the evil which he must carefully, and not always successfully, endeavor to avoid, when he is endeavoring to obtain all the advantage he can from the richness of his pasture, the aptitude to fatten, and the early maturity, of his cattle. Milch cows are, generally speaking, exempt from inflammatory fever. Inflammatory fever is sometimes caused by the driving of fat beasts in the beginning of summer with too much hurry. It has broken out among stall-fed cattle still later in the year, when the process of fattening has been injudiciously hastened. In fact, from the peculiar vascular system of cattle, the excitement of too much food is the usual cause of inflammatory fever in them. The vascular system is most subject to disease in the ox, for we keep him, as nearly as we can with any rational hope of safety, in a state of plethora. The very name of the disease, inflammatory fever, indicates the mode of treatment. In a case of excessive vascular action, the first and most important step is copious bleeding. As much blood must be taken as the animal will bear to lose ; and the stream must flow on until the beast staggers or threatens to fall. Here, more than in any other disease, there must be no foolish directions about quantities. As much blood must be taken away as can be got ; for it is only by bold depletory measures that a malady can be subdued that runs its course so rapidly. Purging must immediately follow. Epsom salts are here, as in most inflammatory diseases, the best purgative. A pound and a half, dissolved in water or gruel, and poured down the throat as gently as possible, should be the first dose ; and no aromatic should accompany it. If this does not operate in the course of six hours, another pound should be given ; and, after that, half-pound doses . every six hours until the effect is produced. , At the expiration of the first six hours the patient sliould be care- fully examined. Is the pulse slower, softer ? If not, he must be bled a second time, and until the circulation is once more affected. If the animal be somewhat better, yet not to the extent that could be wished,- the practitioner would be warranted in bleeding again, pro- vided the sinking and fluttering of the pulse does not indicate the commencement of debility. If the pulse be a little quieted, and purging has taken place, and the animal is somewhat more himself/ the treatment 'should be fol- lowed up by the diligent exhibition of sedative medicines. A drachm and a half of digitalis, and one drachm of emetic tartar, and half an ounce of nitre, should be given three times every day ; and setona 230 CATTLE. inserted in the dewlap. Those of black hellebore-root are the best, as producing the quickest and the most extensive inflammation. If the animal be not seen until the inflammatory stage of the fever has nearly - passed, the skill of the practitioner will be put to the test. Has the animal been bled ? if it has not, nothing can excuse the neglect of bleeding now, except debility too palpable to be mistaken. It may perhaps be more truly affirmed, that even that should be no excuse. This congestion of blood is a deadly weight on the consti- tution, which the powers of unassisted nature will not be able to throw off". It must be very great debility, indeed, which should frighten the practitioner from this course ; and debility which, in ninety-nine times out of a hundred, would terminate in death. As a general rule in this stage of the disease, the effect of bleeding should certainly be tried ; but cautiously — very cautiously — and with the finger constantly on the pulse. If the pulse gets rounder and softer as the blood flows, the abstraction of blood will assuredly be service- able ; and if the pulse becomes weaker, and more indistinct, no harm will have been" done, provided that the orifice be immediately closed. Physic will, in this stage of the disease, also be indispensable ; but double the usual quantity of the aromatic should be added, in order to stimulate the rumen, if the drink should get into it, and also to stimulate the fourth stomach and the whole of the frame, if fortunately it should reach so far as this stomach. A pound of the Epsom salts at first, and half-pound doses afterwards, until the bowels are opened, will be sufficient in this stage ; and if, after the fourth dose, (injec- tions having been given in the meantime,) purging is not produced, the quantity of the aromatic, but not of the purgative, may be increased. It is probable that the medicine has found its way into the rumen, where it will remain inert until that cuticular and com- paratively insensible stomach is roused to action by the stimulus of the aromatic. No other medicine should be given until the bowels have been opened ; and in many cases very little other medicine will afterwards be required. The bowels having been opened, recourse should be had once more to the pulse. If it indicate any degree of fever, as it sometimes will, (for the apparent debility is not always the consequence of exhaustion, but of vascular congestion,) the physic must be continued, but the constitution would perhaps be too weak for the direct sedative medi- cine. On the other hand, however, no tonic medicine must be given. If, however, the pulse be weak, wavering, irregular, giving sufficient intimation that the fever has passed, and debility succeeded, recourse may be had to tonic medicines. The tonics, however, which in such cases would be beneficial in cattle, are very few. Mineral tonics have -rarely produced any satisfactory result — but in gentian, calombo, and ginger, the diseases of cattle find almost everything to be wished. INFLAMMATORY FEVER. 231 The two first are excellent stomachics, as well as tonics ; the last is a tonic, simply because it is the very best stomachic in the cattle pharmacopoeia. They may be given three times every day, in doses of a drachm each of the two first, and half a drachm of the last. They will be more effectual in these moderate doses than in the overwhelming quantities in which some administer them, and in which they oppress and cause nausea, rather than stimulate and give appetite. They should always be given in gruel, with half a pint or even a pint of sound ale. The practitioner may possibly be called in after ulcers have broken out, and. the sloughing process has commenced : there must be no bleeding then ; the vitality of the system has received a sufficient shock, and various parts of it are actually decomposing ; but physic is necessary, with a double dose of the aromatic, in order to rouse the energies of the digestive system, and to get rid of much offensive and dangerous matter collected in the intestinal canal. Epsom salts will here also constitute the best purgative. The enlargements about the knee, and elbow, and stifle, and hock, should be fomented with warm water ; and any considerable indurations, and especially about the joints, embrocated with equal parts of turpentine, hartshorn, and camphorated spirit. The ulcers should be carefully and thoroughly washed several times every day with a solution of the chloride of lime, of the strength already recommended. The ulcers about the muzzle, mouth, and throat, should be treated in a similar manner ; and a pint of the solution may be horned down twice in the course of the first day. If there be hoose or bloat, this will combine with the extricated gas, and prevent the continued formation of it ; and it will materially cor- rect the fetor which pervades the whole of" the digestive canal. Mashes and plenty of thick gruel should be offered to the beast, and forced upon him by means of the stomach-pump if he refuse to take it voluntarily. ' In this case, the pipe should not be introduced more than half-way down the oesophagus, as there will then be greater probability of the liquor flowing on into the fourth stomach. Tonics should on no account be neglected, but be administered simply to rouse to action the languid or almost lifeless powers of the frame. If the stench from the ulcers does not abate, the solution of the chloride should be quickly increased to a double strength ; but as soon as the fetor has ceased, and the wounds begin to have a healthy appearance, the healing ointment or the tincture of aloes may be adopted, and the latter is preferable. When the animal begins to eat, he should be turned into a field close at hand, the grass of which has been cropped pretty closely. A seton or a rowel should be retained for three or four weeks ; but as for medicine, it cannot be too soon discontinued when the animal is once set on its 232 CATTLE. legs. When art has subdued the disease, nature, although slowly, will most successfully resume her wonted functions. The breeder has much in his power in the way of prevention. His cattle should be carefully examined every day. Any little heaving at the flanks, or inflammation of the eyes, or heat-bumps on the back, or rubbing, should be regarded with suspicion, and met by a gentle purgative, or the abstraction of a little blood; but the decided appearance of inflammatory fever in one of them will not be misun- derstood for a moment ; it will convince him that he has been making more haste than good speed, and in the disease of one he will see the danger of all. All who have been subject to the same predisposing causes' of disease, should be bled and physicked, and turned into a field of short and inferior keep. Prevention of this malady is the only cure worth notice. A piece of short or inferior keep should be reserved as a digesting place, in which the cattle may be occasionally turned to empty and exercise themselves. Those observed to advance very fast may be bled monthly for several months ; but occasional purges of alterative medicines would prevent those diseases which seem to take their rise in over-repletion and accumulation, and are far better than bleeding. These periodical bleedings increase rather than lessen the disposi- tion to make blood and fat. This disease differs materially in its symptoms in different districts, and in the same district at different times. The difficulty lies in the other diseases with which the inflammatory fever is combined — some- times one, and sometimes another, assuming a prominent character ; and while they all generally follow inflammatory fever, yet some of them occasionally precede it. In some places, the first symptoms are those of quarter-ill. The cattle are seized first in one quarter, and then in the other. The skin puffs up, and the crackling noise is heard almost from the beginning. The disease is usually fatal when it assumes this form. In others, where, from the rapidity with which it runs its course, it is called the speed, it also generally begins behind. Inflammation, or rather mortification, seizes one hock. It runs up the quarter, which becomes actually putrid in the couse of an hour or two, while the other limbs continue sound. Few, especially young beasts, survive an attack of this kind. Here the active use of local applications is indicated ; and yet they will rarely be of much service. In other parts, under the name of the puck, the fore-quarter, or the side, is the part mostly affected ; and the animal frequently dies in an hour or two. On skinning the beast, the whole quarter appears black from the extravasation of blood, and is softened and decom- posed, as though it were one universal bruise. Homoeopathic treatment. — The principal remedy for the treatment of this fever is aconitum, which should be repeated at intervals, so TYPHUS FEVER. 233 much shorter, according as the disease is more severe ; for instance, from every eight to fifteen minutes in very acute cases, and which must be continued until a perceptible calm be restored. In external inflammatory diseases, especially those which arise from a traumatic lesion, aconitum is applicable not only to prevent the fever, but also to cure it when it is already developed, and has as yet made no progress. Notwithstanding the great efficacy of aconitum, it does nojt suffice in many cases to effect a complete cure, so that, according to the indi- vidual nature of the inflammation, other diseases being connected, it becomes necessary to assist its action by that of other different means ; helludonna in encephalitis ; spongia marina in angina ; bryonia in pneumonia and peri-pneumonia ; arsenicum and thus toxicodendron in enteritis ; cantharides in cystitis and nephritis, &c. TYPHUS FEVER. This is a species of fever with which every farmer is too well ac- quainted. It is of a low chronic, typhoid form. It sometimes fol- lows intense inflammatory action, and then it may be deemed the second stage of that which has just been considered; but often, there have been no previous symptoms of peculiar intensity, at least none that have been observed, but a little increased heat of the ears, horns, and mouth ; a pulse of sixty or seventy ; a certain degree of dullness ; a deficiency of appetite ; an occasional suspension of rumi- nation ; a disinclination to move; a gait approaching to staggering ; and a gradual wasting. ■ These are plain indications that there is a fire burning, and rapidly consuming the strength of the animal. The vital energies are evidently undermining ; but the fire is smothered. It is not phthisis (consumption), it is not inflammatory fever, for the intense inflammation characterizing that is seldom seen — it is true typhus fever. As soon as it becomes established, diarrhoea succeeds ; and this is either produced by small doses of medicine from which no danger could be suspected, or comes on spontaneously. It is not, however, violent, but continues day after day. It bids defiance to the skill of the most experienced practitioner, or, if arrested for a while, is sure to return. The discharge is peculiarly fetid ; occasionally mixed with blood, and generally containing a considerable quantity of mucus. Three or four weeks have probably now elapsed, and then succeed the peculiar symptoms of low fever in cattle. Tumors form round the joints, or appear on the back or udder ; ulcerate, spread, and be- come fetid. The sweet breath of the ox is gone — it is as offensive as the ulcers, and, in fact, we have that which can scarcely be dis- tinguished from the second stage of inflammatory fever. It is most prevalent in the spring and fall of the year, and when 234 CATTLE. the first has been ungenia' and the latter wet. The pasture gene- rally possesses some degree of luxuriance, although its herbage may- be coarse, and the beast is usually in good condition when first at- tacked. This disease has sometimes been epidemic and fatal to a dreadful extent, occasionally assuming the form of,- or being connected with, epidemic catarrh ; at other times accompanied by dysentery, but frequently being, for many a day, or for some weeks, typhoid fever without any local determination. The cause of typhoid fever is involved in much obscurity. It is most prevalent on cold, wet lands, and during cold, wet, variable weather. A long wet winter is sure to be followed by typhus fever in every low, marshy district. In the higher pastures, where the cattle seem exposed to greater cold, but have less wet,' little of it is seen. It is much to be doubted whether it is infectious ; but if one, then all the cattle have been exposed to the same predisposing causes of disease. It is well to remove the infected beasts from the sound ones as soon as possible ; and th6 carcass of the animal that dies of inflammatory or typhoid fever should be buried without delay. These are cases whiclfrpuzzle, and, when treated in the best way, they too frequently will not yield to medical skill. There is one rule, however, which cannot mislead. If there he fire, it must be put out. No apparent debility should mislead here. That debility may, and often does, result from the presence of fever, and not from any dan- gerous impairment of vital power ; and the incubus being thrown off, nature will rally ; at all events, the debility is the consequence of the fever, and is daily and rapidly increasing while the fever con- tinues : therefore, first bleed, and bleed until the character of the pulse begins to change. It should never be forgotten that one bleed- ing of this kind will often do good, and cannot be injurious. It is the fear of bleeding lest the animal should be more debilitated, or the pushing on of the bleeding, in order to obtain a definite quantity, after the pulse has begun to falter, that has done all the mischief. If the heat, and heaving, and disinclination to food should have been relieved' by this bleeding, but should threaten to return, more blood should be taken, but with the same caution as to the pulse. Physic must follow, but with caution ; for there is a natural ten- dency to diarrhoea connected with this disease, which is often trouble- some to subdue. One dose of Epsom salts should be given with the usual quantity of aromatic medicine, and its action secured and kept up by half-pound doses of sulphur, administered as circumstances may indicate. To this will follow the usual sedative medicine — digitalis, emetic tartar, and nitre. The practitioner must not be deluded here. While the mouth and horns are hot, and the pulse rapid, tonics would be THE VEINS. 235 poison. He has to put o$t the fire, and not to feed it. When the fever is subdued, but nature finds some difficulty in rallying, we may give gentian, Colombo, and ginger, with advantage. When the tumors and ulcerations appear, the second stage of in- flammatory fever is established, and the measures recommended for that must be adopted. This disorder attacks cattle of all ages.- Full- grown beasts are more subject to typhoid than to inflammatory fever ; but among younger ones and weaning calves, and those of eight, nine, and ten months old, it is extremely fatal, for they have not strength to bear up against this secretly consuming fire. The mode of prevention, when it first breaks out, is to bleed and physic ; the grand thing of all, however, is to remove not merely to shorter, but to dryer pasture. With the youngsters, bleeding may, perhaps, be dispensed with ; but a dose of physic should be given, and a seton inserted in the dewlap ; and the change of pasture is indispensable. Low and damp situations do not agree with cattle ; and the inhabitants of low, marshy grounds have too often a sad ac- count to render of their cattle. Homoeopathic treatment. — Bryonia, twice a day, is the remedy best suited to the entire course of the disease. Acidum muriaticum should be given when there is 'great debility and dryness of the mouth ; arnica, when the animal remains stretched without motion, and without consciousness ; stramonium and hyoscyamus, if partial convulsions are observed to take place ; arsenicum in watery diarrhoea ; china, argitta, and sulphur, when the food comes away undigested ; belladonna, in convulsions and wildness of look ; opium, when the animal is stretched out as if dead, with small pulse, hard faeces, or constipation ; veratrum, in diarrhoea with cold extremities. . THE VEINS. The principal disease of the capillary vessels having thus been disposed of, the blood must be again traced back to the heart. By means of the various important functions which are discharged by the capillaries, the blood is essentially changed as it traverses them. It becomes black, venous, and no longer capable of sustain- ing life ; and it must be sent back to the heart, to be again rendered arterial. The capillaries in which the blood has undergone this change begin to unite, and when a sufficient number of them have joined their streams, that branch is called a vein. The coats, of the vein are much weaker and thinner than those of the artery, and the blood flows through them by a different principle from that which produces the circulation either in the arteries or capillaries. All the veins of the limbs, or that are subject to the pressure of any of the muscles, have valves, which permit the blood to flow on towards the heart, but oppose an insuperable obstacle to its course in a contrary direction ; thus, by the pressure "of the muscles, a con- CATTLE. siderable power is, occasionally at least, called into exercise to propel the blood along the veins. All the veins, however, are not under the influence of these muscles. The large veins of the chest and belly are out of the reach of muscular pressure, and are destitute of this valvular apparatus, .but they are acted upon by a more powerful principle. The heart has been described as an elastic muscle. It has scarcely closed by the stimulus of the organic nerves, when it expands again by its own inherent elasticity ; and that important principle, by the influence of which the water follows the sucker in the common pump — the pressure of the atmosphere — acts here, too, and the cavities of the heart are filled again as soon as they expand ; and this living pump would work on while there was fluid in circula- tion. Thus the circulation is maintained by the actidn of the heart, while the blood is passing through the arteries ; by the muscular power of the capillaries, while it permeates those little vessels ; and by the pressure of the muscles and the valvular apparatus of the veins, in some part of its course through them ; and" by atmospheric pressure, through their whole extent. VARICOSE VEINS. Varicose tumors in the cow seldom appear, except in the veins of the udder, and in the neighborhood of joints that have suffered even more than usual from the tumors of these parts, to which cattle are so liable. An old cow that has been a superior milker, frequently has the veins of the teats permanently enlarged. No application will take down the swelling, which, however, is rarely of any serious in- convenience. The veins of the teats are sometimes much enlarged under Garget. Warm fomentations, in order to abate the general inflammation of the bag, will afford most relief. THE CHEST. The form of the" chest is of much consequence in the ox. There are important offices to be performed by the viscera of the chest, which demand constant energetic action, over which the mind has no control, and where all depends on the form, and extent of the thoracic cavity. The blood must be purified, and it must be circu- lated through the frame, and that with a rapidity and perfection which must not know a moment's intermission. The chest 'consists of 13 ribs on either side, or 26 in the whole. Of these 8 on each side are directly connected with the sternum, or breast bone, and are termed true ribs ; the other five are attached to cartilages, which are linked together, and also connected with the sternum in an indirect manner — these are termed false ribs. The true ribs are long, large, thick, and far apart from each other; THE BREAST-BONE OF THE OX. 237 for, in consequence of the small number of short, or false ribs, they take a more backward direction, and cover a portion of the abdomen above, while the sternum supports it below. They are so formed as to render the cavity of the chest of a quite circular shape. THE BREAST-BONE OF THE OX. 1. The body of the sternum, (so called from its resemblance to the stern of a ship,) or breast-bone. 2. The cartilages by which the ribs are attached to the sternum. 3. The ribs cut off. 4. The xiphoid cartilage, (resembling a sword,) at the posterior part of the sternum, supporting the rumen. 5. 5. The joints, with their capsular ligaments, uniting the carti- lages with the sternum. 6. 6. Do., uniting th 3 cartilages with the ribs. 238 CATTLE. 7. The socket receiving the movable bone at the point of the sternum. In the ox, as the above cut will show, the sternum is thin and flat. It presents a level surface of considerable width for the floor of the chest, and, therefore, insures a circular form for the chest. Breadth at the breast is an essential requisite in the ox. It is this conformation alone which will give sufficient surface for the attach- ment of muscles of the character of thos'e of the ox, and will secure sufficient room for the lungs to purify, and the heart to circulate blood enough for the proper discharge of every function. The fol- lowing cut of the breast of a short-horn bull will afford a practical illustration of these observations. A SHORT-HORN BULL. The flatness of the breast-bone at the base of the chest of the ox secures a permanent sufficiency of capacity ; and a perfect joint between the ribs and the sternum is not only not wanted, but might interfere with the equable action of the respiratory apparatus in this animal. The union, however, between the rib and the sternum does admit of a considerable degree of motion, and would, to a great ex- tent, contribute to the enlargement of the chest, if rapid action, or accident, or disease, should require it. . The sternum of the ox has a posess projecting very considerably THE BRISKET. anteriorly, but not closing the entrance into the chest. That pro- cess, or first division of the sternum, has a joint. It admits of a cer- tain degree of lateral action only. It materially assists the walking or other action of the animal, and appears to be absolutely necessa- ry, when we consider the vast accumulation of flesh and fat about these parts ; and especially that singular collection of them, the brisket. • The muscles which are most concerned in giving bulk to the breast are the transverse pectorals. They form the grand prominences in front of the chest, and extend from the anterior extremity of the sternum to the middle of the arm. The great pectoral (fig. 13, p. 209,) arising from the lateral and the posterior part of the sternum, may be considered more as a. continuation of the muscles of the breast, extending laterally and backward. THE BRISKET, This is a singular portion of the breast of the ox, to which, very properly, much importance has been universally attached, although, perhaps, on false grounds. It has been considered as a part of the anterior wall of the chest, and as a proof of its depth and capaci- ty. This is altogether erroneous. It is a mere • appendix to the chest. It is a projection of substance, partly muscular, but more cellular and fatty, from the anterior, and movable division or head of the sternum, extending sometimes from 12 to 20 inches in -front of it, and dipping downward nearly or quite as much. It is no proof of depth, of chest. It is found of a great size in all the im- proved cattle, varying in size in different breeds, and in different cat- tle of the same breed ; and it w^s always looked for and valued in the better specimens of the old cattle. ' It is, at least, a proof of tendency to fatness. A beast that will accumulate so much flesh and fat about the brisket, will not be deficient in other points. ' It is very probable that this may be carried too far. An enor- mously projecting brisket may evince a more than usual tendency to fatten ; but not unfrequently a tendency to accumulate that fat irreg- ularly — to have it too much in patches, and not spread equally .over the frame. Many examples of this must present themselves to the recollection of the grazier, and especially in some of the short- horn breed; In a very few instances it has been almost fancied that this enormously projecting, brisket was a defect, rather than an ex- cellence; at least, that it somewhat' impaired the uniform beauty of the animal, if it did not diminish his sterling excellence. The brisket should be prominent as well as deep ; perhaps on one account more prominent than deep, for it will then be more likely, either before or by the time it arrives at the posterior border of the elbow or fore-arm, to have subsided to the thickness of the fatty and 240 , CATTLE. other substance naturally covering the sternum. One defect, but not of half the consequence which it is generally supposed to be, would then be avoided — the apparent diminution of the chest at its bottom under the body at the girthing place, or immediately be- hind the elbows under the body. Some have evidently considered this to be an actual elevation of the floor of the chest, and a conse- quent lessening of its capacity at this point ; and, on that account, a most serious defect. There are few things which the breeders of short-horns have labored more zealously, and generally more unsuc- cessfully, to remedy. It is certainly a defect, because it evinces a disposition to accumulate fat in a somewhat patchy manner ; but it is not so bad as has been represented or feared. It indicates no ele- vation of the sternum — no diminution of the capacity of the chest: it is a rather too sudden termination of protuberance of the brisket, either from the accumulation of the principal part of its substance too forward, or from a want of disposition in the beast to fatten in an equable way. If the brisket were removed, the bicast-bond would be found to be gradually rounding, and rising from this spot, and nbt let down lower between the elbows. It will be interesting to compare the different forms of the brisket in the different Tweeds of cattle. The bulls on pp. 96 and 238 will show how much varie- ty can exist in different animals of the same breed ; and those who recollect the portrait of Mr. C. Colling's Comet, to whose brisket few, perhaps, could at first reconcile themselves so far as beauty or form was concerned, will be aware of greater variety still.* When the observer now admires or wonders at the protuberant and unwieldy briskets of these cattle, ie will recognize the use of the joint in the first, or supplementary, bone of the sternum of oxen. They could not walk with ease, and it would be scarcely possible for them to turn at all, if it were not for the lateral motion which this joint permits. The muscles most concerned in this action, and, indeed, that constitute the bulk of the fleshy part of the brisket, are the anterior portions of the external and internal sternocostal muscles, (those which are concerned with the, sternum and the ribs,) and whose action is to elevate the ribs, and so dilate the chest, and assist in breathing. THE RIBS. The first rib on either side is a short, rather straight, and particu- * It is to be observed that the views here expressed about short-horn briskets are those of the breeders of rival races. All short-horn breeders hold it an important point to have the brisket project in front, and drop as low and be as wide between the legs, as possible. As short-horns are more and more spread over England, this their wonderful peculiarity is more and more admired ; and the breeders of other races are imitating it, as far as attainable in their breeds, and in one, the Herefords, it is, in some high bred stocks, well advanced. It will suffice to say that short-horn breeders do not admit that a large brisket indicates a tendency to fat unevenly ; but the contra- ry, and do*m it an evidence of superior feeding capacity of an even kind. — Am. Ed. THE SPINE. 241 larly. strong bone. It has much of the head and neck to support ; and it is the fulcrum or fixed point on which all the other bones are to move. Each rib is united to the spine by great strength of attach- ment. They spring from the spine in a quite horizontal direction ; and consequently, there is a provision for the capacity of the chest above as well as below. They are large, for the attachment of much muscle ; they spring out at once laterally, in order to secure that permanent capacity of chest which the functions of the ox require. In some breeds a little flat-sidedness (the less the better) may be forgiven, because the width of the sternum belbw, and of the spine, in some degree, but more particularly the springing out of the ribs above, secure a sufficient capacity of chest. It is on this account that the Devon ox is active and profitable while at work, and afterward grazes kindly. The conformation of the bones just described gives him a considerable capacity of chest, notwithstanding his somewhat too flat sides : yet in the animal which was chiefly valued for his grazing properties, something more would be looked for, and would be found. The shoulder being past, this horizontal projection of the ribs is more and more evident ; and, in order that the ban-el-form shall be as complete as can be, each rib is twisted. Its posterior edges are turned upward and outward ; and' as, proceeding backward,' each projects beyond the preceding one, not only until the eighth true rib is passed, but also the five false ones, the carcass of a well-made, profitable beast increases in width and in capacity, until we arrive at, or nearly at, the loins. For illustration of this, reference may be made to the cuts of the Kyloe, Galloway, New Leicester, or Short- horn cattle. In point of fact, however, the thorax is now passed, and the abdo- men presents itself ; but the principle is the same : the ribs are spread out, not only to afford room in the thorax for lungs considerably larger than those of the horse, but for that immense macerating stomach, the rumen, wich fills the greater part of the abdomen, and which must be preserved as much as possible from injury and pressure. THE SPINE. The spine of the ox has great size of the individual bones, a small quantity of elastic ligamentous substance interposed between them, and great length and roughness of all the processes. Two objects are accomplished — sufficient strength is obtained for the protection of the parts beneath, and for the purposes for which the animal may be required, and as much roughened surface as possible for the insertion of muscles. As the joints are few, some provision sjeems to be made for this, by their being complicated. 11 242 CATTLE The spinous processes of the anterior bones of the back, constituting the -withers, are strong but short. While a very slight curve should mark the situation of the withers, the irregularity of the processes of the bones should never be visible. The less the curve the better, and no decided hollow behind should point out the place where the withers terminate, and the more level surface of the back commences ; as this is a departure from good conformation, for which nothing can compensate. It not onljr takes away so much substance from the spot on which good flesh and fat should be thickly laid on, but it generally shows an indisposition to accumulate flesh and fat in fhe right places. THE LARYNX. At the posterior part of the pharynx, and at the top of the wind- pipe, we find a curiously constructed cartilaginous box, called the laryrue. It is the guard of the lungs, lest particles of food, or any injurious substance, should penetrate into the air-passages, and it is at the same time the instrument of voice. (See cut, p. 196.) Every portion of food, whether swallowed or returned for the purpose of re-mastication, passes over it ; and it would be scarcely possible to avoid frequent inconvenience, arid danger of suffocation, were it not for a lid or covering to the entrance of this box, termed the epiglottis, (fig. 5,) which yields to the pressure of the food passing over it, and lies flat on the entrance into the windpipe, and, being of a cartila- ginous structure, rises again by its inherent elasticity as soon as the pellet has been forced along, and permits the animal to breathe again. The whole of the larynx is composed of separate cartilages, to which muscles are attached, that regulate the size of the opening into the windpipe, as the voice or alteration in breathing from exertion or disease, may require. Fig. 1 1 gives a view of the rimce glottidis, or edge of the glottis, or opening into the windpipe. It is small, because little speed is required in the labor of the ox, and' there is rarely any hurried or distressed breathing. But although the opening into the windpipe is small, there is danger of substances getting into it, for'all the food passes thrice over it ; and at its first passage is formed into a very loose and imperfect pellet. Provision is made for this ; the epiglottis of the ox is broad : it more than covers the opening into the windpipe. The breathing is seldom hurried, and the food passes often over the opening, and therefore the epiglottis is broad and rounded, (fig. 5, p. 196,) and overlapping on either side, and at the angle of the opening ; the cartilage of which it is composed is thin, its rounded extremity is curled — turned back — so as to yield and be jwessed dovm, and give an uninterrupted passage, and securely cover the opening when the food is returned ; while also, from its thinness, it yields in TRACHEOTOMY. another way, and uncurls and covers the opening when the food is. swallowed. The arytenoid cartilages (fig. 6) are small in the ox : the thyroid cartilages (fig. 1) are large.. The interior of the larynx of the ox — the organ of voice — is more simple than in any other domesticated animal. There is neither membrane across the opening, nor are there any duplicatures of membrane resembling sacs within the larynx ; in fact, his voice is the least capable of modulation of any of our quad- ruped servants. THB WINDPIPE. The trachea, or windpipe, of cattle is small, because much air is not wanted. The ox is not a beast of speed, and he rarely goes beyond the walk or trot. The cartilaginous rings are narrow (fig. 9, cut, p. 196), and thick. The interposed ligamentous substance is weak (fig. 10, p. 196). A tube of loose construction is suffi- cient for the portion of air which the ox needs in respiration ; and gathering usually the whole of his food from the ground, and gather- ing it slowly, and being longer occupied about it, more freedom of motion, and a greater degree of extension, are requisite. In addition to this, there is no careful and intricate overlapping of the cartilages behind ; they are simply brought into approximation with each other ; and their opposing edges project behind so that they are very loosely bound to the cervical vertebrae. There is no transverse muscle, because the caliber of the tube can seldom or never be much varied, x but, by way of compensation, the lining mem- brane of the trachea is dense, extensible, and elastic, and capable of discharging, although imperfectly, a function similar to that of the transverse muscle. At the lower part of the windpipe, the triangular prolongation of cartilage for the defence of , the tube in the immediate neighborhood of the lungs is small. . The rings of the windpipe of the ox. are about 60. TRACHEOTOMY. Although there are few diseases of cattle in which "the animal is threatened with suffocation, yet occasionally in Main, in inflammation of the parotid gland, and in those varieties of fever which in the ox are so much characterized by the formation of tumors, there will be pressure on the windpipe, much contracting its caliber, and rendering the act of respiration laborious, and almost impracticable. In inflam- mation of the larynx, to which cattle are much exposed, the distress- ing labor of breathing is scarcely credible. Tracheotomy, or the 'formation of an artificial opening into the windpipe, is an operation very easily and safely performed. Tho 244 CATTLE. beast should be secured, and the hair cut closely from the throat, over the windpipe, and opposite to the fifth or sixth ring. The skin is then tightened by the finger and thumb, and an incision is made through it, at least three inches in length. This must be carefully dissected off from the parts beneath, and then a portion of the wind- pipe, half an inch wide, and an inch in length, carefully cut out. The lips of the wound should be kept open by threads passed through the edges and tied over the neck, until the pressure or inflammation above no longer exists, and then they may be brought together and the wound healed. It is wonderful what instantaneous and perfect relief this operation affords. The beast that was struggling for breath, and seemed every moment ready to expire, is in a moment himself. In cases of permanent obstruction, as tumor in the nostrils, or dis- tortion of the larynx or trachea, the animal will generally be consigned to the butcher ; but instances may occur in which it is 'desirable to preserve the beast for the sake of breeding, or for other purposes. Then a tube may be introduced into the opening, two or three inches long^ curved at the top, and the external orifice turning downward, with a little ring on each side, by which, through the means of tapes, it may be retained in its situation. A favorite cow or bull might be thus preserved, but extraordinary cases alone would justify such a proceeding. THE THYMUS GLAND, OR SWEETBREAD. There is an irregular glandular body, of a pale pink color, situated in the very fore part of the thorax, vulgarly called the sweetbread. In the early period of the life of the fetus, it is of no considerable size, and is confined mostly to the chest ; but during the latter months it strangely develops itself. It protrudes from the thorax ; it climbs up on each side of the neck, between the carotids and the trachea, and reaches even to the parotid gland, and becomes a part of that gland. It cannot be separated from the parotid ; and when cut into, a milky fluid exudes from it. Very soon after birth, however, a singular change takes p'laoe ; it spontaneously separates from the parotid ; it gradually disappears, beginning from above downward ; and in the course of a few months not a vestige of it remains along the whole of the neck. It then more slowly diminishes within the chest ; but at length it disappears there too, and its situation is occupied by the thoracic duct. 1^ is evidently connected with the existence of the animal previous to birth, and more particularly with the latter stages of fcetal life. It seems to be part of the nutritive system. It pours a bland and milky fluid through the parotid duct into the mouth, and so into the stomach, in order to habituate the stomach by degrees to the digest- THE ALTERATION OF THE SLOOD. 215 ive process, and to prepare it for that function on which the life of the animal is to depend; and also to prepare the intestines for the discharge of their duty. When, after birth, it begins to be separated from the parotid gland, it has no means of pouring its secretion into the stomach, and it gradually dwindles away, and disappears. THE BRONCHIAL TUBES. The windpipe pursues its 'course down the neck, until it arrives at the chest. It there somewhat alters its form, and becomes deeper and narrower, in order to suit itself to' the triangular opening through which it is to pass. It enters the chest, and preserves the same cartilaginous structure until it arrives at the base of the heart, where it separates into two tubes, corresponding with the two divisions of the lungs. These are called the bronchial tubes. They plunge deep into the substance of the lungs ; these presently subdivide ; and the subdivision is continued in every direction, until branches of the trachea penetrate every portion of the lungs. These are still air- passages, and they are carrying on the air to its destination, for the accomplishment of a vital purpose. The lungs of the ox afford the most satisfactory elucidation of the manner in which these air-tubes traverse that viscus. They can be followed until they almost elude the unassisted sight, but the greater part. of them can be evidently traced into the lobuU, or little divisions of the substance of the lung, which are so evident here. The minute structure of these lobuli has never been demonstrated ; but we may safely imagine them to con- sist of very small cells, in which the bronchial tubes terminate, and to which the air is conveyed ; and that these cells are divided from each other by exceedingly delicate membranes. THE ALTERATION OF THE BLOOD. The blood has already been described as sent from the right ven- tricle of the heart into the lung, and the blood-vessels dividing and subdividing until they have attained a state of extreme minuteness, and then ramifying over the delicate membrane of these cells. The blood, however, is in a venous state ; it is no longer capable of sup- porting life; and it is forced through the lungs, in order that it may be rendered once more arterial, and capable of supporting life and all its functions. For this purpose, these minute veins spread over the delicate membrane of the cells, and for this purpose also, the air has been conveyed to these cells by the bronchial tubes. Now, the chemical, it may almost be said the vital, difference be- tween venous and arterial blood is, that the venous is loaded with carbon, and deficient in oxygen. It here comes, if not in absolute contact with atmospheric air; yet so close as to be separated only by a gossamer membrane, which offers little obstacle to the power of .846 CATTLE chemical affinity or attraction ; and the carbon- which it contains is attracted by the oxygen which abounds in the atmospheric air, and is taken out of the circulation, and passes off in breathing. Carbonic acid gas, or fixed air, is formed by the union of the oxygen and the carbon, the presence of which in undue quantities renders the air destructive to life. The other constituents of the blood have also an affinity for oxygen, and more of that gas is taken from the atmos- pheric air, and passes through the membrane of the air-cells, and mingles with the blood. The change, then, from venous to arterial blood consists in the car- bon being taken away, and oxygen imbibed ; and this is effected by the blood being brought so nearly into contact with atmospheric air, of which oxygen is a constituent part, and which has a greater affinity for carbon, and other principles in the blood, than it has for the gases with which it was combuu 1 in the constitution of atmos- pheric air. The capillary vessels, now carrying arterial instead of venous blood, unite and form larger and yet larger vessels, until the united stream is poured into the right cavity of the heart, thence to be propelled through the frame. This subject has been treated at somewhat greater length, because the lungs of the ox afford the best illustration of the division of the bronchial tubes, and the separation of the sub- stance of the lungs into distinct lobuli, or little lobes, in which the bronchial tubes terminate, and the air-cells are developed. CATARRH, OR HOOSB. Anatomical detail may now, for a considerable time, be laid aside, and inquiry be made into the diseases of the respiratory organs. Those only of the first of the air- passages, that of the nose, have as yet been considered ; however, inflammation spreads beyond the lining membrane of the nasal cavities, and involves the fauces, the glands of the throat, and the upper air-passages generally ; it is then no longer coryza, but is catarrh, or better known by the term hoose. This is a disease too little regarded in cattle, but the forerunner of the most frequent and fatal diseases to which they are subject. It is often hard to say whence catarrh, or common cold, arises. The slightest change of management or of temperature will some- times produce it. In the beginning of spring, and towards the latter part of autumn, it is particularly prevalent. Young beasts, and cows after calving, are very subject to it. In a great many cases, how- ever, it is the result of mismanagement. When cattle are crowded together, they are seldom without hoose. If the cow-house be heated considerably above .the temperature of the external air, it is sure to be there. Many a sad cold is caught at the straw-yard, and particularly by young cattle : the food is not sufficient to afford CATARRH, OR HOOSE. 247 proper nourishment, or to keep up proper warmth ; and the more forward drive the others about, and permit them to obtain only a small portion of their proper share of the provender, and then the depressing effects of cold, and wet, and hunger, so debilitate these poor beasts, that they are seldom without catarrh — and that catarrh too frequently runs on "to a more serious disease. Some breeds are more subject to hoose than others. The na- tives of a southern district are seldom naturalized in a colder clime without several times passing through severe catarrh ; and, where the system of breeding in and in has been carried to too great an extent, and been pursued in defiance of many a warn- ing, hoose, perpetually occurring, difficult to remove, and degene- rating into confirmed phthisis, will painfully, but somewhat too late, convince the farmer of his mistake. The principal error, however, of the agriculturist is, not that he suffers the causes of hoose to exist, or always gives them exist- ence, but that he underrates the mischievous and fatal character of the disease. To this point we shall refer again and again ; and if we can but induce him to listen to the dictates of •humanity and of interest, the present treatise may rank among those which have dif- fused some useful knowledge. There is no disease of a chronic nature by which cattle are so se- riously injured, or which is eventually so fatal to them, as hoose ; yet very few of those whose interest is at stake, pay the slightest attention to it. The cow may cough on from week to week, and no one takes notice of it until the quantity of milk is seriously decreas- ing, or she is rapidly losing flesh, and then medical treatment is generally*unavailing. The disease has now reached the chest ; the lungs are seriously affected ; and the foundation is laid for confirmed consumption. It is far from the wish of the author to inculcate a system of over- nursing. He knows full well that those cattle are most healthy that are exposed to the usual changes of the weather, yet somewhat sheltered from its greatest inclemency. He would not consider every cow that hooses as a sick animal, and shut her up in some close place, and physic and drench her, but would endeavor to pre- vail oil the farmer to be a great deal more on the look-out. The herdsman should be aware of every beast .that coughs. It may be only a slight cold, afld in a few days may disappear of* itself. He may wait and see whether it will, unless there be some urgent symp- toms; but, these few days having passed, and the cow continuing to hoose, it begins to be imperatively necessary for him to adopt the proper measures, while they may be serviceable. If she feed as well as ever, if moisture stand upon her muzzle, and her flanks are perfectly quiet, then one or two nights' housing, and a mash or two, or a dose of physic, may set all right. But if the 248 CATTLE. muzzle be a little dry, and the root of the horn hot, and she heaves (although not much) at the flanks, and, the coat is not so sleek as usual, and she is a little off her feed, let her be bled. Experience will teach the farmer that these chest affections, in cattle, often and speedily assume a highly inflammable character, and that they must be conquered at the first, or not at all. To bleeding should succeed a dose of Epsom salts, with half an ounce of ginger in it, to prevent griping and to promote perspiration, and to excite the rumen to action ; but no hot, stimulating drinks. To this should be added warmth, warm mashes, warm drinks, warm gruels, and a warm but well ventilated cow-house. Cough and Fever Drink. — Take emetic tartar, one drachm ; pow- dered digitalis, half a drachm ; and nitre, three drachms. Mix, and give in a quart of tolerably thick gruel. Purging Drink. — Take Epsom salts, one pound ; powdered cara- way-seeds, half an ounce. Dissolve in a quart of warm gruel, and give. 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 be no fever, should be allowed. It is necessary carefully to watch the animals that are laboring under this complaint ; and, if the heaving should continue, or the muzzle again become or continue dry, and the breath hot, more blood should be taken away, and the purging drink repeated. At the close of the epidemic catarrh, the animal will sometimes be left weak and with little appetite. It should be wel. ascertained whether the fever has quite left the beast, because list- lessness and disinclination to move, and loss of appetite, and slight staggering, may result as much from the continuance of fever as from the debility which it leaves behind. If the muzzle be cool and moist, and the mouth not hot, and the pulse sunk to nearly its natu- ral standard, or rather below it, and weak and low, the following drink may be ventured on : Take emetic tartar, half a drachm ; nitre, two drachms ; powdered gentian root, one drachm ; powdered chamomile flowers, one drachm ; and powdered ginger, half a drachm. Pour upon them a pint of boiling ale, and give the infusion when nearly cold. When the beast begins to recover, he should not be exposed in any bleak situation, or to much rough weather. In some years this epidemic disease destroys a great many cattle. In the winter of 1830, and in the spring of 1831, thousands of young cattle perished in every part of the country. Some of them were carefully examined after death, and the membrane lining the windpipe 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, and the passages filled with worms. There are some substances which arc immediately destructive to COUGH. worms when brought into contact with them. Some of these medi- caments may be taken into the circulation of the animal with perfect safety to him, and probably death to the worms. Among those which most readily enter into the circulation after being swallowed, 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 probable that worms are in the air-passages, the following prescription may be re- sorted to : Turpentine Brink for Worms. — Take oil of turpentine, two ounces ; 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-spoonfulls. of salt every after- noon, have also been administered with advantage when worms are present in the windpipe. Should the case appear 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 : — 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 gruel. 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 purulent, or bloody, and the breath stinking, and the cough con- tinues to be violent, while the beast feeds badly, and the eyes begin to appear sunk in the head, and he rapidly loses flesh. The best remedy here, so far as both the owner and the animal are concerned, is the pole-axe of the butcher ; for in the early part of the disease the meat is not at all injured, and may be honestly sold. If, how- ever, it is wished that an attempt should be made to save the animal, the couch and fever drink may be given daily ; more attention should be paid to the warmth and comfort of the beast ; and, if the weather be favorable, it should, after a while, be turned out, either entirely, or during the day. Care, however, must be taken to protect the animal from all storms ; and if it be summer, green food should be given in the stable. Homoeopathic Treatment. — A cough, at first dull and hollow, excited by the least effort, and more- particularly violent after thq 11* '. 250 CATTLE. animal has drunk, generally indicates a more or less serious affection of the lung.' If a severe cough attack the animal, great attention must be paid to it, because in such cases we frequently have to treat commencing hydrothorax. The means to be adopted when no other symptoms of disease are observed, are : dulcamara, in cough- by cold; bryonid (in repeated doses,) in inveterate cough; belladonna and drosera, in chronic cough ; hyoscyamus, when the attacks are very frequent ; squilla, in cough which comes on after fatigue, and which interferes with the respiration ; chamomilla, in dry cough, with diarrhoea ; puhatilla, in frequent attacks of dry cough, with loss of appetite ; spiritus sulphuratus, in very obstinate cough. When the cough is the symptom of another disease, it yields to the treatment required by the latter. When the entire system has suffered more or less, the affection is accompanied with fever of greater or less severity ; some doses of aconitum, the first remedy to be employed in such cases, never fail to produce excellent effects. If the cold affect but a part of the "body, we scarcely ever observe any fever, and bryonia is to be ad- ministered. Tn many cases considerable benefit has been obtained from dulcamara, nux vomica, and rhus toxicodendron. Arsenicum is good when the digestion is disturbed, or the complaint has been oc- casioned by a cold drink. EPIDEMIC CATARRH. Catarrh occasionally assumes an epidemic form ; it spreads over whol'e districts ; is more than usually violent ; associates with itself the symptoms of other and of worse diseases, and is strangely fatal. If a cold yet variable spring succeeds to a wet and mild winter, there will be scarcely a dairy or a straw-yard in some districts in which a considerable number of cows will not labor under distressing hoose. Obstinate costiveness attends the early stage of this disease, on which neither Epsom salts, nor common salt, nor linseed oil, can make any impression. All seems to go into the rumen, and has for a while no power on the cuticular coat of that stomach ; and then, whether the purgative course be pursued or suspended, diarrhoea suddenly comes on, and bids equal defiance to all astringent medi- cines. Sometimes, however, diarrhoea is present, and obstinate from the very beginning. Tumors about the head, the roots of the ears, the neck, the back, and loins, and many of the joints, soon succeed, accompanied by a singular crackling sound when pressed upon. There is decomposi- tion going on everywhere, and in the cellular texture among the rest, accompanied by the extrication of gas, the passage of which among the cells beneath the skin' is the cause of this crackling. While these tumors indicate decomposition in one part, the ap- pearance and odor o! the faeces show that it is not inactive in the EPIDEMIC CATARRH. 251 intestinal canal. The discharge is offensive to a high degree, the breath loses its peculiar and beautiful scent, and the vital powers are rapidly exhausted. In most of these epidemics, the first attack seems to be made on the powers of organic life, and soon afterwards the animal system shares in the deleterious influence. The beast is unwilling to move : it scarcely can move ; it staggers as it walks. It loses flesh every day ; the coat stares, and clings to the bones ; the appetite is quite gone; a fetid discharge commences from the mouth and nostrils, and death soon follows. The treatment of this disease in ii; early stage, and when alone it can be treated with reasonable hope of success, may be character- ized under two words — promptitude and vigor. The state of inflam- matory fever which accompanies the early period of the disease is in- tense ; and unless arrested, it will (as we have seen in treating of that disease) speedily exhaust every vital power; therefore, fever existing, bleeding is imperative. The quantity of blood to be abstracted will be regulated by the intensity of the inflammation, the apparent ap- proach or commencement of debility, and the effect produced while the blood continues to flow. All of these circumstances should -be most carefully attended to. If the fever rages, the ox will bear to lose much blood, and uniformly with manifest advantage. If the state of debility is evidently approaching, or has even commenced, bleed- ing, regulated by the pulse, and stopped the moment that that fal- ters, will generally be beneficial : but debility being established, or the bleeding carried on after the pulse has forbidden it, the abstrac- tion of blood will only hasten death. Aperients should undoubtedly be administered, accompanied or not by aromatics, or the proportion of the aromatic regulated by the preponderance of fever or debility. The sulphate of magnesia will be preferred ; and early recourse should be had to the stomach- pump, in the manner which has been already described, should the physic seem to accumulate in the paunch. The other medicines will also be regulated by the symptoms. While fever continues, digitalis, emetic tartar, and nitre will be indi- cated. When the febrile stage is passed, spirit of nitrous ether, laudanum, gentian, and ginger will be indicated. The cow-house should be warm, yet well ventilated. Mashes should be given, and green meat of every kind, and this changed daily, if necessary, in order to humor the capricious appetite of the patient. The strength being a little renovated, the beast may be turned into some pasture, close at hand, for a few hours during the middle of the day. Homoeopathic treatment. — The principal means to be employed in such cases, as well as in the case of cough in general, are ; dulca- mara and bryonia, in the cough which has succeeded to a cold ; nux 252 CATTLE. vomica, in the dry and loud cough ; aconitum and arsenicum, in that ■which comes on every time the animal drinks cold water ; drosera, in that which has already become chronic ; pulsatilla and hyoscya- mus, in that which is dry and returns in kinks ; chamomilla, in dry cough with diarrhoea ; ammonium muriaticum, cuprum, and bryonia, in inveterate cough ; and, in general, sulphur, in many cases of dis- tressing and more especially obstinate coughs. THE MALIGNANT EPIDEMIC MURRAIN. Epidemic catarrh often assumes a malignant form in cattle, on ac- count of the great vascularity of the system, and intensity of febrile action, and consequent vital exhaustion. It also appears as a dis- ease which is malignant from its very commencement. Indeed there is no disease so malignant as the murrain of cattle, and there are few years in which it is not now seen in some part of the kingdom. It is ranked under the diseases of the respiratory system, because that system is usually first of all affected, and for a longer or shorter •time alone affected ; but the disease gradually takes on a typhoid character, and its pestilential influence invades every portion of the frame. It principally appears in marshy and woody districts, or where under-draining has been neglected, or the cattle have been ex- posed and half-starved. There are few diseases that assume, in its earlier or later stages, a greater variety of forms ; but, disarmed somewhat of its virulence, or at least having not appeared in all its terrors for some years past, it will generally be distinguished by some o» the greater part of the following symptoms. There will be cough, frequent and painful, and, in many cases, for a week or more before there is any other marked symptom." The farmer may not always be aware of this, but he will find it out if he inquires about it ; and he will be fully aware of the importance of the fact before we have done with this division of our subject. After a few days, some heaving of the flanks will be added to the cough ; the pulse will be small, hard, frequent, and sometimes ir- regular ; the mouth hot ; the root of the horn cold ; the faeces some- times hard and black, at others liquid and' black, and then very fetid. Presently afterwards, that of which we have to speak again and again, is observed — extreme tenderness along the spine, and partic- ularly over the loins. The cough becomes more frequent and convulsive, and a brown or bloody matter runs from the nostrils and mouth ; the eyes are swelled and weeping ; the patient grinds his teeth ; there is frequent spasmodic contraction about the nostrils ; and the animal rarely lies down, or, if he does, rises again immediately. The eyes soon afterwards become unusually dull ; the pulse re- mains small, but it has become feeble ; the respiration is quicker ; THE MALIGNANT EPIDEMIC— MURRAIN. 253 the flanks are tucked up ; the tenderness on the loins is removed ; insensibility is stealing over the frame ; and the faeces are more ICaded with mucus, and more fetid. The patient moans and lows, and grinds his teeth almost incessantly ; the head is agitated by a convulsive motion ; blood begins to mingle with the fseces ; the breath,- and even the perspiration, becomes offensive ; and the beast staggers as he walks. Tumors and boils now, or often earlier, appear on various parts. If they are to come forward, the sooner they rise the better, for much depends cm what becomes of them. If the animal has suffi- cient strength for them to go through the usual process of suppura- tion, although the sloughing and the stench may be greater than could be thought possible, the beast will have a chance to recover ; but if there is not energy to bring them forward — if they become stationary — and most assuredly, if they recede and disappear, the patient will die. The treatment of this disease is most unsatisfactory. If the farmer could be brought to attend more to this cough in cattle — if, here, he had recognized the violent and increasing cough, and, although he had not dreamed of murrain, had bled and physicked the beast on account of the cough, the disease would probably have been ar- rested, or at least its virulence would have abated. The early stage of murrain is one of fever, and the treatment should correspond with this — bleeding. Physic should be cautiously yet not timorously- resorted to.. For sedative medicines there will rarely be room, except the cough should continue. Small doses of purgative medicine, with more of the aromatic than we generally add, will be serviceable, effecting the present purpose, and not has- tening or increasing the debility which generally is at hand ; but if the bowels be sufficiently open, or diarrhoea should threaten, and yet symptoms of fever should be apparent, no purgative must be giv- en, but the sedatives should be mingled with some vegetable tonic. The peculiar ietid diarrhoea must be met with astringents, mingled also with vegetable tonics. In combating the pustular and slough- ing gangrenous stage, the chloride of lime wilj be the best external application ; while a little of it administered with the other medi- cines inwardly may possibly lessen the tendency to general decom- position. The external application of it should not be confined to the ulcerated parts alone, but it should be plentifully sprinkled over and about the beast ; and the infected animal should be immediately removed from the sound ones. Drink for Murrain. — Take sweet spirit of nitre, half an ounce ; laudanum, half an ounce ; choride of lime, in powder, two ounces ; prepared chalk, an ounce. Eub them well together, and give them with a pint of warm gruel. This may be repeated every six hours, until the purging is consi- 254 CATTLE. derably abated ; but should not be continued until it has quite stopped.' The purging being abated, we must look about for something to recall the appetite and recruit the strength. " Tonic Brink for Murrain. — Take Colombo root, two drachms ; canella bark, two drachms ; ginger, one drachm ; sweet spirit of nitre, half an ounce. Rub them together, and give in a pint of thick, gruel. There cannot be a more proper means adopted than a seton in the dewlap, made with the black hellebore root. The mouth should be frequently washed with a dilute solution of the chloride of lime. The ulcerated parts, if they are fetid, should have the same disinfectant applied to them, and the walls and ceiling, and every part of the cow-house, should be washed with it. One caution should be used with respect to the food ; while the beast should be coaxed to eat, in order to support him under the debilitating influence of the disease, it is only on the supposition that he ruminates his food. Until he begins 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 undertaken, and thoroughly 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 again 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. Fumigation. — Take common salt, two pounds ; oil of vitriol, one 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. [A remedy much used for murrain, in Holland has been brought before the American public, by J. S. Skinner, Esq., editor of the " Plow, the Loom, and the Anvil." It is this :— nitrate of potash, THE MALIGNANT E1IDEMIC— MURRAIN. 255 170 grains ; bole armenian, 20 grains. Dissolve in a pint of 'water, and give, to be repeated as often as required. — Am. Ed^ Homoeopathic treatment. — With respect to treatment, arsenicum is a certain means of cure and preservation. On the first symp- toms of the disease being perceived, such as loss of appetite, suspen- sion of rumination, trembling of the hind legs, staggering when walk- ing, hair dull and rough, eyes swimming in water, alternations of heat and- cold in the horns and ears, disappearance of milk, pieces of wood placed between the handle and the tube ; hollowed so as to fit the stilett ; removable in a moment, and, like the hollow piece of wood in the other tube, permitting the stilett to be two or three inches longer than the tube. They are here removed, and one of them hangs down, suspended by a string. d. The bulb which is introduced through the mouth-piece, and forced down the gullet. It is considerably larger than those at the ends of the other tube, but not so large as the distended gullet. e. A corkscrew fixed to the end of the stilett, and which, coming out in the centre of the knob, cannot possibly wound the gullet. When this instrument is used, the stilett is pulled up so that the screw is perfectly retracted and concealed within the knob. The pieces of wood, c, are placed upon the stilett, between the handle and the top of the tube, and tied there, so that the screw is now fixed within the knob ; and the instrument is introduced ■ through the mouth-piece, and forced down the throat until it reaches the obstruc- tion. The pieces of wood are then untied, and, by turning the han- dle, the screw is worked into the obstructing body, as the common corkscrew is into a cork in the neck of a bottle. If the potato or furnip be fresh and sound, it would hardly be credited what purchase is obtained, and in how many instances the nuisance may be drawn up the throat and got rid of. If the centre of the root should give way, and a portion of it only be brought out, there is still some good done, and the screw should be returned again and again, until it will no longer take hold. By this time, probably, the root will have been so weakened and broken down that it will yield to the pressure of the first probang, and be forced along into the rumen ; or at least it will be so weakened, that the stilett of the first tube may be used with advantage. The stilett must be withdran from the tube, and the running, piece OPERATION FOR OBSTRUCTION IN THE GULLET. 283 of wood taken away ; the stilett is then returned to its sheath, and may be made to project a couple of inches beyond the knob. It is retracted, and the tube is passed into the throat ; when it will be evident that the operator may use either the comparatively broad part of the knob, or the small and sharp stilett, as the case may seem to require. To the first he can only apply simple pressure — to the stilett he can give a percussive action. By sharply pushing down the handle of the stilett, he will make the other end act with the power of a little hammer, and thus may break down, and probably work through, the centre of the root, as in the case which has been just related. A perforation having been made through the centre, and the obstruction having been previously torn and weakened. by the screw, the whole may gradually be broken down, or will more readily yield to pressure. These directions have been founded on the supposition that tne foreign body is lodged in the gullet above the entrance into the thorax ; and if the operator fails in all these contrivances, perhaps he will now admit, although reluctantly, the application of external force. It has been recommended to place a small piece of wood against the gullet, and In contact with that portion of the skin which covers the obstructing body, and then, with a wooden mallet, to hammer away against the opposite side. The root has been thus occasionally broken down! and then forced on with the cart-whip ; but more frequently the beast has been sadly punished, without any good effect having been produced ; and, in some instances, although the nuisance was for a while got rid of, so much tenderness of the gullet remained, and inflammation arose, and ran to such an extent, that the animal did not regain its appetite for many weeks afterwards, or pined away, and became comparatively worthless. The practitioner will, therefore, unwillingly have recourse to this, and will be justified in first seeing what bleeding will do. There is not a more powerful relaxant than bleeding — and especially when it is carried on, if necessary, to abso- lute fainting. For awhile every spasmodic action ceases, and every muscular fibre loses its power to contract. The" operator will; proba- bly, take advantage of the momentary relaxation, in order to force the body either upward or downward — upward first, and by far in preference; or if downward, yet still cautiously balancing in his mind the degree of resistance with the chance of ultimate success ; for, if the resistance continues to be considerable, he may depend upon it that when he has arrived'at the thorax, all further efforts will be fruitless, and the patient will be lost. He has one last resource, and he needs %ot to be so afraid of ven- turing upon it. There is the operation of aesophagotomy, or the cut- ting down upon the obstruction, and thus removing it. The veteri- nary surgeon will never find, or ought never to find, difficulty here. After having passed a little way down the neck, the oesophagus is 284 CATTLE found on the left qf the trachea, and between the carotid and the jugular. The artery will be detected by its pulsation, and the vein by its turgescence. The only muscle that can be in danger is the sterno-maxillaris, and that may, in a very great majority of cases, be avoided, or, if it be wounded, no great mischief will ensue. The animal should be cast, (at least this is the safest way, as it regards both the operator and the patient.) It should be thrown on the right side, and the head should be a little stretched out, but lying as flat as the horns" will permit. The place of obstruction will be seen at once. An incision is by some persons made immediately into the gullet, sufficiently long for the extraction of the root. The safer way, however, is for the cellular substance to be a little dissected away before the gullet is opened, when, if the incision be long enough, the incarcerated body will readily escape. The edges of the oesopha- gus should then be brought together, and confined by two or three stitches ; the skin should also have the same number passed through it, the ends of the stitches of the gullet having been brought through the external wound. The beast should have nothing but gruel for two or three days ; and, after that, gruel and mashes for a little while longer: In a fortnight or three weeks the wound will generally be healed, and scarcely a trace of the incision will be visible. If the obstruction be not observed, or the practitioner not called in until the potato or parsnip has passed into that portionof the gullet which is within the thorax, the chances of saving the animal are materially diminished. The common probang should first be tried, and, that failing, the corkscrew should be resorted to, either to draw the body out, or so to pierce it and break it down, that it may be forced onward either by the stilett or the knob. The practitioner should, if necessary, use all the force he can ; for, if the obstruction be not overcome, the animal will assuredly perish. It has often been observed, and with much truth,- that cows, in whose gullet this obstruction has once taken place, are subject to it afterwards. Either they had a habit of voracious feeding, or the muscles are weakened by this spasmodic action, and not able to con- tract upon the food with sufficient force for the ordinary purposes of deglutition. It will therefore generally be prudent to part with the cow that has once suffered from an accident of this kind. STRICTURE OF THE OESOPHAGUS. This rarely occurs in cattle. The writer of this treatise has met with only one marked case of it. The food occasionally accumulated in the upper part of the gullet until there was a swelling eight or ten - inches in length, terminating in an evident contraction of the oesopha- gus. He passed a probang through the stricture, as large as, without too great violence, he could manage, and confined it there for an hour, RUPTURE OF THE (ESOPHAGUS. 285 by means of tapes. This was done for a few days, when a larger probang was used. The food accumulated less frequently, and, soon after, ceased to accumulate at all. " RUPTCRK OF THE (ESOPHAGUS. In cases of laceration, or rupture of the gullet, which too frequently follow the violent attempts of unskillful persons to force down the obstructing body, something might be done if the mischief were immediately ascertained. Prudence, however, would dictate the sacrifice, of the animal, while it could be fairly sold to the butcher. If the cure be undertaken, the part must be opened— the foreign body liberated from the cellular texture into which it had probably been driven all the dirt and indigested matter cleared carefully away the ragged and lacerated edges cut off— the divided portions 286 CATTLE. brought as neatly and as closely together as possible — and the whole secured by bandages passed several times round the neck ; while the animal is allowed gruel only for many days, and then mashes. The dressing should be the healing ointment, daily applied. The power of nature is great ; and, the foreign body having been removed before it could cause inflammation and mortification by its presence, the parts may be reinstated to every useful purpose. THE CESOPHAGUS WITHIN THE THORAX. As the oesophagus approaches the chest, it takes a direction more and more toward the left, and enters it on that side of the windpipe. It is there found between the laminae of the mediastinum, following the direction of the dorsal vertebrae. It passes by the base of the heart, leaving the venae cavae on the right, and the aorta on the left. It by degrees separates itself from the spine, penetrating between the lungs, and, pursuing its course toward the diaphragm, passes through the great opening between the crura of that muscle. As it travels through the mediastinum and between the lungs, it diminishes in size, and acquires considerable firmness of texture; but it has no sooner entered the abdomen, and begun to dip downward, than it becomes more muscular, and less firm in its structoe. It also rapidly increases in size until it assumes almost the shape of a funnel ; and terminates directly in no particular stomach, but in a canal which opens into all the stomachs, of which, as will be seen, the ruminant possesses four. Recourse must be had to a few cuts, in order to render this in- telligible to the reader. The cut in the preceding page will exhibit the form of the sto- machs when filled, their relative situations, and their connection with each other. a. The oesophagus gradually enlarging as it descends, and appa- rently running into the rumen or paunch, but, in fact, terminating in a canal. b. A continuation of the spiral muscles of the oesophagus, thicker and more powerful as they approach the termination of that tube. Before proceeding to the consideration of the other parts delinea- ted in that cut, let us take a different view of the structure and termination of the gullet. (See cut on page 288.) a. The oesophagus, enlarging as it descends, and oecoming more muscular, and particularly the upper and posterior part of it. The continuation of it -along the stomachs is slit up, in order to show that it would form the continuous roof of the canal which is here laid open, and which leads" to the third and fourth stomachs. 5. The msophagean canal, exposed by slitting the roof from the termination of the gullet to the third stomach. A considerable part of the floor is composed of two muscular pillars, lying close to each THE (ESOPHAGUS WITHIN 1SK THORAX. 287 other. It would therefore appear, at first inspection, to be a perfect canal, and that -what descended into it from the gullet would run on to the third and fourth stomachs. These pillars are duplicatures of the roof of the first and second stomachs, which lie immediately underneath them. c is the continuation of the same canal into and through the manyplus, or third stomach, which is known by its leaves and thin hooked edges. d is a prolongation of the same canal into the fourth, or true di- gestive stomach. It is easy therefore to perceive that the food, whether solid or fluid, may, at the will of the animal, or under par- ticular circumstances of the constitution, pass into the third and fourth stomachs, without a particle of it entering into the first or second ; and we kndw that this is the case with the food after it has undergone the process of rumination, or a second mastication. The following cut will give another view of the same parts. a is again the oesophagus, terminating in the cesophagean canal. b is, as before, the oesophagean canal ; but now, at the will of the animal, or under certain states of the constitution, these pillars are no longer in contact with each other, but there is a large opening at the bottom of the oesophagus, displaying the two 'first stomachs lying under them. c is the rumen, or paunch, or first stomach, placed immediately under the termination of the-gullet, and substances descending that tube fall through this opening, and are received into it. All the food, when first swallowed, goes there, to be preserved for the act of rumi- nation ; and a portion, and occasionally the greatest portion, of the fluids that pass down the guljet, enters the rumen. Farther on, at d, is the reticulum, or second stomach. From the state of that stomach, or at the will of the animal, the muscular pillars here also relax, seldom or never to permit that which is passing along the cesophagean canal to enter the reticulum, but that the contents of the reticulum may be thrown into the cesophagean canal. This is 288 • CATTLE. the case when the pellet of food is returned for remastieation — it is thrown into the canal from the reticulum — it is seized by the power- ful muscles at the base of the gullet, and carried up by the spiral muscles of that tube in order to be remasticated. It will be seen the upper pillar (situated towards the .right in the living subject), and the lower part of the opening made by the relaxation of the pillars, belong to the reticulum ; the lower pillar and the anterior portion of the opening (situated towards the left) belong to the roof of the rumen. This is very satisfactorily seen in the dried stomach of a young calf. e is the manyplus, or third stomach, and through which the canal is still to be traced to 6, the abomasum, or fourth, or true digesting stomach. So that, as was asserted, this canal leads to no particular stomach exclusively, but to all of them according to circumstances. We are now, perhaps, prepared to return to the consideration of the first cut (p. 285). c e represent the form of this stomach in the greater part of rumi- nants, and particularly in oxen and sheep. It is situated somewhat obliquely in the abdominal cavity, and occupies nearly three-fourths of it. It is divided into two unequal compartments, or sacs, and reaches from the diaphragm to tbe pelvic cavity. By its superior surface it is attached to the sublumbar region by its vessels, nerves, and a portion of mesentery. On the right side it is covered by a portion of the intestines ; on the left side it is more elevated, and is in contact with the left flank. It is on this account that we are sometimes induced to adopt the unsurgical mode of giving relief in cases of hoove ; for when we plunge our lancet or knife into the THE EXTERIOR OF THE STOMACIiS. 289 left flank, we puncture the distended stomach. Its inferior surface rests upon the floor of the belly. The left side reaches to the dia- phragm, and thence, under the left flank, to the pelvis. The right side rests on the floor of the abdomen, and is covered by the fourth stomach. The anterior extremity is attached to the diaphragm 'by the oesophagus, and by the cardiac ligament ; and the right ex- tremity floats free, generally occupying the pelvis, but pushed thence in the latter period of gestation. Deep scissures not only divide it into two lobes, as has been men- tioned, but another scissure posteriorly, which will be shown in the next cut, forms it into two others ; so that its interior presents four compartments, separated from each by deeply projecting duplica- tures of the walls of the stomach. This cut represents two of the three coats of the rumen. The external, or peritoneal, coat is here represented as turned back at different places, in order to show the muscular coat, which consists of two layers, the one running longitudinally and the other transversely ; yet not accurately so, for they appear to run obliquely, and in many different directions, according to the varying curvatures of the stomach. A very erroneous opinion of this great macerating stomach would be formed by considering'it as a mere passive reser-" voir in which the food is contained until it is wanted for rumination : it is in constant motion ; the food is perpetually revolving through its different compartments, and undergoing important preparation for future digestion. These muscles are the mechanical agents by which this is effected, and by running in these different directions they are enabled to act upon all the differently formed cells of this enormous viscus. d. The reticulum, or honey-comb, or second stomach, viewed ex- ternally, and supposed to be filled.' It is a little curved upon itself from' below upward, and is the smallest of all the stomachs. It rests against the diaphragm in front of the left sac of the rumen, and is placed under the oesophagus, and upon the abdominal prolongation of the sternum. There are two layers of muscles belonging to this stomach, one of them running longitudinally and the other trans- versely, as in the rumen. e gives the external appearance of the manyplus, or third stomach. It is less rounded, and longer than the reticulum. It is curved upon itself from above downward. Its little curvature is applied on the left, partly over the reticulum, and more on the paunch ; and on the right it is placed over the base of the fourth stomach. It is situated obliquely from the right side of the abdomen, be- tween the liver and the right sac of the rumen. Girard thusrfe- scribes it>: — "Its anterior face rests against the liver and the dia- phragm — its posterior is placed over the right sac of the rumen. Its great, rounded, convex curvature is attached to the fourth 13 290 CATTLE. stomach, and also to the rumen, by a prolongation of mesentery ; and its little curvature is continuous with that of the reticulum." Figs. 1 and 2 represent the two layers of muscles, as before. /, The ahomasum, or fourth stomach, is elongated, and of a cone- like form, yet somewhat bent into an arch, situated obliquely to the right of and behind the manyplus, and between the diaphragm and the right sac of the rumen. It has two free or unattached faces, one against the diaphragm and the other against the right sac of the rumen — two curvatures, the inferior and larger convex, and giving attachment along its inner border to a portion of mesentery, which extends to the inferior scissures of the rumen ; and the superior or smaller, receiving the portions of mesentery which go from the reti- culum to the superior scissures of the rumen. It is also said to have two extremities, the one anterior, which is the larger, and placed inferiorly, adhering to the smaller curvature of the manyplus, and constituting the base, or great extremity of the abomasum ; and the posterior and superior, which is, narrow, elongated, curved above and backward on the superior face of the right sac of the rumen, and called the smaller or pyloric extremity. A dissection of the muscular coat is given here, as in the other stomachs. g represents the commencement of the duodenum, or first intestine. The reader is now prepared for the consideration of the interior of these stomachs. a. The oesophagus, as before, enlarging, and assuming a funnel- like shape as it approaches the stomachs. 6. The asophagus, cut open at the commencement of the oesopha- geal! canal, in order to show its communication with the first and second stomachs. c. The rumen, laid open and divided into its different compart- ments by scissures, more or less deep, and which on the internal surface appear as indentations, or duplicatures of the coats of the stomach. They are recognized under the name of the double-tripe when prepared for the table. The rumen is divided into two large sacs, seen in the cut of the external form of the stomachs (p. 285,) and the walls that separate them are thick, and perpendicular to the surface of the stomach, so as to form a very considerable separa- tion between the compartments of the stomach. These again are subdivided by transversal bands, which form smaller compartments. Two, belonging to the posterior portion of the stomach, are given in this cut. There are similar divisions in the anterior-sac, but which are here concealed by one of the folds of the stomach. The whole of the rumen is covered by a cuticular membrane, con- stituting the third or inner coat. Immediately under this, and arising fronj the interposed tissue between the muscular and cuticular coats, there are innumerable small prominences or papillae. They are of THE EXTERIOR OF THE STOMACHS, 291 different sizes and forms in different parts of the rumen. Toward the longitudinal bands or duplicatures they are small, and thinly set ; they are more numerous and larger toward the centre of the com- partments ; and largest of all in the bottom of the posterior and most capacious sac. In every part of the rumen they are more thickly set, and broad and strong toward the centre or bottom of each com- partment. They are also harder and blacker in these places. When regarded in different compartments, they appear to be bent or inclined in different directions ; but when they are more closely examined, they are all inclined in the direction which the food takes in its pass- age through the various divisions of the rumen. They are evidently erectile, and may sometimes bristle up and oppose the passage of the food ; while at other times they yield and bend, and suffer it to pass ■with little or no obstruction. Some have imagined that these are glandular bodies, and that they secrete a peculiar fluid ; others con- fine the glandular apparatus to the tissue between the cutioular coSt ; 292 CAITLE., and numerous little prominences, -which can be seen in the inflated stomach of a young ruminant when exposed to the light, are best accounted for by considering them as glandular bodies. There are two openings into the rumen ; the one already spoken of, at the base of the oesophagus, and through ■which the substances gathered at the first cropping of the food, and perhaps all solids, fall, and a considerable proportion of the liquids are swallowed. The other" opening is below this. It is larger and always open ; it communicates with the second stomach ; but there is a semilunar fold of the rumen, that runs obliquely across it, and acts as a valve, so that nothing can pass from the first into the second stomach, except by some forcible effort ; and it is very seldom that anything is returned from the rumen directly into the oesophagus. Considering the size of the paunch, it has very few blood-vessels ; m fact, it has not much to do except macerating the food. The arteries are supplied by the splenics, which are of very great size in ruminants. The nerves are given out by the coeliac plexus. d. The reticulum, or second stomach. The cuticular coat here covers a very irregular surface, consisting of cells, shallower and wider than those of a honey-comb, but very much resembling them ; hence this stomach is sometimes called the honey-comb. Each of . these divisions contains several smaller ones ; and at> the base and along the sides of each are found numerous minute prominences, or - papillae, which are evidently secreting glands. - There are two openings into the stomach ; one through the floor of the oesophagean canal, one of the pillars of which is formed of a duplicature of the coats of the lesser curvature of the reticulum. The other is that already described, between this stomach and the rumen. The muscular coat of this stomach is thick and powerful, but the blood-vessels are not numerous, for it wJl hereafter appear that its functions are very simple. The arteries and nerves of the reticulum are derived from the same source as those of the rumen. e. The mcmyplus, or third stomach. The internal structure of this stomach is very singular. The oesophagean canal changes its form and character at the commencement of the manyplus ; and the fleshy pillars, of which mention has been so often made, unite, forming a kind of obtuse angle. The floor of the canal is now perfect, and nothing can any longer fall into the stomachs beneath. A small circular aperture alone is left between them, which conducts to the third stomach, the floor of which is closed, but the roof is constructed jn a remarkable way. The whole of the stomach contributes to form this roof ; and from it there descend' numerous duplicatures of the cuticular coat, each duplicature containing within it cellular tissue, blood-vessels, and a thin but powerful layer of muscles. They are formed into groups. A long duplicature, resembling a leaf or cur- THE EXTERIOR OF THE STOMACHS. 298 tain, hangs from the roof, and floats free in the stomach, and reaches nearly down to the floor. On either side of it is a shorter leaf, and beyond that a shorter still, until the outer leaf becomes very narrow. Then commences another group, with a long leaf in the centre, and others progressively shortening on each side, until the stomach is filled with these leaves, hanging down from every part of it, floating loosely about, and the lower edge of the longest of them reaching into the continuation of the ossophagean canal. The cuticular covering of these leaves is peculiarly dense and strong, and thickly studded with little prominences ; so that -when the leaf is examined it exhibits a file-like hardness, that would scarcely _be thought possible ; and it is evidently capable of acting like a file, or little grindstone. These prominences are larger and harder toward the lower part of the leaf ; and, in the central leaves, assume the form and office of little crotchets, or hooks, some of which have the hardness of horn, so that nothing solid or fibrous can escape them. These groups of leaves vary in number in different animals, and the number of leaves constituting each group vary too. They float thickest, and the canal is smallest, at the entrance into this stomach, where they are most wanted. Toward the fourth stomach the course is left more open. As would be expected, from the complicated mechanism of this stomach, it is more abundantly supplied with blood-vessels and with nerves than the second, or even than the first, although that is many times larger than the third. f. The aboma&um, or fourth stomach, is lined by a soft villous mem- brane, like the digestive portion of ordinary stomachs. It also contains a great number of folds, or leaves, somewhat irregularly placed, but running chiefly longitudinally. They are largest and most numerous at the upper and wider part of the stomach ; and one of the folds, in particular, is placed at the entrance into the abomasum, yield- ing to the substances which pass from the third stomach into the fourth, and leaving, as it were, a free and open way, but opposing an almost perfect valvular obstruction to their return. This explains the reason why vomiting is so rare in v the ruminant ; and that when it does occur, it must be produced by such violent spasmodic efforts as to cause or indicate the approach of death. See g and h. p. 288. - Toward the lower and narrower part of the stomach these folds are less numerous and of smaller size : they are also more irregular ' in the course which they take ; some of them running obliquely and even transversely. This coat of the stomach, when the animal is in health, is thickly covered with mucus, while, from innumerable glands, it secretes the gastric juice, or true digestive fluid. The pyloric or lower orifice of this stomach is guarded by a rounded projecting thick substance, hy which the entrance into the intestine W4 CATTLE. is much contracted, and which, indeed, partly discharges the function of a sphincter muscle. g is a portion of the duodenum, or first intestine. h. The place where the biliary and pancreatic ducts- enter the duodenum. i. A stilett is here supposed to be passed through that portion of the oesophagean canal (the very beginning of it) through which the gullet communicates with the paunch. k. A stilett is here supposed to run through that part of the canal by means of which the gullet communicates with the second stomach. I. A stilett here passes below the last, and under the oesophagean canal, showing the situation of the direct communication between the rumen and the reticulum. m. The supposed direction of the oesophagean canal to the third- stomach, over the roofs of the paunch" and the second stomach. n. Its passage through the third stomach, and entrance into the fourth. THE CHANGES OF" THE FOOD IN THE DIFFERENT STOMACHS. The ox rapidly and somewhat greedily crops the herbage, which undergoes little or no mastication, but being rolled into a pellet, and as it passes along the pharynx being somewhat enveloped by the mucus there secreted, is swallowed. The pellet, being hard and rapidly driven along by the action of the muscles of the oesophagus, falls upon the anterior portion of the oesophagean canal, and its curiously formed floor ; and either by the force with which it strikes on these pillars, or by some instinctive influence, they are separated, and the pellet falls into the rumen, which is found immediately under the base of the gullet, as represented a"t c, p. 288, and i, p. 291. The food, however, which thus enters the rumen does not remain stationary in the place where it falls. It has been seen that the walls of this stomach are supplied with muscles of considerable power, and which run longitudinally and transversely, and in various directions all over it, and by means of them the contents of the paunch are gradually conveyed through all its compartments. At first the food travels with comparative rapidity, for the muscles of the stomach act strongly, and the papillae with which it is lined easily yield and suffer it to pass on ; but, the rumen being filled, or the animal ceasing to graze, the progress of the food is retarded. The muscles act with less power, and the contents of the stomach with greater difficulty find their way over the partitions of the different sacs, and, at the same time, probably, the papillae exert their erectile power, and oppose a new obstacle. If a considerable opening b - jut into the flank, immediately over the THE CHANGES OF FOOD IN THE STOMACHS. 295 paunch, a swinging or balancing motion of that stomach, both up- ward and "downward and forward and backward, may be plainly seen. % The uses of the papillae seem to be various ; they support the weight of the superincumbent food, unmasticated, and liable to injure the coat of the stomach, over which it is continually moving ; they take away from the follicular glands of the stomach that pressure which would render it impossible for these glands to discharge that mucous lubricating fluid which is requisite for the protection of the stomach and the revolution of the food. The papillse are conse- quently more numerous and larger and stronger at the centre or bottom of each of the compartments where the food would accumu- late and press most ; and they are more thinly scattered, and in some places almost disappear, where there is no danger from the pressure of the friction. In add-on to all these, are the important functions of yielding and- suffering the food to pass unimpeded along, while the stomach is rapidly filling as the animal grazes, and then by their erectile power retarding that progress when the beast has ceased to eat, and the slow process of rumination has commenced. The glandu- lar bodies, to which allusion has been made, are most plentifully situated, and are of largest size, on the upper part of the sides of the rumen, where they are least exposed to pressure, and may discharge the lubricating mucus which they secrete, without obstacle. The only change that takes place in the food in a healthy, state and action of this stomach is that of maceration, and preparation for the second mastication, as may be easily proved by taking from the mouth of a cow a pellet that has been returned for rumination, and which will be found to be merely the grass, or other food, no other- wise altered than being softened, and covered with a -portion of mucus. The fluid which the rumen contains is not secreted there, but whenever the animal drinks, a portion of the water breaks through the pillars of the oesophagean canal, regulated in quantity either by the will of the beast or by the sympathy of the parts with the state and wants of the stomach, or with the state of the constitution generally. The rumen of a healthy ox always contains a considerable quantity of fluid. The food, having traversed all the compartments of this stomach, would arrive again at the point- from which it started, were it not that a fold of the rumen arrests its course, and gives it a somewhat different direction. This fold is placed at the spot where there exists a communication between the rumen and the reticulum, and' which also is guarded, by a fold or valve ; but the peristaltic motion of the stomach going on, and the food pressing from behind, a portion of it is at length, by a convulsive action, partly voluntary and partly involuntary, thrown over this fold into the reticulum. The inner coat of the reticulum, or second stomach, has been 296 CATTLE. described as divided into numerous honeycomb-formed cells (they are well represented at d, p. 291,) at the base of each of which are nu- merous small secretory glands, which also furnish a considerable quantity of mucus. The action of this stomach consists in first con- tracting upon its contents ; and, in doing this, it forms the portion just received from the rumen into the proper shape for its return up the oesophagus, and covers it more completely with mucus ; then, by a stronger and somewhat spasmodic action, it forces the pellet between the pillars at the floor of the oesophagean canal, where'it is seized by the muscles, that are so powerful at the base of the oBSophagus, and which extend over this part of the canal, and is conveyed to the mouth. The reticulum, expanding again, receives a new portion of food from the rumen, and which had been forced over the valve by the convulsive action of that viscus. It is curious to observe the manner in which these acts are per- formed. The cow, if lying, is generally found on her right side, in order that the intestines, which are principally lodged on that side, may not press upon and interfere with the action of the rumen. After a pellet that has undergone the process of rumination is swal- lowed, there is a pause of two or three seconds, during which the cow is making a slow and deep inspiration. By means of this the lungs are inflated and press on the diaphragm ;_ and the diaphragm in its turn presses on both, the rumen and the reticulum, and assists their action. Suddenly the inspiration is cut short by an evident spasm ; it is the forcible ejection of the pellet from the reticulum, and of a fresh quantity of food over the valvular fold, to enter the reticulum as soon as it expands again. This spasmodic action is immediately followed by the evident passage of the ball up the oesophagus to the mouth. The spiral muscles of the oesophagus, with their fibres inter- lacing each other, are admirably suited- to assist the ascenWs well as the descent of the pellet of food. THE DIFFICULTY OF PURGING CATTLE. This account of the construction and function of the rumen will throw considerable light on some circumstances not a little annoying to the practitioner. It has been stated that a portion of the fluid swallowed usually enters the rumen, and that the quantity which ac- tually enters it depends a little perhaps on the will of the animal, more on the manner in which the fluid was administered, but most of all on some state of the constitution over which we have no control. Accordingly it happens, and not unfrequently, and particularly under some diseases of an inflammatory nature, and in which physic is im- peratively required, that although it is administered in a liquid form and as gently as possible, the greater part or the whole of it enters the rumen, and remains there totally inert. Dose after dose is ad- ministered, until the practitioner is tired, or afraid to give more; and, THE DIFFICULTY OF PURGING CATTLE. 29T ignorant of the anatomy and functions of the stomachs, he wonders at the obstinate constipation which seems to bid defiance to all pur- gative medicines ; whereas, in fact, little or none of it had entered the intestinal canal. At length, perhaps, the rumen is excited to action, and ejects a considerable portion of its liquid, and some of its more solid contents^ either directly .into the cesophagean canal, or through the medium of the reticulum ; and which, by an inverted and forcible contraction, is driven through the manyplus and into the fourth stomach, and thence into the intestinal canal, and produces sometimes natural, but at other times excessive and unmanageable and fatal purgation. The great quantity of fibrous substance which occasionally is found in the dung, warns us that this has taken place. Occasionally, when dose after dose has been given, and the animal dies apparently constipated, the whole of the physic is found in the rumen. These are difficulties, in cattle practice which are not yet sufficiently understood. When two or three moderate doses have been given, and purging is not produced, the practitioner may begin to suspect that his medi- cine has fallen through this cesophagean fissure into the rumen ; and then, although he does not quite discontinue the physic, he should principally endeavor to stimulate this cuticular, yet not quite insensi- ble stomach. He should lessen the quantity of the purgative, and he should double or treble that of the aromatic and stimulant ; and, in many cases, he will thus succeed in producing an intestinal evacua- tion, the fibrous nature of which will prove the unnatural process by which it was effected. It was, perhaps, from observation of the occasional benefit derived from the administration of aromatics and stimulants, even in inflam- matory cases, that the absurd and mischievous practice of giving them in every disease, and every state of disease, arose. The reason and the propriety of the administration of cattle- medicine in a liquid form is hence evident. A ball, in consequence of its weight, and the forcible manner in which it is urged on by the muscles of the oesophagus, breaks through the floor of the cesopha- gean canal, and enters the rumen, and is lost. A liquid, administered slowly and carefully, and trickling down the oesophagus without the possibility of the muscles of that tube acting upon it and increasing its momentum, is likely to glide over, this singular floor, and enter the fourth stomach and the intestines. A hint may hence be derived with regard to the manner of administering a drink. If it be poured down bodily from a large vessel, as is generally done, it will probably fall on the canal with sufficient force partly, at least, to separate the pillars, and a portion of it will enter the rumen and be useless. In the calf, fed entirely on its mother's milk, the rumen is in a manner useless, for all the food goes on to the fourth stomach. It 13* 298 CATTLE. is of a liquid form, and it is swallowed in small quantities, and with little force at each act of deglutition. The instinctive closure of the pillars — an act of organic life — (because the milk if suffered to fall into the rumen would be lost, or would undergo dangerous changes there) — has far more to do with the direction of the fluid than any mechanical effect resulting from the form of the aliment, or the force with which it descended the gullet. Tt is curious to observe the comparatively diminutive size of the rumen, and the development of the abomasum or digesting stomach in the foetal calf. THE SUBJECT OF RUMINATION, AND THE CHANGES OF THE FOOD RESUMED. The food, being returned from the reticulum to the mouth, is there subjected to a second mastication, generally very leisurely performed, and which is continued until enough is ground not only to satisfy the cravings of hunger, but to fill the comparatively small true sto- mach and intestine of the animal ; who then, if he is undisturbed, usually falls asleep. The act of rumination is accompanied, or closely followed, by that of digestion, and requires a considerable concentration of vital power; and hence the appearance of tran- quillity and sleepy pleasure which the countenance of the beast pre- sents. The rumen is rarely or never emptied ; and probably the food that is returned for rumination is that which has been macera- ting in the stomach during many hours. The process of rumina- tion is very easily interrupted. The portion of food having been sufficiently comminuted, is at length swallowed a second time ; and then, either being of a softer consistence, or not being so violently driven down the gullet, or, by some instinctive influence, it passes over the floor of the canal, with- out separating the pillars, and enters the manyplus, or third stomach. This is represented at b, p. 287, and m, p. 291. The manyplus presents an admirable provision for that perfect comminution of the food which is requisite in an animal destined to supply us with nutriment both when living and when dead. That which is quite ground down is permitted to pass on ; but the leaves, that have been described as hanging from the roof, and floating close , over the cesophagean canal, and armed with numerous hook-formed papillae, seize upon every particle of fibre that remains, and draw it up between them, and file it down by means of the hard prominences on their surfaces, and suffer it not to escape until it is reduced to a pulpy mass. These three stomachs, then, are evidently designed for the prepa- ration and comminution of the food before it enters- the fourth sto- mach, in which the process of digestion may be said to commence, and where the food, already softened, is converted into a fluid called chyme. Tie villous coat of the abomasum abounds with small folli- CONCRETIONS, OR STONES IN THE RUMEN. 299 cular glands, whence is secreted a liquid called the gastric juice, and which is the agent in producing this chyme. The change, in all probability, merely consists in the food being more perfectly dissolved, and converted into a semi-fluid homogeneous mass. This form it must of necessity assume before its nutritive matter can be sepa- rated. The solution being complete, or as much so as it can be rendered, the food passes through the pyloric, or lower orifice of the stomach, into the duodenum, or first intestine, (g, p. 291,) where its separation into the nutritive and innutritive portions is effected, and the former begins to be taken up, and carried into the system. We are now prepared to enter into the consideration of the diseases of this complicated apparatus, diseases of the rumen or paunch. SWALLOWING INDIGESTIBLE SUBSTANCES. Cattle have been known to swallow cloths, scissors, shoes, sticks, leather, indeed all sorts of things that could pass the throat. The presence of bodies like these in the rumen cannot fail of being injurious to the animal. They must produce local irritation, interfer- ing with the proper function of this stomach ; suspending the pro- cess of rumination, or rendering it less effectually performed ; and exciting inflammation, probably of the stomach generally, as this foreign body is traversing its different compartments, or of some par- ticular portion in which it may be accidentally arrested, and leading on to abscess and perforation of the stomach at that spot. The symptoms which would indicate this peculiar cause of disease are not yet sufficiently known ; but there must be considerable disturb- ance when a body sufficiently hard and pointed thus to force its way commences its journey. Inflammation, as conducting to suppuration and destruction of the living substance, must precede its course and make way for it. The nerves and blood-vessels which lie in its way are, with mysterious skill, unerringly avoided, and as little injury as possible is done to the neighboring tissues ; but local inflammation and pain attend the whole process, which, in many cases, are accom- panied by general and severe disease. It is seldom that medical skill could be of avail here, until the substance approaches to the skin, even if the case were understood. CONCRETIONS, OR STONES IN THE RUMEN. A frequent and serious complaint is the formation of. various con- cretions in the rumen. They are generally round, but occasionally of various forms, and varying likewise in weight from a few ounces to six or seven pounds. The composition of these balls is also very different. Those which are decidedly peculiar to cattle are composed entirely of hair, matted together by the mucous secretion from the follicular glands of the stomach. Sometimes they hare no distinct 300 CATTLE. central body ; at othe- limes it exists in the form of a bit of straw or wood, or frequently of stone or iron. They exist in the rumen, and in the abomasum. In the abomasum they are composed exclu- sively of hair, irregularly matted and held together by the mucus of the stomach ; in the rumen there is generally a mixture of food, or earthy matter, in the composition of the concretion. When simple food mingles with the hair, the ball seems to be formed by a succes- sion of concentric layers, and in the centre is a bit of nail or stone ; or, if the beasts have access to running water, a piece of shell often constitutes the nucleus. The hair is obtained by the habit which cattle, and even very young calves, have, of licking eacl other. A considerable quantity of hair is loosened and removed by the rough tongues of these animals, the greater part of which is swallowed ; and there seems to be a kind of power in the stomach to separate these indigestible matters from the other substances which it contains. It is also easy to imagine that the hairs which the manyplus, with all its grinding power, can- not rub down, will collect together when floating in the semi-fluid contents of the fourth stomach, and gradually accumulate in con- siderable and hard masses. These balls will begin to form at a very early age of the animal. When only a little hair enters into the formation of these calculi, they are usually made up of earthy matter, with bits of hay, straw, or other food, glued together by the mucus of the stomach. These have uniformly a hard central nucleus, generally metallic. The concentric layers can here also be traced, but they are, occasionally, somewhat confused. In some cases, various compounds of lime, and still more of silicious matter, can be detected by chemical analysis. These concretions are round ; they are seldom found except in the rumen, and never in the intestines ; and there is always a central nucleus of stone or metal ; the concentric layers are regularly and beautifully marked ; and the concretion, when sawed asunder, will bear a high degree of polish. Of the effect of these substances on the health of the animal it is difficult to speak. One thing, however, is certain, that they are oftener found and in greater numbers in those that are ailing and out of con- dition, than in stronger and thriving beasts ; but whether some fault in the digestive organs, indicated by this poorness of condition, gives a tendency to the formation of concretions in the paunch, or the presence of these concretions impairs the digestive powers and pro- duces general unthriftiness, are questions which it is" difficult to answer. Each opinion may in its turn be true, but it is probable that the latter state of things oftenest occurs. These calculi are, with few exceptions, confined to the stomach, where they may produce a sense of oppression and impairment of appetite, but cannot be the cause of colic, obstruction, inflammation, and strangulation of the intestines. DISTENSION OF THE RUMEN FROM FOOD. 801" DISTENSION OF THE RUMEN FROM FOOD. Cattle, when first put on succulent grass or turnips, or when suffered to gorge themselves with potatoes or grains,, or even with chaff, will sometimes distend the rumen almost to bursting. The history of the case will generally unfold the nature of it ; and it will be distinguished from hoove by its not being attended by occasional eructation, by the swelling not being so great as in hoove, and by the hardness of the flanks. Should 1 * any doubt, however, remain, the probang should be passed into the rumen, when, if that be distended with gas, a sudden and violent rush of the imprisoned air will follow. The probang, however, should always be used, not only to determine this point, but the degree to which the rumen is distended by food. When, although the animal may be dull, refusing to eat, and ceas- ing to ruminate, generally lying down and showing great disinclination to move, yet the pulse is not materially quickened, and the muscle is cool and moist, and there is little heaving at the flanks, and no indi- cation of pain, the practitioner may content himself with a free bleeding and a powerful dose of physic. These symptoms, however, are often treacherous, and, without warning, uneasiness, heaving, stupor, and death may rapidly succeed. In mild cases, stimulants may be resorted to with frequent advan- tage. Ammonia, ether, aromatics, and spirits, have succeeded in rousing the stomach to action, and establishing the process of rumi- nation ; and that once established, there is little fear of the result ol the case. These stimulants should, however, be always accompanied by aperient medicines. When, however, the symptoms are sudden dullness, uneasiness, shifting of posture, moaning, swelling at the sides, the flank feeling hard and not yielding to pressure ; when rumination ceases, and the uneasiness and moaning increase, and the animal gradually becomes unconscious, this will admit of no delay, and demands mechanical relief; the introduction of the probang will ascertain the degree of distension. Should the probang enter a little way into the stomach, and the operator be able to move it about, he will have proof that, although the paunch is sufficiently distended to produce severe annoyance and considerable danger to the animal, it is not stretched to the utmost ; he may first try the effect of mild measures, and he will be especially encouraged to attempt this if he finds that the food Is of a rather light nature. If the probang cannot be introduced at all into the rumen, or the food eaten is heavy, as grains, or potatoes, or corn, the most judicious plan will be to make an incision without delay through the left flank into the rumen, and thus extract its contents. CATTLE. This mode of proceeding, however, is recommended only in cases of extreme distension with heavy food. The rumen of cattle, with few blood-vessels and nerves, will endure very severe treatment without serious injury. The principal danger is, and it exists to a considerable extent, that a portion of the food will, during the extri- cation of the rest from the stomach, fall between the skin and the wall of the rumen into the abdomen, and there remain, a source of irritation, and the unsuspected cause of serious and fatal disease. A beast, whose paunch has been distended to any considerable degree, should be prepared for the butcher, or sold immediately, if in tolerable condition ; for- a stomach, whose muscular fibres have ybeen so stretched and enfeebled, will not soon do its full duty again ; or a small portion of food, which, notwithstanding the most careful management, may fall into the belly, will sometimes, after a while, produce inflammation of the intestines, and death. STOMACH PUMP. "* This consists of a large syringe. The cuts, Nos. 1 and 2, show its use or application. It has an opening on the side at b. When a medicine, or food, (as gruel) or water is to be forced into the stomach, a hollow pipe, b, fig. 1, is put down the throat, and then attached to the syringe at the opening at b. The syringe is then put into a vessel containing whatever is to be thrown into the stomach and pumped in. In the same manner injections are to be given. Whenever the contents of the stomach are to be drawn out, then the pipe, d, fig. 2, is put down the throat, into the stomach, and the handle of the syringe drawn back, when the contents of the stomach are brought up and pass out at the sids opening, 6. DISTENSION OF THE STOMACH FROM GAS. 303 HOOVE, BLOWN, OB DISTENSION OF THE STOMACH FROM GAS. If a beast, taken from poor or less nutritive food, is ( put upon clover, or turnips, or rich-fog, it eats so greedily and so much, that the rumen ceases to act. These green vegetable substances are naturally subject to fermentation, during which much gas is extricated, but when inclosed in the stomach and exposed to the combined influence of heat and moisture, the commencement of the fermentation is hastened, and its effect increased. The " Hoove" or " Blown" is distension of the rumen, by gas extricated from substances undergoing the process of fermentation within it. In a healthy discharge of the functions of the stomach, the, food simply undergoes a process of maceration or softening ; but if the food be retained in the stomach. longer than the usual period, it, or perhaps only a portion of the juices which it contains, begins to ferment ; or, as in animals with simple stomachs, even this prepara- tory one may so sympathize with certain states of the constitution, as either to secrete an acid principle, or to favor the development of it in the food. It is from this' cause that some degree of hoove accompanies most fevers, and it is the consequence of general irrita- tion produced by obstruction of the oesophagus ; it sometimes accom- panies difficult parturition, and to such an extent, that it is necessary to puncture the rumen before the calf can" descend sufficiently low •into the pelvis to be extracted. Its most frequent cause, however, is the turning of a beast from poor, or less nutritious food, into plentiful and luxuriant pasture, when he frequently eats so greedily, and so much, that the stomach is overloaded, and is unable to circulate the food through it cavities, and from the combined action of heat and moisture, its contents speedily ferment, and gas is extricated. The following are the symptoms : — The animal gradually becomes oppressed and distressed. It ceases to eat ; it does not ruminate ; it scarcely moves ; but it stands with its head extended, breathing heavily, and moaning. The whole belly is blown up ; this is particularly evident at the flanks, and most of all at the left flank, under which the posterior division of the rumen lies. The rumen in cattle is scantily supplied with either blood- vessels or nerves, and therefore the brain is seldom much affected in an early stacre of hoove. Swelling, unwillingness to move, and laborious breathing, are the first and distinguishing symptoms. In proportion as the stomach becomes distended by the extricated gas, the case becomes more desperate, not only from the pressure on the other contents of the abdomen, thus impeding the circulation of the blood, and also on the diaphragm, against which the rumen abuts, and thus impeding respiration, and also the danger of rupture of the paunch, but the construction of the cesophagean canal renders it manifest that the rumen will be more obstinately closed in proportion as it is dis- 304 CATTLE. tended. It is the relaxation of the muscular fibres which causes the two pillars that constitute the floor of the canal and the roof of the rumen to be easily opened, either for the admission or the return of food ; but when the stomach is filled and elongated, as well as widened, these fleshy pillars must be stretched, and in proportion as they are distended, will they be brought closer, to each other, and firmly held there. When the rumen is filling, there are occasional eructations of a sour or fetid character ; but when the stomach is once filled, there is no longer the possibility of escape for its contents. The animal cannot long sustain this derangement of important parts ; inflammation is set up, and the circulation becomes seriously and dangerously disturbed by this partial obstruction. Affection of the brain comes at last, characterized by fullness of the vessels, hard- ness of the pulse, redness of the conjunctiva, and protrusion of the eye. The tongue hangs from the mouth, arid the mouth is. filled with spume. " The beast stands with his back bent, his legs as much as possible under him ; and he gradually becomes insensible — 'im- movable — moans — falls — struggles with some violence, and as death approaches, some relaxation of the parts ensues, and a quantity of green sour liquid, occasionally mixed with more solid food, flows from the mouth and nose. ' In order to save the animal, the gas must be liberated or other- wise got rid of. Some persons, when symptoms of hoove appear, drive the animal about, and keep him for a while in constant motion. It is supposed, that in the motion of all the contents of the abdomen, while the animal is moving briskly about, the pillars of the roof of the paunch must be for a moment relaxed, and opportunity given for the gas to escape into the cesophagean canal, and through the gullet ; and this will, undoubtedly, be the case to a certain degree. The ox cannot without much difficulty, and often not at all, be in- duced to move with rapidity, which is necessary to produce concus- sions sufficiently powerful to shorten and disunite the muscular pil- lars. There must also be some danger of rupturing the stomach so much distended, or the diaphragm, against which it is pressing, by the very production of these concussions. Alkalies have been recommended, as almost a specific. It may be conceded that the alkali would be likely to neutralize the acid con- tents of the stomach ; but there is one objection to it, viz., that the same closing of the roof of the rumen, which prevents the escape of the gas, would also prevent the entrance of the alkali, -which would, consequently, pass on to the third and fourch stomachs, where there is no acid for it to neutralize. Oil (whether olive, or spermaceti, or castor, or common whale oil, seems to be a matter of indifference) will sometimes prove servicea- ble in cases of hoove ; but it is either at the very commencement, be- fore the muscular pillars are tightened, and when a portion of it can DISTENSION OF THE STOMACH FROM GAS. 305 enter the paunch, and produce a disposition to vomiting'or purging ; or, if the whole passes on into the fourth-stomach, and so into the in- testinal canal, a sympathetic but inverted action is excited in the ru- men, and a portion of its contents is sent, by an unusual passage, from the rumen through the third and into the fourth stomach, and so relief is obtained. In this way purging is occasionally established, either in consequence of a stimulus applied immediately to the coats of the first stomach, or from sympathy with the action going forward in the intestinal canal, and a portion pf the food is carried from the rumen into the intestines without being returned to the mouth to be remasticated. The grassy and harder fibres, sometimes found in the dung in considerable quantities, prove that that portion of it could riot have undergone rumination. This, however, is not striking at the root of the evil. The object to be accomplished is the extrication of the gas, and the prevention of any fresh quantity of it being developed. If the farmer or the practitioner, at a distance from home, sees any of his cattle so dangerously hoven or swelled as to threaten speedy death, he adopts a summary mode of getting rid of the gas : he takes a sharp-pointed knife, and plunges it into the left side, underneath, and in contact with which the rumen is found. The gas rushes vio- lently through the aperture, carrying with it steam, and fluid, and pieces of food. The belly falls, and the beast is immediately relieved. The safest place for this operation is the following : — Supposing a line to be drawn close along the vertebrce, from the haunch-bone to the last rib, and two other lines of equal length to extend down the flank, so as to form an equilateral triangle, the apex of the triangle, or the point where these lines would meet, would be the proper place for the operation, for there is no danger of wounding either the spleen or the kidney. It may also be suggested, that a small trochar is far preferable to a knife for this operation, and might very conveniently be carried in the instrument-case of the surgeon, or the pocket of the farmer. It consists of a short strong stilett, terminating in three cutting-edges converging to a point, and having a handle that may be grasped with some force. To this is accurately fitted a silver tube, reaching from the termination of the three edges to the handle. This is plunged into the flank ; the stilett is then withdrawn and the tube remains as long as the operator pleases, grid may be secured by tapes attached to two rings at the base of it, and tied round the body of the animal. The gas is certainly extricated by the knife or trochar, and gene- rally successfully so. When gas ceases to escape, it may be taken for granted that the manufacture of it has ceased in the rumen ; the trocar may then be withdrawn, and the wound will speedily heal. There are, however, occasional bad consequences, which are altogether 306 CATTLE. unsuspected. At the commencement of the operation, when the skin of the side is in close contact with the paunch, the gas, fluid, and fibrous matter will all. be safely thrown out through the two wounds, for, lying upon each other, they are but as one ; but when the paunch is partially emptied of the gas, it sinks, and is no longer in contact with the outside skin. The gas and particles of solid food continue to be discharged for a considerable time after this ; and although the greater part may be ejected with sufficient force to he driven through the aperture in the skin, yet some portion will necessarily fall into the abdomen and remain there. This will, ere long, become a source of considerable and dangerous irritation, slow or rapid in its progress and effects, according to the quantity of food that has escaped from the stomach into the abdominal cavity : accordingly it happens, that although the beast may appear to be perfectly relieved by this operation, he doe's not thrive well after- wards, and in the course of a few weeks or months, sickens and dies of some obscure disease, but which is principally referable to in- flammatory affection of the abdomen. Therefore, the farmer or practitioner who has faith in an occasional recourse to the mode of cure by puncturing the rumen, should always carry a trochar with him, for the tube penetrating three or four inches into the abdomen, forms a continuous passage between the rumen and the skin, not- withstanding the subsidence of the former, and would prevent the escape of any portion of the contents of the rumen into the abdomen. Although a portion of the gas may be liberated by this operation, yet the process of fermentation may proceed. The gas may escape, but that which would furnish a continued, annoying, and dangerous supply of it, remains. Then the advocates for opening the paunch carry their operations a little farther. They enlarge the aperture into the paunch, until, as in bad cases of maw-bound, they can in- troduce their hand, and shovel out the contents ; and, as before stated, the stomach, from its comparative insensibility and want of vitality, bears all this without any considerable inflammation or danger ; there is however, the same danger from the escape of a portion of the contents into the cavity of the belly. This larger opening into the rumen should never be attempted except by a person perfectly acquainted with the anatomy of cattle, and the precise situation of the viscera of the belly, for otherwise the kidneys or the intestines may be wounded. It was the knowledge that the practice of puncturing the rumen was not so simple and so free from danger as some had imagined, that led to the invention and use of the probang and stomach- pump. The tube (fig. 1, a, p. 280) is introduced into the mouth, and is passed down the throat, with the rounded extremity, e, down- ward, and is forced on through the pillars of the oesophagean canal : the stilett is then withdrawn, and the gas rushes violently out. The DISTENSION OF THE STOMACH FROM GAS. 307 tube is continued in the mouth' until the belly sinks, and little gas escapes : the animal is greatly relieved, and if it begins to swell again, the probang is once more introduced. But the tube cannot remain in the mouth and gullet for any great length of time ; and ■when it is withdrawn, the manufacture of gas may continue undi- minished, and the relief be only temporary, and so far the probang may be in some degree inferior to the trochar. The practitioner then has recourse to the stomach-pump, and throws in a considerable quantity of warm water, and pumps it out again ; and repeats the operation until he has washed away all the acid fermenting fluid, and then usually the process of rumination recommences, and the animal does well. Sometimes he so over- charges the stomach that vomiting is produced, and a great portion of the contents of the rumen is thus discharged. Alkalies have been thrown into the stomach to neutralize the sup- posed acid principle which there prevailed. As, however, a very small portion of it, if any, enters the rumen, it will principally do good, and much good it frequently does effect, by its stimulant effect on the fourth stomach, propagated by sympathy to the first. Hoove, however, had long been considered to be a case in which the aid of chemistry might be resorted to with considerable benefit. It had been suspected that the gas consisted principally of hydrogen ; for when a lighted candle had been accidentally brought into contact with the vapor as it rushed from the aperture in the flank, the gas 'immediately -caught fire. Careful analysis indicated that the gas was differently combined in different stages. In recent hoove it consisted chiefly of carburetted hydrogen — the union of carbon with ■ hydrogen ; in more chronic cases there was a mixture of sulphuret- ted hydrogen — the union of sulphur and hydrogen ; and, in propor- tion to the continuance of the hoove, the sulphuretted hydrogen increased, and at length prevailed. In both cases hydrogen was the chief constituent. Then came the inquiry, whether something might not be introducd into the stomach which would combine with the gas already extrica- ted and cause it to disappear, and also prevent its future accumula- tion, by combining with it as soon as it was produced. A method was soon discovered. Chlorine has affinity for various substances, as lime, potash, and soda ; and in combination with either of these could be used. When introduced by means of the stomach-pump into the rumen, the chlorine will separate itself from the alkali, and combine with the hydrogen, for which it has a more powerful affinity, and forms muriatic gas. This gas has a strong affinity for water, and will be quickly absorbed by the fluid always contained within the stomach ; and so, quitting its gaseous for a fluid form, it quickly disappears, or will n.ot retain a thousandth part of its former bulk, and muriatic acid will be formed. At the same time, CATTLE. the lime or potash, or soda, will be liberated ; yet no danger results from the presence of this corroding acid and caustic alkali ; for there is a chemical affinity between them which will be soon exerted, and the harmless and inert muriates of lime or potash, or soda, be produced. Hence resulted one of the most important improvements in cattle-medicine that modern times have produced. 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 ah 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 medicine, 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. The chloride of lime is as good as either of the others, and should always be in the possession of the farmer and practitioner, not only for this purpose, but because, in cases of foul, fetid ulceration, and gangrene generally, it is the most powerful disinfectant, and the most useful stimulant that can be applied. The proper and safe dose is two drachms of the powdered chloride" of lime dissolved in two quarts of water, and injected into the paunch by means of the sto- mach-pump. This may be repeated an hour afterward, if circum- stances should appear to require it. The trochar will then supersede the use of the knife and the lancet, when, under circumstances- of emergency, the practitioner may be compelled to act promptly ; for, by the continuance of the tube in the wound, some of the distant and unsuspected results of the com- mon method of puncturing the rumen may be avoided ; but when the practioner is near home, or can obtain speedy access to his sto- mach-tube and pump, the trochar will be completely discarded. The animal having been relieved, and the gas ceasing to distend the paunch, a pound of Epsom salts should be administered with an ounce of carraway powder, and half an ounce of ginger ; and, on several successive mornings, four ounces of Epsom salts, two of powdered gentian, and half an ounce of ginger should be given. The object of the practitioner, or the owner, should be to restore, as speedily and as effectually as possible, the tone and action of the rumen. The return of the process of rumination will show when that is beginning to be effected, and rumination will usually precede the desire to eat. Attention should for some time be paid to the manner of feeding. A mash should be daily allowed, and the pasture on which the beast LOSS OF CUD. is turned should be short and bare, rather than luxuriant. The over- distended stomach of thehoven beast will not soon, and in most cases will never, quite recover its former energy ; and if the beast be in tolerable condition, it should be sent to the butcher, or it should be got ready for the market as quickly as that can with safety be effected. Sucking calves are occasionally subject to- hoove. Little more will be necessary in this case than the introduction of the probang. This distension of the rumen arises from some accidental and tempo- rary cause, and there is rarely any continued manufacture of gas within the stomach. Sdme calves become blown from the trick which they frequently have of sucking each other's pizzle or ear. It is cu- rious to see with what eagerness they will do this, and how quickly they blow themselves Up by the air which they draw in and swallow. The introduction of the probang will be sufficient here, but it will be prudent to separate the animals. Homceopathic treatment. — Colchicum autumnale rarely fails in its effects, and ordinarily it establishes an instantaneous dure. Some- times, however, it must be repeated two, three, and even four times. Occasionally the symptoms subside without the animal voiding any wind. In chronic meteorization, or formation of gas, which is renewed frequently, colchicum, taken alternately with arsenicum is very useful. Benefit it is said has been derived from chirm. If rumination be not re-established at the time the disease is cured, aconitum must be given, and after some hours, arsenicum. When meteorization, gas, has been caused not by green fodder, but by some disturbance of digestion, we must have recourse to nux vomica ; the same substance is suita- ble, when the disease is attributable to the animal's having eaten colchicum in the meadows. Lastly, when the danger has become so pressing that we are brought to the necessity of puncturing in order to avoid death, it is, however, still necessary to administer the colchicum after having cleansed the mouth carefully ; after some time "\ few doses of arnica must be given. loss or CUD. The cessation of rumination, designated by tue term " the loss of cud," is more a symptom of disease, than a disease of itself. It ac- companies most inflammatory complaints, and is often connected with those of debility. It will be the duty of the practitioner to ascertain the cause of this suspension of second mastication, and to adapt his mode of treatment to the nature of that cause. A dose of physic, with a very small portion of aromatic medicine, will be indi- cated if any fever can be detected ; more than the usual quantity of the aromatic will be added in the absence of fever, and still more, with tonic and alterative medicine, if general debility be indicated. 310 CATTLE. The carraway and ginger powder are the best aromatics that can be employed, and will supersede every other : the gentian and ginger, with Epsom salts, as recommended in page 308, will prove a very ■useful tonic and alterative, in cases of " loss of cud" that cannot be traced to any particular diseased state of the animal, or that seems to be connected with general debilfty. INFLAMMATION OF THE RUMEN. In almost every book on cattle-medicine mention is made of " in- flammation of the stomach ;" and certainly cases do, although but rarely, occur, in which evident traces of inflammation of the rumen may be discovered on examination after death. The cuticular coat is not discolored, but it peels from the mucous coat below at the slightest touch, and that coat is red and injected. This is particu- larly the case when a beast dies soon after apparent recovery from distension of the stomach by gas, or when he is destroyed by the accumulation of solid food that could not be removed. It is likewise found in every case of poisoning, but the symptoms during life are so obscure that it would be useless to bestow further time on the consideration of this disease. Nature has endowed the brute with an acuteness of the various senses, and with a degree of instinct which, so far as the life and enjoyment and usefulness of the animal .are concerned, fully compen- sate for the lack of the intelligence of the human being. The quad- ruped is scarcely born ere he is mysteriously guided, and without any of the lessons of experience, to the kind of food which affords him the most suitable nourishment, and he is warned from that which would be deleterious. There is scarcely a pasture which does not contain some poisonous plants, yet the beast crops the grass close around them, without gathering a particle of that which would be injurious. In the spring of the year, however, and especially after they have been kept in the stall or the straw -yard during the winter, and supported chiefly on dry food, as soon as they are turned into the fields cattle eat greedily of every herb that presents itself, and frequently are seriously diseased, and sometimes quite poisoned. They are under the influence of appetite almost ungovernable, and few plants have then acquired their distinguishing form and color, and taste and smell. The common and water-hemlock, the water dropwort, and the yew, are the principal plants that are poisonous to cattle ; but it is said that the common .crow -foot, and various others of the ranunculus family, the wild parsnip, black henbane, and the wild poppy, are occasionally destructive. The symptoms of poisoning by these acrid and narcotic plants are obscure, unless they can be connected with the history of the case. They are principally sudden swelling, with a peculiar stupor, in the POISONS. 311 early stage of the attack ; cessation of rumination ; a change in the quality, of the milk, which becomes thin and serous, and presently ceases to be secreted ; the refusal of all solid food, and eagerness after water ; quickening of the pulse, which yet becomes small, and, in some cases, scarcely to be felt ; and the animal frequently grinds the teeth, and paws, and rolls, as if 'it felt severe colic pains. In a few instances the stupor passes over, and a degree of excitement and blind fury succeeds, which has been mistaken for madness. On examination after death, the greater part of the poison is usu- ally found in the paunch, but, in., a few cases, it has been remasti- cated, and conveyed into the fourth stomach and intestines. The sense of taste does not seem to be very acute in cattle ; it is a sleepy kind of pleasure which they feel in rumination, and the acrid and bitter flavor of many a plant appears to give them little annoyance. Inflammation is found in the paunch and second stomach, charac- terized by the ease with which the cuticular coat is separated from that beneath. The manyplus is usually filled with dry and hardened food ; and the fourth stomach and intestines exhibit inflammation and ulceration proportioned to the acrimony of the poison, and the quantity of it which had passed into these viscera. Little can be done in the way of medicine when cattle have browsed on these poisonous plants, and the only hope of the practitioner must be founded on the early and persevering use of the stomach-pump. Plenty of warm water should be injected and pumped out, and that repeated again and again ; and at length the stomach should be fully distended with water, for the purpose, and in the hope of, producing vomiting. Whether this succeeds or not, a brisk purgative should be next administered, but as cautiously and gently as possible, that it may pass on over the closed floor of the ossophagean canal into the fourth stomach, and not, by the power with which it descends, force open the pillars that compose that floor, and enter the rumen and be lost. Tonics and aromatics will here also follow the evacuation of the stomach, in order to restore its tone. While speaking of poisons, it will, perhaps, be proper to mention that cattle are sometimes exposed to extreme danger from the appli- cation of deleterious mineral preparations for the cure of mange and other cutaneous eruptions. It is no unusual thing for cattle that have been incautiously dressed with a strong solution of corrosive sublimate, to become seriously ill. They cease to eat and to ruminate ; the saliva drivels from their mouths ; they paw with their feet ; look anxiously at their flanks, and are violently purged — blood usually mingling with the faeces. The remedy, if there be time and opportunity to have recourse to it,'is the white of several eggs, beaten up with thick gruel, and gently poured down the throat, that it may be more likely to pass on to the fourth stomach ; and this repeated every hour, until the animal is 312 CATTLE. either relieved or dead. As soon as decided relief is obtained, a dose of physic should be given, and if any fever seems to be coming on, a few pounds of blood should be taken away, Cattle in the neighborhood 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 neighborhood : it causes swellings 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. 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 bitten in the tongue almost invariably die. They are suffocated by the rapid swelling which takes place. The udder has occasionally been stung ; but the supposed bites on the teats are, far oftener than otherwise, the effect of garget. Embrocation for Bite of Reptiles. — Take hartshorn, and olive oil, equal quantities. Shake them well together, and rub the wound and the neighboring 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 be well rubbed with warm vinegar, the inconvenience will soon subside. DISEASES OF THE RETICULUM. Of these, in the present state of knowledge of cattle-medicine, little can be said. Some of the foreign substances that are found in the rumen have been occasionaly discovered in the reticulum, as pins, pieces of wire, nails, small stones, &c. They were, probably, ejected over the valve between the two stomachs, enveloped by, Or attached to, the portion of food that was preparing for a second mastication. In the* forcible contraction of the stomach, it has been severely wounded by these, and so much inflammation has ensued that the animal has been lost. The writer of this treatise has frequently seen inflammation of the second stomach — sometimes accompanying that of the paunch, and at other times seemingly confined to the reticulum. This inflam- mation was, as in the rumen, characterized by the peeling off of the cuticular coat, and the redness of the tissue beneath it; but the DISEASES OF THE MANYPLUS, OR MANIFOLDS. 318 symptoms were so different in different cases, and always so obscure, that no legitimate conclusion could be drawn from the appearances that presented themselves. DISEASES OP THE MANYPLUS, OR MANIFOLDS. Although the function of this stomach is one of a purely mechani- cal nature, there seems to be a strong bond of sympathy between it and almost every part of the frame. There are few serious diseases by which cattle are afflicted, and none of an .acute and inflammatory nature, in which the manyplus is not involved. It is so common in cases of catarrh, constipation, inflammation of the lungs or bowels, simple fever, dropping after calving, blain, and even murrain, to find the rrianyplus either choked with food in a hardened state, or, if con- tinuing soft, yet having become exceedingly putrid and emitting a most nauseous smell, that the idea of the animal being fardel-bound, or having disease of the faik, is always present in the mind of the farmer and the country practitioner. They are seldom wrong in this surmise, for the fardel-bag either sympathizes witli the diseases of other parts, or is the original seat and focus of disease. The manyplus has been described as containing numerous leaves, curtains, or duplicatures of its cuticular coat, and with interposed layers of muscular and vascular tissue, which hang from its roof and float loose in its cavity. These leaves are covered with innumerable little hard papillae or prominences ; and many of these, and especially toward the lower edges, assume a greater degree of bulk, and some- thing of a hook-like form. Those portions of food that are returned after the second mastication, that have not been thoroughly ground down, are seized by these hooked edges of the leaves and drawn up be- tween them, and there retained until, by the action of these flexible grind- stones, they are sufficiently comminuted for the purpose of digestion. It is easy to imagine that, either sharing in the irritability of other parts, or being the original seat of irritation and inflammation, the manyplus may spasmodically contract upon and forcibly detain the substances that have been thus taken up between its leaves. By this contraction the natural moisture of the food, or that which it had acquired in the processes of maceration and mastication, is mechanically squeezed out, or drained away by the very position of the leaves, and a hard and dry mass necessarily remains. When the contraction is violent, and this imprisonment of the food long continued, we can even conceive of the possibility of its becoming so hardened and dry as to be snapped between the fingers, and to be capable of being reduced to powder. The description of it is not exaggerated when it is said to " look as if it had been baked in an oven." On the other hand, it can as readily be imagined that, either debilitated by inflam- matory action peculiar to itself; or sympathizing with and sharing in the debility of other parts, the leaves may have lost the power of 14 314 CATTLE. acting on the food contained between them, and which, supported by the irregularities of the cuticular coat, and imprisoned there in a somewhat pultaceous form, will gradually become putrid and offensive. The animal may be fed on too dry and fibrous matter, or he may lazily and but half perform the process of rumination ; in consequence of this, the hard parts of the food may accumulate in the manyplus more rapidly than they can be ground down, and so the stomach may become' clogged and its function suspended. Whatever the cause, this state of contraction or inaction of the manyplus often occurs, and either aggravates the pre-existing malady, or becomes a new source of disease, and hastens or causes the death of the animal. When this stomach has been spasmodically contracted, or long and forcibly distended, the imprisoned food presents a very curious appearance. There is an indentation of the papillae on the surface of the detained mass. All this force must have produced inflammation of the part ; and that' intense inflammation does occasionally exist in the manyplus, sufficient to produce great and general derangement and even to destroy the beast, is evident by the easy separation of the cuticular coat. In many cases, or perhaps in the majority of them, it is impossible to remove the detained mass from its situation without a portion of the cuticular coat accompanying and covering it. Even this hardened state of the contents of the manyplus is not always a proof of general disease. It is an unnatural and morbid state of the stomach ; but very considerable local disease may exist iu this organ, without materially, or in any appreciable- degree, inter- fering with general health and good condition. The fardel-bag has been found choked with food, and that dry and black, and roasted, and yet the beast had apparently been in perfect health. The author of this treatise has seen the loss of function confined to one part only of this stomach. Between some of the leaves, or on one side or curvature of the manyplus, the contents have been green and fluid ; in the other portion of it they have been perfectly baked. It is a wise and kind provision of nature, that the general health and thriving of the animal shall in various cases be so little impaired by local, although serious, disease. Many a trifling circumstance, never- theless, may cause this local evil to spread rapidly and widely ; and, even without any additional excitement, the mere continuance of such a disease, accompanied by such derangement of function, can scarcely fail of being attended by injurious consequences. This state of the manyplus is one of the most serious species of indigestion to which these animals are subject, and deserves the atten- tive consideration of the practitioner. There are, nevertheless, many difficulties accompanying the study of this important subject. The clue or fardel-bound, names by which the retention of the food in the manifolds is distinguished, may be occasionally produced by the animal feeding on too stim ulatin g plants, or on those'which are DISEASES OF THE MANYPLtTS, OR MANIFOLDS. 315 of a narcotic nature. A sudden change from green and succulept food to that which is hard and fibrous may also readily be supposed to be a very likely cause of it. The strange fancy that induces many cows, and especially those in calf, to refuse the soft and nutritious food of the pasture and browse on the coarse grass and weeds which the hedges produce, will necessarily overload the manyplus with hard and fibrous substances ; and many a beast has suffered in this way from being too rapidly and exclusively put on chaff of various kinds. The symptoms vary in different animals, but the following is an outline of them : the animal is evidently oppressed ; the pulse is somewhat accelerated and hard ; the respiration not much quickened ; the muzze dry ; the mouth hot ; the tongue protruded, and seemingly enlarged ; the membrane both of the eyes and nose injected ; the eye protruded or weeping ; the head extended ; the animal unwilling to move ; the gait uncertain and staggering ; the urine generally voided with difficulty, and sometimes red and even black. There is apparent and obstinate costiveness, yet small quantities of liquid faeces are discharged. As the disease proceeds, and often at an early period, there is evident determination of blood to the head, evinced not only by this staggering gait, but by a degree of unconsciousness ; the eyes weep more ; the lids are swollen ; the costiveness continues or some hardened excrement is voided, but fetid and mixed with blood ; rumination ceases ; the secretion of milk is usually suspended, or the milk becomes offensive both in taste and smell ; the urine flows more abundantly, but that too continues of a dark color. Many of these symptoms distinguish this complaint from dis- tension of the rumen ; there is not the hardness at the flanks, and the general swelling of the belly, which is observed in disten- sion by food ; nor the greater distension and threatened suffocation which accompany hoove. In bad cases, and when the symptoms take on much of the character of that undescribed and unintelli- gible disease, wood-evil — trembling of the frame generally, a degree of palsy, coldness of the extremities, actual swelling of the tongue, the eyes glaring, and the ears and the tail being in frequent and convulsive motion — these are the precursors of death. The period of the termination of the disease is uncertain ; it extends *rom three or four days to more than as many weeks. Many of these .symptoms so often accompany other diseases, that they are utterly insufficient always or generally to lead to a right conclusion as to the nature of the complaint, and careful inquiry must be made into the history of the case. The treatment is as unsatisfactory as the history of the symptoms. It will always be proper to bleed, in order to diminish any existing fever, or to prevent the occurrence of that which continued disease _ of this important stomach would be likely to produce. To this" should follow a dose of physic, in order to evacuate the intestines 316 CATTLE. beyond the place of obstruction, and, by its action on them, pos- sibly recall this viscus also to the discharge of its healthy function. The Epsom salts, with half the usual quantity of ginger, will form the best purgative ; and it should be administered either by means of a small horn, or the pipe of the stomach-pump introduced half ■way down the gullet, and the liquid very slowly pumped in. By this cautious method of proceeding, the pillars of the oesophagean canal will probably not be forced open, and the liquid will flow on through the passage still partially open at the bottom of the many- plus, and thence into the abomasum. Of the sympathetic influence which the establishment of increased action of the intestines has on the stomachs above in rousing them to their wonted function, mention has already been made j. it is a fact of much importance, and should never be forgotten by the practitioner. A consideration of the nature of the disease will necessarily lead to the next step. Either a great quantity of food is retained between the leaves of the manyplus in a natural and softened state, or it is powerfully compressed there, and has become dry and hard. Now the longer leaves of this stomach reach from the roof almost or quite to the base of it, and some of them float in the continuation of the oesophagean canal through which all fluids pass in their way to the fourth stomach. Then plenty of fluid should be made to flow through this canal ; and this may readily be effected by the small horn, or much better by the stomach-pump. Ah almost constant current of warm water may thus be kept up through the canal, by means of which the food retained towards the lower edge of the leaves, and most obstinately retained there on account of the hook- like form of the papillae, will be gradually softened and washed out. This will leave room for the descent of more ; and the natural action of this portion of the leaves being possibly re-established, when freed from the weight and oppression of that by which they had been filled, the mass that remains above will begin to be loosened ; it will gradually descend and be softened by the stream, and it too will be carried off: and so, in process of time, a great part of the stomach will be emptied, and the manifolds will be so far relieved as to^be able to renew its natural function. Oil has been recommended for this purpose ; but the hardened food wiU be more readily softened by warm water, than by any oil that can be administered. Some portion of aperient salt should be dis- solved in the water, in order that purgation may be established as soon as possible, or kept moderately up when it is established ; but no heating, stimulating, tonic medicine, beyond the prescribed pro- portion of aromatic to the purgative, should on any account be given, for it is impossible to tell what inflammatory action may be going forward in the manyplus, or to what degree the spasmodic contrac- tion on its contents may be increased. No food should be allowed DISEASES OF THE ABOMASUM, OR. FOURTH STOMACH. 317 except soft or almost fluid mashes, but the animal may be indulged in water or thin gruel without limit. Clysters can have little effect, and will only uselessly tease the animal, already sufficiently annoyed, by frequent drenching. After all, it may be doubtful whether the injury and danger produced by the distension*of the manifolds with food is not some- times brought about in a different way from that which has been hitherto imagined. This stomach has already been described (p. 288), as situated obliquely between the liver and the right sac of the rumen, and, therefore, when distended by food it will -press upon the liver, and impede the circulation -through the main vel- sel that returns the blood from' the intestines to the heart, and thus cause the retention of an undue quantity of blood in the veins of the abdomen. From this will naturally or almost neces- sarily arise a determination of blood to the brain, and the winding up of the disease by a species of apoplexy. This, however, will not alter the opinion that has been given of the proper treatment of the disease, but will throw considerable light on the nature and causes of some of these determinations to the head, which have not hitherto been perfectly understood. THE DISEASES OF THE ABOMASUM, OR FOURTH STOMACH. Our knowledge of the nature, and symptoms, and treatment of these diseases is as imperfect as those of the manyplus. Concretions, and mostly of hair, are occasionally found in this stomach, which, by their pressure, must produce disease to a certain extent. Poisonous, substances, received into this stomach after rumination, as is some- times the case when the plants are fully grown, from the deficiency of acute taste in the ox, and which oftener happens when, in spring, neither their taste nor their smell is developed, produce inflammation and ulceration of the coats of the abomasum. Inflammation may and does exist from other causes, as exposure to too great heat, and the continuance of unseasonable cold and wet weather, too sudden change of food, the administration of acrid and stimulating medicines : but the practitioner can rarely distinguish them from inflammatory disease of the other stomachs, or of the intestinal canal. So far as the symptoms can be arranged, they are nearly the fol- lowing : there is fever ; a full and hard pulse at the commencement, but rapidly changing its character and becoming small, verj' irregu- lar, intermittent, and, at last, scarcely to be felt except at the heart. The beast is much depressed and almost always lying down, with its head turned towards its side, and its muzzle, as nearly as possible, resting on the place beneath which the fourth stomach would be found, or when standing, it is curiously stretching out its fore limbs, with its brisket almost to the ground. The inspirations are deep, 318 ' CATTLE. interrupted by sighing, moaning, grinding of the teeth, and occa- sionally by hiccup ; the tongue is dry and furred, and red around its edges and at the tip ; the belly generally is swelled, more so than in the distension of the rumen by food, but less so than in hoove, and, as further. distinguishing the case from both, it is exceedingly tender ; there is frequently distressing tenesmus, and the urine is voided with difficulty, and drop by drop. After death, the stomach exhibits much inflammation of the lining membrane, but very seldom any ulceration. The remedies would be bleeding, purgatives, mashes, and gruel. ■ It is almost useless to dwell longer on this unsatisfactory portion of the subject, except to warn the practitioner against being misled by the peculiar softness of the inner lining membrane of the fourth stomach of the ox. That which would be said to be diseased condition, or softening, or even decomposition of the inner coat of the stomach in other animals, is the natural state of the abomasum in cattle. Homeopathic trtitment. — The treatment should be commenced by some doses of aconitum, at short intervals, after which the true specific is arsenicum, two doses of which are almost always sufficient. Oarbo vegetabilis also at times renders great service. CHAPTER XIII. THE ANATOMY AND DISEASES OF THE SPLEEN, LIVER, AND PANCREAS. THE SPLEEN. The spleen, or melt, is a long, thin, dark-colored substance, situated on the left side, attached to the rumen, and between that stomach and the diaphragm. It is closely tied to the stomach by blood- vessels, and cellular texture. It is of a uniform ^ize through its whole extent, except that it is rounded at both ends. Of its use we are, in a manner, ignorant ; it has been removed without any apparent injury to digestion. Its artery is large and tortuous, and its vein is of great size, and forms a considerable portion of that which conveys the blood from the other contents of the abdomen to the liver. It is probably connected either with the functions of the liver, or with the supply of some principle essential to the blood. It is subject to various diseases, inflammation, ulceration, increased size, tubercles, hydatids, ossification ; but in the present state of cat- tle medicine it is impossible to state the symptoms by which the greater part of these are characterized. The occasional seat of disease, the spleen, and which is found most especially to have suffered, is too frequently overlooked. A beast in high condition, over-driven, or placed in too luxuriant pasture, is suddenly taken ill ; he staggers ; his respiration becomes laborious ; his mouth is covered with foam ; the tongue burns ; he stands with his head stretched out, laboring for breath ; he moans ; blood escapes from the nostrils or the anus ; the disease runs its course in the space of a few hours, and the animal dies. On opening him, the vessels beneath the skin are all gorged with blood ; the skin itself is injected and red ; the lungs and abdominal viscera are congested with blood ; the liver.is gorged with it. It is inflammatory fevei that has destroyed the animal ; but the speen is most of all affected and disorganized — it is augmented in size, softened, its peritoneal covering torn, and blood has pushed from it and filled the belly ; or the blood has oozed through the investment without any visible rupture. In such a malady, the skill of the practitioner can be of little avail. Had the peculiar determination <)f disease to the spleen been dis- covered, it could not have been arrested; and all that can be 320 CATTLE. obtained is a lesson of wisdom ; a caution to adopt a more equable and less forcing system of feeding, and the "avoidance of all those causes of general inflammation in which the weakest organ suffers most, and by its disorganization, causes, or, at all events, hastens, death. Homoeopathic treatment. — At the onset, aconitum should be pre- scribed in repeated doses, which often suffices to arrest the disease. If this result be not attained, and the brown color of the tongue increases, we are to have recourse to arsenicum. If nervous symp- toms are observed, the animal making deep inspirations, during which it shakes the entire body, bryonia is to be employed alternately with aconitum. Nux vomica, which is also to, be alternated with aconitum, is indicated when the splenic region is very painful to the touch, and the animal frequently looks towards it. Lauro-cerasus has proved useful in a very obstinate case, where the pulse was small, the eye fixed, the head directed upward, and the animal insensible, with the exception of some convulsive movements, when the affected part was touched. THE LIVER. - This organ is situated on the right side of the abdomen, between the manyplus and the diaphragm. It is principally supported 'by a duplicature of peritoneum extending from the spine ; and is confined in its situation by other ligaments, or similar peritoneal duplicature connecting its separate lobes or divisions with the diaphragm. It is divided into two lobes of unequal size. The right lobe is the larger ; the smaller one is comparatively diminutive. The blood from the other contents of the abdomen, instead of flowing directly to the heart, passes through the liver. It enters by two large vessels, and is spread through every part of the liver by means of the almost innumerable branches into which these vessels divide. As it passes through the liver, a fluid is secreted from it, called the bile, probably a kind of excrement, the continuance of which in the blood would be injurious, but which, at the same time, answers a peculiar purpose in the process of digestion. The bile thus secreted flows into the intestines, and enters the duodenum through an orifice, the situation of which is marked out by h, p. 291. It flows into the intestines as fast as it is secreted or separated from the blood ; a portion of it, probably a comparatively small portion, however, is received into a reservoir, the gatt-bladder, where it is retained until needed foil the purpose of digestion. While the" ox is grazing or asleep, there is no necessity for the whole of the bile to run on into the intestines, but a part of it accumulates in the gall-bladder. While it is retained there, it undergoes some change ; part of the water which it contains is absorbed, and the residue becomes thickened, and more effectrre in its operation ; and when the INFLAMMATION OF THE LIVER. 821 animal begins to ruminate, and portions of food pass through the fourth and true stomach into the duodenum, not only is the flow of bile into the gall-bladder stopped, but, either by some mechanical pressure on that vessel which no one has yet explained, or, more probably, by the sympathy which exists among all the organs of digestion, and the influence of the great organic nerve causing the (probably) muscular coat of the vessel to contract, the bile flows out of its resorvoir, and proceeds to its ultimate destination, along with the portion which continues to run directly from the liver into the intestine, through the medium of the hepatic duct. This pear-shaped reservoir, the gall-bladder, is placed in a depression in the posterior face of the liver, and adheres to it by means of a delicate cellular texture. The construction of this vessel deserves attention. It has the same external peVitoneal coat with the viscera generally ; beneath is a thicker coat, evidently composed of cellular substance, in which no muscular fibres have yet been demonstratively traced, but in which they may be well conceived to exist, and in which, doubtless, they do exist, in order to enable the gall-bladder to contract and expel its contents. The inner coat is a very singular one. It has not precisely the honeycomb cells of the reticulum in miniature, but it is divided into numerous cells of very irregular and different shapes, in the base of which, as in the cells of the reticulum, are minute follicular glands that secrete a mucous fluid to defend the internal surface of the gall- bladder from the acrimony of the bile which it contains. INFLAMMATION OF THE LIVER. Cattle, and especially those that ,are stall-fed, are subject to inflam- mation of the liver. This appears evident enough on examination after death, but the symptoms during life are exceedingly obscure, and not to be depended upon. An almost invariable one, however, is yellowness of the eyes and skin ; but this accompanies, or is the chief characteristic of, obstruction of the biliary duct, and possibly exists without the slightest inflammation of the substance of the liver. It should also be remembered that there is scarcely any acute disease to which cattle are subject, in -which the liver does not sympathize. Bile is secreted in great abundance in a "healthy state of the animal, and its secretion is very much increased under almost every intestinal disease, on account of the sympathy which exists between the liver and the other organs of digestion. The feeding too much on oil-cake will produce in most cattle a yellowness of, the skin during life, and a yellow tinge of the fat and the envelopes of the muscles after death. In addition to the common symptoms of fever, (quickness of the pulse, heaving, dryness of the muzzle, heat of the mouth and root of the horn, listless or suspended rumination,) those that would lead to the suspicion of inflammation of the liver would be, lying continually 822 CATTLE. on the right side, slight spasms on that side, or wavy motions of the . skin over the region of the liver — a general fullness of the belly, but most referable to the right side', and the expression of -considerable pain when pressure is made on that side. Occasionally, the animal looks round on this part, and endeavors to rest his muzzle upon it. There is usually some degree of constipation ; the beast does not urinate so often or so abundantly as in health, and the urine is yellow or brown, or, in a few cases, bloody. The" proper, remedies are bleeding, physic, blisters on the right side, and restricted diet, from which everything of a stimulating kind is carefully withdrawn. The most frequent causes of this com- plaint are blows, over-driving, the use of too stimulating food, and the sudden suppression of some cutaneous disease. Inflammation of the liver sometimes takes o"h a chronic form. Perhaps it never assumed any great degree of intensity, or the intense inflammation was palliated, but not removed ; and this state may- exist for some months, or years, not characterized by any decided symptom, and but little interfering with health. Then commences induration, or hardening of a portion of the liver, or of the greater part of it, and accompanied by tubercles, vomicae, hydatids, and the existence of the fluke-worm in the ducts. The difficulty of detecting this chronic inflammation during the fife of the animal throws much obscurity on the mode of treating it. Permanent yellowness of the skin — a constant but not violent cough — and the want of, or the slowness in acquiring, condition be- yond a certain degree, would be the symptoms of most frequent occurrence. The treatment should consist of the frequent exhibition of gentle purgatives, with a more than the usual quantity of the aro- matic (six ounces of Epsom salts, and half an ounce of ginger,) and the food should be green, succulent, and as little stimulating as pos- sible. Mercury, to which recourse is usually had, when a similar complaint is suspected to exist in the human subject, would be worse than thrown away upon cattle. In the majority of cases in which it is used for the diseases of cattle, it produces decidedly injurious effect. Homoeopathic treatment. — The principal remedies are aconitum, at first, then nux vomica alternately with mercurius vivus. Murias magnesia! also deserves to be specially recommended. If the symp- toms of jaundice predominate, chamomilla and mercurius vivus should be employed, and when hard fasces predominate, nux vomica and bryonia'. Lycopodium is useful in chronic cases, in the same manner as when there are colics which disappear as long as the animal re- mains lying down on the left side. HAEMORRHAGE FROM THE LIVER. It has already been observed that v?he n *ly«« animals an> turned JAUNDICE, OR THE YELLOWS. 823 on the fresh grass in the spring, or the fog in autumn, they are subject to various plethoric or inflammatory complaints. The ravages oi apoplexy and inflammatory fever at these times have been described. An undue quantity of blood rapidly formed oppresses the whole system, and, from some cause of determination to it, a particular organ or part becomes violently congested or inflamed, and the atii- mal is destroyed. The liver occasionally suffers in this way. A heifer died, and on opening the belly, the cavity was found to eontain nearly six gallons of blood, which had escaped from a rup- ture, two inches in length, in one of the lobes of the liver. Certain beasts have died of some obscure disease ; it has been rapid in its progress, and not characterized by any symptoms of great in- flammation, or the inflammatory symptoms, if such had appeared, have subsided, and those of evident and extreme exhaustion have succeeded. The pulse has been feeble, or almost indistinct — the mouth has been cold — the membranes of the mouth and nose pale. The breathing has been accelerated, and the weakness extreme. After death, the substance of the liver has been found softened ; it has broken on the slightest handling ; it may be washed away, and the various vessels which permeate it exposed : the peritoneal cover- ing has been loosened — elevated from the liver — and the interval has been occupied by a clot of blood ; and from some rupture in this covering, which has partaken of the softening of the viscus itself, a quantity of blood has, been poured out; or it has oozed through the covering, and partially or almost entirely filled the cavity of the ab- domen. In such a case, the resources of medical art would be powerless ; but every instance of haemorrhage from the liver should be regarded as a warning against the adoption of too forcing a system of fatten- ing, especially in young beasts, and in the spring or fall of the year. JAUNDICE, OR THE YELLOWS. There are few diseases to which cattle are so frequently subject, or which are so difficult to treat, as jaundice, commonly known by the appropriate name of the yellows. It is characterized by a yellow color of the eyes, the skin generally, and the urine. Its appearance is sometimes sudden ; at other times the yellow tint gradually ap- pears and deepens. In some cases it seems to be attended, for a while, by little pain or inconvenience, or impairment of condition ; in others, its commencement is announced by an evident state of gene- ral irritation and fever, and particularly by quickness and hardness of pulse, heaving of the flanks, excessive thirst, and the suspension of rumination ; to these rapidly succeed depression of spirits, and loss of appetite, strength, and condition. The animals cum. 5. The Colon. 6. The Rectum. 7. The Mesentery. 8. Mesenteric Glands. - 9..Blood-i THE DUODENUM. On this coat likewise open the mouths of innumerable vessels — the lacteal absorbents — which imbibe or take up the nutritive portion of the food. These vessels ramify across the mesentery,, and con- vey this nutriment to a common duct that passes along it, and" by means of which it is carried into the great veins in the neighborhood • THE JEJUNUM AND ILIUM. 331 of the heart, where it is mixed with the venous blood returned from every part. By the power of the heart it is propelled .through the lungs, where it is purified and vitalized : and having been returned to this organ it is driven through other vessels all over the frame, and bestows nutriment and life on every part. The food, in a state of perfect solution, and under the name of chyme, is forced on by the muscular coat of the fourth stomach into the duodenum, where another change immediately commences. The food is separated into two distinct portions or principles — that which is nutritive or capable of being imbibed by the lacteals— a white fluid called chyle — and that which is either innutritive, or which they reject, and which is propelled along the intestines and finally evacuated. There has been much dispute as to the manner in which this separation is effected. The chyme that has been formed by the agency of the gastric juice may contain in itself a tendency to this separation, or precipitation of the excrementitious part ; or this may be effected by some fluid secreted from the mucous coat of the du- odenum ; or the bile and the pancreatic juice may be the main agents in producing the change. Ten or twelve inches down the duodenum, as may be seen at h, p. 291, two ducts penetrate the coats of that intestine, and pour into it the fluid secreted by the pancreas and liver. It would seem likely, from the distance from the stomach at which these fluids enter, that some change had already taken place in the contents of the duodenum, which was to be perfected by means of these auxilia- ries. The separation or precipitation is more rapidly and effectually made ; while the bile also has some stimulating effect on the coats of the stomach, ■ urging the'exhalents and the absorbents, and the muscles of the intestines, to stronger and more effectual action ; and the pancreatic juice may dilute the biliary secretion, and shield the intestine from its occasional too great acrimony. While, however, the bile is thus acting in promoting healthy di- gestion, (and no animals afford more frequent illustration of the con- nection between the biliary secretion and the digestive process than cattle do,) the true notion of it is perhaps, that it is an excremen- titious substance, containing properties that would be noxious to the constitution, but, as in most of the contrivances of nature, the mode of its evacuation answers another and a salutary purpose. The duodenum terminates in the jejunum, but there is no assign- able point wbtere the one can be said to terminate and the other begin. THE JEJUNUM AND ILEUM. These intestines, together with the duodenum, the caecum, and a portion of the colon, will be seen (in the cut p. 330, at figs. 2 and 3,) 332 CATTLE. to be united together, and enfolded in one lommon expansion of the mesentery. They lie on the right side of the belly, occupying- the flank, and resting upon the right portion of the rumen. The jejunum and the ileum constitute the border of this mesenteric expansion, and are disposed in the form of numerous spiral convolutions. If they were unfolded, the length of these intestines would, in an ox of common size, amount to more than one hundred * feet. This length of small intestine is designed to compensate for the want of development and of cells in the larger ones. The food is detained by the length of the passage, and also by the construction of the convolutions. The principal absorption of chyle takes place in them. THE CAECUM. It describes a considerable arch (see fig. 4, p. 330,) the superior extremity of which is fixed to the portion of mesentery common to ' it and the small intestines, while the inferior portion floats loose in the abdomen, and is prolonged into the pelvic cavity, where it has a rounded termination. The portion of food that can enter into it "is small, and cannot be detained long there, because there are no lon- gitudinal bands to pucker the intestine into numerous and deep cells ; but the contents of the caecum have the character of being more fluid than in any other part of the intestinal canal. The length of the csecum seldom exceeds a yard. THE COLON. This intestine is evidently divisible into two parts, (see fig. 5. p. 330 ;) the one smaller than the caecum is supported by the com- mon mesentery ; the other floats loose in the belly, and forms part of the second mass of intestines. It has convolutions, but is destitute of muscular bands. It is less than the csecum, but combined with the next and the last intestine, the rectum, it measures more than thirty-three feet. The want of mechanical obstruction to the pass- age of the food is thus made up by the increased length of the viscera. In the colon, the process of digestion may be considered to be in a manner terminated, and all that remains is faaculent matter, that continues to be urged on in order to be expelled.- THE RECTUM. This intestine, so called from the straight course which it runs, terminates the digestive canal. It has no longitudinal bands, for it contains little beside the excrement that is to be discharged, or that should least of all be detained. The lacteal absorbents may still be traced in this intestine, but it is probable that very little nutritive matter is taken up, although, from the occasional hardened state of the dung, it is possible that much fluid may be carried off. ENLARGEMENT OF THE MESENTERIC GLANDS. 333 A circular muscle, the sphincter, is always in action at the termi- nation of the rectum, to prevent its contents from being involunta- rily discharged. Its power is just sufficient for the purpose ; and it readily yields, when by the pvessure of the abdominal muscles and the diaphragm, the excrement is forced against it, in the vol- untary efforts of the animal. The contents of the rectum in cattle are semi-fluid — their nutritive qualities are nearly exhausted, and they are of very inferior value for agricultural purposes. THE DISEASES OF THE INTESTINES. v These are too numerous, and destroy too many of our cattle. Those which belong to the membranes that invest or line the intes- tines, and that are referable to the greater part, or the whole, of their extent, will with most convenience first come under consideration. Those which affect only particular viscera, or parts of them, will naturally follow. ENLARGEMENT OF THE MESENTERIC GLANDS. It has been stated that there are numerous vessels, termed lacteals, opening on the inner coat of the intestines, in order to convey the chyle to the thoracic duct, so that it may mingle with and supply the waste of the blood. These little vessels, ere they reach the main trunk, pass through a glandular body, in which some unknown change is probably effected in the chyle. Sonfe of these mesenteric glands are represented at fig. 8, p. 330. These glands occasionally become unnaturally enlarged, and then, whether from the abstraction of so much nutriment, in order to contribute to this enlargement, or from the unknown change not taking place in the chyle before it mingles with the blood, or from the constitutional disturbance which the presence of such a body in the abdomen must produce, the animal ceases to thrive, his belly becomes enlarged, cough and con- sumption appear, and he gradually wastes away and dies. On exami- nation after death, some of the mesenteric glands are of unusual bulk, and occasionally have grown to an enormous size. A cow having an internal tumor, showing on the right side, died. On opening the abdomen, the first thing that presented itself, filling the iliac region, was a large mesenteric gland, of irregular form, weigh- ing 160 pounds. On making a section through it, its appearance was chiefly that of a schirrous deposit. The mesenteric glands generally were unhealthy, and many of them were schirrous. This case is a valu- able one ; it is the only one on record of schirrous enlargement of the mesenteric glands of the ox ; but the recollection of "every practitioner will furnish him with not a few instances of these- tumors unexpectedly presenting themselves on examination of the abdomen. They have been found chiefly in young beasts that had been bred too much in 334 CATTLE. and in, or that had been weakly from other causes, and particularly in those that had been subject to chronic cough, associated with tubercles in the lungs. In low and damp situations these tumors have been found on the mesentery of cattle that have been long unthrifty and out of condition, and that have at length died apparently in consequence of some other disease. The association, however, with these diseases has differed so ma- terially in different cases, and the symptoms have been so obscure, or so much resembling those of various and almost opposite complaints, that they have not yet been satisfactorily classed and arranged. The treatment of these mesenteric enlargements, when they are suspected and pretty well ascertained, would be a course of mild purgatives, mingled with tonics, (the Epsom salts with gentian and ginger, a dose sufficient to keep the bowels gently open being admin- istered every morning,) with the exhibition of from six to ten grains of the hydriodate of potash, at noon and night, and the removal of the animal to good and dry pasture. INFLAMMATION OF THE BOWELS. Of this malady there are two species : the first is inflammation of the external coat of the intestines, accompanied by considerable fever, and usually by costiveness ; the second is that of the internal or mucous coat, and generally attended by violent purging. The first of these, designated by the term Enteritis, is, in most cases, sudden in its attack. Beasts of middle age — strong — in good condition, and particularly working cattle, are most subject to it. Calves, old beasts, and milch cows are comparatively exempt from it. The disease is most frequent in hot weather, and after long-continued drought. The beast, that on the preceding day seemed to be in perfect health, is observed to be dull — depressed — his muzzle dry — his hair rough ; — he shrinks when his lotos are pressed upon, and his belly seems to be enlarged on the left side. To these symptoms speedily succeed disinclination to move — weakness of the hind limbs — trem- bling of them — staggering — heaving of the flanks — protrusion of the head — redness of the eyes — heat of the mouth and ears and roots of the horns, and a small, but rapid pulse, generally varying from 60 to 80 beats in a minute. Rumination has now ceased ; the appetite is lost ; the feces are rarely voided, and are hard and covered with a glazy mucus, and that mucus is sometimes streaked with blood ;— the animal also moans with intensity of pain. The symptoms rapidly increase ; the patient becomes more de- pressed ; the pulse more feeble ; the moaning incessant, and the beast is continually down. He becomes half unconscious, and is evidently half-blind ; the mouth is filled with foam, and the tongue is covered with a browish yellow deposit. There is p-rindinor nf tha INFLAMMATION OF THE BOWELS. 335 teeth, and difficulty hi the swallowing of liquids ; a tucked appear- ance of the belly, mingling with the enlargement of the left flank — and the whole of the belly is exceedingly tender. Until he is too weak to raise himself, he is exceedingly restless, lying down, and immediately getting up again, and with convulsive movements of the muscles of the neck and extremities. The evacuation of the feces is entirely suppressed, or a little stream of liquid excrement forces a passage through the hardened mass by which the rectum is distended, and that which is voided has an exceedingly fetid and putrid smell. This symptom is characteristic. The person who is accustomed to cattle says that the beast is fardel-bound or sapped, but he often mistakes the nature of the case, and fancies that diarrhoea instead of costiveness exists. The urine becomes thick and oily and brown, and has a peculiarly disagreeable and penetrating smell. As the disease proceeds, the weakness and suffering increase, until the animal ' dies, sometimes exhausted, but mostly in convulsions, and frequently discharging a bloody fetid fluid from the mouth, the nose, and the anus. Sometimes, when the disease has not been attacked with sufficient energy, and often in despite of the most skillful treatment, other symp- toms appear. The animal seems to amend ; the pulse is slower and more developed — rumination* returns — : the patient eats a little — the enlargement of the flanks subsides — the excrement, whether hard or fluid, is more abundantly discharged : but the beast is sadly thin — he is daily losing ground — his coat stares — the hair is easily detached — the skin clings to the bones — he is sometimes better, and sometimes worse, until violent inflammation again suddenly comes on, and he is speedily carried off. s On examination after death, the first thing that presents itself is the engorgement of the sub-cutaneous Vessels with black and coagulated blood, and the discoloration of the muscles, softened in their consist- ence and becoming putrid. The abdomen exhibits the effusion of a great quantity of bloody fluid ; eight, ten, and twelve gallons have been taken from it. The peritoneum is inflamed — almost universally so ; — there are black and gangrenous patches in various parts, and on others there are deposits of flaky matter, curiously formed, and often curiously spotted. The liver is enlarged, and its substance easily "torn ; the rumen is distended with food, generally dry, and its lining membrane inflamed and injected, and of a purple or blue tint ; the reticulum does not escape the inflammatory action ; the manyplus is filled with dry and hard, layers, which cannot be detached without difficulty from the mucous membrane of that stomach ; the fourth stomach is highly inflamed, with patches of a more intense character, and its contents are liquid and bloody, particularly towards the pyloric orifice. The small intestines contain many spots of ulceration; the lining membrane is everywhere inflamed, and they are filled with an CATTLE. adhesive or bloody mucous fluid ; the larger intestines are even more inflamed ; they exhibit more extensive ulceration, and contain many clots of effused blood. The rectum is ulcerated and gangrenous from end to end. . There is usually considerable effusion in the chest ; the coverings of the lungs are inflamed ; the bag of the heart more so ; the sub- stance of the lungs is sometimes emphysematous, and at other times gorged with blood, and the heart is marked with black spots out- wardly, and in its cavities. The lining membrane of all" the air-pass- ages is of a red brown color ; the larynx and the pharynx are intensely red, and so is the membrane of the gullet. Of the causes of this disease it is difficult to speak. It seems occasionally to be epidemic, for several instances of it occur, of the same character, and in the same district. When isolated cases occur, they may generally be attributed to mismanagement. Exposure to cold; or the drinking of cold water when heated with work ; too hard work in sultry weather ; the use of water stagnant, impure, or containing any considerable quantity of metallic salts ; the sudden revulsion of some cutaneous eruption ; the crowding of animals into a confined place ; too luxuriant and stimu- lating food generally ; and the mildewed and unwholesome food on which cattle are too often kept, are fruitful sources of this complaint. Homoeopathic treatment. — Aconitum is to be given in doses repeated every fifteen or twenty minutes, until the most prominent symptoms of the inflammation have disappeared. If this end be not attained after some hours, or if, notwithstanding a perceptible improvement, pain still remains, arsenicum is to be given. The medicine alternately with aconitum, has sometimes, it is said, produced good effects. It is particularly indicated when the disease has been occasioned by cold drinks, or by improper food and disturbance of digestion. When aconitum and arsenicum fail, we must have recourse to carbo vegetabilis and rhus toxicodendron. WOOD-EVIL, MOOR-ILL, PANTAS. These are but varieties of the same disease, frequently produced, •as the first name would import, by browsing on the young buds of trees, and particularly on those of the ash and the oak. These buds are tempting to cattle at the commencement of the spring, but they are of too acrid and stimulating a character to be eaten with impunity in any considerable quantities. Heat of the mouth and skin — redness of the membranes — thirst— ^obstinate constipation — hard- ness of the little faeces that are expelled — the covering of them with mucus and blood — difficulty of voiding urine, and its red color and penetrating odor — colicky pains — depression — are the characteristic symptoms of this disease. Some veterinarians give the narae of wood-evil to complaints allied WOOD-EVIL, MOOR-ILL, PANTAS. 337 — »— — to rheumatism, or being essentially rheumatic ; others consider it to be a disease of debility, looking to the consequence of inflammation, and not to the inflammation itself. If any distinction were drawn between wood-evil and enteritis in cattle, it would be, that although in wood-evil there seems to be more affection of the head, and the animal appears now and then as if it were rabid, there is not so much intestinal inflammation, and the disease dose not so speedily run its course. , Wood-evil may last from twelve to twenty days. - The prognosis, or expectation of the termination of the disease, is always unfavorable when after a certain time much feyer comes on, or the costiveness will not give way, or the urine is thick or bloody, or the disease attains its full intensity in the space of a few days. Then, instead of terminating in resolution, the inflammation runs on to' gangrene ; all the acute symptoms suddenly disappear, and death is, not far distant. On the other hand, the result will be favorable when the disease does not reach that degree of intensity of which it is capable — when, after a few days, the symptoms gradually dis- appear, and the animal regains his former habits, and the excremenl resumes its natural form and consistence. The history that has been given of this disease will leave little doubt respecting the course of treatment that should be pursued. A malady of so intensely an inflammatory character should be met by prompt and decisive measures : and to them it will, in its early stage, generally yield. Nothing is so easy as to give relief to a sapped or fardel-bound beast, before he begins to heave at the flanks or ceases to ruminate ; but quickness of breathing, and heat of the mouth, and evident fever, being once established, the animal will probably be lost. The patient should be bled. If it be simple costiyeness without fever, the abstraction of six or eight quarts of blood may suffice ; but if the symptoms of inflammation cannot be misunderstood, the measure of the bleeding will be the quantity that the animal will lose before he staggers or falls. Purgatives should follow— r the first dose being of the full strength, and assisted by quickly repeated ones, until quick purging is produced. Hot water, or blisters, should be applied to the belly, and the food of the beast should be re- stricted to gruel and mashes. This will, in most cases, include the whole of the treatment. If other spmptoms should arise, or other parts' appear to be in- volved, the practitioner will change his mode of proceeding accord- ingly ; but he will be cautious how he gives aromatics or tonics, until he is convinced that the state of fever has passed over, and circumstances indicate the approach of debility and. of typhus fever. Homoeopathic treatment. — Ipecacuanha and veratrum, alternately, every quarter of an hour, are the means by which this disease has been cured, which, in. general, proceeds with great rapidity. Acon- itum and arsenicum might be most properly administered. 338 CATTLE. DIARRHEA AND DYSENTERY. The distinction between these two diseases, and it is of essential importance to observe it in the treatment of cattle, is, that diarrhoea consists in the evacuation of faecal matter, in an undue quantity, and more than naturally liquid form. In dysentery, more or less mucus, or mucus and blood combined, mingles with faeces. The frequent and abundant evacuation of faecal matter, whether with or without mucus, may be considered either as simple, or con- nected with other diseases. In its former state it will be the sub- ject of present consideration, and may b9 regarded as acute or chronic. Acute diarrhoea may be produced by various causes ; — the abuse of purgatives, by their being administered in too active a form — feeding on certain poisonous plants— sudden change of food, gen- erally from dry to green aliment, but occasionally from green to dry — excess of food — the drinking of bad water — or by some humid and unhealthy state of the atmosphere. From the last cause it usually assumes an epizootic character, particularly in autumn. A great many cows in a certain district are suddenly attacked by it, although there is no reason to suspect that it is in the slightest degree conta- gious. Calves and milch cows are far more subject to this species of in- testinal inflammation than are full grown or working oxen. The proper treatment of acute diarrhoea will consist in the ad- ministration of a mild purgative, in order to carry off any source of irritation in the intestinal canal ; the abstraction of blood, if there be any degree of fever, and in proportion to that fever ; and then the exhibition of alkalies and astringents. The most, effectual medicines are prepared chalk, opium, catechu, and ginger, in the proportions of one ounce of the first, one drachm of the second, four drachms of the third, and two of the last, in each dose, and to be adminis- tered in thick gruel. This will generally be successful : but, occasionally, these acute cases of diarrhoea are obstinate and fatal ; and too often it happens that what has been represented to the practitioner as a sudden attack turns out to be the winding up of .some chronic disease, and he does not discover the mistake until it is too late. Diarrhoea is not always to be considered as a disease. It is often a salutary effort of nature to get rid of that which would be inju- rious ; or it is a somewhat too great action of certain of th» di- gestive organs, which soon quiet down again to their natural and healthy function. An occasional lax state of the bowels in calves is known to be favorable to the acquirement of fat ; and a beast that is well purged on being first turned on spring-grass or turnips, thrives far more rapidly than another that is little, or not at all, affected by the change. Diarrhoea, in* some critical stages of disease, DIARRHOEA AND DYSENTERY. is to be hailed as the precursor of health, rather than feared as the attack of a new malady : it should be so in. pneumonia, red water, and puerperal fever. All that is then to be done is to prevent its becoming so violent as to depress the vital energies. Diarrhoea may assume a chronic form, with greater or less severity, and producing loss of condition and debility ; it may be prolonged for many a month, and even for years, and at length terminate fatally. This is often the case with cows that have been drained of their milk and badly kept. The diarrhoea of calves will be considered when the diseases of those animals come under notice. The treatment of chronic diarrhoea is difficult and unsatisfactory. Purgatives cannot be dispensed with, but they must be administered with considerable caution. Both the medicine and the quantity should be well considered, for if the aperient be not strong enough, the disorder will be increased and prolonged ; and if it be too strong, both these effects will be produced to a greater extent, and fatal inflammation and superpurgation may ensue. Castor oil will be the safest, and the most effectual medicine, in doses from a pint to a quart : and a small quantity, ten grains, of powdered opium, will not interfere with the aperient quality of the oil, while it may allay irri- tation. After two doses of the oil have been given, the powder already recommended may be tried, but with a double quantity of ginger, and half a drachm of powdered gentian. After a while, a drachm of Dover's powder may be given, morning and night ; and, that also ceasing to have effect, the first powder may again be ad- ministered. Alum whey is often of considerable service. If the animal be turned out, it should be on the driest pasture, but it will be better for her to be kept up with plenty of hay, and gruel to drink. ffomceopatkic treatment — The cure of distrrhoea is effected by different means. In the diarrhoea which bursts out suddenly, or the acute form, we should commence with a couple of doses of aconitum, at short intervals ; after which, in most cases, arsenicum and ipeca- cuanha are very effectual. The diarrhoea brought on by cold often yields to aconitum alone, as that resulting from any irregularity in diet yields to arsenic. If in the latter case there be also loss of ap- petite, and if arsenic does not effect a cure, putsatilla . should be given, or, when tfiere is an absolute repugnance to food, antimonium crudum, especially when the diarrhoea alternates periodically with constipation. If there be frequent dejections without pa"in, we have resource to rheum. A&tirum is useful, if the evacuations are fluid, and sometimes mixed with bloody mucus. In the treatment of chronic diarrhoea, beside china, sulphur, cha- momilla, and veratrum, which have been found useful more than once, we should employ acidum phosphoricum, bryonia, calcarea acetica, dul- camara, magnesia, carbonica, petroleum and phosphorus. Diarrhoea is 340 CATTLE. usually accompanied with a general morbid state, with respect to which we are to choose, among these several means, that which suits best. Sulphur and arsenicum are ' the principal remedies for diarrhoea in calves. It is, however, with dysentery that the practitioner is most loth to cope — a disease that destroys thousands of our cattle. This also may be either acute or chronic. Its causes are too often buried in obscurity, and its premonitory symptoms are disregarded or unknown. There appears to be a strong predisposition in cattle to take on this disease. It seems to be the winding up of many serious complaints, and the foundation of it is sometimes laid by those that appear to be of the most trifling nature. It is that in cattle which glanders and farcy are in the horse — the breaking up of the constitution. Dysentery may be a symptom and a concomitant of other diseases. It is one of the most fearful characteristics of murrain ; it is the destructive accompaniment or consequence of phthisis. It is pro- duced by the sudden disappearance of a cutaneous eruption ; it fol- lows the secession of chronic boose ; it is the cbnsequence of the natural or artificial suspension of every secretion. Were any secre- tion to be particularly selected, the repression of which would pro- duce dysentery, it would be that of the milk. How often does the farmer observe that no sooner does a milch cow cease her usual sup- ply of milk, than she begins to purge ? There may not appear to be anything else the matter with her, but she purges, and in the ma- jority of cases that purging is fatal. It may, sometimes, however, be traced to sufficient causes, exclu- sive of previous disease. Unwholesome food — exposure to cold — neglect at the time of calving — low and marshy situations — the feed- ing on meadows that have been flooded (here it is peculiarly fatal) — the grazing upon the clays lying over the blue lias rock— the neighborhood of woods, and of -half stagnant rivers — the continua- tion of unusually sultry weather — over-work, and all the causes of acute dysentery may produce that of a chronic nature — or acute dysentery neglected, or badly, or even most skillfully treated, may degenerate into an incurable chronic affection. Half starve a cow, or overfeed her, milk her to exhaustion, or dry her milk too rapidly, dysentery may follow. The following may probably be the order of the spmptoms, if they are carefully observed. There will be a little dullness or anxiety of countenance, the muzzle becoming short and contracted — a slight shrinking when the loins are pressed upon — the skin a little harsh and dry — the hair a little rough — there will be a slight degree of uneasiness, and shivering, that scarcely attracts attention — then (ex- cept it be the degeneracy of acute into chronic dysentery) constipa- tion may be perceived — it will be to a certain degree obstinate — the excrement will be voided with pain — it will be dry, hard, and DIARRHOEA AND DYSENTERY 341 expelled in small quantities. In other cases, perhaps, purging will be present from the beginning ; the animal will be tormented with tenesmus, or frequent desire to void its excrement, and that act at- tended by straining and pain, by soreness about the anus, and pro- trusion of the rectum ; and sometimes by severe colicky spasms. In many cases, however, and in those of a chronic form, few of these distressing symptoms are observed even at the commencement of the disease, but the animal voids her feces oftener than it is natural that she should, and they are more fluid than in a state of health; but at the same time, she loses her appetite and spirits and condition, and is evidently wasting away. In acute cases, if the disease does not at once destroy the animal, the painful symptoms disappear, and little remains but a greater or less degree of dullness, disinclination to food, rapid decrease of con- dition, and frequent purging. The feces are often voided in a pecu- liar manner ; they are ejected with much force, and to a considers^ ble distance, and the process of shooting has commenced. The feces, too, have altered their character ; a greater quantity of mu- * cus mingles with them ; sometimes it forms a great proportion of the matter evacuated, or it hangs in strings, or accumulates layer after layer under the tail. The farmer and the practitioner anxiously examine the evacuation. As the thin mass falls on the ground, hubbies are formed upon it. They calculate the time that these vesicles remain unbroken. If they burst and disappear immediately, the observer does not quite despair; but if they remain several minutes on the surface of , the dung, he forms an unfavorable opinion of the case, for he. knows that these bladders are composed of the mucus that lined the intestines, and which is not separated from them, except under circumstances of great irritation ; or which being thrown off, the denuded membrane^s exposed to fatal irritation. In this state the beast may remain many weeks, or months ; sometimes better, and sometimes worse; and even promising to t&ose who know little about the matter that the disease will gradually subside. The fanner, however, has a term for this malady, too expressive of the result, although not strictly applicable to what is actually taking place within the animal. She is rotten, he says, and she dies as if she were so. There are cases of recovery, but they are few and far between. Most cases gradually draw to a close. The beast is sadjjf wasted — vermin accumulate on him — his teeth become loose — swellings appear under the jaw, and he dies from absolute exhaus- tion ; or the dejections gradually change their character — blood mingles with the mucus — purulent matter succeeds to that — it is "almost insupportably fetid — it is discharged involuntarily — gangren- ous ulcers about the anus sometimes tell of the process that is going on within ; and, at length, the eyes grow dim and sunk in their orbits, the body is covered with cold perspiration, and the animal dies. 342 CATTLE. In some cases the emaciation is frightful ; the skin cleaves to the bones, and the animal has become a living skeleton ; in others there have been swellings about the joints, spreading over the Wgs gen- erally, occasionally ulcerated ; and in all, the leaden color of the membranes, the rapid loss of strength, the stench of the excrement, and the unpleasant odor arising from the animal himself, announce the approach of death. The appearances after death are extraordinarily uniform, consid- ering of how many diseases this is the accompaniment or the conse- quence, and the length of time that it takes to run its course, and during which so many other organs might have been readily involved. The liver is rarely in any considerable state of disease. The first and second stomachs are seldom much affected ; the third stomach pre- sents a variable appearance with regard to the state of the food that it contains, and which is sometimes exceedingly hard, and sometimes almost pultaceous, but there is no inflammation about the stomach itself. The fourth stomach exhibits a peculiar change : there is an infiltration or collection of serous fluid in the cellular substance be- tween the mucous and muscular coat, showing some, but no very- acute, degree of inflammation in the submucous tissue. The small intestines are frequently without a single trace of inflammation, but sometimes, however, they are thickened and corrugated, but not in- jected. It is in the caecum, colon, and rectum, that the character of the disease is to be distinctly and satisfactorily traced. The account of these post mortem appearances is given at considera- ble length, because they clearly indicate the hitherto unsuspected na- ture of the disease — unsuspected at least among veterinarians ; and they will probably lead to a mode of treatment that promises a little more success than has hitherto attended the efforts of^ practi- tioners. It is plainly inflammation (at first acute, but gradually assuming a chronic, a more insidious and dangerous form,) of the large intestines, the colon, caecum, and rectum ; it is the dysentery of the human being ; it is that which was once the scourge of the human race, but thousands of whose victims are now rescued from its grasp by the discovery of its rear seat and character, and the adoption of those measures which such a disease plainly indicates. If this malady be of an inflammatory type, the first, and most ob- vious, and most beneficial measure to be adopted, is bleeding; and this regulated by the age, size, and condition of the beast, thelgud- denness and violence of the attack, and the degree of fever. From two to five or six quarts of blood should be abstracted. There must be very great debility — the disease must in a manner have run its course, or the practitioner will be without excuse who, in a case of inflammation of the large intestines, neglects the abstraction of blood. General bleeding — bleeding from the jugular — will be of service, as lessening the general irritation, and the determination of blood to the DIARR.HCEA AND DYSENTERY. 343 part ; but in this ease the practitioner can in some measure avail himself of the advantage of local bleeding, for by opening the sub- cutaneous or milk vein he takes blood from the parietes of the abdo- men, and from that portion of them which is nearest to the inflamed part. The repetition of the bleeding must depend on circumstances, of which the practitioner will be the best judge. Another abater of inflammation will be a mild aperient. A little consideration will show that this is not contrarindicated even by the degree of purging which then exists ; for the retention of matter, such as that discharged in dysentery, must be a far greater source of irritation than the stimulus of a mere laxative. The kind of medicine is a consideration of far more consequence than seems to be generally imagined. There would be a decided objection to the aloes so frequently resorted to in these cases : there would be some degree of doubt respecting that excellent and best medicine for general purposes, the Epsom salts. Both of them might add to the excessive irritation which the practitioner is so anxious to allay. Castor oil will here, as in acute diarrhoea, be decidedly pre- ferred, and in the same doses. Some judgment will be required as to the repetition of the purgative. Its object is the simple evacua- of morbid faecal matter, and not the setting up of any permanently increased action of the bowels : therefore, if, instead of the com- paratively scanty and mucous discbarges of dysentery, a fair quantity of actual feces has been brought away, there can be no occasion for, or, rather, there would be objection to, the continuance of the purgative. Linseed oil certainly stands next in value to the castor oil as arr aperient, when the bowels are in an irritable state. This being inflammation of the large or lower intestines, there will be evident propriety in the administration of emollient injections. By means of the injection or enema-pump, the intestines in the ox, which are the seat of this disease, may be completely filled with some emollient fluid ; and that which is most of all indicated here, and especially in the early stage of treatment, is gruel, well-boiled and thick ; a pailfull of it may be thrown up with advantage two or three times every day. Let it now be supposed that this treatment has been pursued two or three days ; — if the discharges are more fecal, a little great- er in quantity, and attended by less pain or less effort in the expul- sion of them, that purpose has been effected which the practitioner was anxious to accomplish, and he must look about for other mea- sures ; or, if the state of the animal remain the same, it will be useless longer to pursue this plan. Then the surgeon refers once more to the character of the malady — inflammation of the mucous membrane of the large intestines— -and he asks what he can bring in direct contact with the diseased surface, that is likely to allay irrita- tion or to abate inflammation. Opium immediately presents itself, at 344 CATTLE. once an astringent and an anodyne — an astringent, because it is an anodyne — and he«determines to give it in doses of half a drachm, and in the best form in which it can be administered) namely, in that of powder, mixed with thick gruel. He likewise adds it to the gruel of the injection, either under the form of powder, or he boils a few poppy-heads in water, and then causes the gruel to be made with the decoction. Here all practitioners seem to agree. Whether they prepare the way for the opium by the administration of an aperient, or whether, deceived by the state of purging, they give it at once, they are all anxious to try the power of this drug ; but too many of them, either forgetting or not knowing the nature of the disease, add medicines of an opposite character, and that cannot fail of being injurious. They administer astringents and tonics, which are useful and indispensable in a later stage of the treatment, but, while the inflammation re- mains unsubdued, are only adding fuel to fire. There are too many practitioners who scruple not to give alum and sulphate of zinc as soon as they are called in to such a case, and before the lining membrane of the intestines is prepared for their action. These drugs are acrid — they are caustic as well as astringent — they are astrin- gent because they are caustic, and they too frequently set up an- other and destructive inflammation. It is usual, however, to add something to the opium, in order to increase or to regulate, or to modify its power ; and that which is without comparison the most serviceable is one of the mild prepara- tions of mercury, viz., calomel, or the blue pill,- or mercury triturated with chalk. Mere theory might induce the fear that mercury would add to the irritation already too unmanageable, and' so it would, if given alone ; but, combined with and guarded by 'the opium, it has the most beneficial effect : the opium does not produce costiveness — the calomel does not gripe and purge, but irritation is allayed, while the natural action of the bowels is promoted. In order that this mode of treatment may have a fair chance, the beast should be housed and fed on bran-mashes, a little hay, and plenty of well boiled gruel. While the patient continues at grass, the practitioner has no chance, however skillful in other respects his treatment may be. So much depends on the avoidance of all green and succulent food, that many a beast, from whom every symptom of dysentery had disappeared, has relapsed, and been lost, from having been- turned out too soon. The green food of one day has produced irreparable mischief. There are other auxiliary measures which- deserve consideration. Setons in the dewlap have been strongly recommended. They may be useful when much fever accompanies the early stage of dysentery, for they will, in some measure, divert the current of blood from the inflamed and irritated part, and thus lessen the local inflammation DIARRHOEA AND DYSENTERY 345 and discharge, and also the general fever ; but no very material de- gree of benefit c^.n be expected from them; and there certainly cannot be that importance which is sometimes attached to the sub- stance or the root that is inserted. The common cord, or hair-rope, will answer every purpose : the black hellebore root, however, pro- duces the speediest inflammation and the most copious discharge. Fomentation of the right flank and the right side of the belly with hot water, pr, in acute cases, the blistering of those parts, will be far more serviceable than any seton in the dewlap can possibly be. That admirable disinfectant, the chloride of lime, promises to be of essential service in the treatment of dysentery ; not only in chang- ing the nature of the intestinal discharge, and depriving it of all its putridity, but in disposing the surface of the intestine, with wWh it may be brought into contact, to assume a more healthy character. When applied externally to wounds and ulcers of every kind, it effects wonders in both of these respects ; and, being properly diluted, it has not been found to give any great pain, or dangerously to increase inflammation in the most irritable ulcer. It may be ad- ministered either by the mouth, or in the form of clyster. The practitioner will probably avail himself of its aid in both forms. It should not be mingled with any other drug ; but half an ounce of the solution, or a drachm of the powder, may be mixed with a quart, of water, and given between the regular periods for the ad- ministration of the other remedies. - The reader will mind the caution as to the mode of administering liquid medicine to cattle ; for in a disease so serious and so fatal as dysentery, it cannot be too deeply impressed on the mind of the practitioner. Whether the medicine be given .by means of the horn or the pump, it should flow as gently as possible down the gullet, that it may not break through the floor of the oesophagean canal, but have a better chance of passing on to the fourth stomach and the intestines. In this, as well as in the chronic stage of dysentery, a great deal more depends upon attending to the comfort of the animal than too many seem to believe. The patient should be housed, and well lit- tered down, and, in some cases, moderately clothed. Of his food, little portions at a time should be culled for him and offered to him ; and warm gruel and warm mashes should be frequently put within his reach. There can be no doubt that more benefit is connected with that one word comfort, than can be procured from half the drugs which the veterinary pharmacopoeia contains. In many cases, and in every case that can be brought to a suc- cessful termination, it will be observed, after the perseverance of ten days or a fortnight- in this mode of treatment, that the pain preceding and accompanying the evacuations is materially lessened, and that the nature of the matter evacuated is changed. The stools willjiro.- 15* 346 CAT.TLE. bably be as frequent ; they will be more copious ; but less mucus ■will be found in them, and they, will have become more decidedly faecal and not so offensive. The belly will be less' tender; the coun- tenance less anxious ; the general appearance improved. The inflam- mation of the inner surface of the large intestines will have materi- ally subsided, but the habit of purgation will continue for a while, and will be increased by the state of relaxation and debility in which the vessels are left. Then, but not until then, .astringents will be admissible and highly beneficial. Catechu stands at the head of this class of medicines in such a case ; and its power may be increased by the addition of oak bark, or it may be given in a decoction of oak bark. The opium must not, however, be omitted ; for although direct inflammation may have been subdued, and relaxation and debility have followed, much irrita- bility may remain, to control which the soothing -power of opium will be required. To catechu and opium it has been usual to add chalk ; for in all these diseases there is a tendency in the stomach, and probably in the intestinal canal, to generate a considerable quantity of acid. A greater source of irritation can scarcely tie imagined when the state of the lining membrance of the large intestine is taken into considera- tion. The chalk, or the carbonic acid of the chalk, will unite with and neutralize this acid, and render it harmless. Theoretic chemistry would lead to the substitution of magnesia for the chalk, for the carbonic acid being withdrawn, it might be feared that the caustic lime would be injurious ; but experience has proved that magnesia is not so efficacious in cattle ; that, in fact, it seems to be almost inert, while chalk has usually answered the purpose intended, and no inconvenience has resulted from it. Some practitioners strangely mingle vegetable and mineral tonics together, forgetful of the decomposition which frequently, or almost constantly, ensues, and the impairment or total loss of medicinal power. Vegetable astringents agree best with the constitution of cattle, and they will not often deceive. The nature of the disease, however, being considered, will the practioner confine himself to the astringents ? He has now to strug- gle with the consequences of inflammation — the weakness and want of tone which inflammation has produced, not only in the part itself but in the whole system. He will also take into consideration the natural temperament and constitution of cattle ; and that they will not bear disease, nor the treatment of disease, like some other animals. Diseases speedily run their course in cattle, and the patients often sink under the prompt and vigorous and scientific treatment of the malady. An ox may bear one copious bleeding well ; but he cannot be bled again and again. He will derive the usual advantage from purgation to a certain extent, but care must be taken lest it degen- DIARRHCEA AND DYSENTERY. 347 erate into the disease which is now under consideration. The practi- tioner will therefore mingle stomachics, and probably tonics, with his astringents, in this case. Here also he will find the vegetable the best. Experience of its beneficial effect has made ginger a necessary- ingredient in almost every medicine, unless the animal evidently labors under fever. Gentian is an admirable tonic and stomachic ; and if to these be added Colombo and cascarilla, there is sufficient choice. The proportions of the different medicines will .necessarily vary with the age and strength of the animal, and the character, duration, and ravages of the disease. Vegetable astringents and tonics having been fairly tried, and either not producing the desired effect, or beginning to lose their power, the mineral ones may be resorted to. The preference should undoubtedly be given to alum, and that in -the common and very convenient form of alum whey. (See List of Medicines.) To this the usual quantity of ginger may be added without producing decom- position ; and, if it should be deemed advisable, the opium may be continued." Should this not succeed, or not to the full extent wished, blue vitriol (sulphate of copper) may be substituted ; and to this the opium will be a necessary auxiliary. The dose should be about one drachm of the former and half a drachm of the latter. There is no other mineral astringent or tonic that can be depended on or safely given. Clysters should not be neglected hi this stage of the disease. With the assistance of the injection-pump, they promise to be as efficacious as any medicines that can be administered by the mouth, for they may be brought into immediate contact with the inflamed or ulcerated surface. Gruel may be made with a decoction of poppy- heads, already recommended. To this may succeed an infusion of catechu, decoction of oak-bark, and with or without opium ; and possibly a weak solution of alum or blue vitriol. The practitioner will here, however, proceed with considerable caution. The malady being apparently subdued, there will be need for much caution in the after-treatment of the animal. IJe must not soon return altogether to green meat, and more especially not to luxuriant pasture. The best way to prevent diarrhoea is to continue to give a small quantity of hay for some time after turning to grass, and not to keep him too many hours at a time from water. When coming on, keep the ox as much as possible on hay and bran, and let him have water often in srnalj quantities. For a long period after a severe attack of this complaint, the animal ■ will be subject to occasional diarrhoea, and will require careful man- agement. The best thing. to be done is to get him, as quickly as the state of his constitution will admit, into fair cqndition, and sell him ; but there will be some difficulty in accompjshing this, for abundance even of the most wholesome food will oftet be more than jiis debjh- 348 CATTLE. tated powers of digestion can manage, and hoove, or diarrhoea, or dysentery, will ensue. At the best, he will rarely be got beyond fair condition, and with that the farmer must be content. While there are many cases of permanent recovery from dysentery, there are but few cases in which the patient has afterwards grazed and fatted as well as any other beast. However perfect may seem to be the cure, the animal that has once been a decided shooter should never be bred from. There is a taint about him which will almost certainly be communicated to his stock. Dysentery is not only the" pest of certain districts, and espe- cially of cold and wet ones, but of certain breeds. But there is not the slightest reason for believing that the dysentery of cattle is contagious. As the large intestines are the principal, and, in most cases, the only seat of that inflammation which is characterized 'by the term dysentery, other intestines are occasionally subject to maladies either peculiar to them, or in which the neighboring viscera participate to a greater or less extent. Homoeopathic treatment. — When slight, dysentery resembles severe diarrhoea, and requires the remedies which have been indicated under the head of the latter disease. After some doses of aconitum, arsenicum is to be given, especially when the evacuations are liquid, or of a greenish color. However, mercurius vivus is the chief remedy for this disease, more especially when it occurs under an epidemic form, a thing which is not unusual in spring and at the commencement of summer, when very warm days alternate with cold nights. This remedy is specially indicated when the gums are pale and spongy, the teeth loose, the saliva from the mouth viscid and fetid, when there are frequent efforts to empty the bowels, with a discharge of fetid wind, and scanty dejections mixed with mucus, which presently assume a greenish gray, or a brown tint, or which, accompanied with mucus and blood, pass away in a liquid form after great efforts ; the belly is swollen and painful to the touch, as also the lumbar region ; the rectum projects outside the anus ; it becomes much inflated and extremely sensitive. In calves, diarrhoea, accompanied with emaciation and loss of appetite, very often puts on the dysenteric character ; the animal every moment passes liquid matter of a greenish or yellowish color. In such a case, Pulsatilla is a specific. Benefit has also been obtained from chamomilla, and, when the evacuations were white, from mer- curius vivuq. COLIC. Of this disease there are two varieties. The one fe flatulent PQlio, arising from the distension of certain portions of the intestines, COLIC. 349 occasioned by the food contained in them undergoing a process of fermentation. The pain which the animal evidently suffers, his moan- ings, his striking at his belly -with his hind feet, a swelling on the right side of the belly, the occasional discharge of gas from the mouth and anus, constant restlessness, continual getting up. and lying down again immediately, and all this accompanied by fever, would induce the suspicion that the animal was laboring under flatulent colic. There are various reasons, however, why cattle should seldom be subject to this complaint. By the maceration which the food under- goes in the paunch, and the second mastication to which it is sub- jected in rumination, it is prepared for speedy and perfect digestion. There is neither time nor disposition in the substances contained in the intestinal canal for this process of fermentation to be set up ; and if there were, there are no labyrinthine irregularities to detain the gas, but it would be readily pressed on by the common peristaltic motion of the bowels, and expelled. Spasmodic colic has sometimes been mistaken for that which has been occasioned by the distension of the bowels ; or, more frequenty, inflammation of the outer coat of the intestines has been confounded with flatulent colic. This species of colic will generally be relieved by the administration of almost any aromatic drink ; but the chloride of lime, as in hoove, is most to be depended upon. Two drachms of the chloride dissolved in a quart of warm water, to which an ounce of the tincture of ginger, (or two drachms of the powdered ginger,) and twenty drops of essence of peppermint have been added, will form one of the most effectual colic drinks that can be administered. The choride unites with the extricated hydrogen gas, and causes it, or the greater part of it, to disappear ; while the aromatic stimulates the intestine to contract upon and force forward and expel any small portion that may remain. The beast should be walked about ; exercise alone will sometimes cause the gas to be expelled ; but the owner must not adopt the dangerous expedient of driving or worrying the beast with dogs, otherwise he may produce strangulation, or netting, or rupture of the intestines. Should the first dose, and gentle exercise for a quarter of an hour, not produce relief, a purgative drink should be given, and that of an aloetic nature, as more likely to operate speedily. Take of Barbadoes aloes four ounces, pimento powdered two ounces, and gum Arabic two ounces ; pour on them a quart of boiling water ; stir the mixture ■well, and often ; when it is cold, add half a pint of spirit of wine, and bottle the whole for use : shake the bottle well before the requisite quantity is poured out. Clysters of warm water, or thin gruel, should not be neglected, and with each clyster two ounces of the aloetic tincture should be administered. Friction on the belly and flanks is occasionally useful, and, in obstinate cases, it will be advisa- ble to stimulate the whole of the belly with spirit of turpentine well 350 CATTLE. rubbed in. In very bad cases, but not until other remedies have been applied, it will be useful to bleed. Warm mashes, warm gruel, and good old hay, should constitute the food of the beast for some time afterwards. A more prevalent species of colic, is the spasmodic. It is spasm, or contraction of a portion or portions of the small intestines, and accompanied by more excruciating pain than the former. The ani- mal is exceedingly uneasy, lowing, pawing, striking at his belly with his hind legs or his horns ; continually lying down and getting up, becoming very irritable, and sometimes being dangerous to handle. It is distinguished from flatulent colic by the smaller quantity of gas that is expelled, the comparative absence of tension or enlargement of the belly, the more evident spasms relaxing for a little while, and then returning with increased violence, and the freedom with which the animal moves during the remissions." The feeding on acrid plants, or even on healthy food too great in quantity or too nutritive, the commencement of feeding on grains, ex- posure to cold after work, the drinking of too cold water, and espe- cially after exercise, or of water impregnated with metallic salts, are occasional causes. More dangerous ones are the long continuance of purging, and also th% long continuance of costiveness. The treat- ment will be the same, except that as this proceeds from irritation in the intestinal canal generally, or in particular portions of it, which is apt to run on to inflammation, bleeding will be earlier resorted to ; and the practitioner will not suffer the first symptom of inflamma- tion to appear, without adopting the best method of subduing it. After every case of colic, whether flatulent or spasmodic, the animal will require some attention and nursing, for in both of them the in- testines are considerably weakened and predisposed to a repetition of the attack, and there are few maladies, the habit of the recurrence of which is so soon formed. Homoeopathic treatment. — The curative means are aconiiwm (one or two doses), and then arsenicum (three or four doses). If these remedies diminish the sufferings a little, but the constipation still continues, nuas vomica is given, when the fsecal evacuations are in small hard lumps ; opium, when they are blackish", as if burned, and when it becomes necessary to extract them from the rectum with the hand ; plumbum in the most obstinate cases, where the rectum is empty. We may also try carbo vegetabilis and colocynthis. Consult the articles Diarrhoea and Distension of the Rumen by Gas, for these two symptoms are sometimes associated in colic. STRANGULATION OF THE INTESTINES. Spasmodic colic, if neglected, or bidding defiance to medical treat- ment, occasionally leads to such an entanglement of different parts of THE CORDS, OR GUT-TIE. 351 — — *r the bowels with each other, that they become tied into a kind of knot, and the passage of food along them is obstructed. When the small intestines of cattle are observed hanging loose, as it were, at the end of the mesentery, (see fig. 2, p. 330,) it is not to De wondered at, if, in the disturbed, increased, hurried, and sometimes inverted peristaltic motion which takes place in consequence of colic, one portion of the intestine should be entangled among the rest, and the fatal knot should be tied. Occasionally a small piece of fatty matter disengages itself from the jpesentery and" hangs floating in the belly, and then, either in the changes of. situation which the bowels undergo in natu- ral exercise, or more particularly in the commotion of colic, it en- twines itself round a portion of the intestine, and obstructs the pass- age. These twists, and loops, and knots, are sometimes strangely intricate. When the dead animal lies before the practitioner, it is almost impossible to unravel them. This is the true net or knot, so dreaded in some parts of the country. It is the result of those colicky pains which have been mistaken for strangulation, and which have been increased and hurried on to the production of this involved state by the absurd and brutal measures that* have been adopted. Strangulation having once taken- place, there can be no remedy. All that can be done is to attack every case of colic in good earnest, as soon as it is perceived, for no one can tell how soon the displacement, twist, knot, or whatever it be, will occur in consequence of the per- verted action of the intestiaes, or the violent struggles of the animal, caused by the torture which he endures. THE CORDS, OR GUT-TIE. This is another singular and fatal species of intestinal strangula- tion. It is not of unfrequent occurrence in some districts, and espe- cially in wet and marshy situations : it js peculiar to the ox, and is rarely observed in him after the second or third year. The beast shows disinclination to food — rumination is suspended, or performed in a listless, interrupted manner — the animal appears to be griped — he strikes at his belly with his hind legs — he lies down, and, as he gets up again, bows his back in an extraordinary way, and then, all at once, stretching out every limb, he gives the spinal column a somewhat concave form. Small quantities of fseces are voided, min- gled with mucus, and sometimes with blood ; and if the animal is- examined, by introducing the hand into the rectum, he evidently suffers extreme pain. The ailment is referable to one side more than the other, and. generally to the left side. The hind leg on that side is frequently advanced and then retracted, and, in some cases, becomes partially paralyzed. These symptoms are more and more alarming : if the ox can be 352 CATTLE. induced to eat, the griping pains are immediately increased — the belly swells — the countenance becomes anxious — the ears, the horns, the nose, and the thighs become cold — the pulse is small and accele- rated, and scarcely to\be felt — the breathing is laborious and heard at a distance — the mouth and nostrils are pale. The disease con- tinues during six, seven, or eight days: it yields to no medicine — it is aggravated by most of the measures adopted^it is especially so if the beast is moved about — and at length death terminates the period of suffering. « On examination, strangulation of some part of the intestine is found, and generally of the small intestine. It is tied by a distinct and evident cord — in some cases it is the spermatic cord, which, after castration unskillfully performed, or now and then by mere ac- cident, has been retracted into the belly, and has become enlarged, and has had tumors forming on it, and particularly at its extremity. Oftener it is an adventitious or unnaturally formed membrane, which becomes entangled round the intestine, and assumes the appearance of a cord. The mode of operation, in castrating bullocks, is often very absurd. Some practitioners pride themselves on performing it with scarcely the loss of any blood. They open the scrotum, and lay bare the spermatic cord, and then, by mere dint of pulling and twisting, they tear it out. There is, certainly, no bleeding, and the portion that remains 'immediately retracts into the belly ; but the consequence of all this violence is that inflammation ensues — tumors, false mem- branes are formed, and the foundation is laid for this complaint. Others draw the cord out as far as they can without tearing it, and then cut it off close to the pelvis. There is no external bleeding in this case ; but there is bleeding within the cavity of the belly, and a source of irritation is set up by the presence of this blood, and va- rious abdominal diseases ensue, and, among the rest, the cords, or gut-tie. .j It is not, however, to be uniformly traced to this cause alone. It seems, especially, to prevail in low and damp situations — it has fol- lowed the use of half mouldy and unwhcJesome fodder — it has seemed to be connected with hard work, and that on an irregular or steep surface ; and some have imagined that it is most prevalent where the floor of the ox stables is too much inclined, on account of the great pressure on this part of the abdomen, and especially in the act of rising. It can be readily believed that any source of irritation, whether of the spermatic cord, or of the intestines lying in the neighborhood of it, or of the intestinal canal generally — in fact, that any or all of the sources of common colic may be the predisposing or immediate causes of this species of strangulation. Although it has been stated thai no medicine seems to be of avail, the patient should not be abandoned. There is an operation, THE CORDS, OR GUT-TIE. 353 apparently difficult and dangerous, but really simple, easy to be per- formed, and generally effectual. It will be evident that this operation should be performed, the side line beings used, and the beast remaining standing close to a wall, and fastened to it as well as circumstances will permit. The incision should be made on the left side, and taking, as the centre of it, the spot at which the flank is generally punctured in cases of hoove, and where a small portion of the jejunum, and that which is the most likely Jo be entangled, is protruded over the rumen, and floats by itself at the extremity of the mesentery. It should be a vertical incision, or a little oblique, in a direction from behind for- ward. A small opening should first be made, through the integu- ment and muscle, avoiding, if possible, the peritoneum. Into this the first and second fingers of the left hand should be introduced, and thus, by means of a probe-pointed bistoury, guarded and guided by these fingers, the wound may be enlarged so as to permit the introduction of the hand of the operator. There will probably be a considerable gush of blood when the external oblique is first divided, but that will speedily cease by the retraction of the artery. The peritoneum should next be divided, if it has not been so already, and the hand of the surgeon, the arm having been bared and well oiled, should be introduced into the wound ; the epiploon or cawl gently torn ; and the hand passed among the intestines in a direction upward and backward, or a little behind the kidneys. The operator will soon feel the strangulated part, and the cord by which ilrts suspended or tied, and usually attached to some part of the pelvis. Having satisfied himself with regard to the situation of the cord, he will withdraw his hand, and, taking another shorter and more curved and probe-pointed bistoury, and having it in the hollow of his hand, and guarding the cutting edge with Iris finger and thumb, he will introduce it into the abdomen, find out the cord again, and cautiously divide it. The hand will once more be removed, in order to get rid of the bistoury, and then re-introduced to ascertain whether the whole of the strangulated part has been liberated, which is easily effected by tracing all the neighboring circumvolutions and passing them through the hand. The operator being satisfied as to the state of the bowels, brings the edges of the wound together, and confines them by a sufficient number of stitches, including the peritoneum, muscle, and integu- ment, in the same stitch. A pledget of tow is placed over the wound, and a broad bandage passed tightly several times round the belly, which must not be removed during the first six or eight days. The majority of cattle thus operated upon are saved, and the wound is usually healed in somewhat less than a month. It may, however, be supposed that after the extensive opening into the abdo- minal cavity, and this laceration of the cawl, and groping and cutting 354 CATTLE. among the intestines, some alarming symptoms will occasionally supervene. The belly will swell, and sometimes to a considerable extent. Fomentations and, if necessary, scarifications may be resorted to. There may be manifest symptoms of fever, as shiverings, heav- ing at the flanks, and cessation of rumination. Blood should then be abstracted, according to the state of the patient ; half-pound doses of Epsom salts should be given morning and night, until the bowels are moderately opened, and the beast should have little be- sides mashes and gruel, and should be kept as quiet as possible. INTROSU8CEPTION OF THE BOWELS. This is another fatal consequence of colic. While certain portions of the ileum or jejunum generally, but occasionally of the larger bowels, are distended by gas, other parts are spasmodically contracted, and then, by the increased peristaltic motion which is going on, the collapsed part of the superior or anterior intestine slides, or is forced down, into the distended part behind ; or, by that inverted action which takes place in the intestine commotion of colic, a contracted portion of the bowel slides or is forced into the distended part before, and thus one intestine is strangely contained -within another, and that occasionally reaching to a considerable extent. The mesentery is usually torn in this unnatural procedure, for otherwise that too must be taken up or carried down into the distended intestine above or below. It will be easily conceived that this will inflict great torture on the beast, and an examination after death will sufficiently prove the«in- tensity of the suffering ; for there will be much inflammation, and generally gangrene of the involved part ; and sometimes of both por- tions of the intestine. The symptoms by which the practitioner may be induced to suspect, or may know, that colic has run on to intro- susception, are not yet determined. Increase of pain, attended by obstinate constipation, rapid prostration of strength, and compara- tively little fever, may be obscure indications. It is evident that this case must be beyond the reach of medical skill. INVERSION OF THE RECTUM. It has occasionally happened in thestraining of diarrhoea, and in the still more violent efforts with which the faeces are expelled in dysentery, that a portion of the rectum is protruded from the anus ; the sphincter muscle of the anus then contracts violently upon it, and no effort of the animal can draw it back, nor will it readily yield to any external force employed. The blood is necessarily congested in the protruded intestine, from the situation of the part ; the gut is intensely red, and it gradually becomes livid, black, gangrenous. The animal all the while is making frequent and violent efforts, during which small quantities of excrement, or mucus, or blood, or gas, are constipation: sm extricated ; the protvusion of the gut increases ; irritative fever en- sues ; and death speedily follows. In order to allay irritation, and in some measure lessen these efforts by which more of the intestine is expelled or its return prevented, a pint of castor oil with two drachms of opium should be adminis- tered, and a quantity of blood, varying with the size and condition of the animal, abstracted. The protruded part should be thoroughly cleaned, and diligently fomented, during the space of an hour, with a decoction of poppy-heads, lukewarm. Gentle, but long-continued efforts should then be made to return the intestine, which will be accomplished much oftener than would be imagined if the operator will have patience enough. The gut having been returned, cold water should be applied around the anus, and for a considerable time, in order that the sphincter muscle may more powerfully close, and confine the intestine in its proper situation. It may, however, again protrude, but it should be immediately returned, and care having been taken to allay the irritation of the bowels and of the system generally, the straining will gradually cease, and the intestine will no longer be forced out. If the protrusion -continues in despite of every effort, and the part begins to swell, and to become black, and fetid, and mortified, and the pulse is small, and the mouth hot, and the ears cold, and the muzzle dry, and~the eyes red, and the appetite and rumination are suspended, and the animal is rapidly becoming weak, the practitioner must have recourse to a bold and dangerous operation, but which will succeed much oftener than it will fail : he must cut off the pro- truded intestine close to the anus. There will probably be considera- ble haemorrhage, but lie must not be alarmed at that ; it will be bene- ficial rather than injurious ; it will prevent or abate inflammation, and it will cease long before the strength of the patient is exhausted. The little portion of intestine half protruded at the anus will gradu- ally return ; the sphincter muscle will contract ; union of the divided portions of the intestine will take place, and the animal will perfectly recover. Homoeopathic treatment. — After having reduced the intestine, pre- viously oiling it, we should prescribe internally belladonna and mer- curius vivus, if symptoms of inflammation be observed. When the accident has been caused by the effects occasioned by constipation, this is_ a case for recurring to murias magnesias, just as urgilla is suitable when diarrhoea is the cause of the accident. Arsenicum also is a very effectual means in the latter case. CONSTIPATION. The immediate cause of many of these affections of the bowels is constipation. The beast is sapped or bound. This constipation is 356 CATTLE. often exceedingly difficult to remove, not, perhaps, from any want of power in the intestinal canal to be acted upon by purgative medi- cines, but from the impossibility of getting any considerable propor- tion of the purgative into contact with the internal surface of the bowels. It has already been observed that in a state of health much of the fluid swallowed by cattle enters into the rumen, and is detained there for the purpose of macerating the food and preparing it for rumination ; and we have proof, and that sufficiently annoying, that in some circumstances of disease, all the fluid swallowed goes into the rumen, and is lost so far as the purpose for which it was ad- ministered is concerned. It has not unfrequently happened that six, seven, and eight days have passed, and the bowels have remained in a constipated state. This must of necessity aggravate the symptoms of many diseases, and lay the foundation for others. When the state of the animal indicates the administration of the Epsom salts, they should be accompanied by the usual quantity of some aromatic, (half an ounce of ginger,) and be given in as gentle a way as possible. There can scarcely be a better way than suffering it to run from a long narrow-necked bottle introduced into the mouth. Should not this operate at the expected time, a second dose should be given, and, probably, with the same quantity of the aromatic ; cer- tainly so if little fever be present. If this, however, should have no effect, it is very probable that from some sympathetic influence ex- tending over the whole of the digestive organs, the roof of the rumen is open, or the pillars of which that roof is composed are in a relaxed state, and yield even to the pressure of a fluid gently poured down the gullet. Then the next dose (for the purgative must be continued until it does operate, and the nature of that purgative, and the knowledge of the manner in which the quantity already given has been disposed of, remove all fear of inflammation or superpurgation being produced) must have an increased proportion of aromatic, in- creased in defiance of existing fever, and increased to the full extent to which the practitioner dares to go. Probably, a cordial-drink (an ounce of ginger and the same quantity of carraway powder) would be given with advantage ; for the rumen might be roused to its natural action by the stimulus, and the pillars of its roof might be closed, and the next dose might run on through the manyplus into the abomasum. The rumen may possibly be roused to act in another way ; a portion of the fluid that it contains may be injected into the cesophagean canal by a process somewhat resembling that by which the pellet of food is thrown there for remastication ; and the muscles of that canal, . and of the base of the gullet, not being able to grasp it because it is a fluid, it will necessarily pass on through the manyplus into the fourth stomach and intestines. It is by some mechanism of one of these kinds that purging is at length established after obstinate cases of constipation ; or, when the WORMS. SOT animal dies and almost all the purgative medicine that has been given is found in the rumen, it is because that stomach has not been suffi- ciently stimulated. There is something in the structure of cattle which renders certain medical rules and principles altogether inap- plicable, and which, in defiance of all fever, occasionally compels us to mingle strange doses of aromatics and stimulants with the very means by which we are endeavoring to subdue inflammation. This is a very important consideration in the treatment of disease. Homoeopathic treatment. — The more or less inflammatory state which generally accompanies it, requires that we commence the treatment with a* dose of aconitum. The most eifectual means then is nux vomica ; it is indicated chiefly, when the evacuations from the bowels are scanty, hard, covered with mucus, and when the animal frequently draws up the belly. If there be no thirst, we should have recourse to china and bryonia. The latter remedy is also suita- ble when the constipation has been produced by cold, a circumstance in which it frequently alternates with diarrhoea. Opium and argila must be employed when the inactive state of the intestinal tube allows nothing to escape from the body, and the animal remains lying down, though evincing no pain. In very obstinate constipation, where the rectum is empty, and also where only a small quantity of matter escapes, which is not very hard, plumbum never fails to be effectual. CALCULI. It has been stated (pp. 299 and 300) that various concretions are found in the rumen of cattle. It is the natural situation for them, for there the food is longest detained, and there they have time to form. A few, but much smaller, calculi are occasionally found in the reticulum ; others, composed of thin and friable concentric layers, occupy, yet comparatively rarely, the large intestines of cattle ; but they also are not of great size, for the food passes too rapidly over the smooth surface, of these portions of the digestive canal. There are no symptoms by which their presence can be recognized, nor is there any evidence cf their being the cause of disease, although it is not improbable that the presence and pressure of these bodies, and the irritation produced by them, may in some instances be the cause of colic, strangulation, and other serious affections. These occasionally are found in the intestines of cattle, but in no great quantities ; nor are there any authenticated accounts of their being the cause of irritation or disease. The food is so perfectly prepared for digestion, and that process is so rapidly accomplished, and the nutriment is so completely extracted, that there is little left for the support of wortas ; nar, if they are received into the intes- CATTLE. tines in the state of ova, or eggs, would they be likely to escape the processes of digestion which take place in cattle. The Amphistoma conicum, a worm with a, mouth, or the appear- ance of one, at each end,* and often found plentifully in the intestines of birds, frequently inhabits the rumen and reticulum of cattle. It is here of considerably larger size, and swells into a somewhat coni- cal form. The Taenia denticulate, the denticulated tape-worm, small in size, and the neck becoming fine, and sometimes almost thread-like, is found in the fourth stomach and in the small intestines. The Lumbricus teres, the common intestinal round worm, lives in the small intestines. A small species of the Strongylus is a frequent companion of the last; and another small long worm, the Tricocephalus affinis, with its minute head attached to its lengthened and thread-like neck, has been discovered in the caecum. The presence of these worms is rarely taken into account by the practitioner, and few means are taken for their expulsion. Mention has already been made of the hydatid ( Ooenurus cere- bralis) inhabiting the brain ; and others ( Cysticerci tenuicolles) found in the liver, the lungs, the spleen, aDd in the peritoneum and the pleura ; the Strongylus filaris, occupying the bronchial tubes of cattle, •md the Distoma hepaticum, the fluke worm, swimming in the biliary ducts. Homoeopathic treatment. — The chief remedy is china, in multiplied doses, and then sulphur ; if there be a dislike for food, antimonium crudum should be given. This is an accumulation of fluid in the cavity of the belly. The whole of that cavity is lined with,, and every viscus which it contains is covered by, a polished glistening membrane, so that the contents of the abdomen may glide over and move easily among each other, and the injurious effects of friction be as much as possible avoided. In a state of health there are certain vessels which continually secrete or pour out the fluid that is requisite for this purpose, and which are called exhaleni vessels ; and there are others that take this fluid up and carry it into the circulation when it has discharged its duty, or when it is secreted in undue quantities, and which are denominated absorbent vessels. Dropsy, then, is the consequence of the pouring out of an undue quantity of fluid, and" faster than the absorbents can carry it away ; or it is the pouring out of the natural quantity while the absorbents are paralyzed, or do not do their duty in removing it ; and in either way it accumulates in the abdomen. I* is easy, there- fore, to suppose, that when the lining membrane generally, or a por- DROPSY. 359 tion of it, is inflamed, and a greater quantity of blood than usual is determined to that part, the secretion from the exhalent vessels will be increased ; and in consequence of this there will be accumulation of fluid in the bag of the heart/ when that organ, or its investing membrane, is inflamed ; dropsy in the chest will be the consequence of pleurisy, and dropsy of the abdomen that of inflammation of the peritoneal membrane generally, or of any part of it. Chronic inflam- mation of the liver or spleen, or of any particular portion of the intes- tinal canal, will have the same termination from increased action of the exhalents ; a similar effect will occasionally be produced by the sudden stopping of any long-continued evacuation, or acute or chronic eruption ; and on the other hand, feeding in low, marshy situations, the privation of wholesome aliment, and every cause of general debility, will produce an accumulation of fluid from loss of power in the absorbents. Of acute dropsy the practitioner has occasional examples. A beast, apparently well_ on the preceding day, suddenly exhibits manifest symptoms of inflammation of the bowels. The disease proceeds in defiance of all medical treatment, and in two or three days the patient is lost. On examination after death, the traces of inflammation of the peritoneum are sufficiently evident ; there is deposition of flocculent matter ; there are adhesions, but, most impor- tant of all, the belly is filled with clear, or turbid, or bloody fluid, and the death of the animal was as much occasioned by the irritation produced by the pressure of this fluid, and the labor of breathing which it occasioned, as by the previous or still- existing inflammation. Of chronic dropsy, or a slower filling of the belly, he has more frequent proof. The beast increases slowly in size ; it is an enlarge- ment, not of the left side as in hoove, or of the right as in flatulent colic, but of the belly generally, and sometimes almost as slow as in the increase of condition. It evidently is not that, for the limbs are wasting, or if they occasionally increase in size, it is a puffy cedema- tous enlargement, and not the accumulation of flesh and fat. The animal at the same time is dull ; disinclined to move ; the skin is dry ; the coat is rough ; the thirst is excessive ; there is alternate constipation and diarrhoea ; the membranes of the mouth and nose are pale, and the conjunctiva is of "a feint yellow. By degrees the belly drops, and leaves a considerable hollow at the flanks, and by tapping on the sides the evident fluctuation of water can be perceived. The pressure of the fluid on the diaphragm lessens the cavity of the chest, and does not leave sufficient room for the lungs to expand ; labor of breathing ensues — it increases ; the animal is not able to stand long, and when he lies down the respiration is so difficult, and the feeling of suffocation is so strong, that he scrambles up again as quickly as his remaining strength will permit, and at length dies, either of abso- lute suffocation or mere debility. CATTLE. . The chance of success in the treatment of such a disease must be little. The first object is to relieve the sad oppression under which the animal labors, and that must be effected by puncturing the belly, and suffering the fluid to escape. There is neither art nor danger about the operation. The beast should be tied up close, and a side line put on ; a puncture should be made with a lancet or trochar under the belly, six or eight inches from the udder, and half as much from the middle line of the belly, and on the right side — the milk vein and the artery which accompanies it being carefully avoided. The opening should not be larger than would admit the little finger ; and if it be made with the trochar, the tube may be left in the wound until the fluid has quite run out. The wound being thus small, there is no need for the often fruitless i care to close it again with adhesive plaster when the purpose for which it was made has been effected. There will not only be no danger, but manifest advantage, in a small drain of this kind being left open ; for the fluid which may continue to be secreted will drib- ble away during two or three days, and thus permit the peritoneal membrane and the abdominal viscera (freed from the oppression around them) to recover their healthy tone ; whereas, if the wound be immediately closed, the fluid of dropsy will begin at once to accumulate again, and there will be far less chance of effecting per- manent benefit. The quantity of fluid that is sometimes got rid of by means of this operation is very great. It is by no means uncom- mon for twenty gallons to escape, and there are records of thirty-two gallons having been drawn at once. There is little chance of perma- nent cure in cases like these, for there must have been great disease and disorganization in order to produce effusion to this' extent, and that disease must have been of long standing, and therefore not easy to be removed. In addition to this, all the viscera of the abdomen must have been debilitated, and have lost their natural tone and function by the continued pressure and maceration. Still a cure is worth attempting, for the practitioner has done little by the mere temporary relief which the operation has afforded. In order to prevent the refilling of the belly, two objects must be accomplished, namely, the determination of this fluid to some other part where it shall be regularly discharged, and the restoration of the general health of the animal, and, with this, the proper balance between the exhalent and absorbent vessels. It is therefore usual to give a dose of physic immediately after the operation, that the fluid which might otherwise begin again to fill in the belly may be carried off by the discharge thus established ; the physic is repeated as fre- quently as the strength of the animal will • permit. This is a way of proceeding, however, not very favorable to the re-establishment of health and strength, and therefore much greater reliance is placed on a course of diiretic medicine, with which tonics can be com- HEitNIA, OR RUPTURE. 361 bined ; purgative medicine being still occasionally given. Half an ounce of nitre, with a quarter of an ounce each of tartrate of iron, commom liquid turpentine, gentian, and ginger, may be given daily with great advantage. Bran and malt mashes will be useful at first, and when the beast goes again to grass, care should be taken that the pasture is good, but not too luxuriant or rank. In general, some weakness and disinclination to food will remain two or three days after the operation, attended at first by considerable heaving, and apparent distress, for it is a great change from the tumid and over- loaded belly to the perfectly free and natural state of its contents, and which do not at once accommodate themselves to that change. The belly so frequently fills again after the lapse of two or three weeks, that it will be prudent to part with a eow that has been drop- sical as soon as she can be got into tolerable condition. The exhibi- tion of diuretic and tonic medicines will, perhaps, stave off the return of the disease until this can be accomplished ; but the organs of digestion have been so debilitated, and these exhalent and absorbent vessels have been so habituated to an unnatural action, that a perfect and permanent restoration to health can seldom be expected. A second operation may be attempted if the belly has filled again, but the chances of success are then most materially diminished. There is scarcely a book on cattle medicine in which, if this disease be mentioned at all, there is not strict caution that the beast should not have too much water. This is altogether erroneous. The object to be accomplished is to restore the animal as nearly as possible to a state of health; and this can never be effected* by curtailing the proportion of fluid that is necessary for the maceration and digestion of the food, and the supply of all the secretions. A state of unna- tural thirst and fever would, on the contrary, be induced, which would weaken the animal, and dispose it for a recurrence of the disease. HomcBopaihic treatment. — The remedies employed in this affection, and in the order in which they are here enumerated, are dulcamara, digitalis, helleborus niger, arsenicum, and china ; to each some days should be allowed, in order to expend their action. It is on the china principally that reliance should be placed. _ In one case, where all means failed, benefit was derived from lycopodium, whose action may be said to be very powerful in internal dropsies. Ascites complicated with anasarca ha.s been cured solely by alternate doses of china and arsenicum, a mode of proceeding which experience war- rants recommending. HERNIA, OR RUPTURE. A portion of the intestine occasionally protrudes through the walls of the abdomen. This may be the consequence of external violence, 16 362 CATTLE. the beast having been gored by one of its companions. The external wound may probably be small, or, m some oases, the skin may not be broken at all, but the internal wall of the belly is injured, and par- tially or entirely ruptured. In consequence of this, a tumor soon appears, varying in size according to the extent of the injury. It is a portion of the intestine that is protruding. The enlargement is tender when pressed upon, but it does not seem to interfere with the health of the animal, and a fortnight or three weeks elapse before any serious consequence is observed ; at length the tumor begins to increase very rapidly ; the animal expresses considerable pain on being moved, and is only comparatively easy when lying down, and even then it moans occasionally ; the breathing is quickened ; the countenance is anxious ; the pulse is quick and small ; rumination has stopped, and the usual evacuation of faeces is diminished. It is plainly a protrusion of the bowels, and now attended with some degree of strangulation, or pressure of the edges of the wound upon them, and thus obstructing the passage of their contents. The tumor is generally soft and yielding, and, on pressure, a gurgling noise is heard within it. On inspection of the cut, p. 330, and observation of the loose manner in which the small intestines are attached to the edge of the mesentery, it will be easy to account for the occasional enormous size of the tumor, and the quantity of intestine which is protruded. It is rarely possible, by any manipulation (taxis), to return the bowel ; - and if it could ' be returned, it would immediately escape again. It is therefore loss of time to endeavor thus to treat the case.. It would be worse than loss of time, for considerable inflammation may be set up by a long^continued and rough handling of the part. The beast must be thrown and held on his back, with the hind parts somewhat elevated. An incision must be made through the skin, corresponding with the length of the tumor, especial care being taken that the protruded intestine, which will be found immediately underneath, be not wounded. Then, if there be any strangulation of the intestine, whi6h in most cases there will be, the first and second fingers of the left hand must be introduced between the bowel and the edge of the wound ; a crooked knife (a bistoury) must next be passed cautiously between the fingers, and the wound enlarged suffi- ciently to enable the protruded mass to be returned. The bowel having been thus replaced in its natural cavity, the edges of the wound through the walls of the belly must be brought together and retained with stitches ; the skin, if necessary, being dissected back a little, in order to get at the whole of the wound. Stitches must then be passed through -the skin, the divided edges of which should be brought together in the same manner. In a few cases it will be practicable, and always advisable when practicable, to include the skin and the muscular wall of the belly in the same stitch. A pled- HERNIA, OR R'.rPTURE. 363 .iget of fine tow must be placed over the incision, and upon that an- other pledget, smeared with simple ointment. This must be confined by a bandage fire or six inches wider than the wound, and which must be passed twice or thrice round the body, firmly sewed, and, if possible, not removed for ten days. At the expiration of that period, the edges will be found to have adhered along the greater part of the incision, the stiteihes may be withdrawn, and what remains unhealed may be treated as a common wound. Should much cedematous swelling appear on either side of the bandage, the parts should be well fomented with warm water, or, if requisite, lightly scarified. The beast should be kept on rather short allowance, the food consist- ing chiefly of mashes, with a little hay or green meat ; and a dose or two of physic should be given during the progress of the cure. If the horn should have broken the skin, as well as lacerated the muscular part beneath, and the intestine protrudes, it must be cleared from any dirt or extraneous matter about it, then carefully returned, and the wound closed and the bandage applied as already directed. / The author has not only seen a considerable portion of bowel pro- truding, .but the bowel itself torn. Even then he 'has not despaired, for the healing power in these animals is such as the human surgeon would scarcely deem possible. The rent of the intestine may be closed by a stitch or two, with well-founded hope of. the edges uniting, and the intestinal canal becoming perfect and whole. Calves are occasionally dropped with raptures. They principally occur along the middle line of the belly, and not far from the navel". It is usually a protrusion of a portion of the omentum or caul ; but in a few instances one or two small convolutions of the intestines have been involved. The principal danger is, that the rumen, when unnaturally distended by food or gas, may press upon and injure the portion of caul or intestine immediately, within the abdomen, and turning over the edge of the opening. Any serious operation with a view to the reduction of the rupture would scarcely be "advisable, but it would be prudent to fatten and dispose of the animal as soon as convenient. _ . But calves are sometimes born with rupture in the groin. The opening through which the testicle afterward descends into the bag is lax, and yields to slight pressure, and in the motions of the foetus in the womb, a small convolution of the intestine slips down. This sometimes continues of nearly its original size for several months ; in some cases it is gradually retracted, and disappears ; in™ others, it increases in volume with greater or less rapidity. A remedy is often to be found for this as soon as the testicles descend into the bag; and at which time, if the hernia will ever be serious, it begins to increase, or to be strangulated— the beast should be castrated. After the animal is thrown and properly confined, the protruded 864 CATTLE. intestine should be gently and carefully pushed up through the ring or opening, the testicles being somewhat drawn cut, in order to ren- der this more practicable. Continued and gentle pressure applied on the sides of the tumor will more facilitate this than the applica- tion of the greatest force. The intestine baying been returned, the finger of an assistant is placed at the opening, and the operator pro- ceeds to cut into the scrotum as quickly as he can, and to denude the testicle, to apply the ordinary clamps, and to divide the cord below the clamps. The clamps will form a temporary and effect- ual support ; and by the following day, when it is usual to remove the clamps, a degree of inflammation and engorgement of the parts will have been set up, that will either obliterate the ring, or so far contract it, that it will be impossible for the gut afterwards to de- scend. There is one circumstance to which the practitioner should most carefully attend. The protruded intestine always carries with it a portion of peritoneum — it is contained in a bag formed by the in- vesting membrane of the bowels. The whole of this bag may not have been returned when the intestine is pushed up : the operator must ascertain this, and by no means open any part of the peritoneal covering that may remain. Castration will usually remove this hernia and all its unpleasant or dangerous consequences, and the beast will be as valuable for grazing and for working as if nothing had occurred. In a few cases, however, the hernia will be strangulated. So great a portion of intestine, or of faecal matter in that intestine, will have descended, that the operator cannot return it through the ab- dominal ring. Even the somewhat desperate expedient of intro- ducing the hand into the rectum; and endeavoring to find out the portion of intestine connected with that which has descended, and forcibly retract it, may fail : a different kind of operation must then be attempted, and which a skillful veterinarian alone can perform. A species of rupture, very difficult to be treated, has occurred to cows in an advanced period of pregnancy. An excessive accumula- tion of fluid has taken place in the womb, or calf-bed, and the ten- dinous expansion of the muscles which support the lower part of the belly has given way. The farmer says, that " the rim of the cow's belly is ruptured." A portion of the womb escapes through the opening, and descends into the groin, or seems to occupy the udder, and even the head of a calf has been forced down into the groin. There is one more species of rupture to which cattle are subject, and the existence of which cannot always be ascertained during life, namely, that of the diaphragm, or midriff. In distension of the rumen there is always great pressure against the midriff. This is increased when severe colicky pains come on, and especially when improper means have been resorted to, such as strong stimulating HERJN1A, OR RUPTURE. SC5 drinks, or rude exercise, or when the animal, in a state of half-uncon- sciousness, has violently beaten himself about. The midriff has then given way, and a portion of. the intestine, or of one of the stomachs, or of the omentum or caul, or of the liver, has been forced into the cavity of the chest. This may be suspected when, after the usual symptoms of hoove or colic, great difficulty of breathing suddenly comes on, and is evidently attended by excessive pain — when the animal is every moment looking at her side, and especially at. the left side — when she shrinks, and bows herself up as if the muscles of the belly were violently cramped — and when she stiffens all over, and then suddely falls and dies in convulsions. Examination after death has sometimes. displayed chronic rupture of this kind. The attack has been as sudden, but the' colicky pains have not been so violent ; they have intermitted — disappeared ; but an habitual difficulty of breathing has been left behind — disinclina- tion to rapid motion — fright when suddenly moved — anxiety of countenance — perhaps impairment of condition — and certainly im- possibility of acquiring any considerable degree of condition. This has continued during several months, until the animal has been de- stroyed, or has died from some cause unconnected with these symp- toms ; and then an old rupture of the diaphragm has been discov- ered, the edges of which had been completely healed, and the second stomach, or the liver, had been firmly placed against the opening, and had occupied it, and in a slight degree projected into the thorax. No medical treatment or operation could be of the slightest service in this case. Homceopathic treatment. — In connection with the surgical means, arnica is to be administered very often, externally and internally. The animal must be kept quiet, and all flatulent food carefully avoided. If inflammation take place, aconitum should be given repeatedly. Sulphuric acid, diluted, may be used externallv CHAPTER XIV. THE URINARY ORGANS AND THEIR DISEASES. THE KIDNEYS. The blood contains much watery fluid, which, after it has answered certain purposes connected with -digestion, or the various secretions, is separated and carried out of the frame. The kidneys are the main instruments by which this is effected ; and they are often called into increased action in order to compensate for the deficiencies of other parts. When the usual discharge of perspiration from the skin is suspended, the kidney takes on increased activity ; and when fluids are accumulating in the frame generally, or in particular parts, they escape by means, of these organs. Also other substances, the accumulation or the continuance of which in the frame would be injurious, are got rid of by means of the kidneys. The essential principle of the urine (the urea) is one that would be noxious, or perhaps destructive. The kidneys are two glandular substances, attached on either side to the spine beneath the muscles of the loins. They are not, however, exactly opposite to each other, but the left kidney is pushed somewhat backward by the great development of the rumen. A very large artery runs to each. The quantity of blood which that vessel carries shows the importance of the kidneys, and well accounts for the inflammation and other diseases to which they are occasion- ally subject. These arteries divide into innumerable little branches, coiled upon and communicating with each other in a singular manner ; and the blood, traversing all these convolutions, has its watery and noxious ingredients separated in the form of urine, which is carried on to the bladder, while the portion that remains is returned to the circulation by means of the veins, which bear a proportionate size to that of the arteries. As the process of digestion is so perfectly performed in cattle, and all the nutritive, and some, perhaps, of the noxious matter which the food contains, taken up and received into the 'circulation, the kidneys have much to do in order to complete this process of separa- tion ;^they are therefore large ; are complicated in their appearance; they present an assemblage of different lobes" or lobules, separated by deep scissures ; there are ample provisions made for their secu- RED-WATER. 3CT rity — they are deeply embedded in a covering of fat, and there is another accumulation of fat surrounding and_defending the differ- ent vessels that are received or given off. The bulk of the rumen, and the danger of occasional pressure from it, may in some degree account for these provisions of safety ; but a more satisfac- tory reason is to be found in the greater extent and importance of the function which these organs in cattle have to discharge. RED-WATER. The disease termed red-water, from the color of the urine, is one of the most frequent and untractable maladies of cattle. It may be conveniently divided into acute and chronic ; in fact, two diseases essentially different in their symptoms, demanding different treat- ment, and referable to different organs, have been confounded under this name. A cow, in somewhat to> high condition, and in whom the prudent precautions of bleeding or physicking had been omitted; frequently, a week or two before the time of calving, suddenly exhibits symp- toms of fever ; she heaves at the flank ; she ceases to ruminate, and evidently suffers much pain ; her back is bowed ; she is straining in order to evacuate her urine, and that is small in quantity, expelled with force, highly tinged with blood. At other times, a few days after calving, when she had not cleansed well, or was in too good condition, and had not had that dose of purgative medicine which should always follow parturition, she suddenly manifests the same symptoms of illness, speedily suc- ceeded by a similar discharge of bloody urine. The nature and cause of the disease are here evident enough. During the period of pregnancy there had, been considerable deter- mination of blood to the womb. A degree of susceptibility, a ten- dency to inflammatory action, had been set up ; and this had been increased as the period of parturition had approached, and was ag- gravated by the state and general fulness of blood to which she had incautiously been raised. ' The neighboring organs necessarily par- ticipated in this, and the kidneys, to which so much blood is sent for the proper discharge \i their function, either quickly shared in the inflammation of the womb, or first took on inflammation, and suffered most by means of it. An overdriven bullock is seized with acute inflammation of the kidneys ; another that has been shifted from poor to luxuriant pas- ture is soon observed to have red-water. There are some seasons when it is ja a manner epidemic, when a great proportion of the beasts in a certain district are attacked by it, and many of them die. Atmospheric influence has not been taken sufficiently into the ac- count in the consideration of this and almost every other disease. It is seldom that one dairy is attacked by red-water, without many or 368 CATTLE. most of the neighboring ones being annoyed by it, and especially if the soil and the productions of the soil are similar ; and even cattle in the straw-yard have not then quite escaped. It is more prevalent in the spring and autumn than in the -winter, and more in the winter than in the summer : it is particularly prevalent when, in either the spring or the fall of the year, warm days succeed to cold nights and a heavy dew. It is peculiar to certain pastures : the farmer scarcely dares to turn even the cattle of the country upon some of them ; and a beast brought from a distant farm or market is sure to be attacked. It oftenest occurs in woody districts, and particularly in low marshy lands ; but in them there are exceptions, which, in the present state of the botanical knowledge of the farmer and the veterinarian, cannot be satisfactorily accounted for, A wall or a hedge may divide a perfectly safe pasture from another which gives the red-water to every beast that is turned upon it. One farmer scarcely knows what the disease is except by name, while on the grounds of his neighbor it destroys many a beast every year. The same pasture is safe at one time of the year and dangerous and destructive at another. The fields surrounded by copses may be stocked with impunity, or advan- tage, in summer or winter ; but the farmer must beware of them when the buds are shooting or the leaves are falling. The result of general experience is, that it has more to do with the nature of the food than with any other cause ; and the. produc- tion or the unusual growth of the astringent and acrimonious plants may have considerable influence here. The malady may with more probability be traced to the quality of the general produce of the soil, than to the prevalence of certain plants of known acrimonious or poisonous properties. This noxious quality may be communicated by excess or depriva- tion of moisture. There is no farmer who is not aware of the injuri- ous effect of the coarse rank herbage of low, and marshy, and woody countries, and he regards such districts as the chosen residence of red-water. The farmer must carefully observe the effect of the different parts of his farm in the production of this disease ; and observation and thought may suggest to him that alteration of draining or manuring, or other management, which may to a considerable degree remedy the evil. Acute Red-water is ushered in by a discharge of bloody urine, and is generally preceded by dysentery, suddenly changing to obstinate costiveness ; and as soon as the costiveness is established the red-water appears. There is laborious breathing, coldness of the»extrernities, ears and horns, heat of the mouth, tenderness of the loins, and every indication of fever : it often runs its course with fearful rapidity, and the animal is sometimes destroyed in a very few days. When th.? carcass is examined,' there is generally found some in- RED-WATER. 369 flammation of the kidney, enlargement of it, turgescence of its vessels, yet very rarely any considerable disorganization,- and certainly not so much affection of it as would be expected ; but in cows the uterus exhibits much greater inflammation ; there is often ulceration, the formation of fetid pus, and occasionally gangrene ; there is also peritoneal inflammation, extensive, intense, with adhesions and effu- sions, while the lining membrane of the bowels rarely escapes in- flammation and ulceration. There can be little doubt about the treatment of such a disease. There- has either been an undue quantity of blood determined to the kidneys, with much local inflammation, and before the pressure of which the vessels of that organ have given way, or so much blood has been always traversing the kidney, that there is a facility in set- ting up imflammation there. Bleeding will be the first step indica- ted. The first bleeding should be a copious one ; but the repetition of it will depend upon circumstances. The haemorrhage, or bleed- ing, is clearly active. It is produced by some irritation of the part : its color shows that it proceeds from the minute arterial or capillary vessels. When Moody urine flows from the kidney, that organ is giving way under an increased discharge of its natural function, and that function is increased in order to compensate for the suspended one of another part, namely, the natural action of the bowels. Three objects will be accomplished by venesection : the first, a diminution of the general quantity of blood ; the second — a consequence of the first — the removal of congestion in the part ; and the third is the giving a different direction to the current of blood. Purgatives should follow, with a view more quickly and effectually to accomplish all these objects ; and from the recollection of a cir- cumstance most important to the practitioner, that red- water closely followed the establishment of constipation. A pound of Epsom salts should be immediately exhibited, and half-pound doses every eight hours afterwards, until the bowels are thoroughly acted upon. There is too frequently great difficulty in purging cattle when laboring under red-water : dose after dose may be administered for three or four days, and yet the bowels wilL remain obstinately con- stipated. Either there is a strange indisposition in them to be acted upon, or, the rumen sympathizing with the derangement of other organs, the muscular pillars of its roof yield to the weight of the fluid, whether hastily or cautiously administered, and the medicine enters that stomach, and is retained there until the beast is lost. The physic must be repeated again and again ; it must gently trickle down the gullet, so that it ahall fall on the roof of the paunch with as little force as possible ; and after the second day, in spite of the fever, unusual doses of aromatics must mingle with it, that the rumen, or the intestines, or both, may be stimulated to action. In the ma- jority of cases, and especially before the strength of the animal 'be- 16* 370 CATTLE. comes exhausted, the commencement of purging will be the signal of recovery. It, nevertheless, too often happens, that the constipated state of the . bowels cannot be overcome, but the animal becomes rapidly weaker, while the blood assumes a darker; and sometimes a purple or even a black color. The danger is now increased, and probably death is not far distant. In many cases, however, the beast not be- ing too much exhausted, the dark and coffee-colored urine is a favor- able symptom, especially if it be discharged in evidently larger quan- tities, and not so frequently. The appearance of the darker fluid, and even the continuance of the florid red urine, when the fever has subsided to a considerable degree, will indicate a different mode of treatment. The haemorrhage will have become passive. The blood will flow because the vessels have lost their power of contracting on theircontents. It has then been usual to give astringents ; but this is dangerous practice, for the constipation, which is the worst symptom of the disease, and which immediately preceded the red-water, and was, probably, the exciting cause of it, may be confirmed or recalled. Stimulants, and those which act upon the kidney, will be most likely to have beneficial effect. The common turpentine, the balsam of copaiba, or even spirits of turpentine, especially if it be guarded by the addition of a few drachms of laudanum, may be given with advantage. The weakened vessels of the kidney may occasionally be roused to close on their contents, and the haemorrhage may be arrested. Chronic red-water is more prevalent than that which is acute, and, in its first stage, is far more a disease of the digestive organs, and especially of the liver, than of the kidney. The urine is observed to be of a brown color, or brown tinged with yellow — the beast feeds nearly as well as before, bjit ruminates rather more lazily. In a few days a natural diarrhoea comes on, and the animal is well at once ; or a purgative drink is administered, and a cure is presently effected. This occurs frequently in cows of weak constitution^ and in calves. At other times there is manifest indisposition ; the animal is dull, heavy, languid — the ears droop— the back is bowed — she separates from the herd — she refuses her food — she ceases to ruminate. Presently she gets better — she rejoins her companions ; but this is only for a little while. The urine, which at first was brown, with a tinge of yellow, has now red mingling with the brown, or it is of the color of porter. It is increased in quantity — it is discharged some- times with ease, at other times with considerable straining — in little jets, and with additional bowing of the ..back. The milk diminishes — it acquires a slight tinge of yellow or brown — the taste becomes unpleasant — it spoils all that it is mingled with. The pulse is ac- celerated—it reaches to 60 or 10. If blood be drawn, the serum ■which separates from it is brown. The skin is yellow, but of a RED- WATER. 3T1 darker yellow than in jaundice — it has a tinge of brown. The con- junctiva is also yellow, inclining to brown. The urine becomes of a darker hue — it is almost black. The animal usually shrinks when the loins are pressed upon ; occasionally there is much tenderness, but oftener the beast scarcely shrinks more than he is accustomed to do when laboring under almost every disease. The belly is not so much tucked up as drawn together at the sides. There is consider- able loss of condition — the legs and ears get cold — the animal is less inclined to move ; there is evident and genaral debility. In every stage there is costiveness, and that exceedingly difficult to overcome ; but, on close inquiry, it is ascertained that there was diarrhoea at the beginning, and which was violent and fetid, and which suddenly stopped. Examination after death shows the skin and the cellular mem- brane underneath to be of a dark yellow ; the fat about the belly is of the same hue, or perhaps of a lighter tinge. The first and second stomachs are full : there is no fermentation and little gas, or sour smell. The manyplus is perfectly dry — baking could hardly add to the hardness. The leaves of the manyplus cling to the food contained between them : the papillae leave their evident indenta- tions on the hardened mass, and that mass cannot be detached without considerable portions of the cuticle clinging to it. The fourth stomach is empty, and^ the lining membrane covered with brown mucus, exhibiting patches of inflammation underneath. The intestines are rarely inflamed. There is no fluid in the belly, nor in- flammation of its lining membrane. The kidney is of a yellow- brown color, and sometimes a little enlarged, but there is rarely in- flammation or disease about it. Drops of dark and brown-colored urine may be pressed from it. The lungs display no mark of dan- gerous disease, but they too have a yellow hue. The fluid in the bag of the heart is yellow. The chyle, which is traversing the lacteal vessels, is yellow too, and there is the same discoloration of the fluids everywhere. The-liver is evidently of a darker color ; it is enlarged, generally inflamed, sometimes rotten, and filled with black blood. The gall-blad- der is full, almost to distension. The bile is thick and black : it looks more like lampblack mixed with oil, than like healthy bile. All these appearances lead to t}ie necessary conclusion that this is far more a disease of the digestive organs than of the kidney ; in fact, that it is not primarily an affection of the kidney. It is dis- ease of the liver, either consisting in inflammation of that organ, accompanied by increased secretion of bile-, or a change in the qual- ity of the bile. In consequence of this, the whole circulatory fluid becomes tinged with the color of the bile, and which is shown in»tbe. hue of the skin generally, and in ;he cp}<»- pf the tyoqd, iffld pay. 372 CATTLE. ticularly in the change that takes place in that blood when drawn from the vein. The fluid discharged from the kidneys participates in the general change ; it becomes yellow — yellow-brown — brown. The change is most evident here, because so great a quantity of blood, in pro- portion to the size of the organ, circulates through the kidneys ; and more particularly it is evident here, because it is the office or duty of the kidneys to separate from the blood, and to expel from the circulation, that which is foreign to the blood, or would be injurious to the animal. The bile, however, possesses an acrid principle to a considerable degree. While it is an excrementitious substance' that must be got rid of, it stimulates the intestinal canal as it passes along in order to be discharged ; it particularly does so when it is secreted in undue quantities, or when its quality is altered. There is abundant proof of this in the bilious irritation and diarrhoea which cattle so frequently exhibit. The kidney,' at length, is evidently irritated by the con- tinued presence of this diseased fluid : it becomes inflamed, its mi- nute vessels are ruptured, and a red hue begins to mingle with the brown. There is found discoloration and increased size of the kid- ney, and pain in the region of that organ ; this, however, is rarefy carried to any considerable extent, and the seat and principal ravages of disease are to be clearly traced to a different part, namely, the liver. It is evident, then, that acute and chronic red-water, as the author of this treatise has termed them, (for he did not, in the present state of our knowledge of cattle medicine, dare to deviate too far from the usual arrangement and designation .of disease,) are essentially differ- ent maladies : Ihey belong to different organs — they are character- ized by different symptoms — they require different treatment. The first is inflammation of the kidney ; it is characterized by the evident pain and fever, and by the red and bloody urine which accompanies it in an early stage ; it requires the most active treatment, and it speedily runs its course. The second is inflammation of, or altered secretion from, the liver ; not often accompanied in its early stage by pain or fever ; characterized by the dark brown color of vitiated bile, and more slowly, but as fatally, undermining the strength of the constitution. As to the first step in the treatment of chronic red-water, the propriety of bleeding depends on the condition of the beast, and the degree of fever. An animal in high or in fair condition can never be huct by one bleeding ; while, on the contrary, lurking, decep- tive, fatal febrile action may be subdued. If 'there be the slightest degree pf actual fever, nothing can excuse the neglect of bleeding. The quantity taken, or the repetition of the abstraction of blood, must be left to the judgment of the practitioner. BLACK-WATER. 373 The animal must be well purged if he is In a constipated state ; or if there is already a discharge of glairy faecal matter, the char- acter of that must be changed by a purgative. That is the best whose effects are most speedily and certainly produced, and there is no drug more to be depended upon in both these .respects than the Epsom salts. It may be alternated with Glauber's salts, or common salt, or an aperient of a different character, sulphur, may be added to it. Much good effect is often produced by this mix- ture of aperients. As there is either so much real costiveness — in- disposition to be acted upon by purgative medicine — or so much relaxation of the floor of the oesophagean canal that the medicine falls into the rumen instead of going to its proper destination, and as the establishment of purgation seems to have so uniform and ben- eficial an effect in relieving the disease, the medicine that is adopted should be given fn a full dose. It should consist of at least a pound of Epsom salts, and half a pound of sulphur, and this should be repeated in doses consisting of half the quantity of each, until the constipation is decidedly overcome. Stimulants would be dan- gerous, and astringent medicine would be actual poison in the dis- ease. ■ It will not be forgotten that the precautions already recommended should be carefully observed, in order to give the physic the best chance of passing into the bowels ; that the patent pump should be in frequent requisition for the administration of clysters ; and that when purging is once induced, a lax state of the bowels should be kept up by means of the frequent repetition of smaller doses of the medicine. The diet should consist principally of mashes, gruel, lin- seed tea, fresh cut young grass, young and fresh vetches, and carrots. The conclusion of the treatment will be to administer the Epsom salts in doses of four or six ounces, as an alterative, for a few days afterward ; to which, if there exist any debility, add two drachms of gentian and one drachm of ginger. , BLACK-WATER. This is only another and the concluding, stage of Red-water. When* it follows the acute or inflammatory disease, it may be con- sidered as a favorable symptom if the urine contains no prurient mat- ter, and has no unpleasant smell. It shows that the blood is not discharged so rapidly and forcibly as it was ; and that it hangs about the mouths of the vessels, or is contained in the cavity of the kidney, or in the bladder, sufficiently long to be changed from arterial to venous blood, and the practitioner will be encouraged to proceed in the course which he had adopted : but if purulent matter mingles with the black blood, it indicates the sad extent of the mischief that baa been done. It is a proof of ulceration, if not of gangrene, and 874 CATTLE 7 ' " ' shows that a degree of disorganization has taken place which must ■speedily terminate in death. If, in chronic red-water, or that which depends on disease of the liver, the discharge becomes of a darker and still darker brown, until it has assumed an almost black character, it shows either that the system is loaded with a superabundance of this empoisoned secre- tion, and of which it cannot rid itself, or that the irritation caused by the continued presence of so acrimonious a fluid is producing inflam- mation, gangrene, and death, in the vessels that are filled and op- pressed by it. In the last stage of the disease, when the urine assumes a darker brown or black color, no remedy seems to have any efficacy ; the animal is sunk beyond recovery, and he stretches himself out and dies, as if perfectly exhausted. Homoeopathic treatment. — The principal remedy for this affection is ipecacuanha, of which a single dose will often suffice to remove it, • when it is administered in time. When signs of inflammation already exist, we must commence with aconitum, which in many cases effects a cure by itself. The efficacy of cantharide? has been proved many times by giving one or two doses each day. If the staling of blood be connected with external violence, for instance, with a blow on the loins, arnica is the remedy. When it depends on vesical calculus, uva ursi should be employed. INFLAMMATION OF THE KIDNEYS. Cattle are occasionally subject to inflammation of the kidneys, bear- ing considerable resemblance to acute red-water, but attended by more of the symptoms of pure inflammation of that organ in other animals. At first there are seldom any indications of disease beyond a straining effort in voiding the urine, and which is ejected forcibly and in small quantities, the loins being more than usually tender, and, perhaps, a little hot. In a day or two afterward, however, the beast becomes dull, and careless about his food; the difficulty of staling increases ; blood is perceived to mingle with the urine ; the muzzle become dry ; the horns and ears cold ; the pulse frequent and hard, and the breathing quickened. Diarrhoea or dysentery is now ob- served ; the evacuations are fetid ; they too are discharged with effort and in diminished quantities, and at length cease to appear. The difficulty of passing the urine becomes rapidly greater; the beast strangely bows his back, and groans from intensity of pain ; at length total suppression of urine" ensues ; cold sweats break out, principally about the back, sides, and shoulders, and the patient trembles all over ; he moans continually, but the moaning gets lower and lower ; he becomes paralyzed behind ; the pulse can scarcely be felt ; the animal falls ; he is incapable of rising, and he dies in three or four days after the apparent commencement of the attack. This is especially a disease of the spring time of the year. It is THE KIDNEYS AND BLADDER. I 375 the consequence of over-nourishment: there is a predisposition to inflammation ; and from some cause, more or less apparent, that in- flammation is directed to the kidney. The treatment will comprise plentiful bleeding, active purging, the administration, of emollient clysters, fomentation over the loins or the application of a mustard poultice to them, bran mashes, gruel, and a small quantity of green succulent food. There is a connection between all these affections of the kidneys, and inflammation of the larger intestines lying in the neighborhood of them; thence the previous dysentery, and the often obstinate constipation of red-water and pure inflammation of these organs ; and thence the necessity of large and repeated doses of purgative medicine, but from which all stimulating ingredients should be excluded, and which would probably, in these cases, best consist of castor or linseed oil. The clysters also should be truly emollient, that while they assist in opening the bowels, they may act as sooth- ing fomentations in the neighborhood of the inflamed organ. Both the oil and the clysters should be continued until the inflammation has perfectly subsided. To the use of these the treatment should generally be confined — most certainly in no part of it should the slightest portion of diuretic medicine be administered. Homoeopathic treatment. — In general this disease is cured by means of aconitum, after which one or two doses - of '"" cantkarides should be given. In obstinate cases, when the disease, does not yield to several doses of the latter remedy, of which however "more than one must not be taken during the day, we have recourse to hyoscyamus. Ni- trum is also very useful. When there is obstinate constipation, nux vomica should be given. Arnica is indicated whenever the disease is attributable to an external injury. THE KIDNEYS AND BLADDER. The urine secreted, or separated by the kidney, having first accu- mulated in the cavity in the centre of that organ, is conveyed through a duct called the ureter to a more capacious reservoir, the bladder. The ureters are large ; the internal membrane is strong ; the open- ing into the bladder is near to the neck of that vessel, and the ureters terminate near to each other. The Bladder of the ox, larger, longer, and of a more oval form ,han that of the cow, is lodged between the rectum and the internal jurface of the lower bones of the pelvis. It is supported by a trans- verse ligament, which ties it to the sides of the pelvis ; while it is at- tached by cellular membrane to the rectum above and to the pelvis below. It is confined entirely to the cavity of the pelvis, for one of the compartments of the paunch affords an insuperable obstacle to its entering the proper cavity of the abdomen. When distended by urine, its increase of size is principally shown by its greater round- ness, and not by its increased length and descent into the cavity of ST6 CATTLE. the belly. In examination and in operation for stone in the bladder, this should not be lost sight of. It has three coats : the outer and peritoneal ; the central or muscular, and the inner coat, which is lined with numerous glands, that secrete a mucous fluid in order to defend the bladder from the acrimony of the urine. The bladder terminates in a small neck, aronnd which is a continua- tion of the common muscular coat, or, in the opinion of some, a dis- tinct circular muscle, the sphincter, whose natural state is that of contraction ; so that the passage remains closed, and the urine re- tained, until, the bladder being stretched to a certain extent, the fluid is expelled either by the will of the animal, or the involuntary contraction of the muscular coat. This muscle is weak in the ox. Advantage may be taken of this weakness of the sphincter muscle, for in retention of urine, or when, tot the purpose of some operation, it may be expedient to empty the bladder, the slightest pressure upon it by the hand introduced into the rectum will readily effect it. Having passed the sphincter muscle, the urine flows through the urethra and is- evacuated. This canal is long and small ; it pursues a tortuous path. The peculiar form and direction of some of the muscles of that region compel the penis to take a kind of double curve, not unlike an S, before it takes its ultimate straight course ; and on these accounts the ox suffers occasionally from the entangle- ment of calculi in the folds of the urethra. The bladder of thS cow is smaller and rounder than that of the ox. The rumen is as large as in the ox, and occupies the greater part of the abdomen ; but additional room must be left for the im- pregnated uterus, and that is effected in some measure at the expense of the bladder ; while also, to obviate the- ill effects of occasional pressure in the distended state of the uterus, the sphincter muscle at the neck of the bladder of the cow is much larger and stronger than the same muscle in the ox. The circumstances of disease to be considered with reference to the bladder are the foreign bodies, principally calculf, which it may contain ; the inflammation resulting from that or from other causes ; rupture, and inversion of it. URINARY CALCULI. Concretions are found in the urinary passages of cattle. One cause of their retention may be the form of the passages. Many calculi are retained, in the bladder, and thus become the centre around which other matter collects, layer upon layer. It it probably on this account that calculi are found so much oftener in the ox than the cow ; in the former the urethra is long and small, in the latter it is short and capacious. The great function discharged by the kidney in cattle may like- wise account for the more frequent formation of calculi. When so STONE IN THE KIDNEYS AND THE URETERS. 377 much more blood passes through this organ, that the useless or excrementitious parts of it may be expelled, the supposition is rea- sonable that a greater portion of the substances of which urinary- calculi are composed will be found'. The food of cattle may have much to do with it ; and the greater proportion of- earthy matter which they swallow, in the first rude cropping of the herbage, and the carelessness with which they often tear it up by the root, or the earth which they sometimes voluntarily take to prevent the develop- ment of acidity in the stomach, or to remove it. The urinary calculi that have been examined have been found to be composed of nearly the same materials, and in proportions not often varying. They have chiefly yielded carbonate of lime, a small quantity of carbonate of magnesia, some traces of phosphate of lime, and a certain quantity of mucus, which has served as cement between the different layers. The form of the calculus has considerably dif- fered. When there has been but one central nucleus, the form has been more or less circular; but in a majority, the stone has acquired magnitude by the union of various small distinct'calculi. The form of the mass has consequently been different in different specimens. The floor of the cow-house, and sometimes bare places in the field, will show where a considerable quantity of gritty matter has been discharged. This indicates a diseased state of the urine at the time, not perhaps sufficiently serious to interfere materially with the general health, but which may eventually lead to the formation of stone in the bladder or kidney, or to other serious maladies. The sandy matter is either white, approaching to gray or yellow ; or it is brown, with varying shades of red or yellow. Chemists have now satisfactorily ascertained the nature and causes of these discharges, and the means of remedying them. The light- colored granules show deficiency, and the dark : colored prove excess, of acid in the urine. In the one there is a deposite of earthy matter from deficiency of acid, and in the other there is a crystallization of the acid itself. In the one, cream of tartar, or dilute sulphuric acid might be administered with advantage ; and in the other, earth, or a portion of chalk mixed with common loam, may be placed before the beast, or doses of carbonate of soda may be given. Danger is most to be apprehended from the white deposit, which is frequently the precursor or the accompaniment of gravel — a deposition in the blad- der to which qattle are far more subject than farmers or agriculturists are usually aware.. STONE IN THE KIDNEYS AND THE URETERS. There can be no doubt that many calculi descend from the cavity or pelvis of the kinder through the ureters into the bladder ; yet there is but one case of eaeh on record. 378 CATTLE. STONE IN THE BLADDER. It is with the calculus that has descended into the bladder and there increased in size, or that was originally formed there, that the practitioner will have most to do, either while it continues in the bladder, or in its after progress through the urethra. The symptoms that would indicate stone in the bladder are some- what obscure. There are many that prove plainly enough a state of suffering, and of general excitation or fever ; — rumination ceases — the mouth is hot — the flanks heave — the animal is continually lying down and getting up again — it is looking mournfully towards its flank. Then comes a peculiar trembling of the hind limbs, and the frequent straining to void urine — a straining at some times quite ineffectual, at other times producing the discharge of a small quantity, and that occasionally mingled with blood. These symptoms will direct the attention of the practitioner to the urinary organs. In order to ascertain the nature of the complaint, he will introduce his hand into the rectum. The bladder will easily be detected. It will probably be distended by urine ; he will gently press upon it, and the con- tained fluid will be expelled, and if there is a calculus in the bladder, it will be readily felt. He must not, however, be alarmed if this pressure should at first produce violent pain resembling colic — he must desist for a few minutes, and try again. A sound could not be used for the purpose of detecting the_ calculus, nor even the flexible catheter. There are two courses to be pursued in such a case — either to slaughter the animal immediately, if it be should be in tolerable con- dition, or to remove the stone by the usual operation of lithotomy. All attempts to dissolve the calculus by the use of muriatic or any other acid will be as fruitless as they have proved to be in the human being ; and the length and small caliber of the urethra, as well as its double curve, prevent the possibility of having recourse to the safe and effectual operation of breaking down the stone within the bladder. In the ox, on account of the length of the penis, or for other reasons, two muscles descend from the anus, and pursue their course until they arrive at about the middle of the penis, a little in front of the scrotum ; there they attach themselves to the penis, and draw it up, and force it to bend or curve upon itself ; and it takes, as has already been stated, the form of an inverted S. No stilett can be forced through such a double curvature. The operator must either cut down on the urethra, without any stilett within to guide him, at the point where again, below the anus, it curves round the pelvic bones ia order to enter the pelvic cavity, and which, if he is a tolerable anatomist, and proceeds with some caution, he may readily accomplish ; or he must get rid of the first curve, and that may be effected without much difficul- ty. The hair must be cut off immediately in front of the scrotum ; a STONE IN THE URETHRA. 379 longitudinal incision must then be made, six inches in length, through the sheath, upon the penis, and in the direction in which it lies. * The penis being exposed, it is seized and drawn forward in its sheath ; the muscles relax,, the penis is readily brought into a straight direction, and held sofor a sufficient time to admit the introduction of a stilett, which should either be composed of whalebone, and very flexible, or it should be made of iron, and jointed. The more flexible the cathe- ter is, the more readily it will accommodate itself to the tendeney of the muscles to restore the inverted S curve", and the more readily likewise may it be bent round the bony arch beyond, and so diminish the length of the incision which must afterwards be made between the anus and the scrotum. The sound being passed through the curvature thus temporarily re- moved, and its point felt below the anus, the operator must cut into the urethra at that part. Into this opening he must introduce another rod, straight and grooved, and pass it on into the bladder ; and then, by means of a probe-pointed bistoury running in this groove, the incision must be carried on to the side of the anus, and through a portion of the neck of the bladder corresponding with the supposed v size of the calculus. The operator must then pass his right hand into the rectum, and the two first fingers of the left hand into the bladder, and with the right hand guide the calculus between the fingers of the left hand, by which, or by means of a pair of forceps pushed into the wound, it should be seized and extracted. It is not always that there will be much bleeding, or that it will be necessary to take up any of the vessels, or even to pass any sutures through the edges of the wound, unless the incision has been more than usually large. The urine will for a few days be principally passed through the wound, but a portion of it will soon begin to find its ways through the urethra, and that quantity will daily increase," and, in quite as short a time as can be expected, the wound will be per- fectly healed. STONE IN THE URETHRA. On account of the length, and narrowness, and curvature of the urethra in the ox, obstruction of that passage by a calculus is a cir- cumstance of too frequent occurrence. The symptom which would lead to a suspicion of this, would be, in addition to the evidence of considerable pain and general irritation, a complete, or almost com- plete, suppression of urine. The practitioner should examine the urethra through the whole of its course anterior to the inverted S curve ; the calculus will then be felt, or probably the protuberance caused by its presence will be immediately seen. The duty of the surgeon is now, in most cases, easily and quickly performed. An oblique incision must be made upon the calculus, sufficiently long to enable it to be taken out. By means of the oblique incision, the 380 CATTLK. calculus and the urethra are less likely to roll under the knife, and the wound will more readily heal. One or two sutures should be passed through the edges of the wound, which will speedily adhere. The operation is simple, but the danger of neglect is great ; and many a beast has been lost by the bladder being distended, and continuing so until violent inflammation of its mucous coat has taken place, or it has been ruptured. Should not the calculus be in this anterior portion of the urethra, that between the scrotum and the anus should be carefully examined ; and if it be not found there, it is imprisoned somewhere in the inverted £ curve. An incision must then be made anteriorly to the scrotum, in the manner already described ; the penis drawn out ; the curve for a while obliterated ; the situation of the obstruction discovered ; the urethra laid open at that point, and the calculus extracted. Some veterinarians have remarked, that oxen are most subject to the formation of these calculi during the autumn and winter ; and that, as the spring advances, the new grass produces a more abun- dant secretion of urine, and thus relaxes the urinary organs, and enables the calculi more easily to pass ;' while the fresh herbage gives an alkaline and soapy character to the urine, which causes some of the recently formed calculi to be dissolved in the bladder. Home repaired — the uterus will become whole again, and that without a tenth part of the fever that might be expected ; and there are instances upon record in which the cow has suckled her calf, and produced another a twelve- month afterwards. Rupture of the uterus may occur without protrusion of the part, from the too powerful action of that organ. The sympton* are obscure — they have not yet been sufficiently observed. They would probably be gradual ceasing of the labor pains — coldness of the horns and ears and mouth — paleness of the mouth — a small and accelerated pulse. — swelling of the belly, and the discharge of bloody, glairy, fetid matter from the shape. Nothing can be done in such a case. Homoeopathic treatment — This will be the same as for mere inver- sion of the womb. PROTRUSION OF THE BLADDER. In long protracted labor, accompanied by pains unusually violent, the bladder has protruded. If the calf be not already born, it must be extricated as quickly as the case will admit, and that without scrupulous regard to the safety of the cow ; for the protruded blad- der can never be returned to its natural situation — in consequence of pain and inconvenience, the animal can never afterwards carry high condition, but will be a miserable and disgusting object as long as she lives. RETENTION OF THE FOSTtTS. It may happen that the pains of parturition gradually abate, and at length cease. If the cow has been much exhausted or injured by the continuance of the labor, or the efforts made to relieve her, and ATTENTION AFTER CALVING. 399 the foetus has been wounded or broken, and considerable inflammation and fever have been set up, she will probably die : but if she is no more exhausted than may be naturally expected, and the fever is slight, .and she eats a little, she should not be abandoned. • Mr. King relates an instructive case of this kind : — A few years ago I was called to see a heifer which appeared to be rather losing condition, and which had been observed occasionally to void some offensive matter from the vagina. Before I could get to her, some portion of a calf's fore-extremity came away. The owner was very ap- prehensive of her not doing well, and earnestly pressed the extraction of the remainder of the fostus. On examination, I found the os uteri so small and contracted, that I could not pass my hand ; and as the beast ate and drank, and was so little, either locally or constitution- ally, disturbed, I persuaded him to leave her to nature, watching her in case of assistance being required. He consented, and, by degrees, and in detached portions, the greater part, or perhaps the whole of the calf (she was not confined) came away, and she did well, and became fat. The same gentleman relates another case : A cow, healthy, fine, and fat, was slaughtered. The uterus was found to contain the skel- eton of a calf almost entire, all the soft parts having separated, and wholly escaped. Nothing of her history was known. There is an instance on record of the head of a calf (all the other parts having passed away unobserved) being retained in the womb eighteen months. Pains resembling those of parturition then came on. The veterinary surgeon, on examination, detected a hard -round body which he mistook for a calculus, and which was so firmly imbedded in the womb that he was compelled to have recourse to a bistoury in order to detatch it. In a fortnight she seemed to be well. ATTENTION AFTER CALVING. Parturition having been accomplished, the cow should be left quietly with the calf ; the licking and cleaning of which, if it be soon discharged, will employ and amuse her. It is a cruel thing to sep- arate the mother from the young so soon ; the cow will pine, and will be deprived of that medicine which nature designed for her in the moisture which hangs about the calf ; and the calf will lose that gentle friction and motion which helps to give it the immediate use of all its limbs, and which increases the languid circulation of the blood, and produces a genial warmth in the half exhausted and chill- ed little animal. A warm mash should be put before her, and warm gruel, or water from which some of the coldness has been taken off. Two or three hours afterwards it will be prudent to give an aperient drink consisting of a pound of Epsom salts and two drachms of gin- ger. This may'tend to prevent milk fever and garget in the udder. Attention should likewise be paid to the state of the udder. If the 400 CATTLE. teats are sore, and the bag generally hard and tender, she should be gently but carefully milked three or four times every day. The natural and the effective preventive of this, however, is to let the calf suck her at least three times a day if it be tied up in the cow- house, or to run with her to the pasture, and take the teat when it pleases. The tendency to inflammation of the udder is much diminished by the calf frequently sucking ; or should the cow be feverish, nothing soothes or quiets her so much as the presence of the little one. THE CLEANSING. The placenta, or after-birth, or cleansing, should be discharged soon after the calving. It soon begins to act upon the -uterus as a foreign body, producing irritation and fevor : it likewise rapidly be- comes putrid and noisome, and if it be then retained long, it is either an indication of the weakly state of the cow, or it may produce a certain degree of low fever that will interfere with her condition. Every cow-leech, therefore, has ius cleansing drink ready to admin- ister ; but it is too often composed of stimulating and injurious drugs, and which lay the foundation for after disease. The- aperient drink recommended to be given after calving, with the addition of half a pint of good ale to it, will be the best assistant in this case, and the only thing that should be allowed. Should the cleansing continue to be retained, some have recom- mended that a weight of six or eight ounces should be tied to the cord, the gentle and continual action of which will usually separate the placenta from its adhesions, without any risk of haemorrhage : but if the after-birth should still remain in the womb, and decompo- sition should evidently commence, the hand must be introduced into the passage, and the separation accomplished as gently as possible. There is, however, a great deal more fear about this retention of the after-birth than there needs to be, and it is only the actual ap- pearance of inconvenience or disease resulting from it that would justify a mechanical attempt to extract it. It is occasionally retained seven or 'eight days, without any dangerous consequence. Homoeopathic treatment.. — The after-birth does not always come away immediately ; it sometimes remains either entirely or in part in the womb, a circumstance which might bring on fatal consequen- ces. The means to be employed in such a case have been already mentioned under the head abortion. Experience has ascertained the efficacy of several other remedies for the anamolies which may occur during the act of parturition ; chamomttla, Pulsatilla, and •cannabis, when the cow does not lie down, when she is restless, and the pains properly so called are not sufficiently marked ; secah cor- nutum, in case of convulsions and excessive straining ; pulsatilla, when the pains are too slight to advance the labor ; opium in case MILK FEVER— DROPPING AFTER CALVING. 401 of complete atony. Aconitum and chamomilla are useful when the milk is slow in making its appearance ; arnica, when the labor has caused the animal to suffer much ; and nux vomica, when the lum- bar region afterwards appeared much weakened. BLEEDING (FLOODING) FROM THE WOMB. This, although rarely, may follow natural parturition. It is oftener seen when the uterus has been wounded in the forcible extraction of the calf, and it still more frequently follows the long retention and mechanical separation of the after-birth. The application of cold to the loins will be most serviceable in this case. A pound of nitre should be dissolved in a gallon of water, and the loins and bearing of the cow kept constantly wet by means of cloths dipped in the solution. The water yielded by the melting of ice mixed with salt may be used, being colder, and therefore more effectual. The cow may drink cold water, and in any quantity that she may be inclined to take, and large doses of opium (two drachms every second hour) should be administered. The hinder parts of the cow should be ele- vated, in order that the blood may be retained in the womb, and coagulate there. She should be kept perfectly quiet, and the calf not permitted to suck. There are few haemorrhages from the womb, except those produced by absolute rupture of it, which will not yield to this treatment. Homoeopathic treatment. — Give arnica internally ; throw injections of arnica water into the womb, and give china to combat debility from loss of blood. MILK (PUERPERAL) FEVER DROPPING AFTER CALVING. Although parturition is a natural process, it is accompanied by a great deal of febrile .excitement. The sudden transferring of pow- erful and accumulated action from one organ to another — from the womb to the udder — must cause a great deal of constitutional dis- turbance, as well as liability to local inflammation. The cow, after parturition, is subject to inflammation of s.onie of the parts the functions of which are thus changed : it is mere local inflammation at first, but the system speedily sympathizes, and pu- erpeal fever appears. It is called dropping after calving, because it follows that process, and one of the prominent symptoms of the com- plaint is the loss of power over the motion of the hind limbs, and consequent inability to stand. In a great number of cases, loss of feeling accompanies that of voluntary motion ; and no sense of pain is evinced, although the cow is deeply pricked in her hind limbs. There are few diseases which the farmer dreads more, and that for two reasons'; the first is, that the animal now labors under a high degree of excitement, and every local inflammation, and par- ticularly near the parts in which the sudden change of circulation 402 CATTLE. and of function has taken place, assumes a peculiar character, and an intensity, obstinacy, and fatality, unknown at other times : the second reason is, that from his inattention to the animal, or his ignorance of the real nature of the disease of cattle, he does not recognize this malady until its first and manageable state, that of fever, has passed, and the strength of the constitution has been un- dermined, and helpless debility has followed. The first symptom which he observes, or which the practitioner has generally the op- portunity to observe, is the prostration of strength which violent fever always leaves behind it. The early deviations from health are unobserved by the farmer, and probably would riot always attract the attention of the surgeon. This disease is primarily inflammation of the womb, or of the peritoneum, but it afterwards assumes an intensity of character truly specific. The affection is originally that of some peculiar viscus, but it soon is lost in a peculiar general inflammatory state, as rapid in its progress as it is violent in its nature, and speedily followed by a prostration of vital power that often bids defiance to every stimulus. Cows in high condition are most subject to an attack of puerperal fever. Their excess of condition or state of plethora disposes them to affections of an inflammatory character at all times, and more particularly when the constitution labors under the excitement ac- companying parturition. The poorest and most miserable cattle have, however, sometimes had milk fever after calving ; and they have particularly done so when, on account of the approach of this period, they have been moved from scanty to luxuriant pasture, or from low keep to high stall feeding. Milk fever happens to cows that are very fresh and fat, and particularly to "those that calve far on the season in hot weather ; but cows that are too fat often drop after calving in the winter ; and it is observed that the cases* that occur in the win- ter will frequently recover, while the animals that are thus attacked in hot weather too generally die. A cow is comparatively seldom attacked with milk fever at her first calving, because in the present system of breeding she has sel- dom attained her full growth, and therefore the additional nutriment goes to increase of size instead of becoming the foundation of dis- ease. Cases, however, do occur, in which cows of three years old have been speedily carried off by this complaint, but then they had been most injudiciously exposed to the forcing system. Much depends on the quantity of milk which the cow is accus- tomed to yield ; and great milkers, although they are not often in high condition, are very subject to this affection. All cows have a slight degree of fever at this time ; a very little addition to that will materially interfere f with the secretion of milk, and, perhaps, arrest it altogether ; and the throwing back upon the system the MILK FEVER— DROPPING AFTER CALVING. 403 quantity of milk which some of them are disposed to give, must strangely add fuel to the fire, and kindle a flame by which the pow- ers of nature are speedily consumed. Whether the present improved method of selection, whereby the properties of grazing and giving milk are united in the same animal, will increase the tendency to inflammation, and particularly to this dangerous species of fever, is a question deserving of consideration. Puerperal fever sometimes appears as early as two hours after parturition ; if four or five days have passed, the animal may gene- rally be considered as safe : yet a fortnight has elapsed between the calving and the fevej. The early symptoms of fever are evidently those of a febrile character. The animal is restless, shifting her feet, pawing, and she heaves laboriously at the flanks. The muzzle is dry and hot, the mouth open and the tongue protruded. The countenance is wild, and the eyes staring. She wanders about mournfully lowing ; she becomes irritable ; she butts at a stranger, and sometimes even at the herdsman. Delirium follows ; she grates her teeth, foams at the mouth, throws her head violently about, and, not unfrequently, breaks her horns. The udder becomes enlarged, and hot, and ten- der, at the very commencement of the disease. This is always to be regarded as a suspicious circumstance in a cow at that time ; and if this swelling and inflammation be accompanied, as they almost uniformly are, by a partial or total suspension of the milk, tharwhich is about to happen is plain enough. The disease is an inflammatory one, and must be treated as such, and being thus treated, it is generally subdued without difficulty. The animal should be bled, and the quantity of blood withdrawn should be regulated by that standard so often referred to — that rule without an exception — the impression made upon the circulation. From six to ten quarts will probably be taken away, depending upon the age and size of the animal, before the desired effect is produced. There is no malady which more satisfactorily illustrates the neces- sity of endeavoring to subdue as quickly as possible every inflamma- tory complaint of cattle by the free use of the lancet; for all of them run their course with a rapidity which a person unaccustomed to these animals, and which the human prarctitioner, especially, would scarcely deem to be possible. To-day the cow is seen with the symptoms just described — -she is bled, and she is relieved ; or she is neglected, and the fever has sapped the strength of the constitution, and left a y fearful debility behind. The small bleedings to which some hav.e recourse are worse than inefficient, for they only increase the natural tendency of these maladies to take on a low and fatal form. A pound or a pound and a half of Epsom salts, dependent on the size of the beast, must next be administered, with half the usual quantity of aromatic ingredients ; and half-pound doses of the same 404 CATTLE. must be repeated every six hours. Should not the medicine soon begin to act, the usual quantity of aromatic medicine must be doubled, for in addition to the constipation usually attending fever, there is that which arises from the occasional state of the rumen, and the passage leading to it, and that insensible stomach must be roused to action and excited to discharge its contents, in despite of the stimulating influence of the spiee on the constitution, generally. The bowels must fee* opened, or the disease will run its course ; and, purging once established in an early stage, the fever will, in the .majority of instances, rapidly subside, leaving the strength of the constitution untouched. • After the physic has begun to operate, the usual sedative medi- cines should, if necessary, be given. The digestive function first of all fails when the secondary and low state of fever comes on. The rumen ceases to discharge its food, and that being retained, begins to ferment, and the paunch and the intestines are inflated with fetid gas, and the belly of the ani- mal swells rapidly. Next, the nervous system is attacked — the cow begins to stagger. The weakness is principally referable to the hinder quarters, and rapidly increases. She reels about for a while, and then falls ; she gets up, falls again, and at length is unable to rise ; her head is bent 'back toward her side, and all her limbs are palsied ; and now, when in too many cases no good can be done, the proprietor, for the first time, begins to b.e alarmed. The duration of this second stage pf puerperal fever is uncertain ; but although it is usually more protracted than the first, the period in which hope may be reasonably encouraged is short indeed. If the cow be seriously ill, and off her feed, and does not get up again in two or three days, the chances are very much against her; the author, however, knew one that was saved after she had suffered considerable fever, and had been down nine days ; and where de- bility is the principal symptom, and the cow seems to lie tolerably comfortable, and without pain, and picks a little, she may occasionally get up after she has been down even longer than that. The treatment of this stage of the disease, although there has been a great deal of dispute about it, depends on one simple principle — the existence and the degree of fever. Notwithstandingthere is de- bility, there may be fever ; although the strength of the constitution may have been to a great degree wasted, theremay be still a smothered fire that will presently break out afresh. In another point of- view, much of this apparent weakness may be deceptive ; it.may be the result of oppression and venous congestion, and not of ex- haustion. The pulse will be the guide, and should be carefully consulted. Is it weak, wavering, irregular, dying away, pausing a beat or two, and MILK FEVER— DROPPING AFTER CALVING. 406 then weakly creeping on again ? We must not bleed here. These are indications of debility that cannot be mistaken — nature wants to be supported, stimulated, not still further weakened. The abstraction of blood would kill at once. Is the pulse small, but regular, hard, wiry, and quickened — or is it full and quickened ? Blood should certainly be taken away. These are as plain indications of secret and destructive- fire as can possibly be given. The practitioner should bleed,, but with the finger on the pulse, anxiously watching the effect produced, and stopping at the first falter of the heart. Many a beast has been decidedly saved by this kind of bleeding in puerperal fever ; and many have been lost through neglect of bleeding. Some may have perished when the bleeding was carried too far, and some, if the animals were bled when the pulse gave indications of debility, but none when the pulse indicated power, and the possibility of febrile action. The propriety and impropriety of the abstraction of blood' depends on the state of the pulse and the degree of fever — circumstances which vary in every case, and in different stages of the same case, . and which accurate observation alone can determine. Next, in order of time, and first of all in importance in this stage of the disease, stands physic. The bowels must be opened, other- wise the animal will perish ; but the fever having been subdued by a judicious bleeding, and the bowels after that being excited to action, the recovery is in a manner assured. The medicine should be active, and in sufficient quantity ; for there is no time for trifling here. A scruple of the farina of the Croton-nut, and a pound of Epsom salts, will constitute a medium dose. For a large beast the quantity of the salts should be increased. Doses of half a pound should after- wards be given every six hours until purgation is produced. The usual quantity of aromatic medicine should be added. Here, too, the constitution of the stomachs of cattle should not be forgotten. If twenty-four hours have passed, and purging has not commenced, even after the administration of such a drug as the Croton-nut, there is reason to suspect that the greater part of our medicine has not got beyond the rumen ; and on account of the cuticular and compa- ratively insensible lining of this stomach, strong stimulants must now be added to the purgative medicine, in order to induce it to contract upon and expel its contents. Two drachms each of ginger, gentian, and carraway powder, with half a pint of old ale, may, with advantage, be given with each dose of the physic. Warm water, with Epsom salts dissolved in it, or warm soap and water, will form the best injection, and should be thrown up fre- quently, and in considerable quantities. Should the constipation obstinately continue, it may be worth while to inject a considerable quantity of warm water into the rumen, and thus soften and dissolve the hard mass of undigested food, and 40? CATTLE. permit the medicine to come more effectually into contact with the coats of the stomach. The warm water would also stimulate the stomach to contract, and thus get rid of a portion of its contents, either by vomiting or purging. In the first case, there would be room for the exhibition of more purgative medicine ; in the other, the effect most of all desired would have been obtained. The rumen will often annoy thepractitioner in another way in this complaint : either on account of a vitiated secretion in that stomach, or from the retention of the food, which, exposed to the united influ- ence of warmth and moisture, begins to ferment, there will be con- siderable extrication of gas, and the animal will swell with even more rapidity and to a greater extent than in simple hoove. The flanks should immediately be punctured, or the probang introduced, in order to permit the carburetted hydrogen to escape. A dose of the solution of the chloride of lime, as already recommended under " Hoove," should be given, to prevent the extrication of more gas ; and a greater quantity of aromatic and fever medicine should be added to the purgative, that the stomach may be roused to healthy action.- Ere this the practitioner will have thought it necessary to pay some attention to the comfort of the patient. This part of medical treatment is too often neglected. She should have been watched before she actually dropped, and got as soon as possible into the house, and well and warmly littered up. If she drops in the field, it will always be difficult to get her home ; and if she- continues out, and bad weather comes on, she will assuredly be lost. She should be placed on one side, or, if possible, on her belly, inclining a little to one side, and, a§ much as can be managed, in her usual position, and with her fore parts a little elevated, and she should be secured in that position by trusses of straw. She should be moved or turned morning and night, in order to prevent soreness and excoriation. Warm gruel and water should be frequently offered to her, and if these are obstinately refused, she should be moderately drenched with thick gruel. Bean and malt mashes may be given with a little sweet hay : but it must be remembered, that while moderate nourish- ment is necessary to recruit her strength and support her through such a disease, yet the digestive powers have usually shown that they have shared in the debility of the frame, and must not be too early or too much taxed. Having well opened the bowels and subdued the fever, the future proceedings must be regulated by the state of the patient. In general, little more will be necessary than attention to diet and com- fort. At all events, tonics and stimulants should not be too hastily given. It should be recollected, that the disease was essentially of a febrile nature. Experience will convince the praetitioner, that there long remains a lurking tendency to the renewal of febrile ac- MILK FEVER— DROPPING AFTER CALVING. 407 . w , tion, and he will beware lest he kindles the fire afresh ; but if the cow should continue in a low and weakly state, and especially if her remaining strength should seem to be gradually declining, gentian and ginger may be administered twice in the day, in doses of half an ounce of the first and a quarter of an ounce of the second ; but the outrageous quantities of aromatics and bitters, and ardent spirits, that are occasionally given, cannot fail of being injurious. It occasionally happens, that the cow appears to recover a portion" of strength in her fore-quarters, and makes many ineffectual attempts to rise, but the hind-quarters are comparatively powerless. This partial palsy of the hind extremities is the natural consequence both of inflammation of the womb and of the bowels. The best remedy is a plaster. All embrocations are thrown away on the thick skin of the cow, and the constant stimulus of a plaster and the mechanical support afforded by it, will alone effect the desired purpose. A week or ten days should be given to the animal, in order to see whether the power of voluntary motion in these limbs will return ; but should the paralytic affection then remain, a sling must be con- trived, by which she may be supported, and during the use of which she may be enabled gradually to throw a portion of her weight upon these legs, and re-accustom them to the performance of their duty. A very singular variety of the disease has already been hinted at. The cow is down, but there is apparently nothing more the matter with her than that *he is unable to rise ; she eats, and drinks, and ruminates as usual, and the evacuations are scarcely altered. In this state she continues from two days to a fortnight, and then she gets up well. There is a common consent amongst the different organs of the frame both under healthy and diseased action. It has been stated that a partial or total suppression of the secretion of milk is frequently an early symptom, and, in some stage or other, an almost invariable one, of the disease. Experience jkewise shows that if the secretion of milk can be recalled, the restoration of the use of the limbs is not far distant. The teats should be frequently drawn, and the discharge of milk industriously solicited. This is a simple method of cure, but it is a far more effectual one than many imagine. That milk-fever is sometimes epidemic, there is every reason to suppose. The practitioner may, perhaps, be long without a case, but if one comes under his notice, he has reason to suspect that it will soon be followed by others. That there is a constitutional tendency to this complaint, cannot be denied. Beasts in high condition are peculiarly subject to it ; and an animal that has once experienced an attack of it becomes exceed- ingly liable to the disease at her next, or at some future calving. Agriculturists are perfectly aware of this ; and if a cow recovers 408 CATTLE. from puerperal fever, her milk is dried, and she is fattened and sold without much loss of time. Something may be done in the way of prevention. If the cow be in a high, and consequently a dangerous state of condition, and has been fed on luxuriant pasture, it will be very proper, as has been already stated, to bleed her, and give her a dose of physic, and re- , move her to a field of shorter bite, a little before her expected time of calving. Many valuable animals have been saved by this pre- caution. Homoeopathic treatment. — The first thing to be done, is to ad- minister, within three or four hours, three or four doses of aconitum, which generally effect a perceptible calm. Then have recourse to Pulsatilla and mix vomica. Belladonna is also an excellent remedy, particularly in cases of very painful swelling of the belly, and of re- tention of the placenta. Chamomilla restores the secretion of milk. Paralysis of the hind-quarters will generally yield to nux vomica ; but if it does not, then it will disappear under the influence of rhus toxicodendron. SORE TEATS. Cows are very subject to inflammatioh of the udder soon after calving. The new or increased function which is now set up, and the sudden distension of the bag with milk, produce tenderness and irritability of the udder, and particularly of the teats. This in some cases shows itself in the form of excoriations or sores, or small 'cracks or chaps, on the teats, and very troublesome they are. The dis- charge likewise from these cracks mingles with the milk. The cow suffers much pain in the act of milking, and is often unmanageable. Many a cow has been ruined, both as a quiet and a plentiful milker, by bad management when her teats have been sore. It is folly to have recourse to harsh treatment, to compel her to submit to the in- fliction of pain in the act of milking ; she will only become more vio- lent, and probably become a kicker for life ; if by soothing and kind treatment she cannot 'e induced to stand, nothing else will effect it. She will also form a aabit of retaining her milk, which will very, speedily and very materially reduce its quantity. The teats should be fomented with warm water, in order to clean them and get rid of a portion of the hardened scabbiness about them, the continuance of which is the cause of the greatest pain in the act of milking ; and after the milking, the teats should be dressed with the following ointment : — Take an ounce of yellow wax, and three of lard, melt them together, and when they begin to get cool, well rub "in a quarter of an ounce of sugar of lead and a drachm of alum finely powdered. GARGET, OR SORE BAG. Too often, however, the inflammation assumes another and worse GARGET, OR SORE BAG. 409 character : it attacks the internal substance of the udder — one of the teats or the quarters becomes enlarged, hot, and tender — it soon begins to feel hard, it is knotty ; it contains within it little distinct hardened tumors or kernels. In a short space of time, other teats or other quarters probably assume the same character. The milk has coagulated in the bag to a certain degree, and it has caused local inflammation where it lodges. This occurs particularly in young cows, after their first calving, and when they are in a somewhat too high condition, and it is usually attended by a greater or less degree of fever. The most effectual remedy for this; in the early stage of the com- plaint, is a very simple one ; the calf should be put to the mother, and it should suck and knock about the udder at its pleasure. In most cases this will relieve her from the too great flow of milk, and disperse all the lumps. If the inflammation continues or increases, or the bag should be so tender that the mother will not permit the calf to suck ; and especially should the fever evidently increase, and the cow refuse to eat, or cease to ruminate, and the milk become discolored, and mixed with matter or with blood, the case must be taken seriously in hand. The cow should be bled ; a dose of physic administered ; the udder well fomented ; the milk drawn gently but completely off, at least twice in the day, and an ointment, composed of the following ingre- dients, as thoroughly rubbed into the bag as the cow will permit. (R\>b down an ounce of camphor, having poured a tea-spoonful of spirit of wine upon it ; add an ounce of mercurial ointment, and half a pound of elder ointment, and well incorporate them together.) Let this be applied after every milking, the udder being well fomented with warm water, and the remains of the ointment washed off before the next milking. If the disease does not speedily yield to this treatment, recourse must be had to iodine, which often has admirable effects in diminish- ing glandular enlargements. The only objection to iodine, and which renders it advisable to give the camphoretted mercurial ointment a short trial, is that while, by its power of exciting the absorbents of the glands generally to action, it causes the dispersion of unnatural enlargements, it occasionally acts upon and a little diminishes the gland itself. This, however, rarely happens to any considerable degree, and will not form a serious objection to its use when other means have failed. It should be applied externally, in the form of an ointment, (one part of the hydriodate of potash being saturated with seven parts of lard,) one or two drachms of wjjjch should be rubbed into the diseased portion of the udder, every morning and night. At the same time the hydriodate may be given internally, in doses grad- ually increased from six to twelve grains daily. The udder should be frequently examined, for matter will soon be- 18 410 CATTLE. gin to form in the centre of these indurations, and should be speedily evacuated, lest it should burrow in various parts of the bag, and, when at length it does find its way to the surface and bursts through the skin, irregular ulcers should, be formed, at all times difficult to heal, and sometimes involving the Joss of more than one of the quarters. Whenever there is any appearance of suppuration having commenced, (a minute observation will enable the practitioner to discover the very- spot at which the tumor is preparing to point,) the diseased part should be freely and deeply lanced, and an immense quantity of mat- ter will often be discharged. .It is generally bad practice to cut off the teat ; not only is it afterwards missed in the milking, but the quantity of the milk is usually lessened to a greater or less degree. Should the tumor have been left to break, a deep and ragged ulcer will then be formed, and must immediately be attended to, for the neighboring part will be rapidly involved. Half of the bag has in some cases become mortified in a few days, and diseased portions have either dropped off, or it has been necessary to remove them in order to stop the spread of the gangrene. The chloride of lime is an invaluable application here. The wound should be well cleaned with warm water, and then a dilute solution of the chloride freely applied to every part of it ; not only will the unpleasant smell from the ulcer be immediately got rid of, but its destructive progress will be arrested, and the wound will speedilytake on a healthy character. When this is effected, recourse may be had to the Friar's balsam ; but the occasional use of the chloride will be advantageous until the bag is perfectly healed. Chronic indurations will sometimes remain after the inflammation of garget has been subdued ; they will be somewhat tender, and they will always lessen the quantity of milk obtained from that quarter. The iodine will seldom fail of dispersing these tumors. The ointment just recommended should be well rubbed in twice every day, and if the enlargement does not speedily subside, the hydriodate should also be given internally. The causes of garget are various ; the thoughtless and unfeeling exposure of the animal to cold and wet, at the time of or soon after parturition, the neglect of physic or bleeding before calving, or suf- fering the cow to get into too high condition, are frequent causes. So powerful is the latter one, that instances are not unfrequent of cows, that have for some time been dried, and of heifers that have never yielded milk, having violent inflammation of the udder. The hastily drying of the cow has given rise to indurations in the udder that have not «asily bgen removed. An awkward manner of lying upon and bruising the udder is an occasional cause ; and a veiy frequent one is the careless habit of not milking the cow clean, but ■ leaving a portion in the bag, and the best portion of' the milk too, and which gradually becomes a source of irritation and inflammation GARGET, OS. "SORE BAG. 411 in the part. Connected with this last cause is the necessity of the advice already given, to milk the cow as clean as possible, at least twice in the day, during the existence and treatment of garget. Homoeopathic treatment. — 1. Inflammatory tumefaction. — A little time before and after calving, particularly in the first birth, often too at other periods, there is observed on the udder a painful inflamma- tory swelling : the organ is hard, tense, hot and red ; the entire, or only a part, is affected with swelling. The animal has rather high fever, a sharp thirst, the mouth is dry, and there is but little appetite ; the secretion of milk is more or less diminished. This disease is produced by different causes. The most common are contusion, stings of insects, cold, the too prolonged retention of milk, &c. Some say it has been occasioned by too little exercise. If it has been caused by external injury, frequently moistening the part with arnica water is sufficient to cure it ; a dose of it should also be taken inter- nally every day. Arsenicum should be employed only when the disease has been leglected, or when there have supervened gan- grenous "inflammation or ill-conducted ulcerations with hard and everted edges. After cold, the cure is readily obtained by aconitum at first, then bryonia ; if the latter does not suffice, dulcamara. Chamomilla also has frequently proved useful. Belladonna has been found a specific in the treatment of erysipelatous inflammation. However, others recommend arnica, camphora, phosphorus and silicea. In the inflammation which comes on a little before or after calving, belladonna and chamomilla are specifics ; chamomilla more especially when nodosities are felt in the organ, without the external integuments participating in it. If the inflammation passes into gangrene, or produces malignant ulcers, arsenicum should be~ administered ; if, gangrene having supervened, the skin readily becomes detached, secale cornutum should be employed. Silicea also produces good effects in obstinate ulcers ; asafoetida and mercurius vivus in treating unhealthy suppuration. We may also in such a case recommend cabor vegetabilis, calcarea carbonica, and Pulsatilla, the latter more especially when fistulous sores begin to form. The abnormal swelling of the udder, especially when caused by cold or moisture, yields to lotions repeated several times a day with camphoretted brandy. 2. Induration. — This proceeds from the same causes as inflam- mation, and may also result from internal causes. It is or is not accompanied with pains and suppression of milk : the latter often assumes a bad color, or undergoes some other change, becomes gran- ular and puriform. If the indurations are painful and consist of rounded tubercles, they are resolved in ten or twelve days, either by bryonia (one dose morning and evening), or by chamomilla, chiefly when the tumor yields a crackling noise on being touched. If |he cause has been an external injury, we must have recourse to a few 412 CATTLE. doses of arnica, then to conium. The indurations, both those that are painful as well as those which are indolent, with glandular swellings in the interior of the udder, yield to chamamilla, or, when they are very hard and obstinate, to aconitum and mercurius vivus. The nodosities which succeed an inflammation are to be treated with camphora, ckamomilla, and conium, of each two doses at the interval of two days. If resolution does not take place, kepar sulphuris (one dose morning and evening) causes them to break, generally at the end of thirty-six hours. 3. Warts. — Warts, which are often produced in consequence of internal disease on the bellies of the cows in great numbers, spread occasionally even to the udders ; besides their repulsive appearance, they prevent the animal from being milked. The remedy against those which are flat, dry, and not pediculated, is dulcamara ; thuja is the remedy for those which are cut and mangled, oozing, and suppurating : causticum has been more than once useful in the treat- ment of bleeding warts, and those which suppurate and are painful. Sometimes the wart gives place to an ulcer with everted edges, in which case we must have recourse to arsenicum. 4. Wounds. — There are often produced in the teats circular cracks or chaps, which occasion to the animal great pain, and which, though often caused by the brutality of the cow-herds, are attributable in many cases to a morbid internal state. Those of the latter species require the employment of sulphur internally, to be continued for a considerable time. In all other circumstances, fomentations with arnica water are sufficient. MILK-SICKNESS, OR TREMBLES. This disease, peculiar to America, and limited to a portion of the valley of the Mississippi, has been reserved for this place, on account of the name by which, it is universally known. In cattle it is not a disease of the udder, or its connections. It takes its name from the illness produced in man by the use of the milk of cattle diseased by the eating of some wild plant or vegetable, or the drinking of water poisoned by minerals. Dr. Graff, of Illinois, in the American Jounal of Medical Science, April 1841, says : — The only name by which it is known, is that which I have used, which is quite objectionable, as it may serve to convey an erroneous impression by the supposition that milk only could produce it; whereas the flesh of an infected animal' acts with an equal degree of violence and rapidity. It is a disease peculiar to the United States, occurring seldom, if ever, to the eastward of the Alleghany mountains. It is in a greater or less degree met with in all the Western States, as far south as the MILK SICKNESS, OR TK.EMBLES. 413' Mississippi, and extends north to the boundary. The States of Indiana and Illinois are most subject to its occurrence, whilst its existence in the bordering States is comparatively rare. Its occurrence or prevalence is confined to no season, or description of weather, existing in a like degree in the heat of summer or cold of win- ter, and with like virulence and frequency during a dry or wet season. We will first speak of the symptoms manifested in cattle affected with it, as it is only through them that we have yet found the disease communicated to man. This may be affected to such a degree as that their flesh and milk wil} produce the disease, and yet they them- selves manifest no unhealthy symptoms whatever. This latent con- dition of the disease maybe discovered by subjecting the suspected animal to a violent degree of exercise, when, according to the intensity of the existing cause, it will be seized with tremors, spasms, convulsions, or even death. This is a precaution practised by butchers in these countries, always before slaughtering an animal in anywise suspected of the poisonous contamination. An ordinary degree of exertion will not develope these phenomena unless it pro- duce the symptoms usually preceding a fatal termination. When, for instance, a cow is sufficiently deeply affected, nothing peculiar is observed until immediately preceding the outbreak of the fatal symptoms. She is then observedto walk about, with out any appa- rent object in view ; all food is refused, and there is evidence of impaired vision. The eye is first of a fiery appearance, increasing to a deep red color, until the animal is observed to stagger and fall, when, if she rises, the trembling of the whole muscular system will prevent the maintenance of the standing position. The animal usually dies after repeated convulsions, never lingering beyond a few hours. Often it falls suddenly, as if it received a blow from a heavy body on the head, and death is produced in a few minutes. The cause of this disease of animals is as yet shrouded in mystery and uncertainty. No satisfactory account of its nature has yet been given, and it has in turn been supposed to be of vegetable, mineral, and even aerial origin. The limits of its prevalence is not often over a large and continuous tract of country, but rather circumscribed, and surrounded by localities never known to produce it. No exam- ple is known in which the property of producing the disease has been acquired by any locality which did not previously possess it. The boundaries which were at the first discovery of the country found to separate the infected from the healthy districts, remain unchanged. The locality which serves to produce the disease, most commonly extends as a vein of variable breadth, traversing the country for a considerable distance. It can be traced in one instance for, nearly a hundred miles, running parallel to the course of the Wabash river, in the State of Indiana. Again, it will be found to occupy an isolated spo: , comprised in 414 CATTLE. an area of one hundred acres, whilst for a considerable distance around it is not produced. " Thus having the locality perfectly cir- cumscribed, much labor has been expended in order to discover some production peculiar to the locality. The search has been uniformly unsuccessful in the attainment of its object. The general appearance of these infecteo. districts is somewhat peculiar. I have always observed that the situation of the ground is elevated above that of the surrounding country, occupying what is denominated a ridge, and that the quality of the soil is in general of an inferior description. The growth of timber is not observed to be so luxuriant as in situa- tions otherwise similar, but is scrubby, and stunted in its perfect development. Throughout the entire district in which these localities are interspersed, there is observed an absence of the occurrence of stones scattered over the surface, whilst in the infected districts, they are almost universally present. They are of small size and darkened aspect externally, breaking with a regular and shining fracture, and, upon analysis, imperfectly made, were found to contain a considerable portion of iron, with slight traces of copper. Another more decided and peculiar appearance, which serves to distinguish them from other spots, is the breaking forth of numerous feeble springs, furnishing a trifling supply of water, but not varying in quantity with the change of seasons. In its appearance, it presents the general evidences of a sulphurous and ferruginous contamination. Experiments made upon the water collected from these springs, or more properly called oozes from the soil, with the greatest care, by the employment of the most delicate chemical re-agents, failed to indicate the presence of any mineral except iron, sulphur, traces of magnesia, and a quantity of copper barely capable of being demon- strated. A belief being entertained by many that the disease is occa- sioned by arsenic, or some of its salts, I, with much care and patience, subjected not only the water, but likewise the earth, from these dis- tricts to a most rigid examination, and by no test was I furnished with the slightest evidence of its presence. An intelligent medical friend expressed to me his belief, that it was produced by the inhalation of some noxious gases generated during the night ; in proof, he stated that he had observed cattle, which were regularly housed each evening, escaped its attacks, and that when suffered to remain at large, they were frequently seized with the disease. It is difficult to form this belief of the nature of the cause, as we can hardly, conceive the particular action of any com- bination of circumstances, capable of giving rise to such an emanation only at night, ceasing to operate during the day. The most popular belief is in favor of a vegetable origin. But this appears irrecon- cilable with the fact that the disease has frequently appeared with its greatest virulence when the grounc has been for weeks previously covered with snow. MILK SICKNESS, OR TREMBLES. 415 For my own part, I would most willingly subscribe to the opinion that some mineral or mineral combination possesses the agency of its production. Yet I confess that I cannot even imagine what must be the nature of that substance producing such violent and anomalous effects, and in its operations so unlike anything with which we are acquainted. The cause, whatever it may be, when it enters into the organization of the animal, either by inducing a specific action in the tissues of the economy, or by a combination with some of the elements of the body, forms a poison not more violent in its operation than singular in the effects it can produce. If this cause should prove to be a mineral, it must be one of great subtlety, from its difficulty of detection, and from its virulence it must possess qualities and activity not equalled nor resembled by any metal or metallic combination yet discovered. No substance of which we have any knowledge will produce like phenomena. Hoping that if I could sucoeed in developing the same symptoms and effects by some active or poisonous article, it might, by the probable analogy of the agents, lead to the discovery of the nature of this poison, I patiently tried many. The action of none of the mineral poisons were found at all similar. My experiments were chiefly made on dogs, and in them I found the symptoms immediately preceding their death, occasioned by a fatal dose of strychnia, greatly to resemble those produced by the continued administration of the flesh of an animal which had perished from milk sickness. The appearances on dissection differ in a greater degree, and particularly in cases of poisoning by the vegetable proximate principle, exhibit the blood in a state more nearly resembling a healthy condition. With the view of an extensive series of experiments, I procured the body of a full grown cow, which had perished suddenly from the affection, with violent symptoms. The brain was immersed in a copious effu- sion of blood, and in no part of the body was it found coagulated. The flesh in external appearances did not differ from that of healthy beef, unless that it was slightly darker, and a thin bloody fluid con- tinually dropped from it. By exposing it by the side of a healthy portion, I found that the influence of the sun rendered the specimen from the diseased animal offensive, and turned it to a greenish hue, whilst the other remained comparatively sound and unaffected. It can possess nothing peculiar in its taste, for persons who have par- taken of it have not remarked anything unusual, and animals will exercise no preference," if the two descriptions be simultaneously pre- sented to them. The beef which I procured was subjected to the ordinary process of salting, which did not in the least affect its poi- sonous properties. 'Butter and cheese, manufactured from the milk drawn from an infected cow, are supposed to be the most concentrated forms of this poison. They possess no distinguishing appearance, odor, or taste, 418 CATTLE: from the healthy article. A very minute quantity of either will suffice to develope the disease in man. The cream, ordinarily suffi- cient to be added to the coffee drank at a single meal, is said to have induced an attack. The butter or cheese eaten at one repast has fre- quently been known to prove effective. The property is not con- tained in any of the elements of the milk exclusively, but distributed" throughout the whole of them, being possessed by the butter-milk as well as the whey. Beef, in the quantity of a few ounces, will produce the disease, and it is believed in a more violent and fatal form than when it is produced by milk or any of its preparations. The effect of the poison is manifested throughout the entire system, and vitiates all the secretions. An experiment, which went far to prove how deeply the milk of other animals is imbued with -its poison, was made by administering the infected meat to a bitch suck- ling five puppies. The effect produced in them was very sudden, and the entire litter died in four days, which was two days before the occurrence of the death of the mother. The subtle, poisonous principle, of whatever it may be proved to consist, seems to possess the power of infinite reproduction, by some vital or chemico-vital action of the system of those animals poisoned by its influence. Thus, supposing one pound of flesh to prove suffi- cient to produce the death of another animal, it will be found that each pound of flesh of that animal so destroyed, will possess as active powers of destruction, and will, in its turn, serve to contaminate the whole body of another animal in the same degree. Dr. J. B. Johnston, of Indiana, says : " I never knew the disease 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 the 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 have never heard of it above the- 4 1st degree of north latitude, and it seldom reaches that line. My firm convictions are, that the disease termed milk sickness is produced by the rhus toxicodendron, or poison oak, and that it is a separate and distinct species from the radicans, or poison vine. 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 feet in height ; that it has three, while the radicans or poison vine has five leaves." Dr. Mcllhenny, of Ohio, who has paid much attention to this dis- ease, says : " On the cause of milk sickness, we must be allowed to express our decided conviction, that it is produced by the rhus toxi- codendron, or poison oak, for the following reasons : — 1. Milk sickness does not prevail where there is no rhus — that in MILK SICKNESS, OR TREMBLES. 417 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 destroys it. I. 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 intelligent individual who has been raised amidst the disease, has come to the conclusion, that the rhus toxicodendron is the cause of milk sickness. 9. That 4t is distinguished from the radicans, or common poison vine, by its different number of leaves — also, by its acridness of character. 10. A certain locality produces the disease, find it where you may, such as flat, heavy timber-land, interspersed with hazle and other underbrush, which is quite productive of the rhus. II. The seldom appearance of the disease on hilly, dry ground, is in consequence of such a place not being congenial to the production of that plant, so that what little does exist, is not so apt to produce the disease, in consequence of its unhealthy growth." " As to the pathology of this disease I know but little. I have treated quite a number of cases, but have never been favored with a post mortem examination ; consequently, I have had no other means of ascertaining morbid appearances than that of judging from symp- toms : the mere external developments s of the internal condition. We are told, however, that in animals which die of this disease, the mani- 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 action 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 around 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 reasonably 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, thickens the mucous lining to such an extent that it closes, in proportion to its seyerity, the passage from ths stomach to the bowels. I am 18* 418 CATTLE. 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 any general inflammatory condition of any of the chylopoetic vis- cera, but that the entire force of the disease is spent upon the sto- mach, and, perhaps, duodenum. " From what observation I have been able to make upon the sub- ject, I am inclined to the opinion that the lower portions of the bowels remain, measurably, if not entirely, exempt from inflamma- tion ; that it is entirely a disease of the stomach ; that in proportion to the severity with which that organ is attacked, in that proportion will the chylopoetic 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 hardened 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 great gastric irritability is, or might be, attributed to nervous excitement. This, to me, appears impossible ; for, if the nerves of the stomach were in such a morbid condition, acting under such a powerful excitement as to produce such distress- ing symptoms, would not the brain become sympathetically affected ? Would we not have an apparent case of phrenitis ? Whereas, the mind, generally, remains quiet. We sometimes see mental depression, but rarely ever mental aberration." Professor Drake, of Kentucky, says : " In the earliest stages qf this malady, in the cow, it may not display its existence, if the attack be not violent and the animal left to itself ; for in the beginning, as in all stages of the disorder, the appetite seems to be unimpaired, and the thirst not increased. Even this early stage, not less- than the more advanced, appears, however, to be attended with constipa- tion of the bowels.- The animal at length begins to mope and droop, to walk slower than its fellows, and to falter in its gait. If, under these circumstances, it should be driven, and attempt to run, the debility and stiffness of its muscles are immediately apparent. It fails rapidly, trembles, pants, and sometimes seems blind, as it runs against obstacles, but this may arise from vertigo ; 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 longer or shorter period, is again on its feet ; but its capacity for muscular effort is greatly impaired, and, if hurried in the slightest degree, it is seized with trembling and stiffness, and may even fall again. Of the state of the circulation, when it lies seriously ill, but little is known, as the puke has not been inspected. One observer perceived that the nose of a heifer was hot, but others COW-POX. 419 have found that part of. the 'skin generally cool. Perhaps their ob- servations were made in different stages of the disease. 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 precede 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, look's gaunt and thin, its hair as- sumes a dead" appearance, and sometimes falls off in considerable quantities, especially from the neck." " We met with no medical gentleman who had subjected animals laboring under this disease to a systematic, or even varied empirical treatment. All the people of the district have one and the same indica- tion to fulfill, that of" opening the bowels. When this can be effected, the animal, they say, scarcely ever dies — when it cannot, death occurs. For the fulfillment of this indication, Epsom salts has been administered in very large quantities, even to pounds, but without effect. Drenches of lard and various mixtures have also been given, with no satisfactory result. Judge Harold, near South Charleston, has exhibited calomel followed •by lard — no essential 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 strug- gle. 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 preferred oldr corn, some new, and others that which had been frost-bitten. This is fed to all these 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 said to produce purging, when every other means have failed, and then, it is affirmed, 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, set- tled down on this." " We found blood-letting not in favor. Dr. Toland supposes it has, generally, been employed at too late a period. Many non-professional persons spoke of having resorted to it without advantage, and some thought it had done harm." [A friend assures the editor that early bleeding, purgation, and injections, have proved effectual to remove the disease in most cases.] COW-POX. Cows are subject to two distinct species of pustular eruption on the teats. Little vesicles or bladders appear; they often differ coiv- 420 CATTLE. siderably in size and form, and are filled with a purulent matter. In the course of a few days a scab forms upon them, ■which peels off, and the part underneath is sound. If the pustules are rubbed off in the act of milking, or in any other way, small ulcers are left, which are very sore, and sometimes difficult to heal. The best treatment is washing and fomenting ; a dose of physic, and the application of the ointment for sore teats recommended in page 408. The cause, like that of many other pustular eruptions, is unknown ; except that it is contagious, and is readily communicated from the cow to the milker, if the hand be not quite sound, and from the milker to other cows. There is another kind of pustular eruption, of a more important character, and with which the preceding one has been confounded. It also consists of vesicles or bladders on the teats ; but they are larger, round, with a little central depression ; they are filled at first with a limpid fluid, which by degrees becomes opaque and purulent, and each of them is surrounded by a broad circle* of inflammation. This is more decidedly a constitutional disease than the former. The cow exhibits evident symptoms of fever ; she does not feed well ; sometimes she ceases to ruminate, and the secretion of milk is usual- ly diminished. These pustules go through a similar process with the former ones — they dry up, and at length the scabs fall off, leaving th_e skin beneath sound ; but if they are broken before this, the ulcers are larger, deeper, of a more unhealthy character, and generally far more difficult to heal. This is the genuine cow-pox. The treatment is nearly the same, except that, being accompanied by more constitutional disturbance, an aperient is more necessary, and it may occasionally be prudent to abstract blood. The frequent application of Goulard's lotion, with an equal portion of spirit of wine, will, at least in the early stage of the ulcer, be preferable to the ointment ; but better than this, and until the ulcers are begin- ning to heal, will be the dilute solution of the chloride of lime. If the teats are washed with this before the cow is milked, it will go far toward preventing the communication of the disease. The most interesting circumstance connected with this pustular eruption is, that the persons on whom it appeared were, for a con- siderable period, (it was once thought, during life,) protected from the small-pox. This was known among farmers from time immemo- rial. But to no one, whom experience had convinced of the active protective power of the cow-pox, had it occurred to endeavor to as- certain whether it might not be possible to propagate the affection by innppulation from one human being to another, and thus communi- cate security agajnst small-pox at will. To the mind of Mr. Jenner, the probability of accomplishing this first presented itself. He innoculatei", a boy with the matter taken COW-POX. 421 from the hands of a milkmaid who had been infected The disease was communicated, and jvith it the immunity which he expected. He multiplied his experiments, and was successful in all of them ; and, at length, established the power of vaccination, and proved him- self to be one of the greatest benefactors to the human race that ever lived. Some practitioners of no little eminence have recom- mended (and perhaps it deserves more consideration than has been given to it) a return to the primary fountain for a recruit of power and energy, after the lapse of a certain period and the prosecution of a certain number of successive experiments, CHAPTER XVII. THE GENERAL DISEASES AND MANAGEMENT OF CALVES. In whatever manner the calf is afterwards to be reared, it should remain with the mother for a few days after it is dropped, and until the milk can be used in the dairy. The little animal will thus derive the benefit of the first milk, that to which nature has given an ape- rient property, in order that the black and glutinous faeces that had been accumulating in the intestines during the latter months of the foetal state, might be carried off. The farmer acts wrongly when he throws away, as he is too much in the habit of doing, the- heastinffs, or first milk of the cow. NAVKL-IM,. The calf being cleaned, and having begun to suck, the navel-string should be examined. Perhaps it may continue slowly to bleed. In this case a ligature should be passed round it closer, but, if it can be avoided, not quite close to the belly. Possibly the spot at which the division of the cord took place may be more than usually sore. A pledget of tow well wetted with Friar's balsam should be pl?«ed over it, confined with a bandage, and changed every morning and night, but the caustic applications, that are so frequently resorted to, should be awided. Sometimes, when there has been previous bleeding, and especially if the caustic has been used to arrest the haemorrhage, and at other times, when all things have seemed to have been going on well, inflam- mation suddenly appears about the navel, between the third and eighth or tenth day. There is a little swelling of the part, but with more redness and tenderness than such a degree of enlargement would indicate. Although there may be nothing in the first appear- ance of uhis to excite alarm, the navel-ill is a far more serious business than some imagine. - Fomentation of the part in order to disperse the tumor, the opening of it with a lancet if it evidently points, and the administration of two or three two-ounce doses of castor oil, made into an emulsion by means of an egg, will constitute the first treat- ment ; but if, when the inflammation abates, extreme weakness should come on, as is too often the case, gentian and laudanum, with, per- haps, a small quantity of port wine, should be administered. Homoeopathic treatment. — In inflammation give some doses of aeon- CONSTIPATION. Hum ; and then arnica, and wash the parts with arnica water ; and if there be weakness, give china to combat it. CONSTIPATION. If the first milk, or beastings, has been taken from the calf, and constipation, from that, or from any other cause, succeeds, an aperient should be administered without delay. The sticky black faeces, with which the bowels of the newly-born calf are often loaded, must be got rid of. Castor oil is the safest and the most effectual aperient for so young an animal. It should be given, mixed up with the yolk of an egg, or in thick gruel, in doses of two or three ounces ; and even at this early age, the carminative which forms so usual and indispensable an ingredient in the physic of cattle must not be omitted : a scruple of ginger should be added to the oil. Constipation of another kind may be prevented, but rarely cured. If the weather will permit, and the cow is turned out during the day, and the calf with her, the young one may suck as often and as much as it pleases — the exercise which it takes with its mother, and the small quantity of green meat which it soon begins to crop, will keep it healthy ; but if it be under shelter with its dam, and lies quiet and sleepy the greater part of the day, some restraint must be put upon it. It must be tied in a corner of the hovel, and not permitted to suck more than three times during the day, otherwise it will take more milk than its weak digestive powers will be able to dispose of, and which will coagulate, and form a hardened mass, and fill the stomach and destroy the animal. The quantity of this hardened curd which has sometimes been taken from the fourth stomach almost exceeds belief. This is particularly the case when a foster-mother, that probably had calved several weeks before, is given to the little one, or the calf has too early been fed with the common milk of the dairy. [The only chance of success in this disease lies in the frequent administration (by means of the stomach-pump, or the drink poured gently down from a small horn) of plenty of warm water, two ounces of Epsom salt being dissolved in the quantity used at each adminis- tration. At a later period, the calf is sometimes suffered to feed too plenti- fully on hay, before the manyplus has acquired sufficient- power to grind down the fibrous portions of it. This will be indicated by dull- ness, fever, enlargement of the belly, and the cessation of rumination, but no expression of extreme pain. The course pursued must be the same. The manyplus must be emptied, either by washing it out, by the frequent passage of warm water through it, or -by stimulating it to greater action, through the means of the sympathetic influence of a purgative on the fourth stomach and the intestinal canal. A tendency to costiveness in a calf should be obviated as speedily as possible — it is inconsistent with the natural and profitable thriving 424 CATTLE. of the animal, and it can never long exist without inducing a degree of feyer, always dangerous, and generally fatal. Homoeopathic treatment. — The more or less inflammatory state' which generally accompanies it, requires that we commence the treatment with a dose of aconitum. The most effectual means then is nux vomica ; it is indicated chiefly, when the evacuations from the bowels are scanty, hard, covered with mucus, and when the animal frequently draws up the belly. If there be no thirst, we should have recourse to china and bryonia. The latter remedy is also suitable when the constipation has been produced by cold, a circumstance in which it frequently alternates with diarrhoea. Opium and argila must be employed when the inaotive state of the intestinal tube allows nothing to escape from the body, and the animal remains lying down, though evincing no pain. Tn very obstinate constipation, where the rectum is empty, and also where only a small quantity of matter escapes, which is not very hard, plumbum never fails, to be effectual. DIARBHCEA. The disease, however, to which calves are most liable, and which is most fatal to them, is purging. It arises from various causes : the milk of the mother may not agree with the young one ; it may be of too poor a nature, and then it produces that disposition to acidity, which is so easily excited in the fourth stomach and the intestines of the calf; or, on the other hand, it may be too old and rich, and the stomach, weakened by the attempt to convert it into healthy chyle, secretes or permits the development of an acid fluid. It is the result of starvation and of excess — it is the almost necessary consequence of a sudden change of diet ; in fact, it is occasionally produced by every thing that- deranges the process of healthy digestion. The farmer needs not to be alarmed although the faeces should become thin, and continue so during two or three days, if the animal is as lively as usual, and feeds as he was wont ; but if he begins to droop, if he refuses his food, if rumination ceases, and he is in evident pain, and mucus, and perhaps blood, begin to mingle with the dung, and that is far more fetid than in its natural state, not an hour-should be lost. The proper treatment has already been described under the titles of diarrhoea and dysentery, pp. 338, 339. A mild purgative (two ounces of castor oil, or three of Epsom salt) should first be administered, to carry away the cause of the disturbed state of the bowels. To this should follow anodyne and astringent and alkaline medicines, with a mild carminative. The whole will consist of opium, catechu, chalk, and ginger. The proportions of each have already been given in p. 339, when describing the treatment of diarrhoea. The use of this mixture should be accompanied by frequent drenching with starch or thick gruel ; by the removal of green or acescent food, and by giving bran mashes, with a little pea or bean flour. HOOSE. 425 Homoeopathic treatment. — The cure of diarrhoea is effected by- different means. In the diarrhoea which bursts out suddenly, or the acute form, -we should commence with a couple of doses of aconitum at short intervals ; after which, in most cases, arsenicum and ipeca- cuanha are very effectual. The diarrhoea brought on by cold often yields to aconitum alone, as that resulting from any irregularity in diet yields to arsenic. If in the latter case there be also loss of appetite, and if arsenic does not effect a cure, Pulsatilla should be given, or when there is an absolute repugnance to food, antimonium crudum, especially when the diarrhoea alternates periodically with constipation. If there be frequent dejections without pain, we have recourse to rheum. Asarum is useful, if the evacuations are fluid, and sometimes mixed with bloody mucus. In the treatment of chronic diarrhoea, besides china, sulphur, cha- momilla, and veratrum, which has been found useful more than once, we should employ acidum phosphorieum, bryonia, calcarea acetica, dulcamara, magnesia carboniea, petroleum, and phosphorus. Diarrhoea is usually accompanied with a general morbid state, with respect to which we are to choose, among these several means, that which suits best. Sulphur and arsenicum are the principal remedies for diarrhoea in calves. When slight, dysentery resembles severe diarrhoea, and requires the remedies which have been indicated under the head of the latter disease. In calves, diarrhoea, accompanied with emaciation and loss of appe- tite, very often puts on the dysenteric character ; the animal every moment passes liquid matter of a greenish or yellowish color. In such case, pulsatilla is a specific. Benefit has also been obtained from chamomilla, and, when the evacuations were white, from mercurius A sufficiently alarming view has been given of this disease in adult cattle, but calves are even more subject to it ; it takes on in them a more dangerous character, and more speedily terminates in wasting and in death. Hoose often assumes an epidemic form in cattle of a twelvemonth old and upward ; it often appears as an epidemic among calves, and carries off great numbers of them. The treatment recom- mended for grown cattle under the article Hoose, in p. 248, icE, s causes of, symptoms and treat- ment, 323. Jejunum , description of the, 330, 331. Jenner, Dr., his discovery of the pre- ventive power of the cow-pox,' 420. Joint murrian, its treatment, 226. Joints opened, the treatment of, 431. Joints, swellings of them, the' causes and treatment of, 429. Jugular vein, description of the, 204. Kerry, the cow of, description of, 78. Kidneys, anatomical structure of the, 366. Kidneys, inflammation of the, causes, symptoms, and treatment of, 374. Kidneys, calculi in, symptoms and treat- ment of, 377. Kintore ox, 53. Knee, description of the, 143. Kyloe, origin of the term, 42. Larynqites, the treatment of, 259. Lead, the usual preparations of, 455. Legs, the, of cattle should be short, 17. Leicester new breed, inquiry into the . value of, 88. Leicester new breed, improved the whole breed of long-horns, 89. Leicester new breed, superseded by the short-horns, 92. Lice, how produced, and the method or destroying them, 442. Lime, the chloride of, an excellent disin- fectant, 231. Lincolnshire cattle, description of, 136. Linseed, experiments on its fattening pro- perties, 71. Linseed meal, excellent for poultices, 455. Linseed oil, a good purgative, 456. Lips, description and use of, 185. 20* Lip, upper, the use of the numerous glands in, 186. Liquids, the circumstances under which they enter the rumen, 297. Liver, the structure and functions of, 320. Liver, on inflammation of the, 321. Liver, the difficulty of detecting chronic inflammation of, 322. Liver, on hemorrhage from it, 322. Long-horns, the, appear to have origi- nated in Graven, 81. Long-horns, two distinct breeds of, the smaller and the larger, 81, Long-horns, the history' of the improve- ment of, 83. Loss of cud , nature and treatment of, 309. Loss of cud, more a symptom of disease than a separate disease, 309. Lungs, the, their structure, 245, 264. Lungs, inflammation of, symptoms and treatment of, 264. Lungs, inflammation of, acute and epi- demic, its occasional devastations, 267. Madness, causes and treatment of, 177. Mange, the nature and treatment of, 439. Manyplus, internal construction of the, 288, 289, 292. Manyplus, the manner in which it reduces the food to a pulpy mass, 298. Manyplus, the diseases of, 313. Manyplus, the occasional strangely hard- ened state of its contents, 314. Meath, the improvement of Irish cattle commenced in, 79. Mercury, the different preparations of it used, 456. Mesenteric glands, their structure and use, 333. Mesenteric glands, enlargement of them, 333. Mesentery, description of the, 330, 331. Middle-horns, the, were probably the ori- ginal cattle, 13. Milk, the average quantity of, yielded by the Yorkshire cow, 133. Milk fever, its nature and treatment, 401. Milk fever, the importance of purging in, 403,405. Milk vein, description of the, 210, 219. Milk vein, importance of a large one, 132. Moor-ill, the nature and treatment of, 336. Motor organic nerves, account of the, 205. Mouth, account of the bones of the, 184. Mouth, epidemic sore, 256. Murrain, the nature, symptoms, and treatment of, 252. Naooee cattle, an account of, 141. Navel-ill, the nature and treatment of, 422. ^ Neck of cattle, description of, 201, 208, 211, 212, 214, 215. Nerves of the leg, cuts of, 176. Net or knot, the nature and treatment of, 350. 466 INDEX. Neurotomy might be practised on cattle, 174. Neurotomy, the probable advantage of it in foul in the foot, 437. Neurotomy, description of the operation, 175. Neurotomy, outs illustrative of, 176. Nitre, its value in cattle practice, 457. Nitrous ether, spirit of it, when useful, 457. Norfolk, the native cattle of, 74. Norfolk polled cattle, their origin, 74. Nose, bleeding from the, 181. Nose, leeches in the, 182. Nose, polypus in the, 182. Nose, its membrane, inflammation of, 182, O'Callaghan, Col., 131. CEsophagean canal, cuts of it, 286, 288. (Esophagus, the structure of, 278, 291. (Esophagus, obstruction in the, treatment of, 27tf! (Esophagus, the manner of opening in choking, 281. (Esophagus, rupture of the, 285. (Esophagus, stricture of the, 284. (Estrus bovis, the history of its several states, 443. Opened joints, the treatment of, 431. Ophthalmia, its nature and treatment, • 159. Opium, the best anodyne, antispasmodic and astringent, 457. Ox, zoological description of, 9. Ox, British, early history of, 11. Pad on the upper jaw, description and use of the, 186. Palsy, causes and treatment of, 172. Pancreas, the. structure, functions, and diseases of, 328. Pantas, the nature and treatment of, 336. Papilla) of the rumen,, description of them, and of their uses, 295. Paps in the mouth, treatment of, 206. Parotid glands, inflammation of the, symptoms and treatment of, 205. Parturition. — See. Calving. Paunch. — See Rumen. Pembrokeshire cattle, description of, 37. Pericardium, inflammation of the, 220. Pericardium, the, often penetrated by sharp substances that have been taken into the rumen, 220. Pharyngites, the symptoms and treatment of, 258. Pharynx, description of the, 207. Pharynx, inflammation of the, 258. Pharynx, the mode of puncturing it in abscess situated there, 260. Phrenzy, symptoms and treatment of, 164. Phthisis. — See Consumption. Placenta, the intention of it, in abortion, 386. Placenta, the, should be discharged soon after oalvirig, 400, Placenta, method of separating it from the womb, 400. Pleurisy, its symptoms and treatment, 271. Pleuro-pneumonia, 267, 270. Pneumonia, the symptoms and treatment of, 264. Pneumonia, acute and epidemic, 267. Points of cattle, a description of the prin- cipal, 16. Poisons, a list of the various, and the mode of treating them, 310. Polled cattle, an account of the, 63. Polled and horned cattle, a comparison between them, 152. Polypus in the nose, on, 182. Poultices, when useful, 458. Probang, the use of, in hoove, recom- mended, 306. Pregnancy, the usual period of, 382. Pregnancy, symptoms of, 387. Presentation, natural, the management of, 389 Presentation, unnatural, do., 391. Puncturing the rumen in hoove, objec- tions to, 305. Puerperal Fever. — See Milk Fever. Pulse, cause of the, 223. Pulse, importance of attention to the, 223. Purging cattle, the occasional difficulty of, accounted for, 296, 357. Purging cattle, the method of proceeding when this occurs, 296, 357. Quarters, importance of their being long and full, 20. Quarter-evil, its nature and treatment, Rabies, the causes and symptoms of, 177. Rectum, description of the, 330, 332. Rectum, the treatment of inversion of, 354. Red-water, the nature and causes of, 367. Red-water has more to do with the diges- tive organs and the food than any other cause, 368. Red-water is most frequent in low marshy woody countries, 368. Red-water, acute, the nature and treat- ment of, 368. Red-water, the importance of bleeding and purging in, 369. Red-water, chronic, the nature and treat- ment of 370. Reticulum, the interior construction of it. 287, 289, 292. Reticulum, the action of it in the return of the food to the stomach, 287, 275. Reticulum, the diseases of the, 312 Rheumatism, the cause and treatment of, 428. Ribs, the number and proper form of, 236. Ribbed home, the importance of being, 76. Rings, the, on the horn, as indicating the ' age, 150. INDEX. 467 Rings, the, on the horn, as indicating the age, uncertainty of, 150. Rottenness See Dysentery. Rumen, the, viewed externally, 285, 286. Rumen, the, viewed internally, 288, 290. Rumen, general description of it, 238, 291. Rumen, description of its papilla), and their .uses, 291. Rumen, the fluid swallowed sometimes enters it, 296, 357. Rumen, this accounts for the occasional difficulty of purging cattle, 296, 357. Rumen, an account of the diseases of it, 299. Rumen, the strange substances often found in it, 299. Rumen, calculi in the, symptoms of, 299. Rumen, calculi in, the effect of, 300- Rumen, distensions of it by food, the symptoms and treatment of, 301. Rumen, distension of it by gas, 303. Rumen, inflammation of the, 310. Rumination, description of it, 298. Rupture of the panotes of the abdomen. — See Hernia. Rupture of the bladder, symptoms of, 380, Rupture of the oesophagus, treatment of, Rupture of the womb, treatment of, 379. Rye, ergot of, its use in parturition, 458. Salivary glands, description of the, 201. Salt, its use in food as a medicine, 458. Sapped. — See Constipation. Saphena vein, the, when it should be opened, 218 Septum, the nasal, why not perfect in the ox, 180. Setons, their occasional use, 458. Shetland Islands, general description of them, 51. Shetland Islands, description of the cattle there, 51. Shetland Islands, treatment of the cattle, 52. Shoot of blood, its nature and treatment, 225. .^aU Shooting. — See Dysentery. Short-horns, the, history of, 95. Short-horns, supposed to be originally im- ported from the Continent, 96. Short-horns, description of the old ones, 95. Short-horns, the Commencement of their improvement, tiG. Short-horns, the mode in which their im- provement was effected, 96. Short-horns, their excellence consists in a combination of qualities before believed to be incompatible, 95. Short-horns, the question of their capacity for work, 108. Short-horns, their early maturity should preclude their being put to work, 108. Short-horned bulls, the advantage of crossing different breeds with them, 108. Short-horns, the prevailing colors of, 109. Short-horned cow, her milking qualities, 133. Short-sighted, many cattle appear to be, 159. Shoulders; a slanting direction of them, the importance of, 19. Shropshire cattle, the old, 94. Shropshire oattle, the cross between them and the Holderness, 94. Silver, nitrate of, its use as a caustic, 459. Skeleton of the ox, out of the, 143. Skin, the cause and importance of its soft mellow feeling, 438. Skin, diseases of the, 438. Skull, cavity of the, cut of, 144. Skull, fracture of the, treatment of, 162. Skull, fracture of, almost invariably fatal, 162. Sliuking. — See Abortion. Smelling, on the sense of, 180. Soft palate, description of the, 337. Sore teats, treatment of, 408. Sore throat, the symptoms and treatment of, 258. Spinal cord, the comparative smallnessof, accounted for, 154. Spine, 241. Spleen, structure and funotion of the, 319. Spleen, hsomorrhage from the, 319. ■ Sprain in the leg and foot, symptoms and treatment of, 432. Stephenson, Mr., 114. Sternum, description of the, 237. Sternum, the width of the, sometimes compensates for flatness of the sides, 241. Stimulants, the propriety of adinistering, when it is difficult to purge cattle, 297. Stomachs of cattle, cuts of them, 285, 286, 288, 291. Stomach pump, the use of it in hoove re. oommended, 306. Stone in the bladder, symptoms and treat- ment of, 378. Stone in the kidneys, ditto and ditto, 377. Stone in the ureters, ditto and ditto, 377. Stone in the urethra, ditto, 379. Strangulation of the intestines, symptoms and treatment of, 350. Strangullion, description of it, 205. Strioture of the oesophagus, treatment of. 234. Subcutaneous abdominal vein, the ques- tion when it should be bled from, 219. Subcutaneous abdominal vein, the ana- tomy of it, 219. Sublingual glands, description of the, 207. Submaxillary vein, description of the, 204. Submaxillary artery, ditto, 205. Suffolk cattle, were originally duns, 75. Suffolk cattle, description of the, 75. Suffolk oattle, milking properties of, 75. Suffolk oattle, the bull east off far too early, 75. 468 INIEX. Sulphur, an exoellent purgative and alter- ative, 459. Sussex oxen, description of the, 33. Sussex oxen, resemblance and difference between them and the Devons, 33, 34. Sussex oxen, ditto, Herefords, 33, 34. Sussex cow, description of her, 34. Sussex cow, not good for the dairy, 35. Sweetbread, description of the, 244. Swelling of the joints, the causes and treatment of, 4$. Tail, description of the hones of the, 143. Tail, should be level with the bones of the back, 20. Tankerville, I-horns, 83. Welby, a farrier, stands first among the improvers of the long-horns, 83. West Highland cattle, the points in which they are valuable, 43. West Highland cattle, the secret of profit? ably breeding and grazing them, 50. INDEX. Wild cattle, accwnf. ->f, 13. Wind-pipe, description of thp, 243. Withers, holluwno.s behind them, disad- vantage of, 19. Womb, inversion of the, treatment of, 395. Womb, rupture of the, ditto, 39?. Wood-evil, nature and treatment •>', T36. Worms in the frontal siuuses of cattle, 147. Worms in the eye, treatment of, 162. Worms, an account of the various intesti- nal ones, 357. Wounds of the eve, management f Managing this Insect, through every branch of its Culture, the result of many ye«p* experience. Illustrated with many engravings. By T. B. Miner. 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