DISEASES OF CATTLE.

FOUL IN THE FOOT, or hoof-ail. Dr. Peck, an English writer, has given the following account of this disorder and its treatment.

The first appearance of this disease is a hard crack between the claws or hoofs, attended with considerable inflammation; afterwards, a fœtid and offensive matter is discharged, similar to that of the grease in horses's heels; sometimes it appears in form of a large tumor upon the coronet, between the hair and the hoof, attended with violent pain and inflam

mation.

Wash the parts from all dirt, Castile soap should be used, and if between the claws, take a rope of proper thickness and chafe the part afflicted, and afterwards dress it with the butter of antimony, or oil of vitriol. Let the animal stand in a dry place for an hour; repeat the application every day. If the part be much affected, rub it with some stimulating ointment, and if the tumor be likely to suppurate, linseed poultices-as often as are necessary, should be applied, and repeated till the inflammation has subsided; then dress the wound with lint and mild astringent ointment. Due regard must be paid to existing symptoms. A few doses of Glauber's salts will cool the body and accelerate the cure.

Edward Skellet, Professor of the Veterinary art, an English writer of reputation, says that this disorder proceeds from two causes; the one from accidents, and the other from a morbid state of the system. Its situation is betwixt the claws of the cow, either in the fore or hind feet, but more frequently in the former. It is always attended with a swelling, the discharge from which, when it breaks or cracks, has a very offensive smell. The accidental foul proceeds from gravel, flint, bones, or any other hard substance getting between the claws, which produces great pain and inflammation. The first step to be taken for its cure, is to remove the hard substance, and clean the wound out; then the following ointment is to be applied to the part, spread on tow, and bound on with a cloth and string.-Soft soap, 1 lb.; common turpentine, 1 lb. Melt over a slow fire till the two articles are completely united. The dressings may be repeated two or three times, which never fail to complete a cure.

Another application is recommended in the fourth volume of the Massachusetts Agricultural Repository, viz. From one to three grains of corrosive sublimate, reduced to a fine powder, to be applied, as nearly as may be, completely into the slit, to be repeated once in twenty-four hours, until the cure is effected. Care should be taken to put a piece of rag, or bit of leather between the claws, lest the animal by licking the foot, should be injured by the corrosive sublimate. An ox, it is said, may be kept at work while affected with this disease, without injury, unless his lameness be so great as to impair his condition.

GRAIN SICKNESS. The first symptoms of this disease are a dull, heavy appearance about the eyes of the animal; she frequently shifts about from one side to the other, or when let loose or driven about complains very much. On examining her, a fullness may be perceived betwixt the hips and ribs, on the opposite side to the milking one; if pressed with the hand, this fullness will be felt to consist in the extension of the stomach. As the disease advances, a loss of milk ensues, and a total dislike to any food.

This disease is caused by a surfeit of grain, and its remedies are

DISEASES OF CATTLE.

bleeding and purging; the first to relieve the urgent symptoms, the second to remove the cause of the malady. The quantity of blood, according to Dr. Skellet, should not be less than two or three quarts, but as he prescribes for large cows in the vicinity of London, perhaps a smaller quantity would be preferable for animals of but a midling size. The purging drink recommended by the same author, is as follows;-Sulphur, from 8 to 12 ounces, proportioning it to the strength of the animal; nitre, 2 ounces, turmeric and cummin seeds, of each 1 ounce.

When this has operated in unloading the stomach, the weakness of that organ, the loss of appetite which ensues, and the deficiency of milk connected with it, will be repaired by medicines of an aromatic and bracing nature, such as coriander, ginger, anisseed, &c. Diluent liquors and mashes, form the proper food for some days.

A writer in the New England Farmer recommends to give either to horses or cattle, which have eaten too much grain a pint of melted hog's lard, as soon as the fact is ascertained.

WARTS, or Horney Excrescences. These are affections of the skin, which, in cows, do not go deep; they destroy the roots of the hair wherever they form, and are of a firm horny texture, and readily give way when pulled or roughly handled, which occasions them to bleed, and shows their connexion with the vessels of the skin. They readily yield to emollient ointments, particularly to goose grease, which should be frequently rubbed on them till the excresences fall off.

MANGE. This is a cutaneous disease which is very contagious, for so many cows as come in contact with one laboring under the disorder will be sure to catch it. Its symptoms are a scurf on the external part of the body, which is always attended with an itching. This the animal shews by having a continual inclination to rub the affected part or parts against any thing she can get at. Some say that it is caused by a kind of animalculæ, which burrow in the skin. It generally attacks those animals which are low in flesh, and have been fed on poor forage.

The first step to effect a cure of this disease, is to gently curry off the scurf, in order that the medicine may have the better effect. After this, the following application is to be rubbed on the parts affected, which may be repeated every three or four days, till a cure is effected; and it seldom requires more than two or three applications :-Flour of sulphur, 1 lb.; spirits of turpentine, half a pint; train oil enough to make it into a thin líquid.

HORN DISTEMPER. This is a disease which has its seat in the horns; cows are more subject to it than oxen, and it does not attack bulls; steers and heifers under three years old, it is said are not subject to it. The distemper causes the pith of the horn to be gradually consumed. It is most commonly confined to one horn only, but sometimes appears in both. It is occasioned by poor keeping, by which the blood becomes thin and reduced, and does not circulate properly in the extremities. It is discovered by the sluggishness of the animal, loss of appetite, coldness of the horn, and disposition to lie down.

To cure the disease, the horn should be bored with a nail gimblet in such a manner as to effect a discharge of the matter, which has become purulent. The hollow part should be well cleansed by vinegar, in which

DISEASES OF CATTLE.

a portion of salt has been dissolved, to be injected by a syringe. Dr. Dean recommends the injection of a mixture of rum and honey, with myrrh and aloes. Stimulating medicines, such as ginger, spices, &c. have been given; but these are injurious, until the bowels have been evacuated. Laxatives, however, such as sulphur, Glauber's salts, &c., prove serviceable, and after the bowels are evacuated, and the horn well cleansed, good keeping will be necessary to effect the cure.

A writer in the New England Farmer recommends the following mixture to be given to cattle affected with this disease, viz. salt and soot, of each half a pint; black pepper, one table spoonful. Soot is frequently administered, combined with the yolk of eggs. For this disease, spirits of turpentine will be found of essential service, applied freely to the top of the head, along the roots of the horn. It will commonly be found, it is believed that cattle afflicted with the horn distemper, have the end of the tail soft and relaxed. In this case, a small piece of the tail should be cut off; or, which is still better, it may be slit for an inch or two, and pounded garlic inserted, taking care to cover the end of the tail with a rag, to prevent the garlic from falling out.

UDDER-ILL. This disease primarily arises from an imperfect digestion, occasioned by a morbid state of the stomach. The chyle from which the milk is formed, consequently becomes depraved, and the disease shows itself in the udder, or rather in one of the quarters of the udder, the milk of which will be found to be more or less bloody, according to the extent of the disease. For this, Dr. White recommends the following drench Barbadoes aloes, half an ounce; common salt, four ounces, ginger, one drachm; water, one quart; anodyne carminitive tincture, two ounces, or as a substitute for this last, one table spoonful of laudanum. This drench having been administered, the animal should be turned to short and sweet grass, where she may have sufficient exercise in getting her food. This will gradually strengthen the stomach, improve the digestion and chylification, and purify the blood. The swollen udder or rather, that quarter of the udder which is affected (for there is seldom more than one affected at a time,) should have the bad milk drawn from it three or four times a day; for by remaining in the quarter, it would irritate and increase the inflammation. The only application necessary for the swollen udder, is neat's foot oil, or olive oil, and when it is considerable, fomentation may also be made use of.

SORE TEATS. Some cows are more subject to sore teats than others; they are liable to this complaint at all seasons of the year, particularly such cows as have newly calved. If the teats be afflicted in the summer, they often become ulcerated; and the flies plague and teaze them to such a degree as to render it difficult to milk them. It is a great nuisance at the time of milking, as blood and corruption are liable to pass between the fingers into the milk. The following liniment ought always to be kept in readiness for purposes of this kind :-Take elder ointment and yellow basilicon ointment, of each four ounces; spirit of turpentine, one ounce; mix them well together on a slab.

The cow's teats may be well rubbed with this ointment every night, and morning after milking. If in the summer, and the flies plague them, add one ounce of assafoetida, or aloes, in powder, and dissolve it along with the ointment and wax. This will prevent the flies from teazing the

animal.

DISEASES OF SHEEP.

LICE. Cattle that have been half starved during the winter, by being kept on bad hay or straw, in cold, damp situations, are often covered with lice. These may be killed by dusting common Scotch snuff on to those parts where the lice are found; but care should be taken not to apply it where the animal is able to lick it off; or the following lotion may be applied, viz., corrosive sublimate, two drachms; muriatic acid, half an ounce; water, one pound. Clater recommends the following wash:-Stavesacre, (Larkspur, or louse-wort,) half a pound; tobacco, cut small, two ounces; boil in one gallon of urine down to three quarts. With this wash, sponge such parts as are infested by lice; repeat if necessary in five or six days.

3.-SHEEP.

The diseases to which sheep are liable in other countries, are quite numerous; but in the United States, but two, according to Chancellor Livingston, are found to prevail to any great extent-the scab, and the staggers or dizziness.

SCAB. This is a common disorder among our sheep. It is so well known as not to need a particular description. Mr. Livingston advises, on its first appearance in a flock, to take out the wool from the part affected, and to apply spirits of turpentine and lard to the place. Should this application not prove efficacious, he advises to separate such sheep as are infected from the more healthy-to cut off the wool as far as the skin feels hard to the finger, wash with soap suds, and rub hard with a shoe brush, so as to cleanse and break the scab. "I always," says he, keep for this use, a decoction of tobacco, to which I add one third, by measure, of the lye of wood ashes, as much hog's lard as will be dissolved by the lye, a small quantity oftar from the tar bucket, which contains grease, and about one eighth of the whole, by measure, of spirits of turpentine. This liquor is rubbed upon the part infected, and spread at a little distance around it. In three washings, with an interval of three days each, I have never failed, in this way, to effect a cure, when the disorder is only partial.

Clater recommends the following mixture:-Take mercury or quicksilver, 1 lb.; Venice turpentine, half a pound; spirits of turpentine, 2 oz.; work them well together in a marble mortar, until the mercury is thoroughly incorporated, which may be completed in the course of five or six hours; then take four pounds of hog's lard, melt it over a slow fire, and when about as warm as new milk, add to it the quicksilver, and keep it constantly stirring until it grows stiff. One pound of the ointment is sufficient to dress seven sheep for the scab; and if slightly infected, it will suffice for from that number to ten,

The method of using this ointment is as follows:-Divide the wool on the back from the head to the tail, so as to expose the skin, then take a small quantity of the ointment, and rub it well in upon the skin from the head to the tail. Next divide the wool on each side, and rub the remaining part of the ointment well in.

The following preparation has also been found effectual:-Mix one pound of tobacco, one ounce of white arsenic, one pint of oil of turpentine, and six quarts of beef brine, with a small quantity of tar, and boil the

DISEASES OF SHEEP.

whole till the ingredients become incorporated so as to form a liniment. In applying which, every scab must be broken, and the sheep be well rubbed, that the liquid may penetrate every part. Another efficacious remedy, similar to the one which we have extracted from Clater, was communicated by Sir Joseph Banks to the "Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures, and Commerce," in 1789, from whose transactions for that year we have selected it :-Let one pound of pure quicksilver, Venice turpentine and common oil, of each half a pound, and four pounds of hog's lard, be triturated in a mortar till the quicksilver is thoroughly incorporated with the various ingredients.

In applying this ointment, the head of the sheep must be first rubbed; after which a furrow is to be drawn with the finger, from the region between the ears, along the back to the point of the tail, so as to divide the wool, till the skin be exposed to the touch. Then the finger being dipped into the unguent, must be drawn along the skin; and similar furrows should be made down the shoulders and thighs, and as far as the wool extends; and if the sheep be much infected, two other lines or furrows ought to be drawn parallel to that on the back; and one should also be traced downwards on each side, between the fore and hind legs.

Another application which has been highly recommended is composed of tobacco, lime water, and oil of vitriol, to which we may add from the same authority," another excellent remedy," viz. a decoction of hellebore, mixed with vinegar, sulphur, and spirits of turpentine.

STAGGERS OF DIZZINESS. This disorder is found upon dissection to be owing to a bag containing water within the skull, which presses upon the brain. It is generally considered as incurable, though it is said by others that it may be remedied by trepanning: a soft place on the head indicates the situation of the bag, which if taken out whole, will remove the disorder; others pass a sharp wire up the nostrils into the brain and perforate the bag; the suppuration which this occasions effects the cure; five out of six, however, die under this operation, and it may therefore be considered as incurable by the doctor.

PINNING and SCOURING. Lambs, soon after the birth, are subject to a disorder called pinning. It consists in the excrements being so glutinous as to fix the tail to the vent, which if neglected will often kill the lamb. The remedy is to wash them clean, and rub the buttocks and tail with dry clay, which will prevent any further adhesion. Lambs are also subject to scouring or purging. This generally arises from being kept too cold; sometimes from the quality of the ewe's milk. They should with the parent ewes be put in a warm dry sheltered cot; the ewes should have plenty of nutritious food given them; such as oats, old Indian corn, and wheat bread; care should be taken that they nurse their lambs duly, for, it often happens that this complaint is aggravated from a penury of milk; in which case, the deficiency should be supplied by cow's milk boiled, or by letting the lamb suck a cow.

TICK. The remedies applied in England are solutions of arsenic, or corrosive sublimate, and decoctions of tobacco. The first are dangerous to the operator, and many occasion fatal accidents; the last are hurftul to the sheep if not carefully applied. Chancellor Livingston recommends to take a bellows, to the nozel of which a pipe must be affixed capable of containing a handful of tobacco; (the refuse from the tobacconists will