THIS disease is well known to every farmer; the yellow appearance of the
skin, mouth, eyes, and saliva at once betray its presence. It consists
in the absorption of unchanged bile into the circulation, which bile
becomes diffused, giving rise to the yellow appearances.
In the treatment of jaundice, we first give a dose of physic, (see
APPENDIX,) and assist its operation by injections of weak lie,
made from wood ashes. The animal may roam about in the barn-yard, if the
weather will permit; or rub the external surface briskly with a wisp or
brush, which will answer the same purpose. The following may be given in
one dose, and repeated every day, or every other day, as the symptoms
may require:--
Powdered golden seal,(_hydrastus
canadensis_), 1 table-spoonful.
" slippery elm, 2 ounces.
Water sufficient to make it of the consistence of gruel.
Should a diarrhoea set in, it ought not to occasion alarm, but may be
considered as an effort of nature to rid the system of morbific matter.
It will be prudent, however, to watch the animal, and if the strength
and condition fail, then add to the last prescription a small quantity
of powdered gentian and caraway seeds.
There are various forms of disease in the liver, yet the treatment will
not differ much from that of the last-named disease. There is no such
thing as a medicine for a particular symptom, in one form of disease,
that is not equally good for the same symptom in every form. In short,
there is no such thing as a specific. Any medicine that will promote the
healthy action of the liver in one form of jaundice will be equally good
for the same purpose in another form of that disease.
Mr. Youatt states, "There are few diseases to which cattle are so
frequently subject, or which are so difficult to treat, as jaundice, or
yellows." Hence it is important that the farmer should know how and in
what manner the disease may be prevented. And he will succeed best who
understands the causes, which often exist in overworking the stomach,
with a desire to fatten. Men who raise cattle for the market often
attempt to get them in fine condition and flesh, without any regard to
the state of the digestive organs, the liver included; for the bile
which the latter secretes is absolutely necessary for the perfection of
the digestive process. They do not take into consideration the state of
the animals' health, the climate, the quality of food, and the quantity
best adapted to the digestive powers; and what is of still greater
importance, and too often overlooked, is, that all animals should be fed
at regular intervals. Some men suppose that so long as their cattle
shall have good food, without any regard to quantity,--if they eat all
day long, and cram their paunch to its utmost capacity,--they must
fatten; when, in fact, too much food deranges the whole digestive
apparatus. As soon as the paunch and stomach are overloaded, they press
on the liver, interfering with the bile-secreting process, producing
congestion and disorganization.
Diseases of the liver may be produced by any thing that will for a time
suspend the process of rumination: the known sympathy that exists
between the stomach and liver explains this fact.
Digestion, like every other vital process, requires a concentration of
power to accomplish it: now, if an ox should have a bountiful meal, and
then be driven several miles, the process of digestion, during the
journey, will be partly suspended. The act of compelling an ox to rise,
or annoying him in any way, will immediately suspend rumination, which
may result in an acute disease of the liver. In most cases, however, the
stomach is primarily affected.
Dealers in cattle often overfeed the animals they are about to dispose
of, in order to improve their external appearance, and increase their
own profits: the consequence is, that such animals are in a state of
plethora, and are liable at any moment to be attacked with congestion of
the liver or brain.
Again. If oxen are driven a long journey, and then turned into a pasture
abounding in highly nutritious grasses or clover, to which they are
unaccustomed, they fill the paunch to such an extent that it becomes a
matter of impossibility on the part of the animal to throw it up for
rumination; this mass of food, being submitted to the combined action of
heat and moisture, undergoes fermentation; carbonic acid gas is evolved;
the animal is then said to be "blown," "hoven," or "blasted." Post
mortem examination, in such cases, reveals a highly-congested state of
the liver and spleen.
In fattening cattle, the injury done to the organs of digestion is not
always observed in the early stages; for the vital power, which wages a
warfare against all encroachments, endeavors to accommodate itself to
the increased bulk; yet, by continuing to give an excess of diet, it
finally yields up the citadel to the insidious foe. Chemical action then
overpowers the vital, and disease is the result.
Thousands of valuable cattle are yearly destroyed by being too well, or,
rather, injudiciously fed. Many diseases of the liver and digestive
organs result from feeding on unwholesome, innutritious, and hard,
indigestible food. Bad water, and suffering the animal to partake too
bountifully of cold water when heated and fatigued, are among the direct
causes of disease.