Page:Willich, A. F. M. - The Domestic Encyclopædia (Vol. 2, 1802).djvu/162

142] D I S rious febrile symptoms, such as difficulty of breathing, a sinking in the flanks, and a dryness on the tongue, together with a loathing of the usual food and drink, great heaviness and debility. Animals affected with the distemper, fre-> quenfly shed tears ; their eyes ap- pear sometimes sparkling and in- flamed, but at intervals dull and languid. Their fond remains crude in the stomach for several days after it has been eaten, from their inability to digest it. This contagion spread most ra- pidly in the early part, and about the middle of last century, over several provinces in France, whence it reached this country, and de- stroyed great numbers of cattle. Various causes of this malady have been assigned, but that most gene- rally admitted, is the turning of cattle into rani-; grass, especially after heavy and frequent showers. Different remedies were then adopted; the best of which appears to be bleeding the infected animal in the earlier stages of the disorder; and the internal use of the Peruvian bark and red wine ; or, if these should fail to procure relief, a mix- ture of that drug and of burdock, about half an ounce of each, pul- verised, may be given twice night- ly, tor two or three succeeding rights, in warm water, which wiil seldom fail of effecting a cure. — Tar-water, consisting of one quart of tar and four of water, has like- wise been administered with con- siderable success, in the proportion of three quarts or a gallon, accord- ing to the size of the animal. Such a dose ought to be given four times everyday, but should be gradually lessened, so that the infected crea- ture never receive less than three pints, or two quarts. At the same DIS time it should be carefully ho every night, for several weeks, and the tar -water worked off with warm gruel and malt-mash. When the pasture is very exu- berant, it will be necessary to give purgatives to cattle, especially to cows ; as such precaution will most effectually prevent the spreading of this fatal disorder. Hence a cor~ respondent in the Gent. Mag. for 1/45, judiciously advises large draughts of butter-milk to be al- lowed, till they are sufficiently purged. Should, unfortunately, the dis- temper at any future time become so prevalent as it was in the last century, we would recommend the following directions (extracted from the 358th N°. of the Phiiosopk Trans'jtlions, for 1/14) to be strict- ly attended to : 1 . Those i keepers, whose cattle are wed, ought not to approach any cows that are sick, nor permit any per- son who has been with sick cows to come in conta/l with their own. 2. That not more than ter twelve cows be kept in a field to- gether (or a still smaller number, if possible) ; it having been i by experience, tint where the dis- ease prevailed among herds of sft - veral hundreds, very few escaped. 3. When a cow-keeper perceives any one of his cows to be infected, he ought to kill her immediately, before the disease can arrive at any height ; such being the only means of preserving the others. -1. All those cows which have been so killed, or happen to die of the dis- ease, ought to be immediately bu- ried with their hides, entirely co- vered with quic'.-lime, and after- wards with earth, not less than six feet deep. 5. The mil king-places and fields where such sick cows Iwve