Cattle 1853 - Lewis Family Farm

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kind is carefully withdrawn.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 complaint
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 mayexist
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 beyond
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 aromatic
(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 symptoms
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 remains
lying down on the left side.
HAEMORRHAGE FROM THE LIVER.
It has already been observed that v?he n *ly«« animals an> turned