Cattle 1853 - Lewis Family Farm

MEDICINES USED IN THE TREATMENT Of CATTLE. 463
to the urgency of the case. The practitioner must not be alarmed
at the intermittent pulse which is produced. It is by means of certain
pauses and intermissions in the action of the heart, that the
rapidity of the circulation is diminished when this drug is exhibited.
The intermittent pulse is that which the practitioner will be anxious
to obtain, and which he will generally regard as the harbinger of returning
health.
Diuretics.—They are allowable and beneficial in swelled legs,
foul in the foot, and all dropsical affections, while they advantageous-
ly alternate with other medicines in the treatment of mange, and all
cutaneous affections, and in cases of mild or chronic fever. Nitre
and liquid turpentine are the best diuretics ; and almost the only
ones on which dependence can be placed. The doses have been
already pointed out.
Drinks.—It is needless again to explain the reason why all medi-
cines that cannpt be concealed in the food must be administered to
cattle in the form of drinks. If they are exhibited in a solid form,
they will break through the floor of the cesophagean canal, and enter
the rumen. Farriers and cow-leeches, however, often give to their
drinks the force and momentum of a ball, by the large vessels from
which they are poured all at once down the throat. There are few
things of more consequence than attention to the manner in which a
drink is administered.
Elder.—The leaf of this tree is used boiled in lard. It forms one
of the most soothing and suppling ointments that can be applied.
The practitioner should make his own elder ointment, for he will
often receive frqm the druggist an irritating unguent formed of lard
colored with verdigris, instead of the emollient one furnished by the
elder.
Epsom Salts.—See Magnesia.
Fomentations.—If, owing to the greater thickness of the skin,
these are not quite so effectual in cattle as in the horse, yet, as opening
the pores of the skin and promoting perspiration in the part, and
thus abating local swellings, and relieving pain, and lessening inflammation,
they are often exceedingly serviceable. The practitioner may
use the decoction of what herbs he pleases, but the chief virtue of
the fomentation depends on the warmth of the water.
Gentian.—An excellent stomachic and tonic, whether at the close
of illness, or as a remedy for chronic debility. Its dose varies from
one to four drachms, and should be almost invariably combined with
ginger.
Ginger.—The very best aromatic in the list of cordials for cattle,
and, with the exception of caraways, superseding all the rest. The
dose will vary from half a drachm to four drachms.
Goulard's Extract.—See Lead.
Hellebore, Black.—The root of it forms an excellent seton when