The American Reformed Cattle Doctor Part 9

Powdered lobelia, } of each, half a " ginger, } table-spoonful.

Boiling water, 1 gallon.

When cool, inject.

Particular attention must be paid to the general surface, If the surface and the extremities are cold, then employ friction, warmth, and moisture. The animal must be in a comfortable barn, neither too hot nor too cold; if it be imperfectly ventilated, the atmosphere may be improved by stirring a red-hot iron in vinegar or pyroligneous acid, or by pouring either of these articles on heated bricks. The strength is to be supported, provided the animal be in poor condition, with gruel, made of flour and shorts, equal parts; but, as it frequently happens (in this country) that animals in good flesh are attacked, in such case food would be inadmissible.

Suppose the animal to have been at pasture, and she is not observed to be "ailing" until rumination is suspended. She then droops her head, and has a cough, accompanied with difficult breathing, weakness in the legs, and sore throat. Then, in addition to warmth, moisture, and friction, as already directed, apply to the joints and throat the following:

Boiling vinegar, 1 quart.

African cayenne, 1 table-spoonful.

The throat being sore, the part should be rubbed gently. The joints may be rubbed with energy for several minutes. The liquid must not be applied too hot.

Take

Virginia snakeroot, } of each, 2 ounces.

Sage, } Skullcap, (herb,) 1 ounce.

Pleurisy root, 1 ounce.

Infuse in boiling water, 1 gallon.

After standing for the s.p.a.ce of one hour, strain; then add a gill of honey and an ounce of powdered licorice or slippery elm. Give a quart every four hours.

Should the cough be troublesome, give

Balsam copaiba, 1 table-spoonful.

Sirup of garlic, 1 ounce.

Thin gruel, 1 quart.

Give the whole at a dose, and repeat as occasion may require. A second dose, however, should not be given until twelve hours have elapsed.

Injections must not be overlooked, for several important indications can be fulfilled by them. (For the different forms, see APPENDIX.)

If the disease has a.s.sumed a typhus form, then the indications will be,--

First. To equalize the circulation and nervous system, and maintain that equilibrium. This is done by giving the following:--

Powdered African cayenne, 1 tea-spoonful.

" flagroot, 1 table-spoonful.

Skullcap, 1/2 ounce.

Marshmallows, 4 ounces.

Put the whole of the ingredients into a gallon of water; boil for five minutes; and, when cool, strain; sweeten with a small quant.i.ty of honey; then give a quart every two hours.

The next indication is, to counteract the tendency to putrescence. This may be done by causing the animal to inhale the fumes of pyroligneous acid, and by the internal use of bayberry bark. They are both termed antiseptics. The usual method of generating vapor for inhalation is, by first covering the animal's head with a horse-cloth, the corners of which are suffered to fall below the animal's nose, and held by a.s.sistants in such a manner as to prevent, as much as possible, the escape of the vapor. A hot brick is then to be grasped in a pair of tongs, and held about a foot beneath the nose. An a.s.sistant then pours the acid, (_very gradually_,) on the brick. Half a pint of acid will be sufficient for one steaming, provided it be used with discretion; for if too much is poured on the brick at once, the temperature will be too rapidly lowered.

In reference to the internal use of bayberry, it may be well to remark, that it is a powerful astringent and antiseptic, and should always be combined with relaxing, lubricating medicines. Such are licorice and slippery elm.

The following may be given as a safe and efficient antiseptic drink:--

Powdered bayberry bark, half a table-spoonful.

" charcoal, 1 table-spoonful.

Slippery elm, 1 ounce.

Boiling water, 1 gallon.

Mix. Give a quart every two hours.

The diet should consist of flour gruel and boiled carrots. Boiled carrots may be allowed (provided the animal will eat them) during the whole stage of the malady.

The object of these examples of special practice is to direct the mind of the farmer at once to something that will answer a given purpose, without presuming to say that it is the best in the world for that purpose. The reader will find in our _materia medica_ a number of articles that will fulfil the same indications just as well.

LOCKED-JAW.

Mr. Youatt says, "Working cattle are most subject to locked-jaw, because they may be p.r.i.c.ked in shoeing; and because, after a hard day's work, and covered with perspiration, they are sometimes turned out to graze during a wet or cold night. Over-driving is not an uncommon cause of locked-jaw in cattle. The drovers, from long experience, calculate the average mortality among a drove of cattle in their journey from the north to the southern markets; and at the head of the list of diseases, and with the greatest number of victims, stands 'locked-jaw,' especially if the princ.i.p.al drover is long absent from his charge."

The treatment of locked-jaw, both in horses and cattle, has, hitherto, been notoriously unsuccessful. This is not to be wondered at when we take into consideration the destructive character of the treatment.

"Take," says Mr. Youatt, "twenty-four pounds of blood from the animal; or bleed him almost to fainting.... Give him Epsom salts in pound and a half doses (!) until it operates. Purging being established, an attempt must be made to allay the irritation of the nervous system by means of sedatives; and the best drug is opium.[8] The dose should be a drachm three times a day. [One fortieth part of the quant.i.ty here recommended to be given in one day would kill a strong man who was not addicted to its use.] At the same time, the action of the bowels must be kept up by Epsom salts, or common salt, or sulphur, and the proportion of the purgative and the sedative must be so managed, that the const.i.tution shall be under the influence of both.[9] A seton of black h.e.l.lebore root may be of service. It frequently produces a great deal of swelling and inflammation.[10] ... If the disease terminates successfully, the beast will be left sadly out of condition, and he will not thrive very rapidly. He must, however, be got into fair plight, as prudence will allow, and then sold; for he will rarely stand much work afterwards, or carry any great quant.i.ty of flesh." The same happens to us poor mortals when we have been dosed _secundum artem_. We resemble walking skeletons.

Our own opinion of the disease is, that it is one of nervous origin, and that the tonic spasm, always present in the muscles of voluntary motion, is only symptomatic of derangement in the great, living electro-galvanic battery, (the brain and spinal cord,) or in some of its wires (nerves) of communication.

Mr. Percival says, "Teta.n.u.s consists, in a spasmodic contraction, more or less general, of the muscles of voluntary motion, and especially of those that move the lower jaw; hence the vulgar name of it, _locked-jaw_, and the technical one of _trismus_."

In order to make ourselves clearly understood, and furnish the reader with proper materials for him to prosecute his inquiries with success, a few remarks on the origin of muscular motion seem to be absolutely necessary.

It is generally understood by medical men, and taught in the schools, that there are in the animal economy four distinct systems of nerves.

1st system. This consists of the sensitive nerves, which are distributed to all parts of the animal economy endowed with feeling; and all external impulses are reflected to the medulla oblongata, &c. (See _Dadd's work on the Horse_, p. 127.) In short, these nerves are the media through which the animal gets all his knowledge of external relations.

2d system. The motive. These proceed from nearly the same centre of perception, and distribute themselves to all the muscles of voluntary motion. It is evident that the muscle itself cannot perform its office without the aid of the nerves, (electric wires;) for it has been proved by experiment on the living animal, that when the posterior columns of nervous matter, which pa.s.s down from the brain towards the tail, are severed, then all voluntary motion ceases. Motion may, however, continue; but it can only be compared to a ship at sea without a rudder, having nothing to direct its course. It follows, then, that if the nerves of motion and sensation are severed, there is no communication between the parts to which they are distributed and the brain. And the part, if its nutritive function be also paralyzed, will finally become as insensible as a stone--wither and die.

3d system. The respiratory. These are under the control of the will only through the superior power, as manifested by the motive nerves. For the animal will breathe whether it wishes to or not, as long as the vital spark burns.

4th system. The sympathetic, sometimes called _nutritive nerves_. They are distributed to all the organs of digestion, absorption, circulation, and secretion. These four nervous structures, or systems, must all be in a physiological state, in order to carry on, with unerring certainty, their different functions. If they are injured or diseased, then the perceptions of external relations are but imperfectly conveyed to the mind. (_Brutes have a mind._) On the other hand, if the brain, or its appendages, spinal marrow, &c., be in a pathological state, then the manifestations of _mind_ or _will_ are but imperfectly represented. Now, it is evident to every reasonable man, that the nerves may become diseased from various causes; and this explains the reason why locked-jaw sometimes sets in without any apparent cause. The medical world have then agreed to call it _idiopathic_. This term only serves to bewilder us, and fails to throw the least light on the nature of the malady, or its causes. Many men ridicule the idea of the nerves being diseased, just because alterations in their structure are not evident to the senses. We cannot see the atoms of water, nor even the myriads of living beings abounding in single drop of water! yet no one doubts that water contains many substances imperceptible to the naked eye. We know that epizootic diseases are wafted, by the winds, from one part of the world to another; yet none of us have ever seen the specific virus. Can any man doubt its existence?

Hence it appears that diseases may exist in delicately-organized filaments, without the cognizance of our external perceptions.

It is further manifest that locked-jaw is only symptomatic of diseased nervous structures, and that a pathological state of the nervous filaments may be brought about independent of a p.r.i.c.k of a nail, or direct injury to a nerve.

Hence, instead of teta.n.u.s consisting "in a spasmodic contraction of the muscles of voluntary motion," it consists in a deranged state of the nervous system; and the contracted state of the muscles is only symptomatic of such derangement. Then what sense is there in blistering, bleeding, and inserting setons in the dewlap? Of what use is it to treat symptoms? Suppose a man to be attacked with hepat.i.tis, (inflammation of the liver:) he has a pain in the right shoulder. Suppose the physician prescribes a plaster for the latter, without ascertaining the real cause, or perhaps not knowing of its existence. We should then say that the doctor only treated symptoms. "And he who treats symptoms never cures disease." Suppose locked-jaw to have supervened from an attack of acute indigestion: would it not be more rational to restore the lost function?

Suppose locked-jaw to have set in from irritating causes, such as bots in the stomach, worms in the intestines, &c.: would bleeding remove them? would it not render the system less capable of recovering its physiological equilibrium, and resisting the irritation produced by these animals on the delicate nervous tissues?

Suppose, as Mr. Youatt says, that locked-jaw sets in "after turning the animal out to graze during a cold night:" will a blister to the spine, or a seton in the dewlap, restore the lost function of the skin?

In short, would it not be more rational, in cases of locked-jaw, to endeavor to restore the healthy action of all the functions, instead of depressing them with the agents referred to?