SOME ANIMAL AILMENTS.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 1163, 15 June 1894, Page 4

SOME ANIMAL AILMENTS.

COUGH IN HORSES. Inquiries remedies for cough of horses are so frequent that we give the remedies of the best veterinary practitioners. Coughs often come from derangement of the digestive organs, and mere anodynes will not correct these functional ailments. Professor Dick's recipe is thirty grains each of calomel, digitalis, opium and camphor made into a ball. Where the remedy is to be used daily for a week or more, the calomel is omitted. The efficacy of this compound is largely due to the regulation of the bowls, while the other ingredients remove the irritability. During the inclement seasons of epriug and fall, cough is frequent in 'all domestic animals. Although a cough is not a disease, but a common symptom of several diseases, yet the removal of the cause often leaves a chronic condition accompanied with a cough, which may bo relieved by giving daily one of six balls made by mixing sufficient linseed meal to one ounce of tar to make six balls. Cough after influenza, bronchitis or pneumonia with much secretion, one drachm of sulphate of copper, two drachms of extract of ginger, made into a ball with lirtped meal, given daily for a week will be found useful. EINGWOBK. F. H. owns a litter of pigs, one of which has a red spot on each side of the head, just below the ears. These spread, reaching the eye one one side This favus, or honeycomb ringworm, is contagious. The following mixture, applied twice a day, will remove the affection : Olive oil eight ounces, Goulard's extract of lead one ounce, laudanum one-half ounce. Put in a bottle and shake well before applying. Tincture of iodine, daily applied, is a reliable remedy. Also half an onnce of bisulphite of soda to a pint of water is an application of value. Internally, for a young pig, a tablespoonful of castor oil will aid the external treatment. As a general rule, where a disease occurs in young animals, it will be advisable to separate the sick from the well, lest the affection prove infectious or contagious. CRACKED HEELS—SCRATCHES. J.D. desires to know the cause and treatment of scratches in horses. One, and the most frequent, cause of scratches is neglect to dry and cleanse the feet of ' horses that have been driven in mud, and allowed to remain in the stable all night without having their legs and feet well cleaned. Standing in mud and slush, or even excessive washing with cold water without drying, will excite erythema, of the white feet) mi

parts of the body that are white. Washing should be quickly performed, and with the chill taken off the water by adding hot water to the cold. As a rule, the broom and brush should be first thoroughly used, then the limbs rubbed smoothly with absorbent cloths. If reßort is had to washing, the legs only, below the knees and gambrels, should be washed and then dried thoroughly. The treatment consists of cleanliness, sponging the affected parts with a solution of sulphate of copper, two ounces to the pint of water, and applying carbolated glycerine at night. PAJNLESS SURGERY IN SMAW, OPERATIONS. j p.—Warts can be removed as well by the farmer and dairyman as by the hand of the professinal surgeon. Theie is no reason why they should not practise and properly perform many operations of minor surgery in a humane manner upon the faithful and feeling animals of the farm. The same amesthetic—producing insensibility from pain—-locally applied, is not only useful for the animals of the farm, but also upon the member of the family, for cuts, bruises, burns, boils, and the subsequent dressings of these. An ounce of a twenty per cent, solution of cocaine may be obtained at the druggists ; a drachm or two locally applied by means of a small, soft sponge upon the human skin, for five or six minutes, or upon the teats of animals for ten minutes, just where the operation is to be made, removes all feeling for from fifteen to twenty minutes. Where there is hair on the part to be operated, this must bo clipped off or shaved. The application, occasionally, to painful boil*, of this solution, of cocaine temporarily relieves the pain and suffering, thus securing a good night's sleep and freedom from pain. Where boils or abscesses are to be opened, the agony and dread of the operation is completely removed. Moistened lint, or several folds of an old linen handkerchief or napkin covered with oiled silk or piece of bladder, retains the moisture and keeps up the anaesthesia for a longer period. Bee stings and slivers in the flesh can be removed by the local application of cocaine. A few drops in the eye will enable dirt or other substances to be wiped out without inconvenience or pain. All medicines should be plainly labelled so that accidents may not occur. No evil effects are produced by a lengthened local application. The solution will keep by the addition to the solution of cocaine of two or three grains oi boric acid, which in no way impairs its efficiency or value.—American Agriculturist

A peculiar kind of grub, says the Dvmtan Times, has been noticed of late in this district. In general appearance it is like the grub found in old votten wood. It is discovered in great numbers amongst English sown grass, and seems to exist by living on the roots. Wherever it is found the grass is destroyed, and seems to be rootless. There is" nothing more annoying, or likely to lead to more confusion, than indistinct addresses. Farmers should note that it is more business-like, and that it saves time to have their names and addresses printed on their memo forms and envelopes. They can get five hundred forms printed with envelopes to match at the Mail office for 12s Cd.