Page:Willich, A. F. M. - The Domestic Encyclopædia (Vol. 1, 1802).djvu/498

464] than one quart of seed in four days, and is a great saving in the article of food.

Having already, in the articles and, stated the most proper method of fattening cattle, we refer the reader to those heads, and proceed to discuss the last section of this subject.

III. .

No distemper is perhaps more common among these useful animals, than that of being swoln, that is, blown or hoven, as it is termed by farmers. It arises either from their being exposed to damp situations, or from eating too greedily of any succulent food, such as turnips, clover, particularly red clover, which is a dangerous food for horned cattle; for, when wetted by dew or rain, it may prove a destructive poison. For this fatal malady, various remedies have been tried, with more or less success, of which we shall select the most effectual and expeditious. The general practice is, to make an incision with a penknife in the body of the affected animal, in order to give vent to the confined air: the wound is then covered with a common or adhesive plaster, to prevent external cold from penetrating it; and thus the danger, in general, is speedily removed. But, where it is practicable, it surely behoves us to employ more gentle remedies for the alleviation of this disorder: we, therefore, extract with satisfaction, the following recipe from the 33d volume of the Annals of Agriculture; where it is announced as a specific for hoven cattle, even in the most desperate cases; effecting a cure within the short space of half an hour.—Take three quarters of a pint of olive oil; one pint of melted butter, or hog's lard; give this mixture by means of a horn or bottle; and if it does not produce a favourable change in a quarter of an hour, repeat the same quantity, and walk the animal gently about. For sheep attacked with this malady, the dose is, from a wine glass and a half to two glasses.—Besides these remedies, instruments have been invented for the purpose of relieving blown cattle: two of these contrivances we shall describe, as being particularly distinguished for the ingenuity of their construction, and the speedy relief they afford. The first is a flexible tube, invented by the celebrated Dr., Professor of Anatomy at Edinburgh: it consists of iron wire, about one sixteenth of an inch in diameter, twisted round a rod three eighths of an inch in diameter, and made of polished iron, in order to give it a cylindrical form; the wire, after being taken off the rod, should be covered with smooth leather. To the end of the tube, which is intended to be passed into the stomach, a brass pipe two inches long, of the same size, or rather larger than the tube, is to be firmly connected: and to prevent the tube from bending too much within the mouth, or gullet, an iron wire, one eighth of an inch in diameter, and of the same length as the tube, is put within it, but afterwards withdrawn, when the tube has entered the stomach.—As Dr. has ascertained, that the distance from the foreteeth to the bottom of the first stomach of a large ox, is about six feet, the tube ought, therefore, to be at least two yards long, that it may operate effectually in the largest oxen. When the instrument has been introduced into the stomach, it may remain there for any length of time, as it does not ob-