Again. If oxen are driven a long journey, and then turned into a pasture abounding in highly nutritious grasses or clover, to which they are unaccustomed, they fill the paunch to such an extent that it becomes a matter of impossibility on the part of the animal to throw it up for rumination; this mass of food, being submitted to the combined action of heat and moisture, undergoes fermentation; carbonic acid gas is evolved; the animal is then said to be "blown," "hoven," or "blasted." Post mortem examination, in such cases, reveals a highly-congested state of the liver and spleen.

In fattening cattle, the injury done to the organs of digestion is not always observed in the early stages; for the vital power, which wages a warfare against all encroachments, endeavors to accommodate itself to the increased bulk; yet, by continuing to give an excess of diet, it finally yields up the citadel to the insidious foe. Chemical action then overpowers the vital, and disease is the result.

Thousands of valuable cattle are yearly destroyed by being too well, or, rather, injudiciously fed. Many diseases of the liver and digestive organs result from feeding on unwholesome, innutritious, and hard, indigestible food. Bad water, and suffering the animal to partake too bountifully of cold water when heated and fatigued, are among the direct causes of disease.

DISEASES OF THE MUCOUS SURFACE.

The mucous membrane is a duplicature of the skin, and is folded into the external orifices of the animal, as the mouth, ears, nose, lungs, stomach, intestines, and bladder; but not being so much exposed to the action of external agents, it is not so strong or thick as the skin. It performs, however, nearly the same office as the skin. If the action of one is suppressed, the other immediately commences the performance of its office. Thus a common cold, which collapses the skin, immediately stops insensible perspiration, which recedes to the mucous membrane, producing a discharge from the nose, eyes, bowels, &c. So, when great derangement of the mucous membrane exists, debilitating perspiration succeeds. In the treatment of diseases of the mucous membrane, we endeavor to remove the irritating causes from the organs affected, restore the general tone of the system, and invite action to the external surface.

CATARRH, OR HOOSE.

This disease often arises from exposure to wet or cold weather, and from the food being of a bad quality, or deficient in quantity. If the animal is enfeebled by poor feed, old age, or any other cause, then there is very little resistance offered against the encroachments of disease: hence young beasts and cows after calving are often the victims.

Treatment.—It is necessary to attend to this disorder as soon as it makes its appearance; for a common cold, neglected, often lays the foundation of consumption. On the other hand, a little attention in the early stages, and before sympathetic action sets in, would set all right. The first indication to be fulfilled is to invite action to the surface by friction and counter-irritants. The following liniment may be applied to the feet and throat:—

Olive oil,4 ounces.
Oil of cedar,1 ounce.
Liquid ammonia,half an ounce.