Wichita eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1883-1888, 1884-05-01
ROLLOWNESS.
About Well Fed Cattle That Nave a
hungry Spot in Them.
From Western Rurs,

"ie III receipt Oh several c0mmu-
nications in which the writers take
exceptions to our position that what
is called hollow-horn is simply a symp-
tom and not disease. 1t would take
up too much space to publish these
communications, and the subject would
be hardly worth another reference,
except that it involves some principles
OF feeding and care which are of the
utmost Importance and yet seem to be
imperfectly understood. One CORES
pondent, we may notice while passing,
asks If we sever bored hollow horn
or any other kind of horn.- We
never did. We have seen them bored
when unfortunately we had no power
to stop it. Ii will hardly be claimed
that 1t is necessary for one TO do every
thing or to experience everything in
order to understand some things. We
never had the smallpox, but we think
we can describe smallpox in all its
stages as well as the man who is dis
figured with pits. We never pierced
our heart with bowie-knife, but we
can tell what the effect of doing it
would be just as accurately as if we
had, and little more so. We never
have done a great many things which
we fully understand. When a man
presents himself TO us in a state of
partial paralysis, we know very well
that il would be utter folly to cut of
or "bore" the paralyzed limbs. The
same correspondent also affirms that
he knew blind man who could inyar-
iably tell when horn was hollow by
feeling of il. OF course he could tell
when horn was in the condition that
is called hollow. There is no blood in
ii, or at least the circulation is imper-
feet, and what blood there is is in
poor condition. Hence the horn is
cold. But, as matter Of fact, unless
it is an old COW, horns are seldom ho,-
low. We will admit that it is possible
TO cause hollowness of horn through
atropy and absorption of the inner
vascular structure. But though famil-
lar with this class of cases, we have
yet TO see case in which the horn
was hollow, unless il was an old ami
mai. And boring gives no sure indi-
cation of hollowness. The construc-
tion of the horn is such that the gim-
let may hit nothing, and consequently
no blood will appear. The condition
of hollow-horn is simply symptom
Of disease, and, instead of directing
medical attention to the horn. the
practitioner should make haste to look
in other directions for the disease. for
the fact that the horns are insufficient
ly supplied with blood is proof posi-
tive that there is too much blood
somewhere else, and hence a state of
congestion. If we could ever feel that
we had made the custom, both among
physicians and laymen, of doctoring
symptoms obsolete, we should feel
that we had done incalculable good
to the people. But the whole system
of doctoring is the treatment of symp-
toms. An animal or man has pain
The treatment is directed at once to
the spot where the symptom manifests
itself. The symptom may be allayed,
but the disease is not cured, and we
believe it is safe to say that nineteen
times out of twenty a change of diet
would be all the treatment that is re-
quired. This brings us TO the point of
feeding, which, as we said above, is |
involved in this question of hollow
horn.
The correspondent to whom we
have already alluded refers TO our re-
cent answer TO a correspondent that
II was the "holiow COW that made the |
holow-horn, and not the hollow-horn |
that made the hollow cow He then |
refers us to statement recently made |
by correspondent that his COW
which we said ironically had ''hollow-
horn"-ate well as a general thing.
Here is where common mistake is
made. 1t is too often supposed that
because an animal eats well il is not |
"hollow." The worst cases of starry
alton among animals that come to our
notice are those of fat animals and |
greedy animals. An animal can starye |
to death, and animals often do starve
10 death that are too fat TO get up
when they are down. They are fed |
corn and other fattening foods until
they nearly burst with fullness, and /
yet they are hungry, starving. Did
the reader never feel a raging desire
for something that lac seldom has an
appetite for, something sour for in
stance! That is the cry of the system
for something that is necessary. Did
the reader never see an animal eating
dirt and other things that are unnat-
ural food? And has he not seen the
latest and the greediest animals do
it? That animal is starved. There is
hungry spot in its system that is cry
ing for food, and the very fat that is
on the animal, and every mouthful of
fattening food that il takes, only
makes its real hunger greater. Nat
urally such condition must disor-
ganize the digestive machinery, and
now we have the beginning of hollow
horn. We may feed all we choose of
the wrong kind of food, and il will
not better the condition, for good
blood cannot be made without COM
plete digestion. If the animal is fat
and indigestion exists, the condition
points to the necessity of moderate
feeding, even of the proper kind Of
food. No animal will ever have hol-
low-horn whose system is fully nour-
ished. AS general thing men will
tell us that they never saw an animal
with hollow-horn unless it was in poor
condition. But now and then man
will pronounce the statement that
poor condition always precedes hol-
lON-HoTu HOustbct. lOl my dhii h
that they have seen fat cattle as well
as lean cattle have it. That is true,
but the fat cattle were just as near
to starvation as the lean cattle were.
AS rule, however. it is the lean cow
that has the hollow-horn. The whole
subject may be summed up in the
simple statement that local applica-
tons of any kind will not cure the
disease of which hollow-horn is
symptom. We cannot cure disease
unless we remove the cause of the dis
ease, and when medicine is practiced
on that basis it will be much more
practiced than it is now.
One word more, in conclusion Let