The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1897-05-12
What Is II.

a Qlbehb6 ID prevailing hluOuS hoW-
born calves quite extensively. 1t is
generally called "scours -; but this is
only the effect of some occult toxine or
poison which has found its way into
the system in some unknown manner.
Just what it is, how it entered there,
and it's antidote, is exciting general
comment among the dairy and agricul-
turel papers. Hoard's Dairymdn, which
is "way up " in most things pertaining
to the dairy, is, like all other papers,
completely " at sea on this one point.
1t says: "There must be some poison
GUS germs about the barn that affects
the calves either before birth, or i'm
mediately after; but what it is, and
what can be done to get rid OF it, are
questions which have not, to our knowl-
edge, yet been solved" That paper
then quotes the treatment reported by
q Mr.. Whitman, and result, as follows:
"He put into an eggshell an even tea
spoonful of salt, the same of ground
| black pepper and filed the shell with
SCOT from wood stove; put this in
the Calls mouth, closedi it's jaws and
held them gently till it chewed the
shell up finely and swallowed the dose.
He also gave a raw egg. This was
done at seven O'Clock. At eight o'clock
he gave five drops of aconite. At ten
the diarrhcea was checked and he then
gave, with bottle, pint of warm
milk" The Dairyman. adds wisely:
In this calf disease, as in all others,
we have not implicit confidence in med
icines of any kind; but believe more
effective work can be done by remov-
ing the cause, if the cause can be dis
covered" That is right, friend Dairy
man; but what is it? That is the
burning question just now.
The veterinarian of the National
Stocknaan says in reply 10 an inquirer:
"You are right in the belief that the
milk is the cause of death; but just
what that element in the milk that acts
as an irritant to the mucous membranes
of the digestive organs is, is more than
I can tell" He is doubtful as to
whether the irritant was in the milk
before it left the COW, or was from
germs in the weddings of the diseased
calf. He is making investigations along
this line, and it is hoped he may evolve
satisfactory information by his efforts.
On the 10th of April (page 245) said
in reply to Mr.. W. j. Franklin of
Canada: "What can say will only be
suggestive" and there is little to add
now. One would naturally suppose
that the cause could be traced to filthy
feed or environment, but the cleanli-
ness of all things in the case of Mr..
Franklin seems to preclude such idea.
It is only the first milk of cow-that
of the first three or four days-which
produces this evil result Give calf
milk after the colostrum is cleared out
of it, and no harm ensues; therefore,
we must think that the irritating poison
is the colostrum alone. But what it is
or whence it came, is as much a sealed
book as the deadly poison which some
times 80 mysteriously enters cheese,
| ice-cream and other milk compounds,
and there is no scientific knowledge of
its qualities or its antidote, save that it
is fatal poison. Science may some
time elucidate this knotty problem, but
there is no present hope of it. 1t is
| but quackery to advise any medicinal
remedy for anything when one does not
know what that thing is, and cannot
tell the d" why's and wherefores :" of such
proceeding. In this case / shall imi-
tate the example of the paper first
named, and state what is done for the
ulbcdSo III uclSupOIuOOu u lew ulltS
from me where there has been more or
less of this trouble for two or three
years. All the farmers gather road
dust and keep it in the barn. When a
calf is attacked with this disease, a
handful of the dust is thrown far back
into its mouth and the jaws gently held,
as in administering the loaded eggshell,
until it is all swallowed. They declare
it sure cure. This seems much like
treating" hollow horn" and "wolf in
the tall" but as drowning men catch at
straws, if l had calf thus afflicted
would try the dust treatment. 1t is
hoped some person will test it and re-
port. If either the raw egg or the dust
cures, it is because it absorbs the poi
son, as raw egg, milk and melted lard
are sometimes administered to human
beings to absorb mineral poisons.-Dr.
Galen Wilson in Practical Farmer