The American Cattle Doctor : a Complete Work on All the Diseases

®l|P i. M. Hill iCibrarn Nortli (Earolina ^tnU llnitJFraitg SF961 1)2 This book was presented by DAVID ilALLlmN iSfff/if THIS BOOK IS DUE ON THE DATE INDICATED BELOW AND IS SUB- JECT TO AN OVERDUE FINE AS POSTED AT THE CIRCULATION DESK. m I 3 2001 ^0 1 Q w^ ^6^ 7 19R0 ,0f\ APR -' 4 m ^2 5 1954 lOOM/1-77 ^,/5^, ^-^--^-^.^-'e o"t'7 THE AMERICAN CATTLE DOCTOE: A COMPLETE WORK ON ALL THE DISEASES OF CATTLE, SHEEP, AND SWINE, INCLUDING EVERY DISEASE PECULIAR TO AMERICA, AND EMBRACING /LL THE LATEST INFORMATION ON THE CATTLE PLAGUE AND TRICHINA. CONTAINING ALSO A GUIDE TO SYMPTOMS, A TABLE OF WEIGHTS AND MEASURES, AND A LIST OF VALUABLE MEDICINES. GEO. H. DADD, V. S., Twenty-five Years a Leading Veterinary Surgeon in England and the United State*, and Author of the ''American Horse Book." NEW YORK: ORANQK JUDD CONIPANY, 751 BROADWAY. 1891 Entered accorJing to Act of Coiigress, in the year 1869, by R. W. CARROLL & CO., In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States for the Southern District of Ohio. PREFACE AMERICANS rank high in the estimation of the scientifio world for their genins and industry in the great work ot intellectual, moral, and scientific improvements. See what has occurred in the arts of printing, electrotyping, etc. The eloquence of the great literary magicians of the New World, the honored graduates of free institutions and free schools, no sooner falls from their lips than the phonographist transfers it to paper, the nimble ; " fingers of the compositor puts it into " form " next the " battery deposits on the face of the type a more durable coating of copper, and " Hoe's press " sends off " impressions " with almost magical rapidity. No less surprising are the wonderful feats performed by American mechanics, in the construction of fast yachts and steamers, which often pluck a laurel from the so-called " Mistress of the Sea ; " and old " Uncle John " gives us due credit for per- fecting a race of fast trotters that can beat the world of horse- flesh. Improvements in every department of Science and Art are con- stantly treading on the heels of improvement; yet, as regards the science of Veterinary Medicine and Surgery, America seems almost the last among civilized nations to put her shoulder to the wheel. What can be the reason? Her youth may be offered as a plea foi excuses. The daughter of the Old World has not yet, in this department, arrived at years of discretion ; she is yet in her teens Her sons have borne the heat and burden of the day in establish- ing their liberty, in founding cities, extending commerce, and in taming the wild face of soil, by uprooting the giant oak, and in clearing away the forest, so that the husbandman, with plow and harrow in hand, might follow on, and next impregnate mother (iii) —; PREFACE. earth with germs for fructification, which, in the clay of the har- vest thereof, might be gathered and garnered for the benefit of man and the inferior orders of creation. And long ere the woodman's ax ceases to vibrate its clear stroke-notes in the ears of the new settlers, a giant enterprise is in contemplation. Space and distance must be comparatively an- nihilated ; the iron horse, with his lungs of steel and breath of steam, must have his highway and byway, and the result is, the choice spirits of progression have been earnestly engaged in dot- ting a vast surface of United States Territory with a magnificent not-work of railway and telegraphic wire ; and various other en- terprises, -with which the reader is familiar, have so occupied the American mind, that the Science of Life, as it applies to animals, has been almost at a stand-still. In the prosecution of these objects, so essential as they ha^^ proved in the economy of an infant republic, it is not surprising that our science should fail to receive attention, and that America should be in the rear of the veterinary squadrons of the Old World ; yet, notwithstanding this seeming indifference, veterinary science does, in some parts of this country, occupy as high a platform as that which obtained in England, about seventy years ago, when the Apostle of Mercy, St. Bel, first landed o.a British soil. The science which we here advocate is as valuable and chari- table to nature's menials, for the purpose of ministering to their physical wants, relieving their aches and pains, and of prolong- ing their lives, as that practiced on the more noble of created liie and, at the present day, testimony can be produced going to shoAv that among us can be found " good Samaritans " who are always ready to minister to the w^ants of the inferior orders of creation a work as acceptable to the God of Nature, and as creditable to manhood, as when the welfare of one of us is concerned. And should we estimate the science in exact ratio to the value and use- fulness of the legion host of domestic animals that have been reared in this. country, and those which, without regard to cost, have been imported, to whose welfare it directly contributes, the reader will, readily perceive that it is entitled to the consideration and support of a nation of husbandmen. It must be borne in mind that a knowledge of the principles of veterinary medicine can not be acquired without diligent stud;^ PREFACE. V and close application. It Is only the property of the industrious and devoted student. In order to acquire the necessary tact, skill, and experience for the practice of our art, some of the shining lights—the early dis- ciples—have spent the May-day of their existence in solving its problems, and, when near its close, have declared, with a modesty indicative of true genius, that their education was yet incomplete. Such testimony goes to show that there is no republican nor royal road to veterinary knowledge. In fact, after a man has perseveringly jjursued the routine studies of the most popular col- legiate institutions, he may still ba found " wanting." Let us contemplate for a moment the superior advantages which human practitioners have over our craftsmen, both as regards their scientific qualifications and the superior means at their com- mand for ascertaining the character, location, and intensity of the various maladies peculiar to the human race. For example, the practitioner of human medicine, if he has been a faithful and industrious student, enters upon the active duties of his profession, having acquired a valuable fund of knowledge of anatomy, phys- iologv, pathology, and other necessary branches of study ; and, having disciplined his mind in the regular school, and in that of experience, he is expected to be able to rejoice in the possession of a well-trained mind, which enables him to understand and inter- pret the physiological laws which preserve health and life in the constitution of organized beings; also to comprehend the why and •vrherefore of disease; to be able to institute sanitary and other reg- ihlations, and to select suitable medicinal preparations, in view of Meeting the various indications of each and every form of disease. And when a man becomes the subject of sickness, and the doctor is called upon to exercise his skill, the latter receives valuable aid, in view of making a correct diagnosis, from the patient and his friends. Each can be questioned, and their responses throw con- siderable light on the history and nature of the malady. Xow^ as regards the latter advantages, they have no parallel with the men of our craft. Our patients are deprived of the power of speech, and we can only judge of the state of their health, and the nature of their maladies, by signs revealed or elicited through physical exploration. We have other difficulties to encounter of no less magnitude. For example, our patients arc often located in situations unfit for a well animal to reside in, and they do not ; VI PREFACE. always receive that attention from their owners which the urgency of the case demands. In fact, the good nursing, kind attention, etc., which often proves of so much value in the restoration from sickness of one of our race, is often denied the inferior creature and other matters, too numerous to mention at the present time, tend to show the advantages which our brethren of a sister science have over us, and how necessary and important it is that a practitioner of our art shoukl be thorough master of his profession. It is a kimentable fact that the great majority of our husbandmen have not hitherto realized that the superstructure of veterinary science rests on the same intelligent basis as that of human medicine ; but such is really the case. In the language of the la- mented Percivall, we are assured that " whether we prescribe for a man, horse, or any animal, the laws of the animal economy are the same; all require the same treatment," that is to say, the propositions for restoration are all founded on the same intelligent basis. The importance, therefore, of educating men for the profession, and of furnishing reliable works for study, is very evident; and the necessity is further illustrate:! in the daily experience of those persons who, as a matter of necessity, are obliged to do the best they can for the sick and dying of their flocks and herds, having no knowledge of those advantages which a thorough course of training aifords.

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