ean way. Only
certain drugs can be given subcutaneously, and dosage must be accurately
graduated.

BY THE VEINS.--Certain medicines act most promptly and surely when
introduced directly into the blood by injecting them into a vein, usually
the jugular. Some vaccines and antitoxins are administered in this way.
Intravenous injection should be practiced only by experienced
veterinarians.

DISEASES OF THE DIGESTIVE ORGANS.

By A. J. MURRAY, M. R. C. V. S.

[Revised by R.W. HICKMAN, V. M. D.]

CHARACTER OF FEEDS AND FEEDING.

Diseases of the digestive organs are very common among cattle, and may
often be traced to defects in feeding. The first three stomachs of the
larger ruminants hold the feed for a long time, during which period it is
subjected to macerating, mixing, and straining processes in preparation for
entrance into the fourth or true stomach. The straining is accomplished
through the medium of the manyplies or book, while the paunch, or rumen,
with its adjunct, the waterbag, is concerned in the macerating, kneading,
and mixing, as well as in regurgitation for rumination or the chewing of
the cud. The action of the first three stomachs is merely preparatory to
digestion. Thus it would seem that as a result of their complex anatomical
and functional arrangement the feed of the ox, when of good quality and
wholesome, is in the most favorable condition possible for the digestive
process when it reaches the fourth stomach, where true digestion first
takes place. The location and arrangement of the stomachs are shown in
Plates I and II.

If the feed is of improper character, or is so given that it can not be
cared for by the animal in a normal way, false fermentations arise, causing
indigestion, and possibly, later, organic disease. In feeding cattle there
are a number of important considerations apart from the economy of the
ration, and some of these are noted below.

Feeds must not be damaged by exposure to the weather, by frost, by molds,
or by deleterious fermentations.

Damaged feeds retard or prevent digestion, and sometimes they contain or
cause to be generated substances that irritate the digestive tract, or are
distinctly poisonous to the animal. For example, hay that was rained on
severely during curing has not only lost a part of its nutritive value
through a washing-out process, but what remains is not so readily available
as in good hay. Roots that have been frozen are likely to irritate