diseases. (See Pl. III, fig. 1.) It is advisable to get a
tested instrument, as some thermometers in the market are inaccurate and
misleading. The proper place to insert the thermometer is in the rectum,
where the instrument should be rested against the walls of the cavity for
about three minutes. The normal temperature of the bovine is 101 deg. to 102 deg.
F., which is higher than that of the horse. A cow breathes faster, her
heart beats faster, and her internal temperature is higher than that of
the horse. Ordinary physiological influences--such as exercise, digestion,
etc.--give rise to slight variations of internal temperature; but if the
temperature rises two or three degrees above the normal some diseased
condition is indicated.

_Pulse._--The pulse in a grown animal of the bovine species in a state of
good health beats from 45 to 55 times a minute. Exercise, fright, fear,
excitement, overfeeding, pregnancy, and other conditions aside from disease
may affect the frequency and character of the pulse. It assumes various
characters according to its rapidity of beat, frequency of occurrence,
resistance to pressure, regularity, and perceptibility. Thus we have the
quick or slow, frequent or infrequent, hard or soft, full or imperceptible,
large or small pulse, the character of each of which may be determined from
its name; also that known as the intermittent, either regular or irregular.
We may have a dicrotic, or double, pulse; a thready pulse, which is
extremely small and scarcely perceptible; the venous, or jugular, pulse;
the "running down" pulse, and so on. (See p. 76.)

In cattle the pulse is conveniently felt over the submaxillary artery where
it winds around the lower jawbone, just at the lower edge of the flat
muscle on the side of the cheek. If the cow is lying down the pulse may be
taken from the metacarpal artery on the back part of the fore fetlock. The
pulsations can be felt from any superficial artery, but in order to
ascertain the peculiarities it is necessary to select an artery that may be
pressed against a bone.

[Illustration: PLATE VIII. Position of the Lung.]

There is a marked difference in the normal or physiological pulse of the
horse and that of the cow, that of the horse being full and rather tense,
while in the cow it is soft and rolling. The pulse is faster in young or
old cattle than it is in those of middle age.

_Auscultation._--Auscultation and percussion are the chief methods use