Any return of constipation must be treated by
injections of warm water and soap, while the persistence of diarrhea must
be met as advised under the discussion following this. In case of the
formation of loose hair balls inclosing milk undergoing putrid
fermentation, temporary benefit may be obtained by giving a tablespoonful
of vegetable charcoal three or four times a day, but the only real remedy
is to cut the paunch open and extract them. At this early age they may be
found in the third or even the fourth stomach; in the adult they are
confined to the first two and are comparatively harmless.

DIARRHEA (SCOURING) IN CALVES (SIMPLE AND CONTAGIOUS).

As stated in the last article, scouring is a common result of indigestion,
and at first may be nothing more than an attempt of nature to relieve the
stomach and bowels of offensive and irritating contents. As the indigestion
persists, however, the fermentations going on in the undigested masses
become steadily more complex and active, and what was at first the mere
result of irritation or suspended digestion comes to be a genuine
contagious disease, in which the organized ferments (bacteria) propagate
the affection from animal to animal and from herd to herd. More than once I
have seen such epizootic diarrhea start on the headwaters of a creek and,
traveling along that stream, follow the watershed and attack the herds
supplied with water from the contaminated channel. In the same way the
disease, once started in a cow stable, is liable to persist for years, or
until the building has been thoroughly cleansed and disinfected. It may be
carried into a healthy stable by the introduction of a cow brought from an
infected stable when she is closely approaching calving. Another method of
its introduction is by the purchase of a calf from a herd where the
infection exists.

In enumerating the other causes of this disease we may refer to those noted
above as inducing indigestion. As a primary consideration any condition
which lowers the vitality or vigor of the calf must be accorded a prominent
place among factors which, apart from contagion, contribute to start the
disease de novo. Other things being equal, the strong, vigorous races are
the least predisposed to the malady, and in this respect the compact form,
the healthy coat, the clear eye, and the bold, active carriage are
desirable. Even the color of the hair is not unimportant, as in the same
herd I have found a far greate