nourishment of their offspring.

_Symptoms._--In marked cases there is a gradual emaciation and symptoms of
gastrointestinal catarrh, with depraved appetite, the animal eating manure,
decayed wood, dirt, leather, etc. Muscular weakness is prominent, together
with muscle tremors, which simulate chills, but are not accompanied with
any rise of temperature. The animal has a stiff, laborious gait; there is
pain and swelling of the joints, and constant shifting of the weight from
one leg to another. The restricted movements of the joints are frequently
accompanied with a crackling sound, which has caused the name of "creeps"
to be applied to the disease. The coat is dull and rough and the skin dry
and hidebound. The animal is subject to frequent sprains or fracture of
bones without apparent cause, as in lying down or turning around, and when
such fractures occur they are difficult to unite. The bones principally
involved are the upper bones of the legs, the haunch bone, and the middle
bones of the spinal column. The disease in this country is confined to
localized areas in the Southwest, known as the "alkali districts," and in
the old dairy sections of New York State. The cause of this affection is
the insufficiency of lime salts in the food, also to feeding hay of low,
damp pastures, kitchen slops, and potatoes, or to overstocking lands. It
occurs on old, worn-out soil poor in lime salts, and has also been observed
to follow a dry season.

_Treatment._--This should consist in a change of feed and the artificial
feeding of lime salts, such as magnesium and sodium phosphate. Feed rich in
mineral salts may be given, such as beans, cowpeas, oats, cottonseed meal,
or wheat bran. Cottonseed meal is one of the best feeds for this purpose,
but it should be fed carefully, as too large quantities of it are injurious
to cows. Phosphorus may also be given in one-fourth grain doses twice
daily, together with a tablespoonful of powdered bone meal or crude calcium
phosphate at each meal. Ordinary lime dissolved in drinking water
(limewater) will also be found efficacious in combating this disease, and
can be provided at slight expense. A change of pasture to a locality where
the disease is unknown and a free supply of common salt and bone meal will
be the most convenient method of treating range cattle.

SPRAINS.

The most common accident occurring to bones and joints is a sprain of the
ligaments uniting the bones, or the tendons unit