CARBOLIC ACID IN THE LAMBING PEN.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXIII, Issue 5420, 10 August 1878, Page 2 (Supplement)

CARBOLIC ACID IN THE LAMBING PEN.

- In the agricultural Press the subject of the beneficial effects of carbolic acid, as an application to the inflamed membranes of the ewe when straining,occurs after lambing, has lately been discussed by various practical men who have tested the treatment. Mr. Henry Woods drew attention to the successful results of the method which he had employed in cases of straining, and other observers followed him in support of the system of what may properly be called the antiseptic plan of treatment. Some diversity may be noticed in the details of the practice which is pursued by different mem Some use carbolic aqid with oil, in the proportion of one of acid to eight of oil ; others use-even a less proportion of oil ; and one used the undiluted acid sparingly, not only without, injury, but with benefit. The poisonous action of carbolic acid is probably manifested more rapidly when a sufficient quantity is applied to tho skin than when the agent is applied to a raucous, membrane ; but it is, when unmixed, too powerful to be used by inexperienced persons. As a remedy for the septic condition which often occurs after parturition, carbolic acid has long been known to veterinarians ; but a veterinary surgeon' is about the last person whose advice a shepherd would seek in any case of difficulty among his ewes, and, the shepherd being as a rule the chief authority, an innovation in respect of medical treatment of sheep does not obtain favor ; and the system of anointing with oils, black and white and variously colored, holds undisputed sway. . In a Tetter to Voq* Live Stock Journal of March 23, Mr. Fleming thus refers to the use of carbolic acid after parturition :—“ln the Live Stock Journal of March 15 is republished an article an ‘ Straining after Lambing,* in which .carbolized oil is shown to be an excellent preventative and curative agent. Will you permit me to point out that in my work on ‘Veterinary Obstetrics,’ published last year, and recently reviewed by you. at page 612, when alluding to the preventive aud cure of metrites, metro-peritionitis, and parturient fever (all of which are generally included under the head of straining), I have insisted on tho use of carbolic acid.in watery or oily solution. I have also pointed out the value of salicylic acid in the same disease ; and it will probably be found that this agent possesses all the excellent properties of carbolic acid without any otits dangerous ones. In all septic conditions attending the parturient period, in either cattle, sheep, or other animals, these two acids have been proved to be almost specific in their effects. Carbolic acid has for several years been extensively employed by Continental veterinarians for the prevention and cure of uterine inflammations and puerperal blood-poi-soning in cows and ewes ; and a reference to the work just mentioned will testify to its great value in these and other diseased conditions. I would, however, strongly recommend a trial of salicylic acid in the form prescribed. The mortality, and consequent heavy loss, that so frequently occurs at lambing and calving time, could be prevented to a large extent, fif not almost entirely, by observing the directions I have given with regard to this subject—a subject which, from its importance, has for many years closely engaged my attention. Veterinarians have now shown how to treat difficult parturition and the maladies which—as straining-—accompany or follow that act and it is for owners of animals to utilize the knowledge thus offered.” This letter has excited various comments, which may be briefly summed up in the remarks of the Mark Lane Express, to tho effect that farmers do not read “ Veterinary Obstetrics” aud scientific veterinary journals, and that, “ unless’ such necessary information obtained an entrance into agricultural papers, it would not spread very quickly where it is most needed.” Most flockmastors will agree with tho'spirit of these remarks. , : “Straining,” whether it arises after natural aud easy delivery (as it often does), or occurs subsequently to a prolonged and difficult act, is a condition which is always alarming, and frequently fatal. The danger is not confined to the effects of the local irritation from the inflammatory state of the membrane, but the septic fluids which are abundantly formed by the diseased tissues are readily introduced into the blood, and blood-poisoning is the necessary result.

As to the details of the means to be 'adopted in cases of straining, it will probably.be sufficient to suggest that ft. mixture of pure carbolic acid (crystalline) with forty parts of water will form a lotion active enough for all purposes ; and in all cases affusion with warm water should precede the application of the antiseptic Tho use of the warm water is to clear away the septic matter, and thus leave the chemical agent less to do. r ", In addition to the antiseptic action of carbolic acid, it baa been suggested that it diminishes the sensitiveness of the .nerves of the inflamed part. When brought in contact with the> akin of the hand, as it must bo when men are engaged in dipping aheop, a peculiar ,feeling of numbness is cxperinced, which continues for some time; bub no groat advantage may bo expected to arise from this phase of tho action of tho agent, and its chief influence must be osexibed to its antiseptic quality.. Other agents might be with advantage substituted for carbolic acid ; but, until carefully gonducted’experiments have prpved their value, it is not 'likely that they will supersede tho preparation which .has been proved, to be efficacious,

Importance I* justly attached to tho discovery of a remedy for a serious disease ; but it is not less important to recognise, the fact that much mischief may bo prevented. by urict adherence to sanitary regulations, and in this respect there remains much to be done.

Cases of straining after lambing are far less frequent among ewes which have been kept under what may be termed natural conditions, than among animals which have been highly fed, and brought into a plethoric state at a time when the system requires to exert its greatest powers of resistance. Officious .interference on the part of the shepherd may be referred to as a probable cause of injury.; and when, as is usually the case, the man, after manipulating an animal which is suffering from the septic condition, proceeds at once to assist another,ewe without _ even washing his hands, the extension of the disease is not to be wondered at.

One valuable use of carbolic acid in the lambing pen will be to purify tho hands of the shepherd or his assistant, and thus obviate a very ready means of septic infection. —The Field. ' • ■