The first milk of the mother is a natural laxative and aids in ridding the
intestine of the young of such waste material (meconium) as collects during
fetal life. If this milk is withheld, the intestine becomes irritated,
constipation occurs, followed by a diarrhoea or serious symptoms of a
nervous character, caused by the poisonous effect of the toxic substances
absorbed from the intestine on the nervous system.

Changes in the ration fed the mother, excitement, unusual exercise and
disease change the composition of the mother's milk. Such milk is
irritating to the stomach and intestines of the young. This irritation does
not always develop into a diarrhoea, but may result in a congestion of the
stomach.

When the young are raised artificially or by hand, and fed milk from
different mothers of the same or different species, or changed from whole
to skim milk, acute and chronic digestive disorders that are accompanied by
a diarrhoea are common. Feeding calves from filthy pails, allowing them to
drink too rapidly and giving them fermented milk are common causes of
scours.

White scours caused by irritating germs is a highly infectious disease. The
disease-producing germs gain entrance to the body by way of the digestive
tract and the umbilical cord.

Insanitary conditions, such as dark, cold, damp, filthy quarters, lower the
vitality of young animals, and predispose them to digestive disorders as
well as other diseases.

_The symptoms_ are as follows: Constipation accompanied by a feverish
condition precedes the diarrhoea; colicky pains are sometimes manifested;