Objektnummer
93/33/1-4
Upphovsman
Beskrivning
A milk fever kit consisting of a metal pump and barrel with a teat syphon tube, stored in a black rectangular tin. It was supplied by Day, Son & Hewitt (Africa) Ltd. of Port Elizabeth and London, and was used by the donor in South Africa circa 1940. Milk fever is a disease which affects heavy-milking cows and is characterised by its sudden onset and the complete paralysis of the animal, and usually occurs shortly after calving. The kit is used to treat the disease by injecting sterile atmospheric air into the udder
Fysisk beskrivning
1 milk fever kit: metal; good condition
<DIV STYLE="text-align:Justify;font-family:Georgia;font-style:normal;font-weight:normal;font-size:16;color:#000000;"><P><SPAN><SPAN>6. <B>Milk Fever Kit</B><P> Milk fever, an often fatal disease affecting cows, was one of many that remained an enigma to veterinary scientists at the end of the nineteenth century. Since Koch's discovery of the tubercle bacillus in 1882 scientists had, in the words of Iain Pattison, embarked on a 'scramble to match micro-organisms with diseases' (<I>The British Veterinary Profession 1791-1948</I>, p.178). All that was needed, they thought, was to match milk fever with its specific microbe.<P> We now know this to have been a futile search, for milk fever is not a bacterial disease but one caused by a defective metabolism. Occurring after calving when the mammary gland is swollen with milk, the cow usually collapses suddenly before falling into a coma, a state closely followed by death. In the vain search for an effective treatment, as Pattison notes, cows were 'bled, blistered, purged, starved, milked out, left unmilked, and given every potion, to no avail'. When at last a successful treatment was discovered, recorded in a veterinary journal in 1902, it transpired that, rather ironically, the only ingredient necessary to prevent milk fever was air.<P> Above is a Milk Fever Kit manufactured by Day, Son & Hewitt, Ltd. It consists of a metal pump, a metal barrel (for holding carbolised cotton to filter the air) and a length of flexible metal tubing. With this simple apparatus air could be pumped into the udder, thus reducing the blood supply and flow of milk, and preventing the loss of vital calcium which was pinpointed as the root cause of milk fever. Later, in the 1930s, a readily injectable treatment for milk fever was introduced - calcium boro-gluconate. Although no more effective than mammary inflation, Pattison is probably not far from the mark in saying that 'a hypodermic syringe has a more professional image than a bicycle pump'.<P>93/33/1-4</SPAN></SPAN></P></DIV>
Arkivhistorik
MERL 'Handwritten accession' form (Institute of Agricultural History) – 'Standard museum name: MILK FEVER KIT // Accession number: 93/33 // … // Recorder: JMB // Date: 23.8.93 // Description: Black enamelled oblong tin with clip fastening containing metal pump and barrel together with teat syphon tube. // Inscription on lid: ASEPTIC MILK FEVER OUTFIT // Suppliers: DAY, SON & HEWITT (Africa) Ltd. // PORT ELIZABETH & LONDON // Dimensions of box: 18 x 9 cm // Associated information: This apparatus was used in South Africa by [donor] c.1940’, MERL miscellaneous note, Greta Bertram, 20 May 2014 – The accession file contains a photocopy of promotional material for the kit, including an extract from ‘Farmers’ Bulletin’ No. 45 which describes the disease and its causes, symptoms and treatment.
Objektnamn
Material
Digital referens
- L:\MERL\Objects\JISC 2012\60 series negatives\60_16223.tif - High resolution image
