CHAPTER VII.

DISEASES OF SHEEP.

(119.) There is no department in the management of sheep so little understood as the nature and treatment of their diseases. Every part of the sheep itself has been used, at one time or another, in this country, as medicine for _man_, a folly still prevailing among the boors of Southern Africa, who, according to Thunberg, employ the inner coat of the stomach, dried and powdered, as a safe emetic. Quackish absurdities of so glaring a nature have, however, long been scorned in civilized society. Not so, however, when the sheep is the object of treatment. Scientific innovations have been slow in reaching it, and specimens of barbarian usage are far from rare. We may feel for the benighted credulity which could place reliance, for a rescue from mortal ailment, on the secretions or excretions of a sheep; but we are compelled to laugh on reading, in the _Family Dictionary_, published in 1752, the following:--

"In general, 'tis affirmed that the belly of a sheep boiled in water and wine, and given the sheep to drink, cures several diseases incident to them."

Only fancy a farmer dosing a sheep with mutton broth, and adding, for its stomach's sake, a little wine! I suspect the prescriber was, in this instance, putting himself, in point of intellect, far below the level of his patient. Thanks to him, however, for the benefit he has thus unwittingly conferred, by holding ignorance up to the derision it so richly merits; no means being so powerful as broadly-drawn caricatures in exposing the extent of such delusions. Though faith has long since ceased to be reposed in the medicinal virtues of mutton broth, a variety of nostrums have from time to time appeared, the composition and application of which are invaluable for the amount of _negative_ information they are calculated to convey. Further notice of these trashy recipes it is not my intention to take, as a list of them alone would make a volume;--they are in the hands of every one.

(120.) _Cautions in prescribing._ Great reliance is in general placed upon prescriptions, which profess to suit diseases in every stage and circumstance.--Than this, however, scarcely any thing can be more absurd. It is an opinion engendered not so much by ignorance as by laziness, a determination not to be put about by thinking of a remedy for the evils which surround us, but, while we contrive to soothe ourselves by doing _something_, to leave every thing to the hit-or-miss practice of charlatans.[24] There are many, who on being informed of the presence of disease in a neighbour's flock, confidently advise the employment of a favourite nostrum, on the empirical supposition that because it cured, or was thought to cure, one flock, it will cure another. Nothing is taken into account saving that, in both cases, the affected animals are sheep; and it is at once concluded, that what benefited one will benefit another. The many niceties in prescribing are never thought of: oh no, that would be of no use! of course it can be of no importance to give a moment's attention to age and sex, pasture and situation, or to leanness or fatness, or to the presence of pregnancy! These are of trifling moment, and only to be despised by a person armed with a recipe, which some one has shown to be capable of walking like a constable through the body, and bearing off the intruder! But enough of this; sufficient has, I think, been said to prove the utter folly of confiding in things of the above nature or intention, and to show that such confidence can lead to nothing but a waste of life and capital. Even though the remedy is a harmless one, it ought (unless calculated from _known_ powers to arrest the disease) to be viewed with distrust, as incurring a loss of time, during which other and better measures might have been resorted to.

[24] Whenever we hear a person recommending a medicine of universal virtues, we may safely set him down either for a fool or an impostor. Things which are good for every thing are good for nothing.

(121.) _Classification of diseases._[25] As the acquirement of correct ideas regarding the treatment of diseases is much facilitated by a simple arrangement of the diseases themselves, numerous attempts have been made to accomplish it, and in a variety of ways. The best of these tabular views with which I am acquainted is the one laid before the Highland Society some years ago, by Mr Stevenson, who appears to have been the first to publish any thing like a satisfactory classification. His arrangement is, however, defective in several points, more especially as it necessitates the placing in the same division diseases of organs essentially different. Thus he is compelled to admit under "Diseases of the head" _Scabs on the mouth_ side by side with _Sturdy_, and _Louping ill_: in this way mingling affections of the skin with diseases of totally different organs--the brain and spinal marrow--and causing much embarassment to the reader. To obviate this inconvenience, as well as to render the remembrance of the remedies an easy matter, I have adopted the above arrangement, in which each disease is placed opposite the textures it invades.

[25]

Diseases affecting

{Blown or Blast. {Braxy, Sickness, or Blood. The Stomach and {Pining, Daising, Vinquish or Vanquish. Intestines. {Staggers. {Diarrhoea or Rush. {Dysentery, Cling, Breckshaw or { Breckshuach.

{Scab or Itch. {Erysipelas or Wild-fire. {Red Water. {Leg Evil or Black-leg.[26] The Skin and {Inflammatory {1. Maggot. Hoofs. { appearances {2. Ked. { caused by the {3. Tick. { {4. OEstrus bovis. {Sore Teats. {Foot-rot.

{Inflammation {1. OEstrus ovis. The Air Passages. { caused {2. Pentastoma. { by the {3. Strongylus filaria. {Coryza.

Glandular tissues,{Rot. --viz. the Lungs, {Jaundice. Liver, & Kidney. {Dropsy.

{Sturdy, {1. Hydatids or Bloba. { Gid or Dizzy, {2. Hydrocephalus, or The Brain and { caused by { Water in the Head. Spinal Marrow. {Trembling, Thwarter or Leaping-ill. {Wood Evil.

The Eye. {Ophthalmia. {Soft Cancer.

[26] Leg evil ought properly to be classed with diseases of the vascular system, being in many instances merely a symptom of disease in the heart or great vessels; but as the same results are arrived at by placing it under the present head, nicer distinctions would only tend to create confusion.

(122.) _Blown or Blast._ Can scarcely be reckoned a disease as it is but a symptom caused by a mechanical impediment to respiration and circulation. When a sheep has been brought from a poor pasture to a rich one it is prone to gorge itself to an extent which may endanger life. The lower end of the gullet becomes obstructed, the gases which accumulate in the paunch are hindered from escaping, and the latter becomes so enormously distended as speedily to suffocate the animal by being forced into the chest.

(123.) _Treatment[27] of Blown._ If the difficulty in breathing be only slight, keep the sheep moving _gently_ up and down as the air will thus have a chance of escaping from the stomach. If the symptoms are more alarming, pass the elastic tube employed in the same complaint in cattle down the throat, or if that cannot be procured use a cane with an ivory or wooden bullet at the end of it. Never _stick_ the animal, as recovery by this plan is almost hopeless. If you cannot obtain the aforesaid instruments, bleed the animal till it becomes very faint, and if this is of no avail proceed to kill it. Shepherds often prescribe a purgative dose after this occurrence. In general, however, it is not required. To prevent a flock becoming _blown_, always when, for the first time on rich pasture, make the dog move leisurely among them so as to prevent them feeding hastily.

[27] In speaking of remedial measures, the word treatment ought to be used in preference to "_cure_" which figures at the head of the medical advice in veterinary works. It is sheer nonsense to blazon such a word in pages having any pretentions to candour, for how seldom are we able conscientiously to affirm that our endeavours will be followed by a _cure_. All we can do is to pursue the _treatment_ best adapted for the attainment of so desirable an end.

(124.) _Braxy or Sickness._ Six or eight species of braxy are enumerated by shepherds, but as they all bear a striking resemblance one to another, in their origin and progress, it is preferable to treat of them as one disease. Indeed wire-drawn distinctions, though occasionally serviceable in cattle-medicine, ought in most instances to be avoided, as they are of but little avail, and in this disease straw-splitting can only serve to tantalize the farmer, by giving rise to ideas of finical modes of treatment, which before the Chapter ends are reduced to the simplest aids which medicine affords. Whatever may be the seat or seats of the disease, the identically same resources are employed in all:--why therefore ought the reader to be troubled with a hundred trifling phases, which, not being _essential_ to the malady, can only tend to perplex him in his search for the little that is practically available.

(125.) _Symptoms of Braxy._ In those rare cases where the animal is seen at the commencement of the disease, it will appear uneasy, lying down and rising up repeatedly, loathing food, and drinking frequently. In a little while the symptoms become more decided, and fever shows itself. The wool is clapped, the skin hot, the pulse quick and strong, respiration is rapid and laborious, while the blood is thick and black, issuing from the orifice, in attempts at bleeding, drop by drop. Sometimes the heart beats irregularly: the mouth is parched, and the eyes are red, languid, partly closed, and watery. The head is down, the back drawn up, and the belly swollen; there is scarcely any passage through the bowels, the urine is small in quantity, high coloured, and sometimes bloody. The sheep shuns the flock, slowly dragging itself to some retired spot, where convulsed and screaming it shortly dies. Death may occur in a few hours, or may, in some rare cases, be delayed for a week. A fatal termination is not so sudden as some have fancied, since the animal is in general seriously ill for many hours before it is discovered.

(126.) _Appearances on dissection._ Though many parts are commonly implicated in the _sickness_, there is every reason for believing the _reed_ to be primarily affected. Inflammatory appearances, and mortification, the usual result of violent inflammation in this quarter, are visible on its coats, especially at the pyloric extremity (Plate I. Fig. 2, _py_.) The inner coat presents a blackish-red, and gelatinous appearance,--the entire bowel being soft, pulpy, and easily permeable to the finger. The intestines, kidneys, and bladder, will, in all probability, exhibit similar changes, while the lining membrane of the abdomen (the _peritoneum_) is frequently affected: when this membrane has been much inflamed, the intestines are glued together, are surrounded with bloody or floculent serum, occasioning before death tumidity of the under part of the belly, and communicating, when struck, a feeling of fluctuation to a hand placed at a distance from the blow. The muscles in various parts of the body frequently participate in the disease, bloody serum being infiltrated between the layers. As the brain, in severe cases, exhibits symptoms of oppression, so on dissection it will be found red and turgid, enabling us to account for the convulsive movements during the termination of the malady. The whole body, more particularly the abdomen, gives out a fetid gangrenous odour, which has procured for braxy the pastoral appéllation of "_stinking ill_" and renders the dissection far from pleasant. After death putrefaction goes on with great rapidity, especially in moist weather, hence the necessity of testing the solidity of the carcass by giving it, as is customary in some parts, _three shakes_ before proceeding to prepare it for household use!

(128.) _Causes of Braxy._ Whatever tends to constipate the bowels may be reckoned a predisposing cause. Whenever constipation occurs, especially if on a sickrife pasture, the sheep may be looked upon as ripe for the disease. Any crude indigestible substance, taken into the stomach when the animal is in this state, will have a tendency to kindle braxy, and the liability to it will not only be heightened, but the chances of recovery will also be lessened, by the animal being in high condition.

Wedder hogs are peculiarly its victims, but only when hirsled, as when allowed to pasture with their mothers they are less liable to it. This is accounted for by the fact, that hirsled hogs are comparatively _dull_, not being familiar with the proper times for feeding, and incapable of selecting the suitable herbage, from having wanted the tutoring of the mother.

From the beginning of November till the middle of March, _sickness_ commits its greatest ravages, especially among heath sheep, from their being more confined than others to dry binding provender. Frozen grass is also a common exciting cause, rapidly inducing inflammation by lowering the temperature of the stomachs so very much as to arrest digestion, and lead to its acting as an irritant. The succulent grass in the sheltered hollows of mountains is more liable to frost than a sapless herbage, and to it, owing to its moisture, the young sheep resort, devouring it eagerly to assuage their thirst. Braxy, however, may arise from other and more obvious causes. The sheep, perhaps when heated by rash dogging, is suddenly chilled by exposure to a shower, or a plunge in a morass, and if the bowels be at the time any way bound up, immediate mischief cannot but ensue. One of the rarest accidents to which it has been attributed is the prevention of the passage of the fæces by a knot, or intussusception, forming on the intestines, but this occurrence would be of difficult discovery, and even if made known, our treatment, though not differing much from that of braxy, could hardly be successful.

(128.) _Treatment of Braxy._ Recovery is in many instances almost hopeless, owing to the length of time which in general elapses between the onset of the disease and the shepherd's discovery of the animal. Nevertheless, the best treatment ought in every instance to have a proper trial, as life may often be saved when such a result is least expected. Many plans have been resorted to, but none are found to suit so well as that of bleeding and purging. The first thing to be attempted is the procuring of a copious flow of blood, but, as before mentioned, this is a difficult matter, owing to the stagnant state of the circulation at the surface of the body. Its abstraction may, however, be rendered easy, by placing the sheep in a tub of warm water, or, where this cannot be procured, by rolling a blanket wrung out of hot water round the body of the animal. The tub of water should always be preferred, and the moment the sheep is placed in it, the tail should be nicked, and one or both jugular veins opened.

Retain the sheep in the bath for half an hour, adding hot water from time to time, so as to sustain the original temperature. This of itself will alleviate the sufferings of the animal.

When a copious flow of blood has been obtained, remove the sheep from the tub, and administer two ounces of Glauber's or Epsom salt, dissolved in warm water, substituting a handful of common salt when these cathartics cannot be procured. It is needless to give a purgative without bleeding, as, till this is done, it will not operate. When in spite of this the bowels continue obstinately constipated, give a glyster of tobacco decoction, made by boiling a drachm of the leaf (the full of a pipe will do) for a few minutes in a pint of water. Half of this only should be injected, using the other if circumstances require it. Place the sheep in a house, or any comfortable situation, bed it with straw, throw a horse-rug over it, and promote the purging by warm gruels. When out of danger supply it with moderate quantities of laxative provender, and keep it for ten days apart from its fellows, by which time it will, in all likelihood, be well recruited.

(129.) _Prevention of Braxy._ Change of pasture will at once suggest itself. Let it be to a succulent one, on which old sheep have been for some time feeding; the hogs will thus be hindered from filling their paunches too rapidly. But, if heathy food is the staple provender, allow your sheep four or five hours of turnips in the twenty-four, permitting at the same time free access to common salt. These, from their laxative effects, will serve as antidotes to the dry sapless grasses, which have led to the disease. Such places as mossy soils, abounding in evergreen plants, will also serve the purpose. Burn your ley heather, as nothing is more decidedly prejudicial, not only from its constipating qualities, but also from being surrounded by a grass, which is so much relished by the sheep, that they resort to the spot long after it has been eaten to the quick, and devour in their eagerness much that is foul and unwholesome from frequent puddling. You thus obtain a good supply of sprouts, as invaluable for opening qualities, as the old heather is to be dreaded for its astringency. Finally, be aware that careful herding is not the least efficacious of preventives; a quiet, even-tempered, and thoughtful shepherd, being here of far more value than the stores of the apothecary.

(130.) _Pining._ _Symptoms and Causes._ The name has arisen from the rapid wasting, which is a prominent symptom in this complaint. A farm can hardly be subject to a more ruinous distemper, as the same sheep will be affected by it year after year, and if a ewe be attacked during autumn it is ten to one she will not have a lamb in the ensuing season. Pining only seizes on thriving sheep, preferring young ones, those more especially of the larger breeds, and is confined to farms where the land is principally micaceous and covered with occasional stripes of benty grasses. A whole flock sickens at once, their usual alacrity appears to have deserted them, their eyes are dull, and the whole animal seems weary and languid. At a more advanced stage the wool acquires a bluish tinge, the blood becomes thick, diminishing in quantity, and the muscles assume a pale and bloodless appearance. The bowels are constipated, and to this the feverish symptoms apparently owe their origin. If the disease progress, death will ensue in about a month.[28]

[28] A gradual wasting of the animal, similar to what occurs in pining, may result from the irritation consequent on swallowing pointed bodies, as pins or needles. I have in my possession a very stout needle, given me by Mr Wilkin of Tinwald Downs, which was found buried in the coats of the stomach of a young sheep which died under the above symptoms, having been ill about three months.

(131.) _Treatment and Prevention._ The first object is to obtain a free discharge from the bowels by means of purgatives, as, whenever a flux appears, the animal is safe. Two ounces of Castor oil given in a gruel, or the same quantity of Epsom salts, will do, care being taken that the purging be carried to some length.

Removal to a rich pasture is the only preventive. That pasture should be preferred which contains a good proportion of bitter plants, for the emaciation appears to be owing in a considerable degree to torpor of the bowels occasioned by long abstinence from these necessaries.

(132.) _Staggers._ The symptoms nearly resemble those of sturdy, which I have afterwards to describe, and with which indeed I might have classed it, were it not that it appears to be merely the result of a poisonous plant being taken into the stomach. It is rarely seen hereabouts; I shall, therefore, quote the account of it presented to the Highland Society by Mr Stevenson:--"This is a disease seldom or never affecting the sheep in this country, those excepted which feed in forests, or amongst planting. The symptoms of it are more violent than those of sturdy, during the time of their continuance. The animal, after staggering for some time, falls on the ground, when a general trembling comes on over the limbs; they are violently convulsed, and quite insensible to every thing. During the continuance of the paroxysm they throw the body into various positions, and sometimes roll to a considerable distance. The fit continues for a quarter, sometimes half an hour, or an hour. When they rise, they seem perfectly bewildered, till they regain the flock, when they continue to feed well, till another paroxysm supervenes. This disease appears in Autumn, and various causes are said to produce it. Improper food, the leaves of the oak, from their astringent quality, cobwebs sprinkled with dew, have all been reckoned as causes. I am inclined, however, to suppose, that it arises from the action of a poisonous grass (_Lolium temulentum_), which is the only one of that description in this country, and grows only in those situations where staggers prevail. What effect these causes have on the brain to produce this disease, I cannot explain. When it continues for any time on the same individual, it is apt to be fatal."

"Change of pasture is the only effectual cure for it."

(133.) _Diarrhoea._ By this is meant a constant purging, affecting the younger portions of the flock between April and June, leading to great emaciation, and proceeding from one of the following causes.

1st. Eating a soft tathy pasture, particularly if fouled by the inundations of the previous winter.

2d. Feeding on too rich a pasture, or a sudden change from an herbage deficient in nutritive qualities, to one that is much superior.

3d. Transitions from heat to cold.

4th. Weakness and relaxation of the bowels.

(134.) _Treatment of Diarrhoea._ When either of the first two causes has given rise to purging, a moderate allowance of good hay will gradually stop it. This may be discontinued when the sheep has _taken_ with its altered fare.

When diarrhoea has been occasioned by exposure to damp, or sudden transitions from heat to cold, it may be arrested by keeping the animal in a house for a few days, and feeding it on any dry aliment, but when crude trashy matter has been swallowed, and keeps up irritation by its presence, medicine must be resorted to. Administer an ounce of castor oil in gruel, adding twenty drops of Laudanum if there has been straining or evidences of pain. When the bowels have been _thoroughly cleared_ by this cathartic, it will be proper, if the discharge still continue, to check it by astringents. The medicine found by experience to answer best, is prepared as follows:--

Take of Logwood four ounces, Extract of Catechu (Japan earth) one drachm, Cinnamon two drachms, Water three English pints.

Boil for a quarter of an hour, strain, and then add sixty drops of Laudanum. Administer half an English pint of this night and morning so long as the flux continues.

Diarrhoea seldom proves fatal, and is indeed an easily managed disease; but as it is frequently only a symptom of some other affection, or a critical effort of the constitution to ward off some more serious mischief, the attempts at stopping it should always be cautiously conducted.

(135.) _Dysentery.--Symptoms._ The pulse is quick and the respirations hurried. The skin is harsh and hot, and the wool in general clapped. The mouth is dry, the eyes red and languid, and the ears drooping. Food is taken only in small quantities and rumination is stopped. The discharges from the bowels are frequent, slimy, sometimes green, and a little further on in the disease are mixed with blood. The belly is drawn towards the back. It is knotted and lumpy to the touch and a rumbling noise (_borborygmus_) is heard within it. As a careless observer might have some difficulty in distinguishing dysentery from diarrhoea the following diagnostic summary, drawn up by Professor Duncan, will be found of service.

1. Diarrhoea attacks chiefly hogs and weak gimmers and dinmonts; whereas dysentery is frequent among older sheep.

2. Diarrhoea almost always occurs in the spring, and ceases about June, when dysentery only commences.

3. In diarrhoea there is no fever or tenesmus, or pain before the stools, as in dysentery.

4. In diarrhoea the fæces are loose, but in other respects natural, without any blood or slime; whereas in dysentery, the fæces consists of hard lumps passed occasionally without any blood or slime.

5. There is not that degree of foetor in the fæces in diarrhoea which takes place in dysentery.

6. In dysentery, the appetite is totally gone, in diarrhoea it is rather sharper than usual.

7. In dysentery, the animal wastes rapidly, but by diarrhoea only a temporary stop is put to its thriving, after which it makes rapid advances to strength, vigour and proportion.

If dysentery continue to advance it will terminate fatally within a fortnight. Death is generally preceded by the "_black scour_," which is only an aggravation of the purging, the stools being mixed with shreds of dark gangrenous matter from the decomposed interior of the intestines.

(136.) _Causes of Dysentery._ Many absurd opinions have gone abroad regarding the contagious nature of this affection. Contagion, however, has nothing to do with the matter, the spread of the disease depending entirely on the state of the atmosphere and the nature of the locality. When dysentery occurs the weather is usually sultry, the ground upon which the flock has been going, foul, and the management of the sheep so improper, as to be sufficient of itself to produce the disease very generally. There is in fact only one proof of a disease being infectious, viz., its immediate occurrence on the introduction of an affected animal among such as are in good health, on sound food, and in easy circumstances. This proof, however, in regard to dysentery has never been established, and no medical person will now affirm that it is contagious. Some think that it travels from flock to flock in the direction of the wind, but its appearing simultaneously in many folds ought rather to be charged to the fact of the predisposing causes being nearly similar in all.

(137.) _Treatment of Dysentery._ Bleed freely if the disease has continued only for a few days, but moderately if a longer time has unfortunately elapsed. Stoving, by which is meant shutting the animal in a wash-house, and allowing the apartment to become filled with steam, though urged by some writers, cannot here be recommended. The intended object is the promotion of perspiration, by exciting the action of the skin, but this may be brought about by means much more conducive to the safety of the animal. After the bleeding immerse the sheep in a tub of hot water, and retain it there for twenty minutes; then administer an ounce of Castor oil, with thirty drops of Laudanum, and cover the sheep up in a snug corner. After the oil has operated, thin well-boiled flour-porridge, given at intervals, in small quantities, will help to defend the ulcerated bowels, sooth the pain, and stop the purging. If these fail, you may use the astringent mixture recommended in diarrhoea at page 175, and in the same manner, adding to each dose a grain of ipecacuanha. When the appetite returns, and the stools begin to acquire consistency, speedy recovery may be prognosticated.

During recovery part of the wool always falls off.

(138.) _Prevention of Dysentery._ If you wish your sheep to take the disease, do as some wiseacres recommend--put tar upon their tails, and noses; you will thus render them feverish, and uncomfortable, and every way fit for an attack.

Gathering sheep into confined places is always bad, nothing will tend more to ward off dysentery than an open frequently-changed easy-lying pasture, combined with gentle usage on the part of the shepherd.

DISEASES OF THE SKIN.

(139.) _Scab, or Itch._--_Symptoms and Causes._ These are so well known that they hardly merit a description. Little white specks appear upon the wool, and are soon followed by a small pustule at the root. The pustules are produced by a minute insect burrowing in the skin, which accounts for one external application of any active substance being sufficient to eradicate the malady. The infected sheep is restless, tearing off the wool with its teeth, and rubbing itself against every resisting body. The skin is red and fretted, discharging an ichor which hardens into crusts. These gradually extend, inducing a premature failure of the wool.

If the sheep be not relieved, it sinks under its accumulated miseries.

Scab was little known any where, but in the Highlands, and the south of England, till the good old custom of smearing with tar and butter gave way before the elegant modern innovations. Into flocks anointed in the old manner it may be carried by infection, but will seldom or never arise spontaneously among them.

It usually commences in spring among hogs, making its first appearance among the rams, especially those of the fine-woolled breeds, and is supposed to be induced by overheating, want, or even excess of nutriment, or pasturing on wet lands in rainy seasons.

(140.) _Treatment of Itch._ Subject the flock to a minute examination whenever the movements of any animal excite suspicion, and remove every one that is in the least affected. Place them in a separate enclosure, and apply either of the following recipes.

Take of Mercurial Ointment four pounds, Venice Turpentine half a pound, Oil of Turpentine one pint:

mix thoroughly.

Separate the wool from the head to the tail and draw the fore finger loaded with a portion of the ointment, along the bottom of the groove. Then make lines from the middle of the back down each leg and score them in the same manner, thus concluding the operation. Some farmers prefer rubbing the size of a walnut of the ointment into the delicate skin inside the thigh. The former plan is, however, the better of the two, and is the one recommended by Sir Joseph Banks, who communicated the recipe to the Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures, and Commerce, in the 7th volume of whose transactions it was published.

A most important benefit to be derived from the application of the mercurial ointment, is the security it affords the sheep from the attack of the sheep fag or ked (_Hippobosca ovina_). The wool of sheep annoyed by this fly always contains joints or knots, owing to the occasional stoppage of its growth consequent on the fretting of the irritated animal. On this account dealers in wool are said to give a higher price for fleeces having the mercurial tinge, as they are supposed to be sound in the pile from having been exempted from the fly.

The next prescription is one of very great efficacy where the disease has reached the length of scabs, and has, with many variations, gone the round of almost every agricultural publication. The form I prefer is one submitted to me by Mr Wilkin of Tinwald Downs, near Dumfries, who at one time, several years ago, applied it with immediate good effects, to six hundred infected sheep.

Take of Tobacco scrapings one pound, Strong decoction of Broom six gallons:

boil for half an hour, and then add three English pints of spirit of tar.

This quantity is sufficient to cover two dozen of sheep. The scabs, if large, should be raised a little with a knife to permit the free contact of the fluid, and no more of it should be applied than is here directed; for though it be in this dose comparatively harmless, a very small addition will destroy the animal.

A very good French remedy is made by melting a pound of fat or suet, and mixing with it (when off the fire) a fourth part of oil of turpentine. Rub it into the affected parts.

Whatever outward means may be employed, laxative medicines ought never to be neglected. One of the best and most generally used, consists of a tea-spoonful of flour of sulphur, given for two or three successive nights in double the quantity of molasses.

If ill-conditioned sheep are the victims of itch, convey them to a better pasture, but where the animals are fat, reduce their diet, and give each a dose of Epsom salts.

(141.) _Prevention of Itch._ Do not turn a healthy flock on to pasture, from which itchy sheep have recently been driven. If the disease occasionally breaks out on your ground, apply the mercurial ointment at clipping time: and, when you salve, add a pound of sulphur to every tub of smearing composition whatever it may be.

(142.) _Erysipelas or wild-fire._ This is an inflammatory affection of the skin, sometimes accompanied by blebs or blisters, occurring in August and September, and spreading rapidly through a flock. Though there is considerable ambiguity in the employment of these terms, I believe they are synonymous with red-water, the disease of which I have next to treat.

(143.) _Red-water._ The occurrence of this disease among sheep is very rare. Its nature and treatment are however allowed, by those who have seen it, to be admirably described by Mr Stevenson, in the 3d vol. of the _Highland Society's Transactions_.

"This disease commonly makes its appearance about the beginning, or end of winter, and first affects about the breast and belly, although at times it spreads itself over other parts of the body. It consists in an inflammation of the skin, that raises it into blisters which contain a thin, reddish, and watery fluid. These continue for a short time, break, discharge their matter, and are followed by a blackish scab. When the sheep are exposed to cold or wetness, the skin being fretted makes the blisters rise, or they often arise from cold, affecting the animal internally, thus producing a slight fever, which throws out these vesicles on the body, similar to the scabby eruptions, which appear about the face, and more particularly the mouth of those persons affected with cold. The blood in this disease is but little affected, though a little of it oozes into the vesicles on the skin, and communicates to them that reddish tinge, which gives origin to the name.

"Red-water is a disease that but seldom appears in this country, and is almost never fatal. In cases where the disease is violent, a little blood should be taken. * * * * The sheep should be placed in a fold by itself, * * * * and the following medicine may be given for three or four mornings successively:--

Take of Flour of Sulphur two ounces, Molasses three ounces:

mix them, and divide them into six doses, of which one may be given every morning, in half a pound (half a mutchkin) of warm water. If this is found unsuccessful, half an ounce of nitre, mixed with the foregoing recipe, will be attended with good effects; after which, a dose of salts may be given, and the body washed with lime-water upon the part affected."

(144.) _Leg Evil._--_Symptoms and Causes._ Like many other diseases, this is usually supposed to be contagious, merely because it often spreads quickly through a flock; the obvious fact of the exposure of the animals composing it to the same causes, such as peculiar diet and atmospheric variations, being entirely overlooked; but, as I have already remarked in paragraph (136), the only proof of a disease being contagious, is its spreading rapidly on the introduction, from a distance, of an infected individual into a previously-healthy flock.

Sheep which acquire fat at an early age, are peculiarly liable to this disease: a sufficient argument, if all others were wanting, against the unnatural and foolish practice of accumulating a load of grease on the bodies of young animals. By so doing, the action of the heart and lungs is materially embarrassed, and, on the animal being chilled, or the balance of its circulation otherwise accidentally deranged, mortification (leg evil) is almost certain to occur. Even simple scratches are often fatal in these over-fat animals, from inducing gangrene.

The first intimation the shepherd has of the approach of leg evil, is the occurrence of fever and lameness, accompanied by blue or livid patches on the leg, generally about the upper part of the hoof or knee. The skin on the affected parts, in a few days, exhibits scattered vesicles, not unlike the blebs which form in erysipelas; it then gives way, and the parts beneath are seen of a darker tinge, soft, pulpy, and completely gangrenous.

Leg evil may prove fatal in a few days, or not for several weeks, much depending on the extent of the sloughing portions, which may include the entire leg, or legs, or may be limited to a single patch.

(145.) _Treatment of Leg Evil._ When the animal is in high condition, and the disease has arisen spontaneously, bleeding is the first thing to be thought of. It must, however, be conducted cautiously, it being better to use the lancet a second time, than, by withdrawing too much blood, to reduce the vital powers below the standard which is necessary for replacing the gangrenous portions. Should a leg be affected to any extent, the sheep must be at once destroyed, as there is scarcely a possibility of its surviving, without a degree of care and nicety in the treatment, which it is beyond the power of unprofessional persons to bestow. Where the livid spots are limited, rags dipped in spirit of turpentine, which has been heated by immersing the bottle containing it in hot water, may be laid upon the skin; but when dead portions have begun to separate, the best application is either a warm poultice, made of carrots, which have been boiled and mashed, or one made of boiled oatmeal, which has been fermented by adding to it a table-spoonful of yeast, and placing it for an hour before a fire. When the sore is becoming clean, and the granulations are rising freely, pursue the methods recommended in paragraph (110).

(146.) _Prevention of Leg Evil._ Remove the diseased animals from the flock, and, in dressing their sores, never use a sponge, or any thing which, from its value, is apt to be preserved, and, perhaps, applied in no long time to the cuts or scratches of a healthy animal; for, though leg evil is not communicable by ordinary means, yet is it readily excited by inoculation, or the application of putrid matter to a broken surface. If the odour from the affected parts is any way offensive, wash them with, and sprinkle round the fold, either a weak solution of _chloride of lime_, or the disinfecting liquid of Labarraque, articles which may now be procured from every provincial apothecary. Finally, let the shepherd _wash his hands carefully_ before going from diseased to healthy sheep, using, if need be, a little of either of these solutions; and let him look well to any injuries which his charges may receive in July, August, and September, for these are the months most favourable to the occurrence of leg evil.

(147). _Inflammation caused by Maggots._ The insects passing under the name of "Fly," though most troublesome in August, attack the sheep from the month of May to September, inclusive, depositing their eggs among the wool, in general about the tail, the roots of the horns, or any part which affords, from its filthy appearance, a prospect of suitable provision for the maggot. When these eggs are hatched, a process which is, in sultry weather, almost instantaneous, the maggot erodes the skin, and speedily brings the adjacent parts into a fit condition for the reception of succeeding numbers of its species.

The backs of long-woolled sheep are, from their exposure, more liable to be selected by the flies, as a receptacle for their eggs, than the corresponding parts in such as are covered by a short thick fleece.

No sooner has the maggot begun its operations, than the sheep becomes uneasy and restless, rubbing itself on stones and trees, and endeavouring, by every means in its power to free itself from the annoyance. Teazed by the constant irritation, fever soon sets in, and, if the sheep be unrelieved by the shepherd's aid, death ensues in four-and-twenty hours.

It is only lately that attention has been paid to the history of the insect pests which originate the mischief, so little damage do they appear to have occasioned in former periods. In a valuable paper, containing the result of observations made on this subject in the Highlands, and published in the second number of the _Quarterly Journal of Agriculture_, they are thus described:--

"The fly which is the immediate cause of this disease, seems, as far as my observations could extend, to consist of four species, viz.--the _Musca Ceasar_, _Cadaverina_, _Vomitoria_, and _Carnaria_, of Linnæus. * * *

"_M. Ceasar_ is of a shining green colour.

"_M. Cadaverina_, the thorax shining bluish, the abdomen green, like the _Ceasar_.

"_M. Vomitoria_, thorax black, or dark-blue grey, abdomen dark glossy blue. This is the common _Blue-Bottle_ or _Flesh-fly_.

"_M. Carnaria_, grey; the thorax has three black longitudinal markings on the upper surface; the abdomen is checquered, in some positions shining whitish.

"In all those instances in which I observed them, the green flies were the first to attack, and this is the common opinion among the shepherds. After a time, when the larvæ (maggots) commenced gnawing the flesh, the putrid stench, which was thereby occasioned, attracted numerous other species. The _Vomitoria_ (_blue-bottle_) was very common, more numerous than both the former species, and perhaps contributed most to accelerate the death of the animal, after the others had commenced. The _Carnaria_ was rare. I observed but few of them, and these seemed not concerned; which is the more remarkable, as in the fenny counties of England it is said to be most troublesome. All the species of this genus resemble one another closely, both in appearance and mode of life. They are exceedingly voracious, feeding upon carcasses and filth of every description. In five days after being hatched they arrive at full growth, provided they have plenty of food; they then cease to eat, and seek to assume the pupa state, crawling under ground two or three inches. Here they remain about fourteen days, when the shell cracks, and the imago, or fly, appears. In this last state, they feed also on putrid juices, sucking them through their probosces."

The correctness of this description of their transformations I can attest, from having watched their habits during my anatomical pursuits in the summer months.

(148.) _Treatment of Fly-blown Sheep._ When the sheep is fly-blown, dislodge the maggots with a knife, and shake a little powdered white lead into the wound. Do not apply tar to the abraded surface, as, from its cauterizing effects, the wound will be enlarged, and a repetition of the visit speedily ensured. To ward off the onset of the flies, various substances noxious to them are rubbed or poured upon the wool. Tar, in small quantities, and of pungent quality, is by some daubed upon the ears, horns, and tail. Others prefer rubbing a little melted butter, thickened by flour of sulphur, along the sheep's back: this is an effectual preventive. Some, again, prefer dressing the sheep, when in low situations, with the following recipe, which I take the liberty of copying from Mr Mather's paper on the fly, in the _Quarterly Journal of Agriculture_, No. XXIV.

"Take of Arsenic, finely pounded, one pound Potash twelve ounces, Common yellow soap six ounces, Rain or river water thirty gallons.

"Boil the ingredients together for fifteen minutes. * * * * The liquid is in no degree injurious to wool. It cleans and dries the offensive perspiration of the sheep, and destroys the smell caused by the dew in the mornings, or by damp hot weather. In most situations, one dressing in July and another in August will suffice; but as the expense is trifling, and the process simple, it may be better to apply it more frequently, especially in low and damp situations." The liquid is applied only in dry weather. A teapot, or any vessel of a similar form, is filled with it, and one person pours it on the wool, while another rubs the fleece to facilitate the passage of the fluid. At the times of using the solution, all superfluous wool ought to be shorn from the buttocks, but not too closely.

When the insects are very troublesome, drive the sheep if possible to higher ground. Examine carefully all wounds and ulcers, however trifling, and dress them with any simple ointment containing a small proportion of sulphur, mercury, or white-lead. Lastly, bury all useless carcasses as speedily as possible, by which means you will keep down the number of the flies.

(149.) _The Sheep-Fag or Ked_ (_Hippobosca ovina_) and _The Tick_ (_Acarus reduvius_), are destroyed or stopped in their attacks by the same remedies and preventives detailed in the preceding paragraphs on the fly.

(150.) _Inflammation produced by the OEstrus bovis._ This insect infests not only cattle but also sheep and goats, depositing its eggs on the back of the animal, where it forms a small tumour, in which the larvæ remain from autumn till the commencement of the ensuing summer. Only the fattest and most vigorous animals are attacked, and the larvæ are very difficult to destroy. Fischer found, from numerous experiments, that even spirits, and a strong solution of salt, could not affect them. The fumes of burning sulphur alone seemed to annoy them, and to it they speedily fell victims. This, however, is a remedy which cannot be applied to the skin of the sheep, so that our only resource is the repeated application of turpentine to the tumours on the back, taking care to slit them up so as to facilitate its action.

(151.) _Sore Teats._ When a ewe is observed to hinder the lamb from sucking, its teats should be examined. If much inflamed, a poultice should be applied, and the lamb placed under the charge of another nurse. Suppuration will thus be promoted, and the matter may be allowed to escape by making an opening for it at the place it points. If there is only a little tenderness of the skin, all that is required is the washing it with a solution either of sugar of lead or sulphate of zinc, eight grains to the ounce of water.

(152.) _Foot-rot._ No disease occasions more acute suffering to the sheep, and annoyance to the farmer, than foot-rot, and no disease has led to longer arguments as to its contagious or non-contagious nature. Thanks, however, to Mr Dick of Edinburgh, these disputes are closed for ever, as any one may be convinced, by perusing his clever and sarcastic paper at page 852, Vol. ii. of the _Quarterly Journal of Agriculture_. His excellent remarks on the popular ideas of the infectious nature of foot-rot, I have not space to quote, but shall lay before the reader his views as to the situations and circumstances which give origin to the disease.[29]

[29] To enable the reader more easily to understand Mr Dick's views of this disease, I have added a drawing of the foot of the sheep, which it may be well to consult before entering on the subject.

_Fig. 4. Plate._ I. Section of a toe:--_c.c._ Crust of the hoof; _s._ Sole; _g.g._ Gland which secretes the hoof.

(153.) _Causes of Foot-rot._ "What do we gain," says Mr Dick, "by enticing the sheep from his native and natural haunts to the richer pasturage of our meadows or lawns? There the animal enjoys a more luxuriant repast; it fattens to a larger size, and will, in this respect, repay the increased allowance which has been made to it. But instead of moving about in small troops, with the alacrity of the wild kinds, the sheep are seen in flocks of thousands, moving slowly over their pastures, and gorging themselves to an extent which cuts short the thread of life, by the advancement of various diseases. Instead of wandering from the summit of one peak to another, in quest of a scanty subsistence, or instead of being compelled to descend from the summits of the mountain in the morning, and ascend again in the evening, they are compelled, in many cases, to remain within a few yards of a particular spot for weeks together, and there engorge themselves to satiety.

"But what, it may be asked, has this to do with the foot-rot? More, I am inclined to think, than is generally imagined. The hoofs of the sheep being intended to receive a degree of friction from hard surfaces, are not acted upon when the animal is placed under such circumstances; and the necessary consequence is an overgrowth of the hoof. The crust,--the part naturally intended to support the weight of the animal, and to endure the greatest share of fatigue,--is here allowed to grow out of all due bounds, because the softness of the pasturages, upon which it now moves, presents little, if any, of that rough friction to which the feet of the animal is naturally intended to be exposed. The crust, therefore, grows unrestrained, until it either laps over the sole, like the loose sole of an old shoe, and serves to retain and accumulate earth and filth, or is broken off in detached parts, in some cases exposing the quick, or opening new pores, into which the particles of earth or sand force their way, until reaching the quick, an inflammation is set up, which, in its progress, alters or destroys the whole foot."

* * * * *

"The finest and richest old pastures and lawns are particularly liable to this disease; soft, marshy, and luxuriant meadows are equally so; and it is also found in light, soft or sandy districts. In the first of these it is perhaps most prevalent in a moist season, and in the latter in a dry one; in short, it exists to a greater or less extent in every situation which has a tendency to increase the growth of the hoofs without wearing them away, and more especially where they are kept soft by moisture. It is so prevalent in fine lawns and pleasure grounds, that they are, in many instances, reduced in value to a mere trifle as a pasture for sheep; they are said to be _infected_ with this disease, and having once become so, the vicissitudes of _seven_ seasons are scarcely sufficient to destroy the contagion! A luxuriant herbage, on soft pastures, is equally subject to it; and, in both cases, the disease is increased in a wet season.

"The reason why, in these situations, sheep are so liable to the disease, is quite obvious. They are generally brought from lands where their range of pasturage was greater than in these situations. In their former state, from the exercise which the animal took, and the nature of the grounds on which it pastured, the hoof was worn down as it grew; but, under the state in question, the hoofs not only continue to grow, but, where the land is moist, that growth is greatly increased; and the animal does not tread upon hard ground, nor has it exercise to wear them down. Now, in the case of man himself, when the nails of his fingers or toes exceed the proper length, they break, or give him such uneasiness as to induce him to pare them. And the same takes place with the hoof of sheep. But there is this difference in the case of the latter, that when their hoof once breaks, as the animal has not the power of paring it, the part thus broken must continue a wound. Some parts grow out of their natural and proper proportions; the crust of the hoof (_c.c._) grows too long; and the overgrown parts either break off in irregular rents and unnatural forms, or, by over-shooting the sole (_s._), allow small particles of sand or earth to enter into the pores of the hoof. These particles reach the quick, and set up an inflammation, which is followed by the destructive effects which are too well known to require description.

"Similar effects are produced on soft, wet grounds. The feet, in such a situation, are not only not subject to a proper degree of friction to wear down the hoofs, but the growth of the hoofs is materially increased by the soft and moist state in which they are kept. And this state renders the feet the more liable to the disease, as it opens up the pores of the horn, and allows the earth or sand to penetrate, and wound the quick, in the manner I have already stated. On soft sandy ground, of a dry nature, the same circumstances may occur. The soft sand gives way by the weight of the animal, and the crust of the hoof is not worn down. The sand penetrates between the sole and the crust, as has been already explained, and produces inflammation. The disease, however, is not so common on sand as in the other situations to which I have alluded, the sand seldom being found in such a loose state."

Another variety of foot-rot is produced by the friction of long grass between the hoofs, but is mostly confined to hill sheep, when first pastured on lowland districts. These animals, from having been accustomed to collect their food on extensive ranges of bare pasture, are more exposed than heavy breeds to this frequent exciting cause of the complaint. The rubbing of the grass frets the skin in the cleft of the hoof, the gland in that situation swells, becomes enlarged, and suppurates, and in no long time the animal is compelled to rest upon its knees.[30] This complaint is, however, more readily remedied than the former, and does not cause nearly so much suffering to the sheep.

[30] _Fig. 5. Plate._ I. Gives a view of the inner surface of the toe of a sheep, with the interdigital gland laid open.

_g._ The gland.

_d._ The duct of the gland, opening upon the anterior surface of the leg.

When the interdigital gland is much enlarged, it becomes necessary to cut it out. This ought to be a last resource, as the part appears to be of too much importance to be easily dispensed with.

(154.) _Treatment and Prevention of Foot-rot._ As foot-rot, in nine cases out of ten, is an attempt on the part of nature to get rid of a portion of the hoof, which ought, in the proper course of things, to have been worn away as fast as it appeared, the prevention and treatment of the first stage of the complaint will naturally suggest themselves. "As this disease," says Mr Dick, at the conclusion of the aforementioned paper, "arises in consequence of the hoofs not being exposed to sufficient friction to wear them down, or keep them in their proper state, or where their natural growth is increased by the nature and moisture of the ground, the hoofs of all the flock should be regularly rasped or pared at short intervals, say from eight days to a fortnight, according to the rapidity with which a particular pasture produces the disease. In certain situations, they might be made to travel upon a hard surface, similar to natural sheep tracts, or be folded in a place purposely prepared, upon which they could move about and wear their hoofs. For that purpose, they should be placed in it every day."

When foot-rot has fairly commenced, pare the hoof from the affected part, and trim away any ragged portions, wash the foot with soap and water, and place the animal in a situation where as few irritating things as possible will be in the way of the tender surface, and give a purgative. If not properly attended to, the suppuration soon terminates in mortification. Cleanliness in every stage and variety of foot-rot, is of the first importance. Many corrosive preparations are recommended for the cure of this disease, but I have decided objections to one and all of them. When the foot is clean, endeavour, by frequent applications of soap and water, to keep and treat the ulcers as directed in paragraph 110.

(155.) _Inflammation produced by Insects in the Air Passages._ Much annoyance is caused to the sheep by the presence of animals in the air passages. The _OEstrus ovis_ deposits its eggs on the margin of the nostril in autumn; these are soon hatched, and the larvæ immediately find their way up the interior of the nose, till they arrive at the frontal sinus, a cavity situated between the layers of the frontal bone, and of considerable size in the sheep. Here they remain till the following spring, when they quit their hold, become winged insects, and enter upon the career of torment so ably gone through by their predecessors.

The _Pentastoma_, an animal supposed at one time only to exist in the frontal sinus and lungs, and on the surface of the liver, of the dog, wolf, and horse, as well as in some reptiles, has been discovered by an able naturalist, my friend Mr Rhind of Edinburgh, in the frontal sinus of the sheep. It spends its whole existence there, and is distinguished from other entozoa by having the mouth between two pores on each side, through which a spicular process comes out. Figure 3, Plate VII. is taken from a drawing kindly furnished by Mr Rhind.

(156.) _Removal of Insects from the Nostril._ The _OEstrus ovis_ occasions much distress to the sheep at the moment of depositing its eggs within the nostril. The animal on feeling the movements of the fly, rubs its nose against the ground, or, carrying it low, darts off at a rapid pace, vainly endeavouring to escape from its tormentor. During this period, a thin limpid fluid distils from the nostrils, leading a careless observer to confound the symptoms with those which accompany Coryza. In general the irritation is now terminated, as, while in the larvæ state, the insects are incapable of offensive measures. If they are clustered in considerable numbers in the frontal sinuses, they will doubtless lead to great suffering, parallel to what is recorded to have followed the nestling of insects in the same situation in the human being; and it is, therefore, advisable, when the cause of sturdy (paragraph 169) is in any way doubtful, first to apply those substances to the nostril, which are calculated to destroy both these larvæ and the _pentastoma_, should they happen to be there. Tobacco smoke is the only available remedy, and a very good one, being easily brought in contact with the worms, and, when properly administered, certain in its effects. One person secures the sheep holding the head in a convenient position, while another, having half filled a pipe with tobacco, and kindled it in the usual manner, places one or two folds of a handkerchief over the opening of the bowl, then passes the tube a good way up the nostril, applies his mouth to the covered bowl, and blows vigorously through the napkin. When this has continued for a few seconds, the pipe is withdrawn, and the operation repeated on the other nostril.

The round hair-worm (_strongylus filaria_) has been found in great numbers in the trachea and bronchii of calves by Camper, and of the sheep by Daubeuton. It has also been found in the reed and duodenum of the latter animal by Rudolphi. Two other species of the genus _Strongle_, the _S. contortus_ and _S. filicollis_, have been detected in the sheep, the former in the belly, the latter in the small intestines. They all appear to originate only in such sheep as are exposed to the sapping influence of low damp situations, combined with stinted diet. Those occuring in the air tubes give rise to irritation, and a consequent harassing cough, which is only to be arrested by removing the sheep to a dry airy locality, and a nutritious pasture. Unless portions of the worms are thrown up during coughing, they cannot be pronounced with confidence to exist, as the symptoms which they produce are very similar to those which accompany the two following diseases.

(157.) _Coryza._ During the winter months, this affection is of very frequent occurence among sheep; but health is only in a few instances seriously affected. It is brought on by the exposure of the animal to intense cold, or to sudden chills, after it has been heated. In slight cases, the only annoyance to which the sheep is subjected, is from matter accumulating in the nostril, and plugging up the orifice, so that the poor creature is compelled to raise its head every three or four minutes, and labour hard for breath.[31] When the inflammation extends further down the air tubes, the symptoms assume a severer type, and death soon occurs, in general from suffocation. If the inflammation of the bronchial tubes becomes chronic, that is to say, if it goes on in a mild form for a length of time, pulmonary consumption (rot) will in all probability succeed, and destroy the sheep in a more lingering manner.

[31] The sheep is more inconvenienced by Coryza than other animals, owing to the naturally small calibre of the nostrils, the inferior turbinated bone being of large dimensions, and occupying the greater part of the nasal cavity. It is from this peculiar formation of the nose, that sheep are so very easily blown, when made to exert themselves in running.

(158.) _Treatment of Coryza._ Should this disease prevail in a lenient form among your sheep, removal to a sheltered field, and a dose of purgative medicine, are all that is required. If, however, the feverish symptoms are severe, besides giving a purgative, bleed at the outset of the disease, and administer ten grains of the following fever powder, dissolved in a tea-cupful of warm water:--

Take of powdered Digitalis (Foxglove) half a drachm. Tartarized Antimony fifteen grains Nitre two drachms.

Rub them well together, and divide the mixture into fifteen parts or powders. Half an hour after the powder is swallowed, give the sheep a basin of warm gruel, and repeat the powder at the end of six hours, if the symptoms are not considerably abated. When the sheep is recovering, keep it on juicy food, and do not expose it to inclement weather, as it will be very liable to another and more severe attack. Those sheep which are subject to cough on slight changes of temperature, should always be picked out, fattened for the market, and disposed of at the earliest opportunity, as they will, in all probability, sooner or later, fall victims to the following disease.

(159.) _Rot._ Every animal, from the serpent up to man, that is to say, every animal possessed of lungs, is liable to _rot_. The inelegance of the term might be overlooked, provided a precise meaning were attached to it. Every one, however, seems to place some peculiar signification, and to hang some favourite theory, upon it, so that little wonder need be expressed either at the varying tenor of the treatment, or at the unsatisfactory conclusions which have been drawn regarding it. The word "_rot_," when employed in speaking of man, implies what, in popular language, is called "_consumption_," and is applied to that disease only when it affects the lungs. Thus the fork-grinders of Sheffield, who, from the nature of their employment, are much exposed to the exciting causes of consumption, and who, at an early age, fall victims to it, are said, by the people of that town, to die of rot. The term, however, so far as it has yet been used in relation to the sheep, has figured as the representative of a host of diseases, and, in becoming standard from frequent usage, has only rendered confusion worse confounded. "_Rot_," says the late Professor Coventry, in his _Introductory Discourses_, "is a word which has been employed to express a variety of disorders affecting this animal, with no small confusion and detriment. Indeed, in few instances has senseless indiscrimination done more mischief; for means inapt and injurious have been had recourse to, where skilful and timely interference would have had the happiest effects. Sheep are sometimes said to have the rot, when they labour under _phthisis pulmonalis_ (consumption of the lungs), which they do but rarely; or under disorders of the liver, as _hepatitis chronica_, and that state of the same organ produced, or attended by the _fasciolæ hepaticæ_ (fluke worms), _hydatides_, &c., which affections of the liver are not unfrequent. But the most common rot is still another and very distinct disorder, resembling, in many points, and probably the very same in its nature with, _scorbutus_ (scurvy) in the human species, or that _miseranda lues_, that direful ruin of the general health and constitution, which silently supervenes from deficient or depraved aliment; and from which, as numerous observations testify, every flock, every sufferer, may be recovered by simple means seasonably used; but against which, in its advanced stage, all remedies prove of no avail. Perhaps, as the last symptoms of debility are very similar, and are most taken notice of by ordinary observers, the different kinds of rot might conveniently enough pass under the names of pulmonic, hepatic, and general rot."

Setting aside, for the moment, the inaccuracy of part of the above observations, I shall only remark, that, though Dr Coventry, in thus calling attention to the conflicting state of opinions on the subject, has accomplished much in reconciling discrepancies, he has still left something to be done in simplifying the matter; while he has, at the same time, rendered that something difficult of execution, from his own high authority being associated with the blunder. The only way, therefore, to remedy the thing, is to quit for the present the views of that learned gentleman, while I endeavour to give a plain account of the disease, its causes, and effects.

(160.) _Symptoms of Rot._ The first thing which indicates the presence of the disease, is the unwillingness of the affected animal to move about. It lags behind the flock, ascends a slope with difficulty, and has a listless, heavy, pithless appearance. Cough varying in frequency and violence, but extremely harassing, is present at every period of the disease, and is always increased on the slightest exertion.[32] At first this is accompanied by expectoration of the mucus of the air tubes; but in no long time purulent matter, indicative of more extensive inroads on the constitution, begins to be coughed up, and goes on increasing in quantity and becoming worse in quality till the termination of the disease. The wool becomes fine, white, thin, and brittle in the pile, and is easily brought away in masses by the slightest pull. The appetite is, throughout the disease, voracious, and though all the bad symptoms may be present, still the animal keeps up an appearance of plumpness. This, however, is hollow and deceitful, and the rapid loss of flesh which immediately succeeds, shows with what insidious certainty the malady has been progressing. Owing to the falling off in flesh and in fat, the neck appears to have acquired additional length, and the eyes to have sunk within the head. Sooner or later the skin beneath the neck becomes distended with serous fluid, and from this the disease has acquired the name of _Poke_. The word, however, is far from applicable, as it might, with equal propriety, stand for any other disease attended with dropsical accumulations. Violent purging soon terminates the disease, death being generally preceded by the evacuation of a quantity of blackish matter.

[32] It is quite possible that a sheep may die of true pulmonary consumption and yet have scarcely any cough.

(161.) _Appearances on Dissection._ The first thing which strikes a person on viewing the carcass of a sheep which has died of rot, is its leanness. In conducting the examination, the fell appears of a bluish white, the muscles are pale and wasted, and fat hardly to be met with. Where it once existed, a tough yellow substance alone remains, which is so destitute of all pretentions to the name of suet, that it cannot, even when thrown upon a fire, be made to blaze. Dropsical accumulations are found in the legs, chest, neck, and belly. On opening the chest, the lungs are often seen adhering at intervals to the lining membrane of the ribs, and have always a shrunk, diminutive appearance. These adhesions are frequently seen where there are no tubercles, and are in that case simply the result of exposure to cold; but where they are coincident with tubercles, they may be ascribed either to the animal having been exposed to cold, or to the inflammatory action set up by the tubercles themselves. The lungs are always the principal, and I may also, from my own experience, add, the primary seat of the affection. When examined in the early stage of rot, they have a hard lumpy feel, especially at the upper part or lobe, and at this time a great number of irregular yellowish white, patchy-looking bodies (_Plate_ VI. _fig. 2._), will be seen shining through the membrane, _pleura_, which surrounds the organ. These _tubercles_, as the hard white bodies are called, vary in size from that of a mustard seed to that of a pea. They are sprinkled through all parts of the lung, and will in every dissection, be found in a variety of stages, from the firm condition in which they were deposited, to the softened state which denotes their speedy expectoration. Each tubercle, however small, usually holds a particle of calcareous matter in its centre. The lungs, in the advanced stage of rot, will be full of cells or caverns, owing to the destruction of its texture by suppuration in those parts where tubercles existed. The cells or sacs are of all sizes, from that of a bean to that of a goose egg; but if the animal has been taken care of during the progress of the complaint, and lingered long, the abscesses will be so numerous, and so closely situated, as to give the remains of the lung the appearance of a large bag. Extreme cases of this nature are, however, rare; as the sheep, in general, either falls before the knife, or is killed from exposure to cold long ere the disease has reached its farthest limit. These sacs contain purulent matter, of all shades and odours, and identical with that which the animal coughed up.

Tubercles, and all their concomitants as above detailed, are also met with in the liver, though not so frequently as in the lungs. They constantly occur in the _clyars_ (mesenteric or lacteal glands) which on this account are much above their usual size, and are occasionally found in other parts; but I need not proceed in their description, as sufficient has been said about them to enable the unprofessional reader to understand their relation to the complaints.

Fluke worms and hydatids are almost constant attendants on rot, and seemingly most important ones, especially the former, which have, I may say, kept a great bulk of the learned and unlearned for many years in a perpetual bustle, and have so effectually hoodwinked writers on this subject, as to prevent them seeing the truly important points in the disease. For this reason, I hold them worthy of particular description; as it is only by becoming acquainted with their history and habits that we can form correct ideas either of their mode of origin or of their supposed ability to cause rot.

(162.) _The Liver Fluke_ (_fasciola hepatica_ or _distoma hepaticum_, _Fig. 6._ _Plate_ I.) derives its name from the resemblance it bears to the plaice or flounder, though its shape has been more aptly compared to that of a melon seed. It is flat and oval, of a brownish-yellow colour, and varies in size from that of a pin-head to one inch in length, and half an inch in breadth. Each worm is bisexual or hermaphrodite, on which account they multiply with great rapidity. The generic name--_distoma_--signifies having two pores, _a.b. Fig. 6, Plate_ I., and is for this reason applied to it. The nipple-like body at the extremity _a._ contains the orifice of the pore or opening leading to the female division of the generative apparatus, situated between _a._ and _b._ In this cavity are formed the eggs, which are at intervals protruded, to be hatched when floating in the sheep's bile. The male organ is situated in front of the ventral pore. The anterior opening _b._ is equivalent to a mouth, and leads inwards and backwards, communicating with the intestinal canals _c._, which are easily made out in the recent animal, from their containing dark bile, and which, as in other creatures low in the scale of being, serve the double purpose of a digestive and circulatory apparatus; that is to say, the stomach first prepares a fluid which is equivalent to blood, and then distributes it throughout the body.[33]

[33] The examination of fluke worms is much facilitated by placing several of various sizes flat upon a slip of glass, and allowing them to dry in this position. On holding the glass between a bright light and a lens, and looking through the latter, the distribution of the vessels, and the position and form of the eggs, are beautifully displayed.

Flukes are never found in the _arteries_ of the liver, as has been erroneously stated by some writers, their abode being limited to the gall bladder and its ducts. In these they are often present in such numbers as to cause great distention of the sac and tubes, and in some instances the irritation produced by them leads to the thickening of the walls of the gall bladder, and to a deposition of calcareous matter between its coats; frequently also to complete obliteration of portions of the ducts. Hence the crackling sound sometimes perceived when handling the liver of a rotten sheep.

(163.) _The Hydatid or Blob_ (_Cysticercus tumicollis_, _Fig. 1._ _Plate_ VII.) so frequently found in sheep, is in form one of the simplest of the entozoa (literally dwellers within), being little more than a bag containing a quantity of fluid. As relates to outline, this hydatid bears no small resemblance to a Florence flask. It is said to have a head, _h._--a neck, _n._--a body, _b._-- and a posterior or caudal vesicle, _c.v._ Its claims to the title of an animal have been much disputed, but as it has been seen to move spontaneously, and as the contained fluid is always essentially different from that by which the hydatid is surrounded, the question may be looked upon as set at rest.[34]

[34] The property of acting on organized matter, so as to convert it into substances similar to those which constitute the agent, is characteristic of a vital power.

The method of their reproduction is in unison with their structure, simple in the extreme. Nothing, however, very precise is known about the process. The vesicle which acts as heart and stomach serves also as the reproductive cavity, but how or by what means it is fecundated would be difficult to determine. The young hydatids are found adhering to the inner surface of the parent cavity. When they have attained maturity, the parent dies and shrivels, and the young ones begin to eliminate their nourishment from the juices of the quadruped which they infest.

These entozoa are found in general on the surface of the intestines, between them and their outer membrane (_peritoneum_), and on the exterior of the lungs and liver. They are always included in a cyst, to the inner surface of which they adhere by means of two hook-shaped processes projecting from the head. These cysts are always on the surface of the different viscera of the sheep, and in this way may be distinguished from another sacular animal, or rather supposed animal, termed acephalocyst or headless bag, which is sometimes found in clusters in the substance of the lungs, liver, &c. and is often confounded with the true hydatid.

(164.) _Causes of Rot._ If any one had been asked, thirty years ago, the cause or rather causes of the appearances which pass under the name of rot, he could not have enumerated them even in a day, for at that time each symptom was a disease, and as such was reckoned worthy of a separate and proximate cause. Nor could any person have had the courage to promulgate a common-sense opinion on the subject; for simple views regarding the diseases of domestic animals were then either not deemed worthy of a moment's notice, or, if considered, were swept at once, by the strong current of prejudice, into the foul ocean of predetermined disapproval. Opinions in cattle medicine were at that time valued according to the prolixity of their detail; and the more improbable the dependence of the effects upon the cause assigned, so much more was its discoverer lauded, and in like proportion was the chimerical fabric he had raised admired. Times are, however, now happily changed; that potent oculist, the march of intellect, has cleared the film from the public eye, and no one need, at present, be afraid to state the unaspiring fact, that _tubercles_ are the sole and proximate cause of the disease called rot.

The observations of the late Dr Coventry, already quoted, would lead us to suppose that tubercles are of rare occurrence in the lungs of sheep, but in refutation of this assertion, I need only request the reader to take a ramble through a butcher-market, and he will perceive, even on cursory inspection, the fallacy of this conclusion. What the state of the liver is which is attended with flukes and hydatids, he has left us to make out. Chronic hepatitis, which accompanies tubercles in the liver, goes for nothing as a disease of sheep, and therefore does not require a notice; besides, it is not rot, and is quite incompetent of itself to cause it. As for the scurvy of which he speaks, he evidently means the disease now generally known by the name of _Pining_, but which, as it has no connexion with rot, and has only become prevalent within the last sixteen years, could not be very well known to him.

The following questions will naturally occur to many of my readers. What gives rise to these tubercles? what are the predisposing causes which lead to their formation? and, when formed, how do these apparently unirritating bodies produce effects so baneful? Queries like these, however, cannot shortly be replied to, leading, as they do, to discussions which embrace many curious theories; but as the negative mode of teaching is often of avail where the positive or more direct would fail to bring conviction, I shall, before proceeding to allude to what the causes are, endeavour to state what they are not.

_Imaginary Causes of Rot._ The liver-fluke has long been looked upon as the origin of rot, and this opinion has now become so deeply rooted, and taken so fast a hold of the public mind, that if I were to contradict it by plain assertion, I should only be striving to buffet singly a tide of opposition. The best way, therefore, will be to examine a few of the theories supposed to be confirmatory of the notion that fluke worms are the beginning of the mischief, and then see whether their supporters have managed to make good the point.

I. The fluke is supposed to get into the liver of the sheep by being swallowed, and this, according to our theorists, may be brought about in some of the following ways:--

1. The eggs may be floating in the air, and thus accidentally reach their destination. This is the view taken by the celebrated Clater; but if he had been, in this instance, a man of experiment, rather than of idle conjecture, he would have found, as any one readily may, that the eggs of the fluke worm sink in water, and, consequently, that they cannot float in air.[35]

[35] To obtain the eggs of the fluke worm for examination, hold a saucer under the gall bladder, make an opening in it with scissors, and the bile containing the eggs will flow into the dish. Pick out any fluke worms that may be in the fluid, then dilute it with about twelve times its bulk of water, agitate for a few minutes, and filter. The eggs will be found in the corner of the filtering paper.

2. The Rev. Dr Singer, to whom Scotland at large, and Dumfries-shire in particular, is much indebted for numerous and valuable papers on agricultural subjects, states, in the third volume of the _Highland Society's Transactions_, page 478, that "The spawn or eggs of the liver fluke are most probably _conveyed upon the grass_ by summer watering, and afterwards taken into the stomach with it." A few lines further on, he speaks of the eggs being "wafted thither by harvest waterings." Now, as the fluke is only produced within the sheep, I need only put the unanswerable questions--How are they conveyed to the grass? and from whence are they wafted? to refute at once this hasty notion.

3. The eggs may be voided by the sheep, may fall upon the herbage, and there remain till they are eaten. Such is the supposition published by Mr King of Hammersmith, in the _Quarterly Journal of Agriculture_, No. XXXI. p. 331, in which, after showing the vast number of eggs which must fall upon the grass, he says, "We must cease to wonder that so many sheep die of rot; the miracle is, that every sheep does not die of it."! I cannot, however, for my part, see a miracle in the matter, for the simple reason, that the eggs of the entozoa are not capable of retaining their vitality when absent even for a very short time from the place of their nativity, and therefore may be eaten with impunity.

II. Supposing the eggs to have reached the sheep's stomach in a condition to allow of their being hatched, they, according to popular voice, find their way into the gall bladder by one of two routes.

1. Mr King, the gentleman above spoken of, conjectures, in the same paper, that the fluke, after leaving the egg in the stomach of the sheep, _makes its way up the gall vessels_. This is, I am sorry to say, a very idle conjecture, as, from the valvular nature of the opening of the gall duct into the duodenum, an entrance from that intestine to the gall bladder is perfectly impracticable to any of the entozoa.[36]

[36] The notion that rot is occasioned by animalcules getting into the liver is not confined to this country. Leake, in his travels in the Morea, alludes to an opinion prevalent there, that the _vidhéla_ (rot) is caused by the sheep feeding in marshy places in August and September, when it is imagined that an insect from the plants finds its way into the biliary vessels.

2. The eggs are believed by a writer in the _Letters of the Bath Society of Agriculture_, for 1781, to be taken into the blood along with the chyle from the small intestines, and to be arrested in the liver by the secretory ducts. This, it must be clear to every one, is the most absurd of all the notions; for if a globule of blood, which we must suppose to be the largest body capable of being absorbed from the intestine, is only about 1/3000 of an inch in diameter, how can the egg of a fluke worm pass through the same channel, when Mr King has, by careful observation, shown it to be 1/300 an inch in its shortest measurement. Again, allowing that they are taken into the blood, would they not frequently be hatched there, and would they not also be found in other quarters besides the liver. But do we ever find them in the blood? Do we ever see them in other organs? Certainly not.

Not one of these theories would ever have been broached had their authors been aware of two important circumstances. 1. That M. Schreiber, the director of the Museum at Vienna, has proved that worms and their ova are not capable, under ordinary circumstances, of resisting the action of the digestive organs, and, therefore, that they cannot be introduced into the body by this channel. "During six months, he fed a pole-cat almost exclusively on various kinds of intestinal worms, and their eggs mixed up with milk; and on killing and examining it, at the end of this period, not a single worm of any kind was found in it."[37] The reader may perhaps object to this illustration, on the ground that there is so vast a difference between a sheep and a pole-cat, that a comparison in regard to their digestive habits cannot possibly hold good, but if he will turn to paragraph (96), he will see that the stomach of a sheep is as well fitted as that of a carnivorous quadruped for the digestion of animal matters. 2dly, the fluke worm has been found by Frommen in the foetus of the sheep, into which it could not have been conveyed by transmission from the mother, as there is no direct vascular communication between the foetal and maternal side.

[37] Cyclopedia of Practical Medicine, Vol. iv. p. 524.

From a consideration of all these data, the conclusion must at once be drawn, that as living flukes cannot reach the liver from without, they must of a necessity be produced only in particular states of the animal they inhabit. How they originate we cannot of course determine, and this is not the place to hazard physiological conjectures; but it will be found that their appearance in the bile is always preceded by tuberculous deposits in the lungs or liver. This I have proved by numerous dissections, in which I have occasionally found tubercles without flukes, but never met with flukes where I did not at the same time discover tubercles. Fluke worms, therefore, can never be regarded as a cause of rot, they must be looked upon merely as a symptom. We cannot, however, say that tubercles give rise to the liver-fluke, for tubercles are often present in cases where flukes are absent; and if the latter were the effect of the former, their presence under such circumstances would in all probability be constant.

III. Particular plants have been said to cause rot, but the proofs of their evil tendencies being in every instance about as logically supported as the fluke theories already mentioned, I need not trouble myself or the reader by proceeding to details.

_Real Causes of Rot._ Everything that has a tendency to weaken the animal, will be more or less liable to lead to rot. Exposure to cold and wet, mishaps at lambing time, food bad in quality or deficient in quantity, and over-driving, will all predispose the constitution to the deposition of tubercles. It is from the causes being in this way common to the whole flock, that contagious properties have been ascribed to rot, it having been observed, from the time of Virgil, to break out in many animals at once.[38]

[38]

"Nor oftener are the floods disturb'd with wind Than sheep with rots; nor doth the sickness find One to destroy, but suddenly doth fall On root and branch, stock and original."

_Virgil's Georgics_, Lib. III.

The reason of so many different things having, from first to last, been reckoned capable of producing this disease, appears to lie in the known fact, that if a sheep be exposed to any of the above depressing agents, rot, if the animal be as yet untainted, will not, at the moment, shew itself; but a chain of morbid actions will in all probability then commence, and, being beyond the ken of ordinary observers, will pass unheeded, till some slight mismanagement in food or shelter, hastens their progress, and renders them apparent to the plainest understanding. The final symptoms of rot may thus occur on any kind of pasture, and the scene of the catastrophe will incur a stigma which ought to be attached to herbage which the sheep have consumed at some distant place or date.

Bad food is justly regarded as one of the most common causes of rot, and ranks, in my estimation, next to cold and wet, in its power of producing it. I shall only remark, on this point, that of all the food on which sheep can possibly be kept, none is known to act so deleteriously as grass which has sprouted quickly. Rot is well known to occur most frequently on land which has been irrigated during summer, for at this season any excess of moisture is peculiarly injurious to the economy of a plant.

When plants by heat and moisture are stimulated to increased exertion on a poor soil, they acquire bulk without having it in their power to obtain at the same time those saline matters which constitute a healthy plant, becoming in fact, to the eye of an inexperienced person, thriving vegetables, while to the palate they prove wersh and watery.

The same result may follow from a different process. The saline matter may not be taken up, even when the soil is rich in such ingredients, from the functional derangement into which the roots or digestive organs have been thrown by the unnatural circumstances in which it has been placed. A plant is composed, like all organized bodies, of a certain number of proximate principles, which are more or less numerous in different kinds. These are combined with varying quantities of potass, soda, lime, magnesia, and iron, which, though formerly supposed to be too trifling in quantity materially to affect the quality of the plant, have yet been recently and satisfactorily proved completely to change the character of the compound, even when the excess or deficiency amounts only to a 1/10000th part so that, supposing an animal to thrive on plants which contain salts of any or all of the above bodies, it will soon fall off if these plants are in any way deprived of a single adjunct; for by the removal of that one salt, their nature has been entirely altered.

The certainty and rapidity with which Bakewell could rot his sheep, by pasturing them, in Autumn, on land over which water had been allowed to flow during the previous summer, may seem to controvert what I have above stated, as to time and frequent change of pasture often intervening between the origin of the disease, and its termination; but when it is recollected that he pursued the destructive system of breeding _in_ and _in_, of itself sufficient to induce a tuberculous predisposition, the reader will perceive that his sheep were, in all likelihood, more or less tainted, and therefore, sure to fall victims to the disease the moment they were subjected to the deleterious influence of an unwholesome pasture.[39]

[39] When parcels of Mr Bakewell's best sheep became, from any defect, unserviceable to him, he used to fatten them for the butcher. But as there was a _probability_ of their becoming valuable in other hands, he always gave them the rot before he sold them! An example, which, I hope, for the sake both of man and sheep, never to see followed.

Over-driving and hurrying of every kind, is, in my opinion, a fruitful source of rot, not only from the fatigue it causes, or the risk it leads to of taking cold, but also from the injury, which in many cases results, to the delicate texture of the lungs. As shown in the note to paragraph (157), no animal is more easily put out of breath by running, than the sheep. Whenever the breathing is hurried, the circulation through the lungs is quickened also. If the tissue of the lungs be in any way delicate, the force with which the blood is propelled is sure to make it yield, and in this manner the animal is often suffocated by the large quantity of blood, which issues into the air tubes at once from many points. Fig. 1, Plate VI. exhibits a good illustration of this taken from a sheep. Numerous red points are seen sprinkled over the surface of the section, indicating that blood has been effused from many minute torn vessels. Now, if this animal had survived, each speck of blood would have formed a centre, round which tuberculous matter, as in Fig. 2, Plate VI. would have been secreted, and death from rot, at some ulterior period, would, in all probability, have been the result.[40]

[40] Pathologists differ as to whether tubercle is the cause or consequence of _hemoptysis_, as this effusion of blood into the tissue of the lungs is termed. Andral, however, is decidedly of opinion that hemoptysis is one of the exciting causes, and, in domestic animals, I believe it to precede tubercle more frequently than is generally imagined.

(165.) _Treatment of Rot._ As reason and experience have taught us that tathy herbage is a common cause of this complaint, we should, when it shows itself, at once remove the animals to a better pasture, where they should be exempted from teazing of every kind.

Salt appears, after every trial, to be the best medicine, and to this they should have, at all times, ready access. Should the disease be rather far advanced, the breathing hurried, and the cough annoying, occasional doses of the following infusion will be of service, in enabling the farmer to keep down the disease, till such time as he can conveniently dispose of the animal.

Take of Leaves of Foxglove two ounces, Boiling water two English pints:

pour the water on the leaves, cover up the vessel, and keep it in a warm place for six or eight hours, then strain.

Two tea-spoonfuls morning and evening may be given to a sheep, but as the plant is an active poison, and the strength of its infusion liable to vary, a couple of days should always intervene between every six doses.

About the year 1800, a notion prevailed in this country, that an effectual remedy for rot had been discovered by the Dutch, but this was quite unfounded, no _cure_ ever having been hit upon for this sweeping malady; indeed, a cure is fairly out of the question: its prevention and palliation, but not its eradication, being all that we can hope for. Sundry plausible plans of treatment have, however, at one time or another been contrived, some of them, in all conscience, harmless enough, but others again as well adapted for the destruction of the animal, as the removal of the disease.

As fluke worms have usually been reckoned the cause of rot, so the treatment has principally consisted in attempts to effect their extermination. With this view, Sir George Steuart Mackenzie of Coule, in defiance of all preconceived medical opinion, advocated, in his work on _Sheep_, published in 1809, the employment of mercury to stay the progress of rot, and in the same work, _or one very like it_, as lately published anonymously by the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge, under the title of the _Mountain Shepherd's Manual_, the utility of this dangerous procedure is as firmly maintained. At the same time Sir George, though rather in the dark as to the real nature of the disease, admits, in both editions, that tubercles exist in rot, especially in the lungs. Now, if he had inquired of any medical person what drug ought, when tubercles are present, of all others to be avoided, he would have found that medicine to be mercury. The administration of it therefore in rot, no matter what may be the form or mode in which it is exhibited, will to a certainty aggravate the symptoms, and shorten life. If, for the sake of doing something, you will _endeavour_ to remove the worms, Chabert's animal oil will be found a safe and efficacious remedy; but, if my opinion can have any weight, I would recommend the farmer to allow them to remain.

Sheep, when displaying symptoms of rot, should always be kept dry and warm. If they must be retained throughout the winter, good sound solid food, such as well made hay or oats, should be afforded them, and the shelter of a straw yard should if possible be obtained. A liberal supply of salt should be given with all their provender; and if they do not seem to relish it, give them occasionally a small quantity in water as a drench.

(166.) _Prevention of Rot._ On this head I need do little more than remark that attention to the causes will go a great way to point out the necessary means for its prevention. Admission of the sheep to rank soft grass, heavy stocking, short allowance of food during winter, every thing in fact which leads to the exposure of the animal should be scrupulously avoided. The strongest constitution cannot with impunity be tampered with, and the soundest habit will fall before the mining attacks of want and weather. Keep your stock always in as high health as possible, for such is the surest prevention of tuberculous disease.

As rot is hereditary,[41] the importance of weeding out ewes from the flock on their first exhibiting appearances of unsoundness, is acknowledged by all. Many ways have been pointed out for detecting the incipient symptoms, but none plainer and better than those written by the late Mr Beattie of Muckledale, and published in the 3d vol. of the _Highland Society's Transactions_. "The first thing to be observed," says Mr Beattie, "is in the spring, when they are dropping their lambs. A sound ewe, in good order, drops a lamb covered with a thick and yellow slime, which the ewe licks off it, and the rule is, the sounder and the higher the condition the ewe is in, the darker and thicker will be the slime; but when they observe a ewe drop a lamb covered with thin watery bubbles, and very white, they note her down as unsound."

[41] MM. Dupuy and Andral have seen tubercles in the foetus of the sheep.

"About the month of September, when they intend to dispose of their draught ewes, they put all their sheep into a fold, and draw them by the hand, that is, they catch them all, viz. the ewes they design to sell any of, and clapping their hand upon the small of the back, they rub the flesh backwards and forwards between their fingers and thumb and the ends of the short ribs: if the flesh be solid and firm, they consider her as sound; if they find it soft and flabby, and if, when they rub it against the short ribs, it ripples, as we term it, that is, a sort of crackling is perceived, as if there were water or blubber in it, they are certain she is unsound. This is the most certain of all symptoms, but is not to be discerned with any degree of certainty but by an experienced hand; for although, as I have here related it, it seems a very simple affair, and easily acquired, yet it is well known that many shepherds, who have followed sheep all their lives, never arrived at any thing like certainty in judging by the hand, whilst men of superior skill will seldom be mistaken, and will draw by no other rule. Yet still it must be acknowledged that the seeds of this disease will sometimes lie so occult, as to baffle all skill, and that no man can with absolute certainty draw a stock tainted with the rot. There is another method, to which men of inferior skill resort, which is more easily acquired. They take a sheep's head between their hands, and press down the eyelids, they thereby make the sheep turn its eyeball so that they get a view of the vessels in which the eyeball rolls: if these are thin, red, and free of matter, they consider the sheep as sound; but if they are thick, of a dead white colour, and seem as if there was some white matter in them, they are confident she is rotten. This is a pretty general rule, and easily discerned; but I think it is not so certain as when they are judged by the back; for in firm healthy lands the eye of a sheep is far redder than it is in sheep upon grassy lands. And in some boggy lands the eye is never very red, be the sheep ever so sound, so that there you cannot so well judge by the eye; but when you see the eye of a sheep a good deal whiter and thicker, and more matter in it (I mean the vessels in which the eyeball rolls) than the run of the flock amongst which it feeds, you have reason to suspect it is not sound.

"There is another method by which I have seen some men attempt to judge of the soundness of sheep. It is a well known fact, that when sheep are rotten the lungs swell to a greater size; they therefore lay the sheep down upon its broad side, and pressing the skin in at the flank, up below the ribs, _pretend_ to feel the lungs. But if there is anything to be learned by this I could never perceive it, and have seen some men, who pretended to know most by it, very often mistaken.

"These are the principal rules by which the Highland farmers draw their stocks; and they relate all to ewe stocks; for as to wedders, they are generally all sold off when they are three years old, and those that buy them for feeding mostly buy them by the condition they appear outwardly to be in at the time, and the character of the ground upon which they were bred."

(167.) _Jaundice._ I have never seen this disease in the sheep, and have heard almost nothing of it; indeed it is very rare, few having ever witnessed cases of it. It is consequently very imperfectly understood, every one who has written about it assigning for its occurrence a different cause. The principal symptoms to be depended on, according to those who have treated it, are a yellowness of the eyes, and an obstinate sluggishness of the animal, almost amounting to sleep. Copious bleeding and two ounce doses of Glauber salts have been recommended for the treatment, which must be gone about promptly, as the disease is said to be quickly fatal. Reasoning from what is known about jaundice in man, I would, were a case to occur to me in the sheep, give a good dose of calomel, say 15 grains, in conjunction with the salts, unless the disease had supervened on rot, when I would substitute ten grains of ipecacuanha for the mercury.

(168.) _Dropsy._ When it is the concluding symptom of a disease, it may be reckoned part of the complaint itself, and treated accordingly. Often, however, it is the first thing which attracts the attention of the shepherd, and when such is the case it will usually be traced to long exposure to cold and wet. In this event the best plan is to bleed largely, and give two or three smart doses of Epsom salts. When it occurs in young lambs, sweet spirit of nitre, given in the quantity of a tea-spoonful twice a-day, is found to be attended with the happiest effects. Tapping, or, as it is popularly termed, _stabbing_, or _sticking_, to permit the escape of the water, is the cure resorted to in South Africa, when it appears in old sheep, after exposure to rain; but this ought never to be resorted to unless under the guidance of a medical person. It would be much better at once to kill the sheep.

(169.) _Sturdy._ As shown in the tabular view of the diseases, in foot-note to paragraph (121), this affection may be the result either of pressure on the brain from an animal growth, or from the accumulation of a fluid. Serum is in both cases the mechanical cause of the symptoms, but in the former it is eliminated from neighbouring parts by a hydatid, while in the latter it is merely deposited in some of the natural cavities (the ventricles) of the brain, owing to a congested state of the spinal marrow, the result of continued cold upon the back.

Figure 2, Plate VII., taken from Rudolphi, exhibits a view of the animal which gives rise to the first variety of sturdy. It is the many-headed hydatid of the brain, _Coenurus Cerebralis_ of naturalists. Like the _Cysticercus tenuicollis_, already described under the head of Rot, it consists of a thin membranous cyst, full or otherwise of serous fluid; but, unlike the aforementioned animal is studded over with groups of little velvety appendages or heads, each of which has a series of barbs projecting round the mouth. Figure 2, _a_, Plate VII., is a highly magnified representation of two of these heads.

A good idea of the hydatid, as it exists in the sheep, may be derived from an inspection of Fig 1. Pl. VIII., which has been engraved from a sketch kindly furnished to me by my friend Dr Kirk of Deal. Fig. 1 represents the brain of a sheep two years old, which has been affected with sturdy. The right lobe, _a_, of the cerebellum or lesser brain, is much distended with fluid, which is enclosed in a membraneous bag, as shown at _b_, where an incision has been made to expose it, and at _c_, where it is shining through one of the coverings of the brain, the pia mater.

The hydatid is found of all sizes, from that of a pea to that of Fig. 2, Plate VII. Large ones are far from rare, and the ventricle is frequently enormously distended. The hydatid in the brain from which Fig. 2, Plate VIII. was taken, though not filled to repletion, contained ten drachms of serum. The ventricle was consequently much dilated, as shown at _a_ in that figure, and the usual course and size of the convolutions completely altered. Instead of being folded, like the intestines, upon themselves, they proceeded, as seen at _b b_, from back to front of the brain; while the furrows between them, which are, in the healthy animal, usually too shallow to be measured, were in several places as deep as the length of the lines at _c d_.

This excessive accumulation of fluid within the brain leads, as might be expected, to the dilatation of the skull, and to the absorption of its walls, when the bones, young though the animal be when affected with sturdy, can no longer be made to yield. For this reason the skull, towards the termination of the disease, generally becomes thin and soft in front of the root of the horn, and in this way offers a spot which, from its being easily pierced, is frequently made the seat of surgical operations. Other parts of the skull also undergo considerable thinning, more so indeed than in front of the horn. The attention of the farmer has hardly, if ever, been called to this fact, though I believe that, for one instance in which perforation occurs in the frontal bone, it will be noticed a score of times on the sides of the head. In a head with which I was favoured by Mr Grieve, Branxholm braes, each temple, exactly beneath the superior extremity of the upright branch of the lower jaw, displayed a circular opening entirely through the bone, wide enough to permit the passage of an ounce bullet.

Whatever may produce pressure on the brain, the symptoms which indicate it are nearly always the same. The sheep has a dull, stupid look, turns very often round and round, and will, when water is in its way, stand staring at it till at last, giddy and confused, it plumps fairly in. If, when the symptoms are very unpromising, convulsive movements should occur, they may be taken as a favourable sign, as they indicate a diminution of the pressure on the brain. A minute description of the morbid appearances in hydrocephalus could serve no good purpose, I therefore pass on to the prevention of sturdy.

(170.) _Treatment and Prevention of Sturdy._ The variety caused by hydatids can only be prevented by the use of dry, well grown, wholesome food. Dr Jenner found that he could cause hydatids to form in rabbits at will, by feeding them on green succulent provision; and it is well known that this form of sturdy prevails among sheep chiefly in marshy places, as the fens of Lincolnshire.

Water in the head is generally induced, as first pointed out by the Ettrick Shepherd, in the _Farmer's Magazine_ for 1812, by the back of the animal being chilled, as is evident from the following facts:--

"1. It is always most general after a windy and sleety winter.

"2. It is always most destructive on farms that are ill-sheltered, and on which the sheep are most exposed to those blasts and showers.

"3. It preys only on sheep rising their first year, the wool of which separates above, leaving the back quite exposed to the wet and cold.

"4. If a piece of cloth or hide is sewed to the wool, so as to cover the back, such a sheep will not be affected with the disease."

Bratting is therefore the best preventive, and it is as cheap as it is effectual. One pair of old blankets, worth only some four or five shillings, will furnish coverings for forty hogs, and if laid carefully aside in spring, they will continue serviceable for two or three years. An operation can avail nothing--slaughtering the sheep is therefore the only expedient.

When the existence of a hydatid near the surface of the brain is denoted by the skull yielding, at some particular spot, to the firm pressure of the thumb, its extraction must be set about in the manner described in paragraph (118), where I have also given my objections to the common modes of operating.

(171.) _Trembling._ Several affections are included under the name of _trembling_ or _leaping-ill_, all having, in common, more or less of the symptoms which these names denote. They may be considered as arising from exposure to cold and damp, especially on long fatiguing journies, as in bringing sheep from the Highlands to the south of Scotland, when it frequently prevails to so great an extent, on reaching the low country, as to oblige the shepherd to leave eight or ten behind him at every stage. Injuries of the loins, either inflicted by themselves in jumping and running, or by others from rough usage in the fold, are common causes of the disease; but in this variety the hind quarters only are powerless. Another species is owing to oppression of the brain from congestion, in this way resembling incipient sturdy, and occurring only in very fat sheep.

(172.) _Treatment of Trembling._ The first variety is best met by rest, shelter, and a supply of nutritious food; but as the animal is incapable, in many cases, of collecting it, the shepherd must lift it from one rich part of the field to another, so soon as it has cleared away the grass within its reach. In the second kind, as caused by accident, the sheep must be slaughtered, as, should a cure be attempted, the treatment will be too tedious and complicated to succeed in ordinary hands. Copious blood-letting, and doses of Epsom salts, will be found of most advantage in the third species; but if the sheep can be disposed of so much the better, as this kind of _trembling_ is almost certain, unless combated by energetic depletion, to end in sturdy.

(173.) _Wood Evil_ is nothing more than a cramp of the hind legs, owing to water dripping upon them from trees after a shower of rain, and is best treated by enveloping them in flannel, wrung out of hot water; but if the sheep is at the time very chill, gentle friction must first be used, else dangerous consequences will ensue. Rubbing with warm turpentine has been recommended, and is apparently worthy of a trial.

(174.) _Inflamed Eyes._ The pollen of flowers getting into the eyes while feeding, is a common cause of this annoyance, which need not be described, as, from being visible, it is known to all. Examine the eyes, and remove any irritating body. Then, if the disease be of recent date, bleed the animal largely from the jugular vein, and give it several doses of Epsom, or Glauber's salt. After the inflammation is subdued, or should it be in the suppurating stage when first noticed, hold the lids asunder, and drop upon the eye, three or four times a day, a solution of white vitriol, five grains to the ounce of water. Where this cannot be had, pure _cold_ water dashed against the eyes and head several times a day will serve as a substitute.

Though sheep are not so much incommoded by blindness as other animals, from the instinctive care usually taken of the sufferer by the rest of the flock, still such a mishap should always be prevented by energetic treatment at the commencement of the symptoms.

(175.) _Soft Cancer of the Eye_, or, as it is also called by medical men, _Fungus Hematodes_, is of very rare occurrence among sheep, and indeed would not have deserved a notice here, were it not that, from being a malignant disease, it might be looked upon as quite incurable. I can only describe it as a soft, spongy tumour, rising from the bottom of the eye, involving all the textures of that organ, so as to render them scarcely recognizable, and bleeding on the slightest touch. It is readily removed by passing a stout thread through the front of the eye with a needle, so as to afford the operator a hold by which to pull it outwards with the left hand, while, with the right, he cuts round it with a narrow-bladed knife. The operation is attended only with slight pain, but must not be considered the sole curative means; the sheep must have, at the same time, a frequent change of pasture, to prevent a recurrence of the tumour.

There is a very large tumour of this description at present in the museum of Guy's Hospital, taken from a sheep which recovered perfectly.

APPENDIX

REMARKS ON THE MANAGEMENT OF SHEEP IN AUSTRALIA.

As the preceding pages were not written so much for the well-educated farmer, as for those who practise sheep-husbandry without previous training, it may not be considered amiss, consistently with the plan of the work, to sum up the chief points to be attended to in the management of sheep in Australia. This I shall do from the best authorities, and guided by the direct advice of extensive sheep proprietors who have long resided there, and had every experience in the subject.

Though it was for some time, according to Dr Lang,[42] a matter of controversy in the colony, whether the Merino or the Saxon Merino produced the finer wool or was more profitable for the sheep-farmer; the preference is now given to the Saxon breed, as they not only yield an excellent fleece, but are much superior in carcass to the pure Merino. The fact, however, of Australia having been considered, from its earliest colonization, as unrivalled by any country in the quality of its wool, goes far to prove that, with ordinary care, almost any variety may be brought to yield a very superior produce. The mildness of the climate, the extensive range of pasture, the steady supply of food, and the consequent unvarying health of the animal, give the poorest breeds a superiority which could hardly be attained in any other quarter of the world. Indeed, as noticed at paragraph (70.), Australia appears by nature intended to produce fine wool, and fine animals, even from the worst beginnings.

[42] History of New South Wales, Vol. i. p. 309.

Great, however, as the capabilities of the colony are for the growth of the finest wools, the intending emigrant must not suppose that he will obtain them without devoting to the subject a particular portion of his regard. Mild warm air, and abundant diet, will go far towards putting him in possession of a superior flock; but without earnest attention to the minor details required in the management of his sheep, the most favourable locality will avail him little.

Let Australia be ever so much praised, as being peculiarly adapted for the rearing of sheep, they have there, in common with every kind of animal in every part of the world, a certain liability to disease. With all its boasted steadiness of climate, bad seasons occasionally occur, and lead to sickness among the flocks, and in addition to the usual chances of loss arising from this cause in other countries, there is, in some parts of it, a still more dreaded mischief resulting almost unavoidably from the moral constitution of its society. A convict-servant who has a pique at his master, has it often entirely in his own power to subject the flocks under his charge to some one or other of the serious diseases to which sheep in all countries are peculiarly liable. He may pasture them on an improper spot, and thus induce diarrhoea, or even rot; or he may drive them a few miles from their usual feeding ground, as Dr Lang remarks, when there is nobody present to take cognizance of the fact, and thereby bring them into contact with a scabbed flock. "The chief source of the wealth and prosperity of the colony," says Dr Lang, "is thus, in great measure, at the mercy of the most worthless of men; and so much is this the case, that a highly respectable and intelligent magistrate, observed in the course of a short conversation I had with him before embarking for England, that if there should not be a large annual importation of free emigrant shepherds from the mother country into the colony, the owners of sheep throughout the territory will in future be under the necessity of reducing, or rather of preventing the increase of, their flocks." Thus circumstanced, the Australian settler has surely sufficient reasons for inducing him to make himself familiar with the management and diseases of the animal, on which he is placing his principal dependence.

When the country is destitute of timber, the sheep are very easily managed, and so many as a thousand may be trusted to a single shepherd; but in general, they are divided into flocks of about three hundred breeding ewes, or four hundred wethers. "Every flock," says Mr Cunningham, "has a shepherd, who takes his sheep out to graze before sunrise in the morning, and brings them in after sunset at night. He keeps always before the flock to check the forward among them from running onwards, and wearing out the old, sick, and lame; making all thus feed quietly, so as to keep them in good condition. In summer, he sees too that they have water during the heat of the day; and in drawing up under a tree for shade, when it is too hot for feeding, he passes occasionally gently among them, spreads them out and makes them take a fresh position in as small groups as possible, under another tree; because when they remain too long together in one place, they are apt to become broken winded. It is a rule that sheep should never remain in one spot so long as to paddle the ground much with their feet; and hence, in riding round your sheep stations, you have something whereby to judge whether or not your instructions are attended to. The shepherd takes out his victuals with him, and is required to be on the alert all day long, to prevent the sheep from being lost in the woods, or the native dogs from pouncing in among them. They must always be driven slowly to pasture, and if you perceive that the shepherd can walk quietly among them, without disturbing them, you may set him down as a gentle and careful man; for if he uses his flock harshly, they will be naturally terrified by him. Three flocks are always penned together under the charge of a watchman, who counts each regularly _in_ at night, and the shepherds again count them _out_ in the morning; so that they form a regular check upon each other, and prevent losses from carelessness or depredation. The watchman has a small weather-proof watch-box to sleep in, and is assisted by a watch-dog; he keeps up a good fire, which generally deters all native dogs from approaching the fold. The hurdles are made of light swamp oak, iron bark, or gum, measuring seven feet long, with five bars, so close together that a young lamb cannot creep through, and usually cost about 1s. 6d. a-piece. They are shifted to fresh ground daily, being sloped outwards, and propped together by means of forked sticks, driving a stake through between the bars here and there to keep the hurdles firm, and prevent the wind from blowing them over, little support being derived from their feet, which are pressed but slightly into the ground. All branches of trees are carefully removed from the hurdled grounds before the sheep are driven in, to prevent any of the latter being staked; the hurdles too are never pitched where ant hills are, or under a tree with rotten boughs upon it, while the trees with black bark are carefully denuded thereof, to prevent discolouration of the wool." Bells are attached to the necks of the stoutest leaders, to keep the flock together, and give warning of any thing going wrong within the fold.

The breeding season is, in some instances, at the commencement of summer, in others, at the commencement of winter, but in general it is in March or April, the rams having been put to the ewes in October. This deviation from our practice of spring lambing, is owing, according to Mr Cunningham, to the breeders finding that the pasture is particularly good in the autumn, from a sort of second spring taking place, while the lambs stand the cold better than the heat, and are less annoyed by the gad-flies. The sheep usually double their number every four years.

Sheep-shearing takes place at the beginning of summer. The usual plan of washing is previously had recourse to (see paragraph 99.), but of late it has become customary, with some proprietors, to wash them with a spout. This is done by bringing them one by one under a stream of water, falling from a moderate height; but it is not likely that it will ever be generally adopted, as it requires very peculiar facilities in regard to water, and is besides a plan fraught with danger to the sheep. It ought to be kept in mind, that a stream of water playing on the body, produces a very stunning effect, which may destroy life in an inconsiderable time, and has, in this way, been often employed for putting criminals to death. Be this as it may, the Australian sheep-farmers have doubtless been led to resort to the spout, owing to the fleeces being so full of filth as to be cleaned with difficulty in the common way. The finer the wool, the more abundant is the yolk or viscid secretion on the skin, and the greater, consequently, is the quantity of filth which sticks to it. The dirtiness of the wool becomes, in this way, no mean test of the value of the sheep. Some of the fleeces lose fully three-fifths of their weight by washing. The average weight of the fleeces from the improved breeds, is from two to two-and-a-half pounds. The ewe fleece seldom exceeds one pound and a half. "The wool is packed in bales, wrapped in canvass, and forwarded for exportation to Sydney, on drays drawn by oxen. Some of the more extensive sheep-farmers send home their wool direct to their agents in London, where it is sold according to its quality, at from one to three shillings, (the freight to London being only three-halfpence) a pound."[43]

[43] Historical Account of New South Wales, by John Dunmore Lang, D.D., Vol. i. p. 350.

The highest prices yet obtained for some of the picked parts of the finest fleeces, are 10s. 6d. per pound. This, however, has been given only once.

The quantity of wool shipped in 1835, was 3,776,191 lbs., and was valued at £380,000 sterling.

Three acres are required on an average for the support of each sheep, but on account of the mildness of the climate, there is no necessity for providing winter food.

The range of pasture is so extensive that the sheep are liable to comparatively few diseases. The great dryness of the climate, keeps the fleece always in so comfortable a state, that they are almost never struck by the fly which, as explained at (147.), always deposits its eggs on the moistest part of the skin. Mr Cunningham once observed summer-dropt lambs with milk blotches, become fly blown, but this was in wet weather. Scab, or itch, is the most common disease, but of it I need not say any thing here. It never presents much variety, and is a disease better understood than almost any other. Ample directions for its treatment are given at (140.). It is easily checked if the job is gone about with determination. The great points are to take it in hand the moment it appears--for when it gains ground, all chances of a wool-crop are at an end for that year at least--and to use tobacco-juice most liberally, as it not only leads to the immediate death of the itch insect, but appears to have a specific effect in leading to the restoration of the wool. The balm of Columbia, which is at present so lauded for accelerating the growth of hair, is supposed, on good grounds, to be an incognito preparation of tobacco-juice. Rot is the only other important sheep-disease in the colony. It was unknown till 1827, when it broke out in a wet lying part of the Bathurst district, and succeeded, as Cunningham says, in that part of the country scourged by it, to a long fall of heavy rains, which supersaturated the blades of grass. For the method of treating this disease, fortunately rare in Australia, I must, in conclusion, refer to the body of the work.

End of Project Gutenberg's A Treatise on Sheep:, by Ambrose Blacklock