472 Queries and Answers. 



way of trade as an article for retail sale. Some portions of the reptile lay- 

 on the counter when I was there ; and I recollect that the entrails, &c,, still 

 exhibited a very high degree of palpitation or muscular motion, though se- 

 parated from the rest of the body. Whether viper broth or the fat of vipers 

 or of snakes be still retained in the materia medica, it is not for me to deter- 

 mine : but if, as 1 think probable, such recipes have been exploded by the 

 more enlightened practice of modern physicians, this circumstance will 

 account for the loss of trade to the Cambridgeshire fenmen. Yours, &c. — 

 W. T. Bree. Allesley Rectory, May 12. 1831. 



Since writing the above, in referring to the materia medica of Linnaeus, I 

 find that the common snake (Coluber iVatrix), as well as Coluber Fipera 

 (an Egyptian species), is mentioned by him as possessing medicinal proper- 

 ties. Speaking of the latter species, in his Systema Nalurce, he says, " Offi- 

 cinalis haec vipera est Egyptiorum, nee Berus :" with the Egyptians this, 

 and not Coluber ^erus (the common viper), is the viper of the shops. — 

 Id. 



The Rot in SheejJ. (p. ^84.) — Sir, So great has been the mortality 

 amongst sheep this season, that I think, with Rusticus, it becomes a 

 matter of no small consideration to be more acquainted with so fatal a 

 malady. The opinions amongst farmers, as to the cause of the rot, are very 

 numerous ; which fact renders the knowledge of its real cause the more 

 desirable ; for, from not knowing the real cause, we know not a proper 

 remedy. The disease is well known to be that of the liver in particular. 

 I shall not pursue it through its whole course, nor indeed do I think it 

 needful; the cause being the chief object. Most of your readers are aware 

 that by the frequent and repeated moistening of land the grass grows in 

 greater abundance, much more quickly, and has a more luxuriant appearance, 

 particularly when the weather is close and warm. It is this quickness of 

 Its growth which, I think, is the great cause of the mischief. When grown 

 slowly, time is allowed for that bitter principle to be more fully elaborated, 

 on which depends the good quality of our grasses ; which is the case in a 

 moderately dry season, and when also the disease does not make its appear- 

 ance. But when, contrary to this, the grass grows too quickly to allow of 

 that change taking place, and does not contain that bitterness, but has a 

 more delicate appearance, or is what is termed squashy, thefsheep' become 

 diseased, from the loss of that usual stimulus to the bowels, the bitter 

 principle of well grown grass. In consequence of this they become torpid, 

 the food not well digested, the secretion of bile sluggish ; and here is the 

 foundation of that mass of disease in the liver. How far this opinion may 

 be correct, I leave to the judgment of others ; but, should it prove so, the 

 remedy will be simple when taken in the first place, that is, before matter is 

 formed in the liver. I presume that for want of that stimulus to the 

 bowels the liver does not perform its functions, and becomes overloaded 

 with bile, part of which is again circulated with the blood ; but in time, from 

 its stagnation, it becomes putrid, and matter is formed upon the liver in 

 small tubercles, which, bursting into each other, becomeabscesses, in which 

 are found the hydatids or flukes (fig. 51. p. 284.). By what means they get 

 there is at present a matter of conjecture. It is certain they are animalcules, 

 as they have been seen to move several hours after their removal from the 

 sheep. It may be asked by some. How are we to know the rot in its first 

 stage ? The weather, the situation of his land, together with his own judg- 

 ment as to the probability of his flock becoming diseased, are the sheep- 

 owner's best guides. The sheep themselves, in an early stage of the disease, 

 will appear slothful, and their eyes dim, with a tinge of yellow ; i. e. having a 

 jaundiced appearance. In this state, I should give a few doses of mild mer- 

 curials, saline aperients, and then a mild bitter infusion, such as infusion of 

 chamomile or of gentian, two or three times a day. I am. Sir, yours, &c. — 

 D. N. Worksop, May 12. 1831. 



