TREATMENT OF SHEEP-POX. 41 



itself, apart from either the healthy or diseased. Exclude all 

 and sundry from going near the affected sheep on any pretext 

 whatever, except the attendants and inspector, who ought to 

 have their clothes regularly disinfected. Let one set of attendants- 

 be provided for the healthy, another for the diseased, and a third 

 set for the dead, and on no condition should they be allowed to 

 come in contact. Cleanliness should be ri^idlv attended to 

 amongst both the healtliy and diseased. Sheltered dry places, 

 provided with good ventilation, good nourishing food given at 

 regular intervals, with an abundant supply of pure water, a due- 

 observance of disinfecting the place the Hock has been, and the 

 careful interment of the dead, are the principal points to be 

 attended to. 



Ovination is extensively practised and greatly recommended 

 on the Continent, but it has not been so effectual in this country 

 in preventing its spread, nor so favourably received. Professor 

 Simonds says:— "Our experiments are too limited to suggest 

 correct conclusions, and they have shown a result so different 

 that were we to found an opinion on the merits of ovination, on 

 them alone, it would not be in favour of the practice." From 

 observations made by Professor J. Gamgee in 1862, he condemns 

 ovination entirely, " as undoubtedly it serves to increase the 

 centres from which the contagium may extend in every direc- 

 tion." He gives a tabular statement as to the outbreak in Wilt- 

 shire in 1862, and adds : — " Had all the flock seized been inocu- 

 lated, 1 am quite sure that the outbreak of smallpox would not 

 have been brought to so quiet a termination." . . . " It is 

 satisfactory to notice how very insignificant the losses were 

 amongst the non-inoculated, as contrasted with the inoculated 

 flock." 



His investigations on the Continent are also unfavourable to 

 inoculation. On his way from Hamburg to Eostock, he exa- 

 mined a flock of 400, and from his observations he remarks — 

 " In August all the sheep were inoculated, and with apparent 

 eflect. I examined the seat of inoculation, the ears, in many,, 

 and the appearances indicated that the inoculations had taken 

 effect. Many severe cases resulted from the inoculation, and 

 some apparently natural cases occurred, and early in October a 

 very severe outbreak was witnessed in which many of the sheep 

 liad a well-developed eruption, and others were seized chictly in 

 the head." On various parts on the Continent, inoculation used 

 to be regularly practised with the idea of securiiig a tloilc from 

 an outl)reak of the malady. This nioile has of late years been 

 abandoned, because the Hocks on whicli this preservative inocu- 

 lati<jn was performed were always centres from whit h the disease 

 was carried to neighbouring Hocks. The mode of performing 

 inoculation is by first providing a suflicieut quantity of variolas 



