Some of the Causes of Disease in Sheep 



67 



Animals submitted to these influences are 

 found to form fat quite rapidly, but an 

 examination shews it to be of a bad quality ; 

 the meat is pale and flabby, and can be pre- 

 served but a little while, and the animals 

 themselves contract slowly pulmonary con- 

 sumption, while, in addition, the pregnant 

 females are predisposed to abortions. Even 

 this is not all, for the poisonous emanations 

 which fill the air are constantly being 

 breathed into the lungs, are being swallowed 

 with the food, and thus find their way to 

 every part of the body, on which they exert 

 their injurious influences, giving birth to 

 diseases of the blood, to fevers, and to vari- 

 ous constitutional maladies, which occasion- 

 ally almost annihilate the farmer's stock. So 

 far I have sketched but two classes of stables ; 

 between these there are numberless varieties. 

 My types have been extremes, in order to 

 shew the various hurtful influences that are 

 produced by badly formed and badly man- 

 aged stables. 



MEDICINES, MEDICAL TREATMENT, ETC. 



The administration of medicines to healthy 

 animals, in the hope of preventing disease, is 

 entirely unjustifiable, and often causes the 

 conditions that are so much dreaded. Many 

 persons bleed, and give purgatives and 

 diuretics and various secret preparations 

 almost continually, but the results of this 

 practice are not such as to make it desirable. 

 And it may be safely said that, with the ex- 

 ception of inoculation, which is only applic- 

 able for a very limited number of diseases, 

 there is no medication as certain to attain 

 this object as proper dietetic and other care. 

 The giving of medicines entirely unsuited 

 to the disease, as is often practised by 

 the veterinary charlatans of our country, 

 nearly always aggravates ihe condition, 

 and in many cases is the cause of death. 

 There are also a number of ridiculous opera- 

 tions, which are performed by the same am- 



bitious beings, which in some cases are inno- 

 cent enough, but in others produce much 

 suffering and the worst results. Among 

 these, it is almost needless to mention, are 

 the boring of the horn and insertion of salt 

 and pepper for that chimerical disease known 

 as " hollow horn," the operation for " wolf in 

 the tail," the extraction of extra teeth as a 

 cure or prevention of inflammation of the 

 eyes, the cutting out of the " hooks " for the 

 same disease, cauterization of the mouth for 

 lampas, and many others of the same nature. 

 It is very strange that sensible stock-owners 

 will allow persons whom they know are as 

 ignorant as a child of the principles of medi- 

 cine thus to maltreat and injure their stock ; 

 and yet it is done every day, and many valu- 

 able animals are annually sacrificed in this 

 way. It needs only a moment's considera- 

 tion of the difficulties attending the diagnosis 

 of diseases with animals to convince anyone 

 of the utmost utter impossibility, in most 

 cases, of even telling what is the matter^ 

 without having first given long years of care- 

 ful study and observation to the subject. 



PARASITES. 



The parasites which may affect our do- 

 mestic animals generally belong to both 

 the animal and vegetable kingdoms, and 

 they find lodging place in all parts of the 

 body, from the skin to the most protected 

 and delicate organs. Their number is so 

 great, however, and the diseases which they 

 produce so various, as to make it impossible 

 to enter into particulars at present. 



CALCULI. 



These are bodies of various sizes, and are 

 usually formed of earthy salts, which may 

 exist in the stomach or intestines, and in the 

 different secretory and excretory organs and 

 their ducts ; they are of a somewhat dissimi- 

 lar composition and character, and the dis- 

 eases which they produce are equally numer- 

 ous. — D. E. S. in Country Gentleman. 



