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TJie CoH?itry Gentle7nans Magazine 



many extensive flock-masters know to their 

 cost. The lambs have taken the scab as 

 well as the vermin from their dams, and 

 fleeces are broken to an extent unknown for 

 many years past, to the great deterioration 

 of the wool and loss to the owner, so that the 

 profits derivable from the rise in sheep and 

 wool have been neutralized to a great degree, 

 and all owing to neglect. No extensive 

 flock-master should be without a proper 

 shepherd, who would scrupulously attend 

 day and night to the duties of his calling ; 



but, at the same time, he should have ade- 

 quate assistance, to enable him to take that 

 rest which nature requires, and do himself 

 as well as his employer justice. The human 

 machine is not one of iron, but we regret to 

 say that many employers too frequently for- 

 get that it is so, and, as is the case in the pre- 

 sent season, they have paid dearly for it in 

 the unclean and deteriorated state of their 

 flocks, many having had to shear them pre- 

 maturely, thus exposing the poor animals to 

 the cold and wet. 



SOME OF THE CAUSES OF DISEASE IN STOCK. 



STABLES. 



THERE are an innumerable number of 

 ways in which stables may prove injuri- 

 ous to their occupants, and I will limit myself 

 to a brief mention of the important points. 

 If they are too dark, they are apt to induce 

 a morbid sensibility of the eyes to the action 

 of light, which predisposes to inflammation of 

 these organs (opthalmias) ; if, on the con- 

 trary, they are very light, or arranged in such 

 a manner that the light falls directly on the 

 eyes, they are equally hurtful. Animals are 

 often placed in very narrow stalls, or too 

 close together, when their repose becomes 

 unsatisfactory, and injuries from abrasions 

 and kicks are frequent. The floors of stables 

 are sometimes uneven or contain holes which 

 occasion various troubles — lameness, sprains, 

 dislocations, &c. Stables built of stone, and 

 especially' those which have the floor below the 

 level of the surface of the earth, are usually 

 damp and cold. Entering such places, one feels 

 a disagreeable sensation as though he were in a 

 cellar ; the walls are found damp, sometimes 

 covered with water which either soaks through 

 from the outside or is due to the conden- 

 sation of vapour. The air, being cold and 

 damp, prevents the evaporation of the secre- 

 tions of the skin, and diminishes the exhala- 

 tions from the lungs, besides being too im- 

 pure perfectly to supply the blood with 



oxygen for the support of the body. Thus 

 we find three very important functions of the 

 organism seriously impaired by this condition 

 of the habitation, leading to catarrhs, pul- 

 monary consumption, cutaneous and rheu- 

 matismal disease, and various constitutional 

 maladies. There is another class of stables, 

 without ventilation and without proper man- 

 agement, which is, perhaps, the most fre- 

 quently met with, and which is equally 

 destructive to health with those I have just 

 noticed — I mean those which are warm and 

 damp, and in which the manure is allowed 

 to accumulate. Going into these stables with 

 a light it is at once seen to burn dim, shew- 

 ing the unfitness of the air to support com- 

 bustion or life. The ammoniacal vapours 

 in the air irritate the eyes, and other vapours 

 and animal products, coming from the various 

 excretions and fermentations, act upon the 

 organism in the most injurious manner. 

 More than this, the air, already loaded with 

 moisture, cannot sufficiently take up the 

 secretions from the skin, and the expirations 

 of the lungs ; consequently, the mucous 

 membranes, the kidneys and other organs 

 are obliged to increase their labours in order 

 to make up for the deficiency, while the man- 

 ure forming the floor acts upon the feet. 

 What then, you ask, is the result of so 

 many unnatural conditions ? We will see. 



