Scour ill Sheep 



147 



anum in gruel on two following mornings, 

 after which, should the diarrhcea continue, 

 it may be found necessary to give a stringent 

 antacid medicine, for the mucous membrane 

 having become relaxed and weakened by the 

 previous irritation, a faulty action may be set 

 up, v/hich continues, although the irritation 

 which caused it may have been removed. 

 Therefore, in such cases, the following will 

 be found valuable : — Take prepared chalk, 

 I oz. ; powered catechu, }^ oz. ; powdered 

 ginger, ^ oz. ; powdered opium, i drachm ; 

 bicarbonate of potass, 4 drachms ; pepper- 

 mint water to 8 oz. Of this let two table- 

 spoonsfuls be given twice-a-day, a proportion- 

 ate dose to very young sheep. 



DIARRHCEA ACCELERATED EV PARASITES, 



We now come to a disease very fatal to 

 young sheep, and one which, I fear, is greatly 

 on the increase, and from which there have 

 been immense losses to flock-owners ; and it 

 seems to me somewhat strange that they 

 have gone on losing their flocks, not by an 

 odd one or two, but in some cases by scores, 

 with a listlessness of effort that to me 

 appears unaccountable. The first we hear 

 of is this: — " I am. losing a large number of 

 lambs from scour, and I think there is some- 

 thing in my keep that has been prejudicial, 

 or does not suit their digestion ;" and when 

 asked wliat has been done for them, the reply 

 is generally, " I have changed the food : they 

 were on clover, and I changed them to old 

 grass ;" or, " They were on bare pasture where 

 the ewes had been, and now I put them on 

 clover; but that makes no difference." Here, 

 again, diarrhoea was looked upon as the 

 cause of the mortality; whereas, upon in- 

 quiry, it was found that they have coughed 

 very much, almost incessantly, producing 

 evident distress. The animal does not ob- 

 tain any relief from the act of coughing, and 

 a great obstruction is put upon the proper 

 aeration of the blood. Emaciation of the 

 frame ensues, rapidly ending in death. The 

 Appetite is capricious, or almost wanting, the 

 the diarrhoea becomes aggravated, the thirst 

 ;is intolerable, and the poor sufferer madly 

 : Japs at anything of the character of a liquid, , 



straining with the back arched and feet drawn 

 together, and in this attitude voids small 

 quantities of very stinking matter, some- 

 times tinged with blood. This trying, and if 

 neglected, fatal disease is caused by the pre- 

 sence of a parasite in the throat, and called 

 the Filaria bronchialis. It appears that if 

 one or two of the worms get into the bron- 

 chial tubes, they are quite sufficient to lay 

 the foundation of extensive disease. Passing 

 as far as they can through the bronchial 

 tubes, they enter the air cells of the lungs, 

 and deposit their ova or eggs by myriads ; 

 and by means of these foreign bodies an 

 irritation is set up, first in the lining mem- 

 brane of the air cells, and then in the lung 

 itself. It is estimated that one of these 

 worms will produce millions upon millions of 

 eggs, and thus we can form some idea of the 

 amount of mischief that ensues. 



Any delay in the treatment of this disease 

 makes the cure more difficult ; therefore, it 

 will be wise to have a rigid examination of 

 the first dead carcase to determine the cause 

 of death. Now, the diarrhoea here is not a 

 disease primarily affecting the alimentary 

 canal, therefore it can be of no use to give 

 astringent medicine, nor will a change of 

 food produce any good result. But our en- 

 deavour must be to get rid of the worm as 

 it exists in the bronchial tube or windpipe, 

 and to root out the disease which has been 

 produced in the lungs. The inhalation of 

 sulphurous acid gas, or chlorine gas, will be 

 found a ready means where the flock 

 is large; the sulphurous fumigation' will 

 be the safer in inexperienced hands. To do 

 this, place the sheep in an out-house, where 

 they can be made to inhale the fumes of 

 sulphur thrown from time to time upon burn- 

 ing tar, so as thoroughly to impregnate the 

 air. By this means the parasite may either 

 be destroyed, or caused to quit the parts. 

 The chlorine gas fumigation, though an effi- 

 cient agent, is, in the hands of a careless per- 

 son, very likely to kill the sheep, but, if con- 

 ducted as follows, can produce no ill effect : — 

 Having driven the sheep into a convenient 

 place, get some chlorinated lime (usually called 

 chloride of lime), and make it .into a creamy 



