lSo-4» fff the Bnjfes Pyrenees hi Prance. " ^y'^ 



fluence on the qualities of the cloth which is manufactured 

 from the wool ; and of this I had an opportunity of jurlp^ing, 

 by examining the homefpun manuf;i6lure of an induftrious 

 houftfwife at Cauterets, who fpins htr wool, gets it worked up 

 by the village weaver, and thus clothes about twenty-five per- 

 fons who conipofe her houfehold. Fourteen patterns of her 

 manuf'aClure are fcnt along witli this memoir for the infpeclion 

 of the Society. 



Of i^he S/ja^p-Fox.* 



This diftemper, which at Cauterets is called the finaH-pox, h 

 contagious, and indifciiminately attacks wedders, ewes, iambs, 

 and goats; moreefpecially during winter, when, Ihut up in confm- 

 cd cots, the animals are kept very hot. It is a very lingular cir- 

 cumflance, that this diftemper ihould only appear, at Cauterets, 

 after intervals of twelve, fifteen, or twenty years ; while in 

 Guienne, and the higher Languedoc, it rages every year. Be- 

 fides that, in the former mountainous tra6t, the weather is 

 colder than in the plains of the latter dillriCls, the Iheep of the 

 Pyrenees arc kept more apart from each other than in the low- 

 countries, and the different flocks are greatly iefs liable to meet 

 together, or to pafs through the fame roads, by which they are 

 not nearly fo much expofed to the danger of infection. 



When feized with this diilemper, the (heep become dull and 

 weak, and thty loathe their food ; the head, eyes, ears, and 

 gums, are fv.-elltd ; and hard white tumours appear in the groins^ 

 and under the joint of the ilioulder. Three or four days after 

 the appearance of thefe tumours, pimples break out .in different 

 parts of the body. At hrft, thefe are fjtuated on the naked 

 ikin between the thighs, and on the places where the wool is 

 fnort and fcanty ; afterwards, they bre^ak out about the head, 

 and fucceffively over the whole body, even on the eye-lids, ears, 

 and throat, in this ftage of the difeale, the animal fwallows 

 with pain, being obliged to hold back the head, and to (trttch 

 out the neck for the purpofe ; and it breathes with great diihcui- 

 ty. As the difeafe goes on, the pim^ples enlarge, and become 

 inflamed, particularly at their bafes ; they fuppurate and burif ; 

 the matter, which runs out, mixes wnth the wool, and mats a- 

 long with it into hard lumps, but afterwards drys and falls to 

 powder ; the wool falls off in locks ;, and even the fcarf fkin 

 peels ofl^, in large pieces, which are full of holes. When the 



diilcmpcY 



* In the original, this difeafe is named peiite veroky hterally fmaii- 

 pox ; and the author give? ficoflf, clavelk, and cbvcauj as fynonymoi'-s 

 temis. 



