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THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE. 



avoid scientific and (ecbuical expressions in medical science.) 

 It is almost always accompanied by fluke in the liver. Bnt 

 flukes exist in the liver before the disease assumes this rotten 

 form, and very often after the sheep liaa been cured of rot. 

 When flukes first begin to make their appearance in the liver, 

 sheep actually fatten faster than those free from fluke : so it is 

 said by all the authors quoted, With this stage of the dis- 

 ease, Dr. Harrison says, " practical farmers are familiar, and 

 take advantage of it." Again, when sheep that have had the 

 rot, but have been cured of it and fattened, are slaughtered, 

 flukes are found in the liver; thus proving another stage of the 

 disease, for so long as fluke exists disease must also exist. 

 We have thus three stages of a disease where fluke exists in the 

 hepatic organ : the first, immediately prior to rot ; the second, 

 during the stage of rot ; and the thi d, after rot has for a 

 time disappeared, so as to permit of the sheep being fattened 

 and slaughtered. These three stages of the disease are well 

 known to practical men. They are noticed by all the writers 

 whose works we have quoted, and by modern writers on the 

 subject generally speaking. 



Having thus shown three stages of a disease in which fluke 

 exists in the liver, the inquiiy naturally arises, how many 

 more stages are there ? and at what period or stage does the 

 fluke first make its appearance ? The presence of this ento- 

 zoou in the hepatic organ is manifestly not the first stage of 

 the disease ; for, besides being absurd from a scientific point of 

 view, such a conclusion is diametrically opposed to that code 

 of Nature's laws to which the sheep is subject. It would be 

 presumption to impeach Nature with such an anoinaly as this 

 involves. The presence of fluke in the liver of a sheep is an 

 infringement of that code of laws upon whose free operation 

 the wellbeing of the flock depends. Flukes should not be 

 there. It does not require logic to prove this. Our shep- 

 herd's proposition is to breed sheep, not entozoa. Dr, Thom- 

 son, referring to entozoa generally in man, says, " Debility, 

 from whatever cause arising, is undoubtedly the condition 

 which chiefly favours the generation of these parasites ;" and 

 the conclusion is also applicable to our cattle. A stage of the 

 disease in question exists prior to the presence of the fluke, 

 and that stage is debility. The hepatic organ is from some 

 cause or other in a debilitated state ; it ceases to perform its 

 functions in accordance with the laws of health to the sheep 

 but in harmony with those favourable to the formation and 

 development of fluke, which seldom fails, sooner or later, to 

 make its appearance in the liver ; thus adding another co- 

 operating cause of disease to that which previously existed. 



We have now got our subject into a different phase for 

 examination. Hitherto we have had flukes in the liver ; but 

 vre are now at a stage prior to their existence, viz., dehilily 

 What is debility ? Such is now our problem for solution. 

 Does it arise from the presence of impurities in the blood, 

 owing to the injection of poisonous matter in the food ? or 

 owing to the imperfect oxydation of the vital fluid ? or owing 

 to the imperfect discharge of waste matter by the excretory 

 functions .^ or owing to the presence of morbid matter from 

 some other source? or does it arise from a deficiency of 

 certain properties in the blood, owing to imperfect food? 

 In other words, does debility arise from the hepatic organ not 

 receiving its natural stimulus? la a deficiency of bitter 

 aromatic principle in the food of sheep, or an inferior quality 

 of bitter aromatic principle, favourable to debility of the 

 hepatic organ and ultimately to the presence of fluke ? And 

 is a deficiency of common salt favourable to debility in any of 

 the other functions of secretion, and to the presence of certain 

 of the other entozoa that infest the alimentary canal ? These 

 end many other queitione of a kindred character call for a 



practical solution the moment we enter upon the practical 

 investigation of this part of our subject. .It is therefore mani- 

 fest that debility may arise from various causes. When we 

 reflect that the sheep is naturally the inhabitant of alpine 

 districts, we at once perceive that to confine it in low, marshy 

 grounds by artificial means is cf itself an infringement of 

 Nature's laws capable of producing debility. The fact 

 that mankind suffer fro.u liver complaints and debility in 

 all such cases, warrants this conclusion in reference to the 

 sheep, as noticed by several of the old authors quoted. And 

 as the consumption of an extra quantity of aromatic bitter 

 principle in the food of those of the former who inhabit low 

 grounds is found the only safe course to prevent such com- 

 plaints by preserving this organ in a healthy state, the 

 practice is suggestive of the course to be pursued in the case of 

 the latter, as shown in a previous article. 



Now, when we take into consideration the natural history 

 of the sheep, more especially as regards its peculiar physiology 

 and hygeinic economy, the quality cf food and general 

 treatment it ought to receive on the one hand, and when we 

 compare such with the food and treatment it actually does 

 receive on the other — the disease in its difl'erent stages — the 

 VIS medicatrix nalurcB put forth to keep down the progress of 

 disease, it will be seen that the facts of the case formerly 

 alluded to, as to the causes of rot, &e., may be satisfactorily 

 disposed of, some one way and some another. Our space will 

 not permit of going into any lengthened detail; but this will 

 be found unnecessary, as our quotations chiefly refer to one 

 stage of the disease, viz., when it assumes the character of 

 " rot." 



The causes quoted may be disposed of under the following 

 heads: Ist, The eating of noxious herbs; 2nd, Food con- 

 taining an excess of moisture and other principles that 

 derange the digestive functions ; 3rd, An unhealthy at- 

 mosphere, and causes affecting the respiratory functions ; 

 and 4th, The reason why sheep fatten faster when first in- 

 fected with the rot. 



With regard to whit-rot, butter-wort, sun-dew, and louse- 

 wort, sheep in a healthy state do not eat such plants ; but in a 

 diseased state, as when suffering from the presence of fluke in 

 the liver, or even debility from a deficiency of bitter aromatic 

 principles in its food, a sheep when turned into fresh 

 ground will search for, and cat almost any thing that is 

 acrid, pungent, and bitter, to cure itself of fluke, functional 

 derangement, &c. The medicinal properties of these plants 

 are well known ; but, instead of being favourable to the for- 

 mation and development of fluke, they are the very reverse, 

 for, if eaten in any quantity, they would prove injurious to 

 the health of both fluke and sheep. If eaten ia lesser 

 quantity, the effect produced is likely to be confined to de- 

 rangement of the digestive functions of the sheep, to an 

 increase of debility, and, finally, to rot. There is nothing, 

 therefore, impossible in this conclusion of old authors and 

 farmers, but the contrary. 



Under the second head there is nothing more calculated to 

 derange the digestive functions of :sheep, than washy 

 mucilaginous food, especially if deficient of tonic and 

 astringent principles. Professor Fritze, in his " Medical An- 

 nals," states that " Vegetable mucilage, when used as a 

 principal article of diet, relaxes the organs of digestion, and 

 produces a viscid slimy mucus, and a morbid condition of the 

 primes via." So, that, as Lawrence observes, turnips, oil- 

 cake, and the like, make bad food for sheep. The result in 

 this case would thus be similar to what it is in the last — de- 

 rangement of the digestive functions, an increase of debility, 

 and, finally, rot. 



