490 



THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE. 



below a lake-head. Of this land the greater part was a 

 morass, and had further been robbed of its soil to form the 

 head. Much of it was bog-land, some of it tenacious gravel, 

 and very little was kind sand, There was not sufficient fall 

 to the river to dry the lower part of the meadow, which was 

 consequently very wet, and produced rushes and flags ; yet 

 notwithstanding all this it was a very good meadow, par- 

 ticularly for spring-feeding, and ewes and lambs were fed 

 on it for twenty years without the occurrence of rot. In 

 dry summers it produced tolerable crops of hay, without 

 ever being manured. In consequence, however, of some 

 alterations, the land was drained, subsequently to which it 

 gave one good crop ; but grass never again grew well, and 

 the ewes and lambs afterwards fed upon this land invariably 

 took the rot, equally on the highest and lowest parts of the 

 meadow. Clayey gravels and red marls, when rain happens 

 after dry weather, have a luxuriant herbage and occasional 

 rot. Poor clayey and loamy soils, where the water stag- 

 nates from the compact nature of the ground, are dangerous. 

 Grounds always dry, always under water, or wet enough to 

 preserve a constant flow, do not give rot. Grounds newly 

 laid down for pasture or exhausted by repeated crops, and 

 also thin swards where the water remains in patches, cause the 

 disease. A " vitiated dew," or a " gruft" adhering to the 

 grass after wet, are considered to cause rot. Hard stocking 

 is another presumed cause. In Ashford the swampy lands 

 on calcareous tufa, near the river Wye, cause rot. Among 

 the symptoms of the malady, yellowness of the eye and 

 brisket, sudden improvement of condition followed by 

 wasting, loss of wool, and swellings beneath the jaw, are 

 those principally mentioned. As remedies, salt as a cure 

 and preventive is most popular. Dry food is also recom- 

 mended ; and far the purpose of improving lands that are 

 known to give rot, deep draining is suggested. A certain 

 paddock in Norfolk, known for several years to cause rot, 

 was drained, and animals pastured on it afterwards did not 

 suffer. Iodide of iron, turpentine, and many other agents, 

 have their advocates ; but generally very little dependence 

 is placed upon the action of medicines. In slight cases a 

 change of pasture, more liberal feeding, includiug hay and 

 crushed beans, with plenty of salt, have succeeded in effect- 

 ing a cure. _ Rot is said to occur on some of the high and 

 dry lands in Derbyshire ; while, on the other hand, sheep 

 have been known to feed for some time on wet land without 

 suffering. In salt marshes, and by the sea-shore, rot is 

 stated to be unknown. The clay-slate hills of North Devon, 

 and also the commons of Dartmoor and Exmoor, claim to be 

 equally exempt. The very singular case recorded of the 

 meadow at Welbeck is authenticated in such a manner as to 

 warrant its reception as a fact ; but we have still to lament 

 want of complete evidence. A certain ground badly drained, 

 wet enough to produce flags and rushes, is nevertheless a 

 good feeding-place, and for twenty years no rot occurs. 

 Further than this, fair crops of hay are obtained without 

 manuring; but the same ground, after being efficiently 

 drained, produced one good crop ; but never afterwards did 

 the grass grow well, and animals fed on the meadow became 

 affected with rot. To reason upon such statements is 

 obviously impossible. If it be asked, why did the drained 

 and improved land cause rot, when in its former undrained 

 condition sheep fed upon it with impunity ? it may be per- 

 tinently answered, For the same reason which prevented the 

 growth of herbage that had always been abundant before the 

 improvements were effected. What actual change took 

 place in the soil and herbage we have no means of knowing, 

 nor can we conclude anything in reference to them from the 

 statement as it appears before us. 



The disease is by some referred to feeding on particular 

 lands of plants, certainly possessing medicinal properties, 

 and one of which belongs to a iJoisonous family; but a 

 much more satisfactory solution of the matter is furnished 

 by my colleague, Professor Buckman, who informs me that 

 all the plants are inhabitants of boggv places— in short, of 

 those very situations where rot is adtnitted to occur. Some 

 of the causes advanced may be termed occasional ; such as 

 feeding on exhausted soils, or in places where the atmos- 

 phere is deteriorated by mephilic exhalations, or by the 

 products of decomposition ; sudden changes from high to 

 low ground, or the reverse, hard stocking, feeding on medi- 

 cmal or non-nutritious plants, or even the loss of the fleece. 

 As all these oircumstances affect the condition of the sys- 



tem, we do not deny them a certain importance as " debili 

 tating influences," although we cannot place them among 

 the causes of the disease, as animals are frequently exposed 

 to their action without becoming affected, Cases of disease 

 are recorded as occurring under what may be called ex- 

 ceptional conditions. We are told, for example, that rot is 

 produced ou liigli and dry lands : in this statement nothing 

 is said about the nature of the soil, its capacity for retain- 

 ing moisture, its liability to passing showers, and its in- 

 equalities of surface. We can imagine some high lands to 

 be very much less secure feeding-places than low ones, all 

 the circumstances of soil and surface being taken into 

 account. The assertion that rot never occurs on wolds is 

 not an unqualified truth : it certainly happens in some parts 

 of the Cotsvvolds, as it would in other similar situations were 

 the circumstances favourable. Absolutely dry and well- 

 drained lands are ordinarily healthy without reference to their 

 elevation above the level of the sea. Further, it is asserted 

 that sheep will feed in very wet meadows for some time 

 without injury. Here, again, an apparent contradiction may 

 be easily removed. A sudden flood of some continuance does 

 not furnish all the conditions requisite for the production 

 of the disease. If no stagnant pools are formed, no danger 

 need be apprehended. In salt marshes and in the neigh- 

 bourhood of the sea rot is unknown, probably for a variety 

 of reasons.* Salt herbage has a beueflcial medicinal action 

 upon animals in general ; a tonic and alterative eifect — one 

 particularly opposed to debility or typhus in any form. Salt 

 is anti'putrescent, and vegetable decomposition is prevented 

 or retarded under its influence. The immunity enjoyed by 

 the " clay-slate " hills of North Devon and the commons of 

 Dartmoor and Exmoor is merely a proof of their healthi- 

 ness. The same statement might of course be made of 

 hundreds of other situations in diflerent parts of the world, 

 since fortunately the dangerous localities are the exception 

 and not the rule. As we are discussing the disease in re- 

 ference to the sheep, it will not be necessary to extend the 

 remarks that have been made upon the other animals that 

 are its joint victims ; to wit, hares, rabbits, and deer. Cattle 

 in some jiarts of the continent sufler severely from the 

 malady, and we have lately received reports of its existence 

 among them in the West of England, although with our 

 present system of feeding we do not anticipate any serious 

 loss. The speculations upon the origin and influence of 

 the "fluke," with the remarks upon symptoms and treat- 

 ment, do not call for minute ciiticism here, as those points 

 will engage our attention in due course. Finally, the 

 results of our examination of the evidence may be expressed 

 in the two following statements : Firstly, rot occurs in moist 

 situations, after a warm rain has caused a lu.mrianl growth 

 of herbage ; secondly, rot does not occur in well-drained 

 healthy lands, where the above conditions are absent. 



Symptoms of Rot. — A tendency to fatten is the earliest 

 sign of the disease, according to the concurring testimony 

 of practical men. Various reasons are given in the attempt 

 to account for this, but no one seems to controvert the 

 position. The improvement in the bulk of the body is, 

 however, of short continuance ; soon the fatty textures are 

 removed more rapidly than they were deposited, and an ex- 

 treme emaciation, primarily affecting the region of the loins, 

 is subsequently the prominent character of the disease. 

 Very early in the affection, the caruncle at the inner corner 

 of the eye becomes slightly tinged of a yellow or yellowish- 

 white colour. The " clear red " or " pink " spoken of as 

 indicative of health, we have scarcely ever observed ; a clear 

 white is the ordinary colour. The change, therefore, is not 

 very marked, and requires close scrutiny, otherwise the or- 

 dinary tint may be taken for the paleness of disease. As the 

 affection advances the yellowness becomes more marked, and 

 aftects the skin as well as the mucous membrane : the wool 

 falls oft', or is detached by a trifling force. Dropsical effusion 

 takes place under the jaw, a feetid smell distinguishes the 

 exhalations and excretions, and the animal dies from 

 exhaustion, or is killed before the malady has reached its 

 climax. Little or no difiiculty is experieneed ia deciding 

 upon the nature of the disease; a few fatal cases alone 

 would suffice to settle the question, even if the peculiarities 

 of season or locality had not already afforded grounds for an 



* Among others the absence of fresh-water molluscs, in 

 which the dktoma brood are partly developed, — G, T. B. 



