PART X. 



Papers on Live Stock, Agricultural 

 and Miscellaneous Topics 



FROM 



BULLETINS, AGRICULTURAL PRESS 



AND 



Papers Read Before County Farmers Institutes 



FOOT-ROT OF SHEEP.* 



By John R. Mohler, V. M. D.. Chief of Pathological Division, Bureau of 



Animal Industry, and Henry J. Washhurn, D. V. S., Assistant in 



Pathological Division, Bureau of Animal Industry, V. S. 



Department of Agriculture. 



HISTORICAL REVIEW. 



Foot-rot was first described by Chabert in the year 1791 as existing 

 north of the Pyrenees on the banks of the Gironde and lower MedoG 

 Later it spread to central France, and was described by Pictet In 1805 

 and by Gohier in 1808, both of whom declared it to be a communicable 

 disease. It was likewise observed about this time in Piedmont, Italy, 

 and spread into Germany about 1815 as a result of the introduction of 

 French Merinos. 'Not only has it appeared in epizootic form in con- 

 tinental Europe, but it has also spread through Great Britain, Australia, 

 and the United States, where it was not infrequently observed during 

 the past century. 



The date of its first appearance on American soil is unknown. The 

 statement has frequently been made that the disease was brought to 

 American shores by the colonists through importations of Spanish Merinos 



*This paper is an abstract of Bulletin No. 63 of this Bureau. 



(477) 



