542 Journal op the Department op Agriculture. 



(4) All emulsioii equally good as that made with unboiled 



distilled water was obtained by softening- the water with 

 soap prior to mixing it with "A." 



(5) An emulsion almost equal to that above described in (4) 



was obtained hy partially softening the water prior to use 

 by boiling it. 



The conclusions drawn from the above five points are (1) "A" 

 does not give a perfect emulsion with fountain water chiefly because 

 the latter is somewhat har.l, and (2) because it contains dissolved 

 carbon-dioxide ; (3) it is also possible that " A " had not been properly 

 manufactured. There is another point that would seem to have con- 

 siderable significance, which is that the full separation of oils from the 

 untreated fountain "water mixture took some time, althoug-h the major 

 quantity separated within half an hour. Further, it was found that 

 two or three filtrations through blotting-paper sufficed to free the 

 emulsions from their separated oils. The questions that now must be 

 answered are : " Why did the dip kill the sheep?" and " Why did all 

 of the casualties occur amongst the first 33 dipped?" 



The writer's conclusion is that the first sheep dipped took with 

 them out of the tank, not a chill, as sugg-ested by the pamphlet, but 

 separated oils; that througdi this they were, in effect, dipped in too 

 strong solution. It might be asked : '' Why did" not all the 33 die? " 

 It should be remembered in this connection that the separation of the 

 oils was found not to be an instantaneous process; but more important 

 still is tlie well-known fact that, of human beings, some are much 

 more resistant than others to the poisonous action of the constituents 

 of this class of dip; it is only reasonable to presume that similar 

 idiosyncrasies obtain amongst sheep. 



Dip ''B." 



Before the end of that year another case came under the writer's 

 notice, in which a coal-tar dip, used to destroy keds, was suspected of 

 killing sheep as well. This dip is referred to as " B." 



In this case the dip was mixed and used according to instructions, 

 excepting that rather more v/ater was used than prescribed. 



The owner of the sheep stated that Jiis sheep had ])een dipped a 

 day or two previously, and that many of them had died. The writer 

 visited the flock, and was fortunate enough to be accompanied by 

 Mr. E. N. S. Warren, the Lecturer in Sheej) and Wool at Grootfon- 

 tein. 



The method of dipping was described by the owner, and Mr. 

 Warren was satisfied that the cause of mortality could not be ascribed 

 to any fault in tlie handling of the sheep. The following- are the 

 particulars of the dipping': — 



The dipping tank used was much larger than that used wiih dip 

 "A"; its capacity was well over 600 gallons; 560 gallons of dip 

 were actually used. 



The sheep dipped numbered 285; they were dipped in four lots, 

 i.e. : — 



(1) 40 rams; (2) 180 ewes; (3) 15 ewes with lambs; (4) 50 ewe 

 lambs, 7 to 8 months old. 



Deaths.— Of lot (1). 14; of lot (2), 1. 



