8 Nov., 1907.] ■ Diseases of Farm Animals. 647 



horn requires to be pared away, otherwise the medicament cannot reach the 

 seat of the operations of the germs which it is intended to destroy. 



Various agents have been used with success in treating footrot — butyr 

 of antimony, nitric acid, creosote, carbolic acid, arsenic, and many others. 

 These are all antiseptic and caustic in their action, and perhaps the most 

 consistently successful of them is butyr of antimony, which, when mixed 

 with an equal proportion of tincture of myrrh, forms a first-rate footrot 

 lotion to De kept in stock. This or other fluid dressing should be applied 

 to the affected parts with a feather or brush, so that the adjacent skin is 

 not needlessly burnt. 



When footrot has become established in a flock the treatment should 

 be prompt, methodical, and thorough if heavy monetary loss is to be 

 avoided. The flock should be yarded, and all sheep showing the slightest 

 halting or lameness should be caught and turned, their feet examined, and 

 the necessary paring, to expose the sores and shape the claws, cleanly and 

 tlioroughly done. To be on the safe side the whole flock should be gone 

 through in this way once at least, if practicable. The sheep should then 

 be turned directly into a race foot-bath, about 10 or 15 feet long, and 

 allowed to pass loiteringly through on to dry ground. An arsenic solution 

 is generally used for the bath, and it is effective if the paring has been 

 sufficiently thorough. It is made by boiling together 2 lbs. of white arsenic 

 and 3 lbs. of carbonate of potash (or 4 lbs. of washing soda) in 14 gallons 

 of water until all the arsenic is dissolved. The solution is placed in the 

 bath to a depth of 2 inches, and replenished as required. The procedure 

 may require to be repeated two or three times, at intervals of a fortnight, 

 ivecentlv I had occasion to suggest a line of tieatment for a footrotted 

 flock, and a solution of formalin as a foot-bath, followed by paddling on 

 quicklime, was adopted wdth great success. Schering's formalin was used 

 in the proportion of i to 50 of w'ater (5 lbs. of formalin, costing 8s., to 

 25 gallons of cold w^ater), and the sheep were passed from the foot-bath 

 along a wooden platform on to the hard floor of a woolshed, which had 

 been covered to a depth of about an inch with powdered quicklime. On 

 this the sheep were allowed to paddle for an hour or two. and when turned 

 out on to a dry, bare paddock they carried with them caked on the diseased 

 feet, a packing of antiseptic and caustic quicklime, which so promoted 

 healing that it was only necessary to repeat the procedure once again at 

 the end of ten days. 



Special Treatment wdll require to be adopted in the case of individual 

 sheep badlv affected. After paring and cleansing, the raw surfaces should 

 be cauterized with burnt alum nitrate of silver (lunar caustic), or bluestone, 

 or chromic acid, to reduce the soft, fungoid growths and to stimulate the 

 formation of healthv horn. Thev should then be given a dressing with 

 Stockholm tar, whicli, in addition to being antiseptic, forms an adhesive 

 covering to protect the sores ; in manv cases it is ad\-isable to protect the 

 dressed feet from dirt and air by bandaging, or applying a specially made 

 " stool," to be tied on with tapes, and which will also help to keep the 

 dressings in position. As improvement takes place the abo\-e strong caustics 

 should be discontinued, and the milder stock lotion previously mentioned 

 applied. 



It must be borne in mind that treating the disea.se without removing the 

 conditions which promote it will alwavs be unsatisfactory. A chang2 of 

 I)asturage, whether from wet, l>oggv land, or from soft fir gra\-ellv country, 

 according as each mav have l>een in use, is always advisable. 



