10 July, 1918.] Diseases of Sheep. 415 



exhaustion; whereas in an animal of high vitality they have little 

 effect, and appear not to develop to any great extent. 



ISTearly all the worms of sheep are passed in the egg by one animal 

 and are later taken in with food or water by another, when full develop- 

 ment occurs. It is not necessary for an intermediate host, as is the 

 case with tape worms and fluke. Therefore efforts should be made 

 to destroy the eggs, which require a certain amount of moisture for 

 existence. The drainage of pasture, or the keeping of sheep on high 

 lands during winter, will, by preventing development or infestation, 

 as the case may be, amply repay the farmer. Old stagnant waterhcles 

 are a source of danger, and an illustration of this was recently reported 

 in the Journal of Agriculture. A breeder in the western part of the 

 State had great difficulty in rearing lambs prior to the drought. Since 

 then sheep have thriven on his property. The reason is, that prior 

 to the drought sheep drank from a lagoon. This becoming dry, the 

 owner was forced to sink for a supply of water. A mineral spring 

 was found, and since then sheep refuse to drink from the lagoon, and 

 all are thriving. Here the twofold benefit is seen of supplying salts 

 of various kinds and avoiding infestation from the lagoon. 



Worms in sheep probably cause a greater loss to farmers in Victoria 

 than any other complaint. To fully deal with the subject is outside 

 the scope of this paper; further, it is a question which has already 

 received attention, and a leaflet on Worms in Sheep, written by Dr. 

 S. S. Cameron when occupying the position of Chief Veterinary 

 Officer, has been issued by the Department of Agriculture, and may be 

 obtained on application, free of cost. 



There is an enemy of the sheep of only recent arrival in Victoria, 

 upon which, in conclusion, a few words may be said, viz., sheep bot 

 fly. This fly deposits its eggs in or around the nostril of the sheep. 

 The larvae crawl thence up the nostril into the cavities of the face 

 and head, and there develop. They remain in these positions for nine 

 or ten months, and when fully matured are dropped or sneezed out. 

 The pupae lie on the ground for a short time, and then hatch out to 

 the perfect fly, and the life cycle is once more commenced. The 

 infestation does practically no harm. A sneezing and discharge from 

 the nose may follow, but only when the infestatibn is very heavy is 

 there sufficient irritation to produce giddiness and staggering gait, 

 wasting, and death. Usually there is nothing more noticed than a 

 dullness in the sheep, and maybe disinclination to feed.. 



Treatment is valueless. "When the larvae are lodged in the sinuses 

 of the head the injection of drugs, &c., seldom reaches them, and is 

 liable to do more harm than the parasite itself. Inhalations of sulphur 

 fumes by stimulating coughing and sneezing may remove those directly 

 in the passages, but, seeing that ill-effects are so seldom seen, this is 

 hardly worth the trouble of carrying out. An endeavour may be made 

 to prevent the fly from attacking the sheep, and this is best carried 

 out by providing battens, placed about two inches apart, over a trough 

 of food or over the lick. These battens should be smeared with tar, 

 and in an endeavour to get to the food or lick, the sheep smears its 

 nostrils with tar. This system requires for its success, first a small 

 flock, and second frequent applications of tar. 



