Disease among Lambs. 293 



of good feeding should be not to fatten young animals, but to give 

 strength and tone to the vital forces, w^hich, established during 

 the growing period of life, enable the anim-al to withstand many 

 external agencies that tend to alter the form, structure, and compo- 

 sition of the tissues, and predispose to disease. 



Let us see whether these indications have been complied with 

 in the management of the flocks in question. The farmers of this 

 locality who breed and rear Lincoln and Leicester sheep, know 

 that in order to make up for the inferiority of their home pastures 

 the lambs must be supplied with dry food from the time of wean- 

 ing. Is then the dry food, generally so provided, capable of 

 supplying the deficiency, without becoming in some measure pro- 

 ductive of disease ? I am of opinion that wherever the disease 

 in question has occurred, the dry food contained too great an 

 amount of hydro-carbonaceous material, whilst the constituents 

 necessary for building up and replacing the other tissues have been 

 insufficiently furnished. The dry food chiefly consisting of about 

 equal parts of crushed barley and linseed-cake, of good quality, 

 from one-fourth to one-third of a pound of the mixture being 

 allowed per sheep per diem, calculated roughly, we may say that 

 in addition to the quantity of tissue-forming substances obtained 

 from innutritions grass, each sheep daily receives into its system, 

 by the supply of dry food, about one-fifteenth of a pound of nitro- 

 genous principle. Should oats be substituted for either of the 

 other articles of food, the percentage of flesh-producing aliment 

 would not be materially affected, but if locust-pods were used 

 it would be considerably diminished. It would require a far 

 greater physiologist than I am to determine theoretically whether 

 the nutritive elements introduced from every source are adequate 

 to repair the natural waste of the body and build up the growing 

 organism. In my opinion, which is based upon a careful con- 

 sideration of the symptoms and post-mortem appearances, if due 

 regard be paid to the quality as well as the quantity of the 

 supply — they are not. 



The leading symptom of the disease, excessive diarrhoea, can 

 only be due to one of two causes — either to irritation in some 

 part of the alimentary canal, or it is an effort of nature to 

 throw off from the blood some material detrimental to the 

 normal qualitative or quantitative condition of that fluid, 

 whereby it is rendered unfit to serve its proper purpose in 

 the animal economy. The post-mortem examinations did not 

 disclose evidence of irritation in any part of the intestinal tube, 

 therefore there remains but the inference that the blood is not 

 in a condition fitted to supply the demands of the system upon 

 it. The specific gravity of the blood may be lessened if the 

 constituents supplied to it by the food are insufficient to repair 



