Disease among Lambs. 295 



subjected in eliminating the superabundant moisture from the 

 blood. 



The light-coloured pulpy congested condition of the liver arises, 

 as I conceive, from structural disease, supervening on functional 

 derangement ; such derangement being caused by the undue 

 exertion of the liver in its assimilating action upon the nitro- 

 genous substances of food, especially if supplied in a condition ill- 

 adapted to the requirements of the young animal. Also when the 

 liver by disease has become incompetent to act upon the imper- 

 fect albumen, which is the immediate product of the digestive 

 process, this albumen is not fitted for its introduction into the 

 blood, and a great part of it is evacuated in the urine. ( Vide 

 Carpenter's ' Manual of Physiology,' pp. 306, 307.) The dete- 

 riorated state of the blood supplied to the organ for the nourish- 

 ment of its own tissues, would also further tend to its disinte- 

 gration. 



Such are my grounds for believing that a deficiency in the 

 supply of tissue-forming material has been one great cause in 

 the production of this disease. 



We will now consider more in detail whether the condition in 

 which that material was supplied may not also have exerted a 

 bad influence. Unquestionably the healthy growing animal has 

 the power of assimilating as much of the albuminous principle as 

 is requisite, provided it be given in a suitable form. But how- 

 ever plentiful may be the supply, unless it is duly acted upon by 

 the assimilative power of several glandular organs (of which 

 the liver is one) it is not rendered fit to be a component of the 

 blood, and consequently being of no use in the economy, is 

 cast out in the urine as effete material. I maintain that the liver 

 of a growing lamb at the time of weaning has not arrived at its 

 full power of action, and that this defect is especially manifested 

 in reference to its function of preparing albuminous materials to 

 become constituents of the blood, unless these are supplied in a 

 certain condition, of which the caseine of milk is the best example. 

 The immature organ, in endeavouring to exert its specific action 

 upon albumen supplied in a condition fitted only for the require- 

 ments of an adult sheep, is overtaxed, derangement in its function 

 succeeds, which in turn gives place to structural disease, and in 

 a short time the organ is incapacitated from performing this 

 assimilative action upon any part of the albumen of the food. 



By practical experience many shepherds and farmers know that 

 when it is necessary to supply lambs with dry food from the time 

 of weaning, they do better upon peas or beans than upon any other 

 kind of diet, a small quantity of linseed-cake being generally com- 

 bined with those leguminous seeds, on account of its greater fat- 

 forming qualities, and proportionately increased as the lambs 



