98 



«muptiou of that heretofore deposited; the serous effusions from the 

 weakened couditioii of the system; and the foolish actions from the long- 

 continued lack of nourishment of the brain. 



Sheep do not die from the tape-worm disease alone. The greatest 

 losses are, the rauchmBu say, aiujug the lambs and yearlings. The 

 majority may die during cold storms, either from freezing or from suffo- 

 cation while piling upon each other for warmth. They may stai've to 

 death either from inability or lack of desire to eat. They may die from 

 other diseases. The tape worm disease appears to render them more 

 liable to otiici' affections and less able to withstand the inclement sea- 

 son. It is therefore indirectly chargeable with the loss. Even if the 

 infected sheep do not die, the parasite is still a cause of pecuniary 

 loss. The impov^erished condition traceable to it is a small average 

 loss for each animal, but for flocks of over five thousand sheep the ag- 

 gregate is thousands of dollars for each ranchman. 



In the article of Dr. Faville, cited above, he quotes a letter * from 

 the late Hon. J. M. Givens, whose flocks numbered from six to eight 

 thousand head. In this letter Mr. Givens states his loss from dead 

 sheep alone for the preceding year at from $3,000 to $4,01)0. Fortu- 

 nately the loss of from four hundred to eleven hundred or more sheep 

 does not occur to flockmasters annually, but such losses are not in- 

 frequent, and may be heard of either on this or that ranch during 

 different years. Every ranchman knows of and appreciates the steady 

 though small loss arising from the depreciated value of his animals, 

 due to their ill condition from various causes, and which he strives by 

 every means to reduce, for therein lie the profits and success of his 

 business. From the study and observation which the writer has been 

 able to devote to the tape- worm disease it appears alone responsible for 

 more losses than any other sheep disease on the prairies excepting 

 scab. The direct death-rate traceable to it is large when compared to 

 the entire death-rate, and the indirect loss traceable to it is, though 

 more insidious in its character, still larger, for it is ever present and 

 ever active. 



Medicinal treatment. — Some experiments looking toward the removal 

 of Uvniw by medicines were made in 188G. Various tivniivfrnjes were tried 

 with little success. The powdered preparations of pumpkin seed; 

 pomegranate-root bark, koosoo,kamala, male fern, and wormseed proved 

 of no avail. 



In order that they might be administered cheaply the proper amount 

 of each for ten animals was mixed with meal, bran, and salt, and fed in 



*The letter referred to gives " loco" as a cauvse of the losses. Before his death the 

 Hon. J. M. Givens had concluded, and communicated to his friends of the El Paso 

 Wool Grower's Association, that the loss of this winter was not duo to " loco," for 

 the greatest loss had occurred in young sheep and lambs. The latter had not learned 

 to eat "loco" exclusively, were poor, aud presented symptoms which he learned 

 later belonged to sheep infested with tape-worms. 



