SHEEP. 241 



August, and these being immediately liatclied by the -warmth and moisture, the 

 larvae or young grubs crawl up into the cavities of the head, and attach them- 

 selves to the membraneous linings. They remain there until the ensuing spring, 

 when they become thick, plump grubs, more than an inch long. They then 

 descend from the head, drop on the ground, burrow into it, take the form of a 

 chrysalis, and at the proper time again hatch forth gad-flies. Their effect on 

 the sheep is a matter of considerable dispute, some eminent veterinary writers 

 considering them entirely harmless. Others, and a much greater number, be- 

 lieve that the irritation they occasion produces disease and death. If the sheep 

 begin to fall off in condition a little before spring, though previously in good 

 flesh, and their feed kept fully up ; if they Avander round with movements in- 

 dicative of pain in the head, and discharge mucus, tinged with blood, from the 

 nose, though oppressed with no catarrhal difiiculty, it may be suspected that 

 they are sufiering under the efiects of grub in the head. Some persons have 

 blown tobacco smoke up their nostrils from the tail of a pipe, the bowl being 

 covered with a cloth, with asserted good effect. Others have injected tobacco- 

 water with a syringe, but this must be prevented from entering the throat iu any 

 considerable quantity. 



LOCKED JAW. 



This has sometimes been produced by cording rams. "Wlien discovered, 

 remedial measures are generally too late, and it should be prevented, if possi- 

 ble, by more careful cording. 



RABIES. 



The period of incubation between the bite of a rabid animal and the appear- 

 ance of rabies in sheep, so far as observed by the writer, averages about three 

 Yi-eeks, though it is said sometimes to appear after several months have elapsed. 

 The first symptom of it is a disposition to ride other sheep. The rabid ewe, 

 though pregnant, acts towards other sheep precisely like the rutting ram, and 

 even employs his peculiar note of solicitation, but if ridden herself exhibits 

 great rage and fiercely fights the one riding her. Rumination and the natural 

 appetite are completely suspended ; the animal gnaws wood, wool from its com- 

 panions, and frequently the most dirty substances. Nothing is masticated 

 regularly, but is hastily swallowed after being bitten rapidly and just sufficient 

 to enable it to be forced down the throat. Rabid sheep neither shun water nor 

 exhibit much thirst. Eight days is the average duration of the disease in the 

 cases observed by the writer. At first the propensity to ride appears ; second, 

 depraved appetite and rubbing of the head and also the feet against fences, &c. 

 On the second or third day the scars of the wound inflicted by the rabid animal 

 again look red and inflamed, the patient exhibits more irritability, attacks its 

 companions suddenly and without provocation, and fiercely buts, and in some 

 cases bites at a stick thrust tOAvai-ds it. On the fourth day it rushes ai a man 

 if he enters the pen, and frequently dashes against the fence if a hat or hand- 

 kerchief is shaken at it ; in some instances thus charging if a person utters a 

 sound or only approaches its place of confinement. On the fourth or fifth day 

 the edges of the wound reopen. On the fifth or sixth day there is considerable 

 weakness, and in some of the cases less ferocity. On l^he seventh and eighth 

 days the prostration of strength increases rapidly, the respiration becomes 

 labored and sometimes irregular, the pulse rapid, and the reopened wound again 

 dries up. Where the wound is on the eyelid the cornea becomes white and 

 opaque, and tlii^ eye blind. Froth fidls from the lips of some, and ropy saliva 

 from those of others, but neither are persistent or conspicuous symptoms of the 

 malady. Finally the debility becomes extreme, but there is no stupor, or iu- 

 Bensibility to sight or sound. There is no paralysis. None give up their hos. 



22 a 



