242 AGRICULTURAL REPORT. 



tility to men or shoep. Tlie fiercer plicep figlit eacli other when constantly 

 falling down from weaknes;? ; some utter short, angry bleats as they fight other 

 sheep or a stick ; but as a general rule they remain silent, except to emit a 

 sunfBng or snorting sound when bounding forward to make an attack. 



There is no remedy for this terrible malady. It is here described so that it 

 may be promptly identified, and the proper measures taken if it appears in a 

 flock. It is doubtful whether the saliva of a rabid sheep -will communicate the 

 disease to men or sheep ; but no risk should be ran by alloAving its saliva to 

 come in contact with the hands where the skin is broken, and if it does so, pru- 

 dence requires that the parts be promptly cauterized with lunar caustic until a 

 thick black eschar, or scab, is formed over them. The same course would also 

 be prudent on sheep whose skin is broken ; but there is no probability that 

 sheep l/ife any animal so as to break the skin, and thus bring the saliva in con- 

 tact with the absorbing vessels of the system. In a number of cases witnessed 

 by the Avriter, in 1863, the rabid sheep were separated from the flock as the 

 disease appeared, and put in a yard together. They constantly fought, as 

 already described, but Avere observed in no instance to bite each olher. 



OBSTRUCTIONS OF THE GULLET. 



Sheep sometimes get a piece of turnip or other substance lodged in the 

 esophagus or gullet. If it cannot be moved by the fingers, set the sheep on its 

 rump, holding its nose upward, pour some oil into the throat, and then insert a 

 small, flexible probang, and very gently push the obstructing substance into 

 the stomach. The probang, in the absence of a gutta-percha one, should be of 

 strong, flexible wood, like elm, made smooth and round, and five-sixteenths of 

 an inch, or a little larger, in diameter. A small bag of flax-seed should be 

 firmly secured to, and cover, the lower end ; and on dipping the rod in hot 

 water, to limber it for use, the bag will become soft and slippery, so as to pro- 

 tect the esophagus from laceration. If no flax-seed is at hand, carefully wind 

 the lower end of the probang with tow and dip it in oil. 



If sheep become swollen from being turned on fresh clover, or the like, they 

 should be driven gently about for an hoiir. If swollen to a dangerous degree, 

 and the distress and oppression are rapidly increasing, a trocar, or, in its ab- 

 sence, a pocket-knife, m\ist be plunged into the left flank, half way between 

 the haunch and ribs, and well up towards the back-bone, so that the pent-up 

 gas will escape through the orifice. An ounce or two of Epsom salts are gen- 

 erally administered after an attack of hoove. If the gas continues to tbrm iu 

 the stomach, give a drachm of chloride of lime dissolved in a gill of water. 



POISONS. 



The narrow-leafed or low laurel, (kalmia angusti folia,) and the broad-leafed 

 launl or "calico bush" or " spoonwood," (kalmia latifolia,) arc eaten by 

 sheep, [)articularly when they are unaccustomed to them, or when they are 

 hungry from travelling, and find these bushes growing by the roadsides. A 

 strong decoction, made by boiling the bruised twigs of Avhite ash for an hour, 

 administered in doses of half a gill or a gill, and repeated after an interval if 

 necessary, is believed to be an eSectual antidote by persons who have tried it. 

 Drenches of milk and castor oil are also said to have been successfully resorted 

 to. Injecting warm water into the stomach and pumping it ojut again, and con- 

 tinuing this until vomiting is produced or the poison thoroughly diluted, using 

 a common India-rubber stomach-pump, i. e., a hollow ball with a perforated 

 tube attached, would be highly useful iu all cases of poison, by whatever pro- 

 duced. This should be followed up by active aperient medicine. Other plants 



