234 Observations upon the Foot-rot in Sheep. 



so that the disease may have been communicated to many 

 others before the diseased animal is taken away. 



If the least degree of infection is supposed to exist, they 

 ought to be walked up and down every day in an inclosure, 

 in order to observe if any of them are lame. It is also ne- 

 cessary to remove them from the infirmary as soon as the 

 ulceration disappears, because they may take the disease again 

 from those around them. Fumigations of nitric acid are 

 salutary for preventing the smell, and may also hasten the 

 cure of the ulcers. The litter should also be frequently 

 changed ; and when removed it must not be left in a place 

 where the healthy animals are liable to be exposed to it. 



When the precautions are resorted to, and the care taken 

 which I have described, there will be no danger that the 

 disease will assume any serious appearance. 



Every thing pertaining to the knowledge of this disease, 

 which is absolutely new in France, and I have reason to be- 

 lieve unknown in Spain, is extremely important to the pro- 

 prietors of flocks of Merinos or mongrels. I hope that 

 those who are in possession of any new facts on the subject 

 of the foot-rot will publish them. I obtained from a pro- 

 fessional man of Piedmont a succinct memoir concerning 

 this disease, and I shall here insert it. 



" Sheep, and particularly those with the finest wool, are 

 subject to a contagious whitlow, which hinders them from 

 pasturing, and which, on account of the pain and the sup- 

 puration which it occasions, gives them a continual fever, 

 which increases in the evening. They fall off in flesh, and 

 lose their wool ; the rams lose the appetite for copulation, 

 the mothers lose their milk, the lambs are weak and die of 

 consumption. 



" There are three kinds of whitlow, which succeed each 

 other. The first is seated under the epidermis, between the 

 two divisions of the foot; ihe animal is seen to halt : if we 

 lay hold of the foot it feels hotter than usual, and it has a bad 

 smell. Upon examining the place, an oozing out of matter 

 is discovered. 



" The second species of whitlow is seated under the horn. 



In 



