406 MODERN FARRIER. 



mined, and every one which has an appearance of 

 being fretted on the skin should be taken away to 

 be cured. 



Causes. — This is a very infectious disease. It 

 seldom appears among sheep which have been 

 smeared ; and when it does, it proceeds, most pro- 

 bably, from the touch of a diseased animal, of a 

 stone, or a tree, or paling, on which scabbed sheep 

 have rubbed themselves. 



Cure. — Several ointments have been proposed for 

 the cure of this disease, and that of Sir .Joseph 

 Banks seems to have been most approved of. His 

 prescription, however, can only be made by an apo- 

 thecary, a personage not always at hand, and who 

 may not ahvays have slieep ointment ready when 

 wanted. Every apothecary has abundance of mer- 

 curial ointment at all times ; and if a shepherd pur- 

 chases a quantity of it to keep by him, with a little 

 oil of turpentine, he may always have it in his 

 power to make up ointment when he requires it, 

 and of such a degree of strength as he may judge 

 proper. 



The following directions may be found useful : 

 Take, 



Strong mercurial ointment, 4 pounds. 

 Oil of turpentine, - - half a pint. 

 Hog's lard, tallow, or butter, 4 pounds. 



Melt the hog's lard, or butter. Allow them to 

 settle, and pour off the clear liquid : then add the 

 mercurial ointment, stirring the whole well, till it 

 be melted and incorporated, and then add the oil of 

 turpentine. Keep stirring the mixture for a minute 

 or two, that the mercury may be completely mixed, 

 and then pour the^vhole into some shallow vessels, 

 that the ointment may cool quickly. If the mer- 

 cury should appear to have sunk when the ointment 

 is cold, it may be rubbed a little with a smooth flat 

 stick on a plate. But there will seldom be any 



