306-The 'Book of the Goat. 



takes the form of dysentery. The poor creature then 

 becomes too weak to stand, and it generally dies uttering 

 plaintive cries and moans. There are other symptoms 

 which occasionally manifest themselves, such as a swelling 

 about the jaws, due to weakness also. The animal always 

 stands with its head down and back arched, looking the 

 picture of misery and dejection. 



Strange to say, in many of the post mortems which 

 have been made and reported to me there have been no 

 signs of organic disease. Internal parasites are sometimes 

 discovered, but not in sufficient quantities to affect greatly 

 the animal's health, much less cause its death, which in 

 all cases is due to exhaustion. Both Professor Axe and 

 Mr. A. J. Sewell, who were at one time consulting 

 veterinary surgeons to the British Goat Society, have 

 made numerous post-mortem examinations of goats that 

 have died of this disease, besides treating several 

 in various stages of the disorder, and both have arrived 

 at the conclusion that it must be due to blood-poisoning, 

 brought on by foul herbage, the result of over-pasturing 

 that is to say, keeping too many goats at one time on 

 one piece of ground, or a few continually on the same 

 plot. 



The cases that have occurred in my own herds and 

 they have been numerous enough have pointed to this 

 cause ; indeed, I could arrive at no other conclusion, for, 

 whenever I have changed my residence, and, consequently, 

 the pasturage, the goats have done well for the first twelve 

 or eighteen months, after which the disorder has re- 

 appeared. In one instance, when I rented an extra meadow 

 for a time, the goats in that meadow were doing well, 

 whilst those on the field attached to the house were 

 sickening. Then, again, almost invariably the reports of 

 cases have come from persons keeping goats on pasture, 

 rarely or never from those living in towns, whose goats 



