SHEEP. 339 



If the fermentation of the contents of the stomach can be checked, relief will soon 

 follow. By driving the sheep gently about for a time will sometimes relieve the difficulty; 

 but a surer remedy is to give a full teaspoonful of spirits of ammonia in a half-pint of 

 water, to be soon followed by a dose of an ounce of epsom salts to relieve the system. This 

 will generally prove effective. Carbonate of soda, such as housekeepers use for cooking 

 purposes, is a good substitute when ammonia cannot be procured ; it should be given in doses 

 of two-thirds of a tablespoonful dissolved in a little water, every half -hour until the animal 

 is relieved. A little lime water will sometimes answer the purpose. 



As a last resort, when all other remedies fail, it will sometimes be necessary to puncture 

 the side to penetrate the stomach and let out the gas. This is best done with a trocar, an 

 instrument sometimes used by doctors in cases of dropsy. This permits the gas to escape, 

 but prevents the escape of the contents of the stomach into the abdominal cavity, which would 

 produce serious inflammation. This is inserted into the stomach at a point half way between 

 the haunch-bone and the last rib, and near the backbone. This operation is attended with 

 danger, but most animals will recover from it. 



When no trocar is to be obtained, a sharp-pointed pocket-knife is sometimes used, and a 

 tube inserted to emit the gas and prevent the escape of the stomach contents. The tube 

 should be removed when the superfluous gas and other matter have ceased to escape. 



Liver Rot. This disease scarcely ever appears in this country, being confined mostly 

 to English sheep. It is generally considered incurable, though not contagious. It has its 

 origin in the liver, and subsequently extends to the lungs, kidneys, and the entire cellular 

 system; the abdomen becomes at length filled with a greenish-colored water or serum, and 

 the disease is sometimes mistaken for the dropsy. The symptoms are dullness, a bluish color 

 of the skin, a little fullness under the jaws, diarrhea, and thirst; thirst, however, being the 

 most noticeable symptom. 



This disease, or consumption of the liver, is caused by one of the worst of parasites, 

 a small fluke-worm, which gets into the liver in a manner similar to trichinae in pork. It is 

 supposed that this disease results from sheep feeding on low, wet, or marshy lands, such as 

 are subject to an overflow at certain seasons. 



It is thought by some writers on this subject that the little insects found in the biliary 

 duct and gall bladder are taken up by the sheep off the grass after the ground dries up, and 

 are passed into the liver through the absorbants or lacteals of the bowels. The mutton is 

 said not to be affected until after the destruction of the liver commences; hence, as there is 

 no known remedy to effect a complete cure, English farmers prepare their animals for the 

 butcher (if not already in condition, which they usually are,) as soon as the first symptoms 

 appear, and thus avoid the loss that would otherwise be sustained. 



Maggot fly. Flies are a great annoyance to sheep in warm weather. They not only 

 deposit their eggs in or near the nostril, causing the disease known as grub in the head, but 

 also among the wool, which, when hatched, the maggot eats into the skin, making sore 

 places, which invite an increase of the difficulty. 



The sheep thus affected will become restless and uneasy, rubbing themselves against 

 every obstacle, and will sometimes droop and die, if not relieved of the pests by proper 

 attention. An application of tar, with spirits of turpentine, well mixed together, when 

 applied to the parts affected, and about the ears and tail, will generally remove the difficulty. 

 A mixture of sulphur and lard, with a little spirits of turpentine added, is also a good 

 remedy, when applied to the parts affected. 



The backs of long-wooled sheep, by being more exposed, from the open nature of the 

 fleece, are more liable to this difficulty than those breeds having short, thick fleeces. 



&quot;Wounds of any kind on sheep are liable to the deposit of the eggs of the maggot fly, 

 and should be smeared over with a coating of tar at once to prevent the trouble. 



