340 THE AMERICAN FARMER, 



Ophthalmia. This is an inflammation of the eye, sometimes resulting in a cataract or 

 total blindness. Before resorting to any special treatment, the discharge should be removed 

 from the lids by a small soft sponge and warm water, after which examine the eyelids to 

 ascertain if any foreign substance, such as hay seed or bits of straw, are the cause of the 

 difficulty. If so, carefully remove the foreign substance and bathe the eye-lids with weak 

 salt and water, at the rate of a teaspoonful to half a pint of warm water. Repeat this twice 

 a day until the difficulty is removed. Sometimes a little sulphate of zinc and laudanum 

 added to the water will relieve the difficulty. By placing the animal alone in a dark stable, 

 the eye is in a measure relieved, since a strong light is injurious to the eyes where any degree 

 of inflammation exists. 



Poison. Sheep and lambs are frequently poisoned by eating weeds or shrubs of a 

 poisonous nature, growing in their pastures, the most common of which are both the narrow 

 and broad-leaved laurel or &quot;ivy,&quot; as it is called in many sections. St. John s Wort will also 

 poison sheep badly and cause sore lips and face. After eating poisonous herbage sheep will 

 appear dull and stupid, the body will distend a little, and there will generally be a frothy, 

 greenish substance about the mouth; the animal will gulp a greenish fluid, which it will swal 

 low in part, and a part will run out of the mouth and discolor the lips. The usual remedy 

 is to give a good dose of castor oil and milk, in order to free the system of the poison as 

 soon as possible, but this requires considerable time for operation, and permits the poison to 

 be distributed through the system. 



Six ounces of sweet-oil, or a half pint of linseed oil, is a good substitute for the castor 

 oil. The use of the stomach pump as soon as the case is detected, and thus dilute the poison 

 with water and extract it immediately from the stomach, is the best course to pursue in such 

 cases. Mr. Morrell advises, in his work on sheep, the use of a gag placed in the mouth, by 

 which means all the greenish fluid, which, in the early stages of poisoning is thrown up from 

 the stomach, can escape from the mouth instead of being swallowed again by the animal. 

 The gag advised is about six inches long, and of the size of the wrist of an ordinary person. 

 It should be placed in the mouth, and a string tied at one end, passed over the head and tied 

 to the other end, in order to hold it in the mouth. The fluid will then run from the mouth 

 as fast as thrown up from the stomach. In addition to this he advises giving roasted onions 

 and sweetened milk freely. Give all the salt that the animal will eat at such times. 



When the face and lips are sore from the poison of St. John s Wort, bathe with a solu 

 tion of salt and water, and afterward apply sulphur and lard, with a little tar well mixed. 

 For sore mouth smear the lips well with tar, and allow the sheep to eat a little of it if they 

 will. 



Scab. This is one of the greatest scourges known to sheep, being very contagious, as 

 well as obstinate, causing a vast amount of annoyance and pain, and if not arrested in time, 

 will result in death. There is also great loss sustained by the destruction of the wool, when 

 this disease becomes well-established in a flock. It is caused by a very small insect, called 

 the acarus ^of which there are several varieties), which burrows in the skin and hatches its 

 young there, the new generation coming out only to burrow and extend 

 the hatching territory, and thus the process is repeated ad infinitum, 

 until, if unchecked, the entire skin of the animal becomes involved. 

 It is a disease similar to &quot;the itch&quot; in man. The same parasite is 

 SCAB PARASITE. & \ so sometimes found in the sebaceous glands of the dog. 

 The constant burrowing of this minute insect causes intense itching and pain, and the 

 poor animal rubs and scratches against every obstacle, bites itself, and pulls out its wool, 

 which only extends the mischief on its own body by making sores on which scabs will form, 

 and soon communicate it to others, until finally an entire flock will be affected with it. After 



