182 PEEVENTION AND TREATMENT OF SCABIES. 



when several manifested languor, quick breathing, dilated 

 nostrils, and capricious appetite, and yet the shepherds 

 thought the sheep were all right. Some had noticed saliva- 

 tion and soreness of the mouth, indicated by the animals 

 collecting their food with some difficulty. A few have wit- 

 nessed occasional shaking and shivering. This is a very im- 

 portant symptom, as in all cases of suppressed action of the 

 skir> the temperature of the body is lowered. 



There is no doubt, that when the mercury has accumulated 

 in the system, and the poisons which should have been 

 thrown off by the skin have sufficiently modified the blood, 

 severe symptoms occur so as to destroy life in a very short 

 time ; but that is only the result of a destructive process 

 which has been in operation ever since the application of the 

 salve. 



After death the blood in the heart and vessels is dark- 

 coloured and fluid. The lungs are gorged with blood, and 

 frothy mucus fills the trachea and bronchial tubes. The 

 abdominal organs are healthy, and there are none of the signs 

 of blood extravasations characteristic of anthrax or braxy. 



Nature of the Malady. My readers will understand 

 from what has been said, that, according to the circum- 

 stances under which animals are attacked, they die of con- 

 gestion of the lungs or suffocation, and sometimes from pure 

 mercurial poisoning. The fact that many deaths have 

 occurred after repeated applications of mercurial ointment, 

 indicates that not a few sheep must have had their systems 

 highly charged with mercury, and I expect that chemical 

 analysis will demonstrate this. I shall not be astonished, 

 however, if many of the carcases show but a faint trace of 

 mercury in them, owing partially to elimination, and chiefly 

 to the prompt death from other impurities accumulating in 

 the blood. 



