292 BKAXY IN SHEEP. 



BRAXY IN SHEEP. 



I believe I am not exaggerating when I say that one hun- 

 dred and fifty thousand sheep die annually of braxy in Scot- 

 land alone. The mortality on the best sheep-walks is 

 frightful, and over wide districts every flock of sheep is 

 annually decimated by the disease. 



The term braxy is derived from broc or brae, and signifies 

 sickness or disease. From the circumstance that sheep on 

 the hills die off in great numbers from this malady, it has 

 been called " hill braxy/' It is an affection as widely dis- 

 tributed over the world as flocks of hill-fed sheep. It is 

 very destructive on certain high moorlands, but rages annu- 

 ally to a great extent in the three kingdoms amongst sheep 

 that in the beginning of winter are fed on turnips, and forced 

 on other highly nutritious food. 



As the names braxy or sickness are as ill-defined as the 

 terms influenza, distemper, or any other of the category, one 

 must not be astonished if it is applied to a number of diseases 

 of a totally opposite character. The shepherd speaks of dry 

 braxy, which he regards as inflammation of the bowels; 

 dumb braxy, or dysentery, and watery braxy, which is sup- 

 posed to consist in over-distension of the urinary bladder, 

 and consequent inflammation. 



So far as our observations extend, from careful inquiry in 

 different parts of Scotland, we find that the different forms of 

 braxy may be classed under two heads the braxy proper, or, 

 if we might be allowed the expression, the "blood braxy;" 

 and the false forms of braxy, or other diseases erroneously 

 regarded, by persons who are not acquainted with the true 

 braxy of Scotland, as braxy. The most common disease thus 

 termed, is chronic diarrhoea or dysentery. 



If we define true braxy as a blood disorder, we are not 



