326 KED WATER IN SHEEP. 



such symptoms in 1851 amongst some horses purchased for 

 anatomical purposes, and which were kept several days with- 

 out food. 



BLOOD DISEASE IN LAMBS. NAVEL ILL. PYOEMIA 

 AGNOKUM. 



This, the so-called " new malady in lambs," was first ob- 

 served by me in .1861. It had destroyed some lambs in 

 various farms for a year or two previously, but it only mani- 

 fested itself in great severity in the year that I was first con- 

 sulted, owing to an outbreak in Northumberland. In Eng- 

 land, and especially in Hampshire, Wiltshire, and the county 

 of Gloucester, the disease has been very prevalent and very 

 fatal for some time past. In Scotland the disorder has been 

 seen principally in Berwickshire. The seasons during which 

 it has been most rife, have been remarkable for the good con- 

 dition of the ewes, the heavy crop of lambs, and abundance 

 of food. Deaths have risen rapidly in a flock from one to a 

 score in the first week or two of the lambing season, and 

 instead of diminishing with mild weather and an improving 

 crop of grass, it has killed so rapidly that I have been fre- 

 quently informed by the farmer, that he counted the number 

 of deaths up to thirty or forty, but they occurred so rapidly 

 then that he " got confused in his calculations." 



I have usually found that the flocks affected with this 

 disease have been kept in a confined space in winter. The 

 ewes have been fed well, and not been allowed to move 

 a,bout sufficiently. It was thought at one time that con- 

 tagion was one of the causes favouring the spread of the 

 disease. This arose from the death of all lambs which were 

 caused to suckle foster mothers. As twins and triplets are 

 common when this disease prevails, many of the young ewes 



