362 ROT IN SHEEP. 



to be those of distoma hsepaticum, whose cercaria form has 

 not been discovered. 



Sheep are very liable to suffer from parasites, and in con- 

 junction with the flukes in the liver, we usually find parasites 

 in the lungs and parasites in the stomach. Mr Simonds 

 refers to having recently " brought to light another and a 

 fruitful cause of the death of sheep of all ages," with symp- 

 toms " remarkably akin to those of rot," and due to " the 

 existence of an undescribed variety of worm of the class 

 filaria within the abomasum, the digestive stomach/' The 

 truth is, that the parasite Professor Simonds refers to, from 

 the brief notice he gives of it, is one which has been fre- 

 quently referred to before, and is noticed in all German, 

 French, and Italian veterinary works which are at all up to 

 date in matters of science. Bellingham long since noticed 

 the occurrence of strongylus contortus in the sheep in Ire- 

 land. He found it in the small intestine, but it is as a rule 

 found in the fourth stomach. It was first described by 0. 

 Fabricius in Denmark, who stated that the head of the worm 

 was armed with cilia, probably the barbs which Mr Simonds 

 has noticed. The German authors refer to the disease in- 

 duced by the gastric parasites in sheep as a "Magenwurm- 

 krankheit." Spinola calls it Magenwiirmerseuche, or stron- 

 gylogenesis ventriculi, and characterizes the disease as " eine 

 cachectische herdekrankheit." 



It is, moreover, in the condition of system noticed in 

 sheep rot that many other parasites prey on the bodies of 

 living animals, and echinococchi, cysticerci, &c., are not un- 

 common in rotten sheep. 



Symptoms of Rot. A flock placed on damp land, or a 

 flock purchased from a country where it has contracted rot, 

 appears to thrive well, lays on fat, and promises to turn into 

 good mutton. Inactivity and dulness are soon apparent. In 



