504 LOUPING ILL, OR HYDRO-RACHITIS IN SHEEP. 



of the paralysis, the appetite may be depraved, although 

 it is usually rather voracious, and after death the stomach 

 is often found to contain earthy matters and hair balls. In 

 the adyanced stages the urine and fseces are often dis- 

 charged involuntarily, and in similar circumstances amau- 

 rosis and unconsciousness are not uncommon. 



In post-mortem examinations, Professor Murray invariably 

 met with increase of the cerebro-spinal fluid, while Mr 

 Mathewson never met with this condition, but noticed in 

 some that the cord was paler and softer than natural. The 

 cases seen by the former were, however, more acute, extend- 

 ing only over a few days, while those seen by the latter 

 seem to have extended over several weeks. The dis- 

 crepancy may thus be partly accounted for a part of the 

 liquid having become absorbed in the interval. In some 

 lambs killed shortly after the onset of this malady, we have 

 found no great increased vascularity of the membranes 

 covering the cord, and a thicker or more gelatinous condi- 

 tion of the cerebo-spinal fluid. 



The causes of this malady are not sufficiently under- 

 stood. They are doubtless intimately connected with the 

 geological formation of the soil and the consequent modifi- 

 cations of the grasses and water on which the animals sub- 

 sist. These causes are aggravated by exposure, sudden 

 vicissitudes of heat and cold, and all such influences as 

 reduce the general stamina of the animals. On this subject 

 Mr Mathewson remarks " It is curious also to notice the 

 influence that cultivation sometimes has on this disease. 

 On those southern exposed farms" referring to those on 

 the north bank of the Tweed " I have already instanced 

 that before they were cultivated to the extent they now are, 

 and while mostly lying in rough pasture, the disease, I 

 have been told, was not more common than on the oppo- 



