90 NOTES ON FIELDS AND CATTLE. 



I had thein off, but it was too late ; they were every- 

 one stricken, though for a long time I hoped against 

 hope. The ram who accompanied them seems to 

 have escaped : he was in very high condition, having 

 just won a prize, and had a thicker coat on, but I 

 have my apprehensions that his eye is paling and his 

 brisket yellow. 



It is a singular provision of nature that ewes 

 suckling their young are not liable to the disease. 

 This doctrine I find Ellman denied. It is well 

 sustained, however, by other authorities. Should 

 they have laid the seeds, however, before parturition, 

 sufficient time not having elapsed to bring it to a 

 head, they are liable to die off at lambing : though 

 usually their lambs decay within them, and they waste 

 on to die. It is stated, on good authority, that sheep 

 may pasture with impunity on doubtful ground, pro- 

 vided they are driven to it daily after the dew is 

 off, and are brought away some hours before nightfall. 

 It is safest for a young hand, anyhow, to shirk this 

 close sailing. One fatal moment, when the sun is 

 extra hot, may dash down all his hopes. When the 

 ground is frozen you may certainly pasture it without 

 fear. But let the thaw commence, and you cannot 

 decamp too quick. 



There is much, after all, of mystery enwrapping 

 this disease. It is connected undoubtedly with the 

 fluke, a kind of little flat-fish about the size of an 

 aged wood-louse, which abounds in the diseased 

 liver. This, some are of opinion, is an apterous 

 insect, found adhering to stones and plants in boggy 

 lands, where it is swallowed by the sheep. It is, 



