

THE SHEEP. 



so many organs, and effected such a vast derange- 

 ment of the whole animal frame. 



Causes. In endeavouring to ascertain the cause 

 of this disease, it seems natural to begin by inquir- 

 ing whether those parasites which are found in 

 such numbers in the biliary ducts of the liver are 

 the cause or effect of the disease. The parasite 

 named the liver-fluke Distoma hepaticum is of a 

 brownish-yellow colour, and resembles a small 

 sole divested of its fins ; in size it may be seen 

 from that of a pin-head to an inch and 

 quarter in length (see ZOOLOGY, p. 140). It is 

 supposed to be a hermaphrodite. The spawn or 

 eggs, however, are found in great numbers in the 

 biliary ducts of the liver ; these eggs are also 

 found in every part of the intestinal canal, are 

 very often seen in the dung of a sound sheep, 

 and are always numerous in that of a diseased 

 one. How flukes reach the liver of the sheep, and 

 where they pass the previous part of their exist- 

 ence, are points not yet determined. Mr Bakewell 

 found that he could at once induce rot in his 

 sheep, by putting them on ground which he had 

 previously flooded for that purpose. Rot is not 

 caused by scanty food, as has often been alleged, for 

 sheep may be starved to death without producing 

 rot ; the fact that the sheep has an extraordinary 

 tendency to acquire fat in the early stages of the 

 disease, shews that the causes of it act as a stimu- 

 lant at first, apparently originating a slight degree 

 of inflammation in the liver, as the first step in the 

 progress of this fatal disease. But the numerous 

 and well-attested facts now obtained from various 

 climes and countries, lead to the conclusion that the 

 nature of the soil and pastures, and the character 

 of the seasons, are the chief agents in causing rot. 

 This view is confirmed by the fact, that rot is most 

 prevalent in wet seasons, and is nearly confined 

 to lands subject to be occasionally flooded with 

 water at certain seasons of the year, and to soils 

 naturally moist and marshy. On moist and level 

 lands of retentive soil, from which water is slowly 

 evaporated by the sun, and under a temperature 

 favourable to the decomposition of vegetable matter 

 when not thoroughly drained, rot may be said to 

 be indigenous ; while on dry and hilly lands the 

 disease is unknown. The nature of the plants 

 which the soil produces is not so important as 

 their being kept in a morbid state by that degree 

 of moisture and heat favourable to their decom- 

 position. * Rot appears every year in Egypt 

 after the falling of the Nile, and it follows and 

 keeps pace with the subsidence of the waters ; 

 and annually destroys at least 160,000 sheep. 

 As soon as the waters of the Nile subside, 

 the pastures which were submerged are speedily 

 covered by a tender rushy grass ; the sheep are 

 exceedingly fond of it, and they are permitted to 

 feed on it all day long. In the course of a very 

 little time, they begin to get fat, when, if possible, 

 they are sold ; their flesh is then exceedingly 

 delicate ; but soon after this the disease begins 

 to appear, and the mortality commences. The 

 disease is more frequent and fatal when the sheep 

 are first turned on the newly recovered pasture, 

 than when the ground becomes dried, and the 

 rushy grass harder. But if the sheep pasture 

 in the midst of mud, or on the borders of the 

 marshes and canals, rot attends every step.' 



Prevention and Treatment. If the true cause 

 of rot has been accurately given, every farmer 



has in his own hands the most efficient means for 

 its prevention ; on all lands that can be defended 

 from being flooded with water, and on all lands 

 whose levels admit of thorough drainage, the 

 manner and amount of drainage must be deter- 

 mined by the position of the land, whether level or 

 hanging, and by the character of the soil, and the 

 quantity of the moisture to be removed ; and on 

 all these points each farmer must decide for him- 

 self, or be guided by the advice of a competent 

 judge. The only indispensable rule is, that the 

 drainage must be thorough, in order to be 

 effectual ; and if the drainage is carried to this 

 point, and the sheep are provided with food and 

 shelter during snow-storms, the farmer will have 

 the pleasure to see the rot, that dreadful scourge 

 of his flock, disappear. This important point is 

 established by practical men whose testimony can- 

 not be impeached, that, with proper care, there 

 would be no rotten sheep found, even upon the 

 most spongy lands in the country. The treatment 

 of rot is confined to narrow limits, from the curious 

 fact, that sheep, in the early stages of rot, acquire 

 fat with singular rapidity ; and the best thing the 

 farmer can do, as soon as he finds his flock tainted, 

 is to sell them to the butcher for what they will 

 bring in the market. From the condition of the 

 sheep, this forced sale may be attended with con- 

 siderable loss ; but it will be a loss inferior to that 

 sustained in the fruitless attempt to effect a general 

 cure. 



Tainted flocks have recovered, it has been 

 alleged, by being sent to pasture on salt-marshes ; 

 but though the efficiency of such pasture were 

 admitted, it is a remedy which only a few farmers 

 could obtain. To change the flock to a more dry 

 and elevated part of the farm, when this is prac- 

 ticable, has been attended with favourable results. 

 The free use of salt is universally admitted to 

 be the best medicine within the reach of the 

 farmer for checking the progress of this deadly 

 disease. A pint of salt water that would float an 

 egg poured down each sheep of a large flock, 

 enabled them so to recover, that the whole were 

 sent to market, only a few requiring a second dose. 

 Sir John Sinclair states that at Mr Mosselman's 

 farm at Chenoi, beyond the Wavre, he found that 

 salt was used for sheep, and that by allowing them 

 to lick it, the rot was completely cured. In this 

 disease, the sheep-farmer must direct his energies 

 and care to the prevention rather than the cure, 

 though some of the remedies just mentioned may 

 be of service at the beginning : yet, from the in- 

 sidious nature of the disease, it may undermine the 

 constitution before it is perceived to an extent 

 that no known remedies can restore ; so that every 

 sheep-farmer must rest his hopes of safety, not in 

 curatives, but in the vigorous use of the means of 

 prevention. 



Braxy. 



Braxy is an inflammatory disease whose 

 ravages are chiefly confined to hogs, and those 

 in the highest condition are most liable to be 

 attacked. Braxy, being entirely an inflammatory 

 affection, may be excited by a variety of causes, 

 such as drinking cold water in a heated state ; 

 any great or sudden change of temperature ; hail, 

 snow, or rain ; feeding on soft rank grasses, which 

 are apt to excite fermentation, and by extrication 

 of gas, distend the stomach, thus originating 



