CHAPTER XXVm. 



DISEASES OP THE LOCOMOTIVE OEGAES. 



FRACTURES RHEUMATISM DISEASE OF THE BIFLEX CANAL 



GRAVEL TRAVEL-SORE LAMENESS FROM FROZEN MUD 



FOULS H O OF - ROT. 



FRACTURES. The most common fractures which occur in 

 the brittle bones of the sheep are in the legs below the knees 

 and hocks ; and there is no difficulty in treating such cases. 

 Any intelligent man is a sufficient surgeon for the occasion. 

 The bones should be brought to their natural position and 

 confined there with splints or thin pieces of wood shaped 

 to the leg and wound with strips of muslin, which confine a 

 layer of cotton batting on the side next the leg. The splints 

 are confined to the leg by winding twine around the whole 

 when they are arranged in their places. I never had occasion 

 to ease the limb on account of its swelling or to administer 

 purgatives in consequence of any ensuing fever in the sheep ; 

 though both might be called for. The limb is usually sound 

 enough to remove the splints in the course of three or four 

 weeks though there is no occasion for haste in this particu- 

 lar. In default of other convenient materials, I have applied 

 the bare splints over a wrapping of thick paper with cotton 

 or wool laid evenly under it. Thick leather, shaped to the 

 leg when wet, will support it without splints. If the fracture 

 is of the arm or thigh and far above the knee or hock, it is 

 not generally worth while to attempt any cure. Mr. Youatt 

 says if the shoulder is fractured it can generally be success- 

 fully treated by removing the wool and applying a pitch 

 plaster on the whole of the shoulder bone. 



RHEUMATISM. This has been sufficiently mentioned at 

 page 155. 



DISEASE OF THE BIFLEX CANAL. "We have owners of 

 sheep who believe with Sir Anthony Fitzherbert, who flour- 

 ished almost three centuries and a half ago, that, " There be 



