56 



NATURAL HISTORY OF VERMONT. 



Part I. 



DISEASES OF SHEEP. 



STRUCTURE OF BIRDS. 



fers no deterioration in qiiality, but with 

 suitable attention is ratlier improved. 

 Sheep require an airy location, both in 

 summer and winter. In summer tliey 

 thrive much better in elevated, dry pas- 

 tures tlian on low, moist lands. In win- 

 ter they should be yarded from the last of 

 November till the latter part of April, but 

 should never be crammed, in large num- 

 bers, into small or tight enclosures. Tiiey 

 should be salted weekly both in sumuier 

 and winter, and at all seasons liave free 

 access to pure water. The best season 

 for lambing- is thouglit to be from the 1st 

 to the loth of May. The daily allowance 

 of food per head for sheep in winter 

 should be 3 lbs. of hay, or 2 lbs. of liay 

 and half a pint of oat meal, or other food 

 equivalent. 



Sheep are subject to several diseases, 

 the most coiumon and fatal of whicli are 

 the foot-rot and scab. The most approved 

 remedy for the former consists of 3 parts 

 of blue vitriol and 1 of verdigris pulver- 

 ized as fine as Indian meal and mi.\ed 

 with a sufficient quantity of sharp vine- 

 gar to make it as thick as inilk. The 

 vinegar should be nearly as hot as boiling 

 water when poured upon the other ingre- 

 dients, and the mixture should be stirred 

 briskly while hot. This mixture may 



be put on with a paint-brush, being care- 

 ful to apply it thoroughly to those parts 

 of the feet which are most inflamed. For 

 the scab the best remedy is to immerse 

 the sheep, excepting the head, in a strong 

 decoction of tobacco, scriibbing thorough- 

 ly the parts affected. The best time for " 

 doing tliis is immediately after shearing ; 

 but it may be done any time during the 

 season. For lambs the decoction should 

 be weaker. For the bloat in sheep a great 

 spoonful of castor oil mi.xed with a tea- 

 spoonful of pulverized rhubarb may be 

 given in about a gill of hot water. It 

 may be poured down the sheep's throat 

 with a great spoon. 



From 1830 to 1S37 wool met with a 

 ready sale, and commanded a high price, 

 in consequence of which the farmers of 

 Vermont, during that period, devoted 

 their chief attention to the production of 

 wool, and the flocks of sheep, in most 

 parts of the state, were increased many 

 fold. The whole number of sheep in the 

 several counties, in 1840, was as follows : 



CHAPTER Iir. 



BIRDS OF VERMONT. 



Preliminary Observations. 

 Birds are organized for flight ; have a 

 double respiratory and circulating sys- 

 tem, and jiroduce tiieir young by eggs. 

 They are distinguished from all other ver- 

 tebrated animals by being clothed with 

 feathers. Tlieir whole structure is adap- 

 ted for flying. Their bones are hard and 

 hollow, which give them at the same 

 time lightness and strength. Their lungs 

 are attached to tlieir ribs, and are com- 

 posed of membranes penetrated by orifi- 

 ces, which permit a free passage of the 

 air into almost all parts of the body. 

 Birds have long necks, and bills compo- 

 sed of horny substance, but tliey are al- 

 ways destitute of teeth. Their organ of 

 smell is situated at the base of the bill, and 

 is generally hid by the feathers. Their 



tongue is princi])ally cartilaginous, and 

 their taste probably imperfect. Their eyes 

 are so constructed that their siglit is very 

 acute, whether the object be near or ills- 

 tant. In addition to the eye-lids, they 

 have a membranous curtain to cover and 

 protect the eye. Birds which fly by day 

 have no external ear, but owls, or such 

 as fly by niglit, have one, but it is not so 

 mucJi developed as in quadrupeds. The 

 brain of birds is remarkably large. Their 

 wind-pipe consists of entire rings, and, at 

 the lower end, where it branches off to the 

 lungs, it is furnished with a glottis This 

 is" called the lower larynx, and with this 

 the voice of birds is produced, which 

 has great compass, owing to the large vol- 

 ume of air contained in the air vessels. 

 Most birds underj/o two moults annual- 



