Ch. XXXIX.] ON DISEASES. 495 



One ounce of sublimate dissolved ia one gallon of water: to which is to be added 

 three table-spoonsful of turpentine. 



These insects commence their attacks sometimes in the month of May, 

 continuing them until the close of September ; and some idea may be formed 

 of their depredations, from its having been ascertained that one female will 

 give birth to 20,000 young, and that the larvae will, in twenty-four hours, 

 devour so much food, and grow so quickly, as to increase their weight two 

 hundred fold! A gentleman, who drew up some notes upon the subject, 

 made a few years ago in a pedestrian excursion through the Highlands of 

 Scotland, slates, " that on five farms in the neighbourhood of Loch Vena- 

 harand Loch Lomond, where he had an opportunity of making observation, 

 the number of sheep amounted to 4,090, of which 550 were affected during 

 the summer, and 195 died ; and, although 355 survived, it was long 

 before many of them recovered."* In very sultry weather, the eggs are 

 speedily hatched into maggots, wiiich gnaw into the skin, and other sets of 

 eggs being also deposited by the same parent, they increase in such num- 

 bers, that within two or three days' time it will be perforated by some 

 thousands : so rapid, indeed, is their progress, that if the animal be not 

 immediately attended to, he will be found in less than a week a lifeless 

 mass, covered with these loathsome vermin. 



The sheep, when struck by the fly, betray great uneasiness. They hang 

 down their heads, move their tail in a particular manner, and stamp vio- 

 lently with their feet ; they draw up their bodies with an evident sense of 

 disquietude ; run a short way, then suddenly stop, and endeavour to bite 

 the injured part. Indeed, the restlessness of the animal occasioned by the 

 itching, even before the effect of the fly-blow has gone to such a length as 

 to wound the skin, will sufficiently indicate to a watchful observer that he 

 has been struck ; or a well-trained dog, the moment he enters the field, will 

 single him out, and he ought to be immediately caught for examination. 

 This should be very 'carefully done, and if only nits are formed, it may be 

 sufficient to crush them between the fingers, and wash the part well with 

 soap-suds and urine, or goulard water ; but, if maggots already appear, 

 then the wool upon that part, and any surrounding portion of the skin 

 which seems damaged, should be shorn off and washed with the liquid 

 already mentioned. The shearing should, however, be avoided if possible, 

 as it not only wears an unsightly appearance, but exposes the skin to the 

 annoyance of small flies. If the skin be perforated, the maggots will pro- 

 bably have got under it ; in which case it should be opened with the point 

 of a penknife, and if they can be removed, the wound niay be healed by 

 any common ointment usually sold at the druggists ; or, in more serious 

 cases, it may be prepared thus : — 



Half-a-pound of pure (quicksilver ; J lb. of Venice turpentine ; J oz. of arsenic ; ^ pint 

 of neat's-foot oil ; and 1 lb. of hog's lard, rubbed well together in a mortar. 



The Sturdy, Dunt, or Staggers, as they are by some persons called, is 

 a malady by many considered as dropsy of the brain; but the disorder 

 is occasioned by a bladder containing water, in v/hich there are mao-o-ots, 

 termed by professional men " hydatids," which find their way to the 

 brain, and if not removed become fatal, for medicine has no eflect 

 in destroying them. The sheep most frequently attacked by it are 

 those under two years of age, after which time they are generally con- 

 sidered safe. The animal appears to be entirely deprived of its senses 

 separates himself from the flock, and, instead of going forward, is con- 



* Quart, Journ. of Agric, vol, i. pp, 21 1 and 213, 



