218 



EVERY 3fAN HIS OWJf FARRIER 



of the want of society, the only thing which causes 

 sheep to bleat, and which for a long time previous to 

 that, they had totally disregarded. ^ 



J must mention here, that the most successful curei 

 of this distemper J ever knew, performed the operation 

 in a different manner from the one practised by me, 

 and above recommended, instead of a wire, he car- 

 ried always a large corking pin in his bonnet, and, like 

 me, tapped every sturdied sheep he found, but always 

 above, putting the point of the pin through the skull 

 at the place where it was most soft, in. the same man- 

 ner as the trocar is used. As this does not at all en- 

 danger the sheep's life, I frequently tried this plan pre- 

 vious to that of probing with the wire; but, as far as I 

 can recollect, I never cured one by that means. 



I remember of once conversing with him on the 

 subject, when he told me that he seldom or never failed 

 of curing them upon their own farms; but that, in 

 sundry neighbouring farms, he rarely cured any. From 

 this, it would appear that on different soils, the animals 

 are differently affected. I am now convinced that he 

 must generally have inserted the pin so far as to pene- 

 trate the bottom of the sac, which I never had the 

 sense to try, and which, if we reason from analogy, 

 must prove as effective and less hazardous than the 

 other; for it appears to me, that in order to ensure a 

 recovery, it is necessary that the bottom, or lowest 

 part of the sac, be penetrated. 



Undoubtedly, the best mode of curing this disease 

 would be, to extract the sac, and all that it contains, 

 entirely. There is little doubt that, if this were per- 

 formed by gentle and skilful hands, it would prove the 

 most effectual cure; but as it is, I can attest that it 

 seldom proves successful. The shepherds have not 

 skill and ingenuity sufficient to close the skull properly 



