630 



FARMERS' REGISTER. 



[No. 10 



cine rtiMy be given lor three or four mornings suc- 



ce.-3sive!y: 



"Take of sulphur two ounce;?, honev, treacle, 

 or sirop. three ounces; mix them and divide them 

 into six doses, oi" which one may be given every 

 morning, in hail' a mutchkin of water. 



It' this is fb'.ind unsucces-^fbi, half an ounce of 

 nilre, mixed wiiii the Ibregiing receipt, will be at- 

 tenedd witii good effects; aiier which a dose of salts 

 niiiv be iriven, and the body washed with lime- 

 WMter upon ihe parts ai'iected.'' * Mr. Benjamin 

 Holditch directs a drachm and a half of pearl-ash 

 to be ilissoU'ed in a [>int of water, and given to 

 ea(;h sheep ever^' second morning while ihe dis- 

 ease lasts. 



The rickp.U occur chiefiy in the county of Hunt- 

 inirdon, where they aresupoosed to hav", been in- 

 troduced (r.:'ni Holland. Few diseases are more 

 fatal than the rickets, the causes of which have 

 never been precisely ascertained, so that no reme- 

 dy applied fljr its removal has hitherto been at- 

 tended with success. 



The symptons of indicating the existence of 

 this malady, are first a species of giddiness, whi(;h 

 renders the sheep uncommonly wild and fierce; 

 etariinir up sudd^-nly, and runnins, on the ap- 

 proach of any person, to a considerable distance, 

 as if it were chased by dogs, [n the second siasre, 

 a violent inflammatory itching in the skin takes 

 place; the sheep rubs itself vehemently acainst 

 trees, hedges, &c., so as to pluck off the wool, 

 and even to larcerate the flesh ; no cutaneous 

 eruption ensues, nor does any discharge of mat- 

 ter tbllow, and every thinir indicates a most ardent 

 fever. In the last period" of the rickets, the pro- 

 gress towards dissolution is very rapid, and the 

 sheep, after reelini about, lyinjj "down, and occa- 

 sionally taking a little food, at lenyth expires. 



This disorder is chiefly prevalent in the sprincr, 

 and is hereditary; so that, after remaining con- 

 cealed for one or two generations, it re-appears 

 with increased violence. The ricl-ets also appears 

 suddenly, in conserpjerice of which circumstances 

 no precaution ol"the most judicious grazier can de- 

 tect the malady; hence there is no alternative, but 

 to cease breedinii from such stock. We trust the 

 attention of graziers and breeders will be more 

 particularly directed to this formidable malady. 



The ml. — Few disorders have been more fatal 

 to sheep, or have more freqently exercis>-d the at- 

 tention of trrizicrs and breeders than the rot; for 

 the oricfin of wiiicii various causes liave been as- 

 Fiirned. 'I'hus it has ii has been attributed to 

 fluke-worms, that breed in the livers of sheep, 

 whither they are conjectured to be conveyed 

 through the nostrils while the animals are craz- 

 imr; t but these worms are evidently rather the 

 e^^ecMhan the cause of rot. The bite Dr. Dar- 

 win suspected it to proceed from the inactivity of 

 the absorbent vessels of the livers of shepn : so 

 that their bile becomfs too thin, particularly in wet 

 or moist seasons. Dr Harrison, in an interesting 

 tract on the rot, is of opinion that it originates from 

 paludal effluiy'a, or those unwholsome exhalations 

 that arise from marshes; but to this suggestion 

 salt mashes form a striking exception. And it is a 

 fact, thai in the county of Lincoln, in rottino: sea- 



* Hogsj's Sheph'>rd'-5 Guide, p. ISo. 8<,f . 

 t Letters and papers of the Bath and West of Kn^- . 

 and Society, vol i. 



sons, the sheep fed on salt marshesj which are 

 overflowed by the spring tides, sell at very high 

 prices, fi'om the confidence that they are safe. 

 From an attentive consideration of every circum- 

 stance, it is evident, that superabundant moisture, 

 either of food, (lor experience has jjroved that 

 even one half hour's feeding on moist or marshy 

 lands, in hut weatlier, will produce it,) the at- 

 mosphere, or situation, is the real cause of tins 

 dropsical malady; thoufrh it is certain, that the 

 dry limed land in Derbyshire will produce it as 

 well as meadows that retain water and stagnant 

 marshes; so, in driving sheep to any dis ance, if 

 they be suffered to lie only one niirht on a wet 

 spot of fjround, whether in an elevated situation 

 or not, they are very liable to the rot. 



The symptoms indicative of this fatal disease 

 are thus accurately stated by Dr. Harrison, from 

 whose very able "Inquiry into the rot in sheep 

 and other animals," we have selected them. 

 " When, in warm, sultry, and rainy weather, 

 sheep that are grazing on low and moist lands 

 feed rapidly, and some of them die suddenly, 

 there is reason to fear that they have contracted 

 the rot. This suspicion will be further increased, 

 if a iew weeks afterwards the sheep begin to 

 shrink, and become flaccid in their loins. By 

 pressure about the hips at this time a crackling is 

 sometimes perceptible. Now, or soon afterwads, 

 the countenance looks pale, and, upon parting the 

 fleece, the skin is found to have exchanged its 

 Vermillion tint for a pale red; and the wool is 

 easily separated from the pelt. As the disorder 

 advances, the skin becomes dappled with yellowfor 

 blacks spots. About this time the eyes lose their 

 lustre, and become white and pearly, from the red 

 vessels of the tunica adnata and eyelids being 

 contracted, or entirely obliterated. To this suc- 

 ceed debility and emaciation, which increase 

 continually till the sheep die; or else ascites, and 

 perhaps general dropsy, supervene, before the fa- 

 tal termination. These symptoms are rendered 

 more severe by an obstinate purging, which 

 comes on at an uncertain period of the disorder. 

 In the procrress of the complaint, &heep become 

 what the graziers call checkered, i. e. affected 

 with a swelling under the chin, which proceeds 

 from a fluid contained in the cellular membrane 

 under the throat. 



" In five or six days after contracting the rot, 

 the thin edge of the small lobe of the liver be- 

 comes of a transparent white, or bluish color, and 

 this spreads along the upper and lower sides, ac- 

 cording to the severity of the complaint. Some- 

 times It does not extend more than an inch from 

 the margin. In severe cases, the whole peritone- 

 um investing the liver is diseased; and then it 

 commonly assumes an opaque color, interspersed 

 with dark red lines or patches. The upper part 

 of the liver is sometimes speckled like the body 

 of a toad, to which it is said to bear striking re- 

 semblance; round the ductus communis choledo- 

 rhu.s and hepatic vessels, a jelly-like matter is 

 deposited, which varies according to the severity 

 of the attack, from a table-spoonful, or less, to five 

 or six times that quantity. Upon boiling, the 

 liver loses its firmness, and separates into small 

 pieces in the water, or remains soft and flaccid. 



Several graziers and butchers, with Avhom I 

 have conversed at different limes, having observ- 

 ed that sheej) are much disposed to It^ed during 



