632 



FARMERS' REGISTER. 



[No. 10 



that inoculated flicks are protected from all con- 

 tagion. * Rams, tainted with llie rot, have cou- 

 pled with inoculated ewes, whicii. tonether wiih 

 tiie lambs tliat sprnn-^ ironi these emliracef--, iiave 

 presented no symptom whatever of the rot. But 

 this proceeds upon the principle that the rot is 

 hereditary whicii is Itir li'om beinff an aJmittfd 

 f]ict. Mr. White, indeed asseris; as much in his 

 "Compendium ot' Cattle Medicine," but he aller- 

 wards qualifies the assfrtion by an opinion '.' tliat 

 the dis[)osiiion, or liability to the disease, is hered 

 itary; and that disposiiion to the disorder is noth 



o[)ium, salt, sulphur, turmeric, turpentine, and 

 dislii!ed water; which mulliiiirious inirredienis are 

 simply directed to be prepared according to chemi- 

 cal, and ampounded according to medical art ! 

 Not havintj hiid experience of the eliiicis ufihisce- 

 lebraled noslrum, we cannot say how (ar it an- 

 swers tiie jjroperties claimed lor it by its inventor; 

 but il' the disease is to be cured, or prevenleil l)y 

 medicine, a man, who includes the whole materia 

 rnedica in his prescription, must, certainly, have a 

 chance of succe.ss ; so far, however, as our own e.K- 

 [;erienc,e (joes, we would recommend sotjnd pas- 



ing more than constitutional debility." But there ture as the best preventive, and tlie butcher's i<nile 



are many slrouir reasons to doubt the accuracy, of 

 that view of ihe subject, amouir which the fiicf, 

 that if sheep bred ii-om the same ram, be distributed 

 partly upon dry [)asiure, and parlly upon wet land, 

 the latter will become inlecied, while the firmer 

 will remain sound, appears to us conclusive; there- 

 fore, the disease is not constitutional; mid if not, 

 inoculation can be of no service. 



The inoculation is perfirmed by makinaj an in- 

 cision in the inner fiice of the thigh, from which 

 the wool is stripped, about (bur fingers distant 

 from the anus. The incision n)usi penetrate the 

 skin; but care should be taken not to wound any 

 muscle, lest an effusion of blood should ensue. 

 A pustule of an inliicted animal is next squeezed 

 with the finirers; and, after taking away the virus 

 thence issuing, on the point of a lancet, it is trans- 

 ferred to llie wound of the individual which is in- 

 tended to be inoculated. 



Besides these preventive remedies, various me- 

 dicines have been recommended to the attention 

 of farmers and breeders ; though we conceive, 

 they can only be en)ployed with probability of 

 success in incipient cases. Of these remedies 

 we select the following: 1. Put a handful of rue 

 into a paiifijl of water in the evening, and on the 

 following morning add such a quantity of salt as 

 will make brine strong enough to float an e.^s- 

 Half a pint of this inliision is to be given, as a 

 dose, every other day, for a week. 2. Infuse soot 

 in strong brine and stale urine, and give each an- 

 imal six or .seven spoonfuls tor eight or ten suc- 

 cessive days. 3. Ellis recomme-nds a peck of 

 malt, or more, to be mashed and brewed into 12 

 gallons of wort, in which a quantity of blood- 

 wort, comfrey," pennyroyal, plaintain, sage, shep- 

 herd's purse, and wormwood, are to be boiled; the 

 liquor to be worked with yeast, some common salt 

 to be ailded, when it is to be put into a cask for 

 use. Of this medicated beer seven or eight spoon- 

 fijls are to be given to each sheep, once in the 

 course of a week during wet weather; but at longer 

 intervals in dry seasons. 



Among other remedies, we woidd here notice a 

 patent which was (rranted to a Mr. Thomas 

 Fleet, in October, 1794, for a medicitie, which 

 he affirms will not only prevent the rot in sheep, 

 but also check the farther proirress of the disorder 

 m such as are already afi'eeied; so as to render 

 them capable of being fattened on the same herbage 

 which produced the disease. His restorative medi- 

 cine consists of the following articles, the propor- 

 tions of which, however, are not stated in the spe- 

 cification of his patent ; viz., alkanet roof, anti- 

 mony, Armenian bole, bark, camphor, mercury, 



as the only certain cure. 



We shall conclude these remarks on the preven- 

 tion and cure of" this tremendous malady, witli the 

 following interesting observations selected from 

 Dr. Harrison's valuable ' Inquiry,' already referred 



j '• It is confirmed by experience, that whenever 

 any place is laid dry by judicious managemeni, it 

 ceases to occasion the rot. For m\' own part, I am 

 acquainted with many sound parishes, which, dur- 

 ing their open state, were so injurious to man, and 

 to other creatures, that 1 cannot sufficiently impress 

 upon tny readers the importance of effectual drain- 

 age, for the preservation of health. When, from 

 circumstances, the land cannot belaid dry, during 

 the summer months, it requires to be occupied 

 with great caution, since moist grounds are the 

 most prejudicial and dangerous to animal life. I 

 have had occasion to observe that miasmala are 

 produced in some way or other by the sun's 

 action upon moist ground, and, therefijre, when it 

 is well covered with gras.^i, early in spring, we have 

 less dauixer to apprehend, provided we maintain a 

 deep herbage till the commencement oi frosty 

 weatiier. 



" Mr. Young, of Ciaxby, is of opinion, that 

 when land is well covered with irrass it becomes 

 less dantjerous to cattle. In 1792, he divided 

 a flock of sheep, and placed fitly upon some irood 

 aftermath, where, in other seasons, the rot had 

 frequenily prevailed. Only this part of his flock es- 

 caped the disorder, which he attributed to the 

 meadow not havinir been grazed before it was 

 well covered, and defended fmm the weather. 



" Luxuriant pastures seldom rot, unless they be 

 eaten bare in hot weather. Wliilst the irrouud is 

 well concealed, it is so completely delimded and 

 protected, that the sun exerts no deleterious ef- 

 fects upon it. In the fatal year, so ofter particu- 

 larized, Mr. Elinhirst, of Bag Enderby, an expe- 

 rienced and zealous agriculturist, who occupied 

 two hundred acres of land in the parish of Croft, 

 near Wainfleet, sold all his heavy beasts, and 

 many sheep, early in the summer. His pastures 

 were thinly stocked with sheep only, during the 

 rest of he year. Tlie rot was extremely destruc- 

 tive in all the adjoining pastures, yet in his closes 

 it never appeared. This exemption from the ge- 

 neral calamity ofhis neighbors he attributed partly 

 to his land being always well covered with ixras.s, 

 and parlly to his grazinix during that summer en- 

 tirely with sheep. In wet weather, beasts and 

 horses, bj' treading the ground, leave foot marks, 

 where the 'water stagnates, and in consequence of 

 it, as he believes, the rot is produced. Injustice 

 to the testimony of Mr. Elmhirst, it may be pro- 

 per in me to add, that he has been an active and 

 *Lasteyrie's "Histoire del'Introduction," &.c. p 1D3. | judicious cultivator of land, on a large scale, for a 



