I 



MEDICAL TREATMENT OF DOMESTIC ANIMALS. 481 



'■'■ remarked that the depletory treatment by bleeding and cathartics, 

 "resorted to in so many of the diseases of sheep in England, is 

 " inapplicable and dangerous here. The American sheep, which 

 " has been kept in the common way, sinks from the outset, or 

 *' after a mere transient flash of inflammatory action ; and in any 

 " stage of its maladies active depletion is likely to lead to fatal 

 " prostration. 



" It is not purposed here to enter upon any explanation of the 

 " anatomy of the sheep, further than is necessary to give a general 

 " view of the principal internal structures which determine the 

 " form, discharge some of the principal animal functions, and 

 "become the seats or subjects of disease. And in treating of 

 " maladies, I shall aim to adapt both the language and the 

 " prescriptions to the degree of knowledge already possessed 

 " on the subject by ordinary practical men, instead of learned 

 " veterinarians." 



Dr. Randall's list of troublesome diseases is, therefore, as 

 follows : — 



Hoof-rot, Scab, 



Grub-in-the-head, Catarrh, and 



Colic, Parturient Fever. 



Hoof-rot is thus described : — 



" The horny covering of the sheep's foot extends up, gradually 

 "thinning out, some way between the toes or division of the 

 *' hoof — and above these horny walls thex:left is lined with skin. 

 " Where the points of the toes are spread apart, this skin is shown 

 *' in front covered with soft, short hair. The heels can be sep- 

 " arated only to a little distance, and the skin that is in the cleft 

 *' above them is naked. In a healthy foot it is as firm, sound, 

 " smooth, and dry, as the skin between a man's fingers, which, 

 " indeed, it not a little resembles, on a mere superficial inspection. 

 " It is equally destitute of any appearance of redness, or of fever- 

 " ish heat. 



" The first symptom of hoof-rot, uniformly, in my experience, 

 " is a disappearance of this smooth, dry, colorless condition of the 

 " naked skin at the top of the cleft over the heels, and of its cool- 



