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SHEEP— DISEASES AND REMEDIES. 



ted wool; or whether after the staining, 

 some drops of liquid faeces may not be 

 perceived; this, although often mistaken 

 for costivencss, clearly indicates a very 

 different state of the bowels ; they are ac- 

 tually relaxed — too much so, and the 

 straining results from irritation about the 

 anus. 



Actual costiveness, however, is not an 

 unfrequent complaint, and must be speed- 

 ily attacked; for it is either the accompan- 

 iment of fever, or it will very speedily 

 lead on to fever. The existence of fever 

 should be carefully inquired into ; heav- 

 ing of the flanks, restlessness, and heat 

 of the mouth will be sufficient indica- 

 tions of it. Bleeding in proportion to 

 the degree of fever, and the age and 

 strength of the lamb should then be had 

 recourse to. Next, the bowels must be 

 opened; one-fourth of the Purging 

 Drink (See No. 66, Domestic Animals, 

 Medicines for,) will be the best thing 

 that can be given, and it should be re- 

 peated every sixth hour until the desired 

 effect is produced. The lamb should be 

 turned into greener and more succulent 

 pasture, and especially where there is any 

 fresh flush of grass ; and if, after a while, he 

 should altogether refuse to eat, he may be 

 drenched with gruel, in which a little Ep- 

 som salts should always be dissolved. 

 While this affords nutriment, it will cool 

 the animal and open the bowels. 



LAMBS, Staggers in. — Many lambs 

 are lost from this disease, and the farmer 

 most certainly has here no one to blame 

 but himself. It attacks the most thriving 

 lambs, and especially when they are 

 about three or four months old ; and it 

 arises from the farmer making a great 

 deal more haste than usual in fattening 

 them for the market. It resembles the 

 blood in cattle, and is usually produced 

 by the same causes. 



The lamb will appear to be in perfect 

 health. All at once he will stand still, 

 heaving violently at the flanks, and with 

 the head protruded; or he will wander 

 about with great uncertainty in his walk 

 and manner ; he will then all at once fall 

 down and lie struggling upon his back 

 until he is helped up, or dies. Sometimes 

 he is very much convulsed. 



Bleeding must be resorted to immedi- 

 ately, and afterwards the bowels well 

 opened by means of the Purging Drink. 



To this some cooling febrifuge medicine,, 

 such as Cooling Fever Drink, (See No.. 

 68, Domestic Animals, Medicines for,) 

 should succeed. 



On examination after death, the head 

 will be found to be the principal part 

 diseased; the vessels of the brain will be 

 distended with blood, and there will 

 sometimes be water in the ventricles. 



We have seen half a dozen lambs in 

 staggers in the same field at the same 

 time. They had all been exposed to the 

 same cause ; and when the disease had. 

 begun in one or two it spread among the 

 rest by the strange and often too power- 

 ful influence of sympathy. 

 SHEEP, Bed-Water in.— The disease rec- 

 ognized under this name is very different 

 from that described in the cow, for here it 

 consists in an accumulation of red, dish- 

 colored fluid (whence its name is derived) 

 in the cavity of the abdomen, and fre- 

 quently in the chest and heart-bag like- 

 wise. This water accumulates in conse- 

 quence of inflammation of the serous 

 membrane which lines these cavities. In 

 many places the disease is termed water- 

 brazy. It is most prevalent at the latter 

 end of autnmn or the beginning of win- 

 ter, and is generally observed among 

 sheep that are in the most thriving con- 

 dition, and especially if they have been 

 turned into new and rich pasture, and by 

 the side of a copse or wood. Sometimes 

 it is very sudden in its attack, and speed- 

 ily fatal. In some fine flocks we have seen 

 it destroy the animal in twenty-four hours. 

 In other cases it is less violent, and also 

 slow in its progress. The sheep is first 

 'observed to be off its feed, dull, disin- 

 clined to move; it loiters behind, and 

 pants, and is restless. The flanks are 

 tucked up, and there is often costiveness, 

 though sometimes purging. This disease 

 is still more common in lambs than in 

 sheep, and in them often appears in the 

 spring of the year, when they are first put 

 on turnips with the ewes. In farms where 

 pasturage is scarce, the disease is a very 

 frequent visitor, and may be considered 

 to be produced by the application of cold, 

 either externally or internally, or proba- 

 bly both. 



In the treatment of this disease it is 

 very important to remove the animal to. a 

 dry and comfortable situation. Bleeding 

 should then be freely employed and a 



