220 



SHEEP— DISEASES AND REMEDIES. 



- They are both injurious to the wool, and 

 also to the health of the animal, from the 

 •constant irritation which they produce. 

 The louse is more injurious than the tick. 

 The tick only buries his head in the skin ; 

 the lice burrow, and form their nest in or 

 under it. They collect together, and a 

 scab soon rises, whence a glutinous mat- 

 ter proceeds. The scab continues to in- 

 crease until it is of the size of a sixpence, 

 and undermines and destroys the roots of 

 the wool, and the fleece comes off in 

 patches. The itching becomes intolerable, 

 and the sheep rub themselves eagerly 

 against every thing within their reach, 

 and tear off the wool by mouthfuls. The 

 lice are thickest about the throat and un- 

 der part of the neck, and when this is the 

 case, it has sometimes happened that the 

 sheep has been seriously injured, or even 

 destroyed, in a very curious way. He 

 bends his head down as closely as he can 

 to get at the vermin, and then some of 

 the wool entangling itself about the 

 teeth, the head becomes fixed, and the 

 animal is said to be bridled. If he is not 

 •observed and relieved, the head will be 

 held until the muscles are seriously in- 

 jured, so that he can no longer comforta- 

 bly bend his neck to graze, or until he is 

 absolutely destroyed. 



Many washes have been invented to 

 ^destroy these insects, but few of them 

 have perfectly succeeded. That which 

 seems to have the best effect is the 

 Arsenical Wash for Sheep Lice. (See 

 No. 76, Domestic Animals, Medicines 

 for.) 



The infected sheep should be immersed 

 in this, the head only being kept out; 

 and while he is in the liquid the fleece 

 should be well rubbed and moulded, so that 

 the wash shall penetrate fairly to the skin. 

 When taken out of the tub, the fluid 

 should be pressed as thoroughly as possi- 

 ble out of the fleece, which will then do 

 for another of the flock ; and the sheep 

 should be kept from cold and wet for a 

 few days. 



Other persons prefer the Mercurial 

 Wash for Lice. (See No. 77, Domestic 

 Animals, Medicines for.) 



These washes, however, are not always 

 safe, and they are very troublesome in 

 their application. The ointment which 

 -we have recommended for the scab is 

 more easily applied, and more effectual. 



It may be rendered more fluid, and con- 

 sequently more easily rubbed in by being 

 mixed with an equal weight of neats-foot 

 oil; and it should be as carefully applied 

 over every part as it would be in the act 

 of smearing, for the vermin will speedily 

 collect and burrow in any spot which the 

 ointment may not have reached. The 

 tick is many times as large as the louse, 

 but not so frequently found. When not 

 gorged with blood it is flat, but when 

 bloated it is round, and brown or black, 

 and varies in size from a pin's head to a 

 small bean. When one of them fastens 

 itself upon the sheep, it seems to retain 

 precisely the same situation for some 

 weeks, or even months, and yet the young 

 ticks are found round the old ones, re- 

 sembling numerous red points, but be- 

 coming brown as they increase in size. 

 They, too, select the sheep that is debili- 

 tated by want of proper nourishment or 

 by disease. 



The tick is more frequent on some 

 grounds than on others. On some 

 farms, even although badly managed, 

 it is seldom found; on others it is 

 scarcely to be got rid of, even although 

 the sheep should be h*ealthy. It would 

 seem as though it were bred in the 

 ground, and that one part only of its ex- 

 istence is spent on the sheep. Some 

 shepherds set diligently to work, and pick 

 them off. This, however, is an almost 

 endless task. Others dress the sheep with 

 turpentine, which usually destroys them; 

 but the scab ointment is the surest reme- 

 dy, as well as preventive. 



The sheep is tormented by two species 

 of flies. The one endeavors to lay its 

 eggs on the muzzle, and thence, speedily 

 hatched by the moisture and warmth of 

 the breath, the animalcule, or larva, creeps 

 up the nostril, and finds its way into the 

 frontal sinuses, or some of the cells above 

 the nose, and there fastens itself, and 

 lives and grows, until it becomes a large 

 worm; it then creeps again down the 

 the nostril, assumes the form of a grub, 

 burrows in the earth, and in due time ap- 

 pears in the form of a fly. It is only 

 during the time of the depositing of the 

 egg that the sheep are disturbed or injur- 

 ed, and then they may be seen huddling 

 together on the barest part of the pasture, 

 with their noses close to the ground, and 

 by continual shaking of the head and 



