332 DISEASES OF SHEEP. 



anci dry appearance, and subsequently the muscles waste, 

 and digestion is impaired, and at length the animal dies in 

 from two to four months. AVhere a flock of sheep do not 

 thrive and acquire fat and flesh on good feed and pasture, 

 something must be wrong, and the sooner it is found out 

 the better, as they may have acquired the disease before 

 they were bought. The better way would be to have one 

 of the worst ones brought in and destroyed, and then have 

 a thorough examination, which will set everything to rest, 

 and point out the line of duty which is open to be pursued 

 in the treatment and prevention of the disease, ere it be too 

 late to do good. > 



It is very frequent in wet seasons, in Avet and undrained 

 lands, and is characterized by an enlarged and softened 

 condition of the liver, and accumulation of the common 

 fluke (distomum hepaticum,) in the biliary ducts and gall 

 bladder. 



Post-mortem appearances show most clearly the nature 

 and extent of the disease, as before mentioned. There is 

 found a large number of these flukes in the liver, and that 

 organ very much enlarged, soft, and flabby ; the bile and 

 all the serous fluids are of a yellow color, and, on account 

 of the debilitating nature of the disease, a large quantity 

 of the exudative matter is found in the belly and chest. 

 There is one appearance that will never deceive : the liver 

 is not of that pale and, I would say, cooked appearance 

 which is usually presented after ordinary "Hepatitis;" 

 but in most cases is all covered with livid spots not unlike 

 the mottled appearance of the lungs of cattle that have died 

 of epizootic pleuro-pneumonia. In a word, the liver is the 

 only true seat of this disease. 



Cause. The cause of this disease, until lately, was often 

 a surmise and supposition. Then the question arose^ why 



