210 THE SHEPHERD'S MANUAL. 



should be an immediate purgative. The following may be given 

 in oat-meal gruel or any other thick mucilaginous liquid : 



Sulphate of Soda 2 ounces. 



Mowers of Sulphur \ ounce 



Powdered Myrrh .'.1 scruple. 



A teaspoonful of spirits of nitrous ether in a pint of water may be 

 given in six hours afterwards. If taken at the commencement of 

 the symptoms, this treatment will probably be effective, but if 

 later, the uncertain remedial action of nature alone can be de- 

 pended on. 



EPIZOOTIC DISEASES. 



Aphtha, or "foot and mouth disease," which has grievously 

 affected the herds and flocks of Europe, is not unknown in Ameri- 

 ca. Fortunately our drier climate, or some other preservative in- 

 fluence, has very greatly circumscribed the course of this disease. 

 It has appeared in various parts of the country, but only sporadi- 

 cally, or in scattered cases, and never yet has it swept over an 

 entire district. Nevertheless, no one can be sure that it never will 

 so appear, and as an isolated case requires the same treatment as 

 any other, it is well that the disease should be described here. It 

 is a true blood disease, belonging to a class of eruptive fevers aris- 

 ing from a poisoning of the blood, and is highly contagious under 

 favoring circumstances. It affects alike cattle, sheep, pigs, hares, 

 and rabbits. It appears as an eruption of watery blisters upon the 

 lips and tongue, and between and around the hoofs. The first 

 symptoms are a fit of shivering, succeeded by fever, cough, and an 

 increased pulse. This is succeeded by a failing of the appetite, 

 tenderness over the loins, flow of saliva from the mouth, and 

 grinding of the jaws. Blisters, small and large, appear on the 

 mouth and tongue, which break and become raw, causing great 

 pain. The feet are swollen and also covered with blisters, which 

 break and become sore, causing the animal to walk with difficulty 

 and shake its feet or kick or lie down persistently. In from ten 

 to fifteen days the disease runs its course, in favorable circum- 

 stances, and the animal recovers gradually, and is never affected 

 afterwards. Otherwise the symptoms increase in severity, the 

 sheep lose condition rapidly, from inability to eat or move about ; 

 the hoofs are sloughed off, and sometimes even the bones of the 

 feet are cast off, leaving only a stump. In-lamb ewes when 

 affected, abort. It is considered, where this disease is virulent, 

 that the cheapest and most effective plan is to stamp it out by the 



