476 DISEASES OF CATTLE, SHEEP, GOATS, ETC. 



each side of the chest as nearly over the heart as possible. This is 

 applicable especially in lambs and sheep thin in flesh. 



When the sheep is quiet, the number of respirations will vary 

 from twelve to eighteen per minute; if excited, exercised, or when 

 warm this number will be greatly increased. In most animals there 

 is a comparatively close relationship between the respirations and 

 pulse (1 to 4 or 1 to 5) , but in sheep this relationship is not very con- 

 stant. In disease the respirations may be quickened and their char- 

 acter changed as in fever, pleurisy, peritonitis, etc. In abdominal 

 respiration the movements of the wall of the chest are limited as oc- 

 curs in pleurisy, while in thoracic respiration the muscles of the ab- 

 domen are held rigid and the walls of the chest make up for the de- 

 ficiency. This latter condition is seen in peritonitis. 



In inflammatory conditions of the air passages, irritation from 

 dust or parasites, the secretions are modified and there is dryness or 

 discharge, and usually sneezing or coughing. There may be modi- 

 fied respiratory sounds that are of value in making a diagnosis. 



The normal temperature of the sheep is subject to variation. It 

 is taken per rectum, the ordinary fever thermometer being used. The 

 variations are from 100 to 105 Fahrenheit. During exercise and 

 when the weather or stable is warm and close, the body temperature 

 is elevated; during cold weather or after drinking cold water it will 

 be lowered. In order to get at the normal temperature it is well to 

 take the temperature of several sheep in the flock. 



In health the mucous membranes are usually of a pale reddish 

 color. Exercise will cause them to become more vascular. When 

 inflamed they are of a bright-red color. In collapse, internal hemor- 

 rhage, impoverished or bloodless conditions they are pale. In chronic 

 indigestion the mouth is foul and soapy; if irritated the mucous 

 membranes are excessively moist, and if feverish they are dry. In 

 some of the parasitic and liver diseases they are yellowish. 



The fleece should look smooth and have plenty of yolk ; the skin 

 should be of a light pink color. When the animal is diseased or is 

 unthrifty, the wool may become dry and brittle, and the skin pale 

 and rigid. If affected with external parasites, the fleece looks taggy, 

 or the wool lost over large areas, and the skin itself is changed. Dur- 

 ing febrile diseases the temperature of the skin is not uniformly dis- 

 tributed. If fatally affected the skin feels cold. When debilitated, 

 especially if the debility be due to internal parasites, dropsical swell- 

 ings may occur under the jaw and in different parts of the body. 



The character of the excretions from the kidneys and bowels be- 

 come modified in disease and should be considered in making a diag- 

 nosis of the different diseases. The state of the nervous system is in- 

 dicated by dullness, excitability, turning the head to one side, walk- 

 ing in a circle, throwing the head back, or by paralysis. ^ 



Administration of Medicine. Drugs may be administered by 

 way of the following channels: (a) by the mouth, (b) by hypoder- 

 mically injecting into the tissues beneath the skin, (c) through the 

 skin, (d) by way of the air passages and lungs, and (e) per rectum. 

 The most common method of administration is by way of the mouth 



