196 THE LAMBING SEASON. 



be easily laid hold of and brought down. If the neck is bent, and 

 the crown of the head presents itself, it may be pushed back, and the 

 two fore-paws brought into the passage, and then the muzzle will 

 naturally follow. If the foetus lies sideways, the cord and the posi- 

 tion of the legs will enable the shepherd to distinguish between the 

 spine and the belly. The turning is sometimes a difficult thing ; but 

 practice will often give the lamber a great deal of cleverness in this 

 operation. 



In extreme cases, and when the lamb is evidently dead, it may be 

 necessary to introduce a blunt-pointed knife into the uterus, and cut 

 the little animal to pieces. The greatest care must be taken that the 

 mother is not wounded, for that would produce inevitable death. 

 When the lamb has been thus taken away piecemeal, a little physic — 

 an ounce of Epsom salts, with a few grains of ginger — should be 

 given to the mother, who should then be left undisturbed for several 

 hours. 



The ewe, and especially if she was in high condition, is occasion- 

 ally subject to after-pains. Some of the country-people call it heaving. 

 It continues many hours, and sometimes exhausts and destroys the 

 animal. It is particularly dangerous if she has been too well kept, 

 and much force has been used in extracting the lamb. Twenty drops 

 of laudanum should be given in a little gruel, and repeated every se- 

 cond hour until the pains abate. It will always be prudent to bleed 

 the ewe if she is not better soon after the second dose of the lauda- 

 num. 



The womb is sometimes forced out of the orifice when great force 

 has been used in extracting the lamb. It must, if necessary, be 

 cleaned with warm water, and carefully returned by a person with a 

 small hand. Gentle and continued pressure will effect this much 

 sooner and safer than the application of the greatest force. It will, 

 however, again protrude if a couple of stitches with tolerably strong 

 twine are not passed through the lips of the orifice. If the womb is 

 thus returned before it has been much bruised or inflamed by hanging 

 out, there will be little danger to the mother, and she may suckle her 

 lamb as usual. When she has accomplished that, she should be 

 fattened, for the same accident would almost certainly happen at her 

 next parturition. 



Attention should now be paid to the lamb, and it requires it even 

 more than the mother. It is want of care that causes the loss of more 

 than four-fifths of the dead lambs. The principal evil is exposure to 

 cold. If the weather is severe, great numbers of lambs are often lost 

 in a single night. A few hurdles with straw, or a warm quick hedge, 

 or a shed for them to go into, would save the greater part of them. 

 The farmer needs but to use a little observation in order to be con- 

 vinced how eagerly the ewes and the lambs seek that shelter, and 

 how safe they are compared with others that are exposed. Some 

 breeds are more hardy than others, but the hardiest of them will not 

 endure absurd and cruel neglect and exposure. Let the farmer think 



