DIARRHCEA. 199 



which is in fact the whey passing off whilst the curd accumulates 

 and produces obstinate constipation. 



Tlie first thing to be done is to administer an alliali, to dissolve 

 the mass, such as magnesia, in doses of half an ounce twice a day ; 

 afier which two to four drachms of Epsom salts, with a little ginger, 

 dissolved in warm water, and the warm water often repeated, if ne- 

 cessary, by means of the stomach-pump. The farmer with a valuable 

 flock of sheep will find the stomach-pump as useful for them as for 

 cattle. When the bowels iiave thus been opened, and the curdled 

 milk has in some measure passed otT, the stomach may be strength- 

 ened by occasional doses of the Tonic Drink for Cattle (No. 32, p. 

 81). The ewe and lamb should then be turned into scantier pasture. 



DIARRHCEA. 



There is not a more destructive disease among young lambs than 

 this. It frequently attacks them when they are not more than a day 

 old, and carries them oft' in the course of another day. Oftener it does 

 not appear until they are nearly a week old, and the lambs iiave not 

 then a much better chance: but if they are two or three months old, 

 and have gained a little strength, they may, perhaps, weather the 

 disease. The causes are various, but not always difficult to discover: 

 they are generally referrible to the neglect and mismanagement of the 

 farmer. It may be the consequence of absurd and cruel exposure to 

 cold. For sheep generally, and more particularly for lambs, I once 

 more repeat it, and I would impress it on the mind of the farmer and 

 the practitioner, shelter and comfort are the first and grand things to 

 be considered. I do not mean confinement in a close and ill-ventilated 

 place, but that defence from the wind and snow which it would cost 

 the farmer little to raise, and for which he would be amply paid in 

 one season. If it probably arises from cold, the remedy is plain — 

 better shelter, and, for a few days, housing. 



It is sometimes attributable to want of proper support : the ewe, if 

 it is her first lamb, may have deserted it, or she may have little milk 

 to give it; and the combined influence of starvation and cold produces 

 diarrhoea sooner than anything else.* Warmth and new cow's milk 

 are the best remedies. 



Not unfrequently the mother's milk seems to disagree with the 

 lamb. It is naturally aperient. It may occasionally be too much so. 

 If her teats are full, and she evidently has plenty of milk, this will 

 probably be the case. She should be fed on dry meat for a day or 

 two, or should be turned out only during the day, and housed at nio-ht, 

 _ j^ °_ _ 



* [!\Tr. S. W. Jewett, of Weybridije, Vermont, says — "It is generally caused by 

 eatin;? raw or early cut hay. The best method to cure or prevent is to give them 

 daily a few messes of wheat in the sheaf; a regular quantity of salt at all times. If 

 it occurs in the winter, steep, in brine, ripe hay in the seed; wheat chaff is good, aa 

 is a small quantity of oats, and a few pine or hemlock-tops. Keep them a few days 

 on ripe hay, or corn fodder.— S.J 



