^02 



DISEASES OF SHEEP. 



On examination after death, the head will be found to be the prin- 

 cipal part diseased : the vessels of the brain will be distended with 

 blood, and there will sometimes be water in the ventricles. 



I have seen half a dozen lambs in staggers in the same field at the 

 same time. They had all been exposed to the same cause; and when 

 the disease had begun in one or two, it spread among the rest by the 

 strange, and often too powerful, influence of sympathy. 



SECTION III. 



RED- WATER. 



The disease recognised under this name is very different from that 

 described in the cow, for here it consists in an accumulation of red- 

 dish-coloured fluid (whence its name is derived) in the cavity of the 

 abdomen, and frequently in the chest and heart-bag likewise. This 

 water accumulates in consequence of inflammation of the serous 

 membrane which lines these cavities. In many places the disease is 

 termed water-braxy. It is most prevalent at the latter end of autumn 

 or the beginning of winter, and is generally observed among sheep 

 that are in the most thriving condition, and especially if they have 

 been turned into new and rich pasture, and by the side of a copse or 

 wood. Sometimes it is very sudden in its attack, and speedily fatal. 

 In some fine flocks I have seen it destroy the animal in twenty-four 

 hours. In other cases it is less violent, and also slow in its progress. 

 The sheep is first observed to be off its feed, dull, disinclined to move : 

 it loiters behind, and pants, and is restless. The flanks are tucked 

 up, and there is often costiveness, though sometimes purging. This 

 disease is still more common in lambs than in sheep, and in them 

 often appears in the spring of the year, when they are first put on 

 turnips with the ewes. In f^rms where pasturage is scarce, this dis- 

 ease is a very frequent visitor, and may be considered to be produced 

 by the application of cold, either externally or internally, or probably 

 both. 



In the treatment of this disease it is very important to remove the 

 animal to a dry and comfortable situation. Bleeding should then be 

 freely employed and a laxative administered. 



RECIPE (No. 5). 

 Take Epsom salts, one ounce; ginger, one scruple; gentian, one drachm; warm 

 water, two ounces ; linseed oil, one ounce. Tlie above may be jGiiven, either alone or 

 with pruel, to a full-grown sheep, and from one-fourth to one-half to a lamb, accord- 

 ing to its age. 



In addition to this the abdomen should be well fomented with hot 

 water — a lamb, indeed, may be placed altogether in a warm bath. 



Every shepherd should have a little horn, made of that of a sheep, 

 and which will hold about the usual quantity of medicine given as a 



