BLOOD POISONING IX SHEEP AND LAMBS. 4l5 



(2.) It is a progressive, debilitative, contagious disease, characterised 

 by great emaciation and weakness, with symptoms ' of diarrhcea and 

 pneumonia, and causes a mortaUty of 100 per cent, of those afi'ected 

 and from 30 to 85 per cent, of the whole flock. 



(3.) From the carcases of numerous animals that have succumbed a 

 new organism. Micrococcus c(ipri)ius, has been recovered in purity, and 

 is presumably the etiological factor. 



(4.) This micrococcus possesses pathogenic proj^erties for goats, 

 chickens, rabbits, guinea pigs, and white mice, but not for sheep, dogs, 

 or rats. 



(5.) Medicinal treatment was attempted with varying success, while 

 the immunising experiments thus far conducted (although too few to 

 permit of any conclusive statement or accurate estimate as to their 

 protective value) have shown highly encouraging results. When accom- 

 panied with measures of isolation and disinfection, the treatment may 

 prove of great assistance in the suppression and eradication of the 

 disease in an infected flock. 



BLOOD POISONING (MALIGNANT CEDEMA) IN SHEEP AND 

 LAMBS IN NEW ZEALAND. 



This disease, which occurs during the operations of shearing sheep 

 and of castrating and docking lambs, is the cause of considerable loss 

 annually to sheep breeders in several districts of New Zealand. In 1893 

 J. A. Gilruth, Chief Veterinarian for New Zealand, issued a leaflet 

 dealing with the disease and the preventive measures to be adopted. 

 Generally the first thing that draws the owner's attention seriously to 

 the condition of his flock is the discovery, in from thirty-six to forty- 

 eight hours after docking or shearing, of a few dead sheep lying in 

 various parts of the paddocks. Next morning he finds a few more dead, 

 and so on for three or four days, when, as a rule, the mortality ceases. 



Symptoms. In the early stages of this disease the animal seems 

 listless, disinclined to move about, and, if the sun is shining strongly, 

 prefers to lie in the shade. If forced to move, the hind legs are drawn 

 forward with a peculiar stiff, dragging motion, as if there were no joints. 

 There are slight muscular tremors all over the body, which become 

 spasmodic as the disease progresses. If the flock be driven about much, 

 the diseased animal soon shows signs of great fatigue, ultimately dropping 

 to the ground thoroughly exhausted. The breathing is fast and j)ainful, 

 being maintained more by a series of spasmodic jerks than by any 

 regular act. The pulse is quick and weak ; the temperature is very high, 

 registering 106° to 108° Fahr., showing acute fever; the eyes close, and 

 the whole face is expressive of pain. Gradually the spasms cease and 

 coma sets in, resulting in death. The scrotum and surrounding skin 



