SHEEP HUSBANDRY IN THE SOUTH. 219 



LETTER XIV. 



ANATOMY AND DISEASES OF SHEEP. 



Cfearacte/ of American ovine veterinary works of the English. ..Anatomical details of the latter valuable 

 necessity of cutting clear from their systems of pathology and therapeutics reasons. ..Exciting causes 

 uf disease even in adjacent localities in England not the same popular superstitions on the subject. ..Ne- 

 cessarily greater differences as between remote countries possessing different climates, etc Ravages of 



rot in Europe scarcely known in most parts of America... Exciting causes apparently the same in both... 

 Hoof-ail, though retained here by contagion, not primarily produced by the same causes as in England. .. 

 Various European diseases not known here. . .Difference in the pathology of the same diseases in this coun- 

 try and in England... The English ones accompanied with more inflammatory action the American of an 

 asthenia or sinking character. .-.Pathological differences require a corresponding difference in therapeutics 

 English system of therapeutics objectionable for the above reason on account of its expensiveness 

 and, for popular purposes, by the extent of its pharmacopise. . .The proper ovine veterinary system to be 

 adopted manner of classifying diseases. ..Anatomy of the Sheep how far to be studied directions to be- 

 ginners. . .The Omentum. . .The Rumen. . .The Reticulum. ..The Maniplus. . .The Abomasum. . .The func- 

 tions of the different Stomachs... The Duodenum. ..The Jejunum... The Ileum...The Coecum...The 

 Colon... The Rectum... The Mesentary.-.The process of digestion... The Spleen... The Pancreas... The 

 Liver. ..The Kidneys. ..The Bladder.. .The Uterus and Vagina, 



Dear Sir : Most of the. veterinary works which have appeared in this 

 country in relation to the Sheep, Horse, and other domestic animals, have 

 been made up simply of medical recipes ; or, if they have given systems 

 of veterinary nosology and pathology, these systems have been mere tran- 

 scripts of those of European, and particularly of English writers. 



I have examined all, 1 believe, of the most celebrated late English au- 

 thors, scientific and empirical,* on the diseases of the Sheep and their 

 cures. For anatomical and general pathological details, the works of some 

 of the former possess great value, and compare favorably with the treatises 

 on the same topics by the most eminent physicians and surgeons. This is 

 particularly true of the work on Sheep by the late Mr. Youatt the fount- 

 ain-head from which most of the later English writers on the same subject 

 have so liberally drawn, and will probably continue so to do for a century 

 to come. For minute accuracy of description, particularly in the depart- 

 ment of pathology for elaborate research into both facts and authorities 

 for clearness and sparkling vivacity of style, this gentleman, it seems to 

 me, is entirely without a competitor among the English veterinarians, and 

 his works will bear reading alongside those of a Cooper, a Louis, and a 

 Chapman. 



I have hesitated whether to transcribe entire Mr. Youatt's treatise on 

 the Anatomy of the Sheep. It would be the sheerest affectation not to 

 say plagiarism to publish a mere abridgment of his remarks, or their sub- 

 stance dressed up in other words, as some late English writers have done, 

 for the purpose of setting up pretensions to that originality which Mr. You- 

 att has left so little room for in this department. But as these Letters, Sir 

 are published for the benefit of the many, rather than to instruct those al- 

 ready versed to any considerable extent in Veterinary Science, I have been 

 led to doubt whether any systematic treatise on Anatomy is necessary. On 

 the whole, I have come to the conclusion that farther than to exhibit the 



* I do not use the word "empirical" here in its invidious sense. I mean to describe by it a class of 

 writers verted in experiments merely, as contradistinguished from thce who possess a scientific knowledge 

 f physiology, pathology, therapeutics, &c. 



