

[162] 



afflicted sheep appear wilder than usual when approached. 

 He bounces up suddenly, runs to a distance as though 

 pressed by dogs. In the second stage the principal symp- 

 tom is the sheep rubbing himself against trees, etc., with such 

 fury as to pull off his wool and tear away his flesh. The 

 last stages of the disease seem only to be the progress of 

 dissolution after an unfavorable crisis. The poor animal, as 

 condemned by nature, appears stupid, walks irregularly 

 (whence probably the name of rickets), generally his head 

 down, and eats little. These symptoms increase in degree 

 till death, which follows a general consumption, which ap- 

 pears upon the dissection of the carcass. 



THE FLUX 



is another disease sheep are subject to. The best remedy is 

 to house the sheep immediately, keep them warm, and feed 

 them on dry hay, giving them frequent glysters of warm 

 milk and water. The cause is either feeding on wet lands 

 or on grass that has become mossy. 



The popular theory, says Mr. Kandall, is that 



THE GRUB 



causes death by boring through the bony walls which sur- 

 round the brain. This seems to me an absurdity. If the 

 grub actually penetrates to the brain, the fact would be 

 readily disclosed after death. The full-grown grub would 

 naturally leave an orifice of considerable diameter through 

 the skull. Who has seen such an orifice? During the 

 ascent of the larvae the sheep stamps, tosses its head vio- 

 lently, and dashes away from its companions wildly over the 

 field. The larvae remain in the sinuses feeding on the mu- 

 <jus secreted by the membrane, and apparently creating no 

 further annoyance, until ready to assume their proper form 

 in the succeeding spring. 



Smearing their noses with tar, it is supposed, will keep 



