Published bv JOHN B. RUSSF,!/!.. at the r.nrnpr nf rnrur^?-! nnri' i.indall Strppt?, T!optnn.— THOMAS Ci. rF.S?F.M>F.>J. Fnn ..".. 



VOL. IV. 



FRIDAY, DECEMBER .'',0, 182r;. 



No. 23. 



OHZGSiNAI. COIffil^UinCikTEOK'. 



TO THE EDITOR OF THE NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



DISEASE OF SHEEP. 



Sandii;ich, {jX. U.) Dec. 20. 



Sir, — Perhaps some -.iiiology for my present 

 communication may lie necessary, and llie more 

 especially as 1 have been n constant .subscriber 

 for your paper, and a partaker of your usetVil 

 editorial laliors. Having waited a lonp^ time 

 for the ai)pearance of tbe "series of numbers 

 on the management and diseases of Horses, 

 Sheep, and Swine," which you " proposed to 

 give in the course of your third volume," I still 

 feel the strongest reluctance lo anything which 

 may anticipate yourdcsigns ; yet a due regard 

 to mv own interest, and to that of my fellow 

 citizens, has induced mo lo address you in re- 

 spect to some of the diseases of slieep. Fre- 

 quently I have heard farmers complam of the 

 loss of their larnhs, when arrived at some two, 

 three, and even six, or eight weeks of age, hy 

 some sudden malady, wholly \inknoivn lo them, 

 and often without visible marks of any disortler 

 previous to the agonies of approaching death. 

 Lambs said to have died in Ihis situation nrc 

 represented, as healthy, Ihrifiy, and full fed bs 

 any in Ihe flock. 



For several years I have been a |)roprietoT o( 

 a flock of Merino sheep, and of course h^ve 

 made it my business to mark the progress |as 

 well as Ihe apparent causes of their diseasbs, 

 their hcallh, and in a word their good or illo« • ! 

 dition so far as it regards Ihe interest of their 

 owner. Generally, lambs, when Ihey are once 

 well dried and have a plenty of milk, need bu! 

 little Httenlion ; and are not very liable lo dis- 

 ease. The last spring my lamlis I'or several 

 weeks after birth appeareil as healthy, and in 

 as good condition as any 1 ever had. At Ihe age 

 of from three to six weeks, several of them,per- 

 hans three or four, were seized with a lame- 

 ness in tlieir legs, that made them reel and stag- 

 ger like a drunken man, and a! last blunder 

 down. Two of them died in a short lime, and 

 were thrown away, the supposed victims ol 

 some new and violent disorder. The others 

 partially recovered from the first attack, but 

 cnnlinued reeling and I'requenlly tumbhngdown. 

 New ca«es daily appeared, in which, as well as 

 in the others, Ihe symptoms of disease were, a 

 strong aversion lo moving about, much distress 

 aller suckling, weakness in Ihe logs, staggering 

 and falling down when altempting to walk, and 

 in extreme cases a lolal loss of the use of their 

 legs. Some of Ihem afler they could not stand 

 were pot into Ihe barn and their dams confined 

 from the pasture. The dams would come lo the 

 lambs sufficiently often for Ihem to suck while 

 lying down, or at nmst standing on their knees, 

 for their joints had become so stiffened that 

 their limbs could not be straightened even with 

 a great force. After continuing a long time un- 

 able to stand or walk they nearly all died that 

 were seized, one only in six or seven finally re- 

 covering. Some of the fattest and thriftiest 

 lambs I ever saw pined away to mere skju and 



bones, though Ihey had a good appclile and a 

 plenty of milk. Supposing, afler several had 

 died, there was a possibilily of discovering their 

 disease by examining liieir stomachs and intes- 

 tines, I began Ihe operation. In Ihe stomach of 

 Ihe first was found nearly a gill of lillle balls or 

 aroblies of wool one fourth or one third of an 

 inch in diameter and felted together almost as 

 solid and diflicult lo separate as a hat or piece' 

 of fulled cloth, some of Ihem neaily or quile 

 closing Ihe entrance of the guts. The stomach 

 was much intlamed and in parts nearly in a slate 

 of putrefaction. Ail that died afler Ihis 1 had 

 examined, and Ihe stomachs of every qne of 

 them, fifteen or sixteen in number, were found 

 to contain more or less ol these halls, closing in 

 most instances the entrance of the guts, and 

 causing, as I should think, an obstruction sufli- 

 cient to produce death. in those which died 

 Ihe most suddenly were found the grealest num- 

 ber of balls, and Ihe fewest in those which lived 

 Ihe longest. 



At the first finding of these halls I did not re- 

 coiled lo have heard any account of Ihem ; but 

 since, one of my townsmen informs me that he 

 lost some lambs last, winter that were found on 

 ei-aminalion to contain balls similar to llinso | 



liave described. M. D.*ubf.nton alsosn 



• The 



wool which the lamlis may swallow forms in llie 

 runnel bag halls or gohbe':,'' that "these tiallsor 

 ofpbbes close Ihe enlrancc ef Ihe guts, ami kill 

 the lambs," that " when Ihe dug of Ihe ewe is 

 covered with wool Ihe lamb isapl to seize it in- 

 stead of Ihe leal, to pull it off and swall«iw il," 

 and that •■ ihe lambs, seeing the bits of hay that 

 fall from the racks on their mulhers. and on the 

 other Iambs, are apt, in their desire lo eat ihem 

 to (\r;\\\> out and, swallow filaments of ^vool, from 

 which these balls are formed." He further says 

 " The manner of relieving sheep when thus op- 

 pressed will be hereafler explained."' 



What Daueenton says in regard to the lambs" 

 seizing Ihe wool instead of Ihe leal, may per- 

 haps be correct; but 1 ihink it does nol cause 

 Ihis mischief very often. 1 should suppose, as 

 the lambs are more at a loss in finding the leal 

 when very young than at any olher lime, thai 

 if Ihe balls were sfained in this wav, they would 

 produce Slime effect before Ihe second or third 

 week; and we might exiiect thai lambs belong- 

 ing to dams that aie unkind, and lliat have the 

 most wool about their dugs would be the most 

 likely lo sufier in this 'way ; neither of which 

 has been Ihe case with mine. And again, 1 should 

 Ihink it a little strange that one lamb should 

 accumulate in this way so large a quanlily ol 

 wool, as has been found in some ; and further, 

 tor five years preceding this I have not seen a 

 single lamb show .symptoms of this ilisease, Iho' 

 quite as likely to seize Ihe wool in Ihis way as 

 in Ihe present year. Hmv the lambs could ob 

 lain so much wool by picking the bits of hay 

 from their mothers and Ihe other lambs, I can- 

 not see ; tor, in Ihe case I have named, ihe sheep 

 and Ihe Umbs were guarded by a rack too close 

 and light to admit ihe bay's falling on Ihem ; — 

 and besides, when fodder is given lo sheep in 

 Ihe open yard on Ihe ground, oi in a barn so 

 coDstrucied thai the lambs can have access to 



Ihe hay at pleasure. I have not known Ihis evil 

 to have been produred. Till Ihe la-t winter 

 mv lambs have had iVee access lo Ihe h.iy at all 

 limes of Ihe day, but finding an inconvenience 

 in their ranging at will all parts of Ihe barn, i 

 made some close racks wiih troughs allachs d to 

 Ihem sufficieul to rack ihe hayseed. The racks 

 excluded ihe lambs from Ihe hay at all limes, ex- 

 cept wlien the sheep were eating, perhaps one 

 or Iwo hours in a day. Lambs, afler they are 

 len or fifteen days old, manifest an inclinalioi^ to 

 have something in their mouths which they can 

 champ, and they will generally pick over and 

 eat some fine parts of Ihe hay if it is within their 

 reach. Their being mostly excluded from the 

 hay may induce Ihem lo be more eager in pick- 

 ing off Ihe bits of hay Ihey may see on others, 

 and possibly for want of something more suita- 

 ble lo chew, Ihey may seize Ihe filamenls and 

 loose locks.of wool that are often hanging about 

 their mother? ; indeed, I Ihink I have noticed 

 Ihem biting and champing the loose stringy 

 locks llial are lasseled mil on ihe surface of Ihe 

 old sheep's fleeces, and doubtless they may fre- 

 quently swallow ihem. 



The causes which M. Daube.\ton' assigns for 

 Ihe production of these balls or gobbes, togeth- 

 er with such as i could supply, have not salisfi- 

 ed me that fherO are not many others; that is, 

 which induce Iho ianibs lo swallow Ihe wool — 

 What method can be taken to prevent the lambs 

 from swallowing the wool I do not know; and 

 I am at a still greater loss to contrive a remedy 

 for those that already have Ihe balls formed 

 witliin Ibcni. 1 li»vc tried purges vvilh no 

 olher effect than an aggravation of the disetiSi'. 

 Emelicks I have not iiied, but Ihiok there is 

 more plausibility in iheir proving effcclual. — 

 I\l. Daueenton promises lo expUin Ihe manner 

 of relieving sheep when thus distressed, but 1 

 can find nothing of Ihe relief in his books. I 

 should be happy lo inquire, through the medium 

 of your paper, whether any olher person has 

 noticed Ihis disease in lambs, and do wish Uipy 

 may communicate lo the public what they know 

 relative lo it. 



Sore eyes, for more than a year past, have 

 been troublesome in my flock of sheep. 1 do 

 not think Ihe disorder very alarming, but yet, 

 it is quile uncomfortable, and it has never quit 

 (he flock since il first appeared. The trealmes 

 on sheep that I have seen say nothing of sore 

 eyes; and none but M. Daueenton menlions ihe 

 disease in lambs occasioned by their swallowing 

 wool. 



If yon or any of your correspondents will give 

 some information respecting ihe causes, preven- 

 tion or cure of these diseases, you will much 

 oblige, Your subscriber. GUSTOS. 



From Ihe Medical Intelligencer. 



DECEMEER. 

 The principal disorders during Ihe present 

 month have been of an intlammatory nature, most 

 treqi:enlly occurring about the throat and air- 

 passas:es, sometimes extending to the lining of 

 the branches of the wind-pipe, occasioning 



