106(3 



PRACTICE OF AGRICULTURE. Pam III 



1,1 \ burnet, elder, and meJilot, u diuretic*, have also been recommended j but it is necessary toob. 



lerve that there ii leldore an) ventral effusion but In the latter stage* ui the complaint Ai long as the 

 liver i* not wholly disorganized, the cure ma; be hoped bj a simple removal of tin- com', which bat been 

 slioun to be .1 variable temperature, with excessive moisture ol pasturage, winch may also lie aided by 

 such remedies as assist the action of the biliary system ; salt avis m this way, and thus salt mashes are 

 good • -alt ma] also be given in the water. .Salt appears the principal ingredient in Mesh's patent resto- 

 rative for -heel, for it state, ii to be composed ol turpentine, sal ammoniac, turmeric, quicksilver, brim, 

 •tone tall opium alkanet met, hark, antimony, camphor, and distilled water ; but of this medley none 

 of the article! can be in sufficient quantity to prove useful hut the salt In the more advanced stages of 

 tin- disease when the liver has become materially affected, it is prudent to rub the belly ol each sheep 



With I. dl B drachm of mercurial ointment every other day for a week : give also the following, every 

 morning : — Watery tincture of aloes, half an ounce ; decoction ot willow bark, four ounces ; nitric acid, 



twenty. dve drops. . . _ , . . -. ., • ..... .. - 



7264 The pelt rot, hunger rot, or naked disease, is a variety of the former, but with this difference, that 



whereas the liver in the hydropic rot is principally affected ; in this the whole of the chylopoutic viscera 

 are injured ; the mesenteric gland* are always swollen and obstructed, and Irom thence arises the ema- 

 ciation and ''unhealthy st ate of all the secretions, by which the wool become* incapable of receiving nutri- 

 ment and lata off, leaving the body bare, and in the last stages the teeth and horns also loosen, lil- 

 different, unhealthy keep is a very common cause of this malady, and a contrary course of feeding is the 

 best remedy when the disease ha* not gone on too long. 



7265 The scab, shah, ray, or rubbers, are sometimes erysipelatous eruptions, and sometimes they are 

 psoric Ot mangy ones. Ill the former instance they are universal and very red, occasioning a great heat 

 and itching, and are thence called the rubbers : in such Case*, nitre administered quickly relieves, with 

 change of loo I. The eruptive scab is seldom cured without an external application; either of those di- 

 rected for mange, lowered to half the strength, will relieve it at once. (See Vet. I'harm.) 



7266 Foot 'at. Sheep have a secretory outlet between the claws peculiar to them, which is liable to 

 become Obstructed; for which soaking in warm water and afterwards wrapping up the foot, having tirst 

 dressed it with tar, is sufficient The feet of sheep are also sometimes injured by long travelling, when the 

 same treatment is proper. '1'he most serious foot rot is that which is, in some instances, simply produced 

 by a Ion •-continued series of humid weather, which predisposes the feet to this injury. In others it ap. 

 p^ars to be both epidemic and endemiul, and has been thought contagious. When the season has been un. 

 favourable, house and soil under cover. The medical treatment consists ill removing all diseased portions, 

 and then dressing with the thrush paste, or foot-rot application {Vet. Fharm. 6554 ), and afterwards wrap- 

 ping up from external exposure. Prolessor Stonig extols the following application : — Take two parts of 

 tar and one of oil of turpentine ; which having mixed, one part of muriatic acid, known as spirit of salt, 

 is to be added slowly, to which afterwards add four parts of blue vitriol, with which dress the allected 

 feet ijourn. de Med. let. ct Comp.) ■ 



7'Jiw Staggers, gid, turusick, guiles, worm under the hum, sturdy, watery head, and pendro, are all 

 popular terms for hydatids, or an animal now known as the TeVuas globulus, which, by aome unaccountable 

 means finds its way to the brain, and settles itself there, either ill some of its ventricles, or more tre- 

 quently on its substance. Their size varies from the smallest speck to that of a pigeon's egg, and the 

 sheep it attacks are usually under two years old. These animals are likewise occasionally lound in all the 

 natural cavities of the body. .... . 



7"i is The appearances u/ cerebral hydatids are, stupidity, a disposition to srt on the rump, to turn to one 

 side, and to incline the head to the same while at rest The eyes glare, and from oval the pupils become 

 round. An accurate examination will now usually discover some softness at a particular part ol the skull, 

 generally on the contrary side to that on which the animal hangs the head: when no softness of the skull 

 is discernible, the hydatid usually exists in some ol the ventricles, and the destruction of the sheep is certain 

 and quick, Irom the greater disturbance to the function* of the brain ; but when it is situated on the sur- 

 face, it sometimes requires many months to destroy ; an absorption of the bone taking place as the hydatid 

 increases, m Im h produces the thinness in the skull opposite to the affected part. 



7269. This disease is not incurable, as has been supposed, but it is only relieved by a manual operation. 

 In France it has been successfully treated bv the application of the actual cautery : a pointed iron, heated 

 red-hot, is forced through the skin and skull, to the surface of the brain; the principal nicety of which 

 i- in penetrating the hydatid with the hot iron without wounding the brain itself. In England, some shep- 

 herds are very dexterous in wiring, which they do by thrusting a wire up the nostrils till it rests against 

 the skulL lii the passage of the wire the hydatid is usually ruptured ; others elevate the skull ^by means 

 of a trephine, or even a knife) opposite to the softened portion, and extract the hydatid, if possible, whole, 

 which a little care will effect, by drawing it away with a blunt pincer, gently moving it from side to side. 

 Tapping is merelv letting out the fluid contents of the hydatid by an awl, which is practised by some shep- 

 herds with success ; and if the instrument be not thrust to far, the sheep is not injured : to avoid which, 

 it i- passed obliquely. A well hardened gimlet is a very proper instrument, with which the skull is easily 

 penetrated, and an Opening bv the twisting of the instrument is made, sufficiently large in the hydatid 

 itself to discharge its contents, which is all that is sufficient to ensure its destruction, and which, if no 

 other exists, is followed by immediate recovery. A French author states, that when he fed his sheep on 

 cinquefoil he had less staggers than at any other time. 



7270. frontal worms. Sheep are observed to gather together, with their noses thrust inwards to avoid 

 the attat k "I the iA"-trus uvis, or fly, that lays its eggs on the inner margin of the nose, which having be- 

 come hat. bed, the larva creep up into the frontal and maxillary sinuses, to the torment of the sheep, and 

 .sometimes to their speedy destruction. The I ontineiit.d shepherds trepan all opening into these cavities, 

 and effect their removal ; but our shepherd* have not succeeded in the operation. 



7271. Fluke minus area parasitic animal, found in the biliary sinuses, not only of the sheep, but of the 

 horse, ass, goat, deer, &C, and whose existence is rather a consequence than a cause of morbidity 



Pining, the Vinquish in Galloway (languishing), is a disease described by Mr. Hogg, the Kttrick 

 Shepherd, in a recent number of the Quarterly Journal of Agriculture, xi. p. 697. He says, " It is most 

 latal in a season ol ',i rough t ; and June and September are the most deadly months. If ever a farmer per- 

 ceive* a Hock on such a farm having a flushed appearance of more than ordinarily rapid thriving, lie is 

 gone. By that day eight da\s, when he goes out to look at them again, he will find them lying, hanging 

 their ears, running at the eves, and looking at him like so many condemned criminals. As the disease 

 proceeds the hair on the animal'* face heroines dry, the wool assumes a bluish cast; and if the shepherd 



have the means Of I hanging the pasture, all those allected will fall in the course of a month." [Quar. 



Jour. Ag. High/. Sac. vol. ii. No. XI.) ,.,..■,-. 



T2T3 The diseases of lambs are principally indigestion, producing sometimes colic, which is relieved as 

 in RUeep, and sometimes diarrhoea, to be likewise cured by the means detailed for them. Sheep are also 

 liable to'an eruptive disease which begins on the rump, gradually extending along the chine, and when 

 it becomes more universal, it Usually destroy*. The cure ronsists in giving daily drinks of half a drachm 

 of cream of tartar, and one drachm of sulphur, in four ounces of chamomile decoction. Anoint also with 

 mild mercurial ointment and Turner's cerate in equal quantities. Lambs dropped in cold weather, or ill 

 wet situations, become paralytic : bathe in warm water, hand-rub and house, giving milk and bean uieul. 



