CHAPTER XXIX. 



DISEASES OF THE BLOOD. 



Estimates of the blood in sheep lead us to suppose that the 

 proportion to weight of the carcass is as one to twenty-three. The 

 composition, as regards red blood corpuscles, is capable of greater 

 variations than in perhaps any other of the domesticated animals. 

 A condition of plethora or of full bloodedness rendering these 

 animals specially liable to such diseases as anthrax or strike, 

 and to sudden stases resembling apoplexy when they are over- 

 fed with stimulating foods, with a view to showing in fat stock 

 shows or for early slaughter. There is reason to believe that a 

 greater number of cases of anthrax occur among sheep than has 

 been generally supposed, as deaths among the full-blooded are 

 attributed to the plethoric condition just alluded to, but this 

 state has only prepared the sheep for the invasion of the specific 

 bacillus. The condition known as anaemia, in which the number 

 of red blood corpuscles sinks to the lowest known among domesti- 

 cated animals is the other extreme, and it is quite remarkable 

 how long sheep can keep alive when starvation or disease has 

 robbed them of these important red cells. 



The heart -beats, as measured by the pulse, which can be taken 

 under the tail (caudal arteries) or in the thigh (femoral) is variously 

 estimated at from seventy to eighty per minute in adults, and 

 eighty-five to ninety-five in lambs. The temperature is commonly 

 said to be 101 to 104 Fahrenheit. The sheep doctor will not 

 attach so very much importance to these figures because the timid 

 nature of the sheep accelerates the heart's action when restrained 

 for examination, and the same nervous influences elevate the 

 temperature. Unless the pulse is a mere flicker on the one hand 

 (as in ansemia) or full and bounding as in brain troubles and plethora 

 on the other, the examiner will take notice rather of the signs 

 mentioned in the previous chapter, and of the colour of the visible 

 membranes and the fullness or otherwise of the vessels of the eye 

 when the lids are forced open. A temperature much over 104 

 Fahrenheit, will, however, be considered serious. 



SIMPLE FEVER. 



A febrile condition in which there is a loss of spirit and of appetite 

 and absence of rumination, dry muzzle and hanging head, quick 



