220 BRITISH SHEEP AND SHEPHERDING. 



of salts and mucus. If, however, the vermiform appendix is 

 and has been blocked for some time, and for some distance, 

 mechanical removal of the offending material becomes very difficult, 

 and a cure improbable, and operation is desirable. The appendix 

 may be cut off, and bleeding arrested by tincture of iron, or other 

 styptics, and healing looked for in a few days. It may be well 

 here to say that the notion of impotence or sterility so generally 

 held by shepherds has been frequently disproved, and that rams 

 have been as fertile after operation as before. 



LEAKING OF URINE FBOM THE NAVEL. 



Lambs, like other young creatures, are liable to leaking away 

 of the urine through the urachus or fsetal passage. They should 

 be examined in order to ascertain if the proper outlet is available, 

 and if it is so, the umbilicus may be sealed by tying the short 

 navel string, or picking it up with a needle if too short to get hold 

 of with the fingers. A touch of bluest one may be used. Any 

 blocking of the outlet will generally lead to the passing of urine 

 by the proper channel. 



DISEASES OF THE GENERATIVE ORGANS. 



These would be few if we could exclude those incidental to 

 parturition. The ewe flock and the lambing-pen are the chief 

 anxieties of the sheep -farmer. Some of these are due to our inter- 

 ference ; as when bad effects follow castration. This necessary 

 operation may be considered here, just to point to the methods of 

 avoidance of them. 



CASTRATION. 



There are several ways of emasculating the sheep, and each 

 succeeds in the particular district in which it is practised. The 

 Down shepherds prefer operating within the first three weeks, 

 while the organs are very small. The method is to pull down 

 the purse, and cut off about three quarters of an inch with a sheer 

 steel rough -edged knife, and draw each testicle by means of the 

 teeth until the cord breaks. Inexpensive instruments are made 

 for the purpose, and are preferred by most people, but the old 

 plan is the best. In other districts lambs are allowed to grow 

 to two or three months old, but their tails have been docked while 

 quite young. Docking, as well as castrating, is done at the same 

 time in many flocks, but an interval should be allowed, as 

 haemorrhage from the tail is generally greater than from the broken 

 and contracted arteries of the testicles. Late lambs are not 

 generally drawn, but the cords divided by the hot iron. A greater 

 mortality follows late cutting, and the monetary loss is, of course, 

 larger. With the very young it is not usual to take any antiseptic 



