178 DISEASES OF THE SKIN. 



ulcerated bowels, sooth the pain, and stop the purging. 

 If these fail, you may use the astringent mixture recom- 

 mended in diarrhoea at page 175, and in the same man- 

 ner, adding to each dose a grain of ipecacuanha. When 

 the appetite returns, and the stools begin to acquire 

 consistency, speedy recovery may be prognosticated. 



During recovery part of the wool always falls off. 



(138.) Prevention of Dysentery. If you wish your 

 sheep to take the disease, do as some wiseacres recom- 

 mend — put tar upon their tails, and noses ; you will 

 thus render them feverish, and uncomfortable, and 

 every way fit for an attack. 



Gathering sheep into confined places is always bad, 

 nothing will tend more to ward off dysentery than an 

 open frequently-changed easy-lying pasture, combined 

 with gentle usage on the part of the shepherd. 



DISEASES OF THE SKIN. 



(139.) Scab, or Itch. — Symptoms and Causes. These 

 are so well known that they hardly merit a description. 

 Little white specks appear upon the wool, and are soon 

 followed by a small pustule at the root. The pustules 

 are produced by a minute insect burrowing in the skin, 

 which accounts for one external application of any 

 active substance being sufficient to eradicate the malady. 

 The infected sheep is restless, tearing off the wool with 

 its teeth, and rubbing itself against every resisting body 

 The skin is red and fretted, discharging an ichor which 

 hardens into crusts. These gradually extend, inducing 

 a premature failure of the wool. 



If the sheep be not relieved, it sinks under its accum- 

 ulated miseries. 



