192 



DISKA6ES OF SHEEP. 



luxuriant herbage, on soft pastures, is equally subject 

 to it ; and, in both cases, the disease is increased in a 

 wet season. 



" The reason why, in these situations, sheep are so 

 liable to the disease, is quite obvious. They are gene- 

 rally brought from lands where their range of pasturage 

 was greater than in these situations. In their former 

 state, from the exercise which the animal took, and the 

 nature of the grounds on which it pastured, the hoof 

 was worn down as it grew ; but, under the state in 

 question, the hoofs not only continue to grow, but, 

 where the land is moist, that growth is greatly in- 

 creased ; and the animal does not tread upon hard 

 ground, nor has it exercise to wear them down. Now, 

 in the case of man himself, when the nails of his fingers 

 or toes exceed the proper length, they break, or give 

 him such uneasiness as to induce him to pare them. 

 And the same takes place with the hoof of sheep. 

 But there is this difference in the case of the latter, 

 that when their hoof once breaks, as the animal has 

 not the power of paring it, the part thus broken must 

 continue a wound. Some parts grow out of their na- 

 tural and proper proportions ; the crust of the hoof 

 (c. c.) grows too long ; and the overgrown parts either 

 break off in irregular rents and unnatural forms, or, by 

 over-shooting the sole (s.), allow small particles of sand 

 or earth to enter into the pores of the hoof. These 

 particles reach the quick, and set up an inflammatioit, 

 which is followed by the destructive effects which are 

 too well known to require description. 



•* Similar effects are produced on soft, wet grounds. 

 The feet, in such a situation, are not only not subject 



