440 THE DISEASES AND DISOBDERS OF THE OX. 



then be taken with a view to staying the further progress of the 

 malady. The fact is that the sheep is one of the most valuable 

 animals which a farmer keeps, and that an outbreak of this 

 disease in a flock of sheep would in many cases entail a money- 

 loss almost disastrous in amount. If not relieved, the afflicted 

 animals will probably die, or, if they live, may become well-nigh 

 valueless. 



When a farmer is attempting to put a stop to the disease, he 

 may often find it a very arduous matter to cure the worst cases 

 completely, and since these may, so long as they are allowed to 

 live, give the disorder even to sheep which have already 

 been cured, it is the wisest course to have them summarily 

 slaughtered and their carcases buried. In some instances the 

 Local Authority should be advised to order that sheep which are 

 very badly afflicted be made away with. It is often very 

 difficult to decide if the malady has actually ceased to exist 

 among the many members of a large flock. The disorder is 

 more troublesome in winter than in summer. In the warm 

 weather the sheep can be shorn, and if the fields be dry and the 

 pasturage good, the spreading of the complaint can be, by the 

 exercise of due care and precautions, quickly arrested. 



If scabbed sheep have been kept under shelter, the quarters 

 should be thoroughly cleansed and disinfected, and all posts and 

 the like which have been used should be, if possible, tarred or 

 painted, for it has been recorded that healthy animals on one 

 occasion took the infection by being placed in an uncleansed 

 stable in which scabbed sheep had been, kept eight months 

 previously. This seems almost doubtful, but Gerlach maintains 

 that at least four weeks should be allowed to elapse before 

 buildings, pastures, or roads, which have been much frequented 

 by scabbed sheep may safely be opened out to healthy flocks. 



Now, in regard to the symptoms manifested by sheep suffering 

 from scabies in its early stages, it may be said that the malady is 

 rather difficult to detect at first. One sign, which, however, is 

 not a very early one, is that sheep which are afflicted with the 

 disorder will, when they are scratched or rubbed with the hand 

 along the back or elsewhere, be pleasurably excited to such an 

 extent that they will express their delight by stretching out and 

 shaking their heads and necks, also by a peculiar kind of 

 convulsive champing with the under lip ("knapping,^' as the 



