196 



Rot in Sheep. 



Vol. XII. 



The compiler has no personal knowledge 

 of tills destructive malady, and is therefore 

 compelled to rely on the account presented 

 by Mr. Youatt, all of which that is of inte- 

 rest is subjoined. 



"The early symptoms of this disease are 

 exceedingly obscure; this is much to be de- 

 plored, because in the first stage of it alone 

 does it often admit of cure. The animal is 

 dull, lagging behind his companions — he 

 does not feed so well as usual. If suspicion 

 has been a little excited by this, the truth of 

 the matter may easily be put to the test, for 

 if the wool is parted, and especially about 

 the brisket, the skin will have a pale yellow 

 hue. 



" The eye of the sheep beginning to sicken 

 with the rot can never be mistaken; it is in- 

 jected, but pale ; the small veins at the cor- 

 ner of the eye are turgid, but they are filled 

 with yellow serous fluid, and not with blood. 

 Farmers very properly pay great attention 

 to this in their examination or purchase of 

 sheep. If the caruncle is red, they have a 

 proof which never fails them that the ani- 

 mal is healthy. There is no loss of condi- 

 tion, but quite the contrary, for the sheep in 

 the early stage of the rot has a great pro- 

 pensity to fatten. Mr. Bakewell was aware 

 of this, for he used to overflow certain of his 

 pastures, and when the water was run off 

 turn those of his sheep there which he wanted 

 to prepare for the market. They speedily 

 became rotted, and in the early stage of the 

 rot they accumulated flesh and fat with won- 

 derful rapidity. By this manoeuvre he used 

 to gain five or six weeks on his neighbours. 



"As the disease becomes confirmed the 

 yellow tinge begins to spread — the muzzle 

 and the tongue are stained — the animal is 

 more dull and dispirited — his false condition 

 rapidly disappears — the membrane of the 

 nose becomes livid— the tongue gradually 

 assumes the same character — the eyes are 

 dull, and their vessels charged with a yellow- 

 brown fluid. The breath now becomes fetid 



the bowels variable — sometimes costive, 



and at other times loose to a degree that de- 

 fies the power of medicine. The skin often 

 becomes spotted with yellow or black— the 

 emaciation is more and more rapid — the 

 general fever increases — the vessels of the 

 eye are more distended and red — the skin 

 becomes loose and flabby, and if it is pressed 

 upon, a peculiar crackling sound is heard — 

 the wool comes off when pulled with the 

 slightest force— the appetite entirely fails— 

 the belly begins to enlarge— on pressure 

 fluid is easily recognized within it, and 

 hence one of its names 'the hydropic' or 

 dropsical rot. The animal is weak in every 

 limb— a violent purging is now very fre- 



quently present — the sheep wastes away to 

 a mere skeleton, and at length he dies — the 

 duration of the disease being from two to 

 four or six months. 



"When a rotted sheep is examined after 

 death, the whole cellular tissue is found to 

 be infiltrated, and a yellow serous fluid 

 everywhere follows the knife. The muscles 

 are soft and flabby; they have the appear- 

 ance of being macerated. The kidneys are 

 pale, flaccid, and infiltrated. The belly is 

 frequently filled with water, or purulent 

 matter; the peritoneum is everywhere thick- 

 ened, and the bowels adhere together by 

 means of an unnatural growth. The heart 

 is enlarged and softened, and the lungs are 

 filled with tubercles. The principal alter- 

 ations of structure are in the liver. It is 

 pale, livid, and broken down with the slight- 

 est pressure; and on being boiled it will al- 

 most dissolve away. When the liver is not 

 pale, it is often curiously spotted. In some 

 cases it is speckled like the back of a toad. 

 Nevertheless, some parts of it are hard and 

 scirrhous; others are ulcerated, and the bili- 

 ary ducts are filled with flukes. Here ies 

 the decided seat of the disease, and it is 

 here that the nature of the malady may be 

 learned. It is inflammaiion of llie liver. 

 In consequence of this the secretion from 

 the liver is increased — at first scarcely viti- 

 ated, and the digestive powers are rendered 

 more energetic; but soon the bile flows so 

 abundantly that it is taken into the system, 

 and the eye, the brisket, the mouth, become 

 yellow. As the disease proceeds, the liver 

 becomes disorganized, and its secretion more 

 vitiated, and even poisonous ; and then fol- 

 lows a total derangement of the digestive 

 powers. 



The liver attracts the principal attention 

 of the examiner; it displays the evident ef-' 

 fects of acute and destructive inflammation; 

 and still more plainly the ravages of the 

 parasites with which its ducts are crowded. 

 Here is plainly the original seat of the dis- 

 ease; the centre whence a destructive in- 

 fluence spreads on every side. Whatever 

 else is found, it is the consequence of previ- 

 ous mischief existing here. Then the first 

 inquiry is a very limited one — the nature of 

 this hepatic affection, and the agency of the 

 parasites that inhabit the liver. Are they 

 the cause or consequence of disease ? 



The Fluke — the Fasciola of Linnaeus — 

 the Distoma hepaticum of Rodolphi — is 

 found in the biliary ducts of the sheep, the 

 goat, the deer, the ox, the horse, the ass, the 

 hog, the dog, the rabbit, and various other 

 animals, and even in the human being. It 

 is from three-quarters of an inch to an inch 

 and a quarter in length, and from one-third 



