556 SHEEP HUSBANDRY. 



LETTER XVI. 



DISEASES AND THEIR TREATMENT— (Contmued.) 



Cachectic Diseases... Hydatid on the Brain — diagnosis — common methods of treating it — ti-eatillent of 

 French and English veterinanaiis. ..The Pelt Rot... Local diseases. . .Grub in the head— the nature of 

 the disease, if one — erroneous popular opinions — location of the grub — description of the fly (CEstrus 

 ovis) — method of attacking the sheep— conduct of the sheep — appearance of the larva — its habits — the 

 chrysalis— the larva found in the heads of healthy sheep — not believed to be the cause or source of fatal 

 disease — Mr. Braey Clark's and Mr. Youatt's opinion — method of preventing and of expelling the grub. .. 

 Scab — nature of it— habits of the ocrtT-i- description of them — contagiousness of the disease— post-mor- 

 tem appearances — treatment. . .Erysipelatous scab — treatment. . .Disease of Bidex Canal — nature and 

 treatment. . .Hoof ail — first indications— erroneous statements of foreign veterinarians — of Mr. Youatt — 

 author's experience with it— diagnosis — chronic hoof ail — can it be cured? — difficulties — preparation of 

 the foot — ordinary treatment — proper treatment — cost of curing a flock — cheap partial remedies — sug- 

 gestions — contagiousness of the disease — how communicated. ..Fouls— cause and treatment. . .Broncho- 

 cele or goitre — diagnosis — treatment. . .Miscellaneous diseases. . .Poison from eating Laurel — symptoms — 

 treatment. ..Sore Face — cause and treatment. . .Loss of cud — not a disease... Hoove — cause — symptoms — 

 cure... Obstruction of Gullet, or choking — treaDnent. ..Fractures— treatment, &c... Method of adminis- 

 tering medicine into the stomach.. .Method of bleeding. . .The place of feeling the pulse.. .List of medi- 

 cines employed in treating the diseases of sheep. . .Ale. . .Aloes. . .Alum. . .Antimony. . .Arsenic. . .Blue 



Vitriol... Camphor — CaiTaway seeds Catechu Chtdk. . .Corrosive Sublimate. . .Digitalis.-. .Epsom 



Halts. ..Gentian. ..Ginger. ..Iodine. ..Lard. ..Lime, carbonate of.. .Lime, chloride of .. .Linseed Oil 



Mercury... Muriatic Acid... Nitrate of Potash... Nitrate of Silver. ..Nitric Acid. ..Opium. ..Pepper. .. 



Pimento... Rhubarb... Salt... Sulphate of Iron.. .Sulphur Sulphuric Acid Spirit of Tar 'Tar... 



Tobacco... Turpentine... Verdigris. ..Zinc. 



CACHECTIC DISEASES. 



Hydatid on the Brain. — This disease, known as turnsick, sturdy, 

 staggers, etc., is spoken of by Chancellor Livingston, and other writers 

 of reputation, as having occurred in this country within their own obser- 

 vation. I have never seen a case of it, and shall be obliged, therefore, to 

 make use of the descriptions of others. Mr. Spooner says : 



" The symptoms are a dull, moping appearance, the sheep separating from the flock, a 

 wandering and blue appearance to the eye, and sometimes partial or total blindness ; the 

 sheep appears unsteady in its walk, will sometimes stop suddenly and fall down, at others 

 gallop across the field, and after the disease has existed for some time will almost constantly 

 move round in a circle — there seems, indeed, to be an aberration of the intellect of the 

 animal. These symptoms, though rarely all present in the same subject, are yet sufficiently 

 marked to prevent the disease being mistaken for any other. On examining the brain of 

 sturdied sheep, we find what appears to be a watery bladder, termed a hydatid, which may 

 be either small or of the size of a hen's egg. This hydatid, one of the class of entozoons 

 has been termed by naturalists the hydatid folycephalus ccrebralis, which signifies the 

 <many-hcaded hydatid of the brain ; these heads being irregularly distributed on the sur- 

 iace of the bladder, and on the front part of each head there is a mouth surrounded by 

 minute sharp hooks w^itliin a ring of sucking disks. These disks serve as the means of 

 attachment by forming a vacuum, and bring the mouth in contact with the surface, and thus 

 by the aid of the hooks the parasite is nourished. The coats of the hydatid are disposed 

 in several layers, one of which appears to possess a muscular power. These facts are 

 developed by the microscope, which also discovers numerous little bodies adhering to the 

 internal membrane. The fluid in the bladder is usually clear, but occasionally turbid, and 

 then it has beeu found to contain a number of minute worms. " 



According to Mr. Youatt, this disease attacks many of the weakly 

 lambs in the English flocks. It usually appears, he remarks, " during 

 the first year of the animal's life, and when he is about or under six 

 months old." It succeeds a " a severe winter and a cold, wet spring." — 

 He says : 



" If there is only one parasite inhabiting the brain of a sturdied sheep, its situation is very 

 uncertain. It is mostly found beneath the pia-mater, lying upon the brain, and in or upoa 

 the scissure between the two hemispheres. If it is within the brain, it is generally in oiie 

 of the ventricles, but occasionally in the substance of the brain, and, in a few instances, ia 



that of the cerebellum 



(1036; 



