190 DISEASES OF YOU.NG LAMBS. 



when sne snould be allowed a little hay. While the food is altered 

 the bowels should he well cleansed. 'I'liere may i)e something amiss 

 about the ewe, which causes the milk to be thus puroative and un- 

 wliolesome. The best purgative for sheep is the following : — 



RECIPE (No. 2). 

 Pursing Drink for Sheep.— Tnke Epsom salts, two ouiicos ; powdored caraways, a 

 qiiarlcr of an ounce; warm tliiii gruel surticient lo dissolve the sails. 



This beinfT given to the mother will likewise be of service to the 

 lamb, by helping to carry olF any acidities or crudities from the sto- 

 mach or bowels. 



In a disease so fatal, and which runs its course so rapidly, no time 

 ifVo be lost, and therefore astringent medicine should be administer- 

 ed to the lamb as speedily as possible. 



RECIPE (No. 3). 



Astringent Drink for Lainbs.—Takn compound chalk powder with opium, a drachm; 

 gentian, a .scruple ; essence of peppermint, three drops. Mix with a little thin starch, 

 and give luornmg and night. 



If the animal should still linger on, and the purging should not be 

 much abated, it is probable that the milk of the mother is most in 

 fault. The lamb should then be taken from her, and fed with cow's 

 milk boiled, to every pint of which a scruple of prepared chalk has 

 been added, the astringent drink being continued as before. 



If the purging abates, the medicine should be immediately sus- 

 pended, or not tiiven so frequently, lest costiveness should follow, a 

 disease which I shall presently describe, and which is also very fatal. 



The lamb with diarrhcea should be docked on the first appearance 

 of the disease, if the operation iiad not been previously performed, 

 ind the hair should be carefully cut away under the tail, otherwise it 

 is liable to become clotted. It will adhere together, and form an 

 obstruction about the anus, so that the faeces cannot be discharged. 

 The least ill consequence of this will be very great soreness about 

 the part; but in many cases the animal will die in consequence of the 

 obstruction, before the existence of it is suspected. 



The colour of the dischartre will considerably influence the mode 

 of treatment. If it is of an olive-green colour, the drink should be 

 persevered in; and on every third day half a table-spoonful of castor 

 oil should be administered. If it is of a white colour, it may probably 

 proceed from coajrulation of the milk, and should be treated as advised 

 in a pi-evious page. 



If the lamb is two or three months old, the medicine should be 

 correspondingly increased, and he has a better chance: if he is five 

 or six months old, he will only be lost throujjh the negligence of the 

 farmer or attendant. The same means must be pursued ; but another 

 thing must be added, and that of the greatest importance, — a change 

 of pasture from a succulent to a bare and dry one. The removal to a 

 Ktubble-field is a frequent and very successful practice. 



