COMMON FOOT-ROT. 237 



The case is then often unmanageable except at greater cost than 

 the value of the sheep. Fortunately such a termination rarely 

 occurs, unless through great neglect or the most unskillful man- 

 agement. In such a case the foot should be washed, the loose and 

 separated horn removed with care, and the foot poulticed with a 

 warm carrot or turnip poultice twice a day for three days, and the 

 following should be administered at once : 



Epsom Salts 2 ounces. 



Laudanum 1 dram. 



After the feet have been cleaned by the poultice, the treatment 

 before mentioned should be continued until recovery is made. 

 The patient being unable to move without great pain, should be 

 kept in a pen with a clean floor free from straw or chaff, or any- 

 thing that would irritate the foot or convey infection elsewhere. 



A method recommended by the Hon. H. S. Randall, who has 

 successfully treated many of his own flock in this manner, is to 

 procure a large tub or trough in which three sheep can stand at 

 one time, and to pour into this tub a hot saturated solution of blue 

 vitriol (sulphate of copper), until it is four inches deep. The 

 sheep having had their feet washed, and all loose horn pared off, 

 are placed in the tub on their feet and held there by an assistant. 

 The first sheep is kept in the foot-bath until the fourth is ready to 

 go in, when it is taken out ; when the fifth goes in, the second is 

 turned out. Thus each sheep remains in the bath about ten min- 

 utes, giving time for the solution to penetrate every part of the 

 diseased hoof. After the bath, the sheep are kept in a dry grass 

 field. One application of this remedy served in every case,' to 

 make a complete cure. This troublesome disease is rarely known 

 In this country upon dry pasture, and generally yields at once to a 

 simple paring of the feet and shortening of the overgrown toes, a 

 cleansing from all filth or irritating matter, and a dressing with an 

 astringent ointment such as the first above mentioned. 



Common Foot-rot or (travel, is not contagious, and being the re- 

 sult of accidental circumstances, is cured by their removal, together 

 with simple auxiliary treatment. It consists of an inflammation 

 of the internal parts of the foot, the formation of matter, its escape 

 at the top of the hoof, the separation of the horn or crust from 

 the diseased parts, and as a matter of course, extreme lameness. 

 It is caused by an excessive wear of the crust of the hoof upon 

 stony, gravely pastures, or by excessive growth of the crust or 

 toe, in low moist meadows. In either case, foreign matter enters 

 between the crust and the sole, and pressing upon the sensitive 



