SECRETARY'S REPORT. 131 



not wearing down as it does on stony ground, but growing 

 through the warmth and moisture, to an unusual length. It 

 exists to a greater or less extent in every situation tliat has a 

 tendency to increase the growth of hoofs, without wearing them 

 off. The treatment of tliis disease is uniform. The sheep 

 should be taken after a rain, or having been driven through 

 water to soften the hoofs, every part of the overgrown and dis- 

 eased hoof should be pared away witli a sharp knife ; all the 

 bloody, ulcerated, diseased portion of the foot carefully cleansed, 

 and the feet dipped in a solution of blue vitriol and vinegar, hot ; 

 this proves a very effectual cure. This pestilent disease should 

 not be confounded with " the fouls," to which sheep are some- 

 times subject, but which is not contagious. This is readily 

 cured by a little solution of blue vitriol or spirits of turpentine, 

 followed by a coating of warm tar. Perhaps the difference of 

 opinion as to whether or not foot rot is contagious, may be ac- 

 counted for by the fact that there seem to be two different dis- 

 eases, arising from distinct causes, and discovering different 

 symptoms. 



In the very yaluable essays written for the Royal Agricultu- 

 ral Society, the distinction is clearly drawn between the common 

 " foot rot," and the " epizootic foot rot," or murrain. The 

 first is pronounced not contagious, the last is eminently so. 

 Mr. Finley Dun, an English writer of acknowledged authority, 

 says : " In the treatment of murrain the principle of non- 

 intervention must be carefully recognized ; palliative measures 

 only are justifiable ; all endeavors to arrest the disease, or pre- 

 vent the eruption, arc injurious. True, the clearing the foot 

 from all filth, removing the superfluous or irritating horn, and 

 placing the animals on good dry pasture, are in most, cases all 

 that is required until maturation, when much the same treat- 

 ment is required as in common foot rot, bathing with acetate, or 

 oxide of zinc, or solution of vitriol. Immediate and thorough 

 isolation is imperative on the first discovery of this disease 

 among a flock. 



Grubs in the Head, according to Dr. Blacklock, are caused 

 by the gadfly, which deposits its eggs during the summer and 

 autumn in the nostril, causing great pain and irritation. They 

 soon hatch, and the larvai find tlieir way up the interior of tlie 

 nose to the front of the head, where they remain and grow till 



