92 Essay on Sheep. 



fail to injure the sheep, which are very subject 

 to colds in the head, chills that penetrate the 

 limbs, and, falling on the bowels, brnig on a 

 lax, which sometimes kills, and never fails to 

 weaken them extremely. Another evil which 

 is little attended to, is the bringing together a 

 large flock of sheep in a stable or close barn, 

 and keeping them together till the whole 

 are shorn. If there are any disordered sheep 

 in the flock, they communicate their com- 

 plaint, if contagious, to the whole flock, 

 who take in each other's efiiuvia at every 

 breath they draw. But independent of this, 

 their being heated in this manner, and inime- 

 diately after stripped of their clothing, cannot 

 but be very hurtful to them. In Spain it is a 

 common practice to keep the sheep closely 

 confined, in order to make theni sweat, with a 

 view to increase the weight of the wool, and 

 to make the shears enter easier. The conse- 

 quence is, that many die; and in some instances 

 one haif of the flock has been carried oft^ in the 

 space of a night. I cannot but believe that this 

 injudicious management and folding have ge- 

 nerated tliat great catalogue of maladies that 

 prevail among the sheep of Europe, but most 

 of which arc happily unknown in America. 

 1 vv^ould, therefore, recommend, when the 



