Essay on Sheep. 105 



I propose to make soap, for the purpose, of tur- 

 pentine instead of grease, and to mix a weak 

 deeoetion of tobacco with the water in which 

 they are washed. This I think will not only 

 free them in the first instance from tick and 

 lice, but keep the tick fly from assaulting them 

 as long as the seem of the tobacco or the tur- 

 pentine remains. Tar, as a cheaper material, 

 may be used instead of turpentine; neither of 

 them will injure the w^ool when mixed with a 

 just proportion of alkaH, and diluted when used. 

 The next care of the attentive shepherd is to 

 examine his flock frequently, in order to know 

 whether they are in health, and to remove such 

 as he may find distempered ; tor almost all the 

 diseases of sheep are contagious, and a whole 

 flock may be lost by the negligence of a few 

 days. Hapi^ily, that long catalogue of disorders 

 which prevail in other parts of the world, is re- 

 duced in our country to two — the scab, and the 

 staggers, or dizziness* The scab is a cutaneous 

 disorder; it is discoverable from the sheep's fre- 

 quently rubbing himself, biting and pulling his 

 wool; and, when it has made some progress, 

 from the wool's rising or falling otf, at first 

 generally on the back. Fine-woolled sheep, 

 though not more subject to this complaint than 

 others, are, it is said, more difficult to cure, both 



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