174 Essay on Sheep, — Appejidix. 



tricious food given them; such as oats, old In- 

 dian corn, and wheat bread: care should be 

 taken that they nurse their lambs duly, for it 

 often happens that this complaint is aggravated 

 by a penury of milk; in this case the defici- 

 ency should be supplied by cow's milk boiled, 

 or by letting the lamb suck a cow. 



Hove, — Sheep turned into clover too sud- 

 denly, and with empty stomachs, are some- 

 times inflated by the wind in that organ, the 

 orifice of which is stopped by the food they 

 have taken. This the farmer calls being hove. 

 All ruminating cattle are subject to it. On be- 

 ing affected with it, they swell very suddenly, 

 and, unless speedily relieved, they die. Seve- 

 ral remedies are prescribed for this disease; the 

 first and most effectual is to plunge a knife into 

 the paunch. The sheep will swell most on the 

 left side, and a part of the swelling will be very 

 protuberant below the hip-bone. Into this pro- 

 tuberance plunge a knife, sharp at the point 

 and dull on the edge, so as not to cut unneces- 

 sarily sideways. The depth must be regulated 

 by the degree of swelling; there is little danger 

 of going too deep, and the knife must enter 

 the stomach to be effectual. The aperture must 

 be kept open till all the wind is discharged, 

 nhich will be in a few minutes. Another re- 



