Essay on Sheep, — Appendix. 175 



medy is to take a piece of rattan or grape-vine, 

 with a natural or artificial knob at the end, 

 covered with cloth or leather, and to thrust it 

 down the throat into the stomach. This will 

 open the aperture, and the wind will be dis- 

 charged. To these surgical operations chemi- 

 cal remedies are sometimes substituted, and 

 should be first tried if there is time for it; a pint 

 of linseed oil has been successfully given, or 

 a solution of potash or common ley: both of 

 these will combine with the carbonic acid in 

 the stomach, and may, of course, effect a cure 

 if given in suflficient quantities to absorb the 

 air. 



Purging. — Sheep turned into pastures in the 

 spring are very subject to a purging, principally 

 from a change in diet, and laying on the w^et 

 ground after being turned out of their dry folds. 

 This is in general a malady of little conse- 

 quence, and perhaps is salutary upon the whole, 

 if not too great or too long continued. I have 

 never used any remedies for it; but I conceive 

 that folding in their winter cot, upon dry litter, 

 for a few nights, with a handful of hay and 

 grain, would check it: to this may be added 

 salt, mixed with any absorbent earth, which 

 the sheep will eat very readily. If any are so 

 much affected as to be weakened by it, and 



