376 DISEASES OF THE SHEEP. 



DISEASES OF THE HOOF. 



FOOT-ROT. 



This common scourge of the sheep, through all parts of 

 the United States, requires an extended notice of the causes, 

 and the most approved treatment. The compiler has had 

 no personal observation of this loathsome malady, other 

 than from seeing it in flocks away from his home, not a 

 sheep of his own ever having been attacked with it. For 

 this reason, he is compelled to rely on the scientific accounts 

 of Mr. Youatt, and of Professor Dick of Edinburgh, as to 

 the causes, and to intelligent sheep-breeders of our own 

 country, for its treatment. 



Mr. Youatt proceeds to say, — " Foot-rot is a disease at 

 first, and usually throughout its whole course, confined to the 

 foot. The first indication of foot-rot is a certain degree of 

 lameness in the animal. If he is caught and examined, the 

 foot will be found hot and tender, the horn softer than usual, 

 and there will be enlargement about the coronet, and slight 

 separation of the hoof from it, with portions of the horn 

 torn away, and ulcers formed below, and a discharge of thin 

 fetid matter. The ulcers, if neglected, continue to increase ; 

 they throw out fungous granulations, they separate the hoof 

 more and more from the parts beneath, until at length it 

 drops oflf. All this is the consequence of soft and marshy 

 pasture. The mountain or the Down sheep — the sheep in 

 whose walk there is no poachy ground, if he is not actually 

 exposed to infection by means of the virus, knows nothing 

 at all about it ; it is in the yielding soil of the low country 

 that all the mischief is done." 



The following is from the pen of Professor Dick : — 



" The foot presents a structure and arrangement of parts 

 well adapted to the natural habits of the animal. It is di- 

 vided into two digits or toes, which are shod with a hoof 

 composed of different parts, similar in many respects to the 

 hoof of the horse. Each hoof is principally composed of 

 the crust, or wall, and the sole. The crust, extending along 

 the outside of the foot, round the toe, and turning inwards, 

 is continued about half way back between each toe on the 

 inside. The sole fills the space on the inferior surface of 

 the hoof between these parts of the crust, and being contin- 

 ued backwards becomes softer as it proceeds, assuming 



