156 ESSAY ON SHEEP HUSBANDRY. 



Pneumonia, or inflammation of the lungs, does sometimes oc- 

 cur. The sheep grows dull, loses its appetite and cud, or at 

 least ceases to chew it ; the pulse is at lirst hard and rapid. 

 This disease occurs after exposure to sudden cold. Mr. Spoon- 

 er recommends early and copious bleeding, repeated every few 

 hours, if necessary ; and a purge of two ounces Epsom salts 

 which may be repeated in smaller doses, if the bowels are not 

 sufficiently relaxed. But great caution is to be observed, lest 

 the auimal become too much exhausted. 



As many of the internal organs of the sheep resemble the 

 corresponding organs in the human species, so many of the 

 diseases are almost identical. Accordingly Bronchitis and Ca- 

 tarrh, assail the sheep as well as man. And as with man so 

 and much more so among sheep, is prevention better than cure. 

 Too much cannot be said in favor of good, comfortable and 

 well ventilated shelter, as a preventive of nine tenths of all 

 the maladies of the sheep. 



Like neat cattle, sheep will sometimes have the hove (so 

 called,) when put into clover pastures. The stomach becomes 

 distended with wind, and without relief the animal will die. 

 The usual remedy is to make an incision with a sharp point- 

 ed knife between the hip and the short ribs, and put in a short 

 tube through which the gas passes off. The wound heals 

 easily. 



Diarrhea is often troublesome, both to sheep and lambs. If 

 it does not yield to suitable food, such as oats, crusts of wheat 

 bread, rice boiled in milk ; a dose of castor oil or powdered 

 rhubarb, may be given, — after which, as in the human spe- 

 cies, the diet should be light, and sometimes a tonic of brandy, 

 in case of great prostration, is to be recommended. 



Some of the old writers upon sheep-husbandry insist, that 

 sheep are subject to small-pox. Thus Nicholson, author of 

 the Farmer's Assistant, enumerates this as a disease of sheep, 

 "being," says he, " blisters which first appear on the flanks, 

 and spread over the whole body. It is produced by drinking 

 stagnant water. When the blisters break, anoint them with 

 sweet oil." It cannot be supposed, of course, however, that 

 the disease known by that name, among men, is the same as 

 that described by him as originating in "stagnant- water." 



