244 ANIMAL ARTISANS 



was the only moderately weather-tight shelter in 

 which a lion or bear could live without contracting 

 rheumatism. 



There are, unfortunately, certain disadvantages and 

 dangers which domestic animals incur if kept in the 

 open after a plague of rain and waters. The pas- 

 tures are full of what the Cumberland farmer calls 

 " 'demicals " i.e. parasites of all kinds, liver-fluke, 

 strongylus, and other deadly and little-known plagues, 

 the eggs of which are eaten in the grass, drunk in 

 the water, and may even stick to the animals' coats 

 when they lie down and be swallowed after they have 

 licked their jackets over by way of toilet. With 

 their vitality lowered by the bad quality of the food 

 they graze upon, they are more likely to fall victims 

 to these insidious enemies. Low-lying ground, or 

 meadows which are flooded, are particularly dangerous 

 to all stock at this time. Nor is it easy to take pre- 

 cautions, because the symptoms of illness do not 

 appear until months after the animals have absorbed 

 the origin of the mischief. But it will be seen that 

 these and similar dangers arise not from the air, but 

 from the earth. It should be remembered when 

 leaving animals in the open that on ordinary pasture- 

 land they have little or no natural shelter available 

 against storms or sudden cold, such as they would 

 have been able to find if in a wild state, and that 

 sheds or shelters of some kind should be open for 

 them to seek refuge in during exceptional weather. 



