336 THE DOMESTIC SHEEP. 



feeding late in the year or early Spring on dead innutritious herb- 

 age, are all to be avoided; and it will be very useful at those 

 times of the year when the food is either too innutritious, or too 

 rich and stimulating, to give Epsom salts in two ounce doses, alter- 

 nately Avith chlorate of potash in thirty grain doses, daily for three 

 days. The chlorate may be continued after this by itself every 

 second day for a week with advantage. 



ANASARCA NAVEL DISEASE OF LAMBS. 



This disease is a form of dropsy, and due to poisoning of the 

 blood by any sudden check to the secretions of the skin by which 

 injurious matter is thrown back into the circulation. In its mani- 

 festations, it somewhat resembles the disease described under the 

 head of Anthrax, or Braxy, but differs in the absence of any inflam- 

 matory condition of the animal. It appears in the form of swellings 

 on various parts of the body, but mostly on the belly and about 

 the navel, whence its common name among English shepherds, 

 "navel ill." It is accompanied by great prostration, dull and 

 blood-shot eyes and a red and congested mouth. The animal lies 

 and pants, and has no inclination to move. Generally the head 

 is thrown back on the shoulder. The characteristic eymptom, 

 however, is the dropsical condition on the belly, under the throat 

 and jaws, where the swollen parts contain a yellow fluid. Finally 

 the limbs swell, the nostrils are swollen until closed and breath- 

 ing is difficult. The scanty urine is thick and brick-red in color 

 and has a strong odor. 



The causes are sudden changes of the weather; exposure to 

 chilling rains; close confinement in ill-ventilated pens; and the 

 prevalence of these conditions in our northern climate tends to 

 aggravate the tendency to this disease among the lambs. 



The treatment is to give a gentle laxative, as two ounces of raw 

 linseed oil, after which one teaspoonful of turpentine may be 

 given in sweet milk. Ten grain doses twice daily of chlorate of 

 potash are useful. The swellings should be bathed with slightly 

 warm solution of one dram of carbolic acid in a quart of water. 

 The food should be warm oatmeal gruel sweetened with sugar. 

 Small doses of turpentine are given to stimulate the kidneys, 

 at intervals of three hours. This increased action of the kidneys 

 tends to reduce the dropsical tendency of the disease. 



BRONCHITIS INFLAMMATION OF THE LARGE AIR 

 TUBES IN THE LUNGS. 



This disease is an extension downwards of a common sore 

 throat, or nasal catarrh. It is a frequent result of exposure 

 to cold rains after warm weather. It is also caused by the irrita- 

 tion of parasitic worms in these air tubes, when it is called 

 verminous, or wormy, bronchitis. It has two forms, one is mild 

 and soon passes off under naturally improved conditions in a few 

 days. In this form the sheep is dull and stands about without eat- 

 ing, coughing with a hard sound, but soon becoming soft and rat- 

 tling as the discharge from the nose becomes copious. In such 



