DISEASES OP SHEEP. 349 



longer go on, and of course the animal dies for want of air and 

 the purifying of the blood by it, as is explained in the chapter 

 devoted to the anatomy of the sheep. 



The symptoms of this disease are sufficiently well marked to 

 afford certain indications of its existence and to distinguish it 

 from pleurisy. They are dullness, stiffness, a rough, harsh fleece, 

 and a fit of severe shivering. The skin soon becomes dry, hot 

 and shrunken on the body; the eyes, lips, and inside of the ears 

 are red; the nostrils are drawn in, and there is a short cough, 

 suppressed by effort to avoid the severe pain caused by the action 

 of the lungs thus induced. The mouth is hot and clammy, there 

 is a sticky discharge from the nose, the head is protruded, the 

 breath is short and quick 40 or more per minute while the 

 effort to breathe is made by the muscles of the abdomen shown by 

 the heaving flanks. The pulse is rapid, reaching 70 or 8J per min- 

 ute. The bowels are constipated; urine is small and dark in color; 

 the sheep is averse to move and lies still. 



On placing the ear to the side of. the chest the usual move- 

 ment of the breathing is absent wherever the tissue is solidified, 

 and so far it is possible to trace the extent of the disease. When 

 these symptoms lessen in degree recovery is in progress, and with 

 good care the imminent relapse may be avoided. But it is only 

 by the best care that this happens, when the disease is checked, 

 and convalescence is complete in about fifteen days. Otherwise 

 death takes place from the fifth to the twelfth day. 



Treatment is the same as for bronchitis (to which refer). If 

 the bowels are constipated two ounces of Epsom "salts will be 

 useful: It is best given dissolved in warm oatmeal gruel or lin- 

 seed tea. This disease is not to be confounded with the epizootic 

 and contagious form of pleuro-pneumonia, a disease which occa- 

 sionly attacks sheep, but only in its sporatic form, which is not 

 contagious, and consists of both pleurisy and pneumonia combined. 

 For this combined disease the treatment is similar to that indi- 

 cated for simple pneumonia or for pleurisy. 



HERPES-IXFLAMMATION OF THE SKIN WITH 

 BLISTERS. 



This inflammatory condition of the skin is accompanied by 

 small vesicles, or blisters, containing serum. These may burst 

 and thus form extended sores, the exudation from which mats 

 the fleece, and has much the same appearance as the very much 

 more serious disease known as the scab. It is indeed frequently 

 thought to be this di&Fne, and much unnecessary concern may 

 arise in consequence. It is caused by over stimulating food, 

 especially over rich in the protein elements, such as cotton seed 

 meal, or the linseed oil meals. Exposure to continued wet 

 weather after shearing, is productive of this condition of the skin. 



The treatment is to give four ounces of Epsom salts, repeated 

 the second day after. If crusts have formed these may be 

 broken and removed by washing with warm water and carbolic 

 soap, but care is to be taken not to injure the tender skin under 



