DISEASES OF SHEEP. 365 



unique Avay probably. This is by keeping a flock of fowls in the 

 sheepyard at the lambing season, and indeed at all times. Feed- 

 ing them when the sheep are fed, for the mere purpose of ob- 

 serving how they will most industriously pick the ticks out of the 

 wool of both ewes and lambs. This the fowls do most effectively 

 in the warm days when the ticks come to the surface of the fleece 

 to cool themselves and get the fresh air. These insects cannot 

 live apart from the sheep over a few days, and thus their voracity 

 is well accounted for. It is not only the loss of blood that weak- 

 ens the sheep and much more the lambs, but the intolerable 

 pain caused by their bites. Like the mosquito they inject into 

 the wounds they make some poison, which liquidates the blood, 

 and this produces a more annoying irritation than the mosquito 

 does. The poison causes swelling of the skin, which lasts as Dr. 

 Curtis states in his work on the Animal Parasites of the Sheep 

 for over a week, and is accompanied by a worse itching than that 

 of mosquito bites. Those concerned who have experienced the 

 severe pain of the bites of the mosquito, will surely sympathize 

 with the sheep, "always an unhappy flock," according to the old 

 writer, and all modern experience. 



Treatment for this parasite consists mostly of dipping, in the 

 same way, and at the same time, as for the scab. Indeed, it is 

 the best way to dip the flock expressly for this purpose at the 

 shearing time, which is also advisable indeed it may be 

 said indispensable as a means of avoiding infection by the scab, 

 or curing insipient infection already accomplished, by exposure to 

 the disease. Thus we accomplish two valuable ends at one opera- 

 tion. The ticks that remain in the wool wrapped in the folded 

 fleeces will starve in a few days. If this operation is neglected, 

 the seed will be sown for the coming years the next Summer. 



