BOOK VII. V. 18-21 



some, stalks of ox-marjoram or wild mint, wrapped 

 round with wool, are inserted in the nostrils and 

 turned round and round until the sheep sneezes. 

 The broken legs of sheep are treated in the same 

 manner as those of human beings ; they are wrapped in 

 wool soaked in oil and wine and then bound up in 

 splints which are placed round them. Knotgrass « 19 

 has also bad effects which are serious ; for, if the sheep 

 feeds on it, its whole belly becomes distended and 

 then contracts, and the animal foams at the mouth 

 and emits a thin kind of matter which has a foul odour. 

 The victim must immediately be bled underneath 

 the tail in the region nearest to the buttocks, and 

 also a vein must be opened on the upper lip. Sheep 

 whose breathing is asthmatical must have their ears 

 cut with the knife and be transferred to other dis- 

 tricts, a precaution which, in my opinion, ought to be 

 taken in all diseases and plagues. 



Succour must also be given to lambs when they are 20 

 suffering fi-om fever or affected by any other sickness ; 

 those which are labouring under any disease ought 

 not to be admitted to their dams, lest they pass on 

 the malady to them. The ewes, then, must be milked 

 separately, and rain-water must be mixed in equal 

 measure with the milk and this potion given to the 

 lambs which have fever. Many people use goats' 

 milk as a remedy for these same lambs, pouring it 

 down their throats through a small horn. There is 21 

 also an eruptive disease, called by the shepherds 

 ostigo (lamb-scab), which is fatal to sucking lambs. 

 This generally occurs, if, through the carelessness of 

 the shepherd, the lambs or even kids have been let 

 loose and have fed on grass which is covered with dew, 



" See Book VI. 12. 5 and note. 



275 



