CONTAGIOUS DISEASES. 



905 



and a dressing for the feet, to-be applied with a feather between the 

 hoofs after cleaning them, which may be composed as follows : — 



Oil of vitriol , 1 oz. 



Water , ;,.,.... 4 oz. 



Small-Pox, or Variola, has, according to Stewart, made its 

 appearance in sheep in this country, although Law and other authors 

 claim that no well-authenticated cases have been discovered here. 

 As, however, it is liable any day to be introduced among us, as 

 almost every other European disease has been, it is well that our 

 people should be informed in regard to it. 



Sheep- pox is a malignant and specific variolous, fever, peculiar to 

 sheep, and occurring but once, as a rule, in the lifetime of the indi- 

 vidual. It has been settled, it seems, that a healthy flock is not 

 secure from attack at a distance of 500 yards from affected animals. 



Fig. 1193. — Animals Equally Prolific in Ihe Production of Contagious Diseases. 



It spreads rapidly in a flock, and few escape. The period of incuba- 

 tion may vary fron\ a week to a fortnight. The disease may be 

 divided into two forms, the discrete and the confluent. The peribd 

 of eruption of discrete small-pox is shown in Fig. 1194, and confluent 

 in Fig. 1195. In order to show the difference between small-pox 

 and ecthyma, a representation of the latter is shown in Fig. 1196. 

 It is often mistaken for small-pox. It is. an inflammation of the 

 skin which is non-contagious, and never becomes confluent, though 

 in its eruptive stage very much resembling small-pox. 



The first appearance of small-pox, after incubation, is a sicken- 

 ing on the part of the sheep, the refusal of food, and the breaking 



