280 APOPLEXY. 



of four or five grains," with plenty of good milk, exercise and 

 air. Mr. Spooner says : — " Nothing can be done in the way 

 of treatment," — and he somidly adds: — "But it wiU be 

 prudent not to breed again from the ewe ; and if there 

 are many such cases, the ram, too, may be changed with 

 advantage, for it is evident the disease is owing to some 

 constitutional fault in the parents, or mismanagement during 

 utero gestation." 



Apoplexy. — Apoplexy is frequent among the improved 

 mutton breeds of sheep in England — which, from their birth 

 to the time of their being butchered, are steadily forced 

 forward into the utmost attainable growth by rich and 

 stimulating food. During their whole lives, they are in a 

 condition of over-fatness and plethora — and apoplexy is a 

 natural result. 



This disease is very rare among American sheep, and I 

 have never personally seen an instance of it. Yet when 

 fleshy sheep are first turned out to grass in the spring, and 

 the sun beats down with that burning heat occasionally 

 characteristic of our spring weather, one of the fattest sheep 

 in the fiock is, suddenly, without a premonition of disease, 

 found lying dead on the ground. Sometimes one is seen to 

 leap suddenly and frantically into the air, act as if unconscious, 

 stagger, fall and die within five, ten, or fifteen minutes. The 

 farmer has a ready-made name for the malady. The sheep 

 has "grub in the head," and the grubs have just "bored 

 through and. penetrated the brain!" (See Grub in the Head.) 

 If the perishing sheep was examined closely, it is probable 

 that the eye would be found staring — the pupils dUated — the 

 sight nearly gone. If additionally the membranes of the nose 

 and eyes were found of a deep red or violet color, as if engorged 

 with blood, I should not doubt the presence of apoplexy. 



The treatment, when all treatment is not too late, is 

 immediate bleeding from the jugular vein, until the animal 

 shows signs of weakness. Mr. Youatt and Mr. Spooner speak 

 of a pound as about the appropriate quantity of blood to be 

 taken, but I am confident this would be found too much for 

 the classes of American sheep — the Merino and its grades — 

 which are kept for wool growing purposes. Mr. Youatt says 

 four ounces of epsom salts should be administered as soon as 

 possible after the bleeding, and an additional ounce every six 

 hours until the bowels are opened, Mr. Spooner says that 

 two or three ounces of salt should be administered, and to 



