98 



sumptiou of that heretofore deposited; the serous effusions from the 

 weakened conditioa of the system; and the foolish actions from theloug- 

 coutinued lack of nourishment of the brain. 



Sheep do not die from the tape-worm disease alone. The greatest 

 losses are, the raiichmea say, amoug the lambs and yearlings. The 

 majority may die during cold storms, either from freezing or from suffo- 

 cation while piling upon each other for warmth. They may starve to 

 death either from inability or lack of desire to eat. They may die from 

 other diseases. The tape worm disease appears to render them more 

 liable to othe^- affections and loss able to withstand the incl^jment sea- 

 son. It is therefore indirectly chargeable with the loss. Even if the 

 infected sheep do not die, the parasite is still a cause of pecuniary 

 loss. The impoverished condition traceable to it is a small average 

 loss for each aniojal, but for ilocks of over five thousand sheep the ag- 

 gregate is thousands of dollars for each ranchman. 



In the article of Dr. Paville, cited above, he quotes a letter * from 

 the late Hon. J. M. G-iveus, whose flocks numbered from six to eight 

 thousand head. In this letter Mr. Givens states his loss from dead 

 sheep alone for the preceding year at from $3,000 to $4,000. Fortu- 

 nately the loss of from four hundred to eleven hundred or more sheep 

 does not occur to flockmasters annually, but such losses are not in- 

 frequent, and may be heard of either on this or that ranch during 

 different years. Every ranchman knows of and appreciates the steady 

 though small loss arising from the depreciated value of his animals, 

 due to their ill condition from various causes, and which be strives by 

 every means to reduce, for tlierein lie the profits and success of his 

 business. Prom the study and observation which the writer has been 

 able to devote to the tape-worm disease it appears alone iresponsible for 

 more losses than any other shee^) disease on the prairies excepting 

 scab. The direct death-rate traceable to it is large when compared to 

 the entire death-rate, and the indirect loss traceable to it is, though 

 more insidious in its character, still larger, for it is ever present and 

 ever active. 



Medicinal treatment. — Some experiments looking toward the removal 

 ottwniw by medicines were made in 1886. Various twnicefuges were tried 

 with little success. The powdered preparations of pumpkin-seed, 

 pomegranate-root bark, koosoo, kamala, male fern, and wormseed proved 

 of no avail. 



In order that they might be administered cheaply the proper amount 

 of each for ten animals was mixed with meal, bran, and salt, and fed in 



*The letter referred to gives "loco" as a cause of the losses. Before his death the 

 Hon. J. M. Givens had concluded, and communicated to his friends of the El Paao 

 Wool Grower's Association, that the loss of this winter was not due to "loco," for 

 the greatest loss had occurred in young sheep and lambs. The latter had not learned 

 to eat "loco" exclusively, were poor, and presented symptoms which he learned 

 later belonged to sheep infested with tape- worms. 



