DISEASJSS OF SHEEP. 45 



cannot mature or discharge the lymph and change into scruf. 

 In a few such cases the animal may be saved by means of great 

 care and attention, but most are hopeless. The most unfavor- 

 able indications, which are nearly always followed by death, 

 are as follows : confluent, dry and flattened pox, of a coppery, 

 purple or bluish-red color ; when the pox affects large and 

 important parts in such a manner that the latter are destroyed 

 by suppuration ; when there is an entire loss of appetite, an 

 abundant discharge froni nose, mouth and eyes of foetid mat- 

 ter, which the animal refuses to lick ; when the pox recede 

 or change into inflammation of the throat or lungs or into 

 dysentery ; and when the animal is unable to stand. All ani- 

 mals of the same herd do not sufier in the same degree of ve- 

 hemence from the disease, even under the same circumstances, 

 such as weather, pasture, food, care, etc. It has been ob- 

 served that improved or superior stock is more liable to 

 destruction than ordinary stock ; young sheep (except suck- 

 lings) do not suffer so much as old sheep. Sucklings, die 

 very soon in consequence of pox— often in the first few days 

 after eruption, and even before. Sheep which have been 

 well fed, especially bucks, suffer the most ; ewes in ad- 

 vanced states of pregnancy suffer greatly from the pox, and 

 generally miscarry in consequence thereof. Sheep which 

 feed upon stubble-fields, or which are lean from want of 

 sufficient food, are seldom much affected by pox. 



The following rules in regard to the influence of the 

 weather or season are important: Extreme heat and ex- 

 treme cold (especially the former) are' dangerous: wet 

 weather is most dangerous, and a heavy rain may destroy 

 half of the herd if the animals are afflicted with pox and 

 exposed to such rain. A mild, temperate atmosphere, rest 

 and moderate feeding are of a beneficial effect in case of 

 pox. There are, however, certain periods or years in which 

 the pox appears to be more or less dangerous in its con- 



