Management of Sheep. 



23 



the specific purpose of curing- the disease, that attention may be 

 especially paid to the grinding of the quicksilver. In mild cases 

 one dressing by an experienced shepherd, at the rate of 31bs, to the 

 score for full-grown sheep, and 2 J lbs. for younger ones, will 

 prove sufficient, plenty of shreds being the principal feature, and 

 also observing to dress the points pretty freely ; care should be 

 taken to shut them up for one or more nights according to the 

 case, and afterwards kept in a warmer situation, if possible, for a 

 time, and given a good supply of food. In bad cases it is proper 

 to inspect them weekly, until the disease be entirely removed, and 

 give opening medicine pretty freely. Should any die under the 

 operation, the remainder should be washed immediately ; if the 

 disease do not then stop they should be shorn, which is a certain 

 remedy. 



The Rot. — It is beyond my power to give an accurate account 

 of this disease, as scarcely two breeders agree as to its origin. 

 By some it is thought that the animal takes up the larvae of some 

 grub, deposited on swampy or wet situations, which find their 

 way to the vessels of the liver, and are there reared up and become 

 flukes, which absorb the chief nourishment of the blood of the 

 animal ; hence the white veiny appearance, and the deficiency of 

 blood and general decline. Others think that the disease is pro- 

 duced by bad health or management at some particular period, 

 which becomes habitual. When observed coming on, the animals 

 should have dry meat, with a plentiful supply of salt to lick, 

 placed in small iron troughs : they take it freely. The following 

 simple receipt, given for three or four mornings fasting, has 

 proved of great value, and is the best (out of the many) I have 

 met with : — 1 J ounce of common salt, with three-fourths of a pint 

 of water, well mixed before use. In one experiment, a sheep 

 being killed one week after this dose had been given, 120 flukes 

 were taken out of its liver, most of which were dead. In support 

 of this, it is well known that sheep never have flukes when 

 pastured upon the salt-marshes. 



Sturdy. — This affection may be the result either of pressure 

 upon the brain, from an animal growth, or from the accumulation 

 of a fluid, the excess of which leads to the dilatation of the skull 

 and to the absorption of its walls, when the bones can no longer 

 be made to yield ; for this reason the skull, towards the termina- 

 tion of the disease, generally becomes thin and soft, and offers a 

 spot easily detected, and from its being easily pierced is fre- 

 quently made the seat of surgical operations ; but they are rarely 

 known to succeed. 



The sheep has a dull stupid look, turns round, and frequently 

 falls. This disease by some breeders is said to be hereditary, and 

 often produced by close breeding ; but as it rarely occurs in sheep 



