490 



On the Sheep- Pox. 



The Sheep-pox is well known in Germany, appearing occa- 

 sionally in different and widely separate localities, and as its 

 ravages are both great and rapid, its treatment has deservedly 

 occupied an important place in the writings of theorists, as well 

 as in the careful attention of sheep-owners. The result has 

 proved the benefit of such pains-taking observation; for, al- 

 though the malady was formerly very common in Bohemia, yet at 

 present, when more care is bestowed on the tendance and nourish- 

 ment of the flocks, it has become much more rare, making only 

 occasional outbreaks in different seasons and districts, — more 

 especially in deep-lying, moory, swampy soils (or such as are 

 subject to be flooded), and where the generation of miasma is 

 facilitated and fostered by a warm climate. In healthy, dry 

 situations, where the sheep-houses are suitably constructed, and 

 the pastures of sound quality, there is little ground for apprehend- 

 ing a spontaneous occurrence of the sheep-pox, which, though 

 highly infectious, is not generally regarded as epidemic. It 

 strongly resembles, indeed, in all its stages, the small-pox, as 

 exhibited in the human subject, and is found to yield to the same 

 remedy. Like the small-pox, too, it occurs in two varieties — the 

 mild and harmless, and the malignant and deadly. The first 

 symptoms of incipient taint are, loss of appetite, swollen eyelids, 

 a somewhat staggering gait, and slight fever. Close examination 

 will easily detect an unusual redness of the skin, and after the 

 lapse of three or four days, small, raised, purple spots may be 

 discovered on the parts where there is least wool — (as inside the 

 thighs, under the shoulders, and on the head) — generally about 

 one-eighth of an inch in diameter, surrounded by a red ring, and 

 flattened in the centre. These fill by degrees with a thin, trans- 

 parent lymph, which, in process of time, assumes the nature of 

 matter (pus), at which stage of development the animal appears 

 relieved, and, lastly, the pustules dry into a scab and fall off. 

 Such is the progress of the mild variety. When, however, the 

 disease appears in a malignant form — and which, unhappily, is the 

 more frequent occurrence — the pulse becomes increasingly rapid, 

 the mouth dry and hot, the breath fetid, and the eyelids, and 

 even head, so much swollen, that the creature can scarcely be 

 recognised. The pustules, being very numerous, become con- 

 fluent, and form a mass of matter, which, especially in warm 

 weather, is apt to assume a putrid character, degenerating into 

 malignant ulcers, by which the poor animal is rendered blind, 

 lame, or loses parts of the lips, and is at length carried off by 

 violent diarrhoea. 



In such sad circumstances, the certain destruction of the 

 greater part of the flock may be anticipated ; and as remedies, 

 whether external or internal, can avail nothing in those advanced 



