Diseasea of SJieep. 



313 



misapplied. The first step that ought to be taken is to remove 

 the sheep if possible to high and dry pasture, and perhaps to more 

 scanty feed, so as to diminish tlie necessary action of the liver. 



I once purchased 1*2 wethers apparently far advanced in the 

 disease ; they were the only survivors of a lot of 70. I bought 

 them on mere speculation at 5s. each. I placed them in the 

 stack-yard, and allowed them nothing but beans and hay, with a 

 supply of water, and rock-salt to lick. Three died in the first 

 week, the others recovered. 



As a matter of general precaution, the drainage, if possible, of all 

 land liable to rot sheep, will be highly expedient, especially if we 

 may rely on the fact which has been stated by experienced writers 

 on this subject, that May and June are the months in which the 

 contagion is generally found to exist,* and then exactly in pro- 

 portion to the prevalence of heat after showery weather : but 

 precaution, though better than cure, is not cure. Aperient me- 

 dicine, and in strong and repeated doses, for a few days, cannot 

 be mischievous. There is no maxim in the medical art so well 

 understood, or so generally admitted, as that the first step towards 

 the restoration of the healthy functions of any organ is to secure 

 a good and regular action of the bowels. Castor oil, or Epsom 

 salts, are the surest and safest of all aperients. It is obvious that 

 discipline of this kind will immediately reduce condition, but I 

 presuppose that the flock is no longer generally in a saleable 

 state, and that the only alternative is a cure or an absolute loss. 

 Ha^ing thus secured a proper action of the bowels, I should have 

 free recourse to calomel. I do not think that 4 grains would be 

 too much for a daily dose ; and, even at the risk of salivation, I 

 would rather err on the side of excess in the case of rot. It may 

 be borne in mind that, in all cases where drugs are specifics in a 

 disorder, the disorder itself neutralises in a great degree the na- 

 tural operation of the medicine : thus, in dysentery, laudanum 

 may be exhibited to an extent that would prove fatal to a healthy 

 subject ; and, in like manner, a dose of calomel, that w^ould mate- 

 rially affect the salivary glands when there is no counteracting 

 principle, would be innoxious, and even beneficial, when its active 

 properties are brought into direct play on a diseased liver. Some 

 persons have ad\TLsed the combination of calomel with opium, but 

 I am inclined to doubt whether this may not weaken its action on 

 the system, and produce harm by the astringent qualities of the 

 opium operating on the bowels. 



A few doses of salts should be repeated after the calomel has 

 been given, and as soon as the sheep appears convalescent ; but 

 not previously, unless signs of salivation show themselves. The 



* I should consider the months of September and Octoher as those when 

 contagion is much more prevalent.—J. W. Childers. 



