472 
Foot-and-Mouth Disease. 
the grass and place it within their reach ; at any rate it was 
not done, and the result was that, as it happened, on many com- 
mons and large pastures in other districts animals suffered from 
inanition in addition to the debilitating effects of the disease. 
The system of medical and dietetic treatment which has been 
suggested will be applicable to all animals that are liable to the 
disease ; but differences in the details of practice will be neces- 
sary under the varying conditions of each subject. 
Sheep, although their feet are always attacked, under ordinary 
care, suffer much less than cattle from destructive changes in 
these parts, perhaps on account of the less weight which they 
have to sustain. There is, besides, a wonderful reparative power 
in the vascular membrane of the feet of sheep, which renders the 
loss of the entire hoof a comparatively trifling accident, capable 
of being rectified in a few weeks. Nevertheless, the feet of the 
sheep affected with foot-and-mouth complaint require consider- 
able attention ; and although it beconies almost impossible to 
apply remedies to all the animals of a large flock in which the 
disease prevails, those sheep which show by their action that 
they are seriously affected should be caught and properly dressed 
with one of the lotions previously referred to, or with a solution 
of one ounce of tannic acid in eight ounces of glycerine. In 
extensive outbreaks of disease among sheep, the application of 
the necessary remedies to the feet may be much facilitated by 
arranging a shallow wooden trough in such a manner that it may 
be filled with the necessary lotion, and the sheep driven through 
it slowly, or kept standing in it for a few minutes. This method 
will obviate the necessity for catching the animals and dressing 
them separately, except in those cases where it is apparent from the 
severity of lameness that the feet have suffered important changes. 
Pigs, as before stated, are affected very severely both in the 
feet and external part of the nose. In sows the vesicles appear 
over the whole surface of the integument covering the udder. 
For obvious reasons very little can be done to alleviate the 
severity of the affection in these animals. Forcible administra- 
tion of medicine is, as a rule, out of the question, and the most 
that can be done is to keep the animals in a dry, well ventilated, 
and sheltered position, and apply the local remedies which have 
been suggested to the feet and other parts which are affected. 
The mortality among pigs from foot-and-mouth disease is 
much higher than among other animals, so that it is not un- 
common to hear the malady described as a fatal disease on 
swine. Probably to a large extent this fatality is due to the 
intractable character of the animal, which induces neglect of 
early precautionary measures, and permits the disease to assume 
a severe type before it is even discovered. 
