Foot-rot in Sheep. 
739 
they aro both light land localities — the chalk soils of Wilts and 
Hants, and the gravels of Beds, — and it appears to me that the 
causes of foot-root are very similar in both areas. The predis- 
posing cause must be sought in anything which induces the skin 
between the claws to rupture. This seems further demonstrated 
when the feet of white-faced sheep are examined, and a com- 
parison is instituted between the formation of the feet in 
different breeds. 
Down breeds are more liablo to foot-rot than are the white- 
faced. When the foot of a Down sheep is examined, it may be 
noticed that the claws are very close together, and that the skin 
is thin and tender. That this should be so is not surprising, 
because for centuries these sheep have run on their native downs, 
which are very hard, and are covered with short and generally 
dry herbage. On such lair the feet rarely sink into the ground, 
so that there is no need for the claws to spread out to prevent 
sinking. The feet of the white-faced sheep are bigger, the 
claws open more widely and more readily, and the skin between 
the claws has become hardened. This is but natural when 
it is remembered that these sheep have for long periods 
dwelt on soft grass land, and on arable land which is liable to 
puddle, and which during the greater part of the year will not 
carry the sheep clean on the surface. To adapt themselves to 
such circumstances the feet have expanded — the claws have 
spread out — so that they may be better able to resist the ten- 
dency to sink. The herbage on these lands is longer and often 
wetter, so that a breed of sheep possessed of feet which readily 
ruptured between the claws would not thrive. Doubtless, by 
natural selection, sheep which could not endure frequent wetting 
without chafing would not become permanent, but would give 
way to those better able to do so. The effect of lair on the feet 
is simiiiirly noticeable in the case of horses, for those bred on the 
soft fens have feet broader and more open than those bred on 
hard soils. 
White-faced sheep are but rarely moved on to soils which are 
less suited to their feet than those on which they are bred. Down 
sheep, on the other hand, are largely imported into other dis- 
tricts, where they seldom meet with such good lair. They more 
frequently have to live under the same circumstances as the 
white-faced breeds are accustomed to, and as they are not fitted 
for such conditions they fall lame where the white-faced remain 
sound. It is, indeed, not even necessary to transport Down 
sheep into other districts for them to suffer as much as they 
would if taken into a district of the white-faces. If they are 
merely driven from the Downs to the water-meadows, which are 
