Foot-rot in Sheep. 
749 
necessity of caution in reference to the introduction of fresh 
stock upon a farm : — 
"For notwithstanding that of five varieties of disease of the foot 
structure only two of them are propagated by contagion, it is difficult to 
distinguish one disease from another when each is fully developed, and 
hence when the land is naturally moist, or during a wet season, only sheep 
with sound feet should be placed among the flock. Finally, in reference to 
treatment, it is sufficient to remark that the most certain and simple method 
of cure is to place the affected animals upon a perfectly dry ground where 
loose stones, gravel, and broken mortar are scattered about ; but if their 
retention on the wet land is unavoidable, the removal of the loose horn and 
the application of tar and caustic dressing will effect all that is possible 
under such adverse circumstances." 
G. Professor J. II. Steel, F.R.G.V.S. 
Additional information is derivable from a valuable and com- 
prehensive manual 1 which epitomises the latest acquired know- 
ledge on subjects relating to ovine pathology. Professor Steel 
states : — 
" The contagious foot-rot is a disease which for a long time has been 
confounded with ordinary foot-rot, and the existence of which is even now 
denied, especially in Great Britain. Accumulated evidence as to its occur- 
rence has been etfectual in securing its recognition by the profession, and 
practical action against its spread will in the future no doubt be more 
frequent than hitherto." 
Again : — 
"Professor Law ('Veterinary Journal,' September 1870) shows that 
contagious foot-rot is communicated .by sheep which have suffered from the 
disease for months, which is contrary to foot-and-mouth disease ; also it is 
not conveyed to other ruminants and pigs, but sheep only suffer. The 
evidence as to there being a contagious foot-rot, collected and recorded by 
Law, is most valuable and deserving of careful study. He discusses the 
nature of the contagium. He argues that the disease, not being eczema 
epizootica, nor foot-mange, nor (as Morel has suggested) due to some 
animalcule acquired from the pasture, it may be a fungus, an organic 
germ, or cell-elements of the diseased surface which have taken on 
themselves unnatural potential energies. What it is remains an open 
question." 
As regards transmission of foot-rot, Professor Steel quotes 
W. C. Spooner, as follows : — 
" When the horn is dry and strong, and free from cracks and fissures, 
and the skin above also sound and properly lubricated with the unctuous 
secretion which is here particularly supplied, there is no disposition to 
absorb foreign matters, but, on the contrary, a power of resisting their 
influence, and thus we cannot be surprised that the foot-rot matter has no 
1 A Treatise on the Diseases of the Sheep. By John Henry Steel, F.R.C.V.H., 
Professor of Veterinary S cience, and Principal of Bombay Veterinary College. 
London : Longmans, Green & Co. 1800. 
