Lamenesses of Sheep and Lambs. 
399 
crust is accordinr^ly produced, which, like that resultinf^ from 
the constant exposure of the foot to moisture, forms an inadequate 
protection for the sensitive parts, and permits the insinuation of 
foreign bodies through its open pores. These views were first 
enunciated by Professor Dick of the Edinburgh Veterinary 
College, in an able and interesting paper, published twenty 
years ago, and afford a most rational and satisfactory explana- 
tion of the production of the majority of cases of foot-rot.* We 
can now readily understand why the disease prevails so gene- 
rally on rich flat meadows, lawns, mosses, low-lying pastures, as 
well as on soft marshy grounds and in wet seasons. 
Foot-rot occasionally appears amongst sheep upon loose sandy 
soils, depending, as in the cases above referred to, on the exces- 
sive and faulty growth of horn, and the consequent access of 
foreign matters, which excite inflammation of the lamina^. The 
soft and yielding nature of the soil does not cause the due wear- 
ing away of the crust, or the extreme dryness favours its cracking 
and splitting, while the fine silicious particles readily insinuate 
themselves into any lioles or fissures. From somewhat similar 
causes, the disorder also occurs during the dry months of sum- 
mer, and upon well-drained lands. In such cases it may usually 
* The following extract from Professor Dick's well-known paper affords a clear 
and simple account of the operation of some of the more prominent causes of foot- 
rot: — " The finest and richest old pastures," says the Professor, " are particularly 
liable to this disease ; soft, marshy, and luxuriant meadows are equally so ; and it 
is also found in light, soft, or sandy districts. In the first of these it is perhaps 
most prevalent in a moist season, and in the latter in a dry one : in short it exists 
to a greater or less extent in every situation which has a tendency to increase the 
growth of the hoofs without wearing them away, and more especially where they 
are kept soft by moisture. It is so prevalent in fine lawns and pleasure-grounds, 
that they are in many instances reduced in value to a mere trifle as a pasture for 
sheep ; they are said to be infected with this disease, and having once become so, 
the vicissitudes of seven seasons are scarcely sufficient to desti-oy the contagion. 
A luxuriant herbage on soft pastures is equally subject to it, and in both cases 
the disease is increased in a wet season. The reason why in these situations 
sheep are so liable to the disease is obvious ; they ai'e generally brought from 
lauds where their range of pasturage was greater than in these situations. In 
their former state, from the exercise which the animal took and the nature of the 
ground on which it pastured, the hoof was worn down as it grew. But under the 
state in question, the hoofs not only continue to grow, but where the land is moist 
that groM'th is greatly increased, and the animal does not tread upon hard ground, 
nor has it exercise to wear them down. Nov^', in the case of man himself, when 
the nails of his fingers or toes exceed their proper length, they break or give him 
such uneasiness as to induce him to pare them ; and the same takes place with 
the hoof of sheep. But there is this difference in the case of the latter, that 
when their hoof once breaks, as the animal has not the power of paring it, the part 
thus broken must continue a wound. Some parts grow out of their natural and 
proper proportions ; the crust of the hoof grows too long, and the overgrown parts 
either break off in irregular rents and unnatural forms, or by over-shooting the 
sole allow small particles of sand or earth to enter into the pores of the hoof. 
These particles reach the quick and set up an inflammation, which is followed by 
the destructive effects which are too well known to require description."— Quar- 
terhj Journal of Agriculture, vol. ii. pp. S.jS-G. 
2 D 2 
