Lamenesses of Sheep and Lambs. 
403 
so troublesome in bad cases of foot-rot, are best kept down by 
nitric acid, sulphate of copper, or the gentle application of the 
red-hot iron, together with constant pressure, which may be 
applied by rolling the foot tightly up in a linen rag, secured as 
ingenuity may best suggest. In deeply penetrating sinuses, the 
carious bone, sloughing cartilage, or other cause of irritation 
upon which such wounds depend, must be promptly removed, a 
dependent orifice secured, astringents injected, and every means 
adopted to preserve cleanliness. The injection of strong caustics, 
a very common but painful mode of treatment, must only be 
adopted when other remedies have been tried and failed. To 
ward off the attacks of flies, which during warm weather are 
very annoying, the parts should be freely smeared with coal-tar, 
spirits of tar, or naphtha. In all cases of foot-rot, no matter how 
slight, the appropriate treatment must be promptly and dili- 
gently prosecuted, otherwise the case is very apt to pass from 
bad to worse. The examination of the feet and the suitable 
dressings should, except in the mildest cases, be performed 
daily. After the removal of horn or the use of caustics, it is 
important that the animals should stand for a few hours upon 
dry sawdust or straw, or be driven for a few minutes amongst 
several inches of quick-lime. 
The observations already made regarding the causes of the 
disease will sufficiently indicate the appropriate means of pre- 
vention. The growth of the horn must be kept within moderate 
limits. Sheep on soft moist lands should have their feet ex- 
amined every few weeks, and any redundancy of horn removed. 
They may be driven occasionally along a hard road, which wUl 
accelerate the defective wear. Severe overdriving must be 
avoided, as well as all other causes which induce congestion of 
the 4aminai and injuiy of their invisible covering. Draining 
very frequently puts a stop to the ravages of foot-rot ; for, by 
drying the land, it prevents the injurious influence of moisture 
and cold, and leads, moreover, to the growth of a firmer and 
better turf. Liming must also be regarded as a preventive. Like 
draining, it ameliorates the pasture, and removes especially that 
soft mossy herbage which is so prone to develop foot-rot. 
Rheumatic Foot-rot. — This disease, known as bustian-foul or 
joint-foul, is sometimes improperly styled founder, and is dis- 
tinguished from foot-rot by several important characters. It is 
a constitutional malady, while the other is purely local. It is a 
chronic, unhealthy inflammation, affecting the soft structures about 
the fetlock ; whilst the other in its ordinary form is simple inflam- 
mation of the foot alone. It seldom attacks more than one foot 
at a time, while the other frequently affects two, and sometimes 
all the four. It progresses slowly, is accompanied by typhoid 
