406 
Lamenesses of Sheep and Lambs. 
Avell-conditioiicd, pletlioric slieej) are liable to suffer from a 
variety of so-called foot-rot, manifesting- somewhat different 
symptoms from those described. The skin occupying the inter- 
digital space becomes hot, tender, and thickened. In the lan- 
guage of the shepherd, the parts are " scalded." The mucous 
glands between the digits, in the biflex canal, and in the hollow 
of the pastern, participate in the inflammation. At first they 
cease to yield their lubricating secretion, and subsequently pour 
it out of a vitiated quality, at first thin and serous, and shortly 
thick, adhesive, and often acrid. Flies, especially during hot 
weather, are attracted to the tliick, sticky discharge, and materi- 
ally aggravate the irritation. Meanwhile lameness increases, the 
animal is unable to follow its companions, sometimes reduced to 
the extremity of going upon its knees, and falls back in condition. 
The fore feet, from their supporting more weight, are usually 
worse than the hind. All the feet are sometimes affected, ren- 
dering the animal very helpless. Febrile symptoms occasionally 
supervene. The inflammation may extend to the coionary sub- 
stance, causing heat and tenderness round the top of the hoof, 
and interfering with the secretion of horn, which becomes soft 
and brittle ; and sometimes, from the alternate arrestment and 
re-establishment of the secretion, assumes a ridged, irregular 
appearance. The foot is not freely used, and the horn at the toe 
becomes excessive, ragged, and split. Sand insinuates itself into 
the cracks, aggravating the lameness, and thus the symptoms of 
common foot-rot are frequently superadded to those just described. 
Occasionally also the soft parts above the foot become involved, 
the skin ulcerates, abscesses appear, with the symptoms of rheu- 
matic foot-rot. Such complications usually occur in animals of 
a delicate, rheumatic, or scrofulous race. 
The milder forms of this complaint, consisting of simple in- 
flammation of the skin and mucous glands about the interdigital 
space, are exceedingly common, and often exist without any 
inflammation of the lamina^, deterioration of the horn, or other 
symptoms of ordinary foot-rot. Anything irritating the delicate 
structures between the digits will produce it. Amongst the most 
common causes are : hot dry weather, diminishing the secretion 
of the lubricating fluid ; continued exposure to cold and wet, in- 
ducing relaxation and depression, with subsequent reaction and 
consequent inflammation ; long travelling upon hard roads, ex- 
hausting the oily secretion and exposing the parts to unwonted 
friction ; the lodgment of dust and filth, or the walking amongst 
long hard grass, causing direct irritation. Tliis scalding also 
occasionally occurs from constitutional causes. Thus it sometimes 
accompanies derangements of the digestive organs, in which all 
parts of the skin, from their resemblance to the alimentary mucous 
