24 Experiments on the Development of the Liver-fiuke. 
of, and the owner was visited and full enquiries made. We 
were told that sheep and lambs had been kept side by side in 
separate flocks, and within hurdles the whole of the summer 
and autumn ; the sheep had followed the lambs over the same 
ground, but although the conditions under which they had been 
kept were so closely similar, the whole of the lambs had taken 
the rot, whilst not one of the sheep suffered. There had been 
heavy rains at the end of July and the beginning of August, 
and, owing to the blocking-up of a drain, the ground within the 
hurdles had been covered for some time with several inches of 
water, and the owner fully believed that the rot was taken then. 
But he could not explain why the lambs alone had suffered. 
Particular enquiries were made as to the subsequent history of the 
different flocks, and we were told that in September they had 
been taken to higher ground, and had all been kept within 
hurdles upon clover, roots, &c., until the end of the year, when 
the rot showed itself among the lambs. The case was so remark- 
able that a second visit was paid to investigate the fauna, and 
this time we questioned the shepherd, and from him we got 
information which completely solved the difficulty. At the end 
-of September he had driven the lambs to another farm, whilst the 
. sheep remained at home. The lambs were on the journey five 
> hours, and remained away seven or eight weeks ; they were in 
.good condition on their return, but the rot appeared among 
them soon after Christmas, and they went very fast. There can be 
no doubt that the rot was taken at the other farm or on the road ; 
this is confirmed by the date at which the disease appeared, and 
by the fact that the sheep of a neighbouring farmer on lower 
and wetter ground did not suffer at all. The owner had quite 
made up his mind that the rot was taken in July and August, 
and this had in some way caused him to give us misleading 
information. He had been anxious to assist us in every way, 
but had either forgotten the journey, or else disregarded it as 
irrelevant to the question. 
5. Growth of the Fluke, and the Duration of its Life. — A lamb's 
4iver was received on September 24th from Stratton Audley. 
The surface was of the normal colour, except where it was 
vmarked with red inflamed spots, and with white ragged bits of 
■ connective tissue, which are considered by those who have had 
«^uch experience in slaughtering to be extremely characteristic 
■of the earliest stages of the rot. 
This liver was said not to contain any flukes, but did contain 
over two hundred, all immature, the largest only one-third of 
an inch in length. Many flukes were obtained from the surface, 
some projecting from holes, others visible immediately beneath 
the peritoneum ; and from openings on the surface a red ooze, 
