of Edinburgh, Session 1881 - 82 . 
617 
that there was a special disease called louping-ill, and if so, to be 
able to recognise it. This was a subject of some difficulty, as the 
« 
sheep and lambs which were found affected lay far and wide among 
the hills. As was anticipated, a considerable number of diseases 
were found to be grouped under the name of louping-ill. Among 
these Professor Williams distinguished joint-ill, navel-ill, impaction 
of wool in the fourth stomach of young lambs, and other inflam- 
matory ailments incident to the lambing season, or to inclemency of 
weather. Besides these, however, there was found to be a special 
kind of disease affecting the nervous system, which had well- 
marked symptoms and interesting peculiarities, some of which are 
described in the pamphlet above mentioned. It is found to be 
frequently very much localised, and to attach itself to special 
pastures, so that a wall or partition may divide an unhealthy 
pasture from one in which louping-ill is unknown ; and that even 
without any partition, one side of a hill may be healthy and the 
other unhealthy; and that the hirsel belonging to the one side of 
the hill may have many cases of louping-ill, while that belonging 
to the other side may be free from it, although both hirsels may 
meet and feed together during some hours every day. Sheep 
coming from a district where louping-ill is unknown, if put upon 
what is called louping-ill land, die off very rapidly. Stock owners 
are well aware of this, and when adding to their stock on louping-ill 
land, are careful to procure sheep from a district where the disease 
is known to prevail. On the other hand, cases are recorded where 
sheep in travelling from one sound pasture to another, having passed 
over a louping-ill district, have introduced the disease upon land 
which had previously been exempt from it. Instances are also met 
with where pastures seriously affected with louping-ill have been 
rendered healthy by means of liming and draining, and depasturing 
with cattle instead of with sheep for some years. There seems to 
be no doubt that the disease is due to something on the land and 
in the pasture, and the whole circumstances seemed to some of the 
committee to point strongly to the probability of its being a disease 
of an organismal kind, comparable with those which have recently 
been brought to light by the researches of Pasteur and other investi- 
gators. The disease is not amenable to treatment, and runs its 
course sometimes very rapidly. Instances are given in which sheep, 
