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Contagious Foot-rot in Sheep. 
Mr. Nott sent two sheep to the Koyal Veterinary College 
for the purpose of experiment in the beginning of April, 1890. 
The animals did not show any signs of foot-rot, indeed their feet 
were perfectly healthy, but from the circumstances of their 
history it was believed that the disease would appear if the 
sheep were placed under favourable conditions. Accordingly, 
they were placed on a pasture on a clay soil, and the want of rain 
was as far as possible compensated by constantly watering the 
ground. Two healthy sheep were put in the same pen with these 
sheep, and kept with them till the end of the third week in June 
without any result. All four sheep remained free from disease. 
On November 11 of the same year a well-defined case of 
foot-rot was obtained and sent to the College, where it was put 
on grass with two perfectly healthy sheep. After about three 
weeks’ exposure both the sheep became lame in one hind foot. 
The diseased sheep was much worse. Association of the animals 
was maintained until the middle of February, 1891, when the 
disease had practically ceased to exist. The diseased sheep and 
those in contact had recovered, and were perfectly sound. It is 
worthy of remark that during the whole time that this experi- 
ment was carried on the weather was generally dry. 
In the early part of 1891 further experiments were con- 
ducted at Harrow and at Denham on a much larger scale than 
any which had been attempted previously. In the Harrow 
district the soil is stiff clay, and the difficulty was to find a 
pasture which had not become contaminated. At last an orchard 
was secured on which no sheep had been grazed certainly for 
many years past, and two diseased sheep from the neighbourhood 
of Maidstone, which were sent by Mr. C. Whitehead, were used 
for the experiment. Foot-rot in these animals was fully deve- 
loped in a perfectly typical form. 
In the pasture at Harrow three pens were constructed. In 
No. 1 pen in the first week in April were placed the two diseased 
Kentish ewes, one sound Welsh sheep, and three sound tegs; 
whilst in No. 2 pen were placed two half-bred tegs, and in No. 3 
pen two Welsh ewes. 
Owing to the absence of rain the experimental pasture was 
in a very dry condition until the last week of May. During this 
period the sheep’s feet were frequently examined and nothing 
was found amiss with them, but rain having fallen for several 
days in succession towards the end of May the pasture became 
thoroughly soaked, and almost immediately afterwards signs of 
foot-rot were apparent. 
On June 2 the Welsh ewe in No. 1 pen was noticed to be 
lame on its left front foot. On the following day it was caught 
