290 
Gonkujlons Foot-rot in Sheejp. 
grazing that a very large ainoimt of infective material is dis- 
tributed', and consequently taken up by all the animals feeding 
on the meadow ; but it is not certain whether the disease can 
be so communicated. 
Further experiments will have to be carried into effect 
in order to determine the point. It will be necessaiy to place 
sheep on a pasture which had recently been fed off by sheep 
with diseased feet, and to protect the feet of the experimental 
sheeji by some means so as to prevent contact with the virus. 
Cure and Prevention oe Foot-rot. 
One important fact has stood prominently forward in the 
history of the experiments — i.e., the spontaneous recovery from 
even the most advanced stages of foot-rot without any trimming 
of the hoof, the use of any remedial measures, or the removal 
of the diseased animals from the places where they were kept 
during the progress of the disease. Accepting the teachings of 
inquiry so far as the evidence at present extends, it may be 
said that Contagious Foot-rot has a period of incubation, fol- 
lowed by the development of a diseased condition of the skin, 
followed by the extension of disease to the secreting membrane of 
the internal foot, ending in loss of the hoof, and a new growth of 
horn when the virulence of the malady is exhausted. In order that 
the course of the disease may be checked, timely detection is essen- 
tial, and when foot-rot appears in a flock every sheep should be 
examined daily if possible, or at least three times a week, and a 
dressing applied the moment that any moisture is seen between 
the claws. A mixture of one part of pure carbolic acid with ten 
parts of glycerin is a very useful application, a little of which 
may be poured from a narrow-mouth bottle on to the skin and 
allowed to run between the claws. 
Trimming the diseased feet is an operation which should be 
done with care ; as a rule, the shepherd slashes the hoof horn 
away with his knife in a manner which may be described as 
brutal. In the advanced stages of the disease all the loose horn 
may be removed, and the club-like growths beneath it should be 
dressed with strong caustic — i.e., pure carbolic acid, chloride of 
zinc, or perchloride of ii’on — and the parts protected by a coating 
of tar. But in a properly managed flock the disease should not 
be allowed to reach a stage at which such severe measures are 
necessary. 
An easy method of dealing with foot-rot in a large flock 
without the work of daily examination of the feet is to drive 
