SMALL-POX IN SHEEP. 
451 
forthwith to state, for the information of the Board, whether it 
appears that sheep are now being imported at either of the ports 
in the kingdom in an infected state. Directions to the above effect 
have been given to the officers of the revenue at all the ports 
throughout the kingdom ; and although there may, perhaps, be no 
absolute necessity for apprehending the infected state of the cattle 
which are at the present time imported from the continent, yet 
these salutary precautions, taken by the Government authorities in 
the matter, will be duly appreciated by the public. 
It will be recollected that this subject was alluded to in the 
lower house of Parliament during the past week, when an assur- 
ance was given by Mr. Labouchere that it would receive the full 
attention of the Government authorities. 
The Times , July 20, 1848. 
The Small-pox in Sheep. 
To the Editor of “ The Norwich Mercury .” 
Sir, — I KNOW you feel highly interested in all matters relating 
to agriculture, and hesitate not to ask a small space in your widely- 
circulated journal, for the purpose of making a few observations on 
that direful malady, the small-pox in sheep, which I am sorry to 
say has just made its appearance in this neighbourhood. In doing 
which, however, I do not wish to create unnecessary alarm ; my 
object being merely to put agriculturists and others on their guard 
as to admitting any fresh lot of sheep on their farms without having 
first ascertained the existence or non-existence of the disease in 
question, which I think they will be enabled to do by attending to 
the few following hints : — The leading symptoms of small-pox are, 
a separation of the infected animal from the flock, a peculiar 
arching of the back, a drooping of the ears ; a closing of the eye- 
lids, amounting in some cases almost to blindness; and a pustular 
eruption, extending more or less over all parts of the body, but par- 
ticularly those destitute of wool or covered with hair only ; such, 
for instance, as the cheeks, the skin inside the arms and thighs, 
the under surface of the tail, udder, &c. There are other minute 
symptoms, which it is not necessary to mention, the above being 
the most prominent ones, and such as any person without a 
knowledge of anatomy can detect. The disease is highly conta- 
gious and infectious ; so much so, that a lot of sheep have been 
known to contract it in consequence of having been penned by the 
side of others in a diseased state, and that without any commixture. 
The deaths in all cases, where it has broken out, have never been 
less than 20 or 25 per cent., and in some instances, I believe, they 
