5 
to be made fit for the market. Again, Iceland is said to be 
quite free from the disease, which is due to the sheep feed¬ 
ing on the sea weeds growing between high and low water 
marks, while on the banks adjoining the sea in our own 
country with the shortest and scantiest of herbage, we never see 
or hear of either parasitic or blood diseases, which are so rife 
in the hilly and Midland Counties —nature here showing most 
distinctly that salt is absolutely necessary for the maintenance 
of health, as well as proving that the larvae of the fluke 
require fresh water for their transformation and development ; 
moreover it is acknowledged by naturalists that the fluke is a 
fresh water creature . Further, by the overflowings of the Nile, it 
is-said the disease appears in the upper parts of Egypt in July 
and continues following the abating of the waters till January. 
The natives say that thousands of sheep are annually lost by 
thjs pest, showing that the larvae are brought down from the 
upper and inland parts of the country and deposited on the 
banks as the waters subside, but we never hear or read ot 
the disease following the over-flowing of lands by sea water. 
Having thus so far endeavoured to prove what peculiar 
seasons and localities favour the development of a disease 
that produces such great destruction amongst our flocks, I 
must now try to show the effects on the animals and the 
immediate cause of death, and for this purpose the Veterinary 
Surgeon, I am sorry to say, has too many facilities offered 
for post-mortem examinations and the tracing of the 
PATHOLOGY OR NATURE OF THE MALADY, 
which, without hesitation, may be said, to be a parasitic 
disease, common to certain localities, following more particu¬ 
larly wet summer months, being due to the presence of small 
