ROT IN SHEEP. 
T a meeting of the Aspatria Mutual and Agricultural 
J 7 \ Improvement Society, held on the Evening of Friday, 
the 4th November, 1881, the following paper was read by 
Mr. H. Thompson, M.R.C.V.S., Aspatria:— 
The subject which I have the pleasure of bringing before 
you this evening is that of Rot in Sheep. There are several 
kinds of disorders designated Rot, but the subject of my paper 
is the one caused by the presence of Flukes in the bile-ducts 
of the Liver. 
From the earliest historical records of the diseases of 
animals, the one in question ranks among the most prominent, 
belonging to no particular country, its ravages have been felt 
on the Continent, in America, and Australia, as well as in 
the British Isles. And since the sixteenth century a great 
deal has been written respecting this fearful and destructive 
malady. Different theories have been promulgated as to its 
cause, cure and prevention. Scientific men of various grades 
have given it great thought, and a large amount of research 
has been gone into both at home and abroad, some giving 
their sole attention to the investigation of the nature and 
transformation of the Fluke, both in and out of the body of 
the sheep ; others, having enquired into the peculiarities of 
the seasons and the class of soils most prone to the disease, 
so that at the present time, we have arrived at a pretty 
reasonable position- as to what seasons are most liable to 
