SMALL POX IN SHEEfl.-PLAN OP A PIGGERY. 
343 
SMALL POX IN SHEEP. 
At a late meeting of the weekly Council of the 
Royal Agricultural Society of England, a discus¬ 
sion took place on the small pox in sheep, which is 
at present prevailing in England and various parts 
of the continent. Professor Simonds being called 
upon, made the following statement connected with 
the symptoms of the malady, and the best means of 
preventing its extension :— 
The disease had long been known in Germany, 
Italy, and France, and in Paris it had never been 
entirely extinct; but from the knowledge of its 
character and experience in the modes of its treat¬ 
ment, especially by inoculation of the lambs when 
six or eight months old with the true pock matter 
of the sheep in its mildest form, the loss generally 
did not amount to more than five per cent., often 
not one, or even one quarter per cent., while in 
England, where the disease had already become 
prevalent in certain counties, and in other localities 
where the disease was left unopposed in the pro¬ 
gress of its ravages, the loss by death amounted to 
no less than fifty per cent, of the animals attacked 
by it. The disease, he described, as not epizootic, or 
conveyed through the atmosphere, but as infectious 
as well as contagious, having however a limit to 
the sphere of its activity. 
Professor Simonds remarked, in reference to the 
first indications of the disease, that there were not 
in this, as in many others, any premonitory symp¬ 
toms ; but that the constitutional and local appear¬ 
ances developed themselves simultaneously. The 
small pox in the sheep was analogous to the same 
disease in the human subject. The poison, after 
having entered the system, either by contagion or 
infection, lay dormant for a period varying from ten 
to sixteen days, when an eruption made its ap¬ 
pearance on the skin of the animal, in those parts 
of the body more particularly where there was the 
least wool, as in the inner part of the thighs and 
arms; without, however, being long confined 
to those parts, but soon extending to other parts of 
the body. This eruption is found on examination 
to consist of hard knotty bodies, much inflated, and 
of a florid red color; some of them separate from 
the rest, while others are accumulated in clusters. 
It was only when the eruption made its ap¬ 
pearance that the animal gave any symptoms of ill 
health. On the eruption, however, taking place, 
the sheep separated itself from the flock, drooped 
the head, hung down the ears, and altogether pre¬ 
sented a most peculiar and dejected appearance : 
the feet and ears being cold, while the rest of the 
body was feverish; the eyelids became inflamed 
and swollen, with discharge of tears from the eyes, 
and mucus Prom the nostrils. The animal refused 
its food, and the symptoms went on increasing in 
severity for three or four days, until the eruption 
changed its character and assumed a white ap¬ 
pearance, arising from the cuticle being raised from 
the nodules by effusion of the fluid beneath it; at 
this stage of the disease the animal at once seemed 
slightly relieved. The white raised cuticle, how¬ 
ever, in the course of a few days, put on a brown 
hue, and became converted in its substance into a 
scab, or crust, which ultimately fell off, leaving an 
ulcer more or less deep in the flesh, and occasion¬ 
ing those pitted marks so well known as resulting 
in the human subject from a late and severe attack 
of small pox. The danger to the animal suffering 
under this disease is dependent on the amount of 
the eruption present, and also upon the irregularity 
with which it passes through its various stages ; 
and he agreed with those who recommended a 
stimulating and nutritive plan of treatment. 
Prof. Simonds had no confidence in vaccination 
(with vaccine lymph), for this disease in the sheep, 
nor did he believe it could be depended upon as a 
preventive ; however it might be hereafter proved 
to be of use in mitigating its virulence. He had 
himself vaccinated sheep, and subsequently inocu¬ 
lated them ; in the course of time, the inoculation 
took effect, and the small pox appeared and passed 
through its regular stages. He considered inocu¬ 
lation to be the best means of diminishing the viru¬ 
lent character of the disease; and that this plan 
might be had recourse to even when the disease 
had shown itself in the flock ; especial care being 
taken to procure lymph from the mildest cases, and 
to introduce it with the least possible incision, 
which ought not to penetrate deeply through the 
skin, but be introduced underneath it, with not 
more than two slight punctures, behind the ear, as 
had been suggested, or inside the thigh of the ani¬ 
mal. He stated that great care was requisite in 
effecting this operation, otherwise, if deep punc¬ 
tures were made, a deep sloughing and ulcers 
would invariably ensue. He recommended, as 
another preventive, that the unhealthy sheep should 
be separated from the healthy ones; and, also, 
that a daily examination should be made of the ani¬ 
mals presumed to be healthy, in order that an in¬ 
stant removal might be made of any showing the 
slightest symptoms of disease. 
With regard to the skins of sheep dying of small 
pox, he earnestly recommended their being destroy¬ 
ed by fire or deep burial in the ground; for it had 
been ascertained that the virus retained its fatal 
powers long after the death of the animal, and 
might again become the origin of fresh contagion. 
PLAN OF A PIGGERY. 
I forward you my plan of a piggery and other 
necessary fixtures, which I have in contemplation, 
and am preparing to put up, on a tasteful and 
cheap scale, within the reach of every thriving 
citizen in our state. The cost of construction will 
depend much on the finish. The ground plan fig. 
84, of the two buildings, which includes a yard 
between them, is 40 feet long and 14 feet wide, 
which may cost from $50 to $90. A good me¬ 
chanic has proposed to do all the labor, after the 
foundation is laid, for $40, the boards to be 
planed and matched. Unless the buildings are to 
be painted, 1 would recommend that the boards be 
put on in a rough state, and white washed with a 
composition of stone lime and water lime. To 
construct a good cellar would cost about $3# 
more. 
This plan might be enlarged. I have designed it 
for six fattening hogs, or for one breeding sow and 
three porkers. “ Millionaires” may require some¬ 
thing more expensive, but this is sufficiently spa¬ 
cious for the common citizens of Vermont. The 
two upright buildings, £g. 84, represent the swill 
