306 
PROFESSOR SIMONDS* LECTURE ON THE DISEASES, ETC., OF THE LIVER. 
the nature of the food, then, as is the food, so 
will he the bile; and from the wrong quantity 
of food, &c., the bile may become thickened, 
may run together; and thus we have calculi 
both in the ducts and in the gall bladder. Here 
then comes the question, if an animal is effected 
in this manner, is it from gall stones or not ? If 
so, there may be a little danger; but if the cal¬ 
culus be in the biliary duct, great harm will re¬ 
sult ; for in the former case, there is no obstruc¬ 
tion to the flow of the bile; in the latter, there 
is. This is of more importance in the sheep 
than in the ox; for in the former, the pancreatic 
duct joins the biliary duct before entering the 
intestinal canal. A calculus in the biliary duct 
hinders the passage of that which forms nutri¬ 
ment ; and, as when the liver secretes too much 
bile, it runs into the membranes, &c., of the 
body, the calculus sends it in the same direction. 
It likewise affects the urinary secretions; but 
wlien gall stones cause jaundice, there is no 
diarrhoea, and the urine is not rendered brown. 
A practised man, therefore, would distinguish 
by these and other symptoms, between the 
different sources of the disease. 
Now, as to treatment. If the cause is inflam¬ 
mation, get rid of the constipation in the bowels 
by aperient medicine, and there may be, also, 
an application of counter irritants to the side. 
A gall stone requires a different mode of treat¬ 
ment. We must get rid of the mechanical ob¬ 
struction—we must excite the ducts to throw off 
more bile, so as to drive it away. These re¬ 
marks lay the foundation for a few observations 
upon the rot in sheep. No disease has received 
so much attention; and it is most important to 
the farmer, that we should inquire into its nature. 
Rot depends, in a great measure, upon the qual¬ 
ity and kind of food with which sheep are fed, 
some pastures being notorious for it, others, en¬ 
tirely free. As a broad principle, it may be 
stated that, when there is an excess of moisture, 
the food is prejudicial to the animal. This 
malady is not peculiar to this country, (Eng¬ 
land,) but prevails over Europe and Asia, and 
in Egypt after the Nile waters have subsided; 
showing that the cause is not in the soil, nor in 
the temperature, since it occurs upon any soil, 
and with any temperature. Perhaps there is 
more than one cause. Is there any particular 
period of the year during which it is most 
prevalent?' We should say that it was from 
this time to the autumn. If a large quantity of 
rain were now to fall, there would be a luxuri¬ 
ant herbage, but that would be deficient in nu¬ 
triment, and a great amount of moisture would 
be taken into the system of the animals which 
ate it. We have said that in the first stages of 
the disease, there is a considerable accumula¬ 
tion of fat. Now, sheep put on water mead¬ 
ows, at this season, are almost sure to have the 
rot; and as this directly induces fatness, sheep 
have been fed in this way for the market. The 
bile next loses its properties of supplying nutri¬ 
fying matter. The blood consequently becomes 
We must now advert to those parasites of the 
liver called “ flukes,” which, in the gall ducts, 
produce the effect of a structural change. Some 
think that these oviparous animals are the ori¬ 
gin of rot. The feculent matter of rotten sheep 
contains millions of ova of the flukes, and just 
as an egg will keep for any length of time, until 
heat is applied and the chick hatched, so these 
ova, while on the pastures undergo no change; 
but in their natural habitat, the body of the an¬ 
imal, they quickly develope themselves. Wheat 
in the same way, has been locked up in mum¬ 
mies for thousands of years, and then being 
sown produced plants. Youatt, in his work on 
sheep, treating of the anatomy of the fluke, de¬ 
scribes organs which do not exist. What he 
calls the “ eye,” is a sucking disc by which the 
animal adheres to the liver. Flukes are bisexual 
or hermaphrodite. They have another disc at 
one extremity of the body, by some supposed a 
mouth; but if not, their nutriment, (namely, 
bile,) must be imbibed by the whole surface 
of the body. When placed dead in warm water, 
they will swell very much, which seems to in¬ 
dicate a considerable absorbing power. In con- 
elusion, as to the principles that should guide 
us in the treatment of rotting sheep. Two years 
ago, seven or eight sheep, each showing the 
rot in its advanced stages, were put in a shed 
and supplied with dry and nutritious food ; two 
were cured, the liver being still affected, but so 
little that they might have lived for years. Rot 
is a disease analogous to dropsy. It arises from 
impure blood, that blood being rendered nutri¬ 
tious by the water it contains, and the water 
penetrates into the cellular tissue between the 
jaws, &c. This has led writers into “ sections ” 
of this disease; but, “water rot” and “fluke 
rot ” are only less or more advanced stages of 
one disease. If flukes exist, we must stri ke at the 
root, get rid of the animalcules, which do, by 
bringing about a healthy condition of the animal, 
since no medicine acts directly upon the flukes. 
Many persons advocate the use of salt, it being 
a stimulant to the digestive organs. Some peo¬ 
ple keep it in troughs for their sheep to help 
themselves to; and it is certainly an excellent 
preventive. We know that it matters not how 
moist salt marshes are, for rot will not attack 
flocks there But can we not do better ? Salt has 
an injurious effect upon the stomach. We should 
throw tonics into the system. Mineral tonics are 
best, and sulphate of iron gives the greatest 
tone. We have said that the kidneys now do 
what the liver ought to have done, and we should 
therefore stimulate them to greater action. We 
do not mean to recommend the exhibition of 
ordinary diuretic agents, because- they produce 
debility; but the spirit of nitric ether, which is 
a good medicine. W^e ought, then, to husband 
the animal's powers by placing him in a proper 
situation, dry, &c., supply him with nutritious, 
and dry food; we should mix it with salt, and 
administer small quantities of sulphate of iron, 
and nitric ether. We have no doubt that the 
impure all over the system, for the same reason | farmer, by attention to these points, would often 
that pure water is nevbr obtained from a poi- have to rejoice that he had not sent his sheep 
soned fountain. I to the knacker, instead of the butcher. 
