OF FOOT-KOT IN SHEEP. 
219 
good distance, and are put upon a wet pasture. r \ heir feet, 
having been too much worn down and heated on their journey, 
are then exposed to tilth and moisture. By the injury which 
they have received upon the road, the pores in the horn, which 
are the consequence of such travelling, render them more liable 
to disease than if they had travelled a moderate distance. And 
if they happen to be lame from the effects of a long journey, the 
whole is charged against the infected ground, or to some Nestor 
of a sheep which has communicated the contagion. 
One of my pupils some time ago happened to have some 
conversation with a shepherd, and was arguing w th him against 
the infectious nature of the disease, but without being able to 
convince him of its non-infection. The shepherd gave him the 
following' case as a proof of its highly infectious properti s:— 
He once set out on a journey with a flock, and there happ med 
to be one of them lame from foot-rot before starting, and, e e he 
had travelled sixty miles, there was scarcely a sound one in th e 
flock. Such a proof of infection as *this was not easily over¬ 
turned; the road had been infected by the diseased sheep, and 
what between the road and the sheep, it is evident the disease 
spread. Such is a specimen of the infectious nature of it, or 
rather the views regarding it. In all probability, these sheep 
had been going on wet soft pasture, and the hoofs being weak¬ 
ened, or perhaps diseased, before setting out, lameness was a 
necessary consequence. 
When I consider the stubborn facts which are urged in sup¬ 
port of the infectious nature of this disease, and the weight of 
those opinions which may be brought in support of it, 1 con¬ 
ceive it to be a matter deserving of calm and dispassionate con¬ 
sideration. But, after the pains and investigation I have be¬ 
stowed upon it, I feel compelled to advance a contrary opinion, 
and to state, that the idea of its being infectious is a mere delu¬ 
sion—an error which is fraught with most important conse¬ 
quences, inasmuch as it has directed the attention to erroneous 
causes, and thereby to improper or useless means for its pre¬ 
vention. Nay, even lands which have got the name of being 
infected have, in consequence, become unnecessarily diminished 
in value. 
Since, then, it appears to me that the disease is not infectious, 
what, it may be asked, is the cause from which the foot-rot 
arises? I have already described the situations and circum¬ 
stances under which the disease is found to exist, from which 
the answer follows as a consequence. I have stated, that where- 
ever we find rich old pastures covered with moss plants, or 
where the hoofs, from the softness of the surface by the quan- 
