752 TRANSLATIONS FROM CONTINENTAL JOURNALS. 
are attacked, and the malady is more intense and of longer 
duration, which is not surprising, as the affection must neces¬ 
sarily become aggravated in proportion as the number of 
patients increase. Finally, at the commencement of the 
third period, which generally coincides with the third month, 
a last invasion takes place of those which hitherto had re¬ 
sisted the contagion. This, like the first, is less violent than 
the second period ; the reason of which is simple enough— 
those individuals who longest resisted the contagion had less 
aptitude to take it. From this we may conclude that the 
duration of the disease is from three to four months in a 
flock of sheep, but this is not a rule without an exception, 
as the malady has been known to extend from six to eight 
months in a large flock of sheep. 
Continental veterinary surgeons recognise some three and 
others four periods in this malady, viz., the invasion, the 
eruption, the suppuration, and the desiccation. Those who 
only admit of three periods confound the period of suppu¬ 
ration with that of the eruption. These four divisions are 
well marked by the different symptoms which are observed 
on the skin. There is always a state of fever which corre¬ 
sponds with the precursory symptoms of the eruption, and 
diminishes with the appearance of the pustules, but sometimes 
increases when the secretion is formed. M. Girard says 
that, when the malady is accidentally transmitted to a healthy 
sheep, from six to eight days elapse before the eruption 
shows itself in warm weather; in cold, a longer time will 
elapse, particularly if it be wet at the same time. It has 
been impossible to determine the exact time of the con¬ 
tinuance of the pimples, taking into consideration the tempe¬ 
rature, the season, the locality, and the age of the indi¬ 
viduals. There are such variations that it would be difficult 
to establish correct data, but generally the eruption, which 
appears in the shape of small, reddish spots, continues 
about four days. The pimples shortly after become of a 
grayish colour. They are situated principally on those 
parts denuded of wool, and where the skin is fine and the 
animal heat is most concentrated. Soon after, the centre of 
✓ 
these spots becomes elevated, forms a sort of boil in the 
texture of the skin, and increase in size, and sometimes 
penetrates through the skin to the subjacent tissue. The 
tumours are hard and hemispheric in shape. Some are 
very small, others round, and some depressed. They are 
either isolated or confluent. The red colour does not long 
remain ; it speedily turns to a white or sometimes bluish 
hue. The depression in the centre is, properly speaking, 
