2G0 ENDEMIC DISEASE BREAKING OUT AMONG LAMBS. 
until, ultimately, our medical treatment was discontinued 
altogether. When the swellings appeared fit, I evacuated the 
fluid by making an incision with a lancet, and in some cases a 
surprising quantity of fluid escaped. The matter varied in 
character, in some being bloody and thickish in consistence; in 
others, of a straw colour, thin, and intermingled with small 
masses of curdled matter. Altogether, upwards of a score lambs 
have died, and some few, which have had the disease but 
slightly, have recovered. 
The post-mortem appearances are much the same in the 
different subjects. On removing the skin from about the joints, 
an appearance of inflammation is commonly met with, blackish 
in colour, from the extravasated blood; a quantity of fluid ge¬ 
nerally escaping the while, of a dirty reddish colour, bearing the 
character of unhealthy pus. 
On severing the diseased joints, a similar fluid is found 
within the capsular ligament, the synovial membrane being 
inflamed and injected. The same appearances are met with in 
the different joints affected, varying somewhat in degree. In 
some cases I have found the whole of the joints of the ex¬ 
tremities diseased, except the fetlocks, these being the only 
normal joints; the membrane and synovia in them being 
healthy—the latter both in quantity and quality. In some in¬ 
stances the muscles of the extremities are diseased. On an 
incision being made, fluid escapes from these parts, sometimes 
in considerable quantity. 
The viscera of the abdomen and thorax were, in most of the 
subjects I have examined, healthy : in one instance, traces of 
inflammation were visible about the heart, particularly at its 
apex; but no fluid could be detected within the pericardium. 
I am unable, satisfactorily, to account for the cause of this 
malady. Several probable causes have been suggested, but 
neither of them is supported by a consideration of the facts. 
The following appears to me to be the most plausible:—At the 
time when the disease first appeared, and during its continuance, 
the weather was very dry, with north and north-easterly winds 
prevailing; the nights being sharp, clear, and frosty, and se¬ 
verely cold; the days comparatively warm. Now, I am in¬ 
clined to think, that the extremes of temperature, acting per¬ 
haps conjointly with other causes, may have had something to 
do with the production of the disease, though I have not heard 
of any other lambs in this district being similarly affected. 
The disease seems to have no predilection for the weakest or 
youngest lambs, as some of the strongest and best of the flock 
have fallen victims. 
Having trespassed so long on your valuable time by this 
hasty account, I will abstain from further remarks. 
