FATAL DISEASE IN THE LIVER OF SHEEP. 567 
ailing. In some instances they grazed within half an hour 
of their death. 
As there were several tying dead in the slaughter-house, 
these I examined, and the following are the principal appear¬ 
ances. The sheep were in excellent condition, weighing on 
an average from twenty-two to twenty-four pounds per 
quarter. On removing the skin, I w T as immediately struck 
with the very yellow, jaundiced appearance of the carcase, 
the colour being equally diffused all over the body. 
The stomachs and intestines were tolerably healthy, and 
their contents about the natural consistence. The liver of 
one was healthy, in all the others I examined it had a pecu¬ 
liar mottled appearance, and its structure was easily broken 
down. The gall-bladder, in every case, was full of dark, 
tarry-looking bile. The kidneys were inflamed, particularly 
so in that case in which the liver was healthy. The bladder 
contained a quantity of dark-coloured fluid, in appearance 
resembling porter. On opening the chest, from two quarts 
to a gallon of dark-coloured serum escaped. The lungs were 
healthy. The heart pale and flabby, with a small quantity 
of fluid blood in the right ventricle. The carcases quickly 
decomposed. 
Treatment .—In addition to a change of situation and food, 
I suggested that they should all have an aperient given to 
them. Accordingly, to each was administered an ounce and 
a half of sulphate of magnesia, with half a drachm of ginger. 
This, I believe, had not the least beneficial effect, as they 
continued to die as rapidly, if not more so, than before. 
Consequently Mr. Smith had the remainder, with the excep¬ 
tion of eight, slaughtered and sent away; several of them, 
however, when dressed, were so yellow 7 that they were unfit 
for food. 
I had an opportunity of trying a few 7 experiments on some 
that were affected. I found purgatives to be quite useless, 
but was enabled to prolong life, from one to three days, by 
giving stimulants; still, to be of any service, they had to be 
given early and frequently repeated. The spirit of nitric 
ether, exhibited in half ounce doses, or oil of turpentine, in 
two drachm doses, or carbonate of ammonia, in scruple 
doses, administered every two or three hours, in the first 
instance, and at longer intervals afterwards, was found of 
benefit. The only case that recovered had two drachms of 
turpentine, with ten drops of creasote, given to it, in a small 
quantity of linseed oil, which w T as frequently repeated. Out 
of one hundred sheep, more than thirty died within ten 
days. 
