192 
THE CULTIVATOR 
June, 
Worms in the Head of Sheep. 
In answer to several inquiries on this subject, we give 
the following extract from Cole’s Treatise on the Dis¬ 
eases of Animals, which gives the best popular practice 
in relation to the worms in the head of sheep; although 
it may not be strictly correct in some of its details, it 
will afford our correspondents valuable information on 
the subject. 
Cause. —A large fly, or bee, (Oestrus ovis,) lays its 
eggs in the nostrils of sheep, in August and Septem¬ 
ber, and perhaps earlier and later, where they hatch, 
and from twenty-five to one hundred small white grubs, 
with black heads and a black streak on the back, may 
sometimes be found in the cavity between the nostrils 
and windpipe. They continue in this place till the next 
summer, when they get their growth, and are as large 
as a pipe-stem, and nearly an inch long, with four 
large teeth, as hard as bone. They then leave the 
sheep, and soon cast off their skin, when the bee ap¬ 
pears, and is ready to lay a new lot of eggs. Some 
say that the worms do not injure fat sheep, as they find 
sufficient support in the nostrils; but in poor sheep, for 
want of food, they ascend in the head. When attacked 
by the fly, sheep run with their noses to the ground, 
and ofton thrust them into the loose earth to shut up 
the avenues of approach to the enemy. 
Symptoms. —They do not generally appear till to¬ 
wards spring, at which time they may be discovered 
by a sickly countenance and loss of flesh, notwithstand¬ 
ing the best of keeping; sometimes running at the 
nose, (though not always,) and snorting, as if trying to 
blow something from the head. In some cases the 
sheep suddenly spring about in a wild, frantic manner, 
and dropdown dead. When this symptom is exhibited, 
the grubs have assailed some vital part. When they 
do not die in this manner, they become so poor that 
their wool stops growing and falls off, and they give 
little or no milk. Sometimes they linger, pining away, 
and do not die till June or July. 
Preventive. —Smear the noses of sheep with tar fre¬ 
quently, from the coming until the departure of the fly. 
To be sure, begin in July, and continue the use of tar 
till October. It may be applied directly to the noses 
of sheep, but the better way is to lay it in a trough 
or on a board, and strew salt on it, and the sheep, in 
eating the salt, will smirch their noses pretty well them¬ 
selves. . Give them salt in this way frequently, or keep 
a supply by them. Tar is also a specific against other 
diseases. 
Remedy. —Take half a pound of good Scotch snuff, 
pour on it two quarts of boiling water, stir it and let it 
stand till cold; with a syringe inject about a table 
spoonful of this liquid and sediment up each nostril. 
Repeat this three or four time 3 , at proper intervals, 
from the middle of October to the first of January. 
The grubs are then small and more easily destroyed 
than afterwards, and they will not have injured the 
sheep as they will if this operaeion be deferred till 
later. Half an ounce of asafoetida, pounded in a little 
water, and added to the snuff, will make it more ef¬ 
fectual. There need be no alarm if the sheep be very 
drunk, and apparently in the agonies of death, when 
the operation is performed, as they will soon recover. 
Dry snuff may be blown up the nose with a quill, and 
have a good effect, but it is a slow and dirty job. 
The reason for repeating the operation is, there are 
many cavities and folds where the grubs may not be 
exposed, and by repeating the application often, they 
may crawl out, a,nd, by a change of situation, become 
exposed to the snuff. The sediment is thrown up, as it 
will be likely to remain longer, and prove more effect¬ 
ual than the liquid. 
Another. —Blow tobacco-smoke well up the nostrils, 
by inserting the stem of a tobacco-pipe, well charged 
and lighted, and blow at the bowl, through a covering 
of cloth, for a few seconds, then in the other nostril. 
Another. —Pour into each nostril of every sheep 
affected, a tea-spoonful each of spirits of turpentine 
and olive oil. 
Mr. J. Brown, of Akron, Ohio, a distinguished flock- 
master, of much experience, says, in the l * Ohio Culti¬ 
vator,” that the fly, which is of light drab color, de¬ 
posits a crawling maggot at the nose of the sheep. 
He had taken hundreds of them, alive and active, 
from flies. His son had them deposited twice at his 
nose, while at work among the sheep. The flies work 
in summer, and in the fall till cool weather. The act 
of depositing is done very quick, and the maggot is 
ready to pass immediately into the head. The only 
chance to destroy them is during their infancy, before 
they pass high into the head, which is not under five 
or six weeks. There are two sets in a year, if not 
more. Matured ones have been found in the heads of 
lambs not more than four months old. 
Remedy. —He uses tobacco-water with excellent 
success, commencing the last of July, and applying it 
till the last of October, generally three times in the 
season. Boil one pound of good tobacco in a gallon of 
water. Turn the sheep on their backs in a little trench 
dug in the ground, and with the head held back on the 
ground, inject with some force about a table-spoonful 
of the liquor into each nostril, pointing the syringe so 
that it will go into the cavities in the head, instead of 
falling into the throat. If at first the animals appear 
sick and cannot stand, they will soon get over it. Two 
persons will go through with several hundred in a day. 
Dr. Dadd, in quoting from Gunther, describes the 
symptoms as, running or turning round by the sheep 
in eccentric circles, sometimes stopping, and then step¬ 
ping forward again. The older the disease, the more 
the animal turns. According as the worms occupy the 
right or left, the sheep turns to the right or left—if on 
both sides, the turning takes place to the one or other 
alternately. When the worm is on the median line, 
the animal does not turn. Dr. Dadd gives the following 
remedy:— 
Take powdered worm seed,...1 ounce, 
sulphur,. £ do 
charcoal,.2 do 
flax-seed,. .*...1 pound. 
Mix them, and -divide into eight parts, and feed one 
every morning. Make a drink from the white Indian 
hemp, ( Asclepias incamata ,) one ounce of which may 
be infused into a quart of water, one-fourth to be given 
every night. ^ 
Ringworm, Scab or Itch in Cattle. 
Eds. of Country Gentleman— I have wintered a 
yard of 50 calves, (now one year old,) and about six 
weeks ago they began to have the eruption about the 
eyes, referred to several times in the Country Gentle¬ 
man. I made use of the application recommended in 
your paper—an ointment of sulphur and mercurial 
ointment, (i. e. anguintum,) with decided benefit 
The scab pealed off, and the hair commenced growing 
again; and I doubt not I should have perfected a cure 
had I followed up the application as I o.ught. I think 
by making use of one or two more applications, I can 
entirely subdue it It seems highly contagious with 
young cattle; but ( my cows that have been exposed 
have not taken it. Some of my neighboring farmers 
have it on their cattle. I consider it nothing more nor 
less than a species of itch. It does not seem to affect 
the general health of the animal, and I presume is 
easily remedied, and not alarming or fatal in its re¬ 
sults. Wm. J. Pettee. Lakeville, Conn., March 2 5 , 
