738 
PARASITIC DISEASES OE ANIMALS. 
off for turnips, as only a small portion of the farm would 
then grow them. The straw I had was so mixed with 
bracken that it was only fit for bedding. I had very little 
hay, consequently my stock was out late in the autumn. 
What was the result of all these misfortunes ? I lost 
three fourths of the calves I had reared with blackleg. The 
next year was nearly as bad. What now was to be done ? 
I had many old friends ready and willing to give advice. 
One said, “ Take your calves up at night early in the 
autumn.” Another said, Give them a dose of saltpetre 
each.” “ In the multitude of counsellors there is wisdom/* I 
therefore adopted both of these plans, with a little addition 
of my own. I now take them up into the yards at night, 
not later than the middle of August, give them hay and 
corn, with a little linseed cake or crushed corn and bran—I 
say bran especially, because I believe it produces less blood 
than most other kinds of food, blackleg being a blood dis¬ 
ease, and therefore requiring a check upon any redundance 
of blood—and keep them in the yards until the dew and 
frost is off the ground in the morning. As a preventive 
medicine, I give them once a month—saltpetre, 1 oz.; Epsom 
salts, 4 oz., dissolved in hot water; then add, when nearly 
cool, 2 or 3 oz. of flour of sulphur. It is a good plan to fix 
a certain day—say the first or the last day of the month ; it 
is not then so soon forgotten. If these precautions are taken, 
not one calf in fifty will be lost of hoose or blackleg. Some 
farms may not require these precautions. That, however, 
has not been my lot. I therefore continue the prevention 
system, and, I am thankful to say, without loss from hoose 
or blackleg.— The Agricultural Gazette. 
PARASITIC DISEASES OF ANIMALS. 
Experience has recently shown that the theory of para¬ 
sitic development is true, and afforded additional evidence of 
the influence of climatic conditions in fostering the growth 
of numerous lower organisms which find a congenial habitat 
in the tissues of the higher animals. A short history of the 
life of those entozoa which do the greatest injury to their 
host will indicate clearly that the very existence of the 
creatures is dependent on the moisture; and the history of 
the diseases to which they give rise proves that wet seasons 
are favorable to their existence, even in localities where they 
are not prevalent under ordinary circumstances. 
