he ae be RR ee 
SCAB. | 
or any other convenient objects,—a symptom 
which does not appear till about 12 days after 
the infection has been received ; but it may, on 
examination, be detected much earlier by unna- 
tural redness and floridness of the skin. It pro- 
gresses from irritation to pustular eruption; and 
when the extreme itching and the rubbing be- 
gin, the skin is already rough and dotted with 
hard pimples; and in a few days, the pustules 
break, sores occupy their place, and scabs are 
formed; and, in the farther process of rubbing 
and exposure, the scabs are removed, the sores 
are aggravated and extended, the wool is denud- 
ed, maggots may begin to assist the horrible de- 
vastations of the acari, deep sinuses may be 
formed, and either incurable ulceration or total 
exhaustion may render speedy death inevitable. 
“Although fat sheep, or those in improving 
condition, seem less liable to be attacked with 
scab than others, it is not, as some have sup- 
posed, a disorder in the blood, and to be cured 
by change to richer pasturage. It is strictly a 
cutaneous and local disease, although, like other 
local complaints, it will seriously and even fatally 
injure the constitution if not checked in its early 
stages. If speedily discovered, sulphur ointment 
will prove a remedy; but in more serious cases, 
in order to effect a cure, it is necessary to dress 
the sheep with mercurial ointment, which opera- 
tion is performed according to the following di- 
rections: — Divide the wool into two parallel 
lines, about 2 and 4 inches from the back on 
both sides, and also one line down the shoulders 
and thighs; lay on the ointment close to the 
skin with your fore-finger as you make the divi- 
sions; lay another furrow or line down the 
throat, under the belly, and between the fore 
and hind legs; at the same time examine care- 
fully for the affected parts, and dress them. 
Three pounds of an ointment, formed of 1 lb. of 
quicksilver, 5 lb. of Venice turpentine, 54 Ib. of 
hog’s lard, and 4 lb. of resin, are sufficient for a 
score of large sheep, and two pounds and a half 
for hoggets or sheep in low condition. Highly 
useful as this preparation is for the cure of so 
troublesome a complaint, and much as it is re- 
commended, yet there is scarcely a farmer that 
has used it without the loss of sheep from its in- 
judicious application. October and March are the 
proper months for dressing, when the weather is 
dry ; nor should it be delayed to a later season. 
In hot weather, the absorbent vessels carry it too 
quickly into the system, and the sheep become 
salivated, and also in the winter, from lying on 
the cold and wet ground. It is also highly dan- 
gerous to use it on ewes before or after lambing; 
nor is it safe at any time to anoint sheep that 
are poor or weak. But the following infusion 
will answer the purpose when it is improper to 
use the mercurial ointment :—Boil half a pound 
of tobacco in two gallons of water until reduced 
to one; strain and then add half a pint of spirit 
of turpentine, and half a pound of flowers of sul- 
SCABIOUS. 
phur. On the application of this mixture, the 
scabs should be broken, and every affected part 
well searched and dressed. As this decoction, as 
well as the ointment, stains the wool and disfi- 
gures the sheep, immediately after they are 
shorn, a lotion of one ounce of corrosive subli- 
inate, + of a pint of spirit of wine, and 3 quarts 
of spring water may be used, first. washing the 
animal well with soft soap and warm water. 
Kvery infected sheep should be removed from 
the flock as soon as dressed, and until there is a 
satisfactory proof of its convalescence. Hven 
here, however, the anxiety of the farmer is not 
at anend. The complaint is probably more con- 
tagious than any other that can be mentioned. 
It has often happened, that, after all the stock 
has been sold and replaced, the new comers have 
been speedily infected. This is occasioned by 
coming in contact with the fences against which 
the diseased sheep have been in the habit of rub- 
bing themselves; the wool left on the posts re- 
taining some of the eggs or larve of the vermin, 
and of course communicating them to the new 
flock. The prudent farmer should, therefore, 
cause all flakes of wool remaining on the hedges 
to be carefully collected by his boys, and he 
should also remove all useless posts, and paint or 
tar the gates, or wash them with a solution of | 
the chloride of lime, before he uses the same pas- 
tures again. Some complaints have been errone- 
ously confounded with the scab, and much in- 
convenience and even mischief has arisen from 
the mistake, all the usual remedies to avoid 
contagion being taken unnecessarily. Hard 
and scurfy eruptions, and some species of the 
ticks, have been considered to be scab, and treat- 
ed accordingly. The shepherd will be guided in 
his judgment by the actions of the sheep; if he 
observes that the painful itching and incessant 
rubbing are wanting, he may safely conclude that 
the attack is not scabby in its character. In 
some parts of the country, the scab in its most 
virulent form is known by the name of ‘ wildfire.’ 
It becomes a species of erysipelas.” 
SCABIOUS,—botanically Scabiosa. A genus 
of ornamental plants, of the teasel family. The 
majority of the species which formerly con- 
stituted it, and which rendered it a large genus, 
are now assigned to the genera succisa, cephala- 
ria, and pterocephalus. But one British species 
and nearly 20 hardy introduced species, three of 
them annuals, and the rest radical herbaceous 
perennials, still belong to it. 
The indigenous species, S. arvensis, occurs in 
corn-fields and pastures, and is one of the most 
beautiful of our wild plants. Its root is peren- 
nial; its stem is annual and bristly and about 2 
or 3 feet high; its radical leaves are stalked, 
lanceolate, and serrated ; its cauline leaves are 
sessile and pinnatifid; and its flowers are large | 
and handsome, and have a fine pale purple colour, 
and bloom from July till October. This herb 
has a bitter and nauseous flavour, and is disliked 
7 OT AEM 
