CHAPTER VI.
ACCIDENTS AND OPERATIONS.
(104.) Sheep being about as liable as other animals to a variety of accidents, it is necessary that the shepherd should possess a competent knowledge of the means which art affords for the remedy of those mishaps. It is from a want of such knowledge that farmers are frequently led to slaughter valuable sheep, though only labouring under the effects of some commonplace disease or accident. If the animal is attended by a professional person, an expense is sure to be incurred nearly equal to the worth of the patient, and in so far as they endeavour to obviate this, by killing the sheep, they are free from blame; but why not rather contrive to save the cost of veterinary attendance, by making themselves conversant with its diseases, and able to prescribe for their own flocks, in which there can be no difficulty, as the remedies are, in the majority of cases, few, simple, and of easy application. In the surgical and medical management of flocks, much mystery has, as in other matters, all along existed; but that fantastic age is well nigh its close, and thanks to the spirit of candid inquiry now abroad, we may hope ere long to boast of valuable information in this department. The spread of correct ideas regarding the nature and treatment of accidents and diseases, has from first to last been prevented by the diffuseness of those who have written on the subject, and by their so clothing it in a mass of verbiage, as to render scarcely intelligible what would otherwise be easy of acquirement. To obviate the liability to a similar charge, the following observations are given as briefly as is consistent with a due regard to the importance of the subject.
(105.)Wounds.All the wounds which can be inflicted may be classed under the heads of incised, punctured, and lacerated.
An incised wound is one made by a cutting instrument, such as a knife or a piece of glass.
Punctured wounds are those produced by sharp pointed bodies, such as pins or thorns.
Lacerated wounds are those occasioned by blunt bodies, as the teeth of the dog, tearing rather than cutting the flesh.
When a sheep has received any of these injuries, the following rules ought to be attended to, and in the order here recommended:—
1st. Arrest the bleeding, if profuse, and likely to endanger life.2d. Clip away the wool for a few inches around the injured part.3d. Remove dirt or other foreign body from the wound.4th. Bring the separated parts as nearly together as circumstances will at the moment permit, and retain them there by suitable apparatus.
1st. Arrest the bleeding, if profuse, and likely to endanger life.
2d. Clip away the wool for a few inches around the injured part.
3d. Remove dirt or other foreign body from the wound.
4th. Bring the separated parts as nearly together as circumstances will at the moment permit, and retain them there by suitable apparatus.
(106.)To stop Bleeding.Bleeding will, if no large arteries are divided, cease on the free exposure of the surface for a few minutes to the air; but when a large vessel has been cut, more determined means must be had recourse to. Pressure on the bleeding surface and its neighbourhood will in many cases succeed, but this or any similar method is far inferior to that of securing the open vessel by a thread. To accomplish this, the mouth of the vein or artery must be slightly drawn out from the contiguous surface, by means of a small hook, called by surgeons a tenaculum, and easily procured from any blacksmith. While the mouth of the vessel is thus held exposed, an assistant must surround it with a noose of thread, which, on being secured with a double knot, will effectually close it. The thread ought to be of white silk, though any undyed thread, which is firm, round, and capable of standing a pull, will answer the purpose. Care must be taken to place the thread, before tying it, fairly behind the point of the tenaculum, so as to avoid including the instrument within the ligature, a circumstance which would lead to the slipping of the noose and failure of the operation. The hook is now to be withdrawn, and one end of the ligature cut off by scissars within a little of the noose. The remaining threads are allowed to hang out of the wound, so as to admit of their removal when they become loose, which does not, however, take place till the termination of the first four days, and they are frequently retained for a much longer period. At each time the wound is dressed, after the fourth day, the ligatures should begently pulled, or, which is preferable,twisted, to disengage them, if at all loose, so that the wound may be more speedily closed. Before proceeding to any operation where bleeding is expected, the operator should provide himself with a few well-waxed threads, each twelve inches long, so that no delay may ensue on a division of large vessels.
(107.)Removal of Extraneous Matter.Dirt is best removed by washing with a sponge or old linen rag and warm water. Other foreign bodies may in general be extracted by the finger and thumb. In some cases, however, it may be necessary to dilate or enlarge the wound with a fine-edged knife, in order to facilitate the removal of substances which, from their shape or situation, cannot be otherwise displaced.
(108.)Closure of a Wound.The last thing to be done is to bring the edges of the wound into as accurate contact as the state of the parts will at the moment permit, without, however, using any force. This, with a little care, is readily accomplished, the only difficulty being to retain them in the desired position. They may be held in contact either bystitches, (sutures,)plasters, orbandages, or by a union of the three. Stitches are only required when the wound gapes to a considerable extent, as it will always do when running across a muscle. They may be applied in the following manner. Transfix one side of the wound with a curved needle (armed with a well waxed thread) forcing the needlefrom withoutobliquely towards the bottom of the wound, then carry it through the opposite sidefrom within, taking care to bring it out about the same distance from the edge as that at which it entered on the other margin. The needle must now be removed, by cutting the threads close to its eye, and while the ends are allowed to hang loose, the same operation should be repeated, at the distance of an inch or an inch and a half from the first stitch, as often as the length of the wound may render necessary. Your assistant will now bring the sides of the wound together as accurately as possible, and retain them there till you have tied the corresponding ends of the threads in a double knot.
(109.)Bandaging.Adhesive plaster is in some instances of service, but upon the whole ought rather to be dispensed with, being of difficult application, and moreover tending to the accumulation of filth and the discomfort of the animal. Nothing will be found to serve the purpose of supporting the parts so well as a properly adjusted bandage, which is useful in every instance, and sure to stay on if sewed here and there to the fleece. The bandage should never be omitted where the wound has any tendency to gape, as too great a strain upon the stitches cannot but lead to delay in the healing process. In bandaging a limb or part of a limb, commencealways at the foot, and proceed upwards; in other parts of the body begin where you find it most convenient. Before applying a bandage to an injured surface, a couple of pieces of old linen of cotton rag should be folded into pads or compresses, and laidone on each side of the cut, and over these the bandage should be rolled, evenly and with moderate and uniform firmness. By this plan the separated surfaces are supported and preserved in close juxtaposition, especially at the bottom of the wound, a thing of some importance where the cavity is deep. Transverse cuts of the limbs of sheep require more careful and more complicated treatment than cuts in other parts, as there is a constant tendency of the edges to retract. This retraction of the edges may be in some degree obviated by the application of a splint, which may be made of a slip of stiff leather (such as is used for saddle flaps) well wetted, so as to be easily adapted to the form of the limb. It is intended to impede the motion of the leg, which occasions the gaping of the wound, and must therefore be made to pass over one or more joints as circumstances may require. Tow must be laid along the surface (a sound one if possible) on which the leather is to be placed, and a bandage then rolled over it so as to make all secure.
(110.)Clean cuts, as every one knows, heal readily in a healthy animal, seldom demanding above three dressings; lacerations, on the other hand, require a longer period for their reparation, inasmuch as the process which nature goes through is more complicated. In the former, the parts are speedily glued together, so soon almost as in contact, and the union is generally complete within the first thirty-six hours. Not so, however, with the latter. Here the parts are bruised, torn, and perhaps to a considerable extent awanting. Some of the bruised portions may die, and are of course to be renewed. This is a process requiring a great effort on the part of the vital powers, which are often inadequate to the task, and on this account we ought, when the injury is severe, to sacrifice the animal rather than run the risk of its dying during the process of the attempted cure. To replace the lost part, suppuration, or the formation ofmattercommences; while under cover of this, a crop of fleshy particles (granulations) rise to fill the vacancy. Granulations are best promoted by warm emollient applications, such as poultices of oatmeal, linseed-meal, or barley-flour, which ought to be frequently renewed to prevent their becoming cold or dry. When the granulations become too luxuriant, and rise, as they are apt to do, above the level of the skin, the poultices must be laid aside, the sore washed once or twice a-day with asolutionof sulphate of copper (made by dissolving two or three drachms of blue vitriol in an English pint of soft water), and covered carefully over with a pledget of fine tow, spread with lard, or any simple ointment, by which means, conjoined with cleanliness, a cure will easily be accomplished.
(111.)Punctured Wounds.The orifice being small in these, and the depth considerable, the sides are apt to adhere irregularly, and prevent the free escape of matter, which is certain to collect at the bottom. To avoid such occurrences, it is in many cases proper to convert a punctured into an incised wound. When, from neglecting this, the matter is denied an outlet, an incision must be made to allow it to escape, otherwise much harm will ensue from its burrowing between the different textures. Fomentations will also here be serviceable, and should be preferred to poultices. To apply them, place well-boiled meadow hay, when very hot and moist, within a fold of old blanket or woollen cloth, and lay it on the injured parts, taking care to renew the heat frequently, by dipping the bundle in the hot decoction.
(112.)Bruises and Sprains.These, unless severe, need not be interfered with. When the shepherd, however, considers it necessary to make any application, he cannot do better than foment the part for an hour or so with meadow hay, in the same manner as recommended for punctured wounds.
(113.)Wounds of Joints.Such wounds are highly dangerous and apt to baffle the most experienced.The grand object in every case, however, where a cure is attempted, is to produce a speedy union of the wound, as directed in(108) to (109). If the injury be extensive, the best thing the farmer can do is to slaughter the animal.
(114.)Poisoned Wounds.It is said that sheep are sometimes bitten by snakes, and strange stories are told of their milk being sucked by these reptiles. In such a case but small dependence can be placed on any inward treatment, beyond the administration of one or two full doses of castor oil. If the bite can be discovered, the part should be frequently fomented with a decoction of meadow hay and foxglove (fairy-capof the Irish, andbluidy-fingerof the Scotch).
(115.)Fractures.If there be no wound of the soft parts, the bone being simply broken, the treatment is extremely easy. Apply a piece of wet leather, as recommended at (109), taking care to ease the limb when swelling supervenes. When the swelling is considerable, and fever present, you cannot do better than open a vein of the head or neck, allowing a quantity of blood to escape, proportioned to the size and condition of the animal and the urgency of the symptoms. The exhibition of purgatives should never be neglected. Epsom salt, in one ounce doses, given either as a gruel or a drench, will be found to answer the purpose well. If the broken bones are kept steady, the cure will be complete in from three weeks to a month, the process of reunion always proceeding faster in a young than in an old sheep. Should the soft parts be injured to any extent, or the ends of the bone protruding, recovery is very uncertain, and it will become a question whether it would not be better at once to convert the animal into mutton; indeed, removal of portions of bone and amputation, of which some well known writers on the surgery of the sheep speak so learnedly and confidently, may be viewed, as, in this case, chimerical, if not absurd.
OPERATIONS.
(116.)Cutting Lambs.Polled sheep should be castrated about the tenth day after birth, but the end of the fifth week is soon enough for horned sheep, as early castration has always a tendency to spoil the beauty of the horns. The risk is always in proportion to the age, therefore no great length of time ought ever to elapse from the period of birth to that of the operation. A large flock of ewes and lambs should never be collected preparatory to cutting, as the latter, from the excitement and crowding, are less likely to recover from the operation. It is much better to take up a small number so soon as they are ready. Instead of driving them about in attempts to secure them, it will be safer to station a person at a division of the fold, who may lay hold of them individually as they are made to pass through slowly. The best method of cutting is to grasp the bag containing the testicles with the left hand, so as to tighten the skin, and push them forward, after which an incision may be made through the skin at the end of the bag, large enough to permit the stones to pass. They may then be removed either by cutting or tearing; the latter plan, however, is the better, as there is little risk of bleeding, which is almost sure to prove troublesome if the former be adopted. At this time a portion of the tail ought to be removed, if it has not been done at an earlier period, as a remedy for pinding. The bleeding will serve to lessen the danger consequent on the previous operation. When all have been operated on, the ewes may be allowed to find their lambs, and the whole conductedquietlyto their pasture.
(117.)Blood-letting.In describing this operation, too much stress is always laid on the importance of opening particular veins, or divisions of a vein, in certain diseases. Such directions are altogether unnecessary, asit matters not from what part of the animal the blood be drawn, provided it be taken quickly. Nothing tends so much to the recovery of an animal from a disease in which bleeding is required, as the rapid flow of the blood from a large orifice. Littleimpressioncan be made on an acute disease by the slow removal of even a large quantity of blood, as the organs have time to accommodate themselves to the loss, which might, for any good it will do, as well be dispensed with. Either bleed rapidly or not at all. The nearer the commencement of an ailment, in which you employ bleeding, the operation is resorted to, the greater the chance of its doing good; no time ought, therefore, to be lost in using the lancet, when once it is known to be required. Bleeding by nicking the under surface of the tail does very well where no great deal of blood is required, but it is not to be thought of if the veins of the face or neck can possibly be opened. These are to be taken in preference to a vein on the leg, as they are much more readily got at. The facial vein (f.v.Fig. 3. Pl. III.) commences by small branches on the side of the face, and runs downwards and backwards to the base of the jaw, where it may be felt within two inches of the angle, or opposite the middle grinding tooth. It is here that the orifice must be made, the thumb of the left hand being held against the vein, so as to prevent the flow of blood towards the heart, will make itrise. Some prefer opening the jugular vein (j.v.Fig. 3. P1.), which commences behind the eye and runs down the side of the neck. This vessel is, however, more difficult to open than the former, being better covered with wool, and not so easily exposed or made to swell.Stringingis the mode commonly resorted to for this end; that is to say a cord is drawn tightly round the neck, close to the shoulder, so as to stop the circulation through the vein, and render it perceptible to the finger. A lancet is the instrument generally used in bleeding, though a well-pointed pen knife will do at a pinch. The opening must always be made obliquely, in the direction marked in the cut; but before attempting this, the animal must be secured, by placing it between the operator's legs, with its croup against a wall. The selected vein is then fixed by the fingers of the operator's left hand, so as to prevent it rolling or slipping before the lancet. Having fairly entered the vein, the point of the instrument must be elevated, at the same time that it is pushed a little forward, by which motion it will be lifted from or cut its way out of the vein.A prescribed quantity of blood should never be drawn, for the simple reason that this can never be precisely stated. If the symptoms are urgent, as in all likelihood they will, your best plan is not to stop the flow of blood till the animal fall or is about to fall. When this occurs, run a pin through the edges of the orifice, and finish by twisting round it a lock of wool.
(118.)Removal of Hydatids from within the head.This animal, and the symptoms which it causes, I have fully described at (169). Their removal has been attempted in a variety of ways, but the simplest method, and one most likely to succeed, is that followed in this quarter. A couple of incisions, forming when completed the letter T, are made in the integument covering the soft part of the bone under which the hydatid is supposed to be. Two flaps are in this way marked out, and are dissected back so as to expose the skull. The yielding portion of the latter is then pared away, which brings the sac into view. This will be seen alternately to sink and rise, following in this respect the motions of the brain. A moderate-sized needle, slightly curved and filled with thread, is now passed through the exposed portion of the cyst, and the thread allowed to remain. The fluid is thus permitted slowly to escape, and at the same time the sac becomes collapsed, after which it is easily removed by pulling gently at the thread with which it is connected. As good a hold should be taken with the string as possible, and all the water should be allowed to flow out before any attempt is made to extract the remains of the hydatid. To conclude the operation, lay down the flaps of skin in their original position, covering them with a small piece of folded linen smeared with lard, and over all apply a cap. Never try to save the bone which you cut, by turning it back in the form of a lid, for by so doing you will only endanger the life of the animal, which is otherwise in little jeopardy.
It will often happen that the hydatid, from being in the interior of the brain, will not be brought into view by the removal of a portion of the skull. In this case the brain must be punctured in order to reach the sac and evacuate its contents.
When the skull above the eye is very thin, the disease may be at once ended by cautiously thrusting a short, stout, sharp-pointed piece of steel wire through the skin and bone down towards the centre of the brain, taking care to pull the skin a little to one side before making the puncture, so that on letting it loose the openings in the skull and integument will not be opposite to one another. This plan is much superior to that of thrusting a needle up the nostril, in the manner devised by Mr Hogg, as in his way we are always poking in the dark, in ignorance of the situation of the instrument, and are in all probability doing so much injury to the delicate parts within the nose as to preclude the possibility of recovery. Indeed, I some time ago examined a head on which Mr Hogg's operation had been twice unsuccessfully performed, and found traces of inflammation at the upper part of the nostril severe enough of itself to have occasioned death. The needle had not entered the brain, but the ethmoid was very much injured. I believe the instrument is very seldom pushed more than half way through the bone, at least it never reaches the hydatid, which would appear to be destroyed rather by the inflammatory process which follows the attempt, unfitting the brain for supplying it with the secretions on which it lives, than by any direct injury done to it by the needle.
CHAPTER VII.
DISEASES OF SHEEP.
(119.) There is no department in the management of sheep so little understood as the nature and treatment of their diseases. Every part of the sheep itself has been used, at one time or another, in this country, as medicine forman, a folly still prevailing among the boors of Southern Africa, who, according to Thunberg, employ the inner coat of the stomach, dried and powdered, as a safe emetic. Quackish absurdities of so glaring a nature have, however, long been scorned in civilized society. Not so, however, when the sheep is the object of treatment. Scientific innovations have been slow in reaching it, and specimens of barbarian usage are far from rare. We may feel for the benighted credulity which could place reliance, for a rescue from mortal ailment, on the secretions or excretions of a sheep; but we are compelled to laugh on reading, in theFamily Dictionary, published in 1752, the following:—
"In general, 'tis affirmed that the belly of a sheep boiled in water and wine, and given the sheep to drink, cures several diseases incident to them."
Only fancy a farmer dosing a sheep with mutton broth, and adding, for its stomach's sake, a little wine! I suspect the prescriber was, in this instance, putting himself, in point of intellect, far below the level of his patient. Thanks to him, however, for the benefit he has thus unwittingly conferred, by holding ignorance up to the derision it so richly merits; no means being so powerful as broadly-drawn caricatures in exposing the extent of such delusions. Though faith has long since ceased to be reposed in the medicinal virtues of mutton broth, a variety of nostrums have from time to time appeared, the composition and application of which are invaluable for the amount ofnegativeinformation they are calculated to convey. Further notice of these trashy recipes it is not my intention to take, as a list of them alone would make a volume;—they are in the hands of every one.
(120.)Cautions in prescribing.Great reliance is in general placed upon prescriptions, which profess to suit diseases in every stage and circumstance.—Than this, however, scarcely any thing can be more absurd. It is an opinion engendered not so much by ignorance as by laziness, a determination not to be put about by thinking of a remedy for the evils which surround us, but, while we contrive to soothe ourselves by doingsomething, to leave every thing to the hit-or-miss practice of charlatans.[24]There are many, who on being informed of the presence of disease in a neighbour's flock, confidently advise the employment of a favourite nostrum, on the empirical supposition that because it cured, or was thought to cure, one flock, it will cure another. Nothing is taken into account saving that, in both cases, the affected animals are sheep; and it is at once concluded, that what benefited one will benefit another. The many niceties in prescribing are never thought of: oh no, that would be of no use! of course it can be of no importance to give a moment's attention to age and sex, pasture and situation, or to leanness or fatness, or to the presence of pregnancy! These are of trifling moment, and only to be despised by a person armed with a recipe, which some one has shown to be capable of walking like a constable through the body, and bearing off the intruder! But enough of this; sufficient has, I think, been said to prove the utter folly of confiding in things of the above nature or intention, and to show that such confidence can lead to nothing but a waste of life and capital. Even though the remedy is a harmless one, it ought (unless calculated fromknownpowers to arrest the disease) to be viewed with distrust, as incurring a loss of time, during which other and better measures might have been resorted to.
(121.)Classification of diseases.[25]As the acquirement of correct ideas regarding the treatment of diseases is much facilitated by a simple arrangement of the diseases themselves, numerous attempts have been made to accomplish it, and in a variety of ways. The best of these tabular views with which I am acquainted is the one laid before the Highland Society some years ago, by Mr Stevenson, who appears to have been the first to publish any thing like a satisfactory classification. His arrangement is, however, defective in several points, more especially as it necessitates the placing in the same division diseases of organs essentially different. Thus he is compelled to admit under "Diseases of the head"Scabs on the mouthside by side withSturdy, andLouping ill: in this way mingling affections of the skin with diseases of totally different organs—the brain and spinal marrow—and causing much embarassment to the reader. To obviate this inconvenience, as well as to render the remembrance of the remedies an easy matter, I have adopted the above arrangement, in which each disease is placed opposite the textures it invades.
(122.)Blown or Blast.Can scarcely be reckoned a disease as it is but a symptom caused by a mechanical impediment to respiration and circulation. When a sheep has been brought from a poor pasture to a rich one it is prone to gorge itself to an extent which may endanger life. The lower end of the gullet becomes obstructed, the gases which accumulate in the paunch are hindered from escaping, and the latter becomes so enormously distended as speedily to suffocate the animal by being forced into the chest.
(123.)Treatment[27]of Blown.If the difficulty in breathing be only slight, keep the sheep movinggentlyup and down as the air will thus have a chance of escaping from the stomach. If the symptoms are more alarming, pass the elastic tube employed in the same complaint in cattle down the throat, or if that cannot be procured use a cane with an ivory or wooden bullet at the end of it. Neverstickthe animal, as recovery by this plan is almost hopeless. If you cannot obtain the aforesaid instruments, bleed the animal till it becomes very faint, and if this is of no avail proceed to kill it. Shepherds often prescribe a purgative dose after this occurrence. In general, however, it is not required. To prevent a flock becomingblown, always when, for the first time on rich pasture, make the dog move leisurely among them so as to prevent them feeding hastily.
(124.)Braxy or Sickness.Six or eight species of braxy are enumerated by shepherds, but as they all bear a striking resemblance one to another, in their origin and progress, it is preferable to treat of them as one disease. Indeed wire-drawn distinctions, though occasionally serviceable in cattle-medicine, ought in most instances to be avoided, as they are of but little avail, and in this disease straw-splitting can only serve to tantalize the farmer, by giving rise to ideas of finical modes of treatment, which before the Chapter ends are reduced to the simplest aids which medicine affords. Whatever may be the seat or seats of the disease, the identically same resources are employed in all:—why therefore ought the reader to be troubled with a hundred trifling phases, which, not beingessentialto the malady, can only tend to perplex him in his search for the little that is practically available.
(125.)Symptoms of Braxy.In those rare cases where the animal is seen at the commencement of the disease, it will appear uneasy, lying down and rising up repeatedly, loathing food, and drinking frequently. In a little while the symptoms become more decided, and fever shows itself. The wool is clapped, the skin hot, the pulse quick and strong, respiration is rapid and laborious, while the blood is thick and black, issuing from the orifice, in attempts at bleeding, drop by drop. Sometimes the heart beats irregularly: the mouth is parched, and the eyes are red, languid, partly closed, and watery. The head is down, the back drawn up, and the belly swollen; there is scarcely any passage through the bowels, the urine is small in quantity, high coloured, and sometimes bloody. The sheep shuns the flock, slowly dragging itself to some retired spot, where convulsed and screaming it shortly dies. Death may occur in a few hours, or may, in some rare cases, be delayed for a week. A fatal termination is not so sudden as some have fancied, since the animal is in general seriously ill for many hours before it is discovered.
(126.)Appearances on dissection.Though many parts are commonly implicated in thesickness, there is every reason for believing thereedto be primarily affected. Inflammatory appearances, and mortification, the usual result of violent inflammation in this quarter, are visible on its coats, especially at the pyloric extremity (Plate I. Fig. 2,py.) The inner coat presents a blackish-red, and gelatinous appearance,—the entire bowel being soft, pulpy, and easily permeable to the finger. The intestines, kidneys, and bladder, will, in all probability, exhibit similar changes, while the lining membrane of the abdomen (theperitoneum) is frequently affected: when this membrane has been much inflamed, the intestines are glued together, are surrounded with bloody or floculent serum, occasioning before death tumidity of the under part of the belly, and communicating, when struck, a feeling of fluctuation to a hand placed at a distance from the blow. The muscles in various parts of the body frequently participate in the disease, bloody serum being infiltrated between the layers. As the brain, in severe cases, exhibits symptoms of oppression, so on dissection it will be found red and turgid, enabling us to account for the convulsive movements during the termination of the malady. The whole body, more particularly the abdomen, gives out a fetid gangrenous odour, which has procured for braxy the pastoral appéllation of "stinking ill" and renders the dissection far from pleasant. After death putrefaction goes on with great rapidity, especially in moist weather, hence the necessity of testing the solidity of the carcass by giving it, as is customary in some parts,three shakesbefore proceeding to prepare it for household use!
(128.)Causes of Braxy.Whatever tends to constipate the bowels may be reckoned a predisposing cause. Whenever constipation occurs, especially if on a sickrife pasture, the sheep may be looked upon as ripe for the disease. Any crude indigestible substance, taken into the stomach when the animal is in this state, will have a tendency to kindle braxy, and the liability to it will not only be heightened, but the chances of recovery will also be lessened, by the animal being in high condition.
Wedder hogs are peculiarly its victims, but only when hirsled, as when allowed to pasture with their mothers they are less liable to it. This is accounted for by the fact, that hirsled hogs are comparativelydull, not being familiar with the proper times for feeding, and incapable of selecting the suitable herbage, from having wanted the tutoring of the mother.
From the beginning of November till the middle of March,sicknesscommits its greatest ravages, especially among heath sheep, from their being more confined than others to dry binding provender. Frozen grass is also a common exciting cause, rapidly inducing inflammation by lowering the temperature of the stomachs so very much as to arrest digestion, and lead to its acting as an irritant. The succulent grass in the sheltered hollows of mountains is more liable to frost than a sapless herbage, and to it, owing to its moisture, the young sheep resort, devouring it eagerly to assuage their thirst. Braxy, however, may arise from other and more obvious causes. The sheep, perhaps when heated by rash dogging, is suddenly chilled by exposure to a shower, or a plunge in a morass, and if the bowels be at the time any way bound up, immediate mischief cannot but ensue. One of the rarest accidents to which it has been attributed is the prevention of the passage of the fæces by a knot, or intussusception, forming on the intestines, but this occurrence would be of difficult discovery, and even if made known, our treatment, though not differing much from that of braxy, could hardly be successful.
(128.)Treatment of Braxy.Recovery is in many instances almost hopeless, owing to the length of time which in general elapses between the onset of the disease and the shepherd's discovery of the animal. Nevertheless, the best treatment ought in every instance to have a proper trial, as life may often be saved when such a result is least expected. Many plans have been resorted to, but none are found to suit so well as that of bleeding and purging. The first thing to be attempted is the procuring of a copious flow of blood, but, as before mentioned, this is a difficult matter, owing to the stagnant state of the circulation at the surface of the body. Its abstraction may, however, be rendered easy, by placing the sheep in a tub of warm water, or, where this cannot be procured, by rolling a blanket wrung out of hot water round the body of the animal. The tub of water should always be preferred, and the moment the sheep is placed in it, the tail should be nicked, and one or both jugular veins opened.
Retain the sheep in the bath for half an hour, adding hot water from time to time, so as to sustain the original temperature. This of itself will alleviate the sufferings of the animal.
When a copious flow of blood has been obtained, remove the sheep from the tub, and administer two ounces of Glauber's or Epsom salt, dissolved in warm water, substituting a handful of common salt when these cathartics cannot be procured. It is needless to give a purgative without bleeding, as, till this is done, it will not operate. When in spite of this the bowels continue obstinately constipated, give a glyster of tobacco decoction, made by boiling a drachm of the leaf (the full of a pipe will do) for a few minutes in a pint of water. Half of this only should be injected, using the other if circumstances require it. Place the sheep in a house, or any comfortable situation, bed it with straw, throw a horse-rug over it, and promote the purging by warm gruels. When out of danger supply it with moderate quantities of laxative provender, and keep it for ten days apart from its fellows, by which time it will, in all likelihood, be well recruited.
(129.)Prevention of Braxy.Change of pasture will at once suggest itself. Let it be to a succulent one, on which old sheep have been for some time feeding; the hogs will thus be hindered from filling their paunches too rapidly. But, if heathy food is the staple provender, allow your sheep four or five hours of turnips in the twenty-four, permitting at the same time free access to common salt. These, from their laxative effects, will serve as antidotes to the dry sapless grasses, which have led to the disease. Such places as mossy soils, abounding in evergreen plants, will also serve the purpose. Burn your ley heather, as nothing is more decidedly prejudicial, not only from its constipating qualities, but also from being surrounded by a grass, which is so much relished by the sheep, that they resort to the spot long after it has been eaten to the quick, and devour in their eagerness much that is foul and unwholesome from frequent puddling. You thus obtain a good supply of sprouts, as invaluable for opening qualities, as the old heather is to be dreaded for its astringency. Finally, be aware that careful herding is not the least efficacious of preventives; a quiet, even-tempered, and thoughtful shepherd, being here of far more value than the stores of the apothecary.
(130.)Pining.Symptoms and Causes.The name has arisen from the rapid wasting, which is a prominent symptom in this complaint. A farm can hardly be subject to a more ruinous distemper, as the same sheep will be affected by it year after year, and if a ewe be attacked during autumn it is ten to one she will not have a lamb in the ensuing season. Pining only seizes on thriving sheep, preferring young ones, those more especially of the larger breeds, and is confined to farms where the land is principally micaceous and covered with occasional stripes of benty grasses. A whole flock sickens at once, their usual alacrity appears to have deserted them, their eyes are dull, and the whole animal seems weary and languid. At a more advanced stage the wool acquires a bluish tinge, the blood becomes thick, diminishing in quantity, and the muscles assume a pale and bloodless appearance. The bowels are constipated, and to this the feverish symptoms apparently owe their origin. If the disease progress, death will ensue in about a month.[28]
(131.)Treatment and Prevention.The first object is to obtain a free discharge from the bowels by means of purgatives, as, whenever a flux appears, the animal is safe. Two ounces of Castor oil given in a gruel, or the same quantity of Epsom salts, will do, care being taken that the purging be carried to some length.
Removal to a rich pasture is the only preventive. That pasture should be preferred which contains a good proportion of bitter plants, for the emaciation appears to be owing in a considerable degree to torpor of the bowels occasioned by long abstinence from these necessaries.
(132.)Staggers.The symptoms nearly resemble those of sturdy, which I have afterwards to describe, and with which indeed I might have classed it, were it not that it appears to be merely the result of a poisonous plant being taken into the stomach. It is rarely seen hereabouts; I shall, therefore, quote the account of it presented to the Highland Society by Mr Stevenson:—"This is a disease seldom or never affecting the sheep in this country, those excepted which feed in forests, or amongst planting. The symptoms of it are more violent than those of sturdy, during the time of their continuance. The animal, after staggering for some time, falls on the ground, when a general trembling comes on over the limbs; they are violently convulsed, and quite insensible to every thing. During the continuance of the paroxysm they throw the body into various positions, and sometimes roll to a considerable distance. The fit continues for a quarter, sometimes half an hour, or an hour. When they rise, they seem perfectly bewildered, till they regain the flock, when they continue to feed well, till another paroxysm supervenes. This disease appears in Autumn, and various causes are said to produce it. Improper food, the leaves of the oak, from their astringent quality, cobwebs sprinkled with dew, have all been reckoned as causes. I am inclined, however, to suppose, that it arises from the action of a poisonous grass (Lolium temulentum), which is the only one of that description in this country, and grows only in those situations where staggers prevail. What effect these causes have on the brain to produce this disease, I cannot explain. When it continues for any time on the same individual, it is apt to be fatal."
"Change of pasture is the only effectual cure for it."
(133.)Diarrhœa.By this is meant a constant purging, affecting the younger portions of the flock between April and June, leading to great emaciation, and proceeding from one of the following causes.
1st. Eating a soft tathy pasture, particularly if fouled by the inundations of the previous winter.2d. Feeding on too rich a pasture, or a sudden change from an herbage deficient in nutritive qualities, to one that is much superior.3d. Transitions from heat to cold.4th. Weakness and relaxation of the bowels.
1st. Eating a soft tathy pasture, particularly if fouled by the inundations of the previous winter.
2d. Feeding on too rich a pasture, or a sudden change from an herbage deficient in nutritive qualities, to one that is much superior.
3d. Transitions from heat to cold.
4th. Weakness and relaxation of the bowels.
(134.)Treatment of Diarrhœa.When either of the first two causes has given rise to purging, a moderate allowance of good hay will gradually stop it. This may be discontinued when the sheep hastakenwith its altered fare.
When diarrhœa has been occasioned by exposure to damp, or sudden transitions from heat to cold, it may be arrested by keeping the animal in a house for a few days, and feeding it on any dry aliment, but when crude trashy matter has been swallowed, and keeps up irritation by its presence, medicine must be resorted to. Administer an ounce of castor oil in gruel, adding twenty drops of Laudanum if there has been straining or evidences of pain. When the bowels have beenthoroughly clearedby this cathartic, it will be proper, if the discharge still continue, to check it by astringents. The medicine found by experience to answer best, is prepared as follows:—
Boil for a quarter of an hour, strain, and then add sixty drops of Laudanum. Administer half an English pint of this night and morning so long as the flux continues.
Diarrhœa seldom proves fatal, and is indeed an easily managed disease; but as it is frequently only a symptom of some other affection, or a critical effort of the constitution to ward off some more serious mischief, the attempts at stopping it should always be cautiously conducted.
(135.)Dysentery.—Symptoms.The pulse is quick and the respirations hurried. The skin is harsh and hot, and the wool in general clapped. The mouth is dry, the eyes red and languid, and the ears drooping. Food is taken only in small quantities and rumination is stopped. The discharges from the bowels are frequent, slimy, sometimes green, and a little further on in the disease are mixed with blood. The belly is drawn towards the back. It is knotted and lumpy to the touch and a rumbling noise (borborygmus) is heard within it. As a careless observer might have some difficulty in distinguishing dysentery from diarrhœa the following diagnostic summary, drawn up by Professor Duncan, will be found of service.
1. Diarrhœa attacks chiefly hogs and weak gimmers and dinmonts; whereas dysentery is frequent among older sheep.2. Diarrhœa almost always occurs in the spring, and ceases about June, when dysentery only commences.3. In diarrhœa there is no fever or tenesmus, or pain before the stools, as in dysentery.4. In diarrhœa the fæces are loose, but in other respects natural, without any blood or slime; whereas in dysentery, the fæces consists of hard lumps passed occasionally without any blood or slime.5. There is not that degree of fœtor in the fæces in diarrhœa which takes place in dysentery.6. In dysentery, the appetite is totally gone, in diarrhœa it is rather sharper than usual.7. In dysentery, the animal wastes rapidly, but by diarrhœa only a temporary stop is put to its thriving, after which it makes rapid advances to strength, vigour and proportion.
1. Diarrhœa attacks chiefly hogs and weak gimmers and dinmonts; whereas dysentery is frequent among older sheep.
2. Diarrhœa almost always occurs in the spring, and ceases about June, when dysentery only commences.
3. In diarrhœa there is no fever or tenesmus, or pain before the stools, as in dysentery.
4. In diarrhœa the fæces are loose, but in other respects natural, without any blood or slime; whereas in dysentery, the fæces consists of hard lumps passed occasionally without any blood or slime.
5. There is not that degree of fœtor in the fæces in diarrhœa which takes place in dysentery.
6. In dysentery, the appetite is totally gone, in diarrhœa it is rather sharper than usual.
7. In dysentery, the animal wastes rapidly, but by diarrhœa only a temporary stop is put to its thriving, after which it makes rapid advances to strength, vigour and proportion.
If dysentery continue to advance it will terminate fatally within a fortnight. Death is generally preceded by the "black scour," which is only an aggravation of the purging, the stools being mixed with shreds of dark gangrenous matter from the decomposed interior of the intestines.
(136.)Causes of Dysentery.Many absurd opinions have gone abroad regarding the contagious nature of this affection. Contagion, however, has nothing to do with the matter, the spread of the disease depending entirely on the state of the atmosphere and the nature of the locality. When dysentery occurs the weather is usually sultry, the ground upon which the flock has been going, foul, and the management of the sheep so improper, as to be sufficient of itself to produce the disease very generally. There is in fact only one proof of a disease being infectious, viz., its immediate occurrence on the introduction of an affected animal among such as are in good health, on sound food, and in easy circumstances. This proof, however, in regard to dysentery has never been established, and no medical person will now affirm that it is contagious. Some think that it travels from flock to flock in the direction of the wind, but its appearing simultaneously in many folds ought rather to be charged to the fact of the predisposing causes being nearly similar in all.
(137.)Treatment of Dysentery.Bleed freely if the disease has continued only for a few days, but moderately if a longer time has unfortunately elapsed. Stoving, by which is meant shutting the animal in a wash-house, and allowing the apartment to become filled with steam, though urged by some writers, cannot here be recommended. The intended object is the promotion of perspiration, by exciting the action of the skin, but this may be brought about by means much more conducive to the safety of the animal. After the bleeding immerse the sheep in a tub of hot water, and retain it there for twenty minutes; then administer an ounce of Castor oil, with thirty drops of Laudanum, and cover the sheep up in a snug corner. After the oil has operated, thin well-boiled flour-porridge, given at intervals, in small quantities, will help to defend the ulcerated bowels, sooth the pain, and stop the purging. If these fail, you may use the astringent mixture recommended in diarrhœa at page 175, and in the same manner, adding to each dose a grain of ipecacuanha. When the appetite returns, and the stools begin to acquire consistency, speedy recovery may be prognosticated.
During recovery part of the wool always falls off.
(138.)Prevention of Dysentery.If you wish your sheep to take the disease, do as some wiseacres recommend—put tar upon their tails, and noses; you will thus render them feverish, and uncomfortable, and every way fit for an attack.
Gathering sheep into confined places is always bad, nothing will tend more to ward off dysentery than an open frequently-changed easy-lying pasture, combined with gentle usage on the part of the shepherd.
DISEASES OF THE SKIN.
(139.)Scab, or Itch.—Symptoms and Causes.These are so well known that they hardly merit a description. Little white specks appear upon the wool, and are soon followed by a small pustule at the root. The pustules are produced by a minute insect burrowing in the skin, which accounts for one external application of any active substance being sufficient to eradicate the malady. The infected sheep is restless, tearing off the wool with its teeth, and rubbing itself against every resisting body. The skin is red and fretted, discharging an ichor which hardens into crusts. These gradually extend, inducing a premature failure of the wool.
If the sheep be not relieved, it sinks under its accumulated miseries.
Scab was little known any where, but in the Highlands, and the south of England, till the good old custom of smearing with tar and butter gave way before the elegant modern innovations. Into flocks anointed in the old manner it may be carried by infection, but will seldom or never arise spontaneously among them.
It usually commences in spring among hogs, making its first appearance among the rams, especially those of the fine-woolled breeds, and is supposed to be induced by overheating, want, or even excess of nutriment, or pasturing on wet lands in rainy seasons.
(140.)Treatment of Itch.Subject the flock to a minute examination whenever the movements of any animal excite suspicion, and remove every one that is in the least affected. Place them in a separate enclosure, and apply either of the following recipes.
mix thoroughly.
Separate the wool from the head to the tail and draw the fore finger loaded with a portion of the ointment, along the bottom of the groove. Then make lines from the middle of the back down each leg and score them in the same manner, thus concluding the operation. Some farmers prefer rubbing the size of a walnut of the ointment into the delicate skin inside the thigh. The former plan is, however, the better of the two, and is the one recommended by Sir Joseph Banks, who communicated the recipe to the Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures, and Commerce, in the 7th volume of whose transactions it was published.
A most important benefit to be derived from the application of the mercurial ointment, is the security it affords the sheep from the attack of the sheep fag or ked (Hippobosca ovina). The wool of sheep annoyed by this fly always contains joints or knots, owing to the occasional stoppage of its growth consequent on the fretting of the irritated animal. On this account dealers in wool are said to give a higher price for fleeces having the mercurial tinge, as they are supposed to be sound in the pile from having been exempted from the fly.
The next prescription is one of very great efficacy where the disease has reached the length of scabs, and has, with many variations, gone the round of almost every agricultural publication. The form I prefer is one submitted to me by Mr Wilkin of Tinwald Downs, near Dumfries, who at one time, several years ago, applied it with immediate good effects, to six hundred infected sheep.
boil for half an hour, and then add three English pints of spirit of tar.
This quantity is sufficient to cover two dozen of sheep. The scabs, if large, should be raised a little with a knife to permit the free contact of the fluid, and no more of it should be applied than is here directed; for though it be in this dose comparatively harmless, a very small addition will destroy the animal.
A very good French remedy is made by melting a pound of fat or suet, and mixing with it (when off the fire) a fourth part of oil of turpentine. Rub it into the affected parts.
Whatever outward means may be employed, laxative medicines ought never to be neglected. One of the best and most generally used, consists of a tea-spoonful of flour of sulphur, given for two or three successive nights in double the quantity of molasses.
If ill-conditioned sheep are the victims of itch, convey them to a better pasture, but where the animals are fat, reduce their diet, and give each a dose of Epsom salts.
(141.)Prevention of Itch.Do not turn a healthy flock on to pasture, from which itchy sheep have recently been driven. If the disease occasionally breaks out on your ground, apply the mercurial ointment at clipping time: and, when you salve, add a pound of sulphur to every tub of smearing composition whatever it may be.
(142.)Erysipelas or wild-fire.This is an inflammatory affection of the skin, sometimes accompanied by blebs or blisters, occurring in August and September, and spreading rapidly through a flock. Though there is considerable ambiguity in the employment of these terms, I believe they are synonymous with red-water, the disease of which I have next to treat.
(143.)Red-water.The occurrence of this disease among sheep is very rare. Its nature and treatment are however allowed, by those who have seen it, to be admirably described by Mr Stevenson, in the 3d vol. of theHighland Society's Transactions.
"This disease commonly makes its appearance about the beginning, or end of winter, and first affects about the breast and belly, although at times it spreads itself over other parts of the body. It consists in an inflammation of the skin, that raises it into blisters which contain a thin, reddish, and watery fluid. These continue for a short time, break, discharge their matter, and are followed by a blackish scab. When the sheep are exposed to cold or wetness, the skin being fretted makes the blisters rise, or they often arise from cold, affecting the animal internally, thus producing a slight fever, which throws out these vesicles on the body, similar to the scabby eruptions, which appear about the face, and more particularly the mouth of those persons affected with cold. The blood in this disease is but little affected, though a little of it oozes into the vesicles on the skin, and communicates to them that reddish tinge, which gives origin to the name.
"Red-water is a disease that but seldom appears in this country, and is almost never fatal. In cases where the disease is violent, a little blood should be taken.* * * *The sheep should be placed in a fold by itself,* * * *and the following medicine may be given for three or four mornings successively:—
mix them, and divide them into six doses, of which one may be given every morning, in half a pound (half a mutchkin) of warm water. If this is found unsuccessful, half an ounce of nitre, mixed with the foregoing recipe, will be attended with good effects; after which, a dose of salts may be given, and the body washed with lime-water upon the part affected."
(144.)Leg Evil.—Symptoms and Causes.Like many other diseases, this is usually supposed to be contagious, merely because it often spreads quickly through a flock; the obvious fact of the exposure of the animals composing it to the same causes, such as peculiar diet and atmospheric variations, being entirely overlooked; but, as I have already remarked in paragraph (136), the only proof of a disease being contagious, is its spreading rapidly on the introduction, from a distance, of an infected individual into a previously-healthy flock.
Sheep which acquire fat at an early age, are peculiarly liable to this disease: a sufficient argument, if all others were wanting, against the unnatural and foolish practice of accumulating a load of grease on the bodies of young animals. By so doing, the action of the heart and lungs is materially embarrassed, and, on the animal being chilled, or the balance of its circulation otherwise accidentally deranged, mortification (leg evil) is almost certain to occur. Even simple scratches are often fatal in these over-fat animals, from inducing gangrene.
The first intimation the shepherd has of the approach of leg evil, is the occurrence of fever and lameness, accompanied by blue or livid patches on the leg, generally about the upper part of the hoof or knee. The skin on the affected parts, in a few days, exhibits scattered vesicles, not unlike the blebs which form in erysipelas; it then gives way, and the parts beneath are seen of a darker tinge, soft, pulpy, and completely gangrenous.
Leg evil may prove fatal in a few days, or not for several weeks, much depending on the extent of the sloughing portions, which may include the entire leg, or legs, or may be limited to a single patch.
(145.)Treatment of Leg Evil.When the animal is in high condition, and the disease has arisen spontaneously, bleeding is the first thing to be thought of. It must, however, be conducted cautiously, it being better to use the lancet a second time, than, by withdrawing too much blood, to reduce the vital powers below the standard which is necessary for replacing the gangrenous portions. Should a leg be affected to any extent, the sheep must be at once destroyed, as there is scarcely a possibility of its surviving, without a degree of care and nicety in the treatment, which it is beyond the power of unprofessional persons to bestow. Where the livid spots are limited, rags dipped in spirit of turpentine, which has been heated by immersing the bottle containing it in hot water, may be laid upon the skin; but when dead portions have begun to separate, the best application is either a warm poultice, made of carrots, which have been boiled and mashed, or one made of boiled oatmeal, which has been fermented by adding to it a table-spoonful of yeast, and placing it for an hour before a fire. When the sore is becoming clean, and the granulations are rising freely, pursue the methods recommended in paragraph (110).
(146.)Prevention of Leg Evil.Remove the diseased animals from the flock, and, in dressing their sores, never use a sponge, or any thing which, from its value, is apt to be preserved, and, perhaps, applied in no long time to the cuts or scratches of a healthy animal; for, though leg evil is not communicable by ordinary means, yet is it readily excited by inoculation, or the application of putrid matter to a broken surface. If the odour from the affected parts is any way offensive, wash them with, and sprinkle round the fold, either a weak solution ofchloride of lime, or the disinfecting liquid of Labarraque, articles which may now be procured from every provincial apothecary. Finally, let the shepherdwash his hands carefullybefore going from diseased to healthy sheep, using, if need be, a little of either of these solutions; and let him look well to any injuries which his charges may receive in July, August, and September, for these are the months most favourable to the occurrence of leg evil.
(147).Inflammation caused by Maggots.The insects passing under the name of "Fly," though most troublesome in August, attack the sheep from the month of May to September, inclusive, depositing their eggs among the wool, in general about the tail, the roots of the horns, or any part which affords, from its filthy appearance, a prospect of suitable provision for the maggot. When these eggs are hatched, a process which is, in sultry weather, almost instantaneous, the maggot erodes the skin, and speedily brings the adjacent parts into a fit condition for the reception of succeeding numbers of its species.
The backs of long-woolled sheep are, from their exposure, more liable to be selected by the flies, as a receptacle for their eggs, than the corresponding parts in such as are covered by a short thick fleece.
No sooner has the maggot begun its operations, than the sheep becomes uneasy and restless, rubbing itself on stones and trees, and endeavouring, by every means in its power to free itself from the annoyance. Teazed by the constant irritation, fever soon sets in, and, if the sheep be unrelieved by the shepherd's aid, death ensues in four-and-twenty hours.
It is only lately that attention has been paid to the history of the insect pests which originate the mischief, so little damage do they appear to have occasioned in former periods. In a valuable paper, containing the result of observations made on this subject in the Highlands, and published in the second number of theQuarterly Journal of Agriculture, they are thus described:—
"The fly which is the immediate cause of this disease, seems, as far as my observations could extend, to consist of four species, viz.—theMusca Ceasar,Cadaverina,Vomitoria, andCarnaria, of Linnæus.* * *
"M. Ceasaris of a shining green colour.
"M. Cadaverina, the thorax shining bluish, the abdomen green, like theCeasar.
"M. Vomitoria, thorax black, or dark-blue grey, abdomen dark glossy blue. This is the commonBlue-BottleorFlesh-fly.
"M. Carnaria, grey; the thorax has three black longitudinal markings on the upper surface; the abdomen is checquered, in some positions shining whitish.
"In all those instances in which I observed them, the green flies were the first to attack, and this is the common opinion among the shepherds. After a time, when the larvæ (maggots) commenced gnawing the flesh, the putrid stench, which was thereby occasioned, attracted numerous other species. TheVomitoria(blue-bottle) was very common, more numerous than both the former species, and perhaps contributed most to accelerate the death of the animal, after the others had commenced. TheCarnariawas rare. I observed but few of them, and these seemed not concerned; which is the more remarkable, as in the fenny counties of England it is said to be most troublesome. All the species of this genus resemble one another closely, both in appearance and mode of life. They are exceedingly voracious, feeding upon carcasses and filth of every description. In five days after being hatched they arrive at full growth, provided they have plenty of food; they then cease to eat, and seek to assume the pupa state, crawling under ground two or three inches. Here they remain about fourteen days, when the shell cracks, and the imago, or fly, appears. In this last state, they feed also on putrid juices, sucking them through their probosces."
The correctness of this description of their transformations I can attest, from having watched their habits during my anatomical pursuits in the summer months.
(148.)Treatment of Fly-blown Sheep.When the sheep is fly-blown, dislodge the maggots with a knife, and shake a little powdered white lead into the wound. Do not apply tar to the abraded surface, as, from its cauterizing effects, the wound will be enlarged, and a repetition of the visit speedily ensured. To ward off the onset of the flies, various substances noxious to them are rubbed or poured upon the wool. Tar, in small quantities, and of pungent quality, is by some daubed upon the ears, horns, and tail. Others prefer rubbing a little melted butter, thickened by flour of sulphur, along the sheep's back: this is an effectual preventive. Some, again, prefer dressing the sheep, when in low situations, with the following recipe, which I take the liberty of copying from Mr Mather's paper on the fly, in theQuarterly Journal of Agriculture, No. XXIV.
"Boil the ingredients together for fifteen minutes.* * * *The liquid is in no degree injurious to wool. It cleans and dries the offensive perspiration of the sheep, and destroys the smell caused by the dew in the mornings, or by damp hot weather. In most situations, one dressing in July and another in August will suffice; but as the expense is trifling, and the process simple, it may be better to apply it more frequently, especially in low and damp situations." The liquid is applied only in dry weather. A teapot, or any vessel of a similar form, is filled with it, and one person pours it on the wool, while another rubs the fleece to facilitate the passage of the fluid. At the times of using the solution, all superfluous wool ought to be shorn from the buttocks, but not too closely.
When the insects are very troublesome, drive the sheep if possible to higher ground. Examine carefully all wounds and ulcers, however trifling, and dress them with any simple ointment containing a small proportion of sulphur, mercury, or white-lead. Lastly, bury all useless carcasses as speedily as possible, by which means you will keep down the number of the flies.
(149.)The Sheep-Fag or Ked(Hippobosca ovina) andThe Tick(Acarus reduvius), are destroyed or stopped in their attacks by the same remedies and preventives detailed in the preceding paragraphs on the fly.
(150.)Inflammation produced by the Œstrus bovis.This insect infests not only cattle but also sheep and goats, depositing its eggs on the back of the animal, where it forms a small tumour, in which the larvæ remain from autumn till the commencement of the ensuing summer. Only the fattest and most vigorous animals are attacked, and the larvæ are very difficult to destroy. Fischer found, from numerous experiments, that even spirits, and a strong solution of salt, could not affect them. The fumes of burning sulphur alone seemed to annoy them, and to it they speedily fell victims. This, however, is a remedy which cannot be applied to the skin of the sheep, so that our only resource is the repeated application of turpentine to the tumours on the back, taking care to slit them up so as to facilitate its action.
(151.)Sore Teats.When a ewe is observed to hinder the lamb from sucking, its teats should be examined. If much inflamed, a poultice should be applied, and the lamb placed under the charge of another nurse. Suppuration will thus be promoted, and the matter may be allowed to escape by making an opening for it at the place it points. If there is only a little tenderness of the skin, all that is required is the washing it with a solution either of sugar of lead or sulphate of zinc, eight grains to the ounce of water.
(152.)Foot-rot.No disease occasions more acute suffering to the sheep, and annoyance to the farmer, than foot-rot, and no disease has led to longer arguments as to its contagious or non-contagious nature. Thanks, however, to Mr Dick of Edinburgh, these disputes are closed for ever, as any one may be convinced, by perusing his clever and sarcastic paper at page 852, Vol. ii. of theQuarterly Journal of Agriculture. His excellent remarks on the popular ideas of the infectious nature of foot-rot, I have not space to quote, but shall lay before the reader his views as to the situations and circumstances which give origin to the disease.[29]
(153.)Causes of Foot-rot."What do we gain," says Mr Dick, "by enticing the sheep from his native and natural haunts to the richer pasturage of our meadows or lawns? There the animal enjoys a more luxuriant repast; it fattens to a larger size, and will, in this respect, repay the increased allowance which has been made to it. But instead of moving about in small troops, with the alacrity of the wild kinds, the sheep are seen in flocks of thousands, moving slowly over their pastures, and gorging themselves to an extent which cuts short the thread of life, by the advancement of various diseases. Instead of wandering from the summit of one peak to another, in quest of a scanty subsistence, or instead of being compelled to descend from the summits of the mountain in the morning, and ascend again in the evening, they are compelled, in many cases, to remain within a few yards of a particular spot for weeks together, and there engorge themselves to satiety.
"But what, it may be asked, has this to do with the foot-rot? More, I am inclined to think, than is generally imagined. The hoofs of the sheep being intended to receive a degree of friction from hard surfaces, are not acted upon when the animal is placed under such circumstances; and the necessary consequence is an overgrowth of the hoof. The crust,—the part naturally intended to support the weight of the animal, and to endure the greatest share of fatigue,—is here allowed to grow out of all due bounds, because the softness of the pasturages, upon which it now moves, presents little, if any, of that rough friction to which the feet of the animal is naturally intended to be exposed. The crust, therefore, grows unrestrained, until it either laps over the sole, like the loose sole of an old shoe, and serves to retain and accumulate earth and filth, or is broken off in detached parts, in some cases exposing the quick, or opening new pores, into which the particles of earth or sand force their way, until reaching the quick, an inflammation is set up, which, in its progress, alters or destroys the whole foot."
"The finest and richest old pastures and lawns are particularly liable to this disease; soft, marshy, and luxuriant meadows are equally so; and it is also found in light, soft or sandy districts. In the first of these it is perhaps most prevalent in a moist season, and in the latter in a dry one; in short, it exists to a greater or less extent in every situation which has a tendency to increase the growth of the hoofs without wearing them away, and more especially where they are kept soft by moisture. It is so prevalent in fine lawns and pleasure grounds, that they are, in many instances, reduced in value to a mere trifle as a pasture for sheep; they are said to beinfectedwith this disease, and having once become so, the vicissitudes ofsevenseasons are scarcely sufficient to destroy the contagion! A luxuriant herbage, on soft pastures, is equally subject to it; and, in both cases, the disease is increased in a wet season.
"The reason why, in these situations, sheep are so liable to the disease, is quite obvious. They are generally brought from lands where their range of pasturage was greater than in these situations. In their former state, from the exercise which the animal took, and the nature of the grounds on which it pastured, the hoof was worn down as it grew; but, under the state in question, the hoofs not only continue to grow, but, where the land is moist, that growth is greatly increased; and the animal does not tread upon hard ground, nor has it exercise to wear them down. Now, in the case of man himself, when the nails of his fingers or toes exceed the proper length, they break, or give him such uneasiness as to induce him to pare them. And the same takes place with the hoof of sheep. But there is this difference in the case of the latter, that when their hoof once breaks, as the animal has not the power of paring it, the part thus broken must continue a wound. Some parts grow out of their natural and proper proportions; the crust of the hoof (c.c.) grows too long; and the overgrown parts either break off in irregular rents and unnatural forms, or, by over-shooting the sole (s.), allow small particles of sand or earth to enter into the pores of the hoof. These particles reach the quick, and set up an inflammation, which is followed by the destructive effects which are too well known to require description.
"Similar effects are produced on soft, wet grounds. The feet, in such a situation, are not only not subject to a proper degree of friction to wear down the hoofs, but the growth of the hoofs is materially increased by the soft and moist state in which they are kept. And this state renders the feet the more liable to the disease, as it opens up the pores of the horn, and allows the earth or sand to penetrate, and wound the quick, in the manner I have already stated. On soft sandy ground, of a dry nature, the same circumstances may occur. The soft sand gives way by the weight of the animal, and the crust of the hoof is not worn down. The sand penetrates between the sole and the crust, as has been already explained, and produces inflammation. The disease, however, is not so common on sand as in the other situations to which I have alluded, the sand seldom being found in such a loose state."
Another variety of foot-rot is produced by the friction of long grass between the hoofs, but is mostly confined to hill sheep, when first pastured on lowland districts. These animals, from having been accustomed to collect their food on extensive ranges of bare pasture, are more exposed than heavy breeds to this frequent exciting cause of the complaint. The rubbing of the grass frets the skin in the cleft of the hoof, the gland in that situation swells, becomes enlarged, and suppurates, and in no long time the animal is compelled to rest upon its knees.[30]This complaint is, however, more readily remedied than the former, and does not cause nearly so much suffering to the sheep.
(154.)Treatment and Prevention of Foot-rot.As foot-rot, in nine cases out of ten, is an attempt on the part of nature to get rid of a portion of the hoof, which ought, in the proper course of things, to have been worn away as fast as it appeared, the prevention and treatment of the first stage of the complaint will naturally suggest themselves. "As this disease," says Mr Dick, at the conclusion of the aforementioned paper, "arises in consequence of the hoofs not being exposed to sufficient friction to wear them down, or keep them in their proper state, or where their natural growth is increased by the nature and moisture of the ground, the hoofs of all the flock should be regularly rasped or pared at short intervals, say from eight days to a fortnight, according to the rapidity with which a particular pasture produces the disease. In certain situations, they might be made to travel upon a hard surface, similar to natural sheep tracts, or be folded in a place purposely prepared, upon which they could move about and wear their hoofs. For that purpose, they should be placed in it every day."
When foot-rot has fairly commenced, pare the hoof from the affected part, and trim away any ragged portions, wash the foot with soap and water, and place the animal in a situation where as few irritating things as possible will be in the way of the tender surface, and give a purgative. If not properly attended to, the suppuration soon terminates in mortification. Cleanliness in every stage and variety of foot-rot, is of the first importance. Many corrosive preparations are recommended for the cure of this disease, but I have decided objections to one and all of them. When the foot is clean, endeavour, by frequent applications of soap and water, to keep and treat the ulcers as directed in paragraph 110.