STAGGERS.

This disease is known to have its origin in functional derangement of the stomach; and owing to the sympathy that exists between the brain and the latter, derangements are often overlooked, until they manifest themselves by the animal's appearing dull and stupid, and separating itself from the rest of the flock. An animal attacked with staggers is observed to go round in a giddy manner; the optic nerve becomes paralyzed, and the animal often appears blind. It sometimes continues to feed well until it dies.

Indications of Cure.—First, to remove the cause. If it exist in a too generous supply of food, reduce the quantity. If, on the other hand, the animal be in poor condition, a generous supply of nutritious food must be allowed.

Secondly, to impart healthy action to the digestive organs, and lubricate their surfaces.

Having removed the cause, take

Mix. Half a table-spoonful may be given daily in warm water, or it may be mixed in the food.

Another.

Mix, and give as above.

If the bowels are inactive, give a wine-glass of linseed oil.

The animal should be kept free from all annoyance by dogs, &c.; for fear indirectly influences the stomach through the pneumogastric nerves, by which the secretion of the gastric juice is arrested, and an immediate check is thus given to the process of digestion. For the same reason, medicine should always be given in the food, if possible. In cases of great prostration, accompanied with loss of appetite, much valuable time would be lost. In such cases, we must have recourse to the bottle.

FOOT ROT.

When a sheep is observed to be lame, and, upon examination, matter can be discovered, then pare away the hoof, and make a slight puncture, so that the matter may escape; then wash the foot with the following antiseptic lotion:—

Suppose that, on examination, the feet have a fetid odor; then apply the following:—

Mix, and apply daily. At the same time, put the sheep in a dry place, and give a dose of the following every morning:—

Mix. A handful to be given in the food twice a day.

Remarks.—Foot rot is generally considered a local disease; yet should it be neglected, or maltreated, the general system will share in the local derangement.

ROT.

The progress of this disease is generally very slow, and a person unaccustomed to the management of sheep would find some difficulty in recognizing it. A practical eye would distinguish it, even at a distance. The disease is known by one or more of the following symptoms: The animal often remains behind the flock, shaking its head, with its ears depressed; it allows itself to be seized, without any resistance. The eye is dull and watery; the eyelids are swollen; the lips, gums, and palate have a pale tint; the skin, which is of a yellowish white, appears puffed, and retains the impression; the wool loses its brightness, and is easily torn off; the urine is high colored, and the excrement soft. As the disease progresses, there is loss of appetite, great thirst, general emaciation, &c.

The indications are, to improve the secretions, vitalize the blood, and sustain the living powers. For which purpose, take

Mix. Feed to each animal a handful per day, unless rumination shall have ceased; then omit the oatmeal, and give a tea-spoonful of the mixed ingredients, in half a pint of hyssop, or horsemint tea. Continue as occasion may require.

The food should be boiled, if possible. The best kind, especially in the latter stages of rot, is, equal parts of linseed and ground corn.

If the urine is high colored, and the animal is thirsty, give an occasional drink of

When cold, strain. Dose, one pint. To be repeated, if necessary.

EPILEPSY.

This is somewhat different from staggers, as the animal does not remain quietly on the ground, but it suffers from convulsions, it kicks, rolls its eyes, grinds its teeth, &c. The duration of the fit varies much, sometimes it terminates at the expiration of a few minutes; at other times, a quarter of an hour elapses before it is perfectly conscious. In this malady, there is a loss of equilibrium between the nervous and muscular systems, which may arise from hydatids in the brain, offering mechanical obstructions to the conducting power of the nerves. This malady may attack animals in apparently good health. We frequently see children attacked with epilepsy (fits) without any apparent cause, and when they are in good flesh.

The symptoms are not considered dangerous, except by their frequent repetition.

The following may be given with a view of equalizing the circulation and nervous action:—

Mix, while hot. Repeat the dose every other day. Make some change in the food. Thus, if the animal has been fed on green fodder for any length of time, let it have a few meals of shorts, meal, linseed, &c. The water must be of the best quality.

Suppose the animal to be in poor condition; then combine tonics and alteratives in the following form:—

Mix thoroughly, and divide into eight equal parts. A powder to be given every morning.

RED WATER.

This is nothing more nor less than a symptom of deranged function. The cure consists in restoring healthy action to all parts of the animal organization. For example, high-colored urine shows that there is too much action on the internal surfaces, and too little on the external. This at once points to the propriety of keeping the sheep in a warm situation, in order to invite action to the skin.

Compound for Red Water.

Mix. To be divided into ten parts, one of which may be given every morning.

CACHEXY,[16] OR GENERAL DEBILITY.

Indications of Cure.—First. To build up and promote the living integrity by a generous diet, one or more of the following articles may be scalded and given three times a day: carrots, parsnips, linseed, corn meal, &c.

Secondly. To remove morbific materials from the system, and restore the lost functions, one of the following powders may be given, night and morning, in the fodder:—

Mix. Divide into ten powders.

FOOTNOTES:

LOSS OF APPETITE.

This is generally owing to a morbid state of the digestive organs. All that is necessary in such case is, to restore the lost tone by the exhibition of bitter tonics. A bountiful supply of camomile tea will generally prove sufficient. If, however, the bowels are inactive, add to the above a small portion of extract of butternut. The food should be slightly salted.

FOUNDERING, (RHEUMATISM)

In this malady, the animal becomes slow in its movements; its walk is characterized by rigidity of the muscular system, and, when lying down, requires great efforts in order to rise.

Causes.—Exposure to sudden changes in temperature, feeding on wet lands, &c.

Indications of Cure.—To equalize the circulation, invite and maintain action to the external surface, and remove the cause. To fulfil the latter indication, remove the animal to a dry, warm situation.

The following antispasmodic and diaphoretic will complete the cure: Powdered lady's slipper, (cypripedium,) 1 tea-spoonful. To be given every morning in a pint of warm pennyroyal tea.

If the malady does not yield in a few days, take

Mix, and repeat the dose every other morning.

TICKS.

Ticks, or, in short, any kind of insects, may be destroyed by dropping on them a few drops of an infusion or tincture of lobelia seeds.

SCAB, OR ITCH.

Scab, itch, erysipelas, &c., all come under the head of cutaneous diseases, and require nearly the same general treatment. The following compound may be depended on as a safe and efficient remedy in either of the above diseases:—

Honey, sufficient to amalgamate the above. Dose, a table-spoonful every morning. To prevent the sheep from rubbing themselves, apply

Mix, and wet the parts with a sponge.

Remarks.—In reference to the scab, Dr. Gunther says, "Of all the preservatives which have been proposed, inoculation is the best. It has two advantages: first, the disease so occasioned is much more mitigated, and very rarely proves fatal; in the next place, an entire flock may get well from it in the space of fifteen days, whilst the natural form of the disorder requires care and attention for at least six months. It has been ascertained that the latter kills[17] more than one half of those attacked; whilst among the sheep that have been inoculated, the greatest proportion that die of it is one per cent."

Whenever the scab makes its appearance, the whole flock should be examined, and every one having the least abrasion eruption of the skin should be put under medical treatment.

In most cases, itch is the result of infection. A single sheep infected with it is sufficient to infect a whole flock. If a few applications of the pyroligneous wash, aided by the medicine, are not sufficient to remove the malady, then recourse must be had to the following:—

Mix. Anoint the sores daily.

The only additional treatment necessary in erysipelas is, to give a bountiful supply of tea made of lemon balm, sweetened with honey.

FOOTNOTES:

DIARRHŒA.

This is not always to be considered as a disease, but in many cases it proves salutary operation of nature; therefore it should not be too suddenly checked.

We commence the treatment by feeding on boiled meal. We then give mucilaginous drink made from marshmallows, slippery elm, or poplar bark. If, at the end of two days, symptoms of amendment have not made their appearance, the following draught must be given:—

Make a strong infusion of raspberry leaves, to a pint of which add a tea-spoonful of tincture of capsicum, (hot drops,) and one of charcoal. To be repeated every morning, until healthy action is established.

DYSENTERY.

This malady may be treated in the same manner as diarrhœa. Should blood and slime be voided in large quantities, the excrement emit a fetid odor, and the animal waste rapidly, then, in addition to the mucilaginous drink, administer the following:—

To be given, in hardhack tea, as occasion may require.

A small quantity of charcoal, given three times a day, with boiled food, will frequently cure the disease, alone.

Dysentery is sometimes mistaken for diarrhœa; but they may be distinguished by the following characteristics:—

1st. Diarrhœa most frequently attacks weak animals; whereas dysentery ofttimes attacks animals in good condition.

2d. Dysentery generally attacks sheep in the hot months; on the other hand, diarrhœa terminates at the commencement of the hot season.

3d. In diarrhœa, there are scarcely any feverish symptoms, and no straining before evacuation, as in dysentery.

4th. In diarrhœa, the excrement is loose, but in other respects natural, without any blood or slime; whereas in dysentery the fæces consist of hard lumps, blood, and slime.

5th. There is not that degree of fetor in the fæces, in diarrhœa, which takes place in dysentery.

6th. In dysentery, the appetite is totally gone; in diarrhœa, it is generally better than usual.

7th. Diarrhœa is not contagious; dysentery is supposed to be highly so.

8th. In dysentery, the animal wastes rapidly; but by diarrhœa, only a temporary stop is put to thriving, after which it makes rapid advances to strength, vigor, and proportion.

CONSTIPATION, OR STRETCHES.

By these terms are implied a preternatural or morbid detention and hardening of the excrement; a disease to which all animals are subject, unless proper attention be paid to their management. It mostly arises from want of exercise, feeding on frosted oats, indigestible matter of every kind, impure water, &c. Costiveness is often the case of flatulent and spasmodic colic, and often of inflammation of the bowels.

Mr. Morrill says, "I have always found that the quantity of medicine necessary to act as an opiate on this dry mass [alluding to that found in the manyplus and intestines] will kill the animal. If I am mistaken, I will take it kindly to be set right." You are quite right.

Let us see what Professor J. A. Gallup says, in his Institutes of Medicine, vol. ii. p. 187. "The practice of giving opiates to mitigate pain, &c., is greatly to be deprecated; it is not only unjustifiable, but should be esteemed unpardonable. It is probable that, for forty years past, opium and its preparations have done seven times the injury that they have rendered benefit"—killed seven where they have saved one! Page 298, he calls opium the "most destructive of all narcotics," and wishes he could "speak through a lengthened trumpet, that he might tingle the ears" of those who use and prescribe it. All the opiates used by the allopathists contain more or less of this poisonous drug. Opiates given with a view of softening mass alluded to will certainly disappoint those who administer them; for, under the use of such "palliatives," the digestive powers fail, and a general state of feebleness and inactivity ensues, which exhausts the vital energies.

It will be found in stretches, that other organs, as well as the "manyplus," are not performing their part in the business of physiological or healthy action, and they must be excited to perform their work; for example, if the food remains in either of the stomachs in the form of a hard mass, then the surface of the body is evaporating too much moisture from the general system; the skin should be better toned. Pure air is one of the best and most valuable of nature's tonics. Let the flock have pure air to breathe, and sufficient room to use their limbs, with proper diet, and there will be little occasion for medicine.

Treatment.—The disease is to be obviated by proper attention to diet, exercise, and ventilation; and when these fail, to have recourse to bitter laxatives, injections, and aperients. The use of salts and castor oil creates a necessity for their repetition, for they overwork the mucous surfaces, and their delicate vessels lose their natural sensibility, and become torpid. Scalded shorts are exceedingly valuable in this complaint, as also are boiled carrots, parsnips, &c.

The derangement must be treated according to its indications, thus:—

Suppose the digestive organs to be deranged, and rumination to have ceased; then take a tea-spoonful of extract of butternut, and dissolve it in a pint of thoroughwort tea, and give it at a dose. Use an injection of soap-suds, if necessary.

Suppose the excrement to be hard, coated with slime, and there be danger of inflammation in the mucous surfaces; then give a wine-glass of linseed oil,[18] to which add a raw egg.

It is scarcely ever necessary to repeat the dose, provided the animal is allowed a few scalded shorts.

If the liver is supposed to be inactive, give, daily, a tea-spoonful of golden seal in the food.

If the animal void worms with the fæces, then give a tea made from cedar boughs, or buds, to which add a small quantity of salt.

FOOTNOTES:

SCOURS.

In scours, the surface evaporates too little of the moisture, and should be relaxed by diffusible stimulants in the form of ginger tea. The treatment that we have found the most successful is as follows: take four ounces raw linseed oil, two ounces of lime water; mix. Let this quantity be given to a sheep on the first appearance of the above disease; half the quantity will suffice for a lamb. Give about a wine-glass full of ginger tea at intervals of four hours, or mix a small quantity of ginger in the food. Let the animal be fed on gruel, or mashes of ground meal. If the above treatment fails to arrest the disease, add half a tea-spoonful of powdered bayberry bark. If the extremities are cold, rub them with the tincture of capsicum.

DIZZINESS.

Mr. Gunther says, "Sheep are often observed to describe eccentric circles for whole hours, then step forwards a pace, then again stop, and turn round again. The older the disease, the more the animal turns, until at length it does it even in a trot. The appetite goes on diminishing, emaciation becomes more and more perceptible, and the state of exhaustion terminates in death. On opening the skull, there are met, either beneath the bones of the cranium, or beneath the dura mater,[19] or in the brain itself, hydatids varying in number and size, sometimes a single one, often from three to six, the size of which varies: according as these worms occupy the right side or the left, the sheep turns to the right or left; but if they exist on both sides, the turning takes place to the one and the other alternately.

"The animal very often does not turn, which happens when the worm is placed on the median line; then the affected animal carries the head down, and though it seems to move rapidly, it does not change place. When the hydatid is situated on the posterior part of the brain, the animal carries the head high, runs straight forward, and throws itself on every object it meets."

Treatment.—Take

Mix. Divide into eight parts, and feed one every morning. Make a drink from the white Indian hemp, (asclepias incarnata,) one ounce of which may be infused in a quart of water, one fourth to be given every night.

FOOTNOTES:

JAUNDICE.

This malady generally involves the whole system in its deranged action. It is recognized by the yellow tint of the conjunctiva, (white of the eye,) and mucous membranes lining the nostrils and mouth. We generally employ for its cure

Mix. Divide into two parts. Give one dose in the morning, and the other at night. An occasional drink of camomile tea, a few bran mashes, and boiled carrots, will complete the cure.

INFLAMMATION OF THE KIDNEYS.

A derangement of these organs may result from external violence, or it may depend on the animal having eaten stimulating or poisonous plants.

Its symptoms are, pain in the region of the kidneys; the back is arched, and the walk stiff and painful, with the legs widely separated; there is a frequent desire to make water, and that is high colored or bloody; the appetite is more or less impaired, and there is considerable thirst.

The indications are, to lubricate the mucous surfaces, remove morbific materials from the system, and improve the general health.

We commence the treatment by giving

Make a mucilage of the poplar bark, by stirring in boiling water; then add the pleurisy root; the whole to be given in the course of twenty-four hours. The diet should consist of a mixture of linseed, boiled carrots, and meal.

WORMS.

The intestinal worms generally arise from impaired digestion. The symptoms are, a diminution of rumination, wasting away of the body, and frequent snorting, obstruction of the nostrils with mucus of a greater or less thickness.

Compound for Worms.

Dose, a tea-spoonful night and morning in the fodder.

DISEASES OF THE STOMACH FROM EATING POISONOUS PLANTS.

Treatment.—Take the animal from pasture, and put it on a boiled diet, of shorts, meal, linseed, and carrots. The following alterative may be mixed in the food:—

Dose, one table-spoonful every night.

SORE NIPPLES.

Lambs often die of hunger, from their dams refusing them suck. The cause of this is sore nipples, or some tumor in the udder, in which violent pain is excited by the tugging of the lamb. Washing with poplar bark, or anointing the teats with powdered borax and honey, will generally effect a cure.

FRACTURES.

The mending of a broken bone, though somewhat tedious, is by no means difficult, when the integuments are not torn. Let the limb be gently distended, and the broken ends of the bone placed in contact with each other. A piece of stiff leather, of pasteboard, or of thin shingle, wrapped in a soft rag, is then to be laid along the limb, so that it may extend an inch or two beyond the contiguous part. The splints are then to be secured by a bandage of linen an inch and a half broad. After being firmly rolled up, it should be passed spirally round the leg, taking care that every turn of the bandage overlaps about two thirds of the preceding one. When the inequality of the parts causes the margin to slack, it must be reversed or folded over; that is, its upper margin must become the lower, &c. The bandage should be moderately tight, so as to support the parts without intercepting the circulation, and should be so applied as to press equally on every part. The bandage may be occasionally wet with a mixture of equal parts of vinegar and water.