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Vol. III.
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OF SCOTLAND.

163

Slid laudanum. Ejnjs and sweet milk mixed with the barkof the alder-tree have also been given with success.

Mr Hogg ascribes this disease entirely to over-heating theanimals, and the means of prevention are therefore sufficient-ly obvious. He very justly and forcibly condemns the stillexisting practice of milking the ewes, as one of the principalcauses of this and several other disorders.

VII. The Scab or Itch is a well-known infectious andtroublesome disease. It seldom appears among sheep thathave been smeared, unless they have been infected by others;and this infection may be communicated not only by contact,but by the stones, trees or banks, on which scabbed sheephave rubbed themselves several months before. A sheep isnever even slightly affected till it proceeds to scratch itself,and to rub its sides and buttocks against every thing it meets.As soon as the disease is discovered, the whole flock amongwhich the animals affected have been pasturing, should becarefully examined, and every one which has an appearanceof being fretted on the shin, must be separated from the flock,and kept by themselves till completely cured. Several me-thods of cure have been prescribed, two of which shall beextracted from Sir George Stuart Mackenzie’s Treatise be-fore-mentioned :

“ Take of strong Mercurial Ointment, 4 lbs. ,•

Oil of Turpentine, - - 4r pint English ;

Hog’s-lard, tallow or butter, - 4 lbs.;

Melt the hog’s-lard, tallow, or butter. Allow them to settle,and pour off' the clear liquid ; then add the mercurial oint-ment, stirring the whole well, till it be melted and incor-porated, and then add the oil of turpentine. Keep stirringthe mixture for a minute or two, that the mercury may becompletely mixed, and then pour the whole into someshallow vessels, that the ointment may cool quickly.”

“ A very effectual and a much cheaper ointment may bemade as follows: