166
ON TIIE LIVE-STOCK
some flocks that feed on the higher mountains of Scotland ,and may be occasioned in some situations by the bite ofvenemous reptiles, and in others by some deleterious herbage.When it is owing to the latter cause, the animal recovers ifspeedily 'removed to better pastures.
XII. Blindness is occasioned by excessive fatigue, forwhich sheep are sometimes blooded Below the eyes, but theyrecover of themselves, if allowed to feed at their ease. Forthis purpose, and also to prevent accidents, they should bekept in a separate inclosure.
XIII. Dropsy. “ In some of the islands and shores ofScotland, ” says Mr Hogg, “ where sheep feed much uponsalt marsh, this distemper is peculiarly destructive.”—“ Insome of the Orkney and Shetland Islands , it destroys morethan all other diseases; and on the shores of Sutherland andthe Long Island , its depredations are considerably felt.”—“ Removing them to dry pasture, and back from the flatshores, is certainly the best means of preventing it.”
XIV. The Pelt-rot is rather an accident than a disease.When sheep are very lean, and exposed to frequent rains,or to drops trom trees, the wool falls off during the springmonths, and a whitish crust gathers upon the skin, by somecalled th c pelt-rot. The part ol the skin that is hard shouldbe well rubbed with tar mixed with oil or butter, and a pieceof cloth sewed over it, to preserve the animal from cold.
XV. Red-water is a cutaneous disease, which makes its*appearance about the beginning or end of winter, and chief*ly affects the breast and belly, although at times it spreadsitself over other parts of the body. The skin is raised intoblisters, which contain a thin, reddish and watery fluid. Itseldom appears in this country, and is almost never fatal.