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.