This disease, which sometimes causes the death of a million of sheep, in
England, in a single year, is comparatively unknown in this country. It
prevails somewhat in the Western States, from allowing sheep to pasture
on land that is overflowed with water. Even a crop of green oats, early
in the fall, before a frost comes; has been known to rot young sheep.
_Symptoms._ The first are by no means strongly marked; there is no loss
of condition, but rather the contrary, to all appearance. A paleness and
want of liveliness of the membranes, generally, may be considered as the
first symptoms, to which may be added a yellowness of the caruncle at
the corner of the eye. When in warm, sultry, or rainy weather, sheep
that are grazing on low and moist lands, feed rapidly, and some of them
die suddenly, there is ground for fearing that they have contracted the
rot. This suspicion will be farther increased if, a few days afterward,
the sheep begin to shrink and grow flaccid about the loins. By pressure
about the hips at this time, a crackling is perceptible now or soon
afterward, the countenance looks pale, and upon parting the fleece, the
skin is found to have changed its vermilion tint for a pale red, and the
wool is easily separated from the felt; and as the disorder advances,
the skin becomes dappled with yellow or black spots. To these symptoms
succeed increased dullness, loss of condition, and greater paleness of
the mucous membranes, the eye-lids becoming almost white, and afterward
yellow. This yellowness extends to other parts of the body, and a watery
fluid appears under the skin, the latter becoming loose and flabby, and
the wool coming off readily. The symptoms of dropsy often extend over
the body, and sometimes the sheep becomes _chockered_, as it is termed;
a large swelling forms under the jaw, which, from the appearance of the
fluid which it contains, is sometimes called the _watery poke_. The
duration of the disease is uncertain; the animal occasionally dies
shortly after becoming affected, but more frequently it extends to from
three to six months, the sheep gradually losing flesh and pining away,
particularly if, as is frequently the case, an obstinate purging
supervenes.
_Post-mortem._ The whole cellular tissue is found to be infiltrated, and
a yellow serous fluid everywhere follows the knife. The muscles are soft
and flabby, having the appearance of being macerated. The kidneys are
pale, flaccid, and infiltrated. The mesenteric glands are enlarged, and
engorged with yellow serous fluid. The belly is frequently filled with
water, or purulent matter; the peritoneum is everywhere thickened, and
the bowels adhere together by means of an unnatural growth. The heart is
enlarged and softened, and the lungs are filled with tubercles. The
principal alterations of structure are in the liver, which is pale,
livid, and broken down with the slightest pressure; and on being boiled,
it will almost dissolve away. When the liver is not pale, it is often
curiously spotted; in some cases it is speckled, like the back of a
toad; some parts of it, however, are hard and schirrous; others are
ulcerated, and the biliary ducts are filled with flukes. The malady is,
unquestionably, inflammation of the liver. This fluke is from
three-quarters of an inch to an inch and a quarter in length, and from
one-third to one-half an inch in its greatest breadth. These fluke-worms
undoubtedly aggravate the disease, and perpetuate a state of
irritability and disorganization, which must necessarily undermine the
strength of any animal.
_Treatment._ This must, to a considerable extent, be very
unsatisfactory. After the use of dry food and dry bedding, one of the
best _preventives_ is the abundant use of pure salt. In violent attacks,
take eight, ten, or twelve ounces of blood, according to the
circumstances of the case; to this, let a dose of physic succeed--two or
three ounces of Epsom salts; and to these means add a change of diet,
good hay in the field, and hay, straw, or chaff in the yard. After the
operation of the physic--an additional dose having been administered,
oftentimes, in order to quicken the action of the first--two or three
grains of calomel may be given daily, mixed with half the quantity of
opium, in order to secure its beneficial, and ward off its injurious
effects on the ruminant. To this should be added common salt, which acts
as a purgative and a tonic. A mild tonic, as well as an aperient, is
plainly indicated soon after the commencement of rot. The doses should
be from two to three drachms, repeated morning and night. When the
inflammatory stage is clearly passed, stronger tonics may be added to
the salt, and there are none superior to the gentian and ginger roots;
from one to two drachms of each, finely pounded, may be added to each
dose of the salt. The sheep having a little recovered from the disease,
should still continue on the best and driest pasture on the farm, and
should always have salt within their reach. The rot is not infectious.