Weekly graphic. [volume] (Kirksville, Adair Co., Missouri) 1880-1949, 1880-06-05
I" Sheen Rot, ..

For some time great mortality has
prevailed among sheep, and the de-
struction reported is something appal-
ling. The malady is popularity known
by Il very old Saxon name, "rot,' and
is in reality due to the presence in the
liver and hepatic canals of numbers of
the DiStOnG hep0ticUm, n trematode
entozoon, as well as the Dist0ma iancco-
/ tntum, also Il member Of the same order.
These cntozoa, from their resemblance
to the fish called dukes" have re-
ceived the same name. and have par
ticular predikction for the hillary
apparatus, whose function they more or
less destroy, and thus lead to the slow
death of the sheep or other animals
+ they may infcst. After wet seasons,
animals which have been pasturcd on
tainted land are certain to suffer, from
their having ingestcd with the heritage
the ova of the Distoma. Pastures are
tainted by flukc' infested sheep,
which pass the mature worms or their
ova with the f:cces, and these lodge on
or are washed into the ground. The
worms, of course, die, and the ova with
in them are liberated; and these, to-
gethcr with the free ova, appear to
have not only a strong vital resistance
to meteorological alterations, but also
the good fortune to find ready and
acceptable Intermediary host in the
Linptrus minntns, Il little mud
snail common everywhere. and particu-
larly on wet land. This snail becomes
possessed of number of ova in its
interior. and during damp weather it
crawls from its breeding place in the
ground up the stalks of grass and herb
age. and is swallowed by the sheep or
other hcrbivorous animals when they
are grazing. Received at first into the
stomach, the ova undergo partial devel-
opment. and then find their way into
the hillary canals. If their number is
considerable, when they have attained
their full growth they dilate and OBJ
struct these canals the walls of which
become considerably thickened. Dur
ing their development the secretion of
bile becomes gradually diminished, and
that fluid is viscid, like mucus, and al
tered in color; at the same time the
parcnchyma of the liver becomes afro
phied from the compression the
''tlukes" exercise upon it. and it NAV
even become disorganized. Hence re-
suit icterus, disturbance in nutrition,
an;rmia. dropsy, and Il general cachectic
condition.
Sheep are not the only victims which
suffer from the Distoma, for during the
present mortality hares, rabbits. deer
and horses are said to have become in
tested, and died The Distonm hcpn,i-
cum has long been known to exist in
the horse and ass, when they were al
lowed TO pasture on unclean land during
wet seasons.
Salt appears to be an excellent and
well known prophylactic agent, and
even curative one when the disease
has non made much progress. This
beneficial action of sodium chloride has
been known almost from time iiEme-
mortal, and the freedom from "ro." of
sheep which have been pastured on
salt marshes has been also recognized
for centuries.
The flesh of sheep which have been
affected with this verminous disease
cannot be said to be positively danger
GUS rs food, though it must be greatly
reduced in nutritive properties, as well
as in quality. The human being NAV
receive and harbor the Distoma, fact
worthy of remembrance. The present
mortality is likely to render sheep
scarce and expensive in this country for
some time, and still further darken the
prospects of our agriculturists. -Lancst.