From the beginning of November till the middle of March, _sickness_ commits its greatest ravages, especially among heath sheep, from their being more confined than others to dry binding provender. Frozen grass is also a common exciting cause, rapidly inducing inflammation by lowering the temperature of the stomachs so very much as to arrest digestion, and lead to its acting as an irritant. The succulent grass in the sheltered hollows of mountains is more liable to frost than a sapless herbage, and to it, owing to its moisture, the young sheep resort, devouring it eagerly to assuage their thirst. Braxy, however, may arise from other and more obvious causes. The sheep, perhaps when heated by rash dogging, is suddenly chilled by exposure to a shower, or a plunge in a morass, and if the bowels be at the time any way bound up, immediate mischief cannot but ensue. One of the rarest accidents to which it has been attributed is the prevention of the passage of the fæces by a knot, or intussusception, forming on the intestines, but this occurrence would be of difficult discovery, and even if made known, our treatment, though not differing much from that of braxy, could hardly be successful. (128.) _Treatment of Braxy._ Recovery is in many instances almost hopeless, owing to the length of time which in general elapses between the onset of the disease and the shepherd's discovery of the animal. Nevertheless, the best treatment ought in every instance to have a proper trial, as life may often be saved when such a result is least expected. Many plans have been resorted to, but none are found to suit so well as that of bleeding and purging. The first thing to be attempted is the procuring of a copious flow of blood, but, as before mentioned, this is a difficult matter, owing to the stagnant state of the circulation at the surface of the body. Its abstraction may, however, be rendered easy, by placing the sheep in a tub of warm water, or, where this cannot be procured, by rolling a blanket wrung out of hot water round the body of the animal. The tub of water should always be preferred, and the moment the sheep is placed in it, the tail should be nicked, and one or both jugular veins opened. Retain the sheep in the bath for half an hour, adding hot water from time to time, so as to sustain the original temperature. This of itself will alleviate the sufferings of the animal.