(152.) _Foot-rot._ No disease occasions more acute suffering to the sheep, and annoyance to the farmer, than foot-rot, and no disease has led to longer arguments as to its contagious or non-contagious nature. Thanks, however, to Mr Dick of Edinburgh, these disputes are closed for ever, as any one may be convinced, by perusing his clever and sarcastic paper at page 852, Vol. ii. of the _Quarterly Journal of Agriculture_. His excellent remarks on the popular ideas of the infectious nature of foot-rot, I have not space to quote, but shall lay before the reader his views as to the situations and circumstances which give origin to the disease.[29] [29] To enable the reader more easily to understand Mr Dick's views of this disease, I have added a drawing of the foot of the sheep, which it may be well to consult before entering on the subject. _Fig. 4. Plate._ I. Section of a toe:--_c.c._ Crust of the hoof; _s._ Sole; _g.g._ Gland which secretes the hoof. (153.) _Causes of Foot-rot._ "What do we gain," says Mr Dick, "by enticing the sheep from his native and natural haunts to the richer pasturage of our meadows or lawns? There the animal enjoys a more luxuriant repast; it fattens to a larger size, and will, in this respect, repay the increased allowance which has been made to it. But instead of moving about in small troops, with the alacrity of the wild kinds, the sheep are seen in flocks of thousands, moving slowly over their pastures, and gorging themselves to an extent which cuts short the thread of life, by the advancement of various diseases. Instead of wandering from the summit of one peak to another, in quest of a scanty subsistence, or instead of being compelled to descend from the summits of the mountain in the morning, and ascend again in the evening, they are compelled, in many cases, to remain within a few yards of a particular spot for weeks together, and there engorge themselves to satiety.