810 Transactions. — Zoology. 



see this evening. The bladders subsequently come everywhere 

 upon the muscles, some external and some internal, about 50 

 per cent, being internal bladders. If internal, or part internal 

 and part external, every other organ has to give place to them, 

 even the genital organs totally disap2?earing. Professor Thomas 

 appears to (juite overlook the fact that this disease positively 

 stops the breeding-powers of the rabbits, the most important 

 desidcratinu for us to aim at in dealing icitli the rabbit difficulty. 

 All other measures are absolutely futile. We can sweep off 

 the rabbits by the million with poison ; but our time and money 

 are thrown away unless we can stop the rabbits left after the 

 poisoning from breeding up again. My rabbiter never re- 

 members catching a doe in young afflicted with bladder- worm. 

 I do not say that such a rabbit may not be caught so afflicted — 

 in fact, I have heard of rabbits being so caught ; but the disease 

 certainly checks their breeding-powers. I should be sorry to 

 be the embryo rabbit contesting existence with an internal 

 developing bladder- worm. It is generally the buck-rabbits we 

 catch afflicted with the bladders. 



In this wiiy Nature works. She does not sweep off l)y the 

 million, as people afflicted with the rabbit-pest expect her to 

 do, but she sends a disease that quietly stops the breeding- 

 power. Therein lies its great beauty. The rabbits absolutely 

 thrive and fatten under a disease that all the time prevents 

 their future increase. M. Pasteur's plan was therefore op- 

 posed to Nature's simple working. Why the rabbit thrives 

 and fattens under the disease is easily answered. This animal 

 affords a wonderful food-supply to man, and for that reason 

 Nature will not allow it to be exterminated. Nothing we can 

 do now will exterminate the rabbit in New Zealand or Aus- 

 tralia. 



Bladder-worm was not bad Tipon the Dry Eiver Eun when 

 the rabbits were thick, and poisoning and hunting were relied 

 iqion (18bo-8-i). Then I began turning out the natural enemy, 

 and still continuing the use of dogs. Then the bladder-worna 

 came as the rabbits were disappearing (towards the middle of 

 1885), and the rim was fully infected with the disease (as also 

 with liver-rot, scab, and louse) when Professor Thomas ex- 

 amined it in March, 1888; the height of the disease being a year 

 and a half previous to that, about the end of 1886. The three 

 other diseases named were not so bad with me as the bladder- 

 worm, or as they were upon some of my neighbours' runs. 

 I consider from what I heard that the liver-rot did better 

 work upon Mr. Tully's run than the bladder- worm. (Still, 

 I think these four diseases epidemic and endemic.) 



Now, as I write — September, 1889, when the run is as clear 

 as ever it will be — we do not catch many rabbits with bladder- 

 worm. The disease may only be developing for the sununer 



