432 Transactions. — Miscellaneous. 



Australia, and immediately I was told by many of my fellow- 

 settlers in the Wairarapa that the disease was no new thing ; 

 that some of them had observed it two, four, even six years ago; 

 that they had it upon their runs, and other diseases as well, 

 such as liver-rot, mange, scab, and lice. The generality of them 

 said the disease (bladder- worm) was no good, and wondered at 

 my taking any notice of the matter. Many of them, and the 

 general number of the rabbit-men and Maoris, considered that 

 the bladders were caused by gunshot wounds. Even the 

 other day, when I was bringing a good specimen of the disease 

 down to Sir James Hector, the Maoris clustering round the 

 box remarked, "Ah! that rabbit was wounded." All this 

 evidence points to the one fact that for six years past this 

 disease has been silently at work upon the runs in the Waira- 

 rapa, and to it may be attributed, just as much as to the winter 

 poisoning or the ferrets, the further great fact that in the 

 Wairarapa the rabbit-pest has been conquered. (I attribute 

 the subjection of the pest to the three things acting in combina- 

 tion.) The mange, itch, or scab had also been observed upon 

 my own and the neighbouring runs ; but the rabbiters consi- 

 dered that such rabbits had been scorched or badly burnt in the 

 many fires lit to clear off the scrub. Liver-rot had also been 

 observed, especially upon Mr. Tully's run— a run celebrated 

 for the bad state of the rabbit-pest there, but which I am 

 happy to say is now almost clean. Professor Thomas's interim 

 report does not say whether liver-rot is attributable to bladder- 

 worm — or rabbit-iiuke, as Sir James Hector named it : I fancy 

 it is. 



Now, let us leave detail and go into principles. Let us see 

 what this bladder-worm really means. Let us take an atlas of 

 the earth and inquire into the reasons why the four great conti- 

 nents of Europe, Asia, Africa, and America are free from the 

 rabbit-pest, and why it is so bad in Australia and New Zea- 

 land. If my course of reasoning is found to be sound, then, 

 siarely, M. Pasteur's proposed mode of suppressing the difficulty 

 with cholera-microbe solution will be found to be as absolutely 

 useless as oiu- winter poisoning, and very far indeed removed 

 from the right method of cure. I use the words " absolutely 

 useless" in this sense: that it will be no good M. Pasteur 

 sweeping off the rabbits by millions if they breed up again, 

 and have to be again swej)t off. Under the winter poisoning 

 we are sweeping off the rabbits in New Zealand at the present 

 moment at about fifty millions a year. 



And, first, it will be remembered by members of this 

 Institute that last year I read a paper upon " A Common Vital 

 Force." The reasoning in that paper has furnished me with 

 matter for clearing up the present question. My argument is 

 as follows — and Professor Thomas, before sending in his full 



