IXOCULATIOX AS A PKEVENTION OF PLEUllO-PNEUMOXIA. 19 



care and more perseverance he would have had no reason to 

 pen the above opinion, and there can be no doubt thousands and 

 thousands of cattle would have been, and much useless legisla- 

 tion in the matter, might have been saved to the country. 



When the heads of the profession condemned the operation, 

 it is not to be wondered at if the rank and file followed suit, 

 and no doubt many did so, without knowing anything about it. 

 Blindly they believed what they were told, and I am very much 

 afraid they will continue to do so, till some one else in authority 

 tells them otherwise. As Fleming says : — " The persistency 

 with which the value of inoculation has been ignored in this 

 country would be astonishing did we not know how stubbornly 

 some people shut their eyes to the light, and close their minds 

 to the reception of facts which are not in harmony with precon- 

 ceived notions, or are adverse to opinions hastily promulgated, 

 and based on very imperfect knowledge." 



On the Continent, however, the operation has not been so 

 cavalierly treated; from the first its value has been more or less 

 acknowledged, in proportion to the degree of success achieved 

 by the operation, and in one kingdom at least (Holland), com- 

 pulsory inoculation of the healthy is now and has been for a 

 long time bracketed with the slaughter of the deceased. In 

 South Africa the value of inoculation has been recognised for 

 years, and, indeed, only a few months ago, I received a letter 

 from J^atal, in which the writer says : — " It may be interesting 

 for you to know, that our colony of Natal has suffered severely 

 for years from pleuro-pneumonia, or lung sickness, and that the 

 only means of prevention found to be of any use is inoculation." 



In Australia the operation has also been long known and 

 successfully practised, and to my mind, it speaks volumes in 

 favour of its value, when one considers how long its prestige has 

 not only lived, but that it has actually grown in favour, under 

 the most adverse conditions. In a report by Mr. Bruce, cliief 

 inspector of stock, New South Wales, he says : — " Inoculation 

 is now generally practised throughout Australia, and as the stock 

 owners report, with decided success. There have certainly been 

 frequent instances of its failure, but these could always be 

 traced to one or other of the following causes : — 



1. The cattle being diseased when operated upon. 



2. To the use of improper virus. 



3. To a wrong mode of operating. 



4. To unfavourable weather. 



He says, farther, that notwithstanding that the first attempts 

 at inoculation were made under the most unfavourable circum- 

 stances, a very large majority of tlie stock owners in all the 

 colonies expressed themselves strongly in favour of the operation, 

 and that majority lias since gone on steadily increasing. In a 

 later report (1875), the same gentleman impresses upon his 



