REPORT ON PLEURO-PNEUMONIA. 297 



last twenty-five years. He had seen cattle inoculated by one of 

 the best operators in this country, which had been attacked two 

 or three months after a successful inoculation. In fact, there was 

 no method of vaccination or inoculation against any disease 

 which was an absolute protection. But there was no question 

 of the fact that it was protective to a certain extent ; and if an 

 arrangement could be made by which all inoculated animals 

 should be treated as suspected animals, and not allowed to be 

 moved out of the premises where the inoculation is performed, 

 except to go to the butcher, his objections would be removed. 

 But it was a palpable fact within the knowledge of a large 

 number of men who had worked at the subject thoroughly, that 

 there were certain limited cases of pleuro-pneumonia which could 

 not be detected by any kno^vai means. Such animals were appar- 

 ently in perfect health, and the inoculation ran its course in 

 them exactly as if they were perfectly healthy. The absence or 

 presence of disease in the lungs made no difference whatever in 

 the progress of the inoculation in the tail. Those animals might 

 go on for six months and show no sign. In Cumberland, in an 

 inoculated herd, after six months, three animals ovit of sixteen 

 were found to have pleuro-pneumonia well developed in the 

 lungs, of which nobody had suspected the existence. In the 

 Netherlands, for something like ten years they pursued the 

 policy of inoculation, but they failed by that means to eradicate 

 the disease, and they adopted the policy of slaughter without 

 interfering with the inoculation, which was still carried on. 

 After some six or seven years of the slaughtering policy, they 

 got rid of the disease. Throughout Europe, and in nearly the 

 whole of the colonies, inoculation had been practised for a long 

 period, and in no case had the disease been stamped out or got 

 rid of by those means. Where inoculation had been practised 

 most regularly there the disease was most rife. Those were the 

 facts. He was not opposed to the inquiry — in fact, he devoted 

 nearly the whole of his spare time to the subject ; but to be 

 done effectually it must be done upon a large scale, and they 

 would want about £40,000 to start with for the first year. 



Mr Paterson stated that if any inquiry was entered on it 

 would require the protection of Government, so as to place 

 experimenters beyond the risk of interference from local 

 authorities. 



Lord John Manners, in reply, said he had intended drawing 

 the attention of the deputation to the fact that, by the last Act 

 passed, the Privy Council had been deprived of the power of 

 protecting any such inquiry, and that for Government to do so 

 it would be necessary to get the sanction of Parliament. 



Mr Menzies said they had a correspondence about eighteen 

 months ago with the Irish Privy Council on the subject of the 



