22 PROCEEDINGS AT GENERAL MEETINGS. 



into his sheds and byres, there had been no outbreak of the disease, and nothing 

 going out from the sheds or byres had been complained of as having the disease after 

 being slaughtered. That was one very important point to remember, and it was this 

 case wliich he thought induced the Directors to institute the inquiry. If by inocula- 

 tion they could escape the disease or decrease it, it was a very small cost that would 

 carry it out, and it would certainly be very beneficial to the public. There were 

 others in the neighbourhood of Edinl)urgh — cow-feeders. One man in particular in 

 1878, instead of having 60 head of cattle, found himself reduced to 15. His mother 

 and himself had a conference, and the young man said that unless they did something 

 to free themselves of the disease they should probably become bankrupt. He asked 

 his mother to allow him to adopt the plan of inoculation. The plan was adojiited, 

 and that man's losses from that hour to this had been extremely small. Several 

 cow-feeders in Edinburgh had appeared, and all seemed to be in favour of inoculation. 

 He hojied the Society v/ould allow him to thank the gentlemen who had appeared, 

 not only those farmers and cow-feeders, but the other witnesses whom they had had 

 before them, for the frankness with which they had come forward and the clear and 

 lucid evidence they had given to the committee. In addition to these gentlemen, 

 they asked the Principals of the three principal Veterinary Colleges in Scotland to 

 appear and tell them their experiences. These gentlemen had done so in a most 

 frank and open manner. Other veterinary surgeons had also appeared, and the 

 united wisdom of the whole came to this — that inoculation, if done properly and in 

 time, would be not only a means of preventing the very great destruction of healthy 

 animals, and saving a large amount of money, but if adojited and carried out 

 satisfactorily wovild sweeji the disease from the country. Quoting from the report, 

 he proceede<l — "As the result of their inquiry, the committee have to report that 

 there is need of an investigation into pleuro-pneumonia. The exjieriments begun in 

 this country have not been carried to a satisfactory conclusion. "We are at present 

 in ignorance of some of the most elementary facts regarding the disease. It is not 

 known (1) how it is propagated, (2) how far the disease may be carried, and what 

 may be considered an infected area ; (3) whether the infection can be resident in 

 byres, trucks, boats, or p^ens ; (4) at what stage of the disease it begins to be 

 infectious, and whether it is able to be detected before that period; (5) whether inocu- 

 lation gives permanent protection against the disease, and for how long it may be 

 capable of doing so. There are other questions and lines of investigation that have 

 already been referred to. Considering how long the disease has been in tlie country, 

 and how much it has cost the country to limit the range of the disease, it is 

 remarkable, and not very creditable that so little should be known regarding it. The 

 committee are of opinion that an investigation by some competent persons should be 

 at once set on foot, and they have confidence that if such an investigation were 

 instituted it would result in discovering how best and most economically to combat 

 the disease or to banish it from the country. They are of opinion that such an 

 investigation should receive the sui^port of the local authorities in the country, and 

 that the cost of it would not amount to so much as one year's compensation for 

 slaughtering animals under the present regiilations. The committee also desire to 

 jioint out that the present system whereby an inspector is made personally liable for 

 any loss which may be sustained in the slaughter of healthy animals suspected to be 

 suffering from pleiu-o-pneumonia, and the limited powers conferred upon him, are a 

 fruitful means of sjireading, for it has to make some headway before the inspector 

 feels so confident as to cause the animals to be slaughtered. " He commented upon 

 the fact contained in the last sentence, and said that was the point on which he 

 should like their knowledge increased, and he thought it could be done by the aid of 

 this investigation. He was in hopes that, if they had experiments entered ui)on, 

 instead of being able to detect the disease oidy after the lungs were affected, they 

 might get it in the fever stage, and be able possibly then to arrest the disease. With 

 regard to the cost of an inquiry, he was not al)le to give any estimate of what that 

 might be, but he thought a very great deal of information could be got at no great 

 cost. It was said that the cost would not exceed one year's outlay on the slaughter- 

 ing of diseased animals. He should hope it would not cost even a fourth of that. 

 Their bill was £] 0,000 in Lanarkshire for this year alone. Other counties were 

 suffering. Instead of decreasing, he was very sorry to say that there were fresh 

 outbreaks in districts which had not been previously rei)orted. He did .not think 

 they could move too soon in beginning this investigation, and he hoped it would be 

 carried out at a very early date. JIany a time inoculation had not been carried out 

 until the disease had broken ovit in the cow byre or shed where the animals had been 

 standing. That seemed like shutting the door after the horse was out of the stable, 

 because if inoculation bad taken place before the animals were affected at all he did 

 not fancy they would have taken the disease. They had very strong evidence 

 yesterday from Professor M'Call, Glasgow. He bought a cow which was inoculated. 

 He kept it for a certain length of time till the inoculation had taken place. It was 



