120 



THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE. 



cattle which she might receive from the Baltic ports. 

 The diflSculties in the way of a direct trade of this kind 

 are too great for it to be carried on with facility or ad- 

 vantage. Such cattle would have to make the port of 

 Kiel, and be then disembarked, in order to be placed on 

 the vessels navigating the canal which connects Kiel with 

 the Eider, and on reaching Tonning be again re-em- 

 barked on vessels bound for England. 



Denmark, Schleswig, and Holstein. 



In September last it was officially communicated to 

 the Government by Vice-Consul Blackwell of Lubeck, 

 that " the steppe vmrrain of Russia had made its way 

 into Holstein, having passed through Poland, Prussia, 

 and Mecklenburg." We ascertained, however, that 

 this disease had no existence in this part of Europe since 

 the occasion of its last general outbreak in 1813. It is 

 also recorded that up to that time the affection had not 

 prevailed in the duchies since 1774 to 1781, when 

 150,000 head of cattle are said to have perished. 



Pleuro-pneumonia is rife in Holstein, particularly in 

 the neighbourhood of Altona, where an active cattle 

 trade is carried on. The malady is said originally to 

 have appeared here in 1842, or nearly about the same 

 time it was first observed in England. At the com- 

 mencement of 1843, Herr Rottger, district veterinary 

 surgeon of Altona, received orders from the Danish 

 Government to watch the progress of the disease. No 

 active means to limit its extension were, however, had 

 recourse to until 1845, when the Government sent Pro- 

 fessor Witt of Copenhagen, to investigate the matter. 

 Professor Wilt and Herr Rottger, with a surgeon and 

 the Government veterinary surgeon of Hamburg, formed 

 a sanitary commission of inquiry. The commission 

 came to the conclusion that the disease was highly con- 

 tagious, and recommended the Government to adopt 

 the most stringent measures of prevention. These con- 

 sist in chief of — 



a. Sequestration of the places where the disease is 

 found to exist. 



b. The immediate slaughter of the infected animals. 



c. The killing of the whole herd upon the occurrence 

 of fresh cases. 



d. The burial of the diseased cattle with their skins 

 on, cut in such a manner as to prevent their being sur- 

 reptitiously disposed of, and the sprinkling the body 

 over with chloride of lime. 



The indemnity consists in the Government paying 

 two-thirds of the value of the diseased animals, and the 

 full value of the healthy, the loss to the treasury being 

 partly provided for by the Government selling by public 

 auction the carcases of the animals which are free from 

 disease. 



For the carrying out of these regulations, it is ordered 

 among other things that every proprietor of cattle shall, 

 upon the outbreak of a disease which seems to possess 

 some unusual features, give notice to the district veteri- 

 nary surgeon, or be subjected to a fine varying from 

 fifty to a hundred thalers. The veterinary surgeon has 

 to report the result of his examination to the police, 

 and if it should prove that the malady is a contagious 

 one, then the regulations are strictly enforced. The 

 animals are valued on the part of the Government, and 

 branded on the horns for the purpose of identity. Should 

 no other cases occur after the diseased animals are killed, 

 then a proprietor is prevented selling any of those which 

 had been exposed to the contagion, and which bear the 

 Government stamp, in a less period of time than six 

 months, and only then with a certificate from the veteri- 

 nary surgeon that they are free from disease. 



The adoption of these severe measures led, it is be- 

 lieved, to the nearly total extinction of pleuro pneumonia 

 in two or three years. In 1847, however, it again prevailed 

 Jn Holstein, also commencing, it is said, in the neigh- 



bourhood of Altona. In 1849 and 1851 other outbreaks 

 occurred, the disease extending on the latter occasion 

 into Schleswig and Denmark proper, but was quickly 

 suppressed by the severity with which the law ^was 

 executed. 



The outbreak from which the country is at present 

 suffering took place in the spring of 1856. It is attri- 

 buted to the circumstance of two gentlemen of Hamburg 

 purchasing in Hungary 180 oxen, and sending them to 

 graze on the islands and marshlands of the Elbe. The 

 disease manifested itself in these animals, and from them 

 it was communicated to some cows which were sent daily 

 from the town of Hamburg to graze in the same pastures, 

 and was thus spread over the territory and the adjacent 

 portions of Holstein. This called for the re-adoption of 

 the preventive measures previously alluded to, and which 

 are still in operation in the Duchies, but modified to 

 some considerable extent in the town and territory of 

 Hamburg. 



The almost simultaneous appearance of pleuro-pneu- 

 monia in Mecklenburg, which is said to have depended 

 on the introduction of some cattle from Bavaria, toge- 

 gether with its existence in several of the German States, 

 led the Government to issue the following order with re- 

 ference to the importation of cattle into Holstein and 

 Lauenburg. 



Copenhagen, June 18, 1856. 

 Proclamation for the Duchies of Holstein and Lau- 

 enburg, iu reference to the Importation of Horned 



Cattle from abroad. 



Whereas, according to official information, the pulmonary 

 epidemic has recently shown itself again in horned cattle in 

 several German States, the importation of horned cattle from 

 abroad will not, until further notice, be permitted into the 

 duchies of Holstdn and Lauenburg, unless satisfactory certi- 

 ficates, issued by authority, be handed in at the same time, 

 stating the place from whence the cattle have been brought, and 

 that in such place no signs of the pulmonary epidemic have 

 appeared for more than six months, the cattle being therein 

 described as accurately as possible. 



The above is hereby made known for the information and 

 guidance of those who receive it ; and at the same time the 

 police authorities are especially directed to see the strict ob- 

 servance of the above order. 



Royal Ministerial Department for the Duchies of Holstein 

 and Lauenburg, 9th June, 1856. 



(Signed) V. Sciieele. 



G. Harbou. 



Pleuro-pneumonia, however, continued to prevail in 

 Holstein, despite all measures precautionary or other- 

 wise, which were had recourse to, and this led the Mi- 

 nister to issue new regulations during last year, to stay 

 if possible its further progress. It was thereupon or- 

 dered that " all estates (farms) m which cases of pul- 

 monary disease have occurred within the last six 

 months, are to be closed, and no removal of cattle from 

 such estates is to be permit tid. The cattle are to re- 

 main as much as possible in the same stalls, and only 

 to be rtvioved to the pasture yiounds of the owners, 

 which are to be fenced round lo the exclusion of all 

 other cattle, us it is deemed necessary to remove cattle 

 from their infected stalls to purer air." 



In July, 1856, Schleswig placed the importations 

 into her territory from Holstein under restrictions ; but 

 as these also proved to be insufficient, the Minister of this 

 Duchy, in March of the present year, forbade the impor- 

 tations entirely. 



In August, 1856, Denmark, by the Minister of the 

 Interior, likewise ordered that no cattle would be per- 

 mitted to enter the kingdom from Holstein, unless they 

 were accompanied by a certificate of a veterinary sur- 

 geon, stating that they were in good health when ex- 

 ported, and also by the certificate of a magistrate, that 

 the district from which they came was free from disease. 

 And in September following proclamation was made to 



