126 



THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE. 



M. v. Schleinitz, President of the department of 

 Bromberg, in the province of Posen, in his official re- 

 port, says, that " it was in the month of March, 1855, 

 that we were obliged to order the frontier to be closed, 

 which was first effected in pursuance of the directions in 

 section 2 of the law of 1836. In October of the same 

 year we were under the necessity, in consequence of the 

 threatening approach of danger, of putting into force the 

 severer directions of section 3 respecting the closing of 

 the frontier ; and when, at the end of that month, intel- 

 ligence, though not officially confirmed, arrived here re- 

 garding the progress of the murrain, we caused the 

 Polish district bordering upon our department to be 

 thoroughly investigated by the veterinary surgeon of our 

 department within a distance of three miles from the 

 boundary of our territory." 



" It being then ascertained that the disease was only 

 2j miles from our frontier, we determined, at the begin- 

 ning of November, to close the same still more strictly, 

 according to section 4 of the said law. At the same 

 time we ordered the district commissaries of police to 

 inform the mayors of the different places of the impend- 

 ing calamity, who were not only instructed to exhort 

 the inhabitants of their districts to use the greatest pre- 

 caution, but also to give immediate notice, per express, 

 to the Councillor of administration of the district of 

 every suspicious case of disease breaking out among the 

 cattle." 



" As a further warning and instruction to the public, 

 we caused copies of the circular which was issued by the 

 chief magistrate of our province, under the date of 28lh 

 January, 1845, to be printed and distributed, to which 

 we annexed a description of the symptoms of the disease, 

 and caused the same to be distributed as a supplement 

 to our official paper (Gazette). Besides this we prohi- 

 bited the attendance of peisons at the weekly markets 

 of the towns lying nearest to the threatened boundary 

 with those species of cattle, as well as with other things 

 likely to convey infection, and which the law of 1833 

 specially enumerates ; we likewise ordered establish- 

 ments to be erected for personal purification in the vil- 

 lages wherein the frontier custom-office is established ; 

 stationed gendarmes in the villages on our side of the 

 boundary situated nearest the infected Polish districts, 

 and charged the district commissaries in the immediate 

 neighbourhood, under pain of dismissal from office, with 

 the execution of the preventive measures in case the con- 

 tagion should break out in our territory. We further 

 empowered the Councillors of the Administration of 

 the district to order the district veterinary surgeons to 

 inspect the villages and places on the boundary as often 

 as necessity requ. red, and to watch over the state of 

 the health of the cattle there." 



Notwithstanding these precautions were rigorously 

 adopted, the disease crossed the Prussian frontier ; and 

 in the latter part of November, 1855, it manifested it- 

 self in the circle of Inowraclaw, and shortly afterwards 

 in the circle of Gnesen, near the town of Posen. The 

 official rf port states, that on this occurrence "general 

 measures were taken for closing the boundaries of the 

 places infected, and special ones for the infected farm- 

 yards, by means of sentries posted under the superin- 

 tendence of gendarmes; quarantine stables were esta- 

 blished, superintendents and cattle inspectors appointed, 

 and these persons provided with written instructions 

 and bound by oath to their observance ; all trade in 

 cattle was forbidden within a circuit of three miles, all 

 dogs chained up, and every proprietor of cattle within a 

 circuit of two miles from the infected place was bound 

 upon pain of incurring the penalty of sec. 309 of the 

 Criminal Law, to give immediate notice even of the least 

 symptom of disease among his cattle, to the mayor of 

 the place, who had forthwith to inform the Councillor 



of the Administration of the district by an express mes- 

 senger, of such cases of disease, provided they did not 

 proceed from exterior injuries." 



" These measures for prevention and cutting oflF in- 

 tercourse were in no instance abandoned before the ex- 

 piration of the fourth week ; and the carcases of the 

 cattle that had died of the pest, or had been killed in 

 consequence of its appearance in infected districts, no 

 matter whether diseased or healthy, were always, after 

 their skins had been cut into pieces on all parts of the 

 body, buried in pits from six to eight feet deep, each 

 carcase being previously covered with unslackened lime." 

 At the first the chief execution of these preventive means 

 on the several farms was intrusted to civilians, but very 

 early in the progress of the malady the military was em- 

 ployed. The disease presently began to subside, but 

 despite every precaution occasional cases occurred, so 

 that the department of Bromberg was not entirely freed 

 from it until the beginning of 1856. 



The cordon, however, on the frontier of Poland was 

 not raised ; but on a decline of the disease in that coun- 

 try a removal of the impediments which had been placed 

 in the way of trade was gladly permitted. Individuals 

 who could satisfy the officers of the urgency of their bu- 

 siness — which, however, must not be in connection with 

 cattle or cattle offal — were, by reason of a certificate 

 from the Councillor of Administration of the district, 

 allowed to cross the frontier, through the custom offices, 

 into Poland. Upon similar conditions foot passengers, 

 who must, however, be furnished with only the most 

 necessary requirements, were likewise permitted to pass 

 into the department of Bromberg from Poland. Never- 

 theless all individuals crossing the frontier, together 

 with their effects, were required to be disinfected in the 

 establishments erected for that purpose at the boundary 

 custom place, under the superintendence of a gendarme. 

 Persons travelling post were likewise subject to the 

 same regulations, and spun goods were not allowed to 

 enter. 



Early in 1856 — namely, in the month of April — the 

 disease also broke out in the department of Breslau, in 

 the province of Silesia. For the particulars of this 

 occurrence we are indebted to Lord Loftns, to whom 

 they were officially communicated by the Piussiaa 

 Government. The report states that " for forty years 

 the department had been entirely free from the rinder- 

 pest, but that the disease had existed therein during the 

 ' War of Independence.' " " All investigations have 

 failed," it says, " to show the precise manner in which 

 the outbreak occurred ; but it appears that the disease 

 came from the circle of Schrimm, in the district of 

 Posen. The means of its extension from the circle of 

 Schrimm are the more obscure, because those persons 

 who might have been the cause of the conveyance of the 

 infection are interested in not giving correct informa- 

 tion. A knowledge of the existence of the pest only 

 reached the authorities at Breslau after three different 

 circles were more or less affected, which circumstance 

 arose from the want of experience of the district 

 veterinary surgeons, none having had an opportunity of 

 previously seeing the disease. Subsequently, also, 

 about a month elapsed before correct reports were ob- 

 tained from the commissioners who were specially ap- 

 pointed for the investigation, arising from the great 

 distances they had to travel, and the difficulties which 

 were in the way of their making j)osl-mortem examina- 

 tions." 



" The disease lasted for seven months; and its con- 

 tinuance so long depended in part on the footing it 

 obtained while the investigations were going on, as 

 during this time many animals were inadvertently ex- 

 posed to the infection ; and consequently they had the 

 malady incubated in their systems when the preventive 



