THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE. 



131 



daily lamontations of the poor women, to whom was 

 confided the principal cure, or ratlur, oa whom was 

 forced the labour of nursing and feeding the animals, at 

 the losses they were sustaining, were most distressing 

 to witness. Nearly the entire means of living of these 

 small farmers depend on the well-being of their cattle ; 

 and to see them swept away by such a fatal scourge, 

 could not fail to excite our deepest sympathy. A gloom 

 was cast over the whole village ; and fear seemed to be 

 depicted on every countenance, lest the disease should 

 still further extend itself. 



As a warning to surrounding places, notice-boards 

 were erected at the different entrances into the villages, 

 setting forth, by their Polish and German inscriptions of 

 " Zauaza na bydlo rogate," and " Horn, Vieh 

 Seuche," that the pest was there, while each fresh 

 place of outbreak was instantly surrounded by the mili- 

 tary cordon, and all comiiiunicalion effectually cut off. 



Besides Zabrzez and Kamienica, two other adjacent 

 villages in the circle of Kruscienko were the seat of the 

 pest — namely, Tilka and Szchawnica. The total 

 number of cattle kept in the former was 78, out of 

 which 11 wei'e attacked ; and of these, 10 died, and 1 

 was slaughtered. In the latter place, 490 were kept, 

 and 34 became the subj^-cts of the malady ; and of 

 these, 25 died, 4 were slaughtered, and 5 recovered. 

 It has been ascertained thut the outbreak also in these 

 instances depended upon the introduction of steppe 

 oxen, bought at the same fair. 



Characters of the Disease. 



Infection. — Rinderpest properly belongs to that class 

 of diseases which is denominated special or specific, by 

 which we understand that there is either some certain 

 and particular cause which gives origin to them, or that 

 a marked peculiarity attends their progress and results. 

 Affections of this kind most frequently possess the 

 power of extension, by an inherent property of dissemi- 

 nating thr. materies niorhi upon which they themselves 

 depend, and which we recognize by the terms infection 

 and contagion. Thus each victim may be viewed as 

 adding new seeds to the malady, by the exhalations 

 arising from its own body; it being a remarkable cir- 

 cumstance that, when the morbific matter has entered 

 the system, it multiplies to an inconceivable extent be- 

 fore it is cast out by the organic functions. The circum- 

 stance of animals, when in health, contracting a disease 

 of the same description as that affecting others with 

 which they are located, is the best proof of the infec- 

 tious or contagious nature of the malady. The escape 

 of some under the same circumstances may be due to 

 a variety of causes, and offers no satisfactory proof that 

 the disease is no?j-contagious. For example, all animals 

 are not equally susceptible of being acted on at the same 

 time by the morbific matter : some may, therefore, re- 

 sist its influence to-day, but in the course of a few days 

 afterwards be susceptible of its action. 



The facts which have been given with reference to the 

 variijus outbreaks of the rinderpest do not require the 

 addition of scientific deductions to establish more firmly 

 the infectious nature of the malady. We believe that it 

 stands second to none in its capability of spreading from 

 animal to animal, the cattle tribe being alone its 

 victims. If the malady were one that owed its exten- 

 sion to unexplained causes ; if it suddenly showed itself 

 in one part of the continent, and rapidly spread, despite 

 all precautionary measures and without the introduction 

 of diseased animals, to others near to or at a greater 

 distance from its origin ; if, in short, it possessed all the 

 characters of an epizootic, then we might have some 

 reason to doubt its infectious nature. 



It has been stated, on indisputable authority, that any 

 animal which has been exposed to the infection can 



propagate the disease without itself becoming affected ; 

 and that even cattle can do this before they are diseased, 

 in consequence af the materies morbi being lodged in 

 the hair which covers their bodies. This is by no 

 means improbable, and the opinion receives support 

 from the circumstance that in numberless instances per- 

 sons visiting the sick cattle have conveyed the pest to 

 other animals of the ox tribe. Thus we see that in 

 these paiticulars the disease agrees with the small pox 

 of sheep, or with the plague, small-pox, &c., of man, 

 and that it is as infectious among cattle as the latter- 

 named diseases are among ourselves. 



There have been doubters of the infectious nature of 

 the rinderpest ; and whenever speculation has been al- 

 lowed to take the place of facts, although it may seem- 

 ingly have had science as its basis, great injury has 

 resulted to those most interested in the question. A 

 notable instance of this kind has been furnished us by 

 Professor Renault, Director of the Alfort Veterinary 

 School, and through his kindness we are enabled to 

 transcribe the following particulars. 



Towards the end of 1844 the rinderpest, which had 

 prevailed among the cattle in Galicia, passed through 

 Moravia, and made its appearance in Bohemia, in the 

 circle of Koniggratz. The malady had already made 

 some progress in the district, when M. Verner, chief of 

 the Veterinary Department of Bohemia, was sent from 

 Prague by the government to inquire into the precise 

 nature of the affection. This gentleman, who had had 

 many opportunities of seeing the rinderpest, had no 

 difficulty in recognising this disease in the malady in 

 question, and, with a view to arrest its further progress, 

 he recommended to the superior authorities the adop- 

 tion of those measures which experience liad shown to 

 be best calculated not only for this, but to cause its 

 quick extermination ; namely, to slaughter the sick 

 animals, isolate those which had been exposed to the 

 contagion, and establish & cordon around the infected 

 places. These measures were put in force at once, and 

 soon had the effect of arresting the further pro- 

 gress of the malady, when some young physicians, who 

 had had an opportunity of making, for their instruction, 

 &omQ post mortem examinations of the cattle, thought 

 that they recognised in the affection an analogy to that 

 of the tpphus abdominalis of man. They therefore 

 communicated their opinion to some members of the 

 faculty of medicine at Prague, who, after making several 

 autopsies, came to the same conclusion. A report was 

 accordingly sent to the government setting forth that 

 the malady was not contagious, that it could rise spon- 

 taneously amongst the horned cattle of the country by 

 other influences than those of the contagion, and that 

 the means which the government had adopted were not 

 only useless but vexatious. As the faculty had great 

 authority in all sanitary matters, the government, al- 

 though it did not entirely remove the restrictive mea- 

 sures, still did not enforce them with its usual rigour; 

 the result of which was that in a few weeks the malady 

 had extended into several other circles of the kingdom, 

 committing such dreadful ravages, that the Austrian 

 government took alarm, and forthwith sent M. Eckel, 

 Director of the Imperial Veterinary Institute, into Bo- 

 hemia. He at once found that it was the rinderpest, 

 and recommended the rigorous enforcement of the 

 former measures, the result of which was that in six 

 weeks or two months afterwards the malady had entirely 

 disappeared in the kingdom of Bohemia." 



Incubation. — Like small-pox, and many other affec- 

 tions common to man and animals, rinderpest lies dor- 

 mant for a time after the infection has entered the or- 

 ganism. This period is found to vary in different dis- 

 eases, and also in the same disease at different times, as 

 well as with animals which belong to different zoological 



