Art. IV. — An Experiinent to slievj hovj the Earth is made 

 to Gravitate toivards the Sun. 



By T. Wakelin. 



Art. V. — The Rabbit Question. 

 By H. C. WiGG, M.D. Ed., F.R GS. Eng. 



[Eead March 8, 1888.] 



The loss and even desolation cansed in many parts of this 

 country by the excessive multiplication of rabbits, and the 

 great reward of £25,000 offered by New South Wales for 

 their extirpation, have induced many efforts to discover a 

 cui'e for the plague. 



Of these the most important has been that of M. Pasteur ; 

 but his proposed remedy is so uncertain, and at the same 

 time contains such elements of danger, that I have thought 

 it right, as a matter of urgency, to direct the attention of 

 the Royal Society to the subject. 



He liHS discovered that a certain virulent epidemic disease 

 found in France and pai'ts of the Continent, and called the 

 fowl cholera, can be easily communicated to rabbits, and 

 with fatal effect. The poison of this disease he intends to 

 scatter broadcast throughout the colonies, hoping in this 

 maimer to destroy the rabbits everywhere. 



It is this scheme, the prospects of its success, and the 

 grave risks attending it, that we liave to consider to- 

 night. 



His plan is to obtain the microbe, which is the effective 

 cause of the disease, to cultivate it in properl}'' prepared 

 infusions, until he has multiplied each single particle of the 

 poison into hundreds of millions, and then to spread it over 

 the ground or over food prepared for the rabbits. The 

 microbe is a living being, extremely minute, and found in 



