284 Abstract Report of A^gr {cultural Discussions. 



plague, and all considerations that interfered witli united action ought 

 to be made to give way. 



Mr. Spooner stated that the five outbreaks which had occurred in 

 Hampshire could, for the most part, be traced to bodily . contact 

 with stock imi:)ortcd from fairs and markets : though in one instance, 

 near Bishopstoke, this explanation did not apj^ly, — in that case a rail- 

 way Aveut through the farm. He then adverted to the Bill which has 

 just passed through Parliament, and said it would in his ojiinion have 

 been better, instead of imposing on juries or individuals the task of 

 ascertaining the value of animals that had long been dead, to have 

 given a fixed sum of 21. for all animals attacked. 



The Chairman said they all felt much obliged to the Professor for 

 his kindness in attending that day and giving such a very excellent 

 lectm-e. At the same time they could not but feel that he held out 

 unhappily at present very little comfort ; but he trusted that in the 

 com-se of time more light would be thrown upon the manner of treating 

 this disease or preventing its spread. He should be glad if the Pro- 

 fessor would state whether he thought the j)lan which was now being 

 put in force — that of stamping-out the disease by means of slaughter 

 — was likely to prove successful. The head of stock in the country 

 was of course limited, though it might be at present very large ; 

 and the future prospects of agricultiu-e, as regarded the breeding of 

 stock, must depend entirely upon whether this experiment was successful 

 or not. He should be glad to know whether the Professor had turned 

 his attention to the question whether it might not be necessary to make 

 a complete cordon, to establish complete quarantine and isolation, in 

 places where the disease had broken out. 



Allusion had been made by Lord Cathcart to a French physician 

 who advocated the use of camphor, as if that were a similar remedy 

 to tar. During the prevalence of the plague of 1745, there appeared 

 in the ' Gentleman's Magazine ' an article containing a prescription 

 of tar-water for the disease among cattle. Bishop Berkeley also recom- 

 mended the use of tax-water ; and he should be glad if the Professor 

 would state whether, there being antiseptic properties in tar, it was 

 useful in treating cattle-plague. 



Professor Simonds readied that, as regarded the question whether 

 the disease might arise spontaneously from the atmosphere, he could 

 not for a moment suppose that to be the case. The origin of the 

 disease was distinctly traced to animals that were brought to the Me- 

 tropolitan Market from a foreign country. He might here add that at 

 the time when the Society was holding its annual show at Plymouth (he 

 was not aware of the fact till afterwards) the disease was actually in that 

 town. One animal that was exhibited, afterwards proved to have been 

 under the influence of the cattle-plague ; so that they were in the 

 midst of danger without knowing anything about it. As to the ques- 

 tion whether they could get rid of the disease entirely by killing the 

 infected animals without the introduction of cordons, he felt great 

 difficulty in expressing an opinion. In Prussia he was himself told 

 that if he went inside an infected district, as he desired to do, he 



