BY EDWARD PALMER. 21 
done well had they also recommended the various Governments 
of the colonies represented to adopt a public laboratory for 
carrying out scientific tests and experiments. ‘Through the in- 
vestigations of M. Pasteur he has rescued the sheep and cattle of 
Europe from: the fatal disease “anthrax ;” saved the silkworm 
industry of France and Italy from destruction ; he has taught the 
French winemakers to mature their wine quickly, and has effected 
a great improvement and economy in the manufacture of beer ; 
but his greatest work has been to render that terrible malady 
“hydrophobia” almost harmless. The discoveries made by him 
represent a gain of some millions sterling annually to the com- 
munity, and prove beyond a doubt the desirableness of Govern- 
ments encouraging scientific investigation, and the pecuniary value 
of such results, though they may not be apparent at once. 
The advantages resulting from inoculation for pleuro-pneumonia 
are very great, as it has been proved to be the only remedy 
discovered to remove or stay the ravages of the disease. The 
result of an enquiry on the subject of inoculation and its results 
in New South Wales among the stockowners of that colony in 
1869 showed that of two hundred and seventy-nine (279) owners 
of inoculated herds fourteen were in favour of inoculation to one 
against it. Of two hundred and twenty-two (222) owners of 
uninoculated herds seven were in favour of to three against it. 
It was shown that the disease disappeared from the herd generally 
in or about three months from the date of inoculation ; that it 
remained in uninoculated herds for periods of from two to six 
years, and that cattle which had been properly inoculated when 
sound, with very few exceptions, never afterwards became diseased 
though mixing with cattle dying of the disease ; also that when 
properly performed, the deaths from inoculation never exceeded 
more than two and seldom more than one per cent. In Europe, 
South Africa, and the United States of America the measure has 
been adopted with great benefit. In Great Britain it has scarcely 
been tried, a prejudice having been raised against it when first 
proposed. From my own experience of the results of inoculation, I 
can speak with certainty as to the benefit accruing from inoculating 
a herd with the ordinary virus obtainable from diseased cattle 
running with the herd. The chief difficulty being found in keeping 
up a sufficient supply of virus, so as not to detain the cattle longer 
in the yards than absolutely necessary. 
But inoculating grown cattle even successfully does not stamp 
out the disease. It merely nurses it to break out in a future 
occasion among the growing stock. Although it is said that by 
