248 THE HISTORY OF VETERINARY MEDICINE. 



and the renowned Hertwig had been there the previous day, and it 

 had been decided to allow another to pass, in order that the symp- 

 toms should become sufficiently developed to prove the existence 

 of the disease, the place being well guarded. During the night a 

 trench had been dug some forty feet long and some fourteen deep 

 in an entirely isolated wood, which we could reach without crossing 

 a public way. We removed the cow, made a necroscopical exami- 

 nation, proved our case ; her nine companions were brought after her 

 to the same place, with their chains and stable-utensils : the cows 

 were then shot, after the decision of the proper officers had been 

 given, and they with the utensils were at once buried — a military 

 guard over the place, another about the farm from which they were 

 taken, and also on the streets leading to the village ; the inmates of 

 this particular place being confined strictly to their own limits for a 

 time prescribed by law. No cattle or farm animals were allowed in 

 the streets, and only persons permitted there with teams who had 

 received sanction from the authorities. All those who had had to 

 do with the infected cattle were most effectually disinfected ; while 

 those that buried them had no cattle themselves, and were not al- 

 lowed to go near any within the lawful time. I heard an officer say 

 that the pastor of the village must be carefully watched : that these 

 gentry were unfortunately apt to be spreaders of contagium, the 

 guards often allowing them to pass as favored persons, and then they 

 innocently, of course, must go to the stable, see things, and after- 

 ward go to another neighbor to mention the loss of neighbor So- 

 and-so. This has often been the case, I am told, in Germany. The 

 manure, the stall, and all things about the stable, are carefully cleansed 

 and disinfected under the supervision of veterinary officials. I was 

 surprised to see numerous military about the fields and streets, ap- 

 parently with no purpose, yet carrying rifles ; their duty, it seems, 

 was to shoot every dog, cat, or valiant chanticleer, which they might 

 see straying abroad or leaving the proper quarters. Doubtless the 

 Prussian course may seem tyrannical and severe — all the cattle are 

 killed, not only the diseased, but all belonging to the infested farm 

 or stable — but the law is, to my mind, essentially democratic ; it is 

 for the good of the whole, and the cattle killed and utensils de- 

 stroyed are paid for by the state at market prices. 



The remarks of Haller upon certain contagious animal diseases, 

 more especially the pleuro-pneumonia of cattle, which is of such 

 vital interest to the people of this country at present, and which 

 bids fair to become a most serious economical problem to American 

 statesmen, certainly more than warrants their introduction here. It 



