ENZOOTIC DISEASES. 273 



the attention it merits. However desirous I may be to enter 

 fully on the consideration of these disorders in the present 

 work, it is impossible to do justice to the subject. They 

 destroy our cattle to the extent of 1J or 2 per cent, over the 

 United Kingdom, our sheep up to 5, 10, and 15 per cent., 

 and swine to a similar extent, especially in Ireland. They 

 are very rarely, if ever, contagious ; they impoverish many 

 districts best suited for the breeding and rearing of stock, 

 and especially of sheep ; they seriously interfere with agri- 

 cultural progress and prosperity; they are all preventable, 

 and would richly repay careful investigation and the adop- 

 tion of measures for their eradication. 



Our domestic animals are born healthy, with sound con- 

 stitutions, and the term of their lives is short. Taking an 

 average amongst cattle, sheep, and swine, the age they attain 

 does not exceed four years. A knowledge of the management 

 of such stock under the many circumstances that induce the 

 local diseases which destroy it, would preserve it in vigorous 

 health until ready for slaughter. They enjoy fresh air, are 

 well fed, sheltered, and carefully watched. Every farmer 

 knows that it is his interest to protect his stock, and, as a 

 rule, the many causes which induce human diseases in early 

 life are not in operation as affecting the lower animals. 

 There are few congenital defects; very few instances of 

 morbid hereditary predispositions. There is no syphilis. 

 Born healthy and sound, very few should die a natural death. 

 Accidents must occasionally happen, but there are favoured 

 situations, free from enzootic disorders, where the losses 

 amount to an extremely small per-centage, as a rule perhaps 

 not attaining J or J per cent. 



As matters have stood hitherto, no inducement has been 

 offered for the study and prevention of these diseases. If we 

 refer, for example, to the enzootic diseases of sheep, we find 

 VOL. ii. 3 M 



