PREFACE. IX 



prosecuting its researches, that organic che- 

 mistry progresses but slowly, that the Cattle 

 Plague was entirely unknown to the present 

 generation of medical men in England, and 

 that the means for its scientific and practical 

 study have been therefore wholly wanting, 

 they would have been less surprised to find 

 that it is as difficult to cure the Cattle Plague 

 as it is to cure phthisis, cancer, hydrophobia, 

 and the cholera, against which medicine but 

 too often is of little avail. 



In times of great national calamity it be- 

 hoves every one to contribute in proportion 

 to his talents, fortune, or abilities, to alle- 

 viate the effects of the common misfortune. 

 The poor man's mite, and the honest inten- 

 tion of the most insignificant, when added 

 to the budget of common efforts, have their 

 relative value; and it is for these reasons 

 that I have published the following mono- 

 graph on the Cattle Plague. 



If it assists in any way to the extinction 

 of the present epizootic, or if it serve to point 



