102 THE CONTAGIOUS TYPHUS 



neighbouring market. From this moment, 

 half-fed and athirst, these poor animals are 

 forced to make long journeys afoot ; or since 

 the construction of railways, to be heaped to- 

 gether confusedly in a locomotive pen. There, 

 the shaking, the sudden starts, the friction of 

 five hundred wheels on the rails, the horrid 

 snorting of the engines, alarm and terrify 

 them to such a degree as to turn the whole 

 mass of their blood. 



In such a state of vital prostration or 

 feverish excitement, entire herds are carried to 

 the public markets or to annual fairs with 

 other animals, and nearly all sent to the 

 shambles. But some amongst them are re- 

 served for another fate. The females, for 

 instance, are set apart to serve as milch cows ; 

 and in this manner they carry with them into 

 the cow-sheds, wherein they are received, the 

 taint of those contagious distempers, the germs 

 of which lay concealed in their frames, or which 

 they have contracted from the companions of 

 their journey. 



Some of these heads of cattle, starting from 

 the steppes of Eussia, have to travel five hun- 

 dred miles in an open cage, less cared for and 



