OF THE OX. 117 



able to its subsequent diffusion ; in a word, it 

 met with the epizootic genius proper for the 

 generation and propagation of the typhus 

 miasma. 



It is thus that we may account for and re- 

 concile the two contending theories, one of 

 which refers the cause of this typhus to foreign 

 importation, whilst the other insists that it 

 originated in the filthy and half- ventilated 

 cowsheds of the metropolis. 



But if this typhus could not spring up 

 spontaneously out of the bovine race of Eng- 

 land, it must be confessed that, independently 

 of the general predisposition due to a great and 

 protracted drought, it found in the sickening 

 sheds of the metropolitan and country cattle 



the most favourable conditions for its incuba- 



p 



tion and subsequent diffusion. 



It would, indeed, be difficult to conceive of 

 anything more directly adverse to the hygienic 

 laws of health in cattle than the stalls and 

 sheds dotted over the densely populated dis- 

 tricts of London. Most of these pent-up 

 cribs are situated in narrow lanes and yards, 

 in filthy streets and blind alleys ; and within 

 these close, hot, and steaming receptacles the 



