118 THE CONTAGIOUS TYPHUS 



miserable cows, pressed against each other, 

 without ever moving a limb, waste away and 

 become phthisical in a very short space of time. 

 We may readily imagine what a prey to the 

 contagion must be afforded by these animals, 

 already more or less ailing, some of which are 

 fed in a great measure on malt, so sour and 

 acrid that the very smell of it is intolerable. 

 The milk from these cows is, moreover, of so 

 wretched a quality, that in a cowhouse con- 

 taining 48 of these poor creatures, at Ken- 

 sington, I found only one, the milk of which 

 exhibited the taste and quality fit for a sick 

 child, for whom I ordered a milk diet. 



It is not, therefore, to be wondered at that 

 the present epizootia, during this late tropical 

 season* especially, should have met with all 

 the conditions most conducive to its develop- 

 ment and propagation. 



When the cattle distemper first broke out, 

 the graziers, not suspecting its gravity, at- 

 tempted to treat the animals themselves, but 

 soon afterwards perceiving the fruitlessness of 

 all their remedial measures, they felt that the 



* On the 15th of September, the thermometer stood 

 at 80 Fahrenheit. 



