OF THE OX. 203 



it is that we have not yet employed the 

 effectual means we possess, not of curing it, 

 but preventing it. If we could have our 

 choice between prevention and cure, should 

 we not naturally take the former ? 



Indeed, the sources, the causes which 

 generate the typhic miasma, are thoroughly 

 well known to us, and these we can avoid. 

 The developed miasms hang suspended in the 

 air ; we may, perhaps, one day destroy them, 

 if not in the outer atmosphere, at least in the 

 stalls and sheds where the animals inhale and 

 absorb them. In fine, if we are powerless to 

 arrest the fell disease when its periods revolve, 

 we may hope at some future time to act with 

 greater efficiency upon it during its period of 

 incubation. 



On the other hand, if this formidable disease 

 cannot be stopped in its progress, does it 

 follow that we should not treat it at all ? 

 Certainly not ! Far be such a heresy from 

 our thoughts. What would be the conse- 

 quence, if we left to their fate the sufferers 

 from the small-pox, from typhoid fever, and 

 from typhus itself, instead of watching over 



