286 THE CONTAGIOUS TYPHUS 



which they are exposed, have asserted that 

 the disease had its origin in London. This., 

 we repeat, is not likely to have been the case, 

 but it is not absolutely impossible ; at all 

 events, there can be no question that the 

 grievous conditions in which some of your 

 brethren keep their cattle have contributed 

 to spread the distemper, independently of 

 other causes. 



Moreover, it is necessary to tell you, that 

 sheep and horned cattle are of all living 

 animals those which are most sensitive to the 

 influence of contagious diseases. Every year 

 you see instances of this fact in your own 

 fields and meadows. Your sheep, you all 

 know, easily contract the small-pox, worm 

 diseases both on the skin and in the interior 

 of the body; your oxen have aphthous 

 diseases, disorders of the blood and the lungs, 

 scabs and carbuncles diseases which are all 

 more or less contagious, and which are 

 generally brought on by want of care, and, 

 above all, by improper feeding : by which you 

 see how much of the sufferings of the cattle, 

 and of the heavy losses to you which follow 

 them, depends upon yourselves and may be 



