OF THE OX. 295 



temper incurable, only seek to stamp it out 

 wherever it may appear. They slaughter all the 

 sick cattle, and even those which had come near 

 them, allowing a compensation of half the value 

 of the beast. This measure has not always 

 proved successful, the disease having in spite 

 of it sometimes extended over the whole of the 

 country thus defended from its diffusion. 



England protected by the sea, and which 

 has been spared for a century, was taken some- 

 what unawares, so that some uncertainty has 

 been witnessed in the measures employed to 

 arrest its course. In some districts, the par- 

 ties interested have had the good sense to 

 form assurance funds ; and it is much to be 

 regretted that the same plan has not been 

 adopted for the metropolis. 



But we cannot help what has been done ; 

 let us, therefore, be reconciled with the past, 

 and see what is best to be done in future for 

 the interests of all. What is the present state 

 of the matter ? A certain number of districts, 

 both in England and Scotland, are still exempt 

 from the typhus ; in others the disease is 

 generally extending its ravages. 



Those districts which hitherto have been 



