CAUSES OF MORTALITY IN THE RED GROUSE 115 



The consequences of what has appeared to be epidemic 

 disease amongst Grouse have been so disastrous from time to time 

 in the past that it is not surprising to find a very widespread 

 tendency amongst sportsmen and gamekeepers to attribute 

 every death and every case of sickness on the moor to the 

 so-called " Grouse Disease." 



It has been the object of the recent " Grouse Disease " 

 Inquiry to investigate this question, and to find out amongst 

 other things : 



(1) Whether the sickness described universally as "The Objects of 



Grouse 



Grouse Disease " in all the literature of the past century which Disease" 

 deals with the subject is, in truth, a single disease with individual 

 characters peculiar to it alone ? (2) Whether a distinction 

 can be discovered between various recorded outbreaks of the 

 so-called "Grouse Disease" which will justify the opinion 

 held by many writers that two distinct forms of disease, due to 

 two distinctive causes, are confused under the one term ? (3) 

 In the event of a finding in favour of the belief in two or more 

 distinct epidemic diseases, what are their respective causes and 

 effects, and by what distinctive titles and characteristics should 

 they be known ? (4) In the other event of a finding in favour 

 of the belief that only one epidemic disease exists, is Professor 

 Klein's view right, that the only serious disorder amongst 

 Grouse, to which all past records of disease refer, is the one 

 which has for its cause a Bacillus, and for its chief characteristics 

 the appearance of acute pneumonia in the lung, and " all the 

 characters of an acute infectious epidemic disease " ? Or, (5) 

 is Dr Cobbold's view right, that there is a pseudo-epidemic 

 disorder amongst Grouse, answerable for all the recorded out- 

 breaks of disease, which has for its cause a thread-worm, and 

 for its chief characteristics certain damage to the gut, due to 

 chronic irritation, leading to extreme emaciation ? (6) Is 

 there any other form of " Grouse Disease " capable of causing 

 extensive mortality, which has hitherto been overlooked ? 



These are questions which have to be answered before it 

 can be said that we understand the forms of " Grouse Disease " 



