CHAPTER X 



PART I 



THE CONNEXION BETWEEN LOCAL CONDITIONS AND THE 

 HEALTH OF GROUSE 



FROM a consideration of the immediate and direct causes of 

 mortality in Grouse it is natural that the enquirer should 

 wish to learn what special factors are indirectly connected 

 with " Grouse Disease," in other words, what are the pre- 

 disposing causes which bring into existence the unhealthy 

 conditions referred to in the preceding chapters. 



For the study of this question it is necessary to approach 

 the subject from an entirely new standpoint. Instead of con- 

 centrating the attention upon the physical effects of " Grouse 

 Disease " upon the individual victim, and tracing the life-history 

 of the particular worm or other harmful organism to which the 

 damage has been traced, it becomes necessary to collect statistics 

 of all recorded outbreaks of disease, and then endeavour to 

 ascertain whether these outbreaks could be associated with any 

 particular conditions of climate, food, situation, or stock. 



Such a study involves a considerable amount of labour for 

 the results are of small value unless they are spread over a 

 large number of cases, and the work of collecting and analysing 

 the reports of field observers must extend over ^a period of 

 several years. 



An endeavour was made by the Grouse Disease Committee 

 to accomplish the task, and with the assistance of a large body 

 of local correspondents they were enabled to publish certain 

 evidence which, while inconclusive in some respects, is not 

 without interest. 



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