66 



" Egyptian plague. The plague used to visit us 

 " periodically, and was invariably ascribed to a 

 " shipload of infected substances. Yet we never 

 " get the plague imported now. That the Kinder- 

 " pest of a century ago should be traced to foreign 

 " importation was perfectly natural, for nobody 

 " then believed in any other origin of plagues. 

 " This view is so conformable to our prejudices and 

 " old notions ', so many matters are settled, so many 

 " obligations dispensed with by looking at this 

 " plague as a spark thrown among us, to be stamped 

 " out with the foot, that it ought to be looked at 

 tl with the greatest suspicion." Furthermore, we 

 read in the same article : " This disease, notwith- 

 " standing its outlandish name, is simply ' typhus,' 

 te by which name indeed it is always called in 

 11 France." 



The plague has appeared in Ireland. The regu- 

 lations to 'prevent intercourse with England have 

 been most stringent, so I am curious to see how the 

 profession will account for it. Probably they will 

 say that the east wind that has prevailed lately has 

 carried the contagium. Or we shall be told of some 

 beast on the opposite coast, in the delirious stage of 

 rinderpest, and, therefore, not accountable for its 

 actions, plunging into the Irish Channel, and having 

 been last seen swimming in the direction of the 

 sister island. We shall then be probably reminded 

 of the incredible distances animals have been known 

 to swim, and how stags have actually performed the 



