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the extreme rarity of infection in the open air. I say I 

 wonder whether Mr. Gamgee has read all these things, 

 but of course I know he has not ; nor is he for a moment 

 to be blamed for not knowing what his education and pro- 

 fessional duties must have prevented his having opportu- 

 nity of learning. Mr. Gamgee tells us in his book, that 

 pleuro-pneumonia (inflammation of the lungs in its various 

 forms and consequences) is never taken except by conta- 

 gion from some foreign animal. What shall we be told 

 next? 



I am, Sir, 



&c. &c. 



SIR, The opinion prevails that the cattle plague is 

 carried by cats, and rats, and dogs, and birds, but there are 

 no facts to prove that this is so. The opinion is founded 

 solely on our fancies as to what we imagine likely to be the 

 case. Now this is exactly what Bacon came into the world 

 to teach mankind not to do. He came to show that opinions 

 should be founded upon facts, not upon fancies. Has his 

 teaching then been in vain ? One is really inclined some- 

 times to think so. We profess not to believe in witchcraft 

 now, but perhaps our credulity and superstitions only 

 happen to take other forms. A great many years ago, 

 when the black death raged, people, in their ignorance and 

 credulity, believed, from consulting their imaginations in- 

 stead of facts, that wells were poisoned by the Jews ; and the 

 Jews were slaughtered accordingly. Now we are all be- 

 lieving, in the same way, by consulting our imaginations 

 instead of facts, that infection is carried by the winds, and 

 by birds and dogs, and we are slaughtering our cattle accord- 

 ingly. Where is the difference in the degree of superstition 



