ITS CONTAGIOUS NATURE. 317 



mentioned, were found saturated with black 

 blood, even to the bone. I can make no better 

 comparison of its appearance than by saying it 

 seemed as if those parts of the body had been 

 severely beaten or mashed. 



The animal I examined was a young cow ; 

 (the disease is said to attack principally the 

 yearlings among cattle ;) she had been perfectly 

 well the preceding evening, but was found 

 dead early in the morning ;. from the stomach 

 being found distended with food, it could not 

 have been long ill previous to its death. On 

 arriving at the farm of Mut, mut, billy, I men- 

 tioned the circumstance to the overseer ; he was 

 alarmed at the disease having occurred so' near, 

 and expressed a fear of his cattle becoming at- 

 tacked, as the disease was considered contagious ; 

 he asserted that none of his cattle had ever yet 

 been affected, although he had heard of numbers 

 dying in other districts from the disease. 



It was a few days after this, wdien staying at 

 Goulburn Plains, that a gentleman arrived, who 

 mentioned his having seen a case of the disease 

 denominated the " black leg," in the stock-yard 

 of the farm at Mut, mut, billy, that morning, 

 so from this circumstance the fears of the over- 

 seer, respecting the extension of the disease, 

 were unfortunately realized. The Irish assigned 



