60 RINDERPEST. 



the nature or treatment of this distemper. We should as 

 soon now deem it wise, from the vague descriptions given by 

 Homer or Phitarch of the cattle pestilence which i)re vailed 

 in their days, or from the lines of Virgil in his Georgics, 



"Concidit, et mixtum spntnis vomit ore cmorem 

 Extremosque ciet gemitus ... - 

 at ima 



• Solvuntur latera, atque oculos Btnpor urget inertes 

 Ad terramque fluit devexo pondero cervix," 



or from any such meager materials, to theorize upon the 

 pathology of the murrains which afflicted those ages, or their 

 resemblance to or identity with those which have appeared 

 in modern times ; as from the occasional pustules, inflamed 

 follicles, or the congested epithelium observed in Kinderpest, 

 to ally it with variola, typhoid fever, or scarlatina in the 

 human subject. 



But to proceed with the more positive share of our task. 

 We have seen that the eruptions noticed on the flank and 

 udder are papular (p. 39), not pustular, and that in a majority 

 of cases they appear as indications of convalescence or reso- 

 lution effected through the functions of the skin ; so that it is 

 quite impossible to trace any parallel between the Pest and 

 small pox, unless it be urged for the most fatal cases, where 

 coma and death follow closely upon the first intimations of 

 ailment, and the type of the former be sought in that most 

 malignant form of the latter, known as Variola sine eriipiione. 

 All methods then, designed to ward off or mitigate an attack 

 of the Pest by inoculation with variolous matter from the 

 human subject, would, on grounds of similarity as to type 

 between these diseases, and viewed theoretically, be con- 

 demned as empirical; a conclusion amply confirmed by many 

 abortive trials to prove it otherwise. So too, we must treat as 

 fanciful the opinion lately advanced, that this epizootic should 

 be regarded as an acute internal scarlatina; the reddened 

 appearance of the mucous surfaces, unaccompanied by the 

 rash, as in the human subject, presenting the only com- 

 mon symptom. Yet we are happy to record the fact, that 

 no attempt has been made, either for prophylactic or curative 



