THE EHiNDEEPEST.] CATTLE, AND THEIE VAEIETIES. [the ehindeepest. 



twenty-nine English counties ; two in "Wales, 

 and sixteen in Scotland ; and was still ad- 

 vancing. From the Metropolitan Market it 

 crossed the sea into Holland, with some Dutch 

 oxen which had been shipped from Eotterdain 

 to London, and had been exposed during 

 three successive market-days, when, not being 

 sold, they had been re-shipped from London 

 to whence they came. It is unnecessary here 

 to follow its further progress ; but we may 

 state that, at the Smithfield Club dinner, at 

 which Earl Spencer presided, Mr. Clayden, 

 chairman of the "Agricultural Company," 

 &c., after speaking of the advantages which 

 had resulted to the farmers of England gene- 

 rally by the operations of the club, said that 

 the noble president had drawn a melancholy 

 picture of the state of the agricultural interest 

 from the effects of the cattle plague. He 

 observed, that " 30,000 animals had perished 

 from the efiects of that incurable disease ; 

 whilst whatever efforts had been made to dis- 

 cover an effectual remedial agent, had, in so 

 far as the best-informed and most scientific 

 agriculturists in the world yet knew, signally 

 failed." 



It is reasonably to be expected that such an 

 alarming condition of things would originate, 

 among the veterinary faculty, many theories 

 for its prevention, as well as its cure ; but the 

 hopelessness of all these, as well as of every 

 kind of medical treatment, was thus set forth 

 in a letter to one of the newspapers, by Dr. 

 "Watson, a gentleman who ranks amongst the 

 most eminent of his profession in London. 

 He says — " The disease is a very fatal one. 

 Its death-rate is appalling — 90 in 100, they 

 say ; and it is ahsolutely incurable. "Witli or 

 without what is called treatment, a small num- 

 ber of recoveries happen ; but there are no 

 ciwes. Probably (but this is mere opinion), 

 of the sick animals subjected to treatment, a 

 larger proportion perish than those which are 

 left to themselves. I do not mean tliat medi- 

 cal care is useless or inexpedient. There are 

 measures relating to food, temperature, clean- 

 liness, support, even medicine (measures that 

 are defensive against all weakening influences), 

 which, sometimes, may turn the hesitating 

 scale, and give the victory to the restorative 

 force of nature. But there is no specific plan 

 or antidote that caa stop or chase away the 

 690 



] disease, any more than there is for the cure 

 or the cutting short of small-pox ; this is alike 

 true of all the specific fevers. They run a 

 definite course." 

 I The conclusion to which this gentleman 

 came was thus given, and largely adopted — ■ 

 " If all this be so, surely it is time to turn our 

 thoughts from the sick and the dying to the 

 animals that are yet left among us alive, in 

 health, and uninfected ; to abandon the vain 

 search after impossible specific remedies, and 

 to adopt the true and sole nostrum — which is, 

 prevention. This is still within the scope 

 of our power, and it is daily becoming more 

 diffused." 



To give entire force to the meaning of 

 the v^ord prevention in this passage, it may be 

 added that it is designed to express complete 

 isolation ; the entire and perfect separation 

 of the healthy from the unhealthy animal ; 

 the diseased from the undiseased ; the clean 

 from the unclean. This was conceived to be 

 the most effectual, as it has proved the only 

 real, remedy for staying and finally eradicating 

 an evil so desolating to our herds. The con- 

 sequence has, for some time, been an entire 

 riddance of the " Cattle Plague," which is 

 always spoken of as a thing of the past, there 

 not having been, for a considerable time, a 

 single known instance of its existence in this 

 kingdom. The alarm which it created, how- 

 ever, necessitated the most decisive measures 

 to be adopted for its extinguishment. 



The death of 30,000 animals, within the 

 comparatively limited period of two years, was 

 a cause sufficient to raise anxiety amongst 

 even a larger population than that of Great 

 Britain and Ireland ; yet, in the latter coun- 

 try, the flocks continued to increase rather 

 than diminish or remain stationary. This, 

 however, did not lessen the dread of the ex- 

 tension of the " 'Cattle Plague" in England, 

 nor hinder the adoption of those strong 

 measures of isolation or prevention to which 

 we have alluded, and which, in the absence of 

 all certain medicinal remedies, proved effec- 

 tual in eradicating it from the country. Super- 

 added to prevention, constant attention should 

 be paid to cleanliness, and keeping the sheds 

 well aired ; whilst lime-washing should not 

 be spared. "Where cure is doubtful, preven- 

 tion should be vigorously resorted to. 



