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remedy, much less a cure, could be effected, the poor 

 creature was dead. In a few words, the impression left 

 on my mind is that it is a combination of low fever and 

 complications suppressed internally, which, when 

 the mischief is done, and it is too late, breaks out 

 externally. The secret, I fully believe, lies in a nutshell, 

 and if the internal mischief could be detected at the 

 outset, or within a few hours of it, taken in time, in fact, 

 a remedy if not a cure will be found to nip it in the 

 bud, and so save the valuable life of many a noble 

 animal. This is merely a suggestion I throw out, for in 

 the face of scientific research I would not presume to 

 assert an opinion ; but if nothing else, it appears to me 

 a more plausible, if not more reliable, cause than that 

 which is generally advanced. 



The fact that the severity of the sickness is far more 

 intense in the uncivilised and wild portions than in 

 those parts which have been some time occupied, and 

 that it is also so in the lowlands in comparison to the 

 highlands, is food for reflection, and appears to sub- 

 stantiate the air and malarial theory to an appreciable 

 extent. For it is generally recognised that malaria 

 disappears, or diminishes very considerably, before 

 civilisation, and this takes place when a wild country 

 has been occupied for some time, and when the bush 

 has been cleared away, the undergrowth burnt, and the 

 soil turned up ; provided, of course, that it is a reason- 

 able level above the sea, say, at least, from 1,500 to 

 1,800 feet, and not a swamp or marsh, or low-lying 

 alluvial deposit. 



Say, however, for argument's sake, that disease end- 

 ing in death can be caused simply by eating moistened 



