74 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



The Crimean armies had to encounter the plague again, for 

 the cattk upon the steppes were dying in myriads, but it did 

 not then spread over the west for the reason that no large 

 English or French armies moved by land with their immense 

 trains of supplies. 



The disease, however, got into the French camps, and after- 

 wards into the English camps. The veterinary surgeons 

 endeavored to prevent it ; but they had to use more or less of 

 the meat which was thus infected. It is a general fact that 

 whenever large armies have moved over Europe that disease has 

 followed. After the disease had been raging in England for 

 some time last summer, the officials of the Russian Government 

 endeavored to make it appear that it had not existed in Russia 

 since 1859. But the exportation of cattle from Russia is 

 immense, and of course it was desirable to make it appear that 

 it could not have come from Russia to England. But you have 

 seen reports from our Minister at St. Petersburg and our Consul 

 at Warsaw ; and we know that last year, 1864, more than one 

 hundred and sixty-four thousand head of cattle were attacked 

 with this disease, in Russia alone, of which one hundred and 

 four thousand died. So that there can be no question 

 that the disease has existed in Russia, more or less, for many 

 years, and is liable to break out there at any time, because it is 

 indigenous there, and in some parts of Asia, which is not the 

 .case in Western Europe, or in this country. 



There is one feature of the disease in which, probably, it has 

 the advantage of the pleuro-pneumonia, and that is, in the 

 more complete recovery of some portion of the animals attacked. 

 There is no reason to suppose an animal that did recover would 

 not be as sound as ever. Not so with one suffering a severe 

 attack of pleuro-pneumonia. The lung tissue having once been 

 destroyed to a greater or less extent, no effort of nature can 

 restore it so that the animal can be regarded as sound. It may 

 so far recover as to take on flesh and fat, but no farmer would 

 ever want to own such an animal, much less to breed from it. 



In the cattle plague, in other words, no vital organs are 

 permanently destroyed so but that, in case the animal survived, 

 it might not be considered as sound. 



Leaving this particular disease, I wish to state that there was 

 a wart case brought to my knowledge the other day, and I 



