460 History of Animal Plagues. 



plete communication with the infected regions. But it is es- 

 sential that all these measures should be taken at the very com- 

 mencement of the contagion^ — without delay, without hesitation, 

 and without stint or reluctance. When an entire country, such 

 as Holland, is infected in thousands of villages and stables, no 

 human power can suffice to root out the contagion. 



'Even now it reigns in Holland, notwithstanding the inocu- 

 lation and the many remedies employed. The milk necessary is 

 furnished by the cows which have had, or are proof against, the 

 disease. It really appears that the malady diminishes, and as if 

 it would cease of itself, like every other foreign disease; the 

 plague, even, dies out after a certain time. 



14. 



'The glossanthrax [surlangue), or ulcer of the tongue, is yet 

 more contagious than the pneumonia ; the cause of this abscess 

 is carried even by the air, and the disease traverses an entire 

 country in a few days. It is truly a mortal affection when the 

 necessary precautions are not enforced, but it is easily cured. It 

 suffices to rub the tongue with a spoon, the edges of which are a 

 little sharp, and to wash the abscess with wine. The glanders of 

 horses is contagious, and is often seen in this country. There 

 are employed against it the same measures as are used for the 

 pneumonia ; the diseased horses are destroyed, and the stables 

 are closed. 



' Splenic apoplexy [maladle de la ratte) makes great ravages 

 in very hot summers ; it is a burning fever accompanied by gan- 

 grene of the heart, but it is not contagious, — no more at least 

 than dysentery {flux de sang). 



' The manner of replacing the cattle in a country where the 

 contagion has destroyed all, does not enter into our plan ; we 

 have never been reduced to that unfortunate state, and we refer 

 the reader to the wise counsels which Lancisi had published.^ ^ 



It has been already stated that the disease described by 



- 'J- Von Hei-rn. Alb. Halkr. M^moire sur la Contagion parmi le Betail. Ab- 

 handlung Von der Viesuche. Berne, 1773. 



