206 PHILOSOPHICAL TRANSACTIONS. [anNO J 758. 



depth of the pit amounted to about 24 or 25 feet. It was by working out the 

 slate-stone, that this bone was discovered sticking to the roof of the pit, where the 

 men were pursuing their work ; and with a great deal of caution, and no less 

 pains, they got it dovvTi entire, but attached to a large piece of stone. 



There was no water in the works, but such as descended from the surface 

 through perpendicular fissures; and the whole was spent in forming the stalac- 

 tites and stalagmites, of which there was great variety, and constantly increasing 

 of dimensions. One of the workmen had been so curious, as to mark the time 

 of the growth of some of them for several years past. 



LXIX. On the Usefulness of Inoculation of the Horned Cattle to prevent the 

 Contagiovs Distemper among them. By Dan. Pet. Layard, M. D., F. R. S. 

 p. 528. 



In this paper Dr. L. endeavours to prove that the contagious distemper which 

 raged among the horned cattle of this country and France in 1745, 1746, 1747, 

 and 1 748, and other years, bore a great analogy to the small-pox, and that the 

 cattle never take it a second time; in both which opinions he differs from the 

 Marquis de Courtivron, author of 2 memoirs on this subject, read before the 

 Royal Academy of Sciences at Paris. Hence he proposes inoculation, as the 

 means of lessening the mortality of this distemper. 



As to the nature, rise, progress, and fatality of this distemper at Issurtille, 

 says Dr. L. it appeared to be the same disease as raged in these kingdoms. All 

 the symptoms agreed as described by Rammazini, Lancisi, the Marquis de 

 Courtivron, and in Dr. L.'s Essay. A distempered beast gave rise to the 3 in- 

 fections. The illness was everywhere the same in Italy, France, and Britain; 

 and either terminated fatally on the 4th or 5th day, when a scouring prevented 

 the salutary eruptions, or in some cases by abortion; and on the 7th or Qth fa- 

 vourably, when the pustules had regularly taken their course. Though the 

 Marquis did not observe, that any particular medicines were of use, he says, 

 that in general acids were beneficial, especially poor thin wines somewhat sour; 

 and that the distempered beasts were all fond of these acids. The fatality was 

 likewise the same, as will appear from the Marquis's tables. Of 192 head of 

 cattle, 176 died. The mortality was chiefly among the fat cattle, or cows with 

 calf, and young sucking or yearling calves; and of the surviving 16, only 1 

 calves out of 77 lived, and these 2, with 7 other beasts of the 16, escaped the 

 infection, though constantly among the diseased. 



The mortality was as considerable in these kingdoms. Whoever will compare 

 the appearances, progress, and fatality of the small-pox, with what is remarked 

 by authors of authority, as Rammazini nnd Lancisi, and other observers, rela- 

 tive to the contagious distemper among the horned cattle, will not be at a lost 



