THE WAYS OF GROUSE 99 



succeeded in communicating what he regarded as 

 the disease to other creatures, but not to healthy- 

 Grouse. By this omission he failed to prove that 

 he had really discovered the bacteria of Grouse 

 disease and (as pointed out in The Times of 13th 

 August 1904) this was the weak point in his argu- 

 ment. But if he was not successful in finding 

 the specific microbe of the disease, it is nevertheless 

 probable that bacteria of some kind are the primary- 

 cause of it. The inquiry for a remedy is not easily 

 answered. The only measures likely to be avail- 

 able in checking the disease are not so easy of 

 application. It is all very well to advise that a 

 sharp look-out should be kept for Grouse which 

 are affected, and that these should be killed and 

 cremated to prevent the diffusion of germs ; but 

 one cannot look over Grouse on a moor as if 

 they were chickens in a poultry yard, nor diagnose 

 their condition when on the wing at a distance. 

 A great many diseased birds are sure to escape 

 detection, until, tod late, they are found dead or 

 dying. Heather burning has much to recommend 

 it, and, as at present advised, we have more faith 

 in that and in the avoidance of overstocking than in 

 any other so-called preventives. An examination 

 of statistics has shown that in most cases the Grouse 

 disease has appeared in the year following an 

 unusually good season. The ground has been 

 overstocked, and when the birds have exhausted 

 the supply of good nourishing food in the shape of 

 young heather they have to fall back on the old and 

 rank stuff, which naturally proves deleterious. 



