THE ZOOLOGIST. 



THIRD SERIES. 



Vol. XVII.] APRIL, 1893. TNo. J96, 



THE PLAGUE OF FIELD VOLES IN SCOTLAND. 



Repokt of the Committee appointed by the Board of Agriculture. 



The Committee appointed to inquire into and report upon 

 the circumstances attending the plague of voles in some of the 

 southern counties of Scotland, and to ascertain, either experi- 

 mentally or otherwise as they might determine, whether any, 

 and, if so, what preventive and remedial measures could be 

 adopted, having conducted their inquiry to certain conclusions, 

 submit the following Report. 



Before proceeding to the infected district we received evidence 

 from Major Craigie, of the Intelligence Department of the 

 Board of Agriculture, who stated that his attention had not 

 been called to the existence of the plague of voles until the winter 

 1891-92, when it had been in existence for a considerable time. 

 He laid before us the reports of two of the local inspectors of 

 the Board, Mr. R. F. Dudgeon and Mr. J. I. Davidson, who, 

 early in 1892, had been directed to inquire into the extent of the 

 outbreak in the counties affected. We also received through the 

 Office of Woods and Forests copies of correspondence relating 

 to former outbreaks of the kind in England, and through the 

 Foreign Office information of similar plagues in other European 

 countries. 



Hereafter, we proceeded to the infected district and received 

 evidence from farmers, shepherds, land agents, gamekeepers, 

 naturalists, and others at Howpasley on 20th June, at Hawick on 

 21st June, at Moffat on 22nd June, and at Thornhill on 23rd June. 



ZOOLOGIST. — APRIL, 1893. L 



