Sanitary Police and the Cattle-Plague. 
359 
for more than two years, is, however, of all epizootics, the one 
of which it is most easy to become master under ordinary cir- 
cumstances, and with a well-organized sanitary staff. This is 
because, being a stranger to our country, it is not susceptible 
of taking root there. Arising entirely from contagion, it is 
only by that means upheld ; and when its cause is suppressed, 
it is absolutely certain that it will itself disappear, as is wit- 
nessed by all ages and in all places. But if this is so, how is it 
that we ourselves have so much difficulty in getting rid of it ; 
and that even now, after the lapse of nearly two years since 
( its first appearance, it still rages in certain localities in some of 
our departments ? In the first place, the plague made its 
appearance in consequence of a combination of disastrous cir- 
cumstances ; and having been imported by means of the com- 
I missariat of a foreign army, it was able to extend itself without 
I check over a large extent of country, and was even assisted in 
its march and extension, by the going and coming of the troops. 
This result was still further increased by those who made use of 
the cattle-plague as a source of profit, and who, for that purpose, 
engaged in a speculative traffic, which consisted in purchasing 
! in the infected districts, at a low price, beasts already con- 
i taminated, for the purpose of selling them at a higher price in 
districts where the plague was not then known. 
The mischief had already acquired enormous proportions, 
when the central administration of agriculture, having once more 
become master of its actions, undertook to contend against it. 
But we do not possess in France a sanitary service organized as 
it should be, so that all sanitary requirements could be executed 
as they were deemed necessary, and so that every resistance 
could be immediately surmounted. In France, the difficult task 
of executing these requirements belongs to the municipal autho- 
rities ; in Germany, this mission is confided to a councillor, who 
is delegated by the administration, and is assisted by a Veteri- 
nary Council. This councillor is invested with powers which 
give him the right to command the local authorities, and even 
the military, to assist him in cavrying out, to the extent that 
is necessary, such regulations as circumstances require to be 
immediately applied and rigorously maintained. With a sani- 
tary service as well organized, the struggle against the epizootic 
would be easy, and success would be certain. From time to 
time, in fact, it has made incursions into the Prussian provinces 
adjacent to the Russian empire, but the ignited foci have been 
extinguished as soon as they have been kindled, and an impassable 
barrier has immediately been opposed to the progress of the 
contagion. 
In France, to obtain the same results as in Germany, it would 
