The Plague of Field-voles. 
423 
The great utility of the owl tribe was strongly urged by Mr. 
Archibald in the paper, “ Wild Birds, Useful and Injurious,” which 
appeared in the Journal, Vol. III. 3rd series, Part IY. 1892, pp. 
658-684, and the same writer, after carefully distinguishing the 
kestrel from the sparrow-hawk, anticipated the verdict of the 
Departmental Committee in the assertion (p. 663) that “an abundance 
of kestrels and other mouse-eating birds would act as a most efficient 
check on the vole plague in Scotland, or in any other locality unfor- 
tunate enough to suffer from a similar visitation.” We also note 
with satisfaction that his condemnation (p. 667) of the pole-trap as 
a barbarous device, more often hurtful to harmless than to mis- 
chievous birds, has been embodied in the report of the Committee. 
Those who desire more information than is conveyed in the 
report itself will find much that is of interest in the eight appendices 
with which it is supplemented. These embrace, among other 
matters, a full account of the Forest of Dean attack in 1813-14, of 
the Border outbreak in 1876-77, and of the occurrence of the plague 
in Thessaly in 1892, together with an exhaustive inquiry into the 
merits of Dr. Loeffler’s remedial method. 
As was to be expected from the constitution of the Committee, 
the compilation of the report leaves nothing to be desired, and, 
though disappointment will no doubt be felt in some quarters that 
no sovereign cure for the pest has been discovered, two important 
lessons have been valuably enforced. The first is the necessity of 
increased watchfulness, so that the pest may be coped with in its 
initial stage ; and the second, the importance of a more accurate 
and widespread knowledge among landowners and their gamekeepers 
of the habits of such birds as the kestrel and such animals as the 
weasel. 
Cecil Warburton. 
TIIE DISEASES AND FEEDING OF CATTLE. 1 
TnE various sections of this official publication are written by well- 
known experts, and are intended for the instruction and use of 
cattle-owners, especially of those who are located in remote districts 
of the United States of America, where professional veterinary 
assistance is difficult, and sometimes impossible, to procure. Whilst 
advocating the enlistment of veterinary aid whenever it can be 
obtained, Dr. Salmon nevertheless states that in the many cases 
where professional examination of the affected animal is out of the 
question, “the reader may feel assured that the treatment here 
recommended is safe and the best that can be advised for his use.” 
1 Special Heport on Diseases of Cattle and on Cattle Feeding. Prepared 
■under the direction of Dr. D. E. Salmon, Chief of the Bureau of Animal 
Industry, by Drs. Murray, Atkinsox, Harbaugii, Lowe, Law, Dickson, 
Trumbower, Smith, and Professor Henry". Pages 496, with 44 full-page 
plates, mostly coloured. Published by authority of the Secretary of Agri- 
culture. Washington : Government Printing Office. 1 892. 
