Annual  Report  for  1909  of  Royal  Veterinary  College.  333 
time.  The  concealment  of  cattle  plague  was  difficult,  and 
the  underhand  sale  of  animals  which  had  been  in  contact 
was  correspondingly  risky  ; on  the  other  hand,  the  diagnosis 
of  swine  fever  is  often  difficult  and  frequently  impossible 
during  life,  while  the  concealment  of  actual  disease  and  the  sale 
of  suspected  pigs  can  often  be  practised  with  but  little  risk 
of  detection.  It  is  scarcely  open  to  doubt  that  the  disease 
would  ere  this  have  been  stamped  out  had  there  been  no 
concealment  on  the  part  of  owners  and  pig-dealers.  Experi- 
ence in  dealing  with  the  contagious  diseases  of  animals  shows 
that  there  are  only  two  ways  of  preventing  frequent  conceal- 
ment, viz. : (1)  to  offer  such  compensation  as  will  in  general 
make  it  worth  the  owner’s  while  to  report  ; and  (2)  to  make 
the  penalty  for  concealment  so  heavy  that  few  will  care  to 
run  the  risk  of  detection.  At  the  present  time  neither  of 
these  methods  can  be  said  to  be  in  full  operation,  for 
under  existing  arrangements  an  owner  of  a large  stock  of  pigs 
stands  to  lose  heavily  even  when  he  gives  prompt  notice 
of  the  existence  of  swine  fever,  and  in  many  cases  the  fines 
which  are  inflicted  when  an  owner  or  dealer  is  convicted  of 
concealment  are  so  low  as  to  have  scarcely  any  deterrent 
effect. 
Malignant  Aphtha  op  Sheep. 
On  many  occasions  during  the  last  seventeen  years  cases 
of  this  disease  have  been  reported  to  the  College,  and  in 
some  instances  diseased  animals  have  been  sent  alive  for 
examination.  It  appears  to  be  desirable  to  call  attention  to 
the  disease  here  because,  although  it  is  too  well  known  to 
sheep-breeders  and  shepherds  in  many  parts  of  the  country, 
it  is  rare  or  unknown  in  other  parts,  and  when  first  intro- 
duced it  may  cause  serious  loss  and  inconvenience  before  its 
powers  for  mischief  are  realised. 
The  disease  has  received  but  scanty  notice  in  veterinary 
literature,  probably  because  the  services  of  veterinary  surgeons 
are  only  exceptionally  requested  in  connection  with  ovine 
complaints  unless  they  happen  to  be  of  a more  or  less  deadly 
character.  It  is  at  any  rate  certain  that  the  disease  has  long 
been  in  existence,  for  it  was  observed  by  the  late  Professor 
Simonds  as  long  ago  as  1832,^  and  was  described  by  him  in  his 
lectures  delivered  at  the  Royal  Veterinary  College.  It  was 
attributed  by  him  to  what,  in  the  language  of  the  time,  was 
called  “ depravity  of  blood,”  and  the  alleged  causes  were  bkd 
or  improper  food,  injudicious  manuring  of  crops,  and  un- 
favourable weather  conditions. 
' Quoted  by  Walley,  Journal  of  Comp.  Path,  and  Therapeutics,  Vol.  1., 
page  119. 
