MISCELLANEA. 
635 
for the plaintiff ; but that they would have to satisfy themselves 
beyond all reasonable doubt that the defendant did put diseased 
sheep upon the pasture, and that he knew they were diseased when 
he put them there. If they were satisfied that such was the case 
then the defendant would be clearly liable for all the damages which 
had been sustained from such an act. 
The jury retired for half an hour, and on their return the fore- 
man said, “ The evidence being circumstantial, we give our verdict 
for the defendant .’’ — Mark Lane Express. 
MR. COWIE’S REPLY TO PROFESSOR M f CALL’S 
LETTER ON THE RECENT EXAMINATIONS. 
Stjndridge Hall, Kent; 
July 12 th, 1871. 
Dear Sirs, — Last month you inserted a letter from Prof. M‘Call, 
wherein he objects to some remarks I made at the Council Meeting of 
April, respecting his pupils. If he will read the sentence according 
to the meaning which I think it conveys, he will find there is no 
misrepresentation on my part, but a misinterpretation on his part. 
The facts are simply these : — Professor Williams objected to send 
any of his pupils to be examined in Glasgow, on the presumption 
that an unfair contrast might be adduced between his and Professor 
M‘Call’s pupils in the practical examination department, as the 
latter might have had an opportunity of seeing the living subjects 
previously, and consequently “ would be well up to the mark, but 
that was not the case;” that is, they had no such advantage afforded 
them, as the horses, cattle, and sheep, were selected at random, out 
of large stocks, which had not, as we were told, been seen by the 
pupils until the examiners were present. 
I am, dear Sirs, 
Yours faithfully, 
JAMES COWIE. 
To the Editors of the 1 Veterinarian .’ 
MISCELLANEA. 
THE BARBERRY. 
Farmers long held the notion that the presence of the barberry 
(berberis vulgaris) in their hedges was prejudicial to the wheat 
crops in the adjacent fields. As there seemed on the surface no 
good reason for this, botanists and scientific men scouted the notion. 
That the fungus so common on the berberis (secidium berberidis) 
