EDITORIAL OBSERVATIONS. 
599 
or border upon, the Gulf of Finland, or any part of the 
Baltic Sea between the Gulf of Finland and the territories of 
the free city of Lubeck, or which shall come from, or shall 
have been at, any place within the territories of the free city 
of Lubeck ; and also, that from and after the date hereof, no 
cattle, and no horns, hoofs, bones, or raw or wet hides or 
skins of cattle, shall be imported into the United Kingdom 
which shall be, or shall have been, on board any vessel at the 
time with any horns, hoofs, bones, or raw or wet hides or 
skins of cattle, which shall have come from, or shall have been 
at, any such place as aforesaid.” 
“And her Majesty, by and with the advice of her Privy 
Council, doth hereby further order, that all cattle, and all 
horns, hoofs, bones, and raw or wet hides or skins of cattle, 
the importation or introduction whereof is so prohibited as 
aforesaid, and also all hay, straw, fodder, litter, or manure, 
being or having been in or on board any vessels at the same 
time with any such cattle as last aforesaid, shall, upon 
their arrival in this country, be destroyed, or otherwise dis- 
posed of as the Commissioners of her Majesty's Customs 
may direct/' 
Thus it appears, that although our investigations had, some 
months since, shown that the statements made in the official 
despatches of the Consuls were without foundation as to the 
extent and location of the Rinderpest, cattle are only now to be 
allowed to be brought in, and many articles of commerce are 
still to be prevented from reaching our shores. The legisla- 
tion which has taken place on this subject is a maze far too 
intricate for us to thread the paths of, with any hope of un- 
ravelling its windings or of finding the central object of 
allurement and research. We do not think that, with the 
exception of the first few days after the original Order was 
promulgated, that any catlle have been kept back which were 
intended for our markets . 
For all practical purposes, the Order of Council might as 
well have undergone no alteration, as cattle do not come 
to England from the Baltic ports; and perhaps it is not 
too much to assert that not one animal has ever reached 
us from the Gulf of Finland, or the free city of Lubeck, or 
