ON EPIZOOTIC DISEASES. 
345 
vanishes for awhile from a certain district, suddenly to return 
and assume a still more destructive character. This indicates 
the necessity of our persevering in the employment of preserva- 
tive means for a considerable time after the storm has appa- 
rently blown over. 
Considered with respect to their duration, these epizootics differ 
very materially. Some entirely disappear in the course of a few 
months; others remain during several years, extending their ra- 
vages first to one district, and then to another, close at hand or 
remote. Their course is often divided into different epochs, each 
one distinguished by some peculiarity with reference to its symp- 
toms, complications, accidental circumstances, mode of treatment 
and of termination. There is some period in each epizootic when the 
destruction is fearful ; at other times, the malady assumes a gentle 
character through the whole of its continuance. The treatment 
will necessarily vary with the different epochs of the disease and 
the various symptoms that appear. 
Should the sale and consumption of the flesh and the milk of 
animals affected by this disease be permitted ? This is a ques- 
tion essentially connected with health and with life, and should 
be most seriously considered. The general opinion which is en- 
tertained, and established on undoubted facts, that the flesh of 
these animals cannot be always eaten with impunity, deserves the 
most serious consideration. It is the wisest part to refrain from 
the use of this food, although it may be attended with some in- 
convenience and pecuniary loss. In some cases it has appeared 
that the flesh of animals affected by the epizootic has been eaten 
without any bad consequence ensuing, but in other instances the 
result has been of the most serious nature. Common sense and 
a regard to safety would indicate the propriety of refraining from 
this food, especially if any malignant pustules or gangrenous in- 
flammation appeared on the animal. 
The typhus of horned cattle, is it not an inflammation which 
may and does readily pass into a state of gangrene ? Can we 
recognise the cases in which it may or will terminate without 
gangrene 1 Do we understand the nature or the cause, or the in- 
dications of the course which it will pursue ? The different cir- 
cumstances in which these animals may be placed — the constitu- 
tional tendency to various forms of disease — the idiosyncrasies — 
the localities — the influence of the seasons — the nature of the 
country — many special circumstances — will not the united power 
of these cause a strange variation in the mild or destructive cha- 
racter, not sufficiently appreciated by the most careful observer, 
and teaching us a lesson of caution by which we should profit! 
The smell and the taste of the flesh of all these animals often to 
