344 THE EPIZOOTIC DISEASES IN HORSES, CATTLE, &c. 
Besides, in sacrificing many beasts that assuredly would not have 
all died, is the duration of the epizootic really shortened] 
“ 1th as been proposed, instead of destroying the infected beast, 
to place him in some infirmary, at a distance from all possible 
communication with those that are sound, and to experiment on 
the power which different medicines or modes of treatment have 
on the disease. To a plan like this there can be no objection — 
no loss is sustained. Neither the country nor the individual pro- 
prietors will lose that which it is possible to save; and it is pos- 
sible that, ere long, a method will be discovered of limiting the 
ravages of the disease, and possibly bringing it under the control 
of human skill. 
“The power of inoculation has been much vaunted, founded on 
the supposed principle that an epizootic disease, once contracted, 
runs its course, but never attacks the same animal a second time. 
In addition to this is the advantage of being able to transmit the 
disease in its mildest form, diminishing the serious character of 
the disease, and rendering it curable in its very earliest stages, 
and thus p'eserving myriads of lives. Is inoculation so valuable 
as this ? We shall see. 
“ In the first place, inoculation is only applicable to the conta- 
gious typhus of cattle, between which and variola or small-pox 
there has been thought to exist an analogy which is far from 
having been demonstrated. In our opinion, the cutaneous pustu- 
lar eruption which is occasionally developed during the course of 
contagious typhus is only an epiphenomenon*, which is occasion- 
ally, and yet somewhat rarely, observed in the course of the dis- 
ease. In 1814 and 1815 we assiduously traced the course of this 
epizootic through a great extent of country ; but neither did we, 
nor any of the veterinarians who kindly assisted us in our re- 
searches, meet with a single instance of pustular eruption. We 
do not conclude that these pustules might not occasionally be 
found, but that they are less frequent than some persons have 
imagined. 
“ In the second place, our observation does not confirm the as- 
sertion, that after cattle have been once attacked by the epizootic, 
they are never subject to the infection a second time. We could 
cite cases in which the epidemic has more than once attacked the 
same animal, both during the prevalence of the disease at one par- 
ticulartime, and when, at a distant period, it has again broken out 
in the country. Campert, W1 unnicks, Detlof, De Berg, Vicq- 
* An epiphenomenon is a symptom which is observed in the course of a 
disease, but the appearance of which is not necessary to determine the cha- 
racter of that disease. — Y. 
