152 
REPORT ON THE CATTLE PLAGUE. 
the functions of which can be observed by the eye, is that of 
the arterial muscular fibre-cells,’ 5 and it is found that arteries 
passing through an inflamed area lose their power of con- 
traction within the limits of that area, whereas the same 
vessels may be often seen to contract in other parts of their 
course. 
Thus, direct observation of the structures of the frog’s 
web which discharge functions apparent to the eye, furnishes 
unequivocal support to the inference derived from other con- 
siderations, that in inflammation the tissues of the part, the 
primary seat of the affection, are in a state of diminished 
functional activity. 55 
The conclusion 55 consists of an inquiry how far the views 
expressed in the paper regarding the early stages of inflam- 
mation harmonise with the more advanced phenomena of the 
morbid process and with other facts of pathology . — From the 
Proceedings of the Royal Society of London, for June 18, 1857. 
REPORT ON THE CATTLE PLAGUE, STEPPE MURRAIN, 
OR RINDERPEST. 
By James Beart Simonds, Professor of Cattle Pathology 
in the Royal Veterinary College, London. 
Extracted from the North British Agriculturist. 
{Continued from p. 104.) 
Holland. 
As this country sends our principal supply of foreign 
cattle and sheep, it became the more important to ascertain 
their freedom, or otherwise, from contagious diseases. With 
the exception of pleuro-pneumonia and eczema, no other affec- 
tion prevails among the cattle. Rinderpest has had no ex- 
istence there for upwards of forty years, and is unknown even 
to the veterinary profession, except by name. The parts of 
the country most affected with pleuro-pneumonia at this 
time are North Holland and Friesland. 
By a statistical return from forty-three villages in North 
Holland and Friesland, it is shown that only eight of them 
have been comparatively free from pleuro-pneumonia, and in 
these but very few cattle are kept. In the villages where the 
disease has prevailed, about a fifth part only of the cattle- 
