REPORT ON THE CATTLE PLAGUE. 
159 
dities come down those rivers. The hides are collected 
from out of various countries, and it is impossible to trace 
them to their original source. The merchants of Hamburg, 
however, continued to export hides, first making a declara- 
tion before the consul that they did not come from Liibeck 
or any of the Baltic ports. The consul upon this certified 
that such declaration had been made, and thus left our Com- 
missioners of Customs to deal with the question as they 
might see fit. Should the necessity unfortunately arise to 
prohibit the importation of cattle, hides, hoofs, & c., from the 
fear of introducing a contagious disease, such as the rinder- 
pest, then not only must Bremen and Hamburg be named 
in the order, but Tonning also, as the port of the Eider, as 
this place has direct water communication with the port of 
Kiel on the Baltic, from which place hides, hoofs, &c., can 
readily be conveyed. 
Little.fear, however, need be entertained of the introduc- 
tion of the disease from Denmark by means of any cattle 
w 7 hich she might receive from the Baltic ports. The diffi- 
culties in the way of a direct trade of this kind are too great 
for it to be carried on with facility or advantage. Such 
cattle would have to make the port of Kiel, and be then dis- 
embarked, in order to be placed on the vessels navigating 
the canal which connects Kiel with the Eider, and on reach- 
ing Tonning, be again re-embarked on vessels bound for 
England. 
Denmark, Schleswig, and Holstein. 
In September last, it was officially communicated to the 
Government by Vice-Consul Blackwell, of Liibeck, that 
66 the steppe murrain of Russia had made its way into Holstein , 
having passed through Poland, Prussia, and Mecklenburg.” 
We ascertained, however, that this disease has had no existence 
in this part of Europe since the occasion of its last general 
outbreak in 1813. It is also recorded, that up to that time 
the affection had not prevailed in the Duchies since 1774 to 
1781, when 150,000 head of cattle are said to have perished. 
Pleuro-pneumonia is rife in Holstein, particularly in the 
neighbourhood of Altona, where an active cattle trade is 
carried on. The malady is said originally to have appeared 
here in 1842, or nearly about the same time it was first ob- 
served in England. At the commencement of 1843, Herr 
Rottger, district veterinary surgeon of Altona, received 
orders from the Danish Government to watch the progress 
of the disease. No active means to limit its extension were, 
