676 
THE EDITOll TO THE READER. 
•i. 
have aborted. Every usual, or it may be said, every possible pre¬ 
caution was adopted ; it was rendered impossible that there could 
be any contagion ; the cows were separated miles apart, yet they 
miscarried, or brought forth at such an early period of gestation 
that their offspring have either been dead at birth, or only sur¬ 
vived a very short period afterwards. There was no peculiarity 
of breed or food. Mr. Wood is disposed to think that there may 
be a certain unknown condition of the atmosphere favourable to 
the occurrence of abortion, and to which only can be attributed 
those frequent casualties sometimes observed, and which have 
even assumed an epidemic form. 
The whole of this letter shall appear in our next number, and in 
the mean time some of our readers will probably favour us with 
their opinions of the cause and prevention of this serious evil. 
We have been told by our printer, that many applications have 
been made to him for the first twelve pages of Volume ll of the 
Association, published in No. 120 (Dec. 1837), and the first twenty- 
four pages of Volume HI, published in No. 132 (Dec. 1838). It so 
happened that, at the urgency of some individuals, who no more 
dreamed than the Editor of the evil that would follow, the begin¬ 
ning of one volume was published in the same number with the 
close of another, and when the Journal was sent to be bound, the 
few pages of the Association were laid aside by the purchaser or 
his book-binder, and forgotten or lost. The printer was naturally 
unwilling to supply these parts of numbers, because the sets would 
be spoiled. 
As, however, we have been a little in fault, and the purchaser 
has been sufficiently annoyed by the temporary incompleteness of 
the volume, the Editor begs to say that, if those who hold these in¬ 
complete numbers will kindly let him know, by post, what defi¬ 
ciencies they have in their numbers, and the mode of conveyance 
of a parcel to them, all shall immediately be set right. One hint 
only he would beg to give—the letter which contains information 
with regard to these vacua, would, at the same time, very nicely 
convey a shorter or longer paper, always most welcome, for that 
periodical which they profess to value, and which they could render 
the instrument of so much good. 
One word more. The covers of our periodical are freely, freely 
open to our old supporters and friends; but there has been a some¬ 
what increasing number of those of whom we know nothing, even 
by name, who have never yet favoured us with the usual reference 
to any friend in town, when their advertisements have been sent 
to us. Y. 
