MISCELLANEA. 
329 
prize was 3000 roubles. A great many Russian seigneurs and 
gentlemen came from great distances to witness the speed and 
stoutness of the horses of the steppes of Oural, and which in 
this instance proved themselves superior to the Persian and Arab 
horses. General Perowsky and Prince Kustusow wished to buy 
the horse which won the first prize, and offered 20,000 rubles to 
its owner; but the Cossack refused, swearing that death alone 
should separate him from his faithful companion and friend. 
Superstition. 
The Journal de la Meuse of the 21st of February relates that 
a few days before, the crier of the town of Loupey le Petit, with 
permission of the Mayor, made the following proclamation :— 
‘^The inhabitants are informed, that a woman having relicts of 
of St. Herbert and others, which are good against hydrophobia 
and other complaints, will come to their houses to-morrow, in 
order to mark their dogs, cats, sheep, and other animals, de¬ 
manding only one sou for each. A mass will be celebrated in 
honour of the great Saint, in order to prevail upon him to pre¬ 
serve all such animals from the said complaints.’’ 
In fact, the following day the woman appeared, accompanied 
by a shepherd, and marked a great many animals, thereby pro¬ 
curing a considerable sum. The Mayor himself was the first to 
set this excellent example. The rector, unwilling to become an 
actor in such foolery, refused to perform the mass. 
The Murrain in Switzerland, by Dr. Wincleii. 
In 1682, on the borders of Italy, a murrain infected the cattle. 
It spread into Switzerland, the territories of Wurtemberg, and 
other provinces, and was exceedingly destructive. 
The cont^ion seemed to propagate itself in the form of a blue 
mist, which fell upon those pastures where the cattle grazed, in¬ 
somuch that whole herds returned sick home, being very dull, 
and forbearing their food. Most of them would die in twenty- 
four hours. 
Upon dissection, there were discovered large and corrupted 
spleen, sphacelous corroded tongues, and some had malignant 
anginae. Such persons as unwarily managed their cattle, without 
regarding their own health, were themselves infected, and died 
like their beasts. This contagion might probably proceed from 
