850 
Extracts from British and Foreign Journals, 
PLEURO-PNEUMONIA IN AUSTRALIA. 
'Report of the Commissioners. 
The Honourable the Secretary for Lands, Sydney. 
Sir,— Having brought to a close the labours which you 
did us the honour to impose upon us, respecting the disease 
called pleuro-pneumonia, unhappily prevailing in the country, 
we will now attempt to generalise some of the leading facts 
which have come under our observation, and to lay before 
you the deductions which present themselves to our minds, 
on the various subjects to which our attention has been 
directed. In conformity with your instructions, we have 
communicated frequently and fully, both by letters and by 
telegrams, our views and the reports of the veterinary 
surgeon. From these, we hope you will have been able to 
comprehend the difficulties we have had to encounter in 
dealing with this investigation, which, by reason of the 
diseased country embracing a much larger area than was 
anticipated, has been protracted far beyond our expectations. 
The highest powers of veterinary skill have been taxed in 
vain to discover the primary causes of this disease, or to 
arrest its devastating progress. In its early stages its course 
is so insidious as to escape the notice of all but practised eyes. 
As a proof of this we have only to state that in one case only 
has the disease been reported to us before discovering it by 
our own investigations, notwithstanding that our examina¬ 
tions have extended over herds containing on the whole not 
less than 100,000 head of cattle, amongst all of which, with 
ene or two exceptions, the disea-e has been found. So far as 
our investigations enable us to judge, neither age, sex, nor 
condition seem to resist its inroads; neither food, tempera¬ 
ture, nor locality appear to have any influence in arresting 
its onward course. A disease so malignant, a calamity so 
appalling, urgently demanded the intervention of the 
Government; and we sincerely regret that the promptitude 
that has been displayed should so far have been unsuccessful 
as to fail in extirpating the malady. 
Although pleuro-pneumonia has but lately made its appear¬ 
ance in the Australian colonies, it is no new disease to the 
European farmer or veterinary practitioner. For a couple of 
