936 
THE VETERINARIAN, DECEMBER 2, 1872. 
Ne quid falsi dicere audeat, ne quid veri non audeat.—C icero, 
CATTLE PLAGUE IN YORKSHIRE. 
Since the 25th of October the East Riding of Yorkshire 
has remained free from cattle plague. Fresh stock has taken 
the place of that which was destroyed by the disease or the 
poleaxe, and we may hope that we have seen the last of the 
unwelcome visitant. Two months from the time of the dis¬ 
covery of the disease elapsed before it was finally extin¬ 
guished—not a very long time ; and we might feel disposed to 
congratulate the country on the favorable result of the pre¬ 
cautions which have been adopted were it not for an uneasy 
conviction that a very slight alteration in the conditions 
which existed in the infected localities might have led to a 
wide diffusion of the contagium in spite of the exercise of 
the powers conferred on local authorities by the Contagious 
Diseases (Animals) Act. Slaughter of animals which were 
herded with or had been in contact with diseased ones failed 
to arrest the progress of the disease, more frequently than it 
succeeded, in the three infected districts of Patrington, Brid¬ 
lington, and Pocklington, chiefly because the disease was not 
detected until the infection had extended to herds in the 
neighbouring provinces; and had any of these infected but 
apparently healthy animals been sent to the country markets, 
or to any other market or fair, as they might have been, it is 
more easy to imagine, than define, the extent of the mischief 
which must have followed. 
When the nature of the disease was discovered and the 
movement of cattle only permitted under certain restrictions, 
the danger was materially lessened but not altogether re¬ 
moved, as in two instances the disease appeared more than 
two miles from a centre of infection, having been conveyed 
in one instance it is believed by a dog, and in another by a 
man w r ho had attended sick cattle. The sale and distribu¬ 
tion of either or both of these herds might have been quite 
innocently effected before any signs of disease were appa- 
