THE STAMPING OUT PftOCESS. 
571 
of the specific virus of pleuro-pneumonia, the result being a mild 
degree of fever with certain phenomena of an eruptive character 
at the seat of the operation, the occurrence of which, its advocates 
claim, give exemption from the true disease. Much more could 
be culled from many authorities, and for an exhaustive article on 
inoculation I refer your readers to Mr. Rutherford’s pamphlet. 
I have had no personal experience with the disease, and will 
therefore conclude my extracts in the words of Montaigne: “ I 
have merely made a nosegay of culled flowers, and have added 
nothing of my own but the thread that binds them.” 
On the opposite side of the question we have Prof. McEach- 
ran’s opinion that it is a “ damnable practice,” and his reasoning 
as to the earnified lung never becoming sound, and millions of 
temporarily encysted disease germs being coughed up, to sow the 
seeds of disease in the future. He surely must be aware that the 
advocates of inoculation will not inoculate animals that are dis¬ 
eased; all diseased animals are destroyed. And they claim that 
inoculation produces a mild fever, with an eruption that is local¬ 
ized to the part inoculated, and that the lungs remain sound. It 
must be conceded that his expression is more forcible than his 
reasoning. 
I will now glance at another aspect of the subject. Will a 
destruction of every animal that has been in contact with diseased 
animals, the burning of buildings, fences, bags, blankets, etc., 
insure destruction of every vestige of the virus ? The stamping 
out process in the outbreak at the quarantine station at Quebec 
can scarcely be called a success. True, the disease has probably 
not spread beyond the quarantine station, but herds of valuable 
cattle have been destroyed again and again, and with each 
destruction of a herd it was claimed that the disease was oblit¬ 
erated. Is this process of destruction to continue until all the 
cattle at the station are destroyed ? Does this speak strongly in 
favor of the stamping out process ? And such a condition of 
complete isolation can scarcely exist in the country at large— 
certainly not before the discovery of the disease. 
There are many of those of the highest standing in our pro 
fession who have confidence that by a searching and careful 
