ROYAL AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY OF ENGLAND. 
413 
The only animals which have been brought upon the farm this year 
have been two cows ; both these have been healthy ; one was killed 
yesterday, and had no disease ; the other will be killed to-morrow. The 
cows first attacked had been on the farm for one or two years. At the 
end of last year I received forty-nine head of cattle from Ireland ; they 
were purchased for me by a friend ; nineteen of these I brought into 
the yard next to the cow-shed about two months ago, and I think the 
evidence points to the disease having its origin in one of these oxen. 
The lungs were very bad from fresh disease, but the lower part of the 
lungs, estimated to weigh 4 lbs., was “ quite dead,” and, according to the 
opinion of the veterinary surgeon, it had had pleuro, from which it had 
recovered. It had been previously noticed both by my bailiff and the 
herdsman that this animal would not eat cake, and that he was hunted 
about by the others; but the bullock did as well as the rest. The 
remaining Irish cattle, which have been in the fields since they came, 
have had no disease. 
This report having been adopted, 
Mr. Rawlence said he felt so strongly on the agricultural calamity occa¬ 
sioned by rot in sheep and cattle that he considered the Society should 
institute some inquiry as to the real cause of the disease. Professor 
Simonds had written a very admirable paper, and his theory seemed to 
be clear enough ; but he knew of cases in which three fat calves, vary¬ 
ing from eight to ten weeks old, the livers of which had been found, on 
inspection, to be full of flukes, although the calves had never been out 
of the house, had never sucked anything but from the mother, and had 
had no access to green food, so that the mode of origin of the disease 
described by Professor Simonds appeared to be entirely disproved. He 
had been a very large occupier of water-meadows for the last forty years, 
and he could feed them off with sheep up to Midsummer with impunity, 
but not afterwards without running serious risks of losses by disease. 
Nevertheless, in a neighbouring meadow a farmer could grass-feed his 
sheep all through the autumn, although the sub-soil of his own meadows 
was gravel, and of his neighbour’s clay. If any deputation were 
appointed, he should be happy to take them over these meadows, and 
show them the means of irrigation. The cows were now dying by 
wholesale, and horses were also affected. If further investigations were 
made as to the cause of the disease he thought we should get nearer 
the facts. 
Mr. Pain suggested that perhaps the theory of Professor Simonds was 
not altogether wrong as to the bringing up of the snail from the grass. 
The snail might be carried by the cow, and the calves might therefore 
inherit the disease from their mothers. He would suggest that the dams 
of the calves mentioned by Mr. Rawlence should be purchased and sent 
up to London for examination. 
In reply to inquiries, 
Professor Brown stated that as this particular disease was not included 
in the provisions of the Contagious Diseases (Animals) Act, he did not 
consider it probable that the Government would make any inquiry into 
it. With regard to the general question of an investigation, he thought 
it quite important, provided the necessary funds were forthcoming. 
The Earl of Ravensworth said this was a matter of almost national 
importance. The ravages of the fluke appeared to be very extensive, 
and not at all confined to the South and West of England. He thought 
it would be very desirable that a question should be addressed to the 
Government in both Houses upon the matter, in order to direct the 
attention of the Privy Council specifically to it; and also that the Counflj 
