ROYAL AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY OF ENGLAND. 487 
and is there any marked disproportion of size or age between the 
former and the latter—or any want of vigour on the part of the 
bull ? 
10. Were any signs of ill-health, such as foot-and-mouth dis¬ 
ease, or any other ailment, noted before or after abortion ? 
11. Can you refer abortion to any of the following causes, 
viz :—Goring or squeezing, severe exertion, such as running or 
leaping, or being leaped upon by other cows or young bulls, to 
fright, sudden surprise or excitement, as produced by thunder, 
hounds, &c., &c., to any offensive odour, or access to the cleans¬ 
ing of a recently calved cow, or to the cow herself. 
12. Have you any reason to suspect as the cause of abortion 
any plant, such as the horse-tails or sedges, savin, foxglove, 
ergotised grain, or rusted straw, any medicament, salted food, or 
roots grown with artificial manure ? 
13. Do you consider it contagious? if so, state fully the fads 
on which your opinion is based. 
Mr, E. C. Tisdall observed that he hoped replies to the 
questions wrnuld not be restricted to the members of the Asso¬ 
ciation, as it was essential, in order to effect a successful result 
of the object aimed at, to obtain the opinions of as many 
breeders as possible. He also hoped that some of the editors of 
the agricultural journals would have a few words to say on the 
subject. 
The Hon. Sec. was accordingly instructed to write to the 
papers to that effect. 
A vote of thanks to Lord Chesham for presiding closed the 
proceedings .—Mark Lane Express and Agricultural Journal. 
ROYAL AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY OE ENGLAND. 
Monthly Council, Wednesday, June 2nd, 1880. Present, the Duke 
of Bedford, President, in the chair. 
REPORT OF VETERINARY COMMITTEE. 
The Hon. W. Lgerton (chairman) reported that the committee had 
received from Dr. Greenfield the following report on the investigation 
into anthrax and allied diseases at the Brown Institution : 
In my former report, published in the last volume of the Society s 
Journal , I gave the results of my experiments so far as they were com¬ 
pleted to the middle of February. 
It may be remembered that the chief results of the experiments, 
briefly stated, were— 
1. That splenic fever may be transmitted to a bovine animal by direct 
inoculation from a rodent; that the disease thus given, though severe 
and possibly fatal, is not usually so, and that the modified attack of the 
