ROYAL AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY OF ENGLAND. 859 
By a fortunate coincidence, I have also been able to expose some of 
the animals to a known and very virulent contagion, and they have 
escaped unharmed. 
I have detailed in my report the successive tests to which these animals 
were subjected. 
I have, moreover, by experiments on smaller animals, been able to 
demonstrate the possibility of modifying the virus by successive steps, 
in such a way as to be able to attain, with a fair degree of certainty, an 
extreme dilution of the poison, of all grades of intensity up to the most 
virulent. 
Hitherto, owing to the necessity for establishing the fact that complete 
protection can be conferred by inoculation, and the expenses consequent 
upon that part of the inquiry, I have not been able to make any com¬ 
plete series of experiments with the view of determining the mode of 
inoculation which shall be easiest of practical adoption, and which, while 
affording a high degree of protection, shall be productive of little con¬ 
stitutional disturbance and be unattended with risk. The experiments 
which I have made in this direction lead me to believe that it will be 
possible readily to attain the desired end ; and I propose to make this my 
object in future experiments. 
The Committee gave notice that at the next meeting of the Council 
they will apply for the renewal of the veterinary grant of £250 for the 
ensuing year. 
A letter had been received from Professor Simonds, in reference to 
reports by Professor Axe on investigations made by him relative to out¬ 
breaks of disease among cattle. The Committee recommended that 
the one on Splenic Apoplexy be published in the Journal. 
The following report has reference to an eruptive disease which 
manifested itself among cattle, the property of Sir Henry Allsopp : 
Oil the 8th of October I visited Hindlip Park Farm, and inquired 
into the circumstances of the outbreak of disease herein referred to. 
The herd consisted chiefly of Shorthorns, with a few small cattle of 
the Shetland bred. In all, there were originally 184. The disorder 
first appeared on the 8th of September last, and continued to spread 
until the 30th, by which time the entire herd, from the youngest to the 
oldest, were more or less affected. The first animal to suffer was a 
yearling heifer located in a pasture at Martin Farm. On the following 
day (September 9th) two others at pasture a mile and a half distant from 
Martin Farm also showed signs of the disease. The former was removed 
to Hindlip and placed in a box. The latter were turned into a pasture 
adjoining the Hindlip farmstead. On the same day several others were 
found affected in a lot of sixteen, located about a mile from the first 
place of attack. On the 10th, 14th, and 15th fresh cases appeared, and 
on the 11th the disorder had spread to the yards and boxes at Hindlip, 
and subsequently became general throughout the herd. The first sym¬ 
ptoms observed were more or less swelling at the back part of the knee- 
joint, associated with morbid heat and tenderness, and an oozing of 
watery matter from the swollen surface. The swelling, as a rule, ex¬ 
tended upwards sometimes as high as the shoulder, causing great lame¬ 
ness, and in some instances severe constitutional disturbance—occa¬ 
sionally, death. In some cases abscesses were found to form in the leg 
or on the breast, or deep in the tissues of the neck, which, when broken, 
discharged a thin, offensive, purulent fluid, interspersed with masses of 
disintegrated connective tissue. Similar formations had sometimes been 
noticed in remote parts, as the thigh, back, &c. Post-mortem examination 
reveals marked changes of a destructive character, among which may be 
