38 
ILLINOIS STATE DAIRYMEN’S ASSOCIATION. 
removed as early as possible and not allowed to putrify; their removal should i 
effected by the hand, and a weak solution of carbolic or sulphuric acid should 9 
injected into the vagina and womb. 
The membranes themselves should be destroyed or buried, and the cow shouj; 
not be allowed to go near others which are pregnant so long as there is any dischari| 
from her. For safety, the period of isolation should extend from eight to fifteen daj i 
The animal may require good nursing in the meantime, and she should not be put • 
the male until every trace of irritation in the generative organs has disappeared. 
When cows show any symptoms of impending abortion, they ought to be prompt 
removed from the vicinity of others which are in calf. 
Should epizootic abortion be traced to the food, ergotized or otherwise damag 
fodder, of course this must be prohibited and a change resorted to. If the pastur 
are ergotized then the pregnant animals must be removed from them and placed 
more favorable conditions with regard to food. 
Whenever or wherever the accident occurs, whether at pasture, straw-yard or 
shed, it must not be forgotten that the greatest possible care should be taken to isola 
the animal, and to bury everything—foetus, membranes, etc., as well as to destroy j 
traces of discharge from the patient. 
The chair then appointed the following additional committees: 
On Memorializing Congress— D. N. Foster, H. D. Emory, C. F. Dexter. 
To Receive the Governor —Hon. Henry Green, Mayor of the city; Hon. Jam 
Manahan, member of the legislature; E. W. Edson, J. G. Lumbard. 
To Nominate Delegates to Washington Agricultural Convention— W. R. Hostette 
I. H. Wanzer, Geo. A. Addy. 
The programme was again resumed : 
SELECTION AND ADAPTATION. 
BY COLONEL T. D. CURTIS, OF NEW YORK. 
The principle of selection is ona running all through Nature. She bestows h 
favors on the most vigorous, and leaves the weakest to perish. Hence, as Darw: 
phrased it, u the survival of the fittest.” This is true in the vegetable as well as : 
the animal kingdom. 
Why are weeds so tenacious of life ? Because, through all the long years of tl 
past, the weaker have constantly perished and the stronger have survived to furnii 
seed for future crops. So much vitality do most weeds posses that it almost appea 
as if evil everywhere springs up spontaneously while the good can be perpetuated on 
with the greatest labor and care. This is because the lower order is indigenous ar 
naturally takes precedence. The newer and higher is always an interloper, and has 
get a footing by conquest. Hence the struggle to keep down the weeds and grow tl 
vegetation most useful to man in their steads. The common grasses are the ne: 
order above the weeds, and these we can make take possession of the soil with cor 
paratively little trouble ; but when it comes to the cultivated grasses, as the cerea 
and Indian corn, we find it more difficult to substitute them in place of the weed 
But there is reason to believe that, with careful selection of seed and thorough cult 
vation of the soil, we can in time make the useful plants grow as spontaneously ar 
vigorously as the obnoxious do now. 
Nature is not only discriminating and partial to the best, but she is progressiv 
From the lower, through selection, she evolves the higher, and continues this proce: 
to the highest. A glance at the revelations of natural science shows this. To th 
extent, at least, the doctrine of evolution is true. 
So we have but to imitate Nature. The principle of selection, operating throug 
the agency of man, will continue to produce similar results; and what has been dor 
in a long time, through the slower agencies of Nature, can be done in a short tin 
through the quicker agency of man. Through man, Nature will work more discrim 
natingly and directly, and reach results more expeditiously if not more certainly. W 
have but to follow her promptings, and reap the reward. 
It should be constantly borne in mind, however, that Nature emplovs anoth* 
great principle in accomplishing her work. She not only selects, but adapts. Tl: 
principle of adaptation—which is a sort of selection—is everywhere manifes 
Every spot of soil, where man has not interfered, has on it the exact kind of vegeh 
tion which it is best adapted to produce. The soil is suited to the vegetation, and tt 
vegetation to the soil. This fact merits our most careful attention. 
Again, animal life everywhere on the globe is the best adapted to the section aul 
