The Express.
London, England, 1866-01-06 00:00:00

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HAMMIEST.
TElis ITRIEDEO, BROTHER SAY. Mean. Sothern, Buck-
done, and Compton : Miami Nally Soma. Snow•lnn, etc.—
ORPIIZUS IN THE HAYMARKET. Meows !Arran h D. Risher
Musa Keeley. Howard a Wright.—And SHOCK ENO EVE XV.

PRINCESS'S.
THIS IM MO, QUIET LODGINGS.—AIter which IT IS
DIVAS TOO LATE TO MEND. Noun. Vinthg, G. EWADe,
T. Read, D. Murray, b. CaMaim, P. Vlltiers. S. O. Shore, G. Nor-
m. end E. Cathiart lams L Moore and I. Rodgers.

LTCNITIL

Tars EVENING, THE ILLUSTRIOUS STRANGER. Mr. H.
Widdicomb.—THE MASTER OF RAVENSWOOD. Mews.
Fechrer, Jordan, Vezin. F.mery, Widdioomb, Fitzpatrick, Evans;
Mesdames Teruo, Illsworthy, Layman, C. Lederc.i.

BRITANNIA.
THIS EVIGnEO, OLD DADDY LONGLEGS AND SIR REGENT
CIRCUS; OR, THE RACE FOR THE GOLDEN APPLES.—
M. and lidme. Stertzenbach.—lasnor BeranL --Oimar. —Shower
of Golden Rain. —And JESSIE, THE ItORRION'S DAUGHTER.

HIGH WATER AT LONDON•RRIDOL
MI DAT Honig(, 6b. 1911. .... Manisa% sh. Seim
TO-110ILIOW —.. Monk*, 6k. 675.......Atk0m5. de. 17w.

LONDON, SATURDAY. JANUARY 6.

A QUESTION of the deepest interest to the
nation in regard to the nature of cattle plague is
at the present moment under careful consideration.
During the epizootic disease which ravaged this coun-
try in the middle of the last century the occurrenos
of pustules and scabs in the affected animals was
noted by several observers. The idea then arose,
from the observation of these and the general
symptoms of the ailment, that the disease might
probably be identical with small-pox. In
1757 Dr. LAYAED, a Fellow of the Royal
Society, published a paper which commenced with
these words :—" The several stages, the progress
" and effects of this distemper are exactly the
" same with those of small-pox." He went on to
describe that in the course of the malady eruptions
showed themselves all along the limbs and about
the udders, whilst at the crisis there were " boils,
" which, breaking, discharged putrid, stinking
" matter." During the present outbreak the same
phenomena have been observed. No very great
attention, however, seems to have been paid to
this symptom until quite recently. Within
the last few days the subject has been
brought prominently forward in a paper pub-
lished in the Laitcct by Dr. MtntiataioN, of the
London Fever Hospital. It seems besides that
Mr. CsELY, of Aylesbury, one of our highest au-
thorities on the subject of vaccination, and one of
the Cattle Plague Commissioners, has for some
time past entertained a strong opinion of the
close resemblance, if not complete identity, of
rinderpest with small-pox. It will be interesting
if we note briefly the grounds upon which the re-
semblance is traced by those who hold this opinion,
as well as the results which may be reasonably
anticipated, if it should be proved to be correct.
Early in the month of September Dr. Mutt-
cantos was struck with the occasional presence of
circular flat vesicles on the udders of cows that
had died of the plague, resembling in every re-
spect the vesicles of cow-pox. Further observation
has satisfied him that these large vesicles are only
present in a few cases, but that in almost every
case, and probably in all where death has not
occurred within the first three days of the
disease, there is a papular or pustular eruption
of the skin, closely resembling the eruption
of small-pox. The resemblance is borne
out by some other points. Thus, small-
pox is the only acute contagious exanthematons
disease in man that assumes a pustular form. The
eruption in rinderpest is also pustular. Any dif-
ferences between the two eruptions may be
accounted for by differences in the skin of men
and cattle. The other prominent symptoms and
anatomical appearances of the two disorders are
also strikingly similar. In both diseases there is
a peculiar offensive odour from the body. The
duration of the fever stage in each is the same—
about seven or eight days. They are both ex-
tremely contagious, and capable of transmission by
inoculation. This latter characteristic belongs to
no epidemic disorder in man except small-pox.
But at this point a difficulty occurs. If rinder-
pest be small-pox in the cow, it is really cow-pox,
the disease from which we derive the material for
human vaccination. Now, we have been under
the impression that cow-pox is a very slight and
trivial disorder, showing itself in the production of
certain vesicles about the animal's udder, but not
otherwise materially influencing its health. It will be
remembered that a popular belief was long current
in the rural districts of Gloucestershire that the
milkers of cows thus affected who contracted the
disease in their occupation obtained thereby im- '
munity from small-pox. In this belief lay
the germs of Dr. Jvssra's immortal discovery.
He conceived and carried out the idea of inocu-
lating human beings with the matter from the
cow's udder, and then transmitting it directly from
one person to another. The results of his discovery
are before the world. With proper precautions
in the performance of the operation small-pox has
almost been removed from the class of disorders
fatal to man. How then are we to reooncile
the description of the slight disorder which
has been so beneficial to mankind with the malig-
nity of the epidemic which prevailed during the
last century ? This is only to be done by suppos-
ing that at the time when Jews= commenced his
observations the disease, which had existed in this
country with more or less severe outbreaks for
thirty years, had become robbed of its pestilential