The Sun.
London, England, 1865-09-13 00:00:00

The

cease.

gallon of water is made. For the lair of one animal from
six to ten gallons of such fluid should be prepared. This
fluid is now distributed over the whole surface to be disin-
fected, gradually, by squirting from a syringe, or by pump-
ing through a force pump, garden engine, or by watering
from a watering pot or can with a finely pierced rose. All
woodwork, stones, bricks, cement, mortar, all fixtures of
whatever material,should be well wetted with the solution,
and immediately be scrubbed with a hard brush. Floor
and ceiling are also scrubbed, and the whole is left in this
wet state covered with the chloride of lime solution for at
least one hour, during which time care is taken that no
parts become dry.
3. As the chloride of lime and the products of its decom-
posing action upon infectious matters may be hurtful to
cattle, these matters have to be carefully washed off by a
second and final flushing. For this too much water and too
much scrubbing cannot be employed. Care should be taken
to apply the clean water always to the highest parts, so as
to cause it to flow thane° to the lower parts, and to wash
away the waste from tho lower parts before applying any
fresh water to the upper parts.
4. Care should also be taken to rinse and flush every
broom which has worked away sediment and waste from
the lower parts into and through ithe gutters and drains
before applying it again to the clean upper parts. Care
should also be taken that the working persons should not
step from the dirty or partially cleaned places on to tho
clean ones, as this may suffice to bring infection back to
the disinfected place.
5. Lastly, all persons employed in this work, having
swept and flushed the gutters with the same care as the
lairs, are collected, together with all engines and tools which
they have used, as near as possible to the sink or place of
final egress of water from the premises, and there disin-
fected as will be described.
The tools, such as hooks, forks, spades, hoes, barrows,
&c., are scrubbed with the above solution of chloride of
lime, and subsequently water until clean ; they are then
repeatedly wetted with the solution, and after it has had
time to disinfect the entire surface of them, they are washed
clean and laid up, or hung up to dry.
The workmen, then, having finished the disinfection and
flushing of all objects and surfaces, effect their own disin-
fection in the following manner :—They wash their boots
most carefully with chloride of lime and water, scraping
the soles and scrubbing the same where the soles join the
upper leather. They wash their hands and arms, and by
means of clean rags or sponges they remove any splashes
from their clothes. After this they go indoors, remove all
clothes from head to foot, wash their bodies, particularly
their hands, faces, hair, and feet with plenty of soap and
water, and put on fresh clothes and linen. The clothes and
linen which they have taken off should be treated as infected,
set to soak immediately in boiling water and afterwards
disinfected, or in water containing two ounces of chloride
of lime to the gallon in solution, or containing four ounces
of Condy's red permanganate of potash fluid in solution ;
or the clothes and linen should be put in a copper and boiled
and subsequently washed. All articles of little value which
are much soiled should be burned on a bright fire.
Disinfection of Live Stock.-1. Live cattle may carry
infection in two ways—first, by being themselves.infected
with the plague and reproducing the poison; and, secondly,
by accidentally carrying the poison from other animals in
a dormant state upon some part of their surface, tlieir hair
and particularly their feet. These latter animals may
therefore infect others without being or becoming them-
selves subjects of the plague. All persons therefore buying
new animals should disinfect them before allowing them to
enter their premises. In a similar manner, if in a stable
there has been a case of plague, the healthy or apparently
healthy animals should all be disinfected.
2. The mode in which live animals may be disinfected
consists in washing them with disinfectant solutions of such
strength as will destroy the contagion without injuring the
surface of the animal. A solution of two ounces of chloride
of lime in a gallon of water is a proper solution for wash-
ing the coat of animals. A mixture of four ounces of
Condy's red permanganate of potash fluid, with one gallon
of water, is also a proper disinfectant solution. For full-
sized cows and bullocks, &c., several gallons of either of
these solutions should be used. Great care should be taken
to keep the solution away from the eyes, nostrils, mouth,
and tender parts. When the entire surface is washed and
disinfected, all disinfectant is removed by the application
of great quantities of clean tepid water to all parts.
The animal is given a warming and refreshing drink,
and is conducted by a clean attendant to the clean quaran-
tine shed. There it should receive fodder, both dry and
green, and sop, and plenty of pure cold water, and be rubbed
dry with whisks of straw and hay.
The Quarantine Shed.-1. The quarantine shed is in-
tended to keep the new and suspected cattle separate for a
period of at least ten days, in order to afford the security
to hie obtained by observation alone, that it is not actually
infected with plague. While, therefore, disinfection of the
surface of cattle removes one kind of danger, another,
which cannot be removed, can only be kept circumscribed
or penned in, and this is done by the quarantine shed. But
the keeping of cattle in the quarantine shed would not dis-
infect its surface with certainty even during a much longer
period than ten days; disinfection of the surface therefore
cannot supply the precaution of the quarantine shed, and a
rigorous quarantine cannot supply the effect of surface
disinfection. Both precautions are necessary for perfect
security, although either of them, without the other, ob-
viates a particular kind and a curtain amount of danger.
2. The quarantine shed should be situated in an isolated
part of the premises. All manure and urine from it should
flow and be carried to a particular place separate and dis-
tant from the common dung-heap, and be buried daily.
Tho utmost cleanliness should be observed in the shed.
All tools, pails, currycombs, &c., used in it should be used
in it exclusively and nowhere else. The person attending
the quarantine shed should not be allowed to go into the
shed where healthy stock is kept, or permitted to approach
healthy stock. No person attending healthy stock should
be permitted to approach quarantine cattle, or to go near
or into the quarantine shed. But should, unfortunately,
only one person be available for both duties, that person
should be allowed to approach quarantine cattle only when
clothed in the safety dross to be immediately described.
The Safety Dress.-1. This consists of strong water-boots
reaching up to the knees, well greased all over ; of a water-
proof coat, buttoned close all the way up in front, and
closing tightly round the neck and wrists. The head is to
be covered with a cap which takes the hair well in.
2. Every person having occasion to visit sheds in which
there is diseased cattle, or suspected cattle, or quarantine
cattle, should be provided with the above dress, put it on
when entering the place, take it off when leaving thoplace,
and have it disinfected immediately. This precaution
should be strictly observed by all inspectors, all veterina-
rians or others called in to attend sick cattle, by all dealers
and butchers entering sheds, yards, or meadows, for the
purpose of sale or purchase, and by all other persons com-
ing on the premises on business in connection with cattle.
3. The owners of stock should not allow any strangers
to enter their sheds, yards, or meadows, except in disin-
fected safety-dresses ; and in case this should give rise to
difficulties, they will do well to have themselves one or two
such safety-dresses at hand, and to cause all persons
whose business compels them to enter their sheds to leave
their own boots behind, and to put on the long boats,
waterproof coat, and special cap. Only thus can they hope
to exclude all ordinary and obvious chances of infection
from the previously healthy sheds, yards, and meadows.l
Measures to be taken on Premises where Plague has
actually appeared.—When the plague has actually ap-
peared in any shed, yard, or place, the sick animal should
at once be removed with all due precautions. It is cer-
tainly the safest and best to polo-axe the animal at once,
and to bury it entire, and then to disinfect the particular
lair as above described, clear out the stable or shed, disin-
fect the whole of it and all apparatus, also all the animals,
and only to let the animals enter the shed, &c., again
after it is completely sweet and dry.
2. If, however, a proprietor is desirous of keeping a
sick animal because its illness does not appear severe or
fatal, he should place it in a separate shed, which must not
be the same as or near to the quarantine shed, and be dis-
tant from all healthy animals, and so situated that the pre-
vailing wind does not blow from this hospital shed towards
the healthy or quarantine shed. The water should also
never flow from this hospital shed towards the others, or
the yard, or any meadow, but should be carefully drained
away and sent off the premises by a special sink.
3. To prevent the scattering of farces by infected ani-
mals (and also by suspected animals and all animals
suffering from diarrhoea), their tails should be so tied to one
or other of their horns as to protect them against being
soiled by the intestinal discharges, and to prevent them
from distributing such discharges by the ceaseless motions
peculiar to these organs. The spattering of fasces should
be prevented by a copious supply of rough straw, with some
sand, sawdust, or ashes placed behind and underneath the
animal. The straw and faeces should be dealt with as has
been described. Animals affected with plague or diarrrhcoa
should not be led along streets, highroads, and paths, as
they would be certain to drop infectious faeces, which would
then be distributed over the entire length of these roads by
the feet of men and animals, and the;wheels of vehicles.
4. The sick animals should be disinfected repeatedly ;
their pens should be cleaned and disinfected repeatedly,
during the course of the illness. This should be done by
persons either guarded by the safety dress, or—and this is
safest—by such as may not come into contact with healthy
cattle, or have to enter healthy sheds. All tools, pails,
fodder, &c., to be used in the hospital shed to be kept for
that purpose only, and never to be used with healthy, or
quarantine or only suspected cattle.

The following documents have been prepared by
direction of the Lords of the Privy Council, and for-
warded to us for publication :
Memorandum on the Principles and Practice of Disinfec-
tion, as applicable to the presentrEpidemic of Cattle Disease.
By J. L. W. Thudichum, M.D.
1.--PRLNCIPLE.S OF DISINFECTION.

1. The term disinfection signifies the removal and de-
struction, or destruction and subsequentremoval of thepro-
ducts of destruction, of all matters actually being or con-
taining products of disease capable of reproducing disease
in other animals.
2. If the same processes and means, as used for this pur-
pose, are applied to the purification and deodorisation of
places and things not actually affected, but capable or sus-
pected of being infected, then these preventive measures
are practically and properly included under the definition
of disinfection.
3. The reproducers of the infectious matter or contagion
are all kinds of cattle of the ox tribe, which also are at pre-
sent in this country the only animals liable to its specific
effects. It is probable that the contagion adheres with par-
ticular pertinacity to all secretions and discharges from
animals. For this reason faeces Or droppings, urine, rumi-
nated food, all secretions from the mouth, nose, and eyes,
and any sore parts of the surface of the diseased animals
must be considered as the principal and primary carriers of
the infectious matter or plague poison. It is also probable
that many parts of animals which have died from the cattle
plague, or have been killed during advanced stages of the
disease, are infections, some because they are primarily im-
bued with the contagion, others because they have been in
contact with it after the death of the animal. Skins, hides,
hair, horns, and hoofs must therefore always be treated
with precaution. The chances of infection by flesh, fat,
cleaned guts, and blood are perhaps more remote, but can-
not be lost sight of.
4. The cattle plague, although affecting every part of the
animal, showing its visible effects most extensively in the
intestinal canal. It is believed, and apparently upon good
grounds, that the intestinal discharges are the principal
agents, upon the distribution of which mainly depends the
spread of the disorder.
5. It follows from the above, that all articles which have
been in contact with a diseased animal, or any of its dis-
charges, particularly its frocks, are capable of carrying the
infection for an infinite time, and must be looked upon as
being actually infectious to other healthy animals. Such
are, racks of wood or iron ; cribs or mangers of wood, iron,
or stone ; articles used for fastening animals, leather collars
and straps, ropes and chains, all harness of any animals
used for drawing, and all carts, waggons, and carriages
which they have actually been drawing ; the stalls or sheds
in which animals have been standing; the whole lengths of
the gutters and drains through which their urine has been
flowing ; the entire surface over which their manure has
been drawn, and all implements with which the removal
has been effected; the entire dung-heap upon which infected
manure has been put, and the fluid contents of the manure
pit, or of the special receptacle for the urine ; yards or
sheds in which cattle have been kept to tread down long
straw, and the whole of such straw and manure, as also the
ground beneath them; paths and roads upon which diseased
cattle have walked or been carried ; fields and meadows
upon which they have been grazing ; all carts, carriages,
trucks, and railway
.trucks in which diseased cattle
have been conveyed, and all the platforms, rail-
ings, bridges, and boards upon which they have been
moved thereto ; as also all apparatus which has been used
to pen, tie, lift, haul, lower, and fix them; the clothes, and
particularly shoes and boots, and iron-pointed sticks of
drivers, and their dogs ; the apparel of all cattle-herds or
attendants, particularly their shoes and boots ; the shoes
and boots of all persons visiting places where diseased cattle
are or have been standing ; and, in general, the clothes of
all persons visiting infected places, ships, and all parts of
the platforms, stages, stairs, and bridges, hoists and cranes
used for embarking and landing the animals ; markets, and
all sheds and pens and implements used in contact with
cattle ; slaughter houses, and all persons and implements
in them which have been employed upon sick cattle, as also
sundry parts or organs which come from sick animals killed
in slaughter houses ; knackers' yards, trucks, or carts,
horses, men and implements which have been employed
in the disposal of sick or dead animals; wells and ponds
from which diseased cattle have been drinking, or into
which any portion of their excreta has had any opportunity
of flowing directly or indirectly ; all fodder, grass, hay,
straw, clover, &c., and particularly remnants of fodder
upon which diseased cattle have been feeding ; and, in
general, all persons, animals, places, buildings, and move-
able things which have been in contact with matters pro-
ceeding from diseased cattle, or with such diseased cattle
themselves. To the above-mentioned places and things
any of the processes and agents enumerated and described
in the following may have to be applied.
11. PRACTICE OF DISINFECTION.

Disinfection by Earth. 1. Burying—All matter that
can be buried so as to remain covered with a thick layer
of ground on earth are innocuous. The ground chosen for
such interment should be dry. The quickest, and
cheapest, and most certain way of disinfecting an animal
dead from the plague is to bury it entire.
2. The droppings, and all straw and other matters conta-
minated therewith may also be buried into ground where
they are not likely to be disturbed for a long time. The
places from which such droppings have been removed to be
cleaned and disinfected as will be described below.
3. Manure heaps and the down trodden manure of cattle
yards, if they have become infected by even a small quan-
tity of the droppings of a diseased animal, should be care-
fully shifted to a piece of ground, and there be transformed

into compost heaps. A layer of manure one or two feet in
thickness should be covered all over with six inches of dry
earth, ashes, and mineral rubbish ; upon this another layer
of manure may be placed, and then again a layer of earth,
and so forth, until the whole of the manure is stacked—it
should be covered over with a continuous layer of earth of
from six inches to one foot in thickness. If the manure
heap or yard manure cannot be shifted, it may be covered
on the spot with a layer of dry earth, after which all ani-
mals are to be kept away from it.
4. If the floor of any shed or stable in which diseased
cattle have been standinglis not constructed with special
watertight and impenetrable material, it must be assumed
to be infected to the depth of at least six inches. This
ground should therefore be removed, together with any
stones, pavements, or wood work which have been in
contact with it, carted to a piece of dry land and buried.
Half rotten wood is a particularly favourable carrier of in-
'fectiOn. Mortar, bricks, loam, or any other lining of the
sides of a pen in which a deceased animal has been stand-
ing, should be broken out and buried.
Disinfection by Fire. 1. Burning.—All infected articles
of a minor value, or made of incombustible materials, can
be disinfected by exposing them to a heat which will char
organic matter. To this class of articles may be reckoned
racks of wood or iron ; cribs or mangers of wood, iron, or
stone ; leather collars and straps, ropes and chains; dry
manure, residue of fodder from which diseased cattle have
eaten ; and all such small articles of little value which can
easily be replaced by new ones. Chains may be exposed
to a dull red heat ; all other articles may be heated over a
fire of coal, brushwood, or straw until well scorched. All
new articles of ironware should be bought in a galvanised
state, to prevent the formation of rust, the accumulations
of which form convenient seats for infectious matter, and
for the same purpose it is desirable that iron articles which
have been disinfected by heat as above should afterwards
be either galvinised, or, at least, while hot be treated with
resin, to cover them with a durable varnish, or should be I
varnished or painted.

Disinfection by Chloride of Lime.—Chloride of lime, or
bleaching powder, is the most powerful, the cheapest, and
most easily managed of all artificial disinfectants. It can
be had everywhere, and at any time, and in quantities suf-
ficient for every purpose. It should as much as possible
be applied in solution, of a strength varying somewhat
with the particular purpose for which it is to be employed,
and after it has been allowed to act upon the surface or
matter to be disinfected a reasonable time, should be
washed off, together with all products of decomposition.
As chloride of lime does not destroy only the infectious
matter in a mixture, but destroys all organic matter with-
out distinction, it is not applicable to large quantities of
matter, such as the manure of cattle, dung heaps, &c., in-
asmuch as twice or three times the weight of these matters
of chloride of lime would be required for their effectual
destruction and disinfection. It is further inapplicable to
all matters rich in ammonia, particularly putrid urine, as
it destroys the ammonia, and evolves a large amount of
gases, some of which have a repugnant odour, and are

perhaps not quite innocuous. But for the disinfection of

surfaces of things and places no better or more suitable

agent than chloride of limo is at present known to science.
Special Directions for the Disinfection of Stables, Sheds,
Vans, Railway Trucks, and Cattle Ships,* and of Persons

and things connected with them.-1. After such a place has
been cleaned by mechanical means, scraping, &c., as much

as possible, and all manure and dirt has been carefully
buried, the entire surface which has been contaminated, or
is likely to have been contaminated, should be covered

with a layer of chloride of limo in powder. The powder

should be worked about with a broom until e4uallyadistri-

buted. It is intended to disinfect the water t. be used in
the washing process which is now to commence. Clean

water, from a hose in which it flows under pressure, or
from a force-pump, garden engine, or from large watering

_ .
now be applied to the entire surface by one person, while
pots or water cans, or poured freely from buckets, should
another at the same time scrubs the entire surface, and
particularly all crevices, joints, and - irregularities. The
washing water and chloride of lime are then to be worked
down the gutters, into the sinks, cesses, or .natural water-
courses. No washing water from an infected place or thing
amount having perheivoirioucio slye
should over be allowed to flow into any cesspool, urine-
hold, dung-heap,:pond, sewer, or natural watercourse with-
out o
eli
limo. Whenof mixedand stthe irr
pedlawicethhaaslibtehruasl
been scrubbed until the water flows off clean, it is ready
for effectual disinfection.
2. For this purpose a solution of chloride of lime in
water, in the proportion of one pound of the powder to one

5. If the proprietor of any dead piece of cattle, whether
it has died naturally or been killed, should decide upon dis-
membering it instead of burying it entire, and upon utilis-
ing the hide, horns, hoofs, tallow, and bones, he should dis-
infect the skin, horns, and hoofs, by steeping them for one
hour in a strong solution'of chloride of lime, containing ono
pound of the powder in each gallon of water, and afterwards
washing them. The tallow should be thickly powdered with
chloride of lime all over, and be sent directly to the boilers.
It should not be boiled in any vessel employed on the farm.
Under all circumstances, it is advisable to let the dismem-
berment of dead and fallen cattle be performed at the
knacker's yard.

' For the disinfection of railway trucks aud cattle ships
see special memorandum.

6. Flesh, blood, guts, lungs, and the bones of the head of
infected animals should not be trafficked with, as they can-
not easily be disinfected. They should always be buried.
Disinfection of Meadows, Fields, Roads, '&O.-1. Meadows

1111 LONI_JOIN, WEDNESDAY EVENING, SEPTEMBER 18, 1865.

infected by diseased cattle should be carefully cleaned of all
dung, by burying each dropping on the spot where it lies,
cutting out the round piece of turf with the dropping on
it, and turning it upside down. The grass on the entire
meadow should then be cut and burned. It should then
be left without any cattle for at least a mouth, including at
least two wet days.
2. All roads, paths, streets .of towns, or villages should
be carefully and frequently scavenged. All carts, vans, or
waggons, used for carrying manure, should be water-tight,
caulked, and painted, and should not be permitted to ooze
and drop their fluid or semi-fluid contents on the road over
which they are drawn. They should be kept clean and dis-
infected, as a precautionary measure by the proceedings
above described.
lII.—GENERAL RECOMMENDATIONS.
_ _

In conclusion, it must be pointed out to farmers, dairy-
men, and all persons having charge of cattle, that the
same great measures which are known to maintain and re-
store the health of human beings will also maintain and
restore the health of cattle Pure air; dry, spacious, well-
ventilated and well-drained clean sheds; clean and dry
meadows ; plenty of pure water; frequent currying and
washing ; the prevention by the development, by the de-
struction of the germs of internal and external parasites,
particularly entozia ; proper food in suitable quantities, and
at proper times ; protection from inclement weather; the
utmost cleanliness in the removal of manure ; the storing
of the manure at a great distance froth the cattle shed, and,
in addition, the most conscientious observance of the pre-
cautionary and disinfecting measures above described—all
these measures and agents together will secure the utmost
possible health of stock, and the prosperity of the agricul-
turist and dairyman. But the neglect of any one of them
will make the stock liable to become infected, and the more
so the more several or all collateral conditions of the healthy
existence of animals are neglected. The negligent man is
therefore certain to lose, to injure his neighbour by defeat-
ing his precautions, and to damage society; but the watch-
ful and painstaking man will be rewarded, not only by the
preservation of his property, but particularly by the con-
sciousness that it has been preserved by his own care and
attention, and that thereby he has also benefited the state.
THE CATTLE MURRAIN AT HOLLY LODGE.

On the 27th of June, an Alderney bull was purchased at
Bushey, near Watford, and placed with the rest of the herd,
then consisting of 11 cows, 5 sucking calves, 3 yearling
heifers, and 1 bull. The bull had been imported from
Alderney for several months. About a month after—
namely, on the 29th July—a cow in calf was attacked with
unusual symptoms. She was separated from the rest,
nourishing drinks were administered ; but having calved,
she died 48 hours after the first symptoms were observed.
This led to the belief that she died of the disease, which
then began to prevail. This cow had been pastured with
the others in a field occasionally used for grazing sheep that
were taken to the Metropolitan Cattle-market, and, if not
sold, brought back again until the next market day ; the
sheep were separated from the cows by iron hurdles. The
Holly Lodge Estate is partly bounded on the east by the
route taken by drovers with foreign and other cattle to
and from the market, some of which are also occasionally
brought back to neighbouring fields. The high road forMs
the western boundary within a few yards of the cattle
sheds and pastures. These facts aro stated to show that
the contagion might have been easily communicated to the
animals. A few days later three calves were attacked
with cold shivering and twitching of the muscles. The
previous nights having become suddenly and unusually cold
and wet, the symptoms wore at first attributed to that cause.
Although these calves had been pastured quite apart from
the cow which first died, the cow had been driven across
the field where the calves lay, to the shed in which it died,
the calves having been placed in the next shed, where
two of them died on the 6th of August, unmistakably of
the cattle plague. The third calf was sent to the Royal
Veterinary College, where it also died. By the 9th of
August four cows and the bull were seized with the disease
so virulently that it was thought necessary to kill them
after three days' illness. On the 12th a cow and a heifer
were also destroyed ; and on the 14th one of the suckling
calves died. Thus out of a herd of nineteen animals,
twelve had died within a fortnight. The malady had taken
so strong and sudden a hold upon them, that no systematic
means of remedy could be applied except separation, heat,
stimulants, and the medicines ordinarily given in cases of
cold and fever.. On the 13th of August two more cows
were pronounced incurable by two of the veterinary sur-
geons who had been called in ; but it was determined, upon
further advice, to try a mode of treatment upon them not
hitherto adopted ; ono drachm of calomel was administered
in gruel; four hours afterwards one pint of castor oil, and
three hours later one quart of yeast. About two quarts of
warm porter were added to a gruel of yeast and oatmeal,
and given at intervals. These remedies acted most effi-
ciently, and in ono case gave much encouragement. The
next day the cow began to eat hay, to chew her cud,
and to yield a good quantity of milk. These remedies,
together with bi-sulphate of soda, which invariably pro-
duced a return of the milk, and quinine, were then tried
upon four other patients with varied success. But in the
end all these cows died, not, it is believed, of the cattle
murrain, but of exhaustion occasioned by the activity of
the drugs administered to them. This belief was strength-
ened by the healthy appearance presented by the viscera of
the first cow thus experimented upon, on its being partially
dissected after death. The remaining cow thus treated is
still alive. It is impossible to avoid believing that had the
medical man who kindly gave his attention to those ani-
mals been better acquainted with the constitution of the
creatures, or had those who tended them had any know-
ledge of medicine, three of the cows treated in this manner
might and probably would have recovered ; and even

when the animals succumbed, the consequences were
les's serious, the virulence of the poison being expelled,
at least it was undiscunible to those who dissected them.
_ _

During the fortnight that the murrain was raging, ono cow
in calf and one calf remained perfectly healthy apparently,
until both were seized within a day of each other ; these
had always been kept separate from the sick animals, and
tended by other men. The calf died, and the cow was de-
stroyed, in consequence of the symptoms being so violent.
In this case very little calomel was given. As it may be as
well to mention all particulars, it may be stated hero that
the men who tended the animals were provided with a
dress, and that it was found desirable that a certain quan-
tity of stimulants, brandy, coffee, and strong soup, should
be given to prevent nausea and other uncomfortable feelings
from which the men suffered. All the directions respecting
the burying of the animals issued by the Privy Council
have been strictly complied with ; clothes, &c., have been
burnt, chloride of lime (Macdougall's disinfectant) was
used with others to destroy insects and fiies,with abundance
of whitewashing. The men were recommended to use as a
wash for the mouth manganate of potash. The first crop
of grass in the field where the cattle lay before their sick-
ness, and during it, has been destroyed also ; and it is in-
tended to use some disinfectant, such as charcoal or lime,
to spread over the field. Miss B. C. feels so persuaded that
some mode of treatment could be found to alleviate, if not
to save life, that she has determined to employ a medical
gentleman, who kindly offers his services, and to take also
the advice of a good cow or veterinary surgeon, and to try
the effects of various remedies in come of the cowsheds'
where persons will be glad to let such experiments be tried ;
and it is also her intention to ask the Privy Council to
allow one of the Government inspectors to assist and report
upon the cases. It may not be altogether unimportant to
add that the state of the atmosphere seemed to have some
effect upon the health of the animals, as upon those Occa-
sions the symptoms Were more severe during the thunder
storms which then occurred. The milk, which returned,
as found to be rather watery, and the cream had a pecu-
liar appearance. At first the pigs declined it, and it was
not thought advisable to continue to give it at all to any
animals for about a week. It is now perfectly good.

SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS.

TimEs.—The Moniteur duly informs us that the
interviews between the French and Spanish Sove-
reigns, both at San Sebastian and at Biarritz, have
been most cordial. On such occasions popular sym-
pathy seldom fails to second royal hospitality, and
the friendly meetings of powerful monarchs are
welcomed spontaneously by their subjects. When
the good citizens of San Sebastian cheered the royal
party on the balcony so lustily while the flags of
France and Spain floated side by side on thfort,
they naturally accepted the presence of the Emperor
and Empress as a pledge of amity between France
and Spain. Such a spectacle is more rare in Spain
than in most European countries. The general pre-
valence of peace on the Continent for the last fifty
years, and the effect of railways, have greatly faci-
litated the personal intercourse of Sovereigns. For-
merly the reception of a royal guest was a State
affair, conducted with the utmost solemnity, and
involving an enormous cost. It is now a very com-
mon and simple event, and when the absurd
etiquettes of which German Courts are the
source and centre shall have been still further
broken down, kings and queens will probably
exchange visits with each other at much shorter
intervals. But the royal family of Spain
has hitherto stood a good deal aloof from others,
as if this free and easy society of crowned
heads were inconsistent with its ideas of dignity.
The Peninsular exclusiveness of Spanish policy has
been faithfully reflected by the Court, and it must
have cost the Queen some little effort to meet a
Bonaparte as Emperor of the French and a former
subject of her own as his Empress. The ice, how-
ever, has at last been broken, and everything has
gone off well. It is stated by he Madrid press that
the interview had been arranged so far back as April
last, and would have taken place at the capital on
the return of the Emperor from Algeria, but for the
political agitation then existing in Spain, and the
unsettled. state of its relations with Italy. It so hap-
pens that the recent death of the Queen's uncle,
throwing the Spanish Court into mourning, would
have rendered public fetes in Madrid a little inoppor-
tune, so that a private visit to San Sebastian was in
all respects more convenient. The population seems
to have made up in enthusiasm for the want of official
ceremonials, and greeted the guests of their Queen
with every demonstration of hearty goodwill. The
days are past when such personal rapprochements
usually portended sonic nefarious design, or, at
least, indicated a change of political attitude.
This renewal of friendship between France and
Spain may be regarded rather as a consequence
of past events than as an omen of the future.
In spite of abortive insurrections, successive Minis-
terial crisis, and a persistent disregard of financial
obligations, Spain has been advancing in every
branch of civilisation. " Material progress" may
have been the first system of her revival, but it has
shown itself equally in the gradual abandonment of
her obsolete politics and the development of her
military power. The fall of Narvaez and the recall
of O'Donnell mark another epoch in her regenera-
tion. It soon appeared upon what terms the Libe-
ral Minister had returned to office. His first im-
portant act was the recognition of Italy, and that
recognition was not accompanied with any reserva-
tions such as were made by France herself. In the
meantime his administration has been already fruit-
ful in reforms of the electoral franchise, of the laws
regulating the press, and of the public finances.
The movement of which these measures are the
latest expression, but which has been gaining ground
with more or less interruption for the last thirty-five
years, cannot but strengthen the ties between Spain
and Western Europe. An enlightened home policy
is the best guarantee of a pacific foreign policy, and
Great Britain has no less reason than France to re-
joice in the tacit repudiation of those reactionary
maxims which so long isolated and weakened Spain.
Other memories and other anticipations, however,
will be suggested by this event to the minds of
our older readers. Fifty-seven years have scarcely
elapsed since another Napoleon, not content with
the abject subservience of Spain, possessed himself
of San Sebastian on a treacherous pretence, and
entrapped the royal family, with the favourite
Godoy, into the fatal conference at Bayonne. There
is not a blacker page in history than that which
describes the schemes whereby Napoleon procured
from Charles IV. the resignation of his crown,
which he forthwith transferred to Joseph by an
imperial decree. The sequel of this transaction is
well known. It was such as to extort from the
Emperor himself the confession that the conquest of
Spain had proved his ruin. The annexation of this
splendid province had long been the dearest object
of French ambition ; it was at last effected, at least
to all appearance, but it brought with it the pros-
tration of the Empire and of France herself. The
necessity of " security on the Pyrenean frontier "
was the pretext for the aggression ; the real motive
was the hope of employing the resources of Spain
against England, and Napoleon had perfect confi-
dence in his ability to convert this ancient monarchy
into a French dependency. It is highly improbable
that any of. his successors will ever recur to this
Napoleonic idea ; but we wish we could add with
truth that such fraudulent and arbitrary proceed-
ings as those whereby the first Napoleon com-
passed his aims are no longer possible in modern
Europe. The morality of the Gastein Convention
'resembles too nearly the morality of the Bayonne
interview for us to indulge in any such self-congra-
tulation. It is now evident that under pretexts as
hollow as those which masked Napoleon's vast pro-
jects of dismemberment and spoliation, M. Bismark
has been plotting the partition of the Danish
monarchy for, the benefit of Prussia. The indis-
soluble union of Schleswig and Holstein was the
very basis of the intervention. The one province
has now• been assigned to Austria and the other to
Prussia. The claims of the House of Oldenburg,
the House of Augustenburg, or any other House
that would serve the turn, were put forward with
pompous insincerity against those of the reigning
House of Denmark ; it now turns out that all were
to be ignored as soon as Prussia was fairly in pos-
session. 'The right of the Schleswig-Holsteiners to
choose their own Government was stronglye' asserted,
and was, indeed, by far the best argument on the
German side ; it is now utterly and deliberately cast
aside. It is strange and melancholy that a policy
so perilous to the peace of Europe should be re-
vived, not by the " ancient enemy," but by the
" natural allies" of Great Britain. It warns us
that even in the present day we must rely on the
fear of consequences alone to restrain the imperious
instinct of territorial aggrandisement.
HERALD.—The Times newspaper wishes to add a
few ships to the effective strength of the American
navy ; gold these ships are the English squadron in
the Pacific. The object of the proposed coalition is
the capture of the Shenandoah, which, although
President Davis lies in a Northern gaol, and Gen.
Lee is the victim of shameful attempts to rob him
even of his parole, still carries the Confederate flag,
and commits havoc with Yankee commerce on the
high seas. The commander of this ship, Captain
Wardell, has evidently had no precise information
of the events which followed the surrender of Gen.
Lee, and therefore he very properly refuses, upon
imperfect data, to strike his flag, throw his guns
overboard, and " convert" his vessel by means of a
new coat of paint and a re-arrangement of deck ac-
commodation. Instead of taking this peaceful course
he swoops down upon .everything that carries the
Stars and Stripes, and even such small deer as the
Arctic fleet of whalers attract his awkward atten-
tions. He has not been officially informed by his
Government of that Government's collapse, and in
the absence of precise instructions from home, he
pursues his career of hostility to the Yankee flag,
just as though the Southern armies had not melted
away, the Southern Cabinet been dispersed, and the
Palmetto flag ceased to wave as an emblem of autho-
rity. The case is, it must be admitted, somewhat
peculiar; for the Confederacy seemed rather to die
out, without making any sign, than to yield upon
tern-is of arrangement. The generals of the South
capitulated : that was all. Then came the sauve
qui peat, and we only hear of the deceased power
now and then as the names that made it famous ap-
pear in Northern indictments, and head tales of suf-
fering in Northern prisons. To Capt. Wardell the
war is still in progress, and the commission under
which he sails still holds good. Common sense must
take this to be his explanation ; for otherwise he is
burning and destroying American vessels at deadly
peril in the face of a furious and excited antago-
nist. Still, we cannot second the proposal of the
Times that the English fleet in the Pacific should
be sent in chase of Captain Wardell and the
Shenandoah, for the privateer has respected the
rights of neutrals, and has given England no special
cause of offence. His capture and punishment be-
long to the navy of the United States, not to us ;
and it is strange that with no contest at present on
their hands, Northern statesmen cannot devise a
plan by which this solitary remnant of the Southern
power—this Flying Dutchman of the Pacific—can
be trapped and made practically aware that his
commission has lapsed with the lapse of the Confe-
deracy. The idea of England pulling this chestnut
out of the fire for Uncle Sam's especial benefit is
one that could only occur to a zealot, and where
freshness of conversion balances the fierceness of
new faith. Converts are always a trifle too ready to
prove their enthusiasm, and our contemporary is no
exception to the rule. Generally speaking, that
journal is fertile in pleading precedent, and in
assuming respectful allegiance to the dicta of writers
upon international law. But so Northern has the
Times become that the poor jurists fare badly when
their opinions are likely to clash with the interests
of the North. Referring to the case of the Shenan-
doah, the Times says, " It would be absurd in such a
case to entertain the questions raised by jurists as