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

tions would probably be forthcoming from many
other quarters.

At the metropolitan meeting various plans for the
mitigation of the evil were suggested, and the diffi-

culties of the question were fully and fairly discussed

Letters were read from eminent foreigners respect-
ing the nature and origin of the disease and
various modes of treatment suggested. The
adoption of sanitoriums, to which all animals
affected can be at once removed, was decided upon,
and it seems to be a very prudent measure, since it
may enable a cowkeeper at once to remove the dis-
ease from his premises without sacrificing his animals
unnecessarily. The best mode of cure can also be

more easily decided upon when the animals are

treated in the aggregate.

A committee was also

formed for the purpose of investigating the reports
of the inspectors and settling the amounts to be

paid to the owners of cattle handed over to the com-

mittee. By this means the temptation to conceal the

disease in its earliest stages will be removed, which

will be a great point gained. Altogether we may hope
from the energy and good sense brought to bear

upon the question that a change for the better may
be looked for, and that, unless from some excep-
tional or uncontrollable cause, the worst is over, since

we are prepared for the danger, and have arranged
our means of defence. At all events, we have learned

a lesson of humanity by this infliction, and it is to

be hoped that the conveyance of live stock, whether
by rail or by vessel, will henceforth be conducted

in a manner less disgraceful to our humanity and
our civilisation.

At the meeting of the British Association for
the Advancement of Science, Professor LEONE
LEVI read a paper on statistical dates, in relation
to the representation of the people. He presented
an interesting analysis of the state of the popu-
lation of England in regard to their capabilities
of voting. There are about five millions of males
of twenty-one years and upwards. Physical in-
capacities prevent a large number from being
ranked in the category, and want of culture also
excludes many. An immense number must be
eliminated from the electoral body, for the crimi-
nals and paupers bear a large proportion to the
rest of the population. The men in the army,
the civil servants, and the male domestic servants,
are to be considered also as out of the pale.
The most liberal electoral law cannot, therefore,
include more than three millions. Professor LEVI
went on to touch upon the vexed question as to
how many should possess the privilege of the
franchise, and he very fairly stated the many
complications that attend the subject, and stated
that it would be extremely difficult to adjust the
votes on any precisely equitable basis to meet
the rights of the entire community. The conclud-
ing remarks of this paper were very appropriate,
and are well worthy of attentive consideration by
those who devote much time and thought to the
mechanism of measures of Reform, and propound
schemes to the community of more or less merit
and feasibility. It is here stated that, as a gene-
ral rule, the privilege of voting should be given to
those men who rise to the surface of society,
instead of granting it promiscuously to those whose
carelessness and intemperance keep them in the
lower state of social life. Thus the right to vote
might be considered as a stimulus to intelligence
and economy ; and the State, if it could not under-
take to elevate and educate the masses, should " at
least show that for the exercise of the higher func-
tions of a free man in a free country the citizen
must prepare himself by a life unstained in charac-
ter, high in moral principle, and well trained and
enlightened in the great school of constitutional and
political government." Sir WILLIAM ARMSTRONG
presided at the department for Mechanical Science,
and delivered an impressive address in an appropri-
ate manner. He declared that Birmingham was a
fitting spot for the annual meeting of the Mechani-
cal Section of the British Association i and this is
certainly true when we come to think of it, for that
town more than any other in the kingdom presents
proofs of mechanical and manufacturing progress,
so that the members of the Association may enjoy
the advantages of examining these trophies of
scientific discovery and evidences of mechanical
genius, and then of meeting to discuss the princi-
ples on which they are conducted, and descant on
the theories so ably put into practice. Such
a combination of study and exploration must
naturally conduce to the extension and im-
provement of the general knowledgtehemofselvthees
community, for those who thus benefit
will be able to impart.the advantages of their expe-
rience to others, and disseminate the stores of use-
ful and interesting information which this association
and other societies afford the means of acquiring.
The President reminded his hearers that they were
"on ground tendered classic by the labours of
WATTS." He adverted to the advantages that will
be gained by the recent discovery of " hewing coal
machinery," and truly added, ta;.t "whatever

Active measures for disinfection are being taken
there, and all fairs and cattle markets are sus-
pended until further orders. It would certainly be
wise for those cattle-owners in England who have
been fortunate enough to escape the malady to
avoid making any purchases at the large markets
at present, and to introduce no new stock into their
fields and sheds. The question of insurance and
compensation is being eagerly discussed at most of
the metropolitan and provincial meetings. The
metropolis itself and its vicinity have been the scene
of terrible devastation. At the meeting of the
Metropolitan Plague Committee yesterday, at
Guildhall, a letter was read from a dairy keeper,
at Islington, in which she stated that towards the
end of June the disease made its appearance in her
sheds. Every means had been tried to arrest its
progress, and Professor SYMONDS had given his
'assistance and advice. Nevertheless, such was the
virulence and fatality of the disease that in less than
a fortnight 85 cows had been sacrificed. This is
certainly an extreme case, but in smaller establish-
ments the proportion has been equally great. All
over the country, in the parts where the disease
has shown itself, similar instances have
been reported. At the Chelmsford meeting a
gentleman was mentioned who had 30 cows, and
made a business of supplying milk to London. He
lost every one of these cows by the cattle disease,
and his business was lost with them. To relieve
such a case as this, which every man feels may be
his own, it is proposed by the farmers and gentle-
men of the provinces to establish insurance asso-
ciations. It was doubted at the Chelmsford meet-
ing whether the association should be a county one
or be composed of small district societies. The
larger scheme was decided upon after some discus-
sion, in which powerful arguments were adduced
for it. One gentleman observed, as an objection
to the district association plan, that in some places
the value of stock was so great, that the
event of the disease breaking out a united
society could not meet its own engagements. The
value of the cattle in his own immediate neighbour-
hood was over £2,000. If the disease broke out in
a district like that, it would, as he justly observed,
swamp a small insurance association. Another ad-
vantage of the county insurance plan would be that
the nobility and large landowners could subscribe
liberally for the general good, and indeed subscrip