The Sun.
London, England, 1865-08-04 00:00:00

" To TILE VESTRY OF ST. MARYLEBOXE,

"Gentlemen,—In consequence of the recent and alarming
spread of a new disease among cattle, which, for want of a
better name, is termed the cattle plague,' and which is now
extensively raging in the London dairies, I have felt it my
duty to make an especial inspection of all the cowhouses in
the parish, with a view of ascertaining their present sani-
tary condition, and at the same time lay before the vestry
previous to its adjournment such information as it was pos-
sible to obtain of the nature and character of the disease in
question, and the extent to which it prevails. As it is only
within the last two days that I have had the opportunity of
pursuing any investigations on the subject, this report
must necessarily be very brief and imperfect, but it will at
least be sufficient to show that the disease has made, is still
making, and in all human probability will continue to make
for some time to come, great ravages in St. Marylobone, as
well as other districts, and that precautionary measures of
the most prompt, complete, and stringent character will be
required to check and ultimately remove it. In the month
of October last the number of licensed cowhouses in this
parish amounted to 70 which gave accommodation to cows.
At the present time the number of occupied cowhouses is
reduced to 60, 49 of which I have personally inspected, and
the remaining 11 have been visited by the inspectors of
nuisances. Among those which I have visited are included
the sheds of all the large dairymen, as well as all those in
which the disease has made its appearance. At the present
time these 60 cowhouses contain 1,028 cows, the usual
number being 1,314, varying in number in each separate
cow establishment from four to 150, and showing a defi-
ciency of 286, of which about 20 have actually died in their
respective sheds, and some 150 more were taken away in-
fected and in various stages of the disease. Of the remain-
der, which were healthy, some were sent to the fields and
farms near London, and some, having become fat and ceased
to yield milk, were, as is the custom, sold to the butchers.
The actual number of the cowhouses in which the disease has
existed, or still exists, as far as I have been enabled to dis-
cover, amounts to seven, three of which belong to very large
proprietors. In one of them the number of cows usually
kept amounted to 90 ; of these five died on the premises,
from 30 to 40 were sent away infected, and of those which
remain seven or eight aro now ill with the malady. In an-
other belonging to the same owner 24 cows are usually kept,
but five only are now left, tine remainder having been re-
moved, showing, more or less, /symptoms of the disease.
This dairyman informed me that on the 19th of June last he
purchased a fine healthy looking cow at the Islington Cattle-
market, which came from Edmonton. This animal showed
symptoms of the disorder seven days after its admission,
which rapidly spread among the other cows in the same
shod. On the 12th of last June he ;'purchased at the
market two Dutch cows. On the 26th of last month
the disease broke out in the shed where these animals
had been placed, and spread with such fearful rapidity
that up to the present time he estimated his loss at not
less than £5OO. In the cow-sheds of another dairyman, the
number of cows usually kept was between 70 and 80 ; the
number is now reduced to 16. One died on the premises,
and of those removed a large proportion were infected. The
owner of this place is strongly of opinion that the disease
has been introduced by foreign cattle. In a fourth cow-
house the number usually kept was 10 ; all these have been
attacked and sent away, but their ultimate fate not known.
In a fifth, where 42 cows were kept, the wife:of the owner
informed me that they had lost 20 ; the remainder are now
in the fields and are doing well. In a sixth, seven cows
had been sent away suffering from the disease, and of those
which remained three or four were evidently attacked. In
a seventh, five out of 15 cows had been removed, and two
were still in the shed very ill, one of them apparently sink-
ing. One of the largest cow proprietors in the parish, a
very intelligent man, informed me that on the 9th of May
last a large number of Russian and Hungarian cows were
sent to this country, and sold at the ports at which they
were shipped at 2id per lb,aud from the information which
he had obtained he believed that most of these animals were
infected. With regard to the nature and symptoms of the
disease the observations which I have been enabled to make,
and the information which I have otherwise obtained re-
specting it, enable me to confirm in every important parti-
cular the description given of it by Dr. Gamgee. In two
cows which I have seen there was general dropsy and
emphysema or air in the tissues beneath the skin, more
particularly over the region of the kidney. Diarrhoea ap-
pears to be a very general symptom, and the discharge
from the eyes and nostrils, which at first is very copious
and watery, gradually assumes a mucous or uincopurulent
character. The sinking or falling in of the hind quarters
of the animal is also a marked symptom in an advanced
stage of the disease, and the prostration which supervenes
speedily terminates in death. The respiration appears also
to be weak and laboured, but this seems rather a conse-
quence of the low and feverish state of the animal than