Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1865-12-26
E a1s S1hlL hhEPoSTs sTATIsTTos OF

The commission appointed by the Brit
ish Government to inquire into the ma
ture of the cattle plague, and TO ascertain
the mode of treatment best adopted for
the care of affected animals, and the re-
gulations best adapted TO prevent the
spread Of the disorder, have made a re-
port, dated October thirtv-frst:
1.-The commissioners consider, irstthe
outbreak and spread of the disease in
England. cit was first recognized in that
country towards the close Of June last
and IN all the earlier cases seems to
have been directly traceable 70 pur-
ehases made in the Metropolitan Cattle
Market. Subsequently, Norwich hill,
and other country markets, became CEN
ters Of infection, and on the fourteenth OF
October, it had extended TO twenty-nine
counties in England, two in Wales, and
sixteen in Scotland, and wa still adj
vaneiug. The statement published by
the Veterinary Department of the Prlvy
Council Office as 70 the number Of cases
of attack, recovery and death are re-
ferred 10 as inadeQuately represent
ing the extent Of the evil, the
cases reported being a small pro-
portionW of those which have
actually occurred. The commissioners
notice reports which connect the outbreak
| with an importation of cattle from Revel
and Holland, respectively, but forbear to
pronounce a decided opinion on the
| actual origin of the disease. They attach
importance, however, to the fact that
considerable numbers Of cattle come
| every week into this country from Hum
| gary and Gallicis, countries which lie
| near the steppe country Of Russia in
Europe, and are often attacked by the
plague.
The Commissioners refer to the muir
rains among the cattle in thirteen hum
bred and fOrty-nine and fourteen hundred
and eighty, and are doubtful whether
they can be identified with the disease
now raging; but they have no doubt as
to that which in seventeen hundred and
fifteen made a brief inroad and was
promptly repealed, and that which in
seventeen hundred and forty-five re-
| newed the attack, and held its ground
until seventeen hundred and fifty-seven.
Each of the two latter murrains were
exactly the same as the present plague.
The Commissioners consider that there
can be no doubt whatever that the dis
ease is contagious, nor that the ~contagion
is extraordinarily swift, subtle, and most
destructive IN its effects. Of the witness
| ses examined, even those who believe
that ii was spontaneously generated,
have acknowledged that ii is contagious.
The Commissioners see no reason to
! question the evidence which has been
produced before them, proving that il is
the same disease as that which has been
long known under the name of the rim
deepest cattle plague) or steppe-mur-
rain.
Part Of the Commission dissented from
certain recommendations made by their
colleagues, and presented separate re-
ports. The majority suggested a stop
page of all movements of cattle in Eng
land: the minority objected to this.
The statistics show that up to the
twenty-irst Of October, eighteen hun
dred and siXty-fve, a period of rather
more than four months from the time
when the disease first appeared in Isling-
ton, 14,0S3 animals had been attacked,
that Of these, GIL had died, 5,1l9
had been slaughtered, 707 had re-
covered, and 1915 remained under
treatment. The estimated number Of
horned cattle in Great Britain is
about seven million, so that less than
one per u thousand of such cattle have
died Of the disease in four months, or
about one per day for every n hundred
and sixteen thousand head. During the
same period Of four months, sound and
healthy cattle Of the average yalue Of
say fifteen pounds five shillings per
head, have been imported from foreign
countries at the average rate Of one
thousand per day, so that by the opera
ton of the present system, involving
careful inspection at the ports of landing,
the gain to the country has been one
hundred and siXty-siX sound cattle for
each one that died Of the disease.