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 "INFECTION." 
 
 BY 
 
 SIR J. CLARKE JERVOISE, BART. 
 
 WITH 
 
 REMAEKS 
 
 BY 
 
 MISS NIGHTINGALE 
 
 SECON D EDITION. 
 
 ITonbon; 
 
 PRINTED BY YACHER & SONS, 
 
 29, PARLIAMENT STREET, AND 62, MILLBANK STREET, S.W, 
 
 1882.
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 IDS^YORTH, HORNDEAK, 
 
 HiXTS, 
 
 Feb. U(ft, 1882. 
 
 In com])]iaucc with the suggestion that I should repnhlish the 
 pamphlet "Infection," (which I \vi'ote anonymously in the year 
 1867) with my name and address, and in consideration of "how 
 many things have ha2:)pened since then," I do so in the hope that 
 the cause of truth and science may be promoted thereby. 
 
 J. CLARKE JERYOISE, 
 
 Magistrate and D.L. for the County, and Ude 
 M.P. for the Southern Division of the 
 County of Southampton. 
 
 A 2
 
 INFECTION. 
 
 Some Members of Parliament and others having said 
 that if I would write out my observations on the subject of 
 infection they would read them, I have determined on putting 
 them into print ; and I am the more encouraged to do so by 
 the following extract from ''The Lancet" in a county paper 
 for May 18th, 1867 :— 
 
 THE LOQUACIOUS HAMPSHIHE MEMBER ON INFECTIOUS 
 AND CONTAGIOUS DISEASES. 
 
 " When Chloroform was first introduced into the practice of medicine, 
 objection to its use in obstetrical and other cases was taken, on the plea 
 that suffering was not only natural, but was even ordained to be the lot of 
 mankind. This argument, fallacious as it is, has some ground, however 
 uncertain, to rest upon. The objectors to the use of chloroform do not 
 deny the fact that it relieves pain, but they deny that it is right that that 
 relief should be given. Sir C. Jervoise has not even this shallow foundation 
 on which to base the arguments he adduced the other night in the House 
 of Commons against taking precautionary measures to limit the spread of 
 infectious (ind coiitdijious diseases.* The bon. baronet did not 'believe' 
 in infection or contagion, and characterised as 'cruel' and costly the 
 efforts which have been made to stop their progress. Lord R. ilontague 
 disposed of the 'belief of Sir C. Jervoise in a few trenchant and common- 
 sense remarks. It would be a matter of very little moment what were the 
 articles of belief of the worthy baronet upon a subject which he certainly 
 does not understand, were the influence they exert not most injurious to a 
 large class of the ignorant and unthinking." — Lfnici't. 
 
 I have never seen a number of the " Lancet," but the 
 A\'ord reminds one of letting hlood at spring and fall ^ and other 
 practice, done in good faith, but against common sense. I 
 am much indebted to the Editor of the ''Lancet" for his 
 "trenchant" criticism. For my own part, I have only to 
 say, that I never doubted the benefits conferred on suffering 
 Immanity by the discovery of chloroform, and its predecessor 
 (ether) ; but, if it had been prescribed, without effect, for 
 
 * Contagions diseases are expressly cxckuled, unless to define the difference 
 between the meaning of tlie term, as distinguished from In/eclious diseases thus con- 
 founded with them by " The Lancet."
 
 6 
 
 stamping out a disease wliicli subsequently raged for two 
 yearSj and then recommenced, I should doubt tlic quality of 
 the physic or tlic qualification of the physician. WJien Gil 
 Bias, in good faith, was practising the system of his ]\Iaster 
 Sangrado, his patient said, '' Hold, Gil Bias, for though I 
 " have not a drop of blood left in my body, 1 don't feel better. 
 " I see clearly that I must die, but do let me die quietly." 
 
 On the 3rd May I moved an address to the Crown (Xo. 1, 
 in the orders of the day), but in consequence of the superior 
 claims to attention of the supposed cases of hardship and 
 cruelty to the Fenian prisoners in Mountjoy prison, I did not 
 rise till between 9 and 10 o'clock, " impransus," to address an 
 audience, indifferent, or hostile, as I believed, with two 
 successive governments opposed to me, as well as foregone 
 conclusions, popular belief, or perhaps superstition, tlie old 
 faith, Avhich is known to survive even the language of a 
 country ; and to move a resolution which, if carried, would be 
 an admission of the unnecessary loss, groundless alarm^ and 
 loanton injustice^ which had been inflicted on the country in 
 consequence of action being taken on hypothesis, unsupported 
 by demonstration.* 
 
 I have no complaint to make of the report of my speech, 
 and no regret at having brought the subject forward. Neither 
 have I any fault to find witJi the answer I received from the 
 Vice-President of the Committee of Council on Education. 
 
 Motion and Answer : — 
 
 CONTAGIOUS AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES. 
 
 '•'Sir J. C. Jervoisk rose, according to notice, to muvo 'that an humlilc 
 address be presented to Her Majesty praving tlint Her Majesty will be 
 graciously pleased to cause such iiKpiiry to he instituted as may lead to the 
 better distinction l)etween contai^ious diseases and such as are termed 
 infectious, so as to obviate, as far as possible, the loss, alarm, and injustice 
 consequent on the theory of the infectious nature of certain diseases when 
 unsiij)ported by demonstation.' The subject of the conveyance of disorders 
 by some mysterious a'^ency from one person to another in our state of 
 society must, he thouglit, be regarded as one of the most important matters 
 
 • " It was one thing to say a few words there surrounded by kind friends, and 
 quite another to pet up in tlie House of Commons where every one wislicd you to sit 
 down." (Lord G. Cavendish," Timc.»." Oct. 6th, U\'H.\
 
 which could engage their attention. It affected people in every position 
 in life, every association, and every meeting of persons in every capacity, 
 whether at home, abroad, or in the colonies ; and it might be viewed in 
 its bearing not only on persons who were at liberty, but on a class of persons 
 whose case had been under discussion that evening — viz., those who were 
 placed in confinement. Nothing could be more shocking, if the theory 
 alluded to in his notice of motion were true, than the idea that persons 
 locked up in gaols should find themselves subject to the influence of 
 infectious disorders. The hon. member referred to a tale written by a 
 French author about a poor leper and his sister, who were shut up in a 
 tower and condemned to a miserable life of seclusion on account of their 
 fearful malady. Their only companion was a little cur dog, and the sister 
 having died, the brother was left alone with the pet dog, which, however, the 
 authorities ordered to be destroyed, in order to prevent the infection from 
 being carried elsewhere ; and the wretched man at last committed suicide 
 to relieve himself from an insupportable existence. That tale was founded 
 so much upon fact that it might be said to be almost a true representation 
 of the state of things in certain eastern countries. The infectious nature of 
 leprosy was believed in in many parts of India, where great cruelties were 
 inflicted in connection with the precautions adopted in regard to those 
 who suffered from that malady. The hon. baronet who aiidressed the 
 House a considerable time, and was almost inaudible, avowed himself a 
 disbeliever in infection, and was understood to depreciate specifics pre- 
 scribed and recommended to protect persons supposed to be especially 
 exposed to it. He derided precautions that were too complicated or costly 
 for general adoption by those upon whom they were urged, and asked, for 
 instance, what was the use of urging that no water should be drunk that 
 had not been boiled if people were destitute of the means of boiling it. He 
 also referred to the outbreaks of scarlet fever at Southampton, Aldershot 
 Camp, and elsewhere, with the view of showing that medical men, trained 
 nurses, and others in immediate contact with patients, escaped the com- 
 munication of the disease ; and noticing the supposition that medical men 
 carried it to their own children, remarked that if such communication were 
 probable the patients of medical men were exposed to danger quite as much 
 as the members of their own families. 
 
 " Lord R. Montagu said that a commissioner had been sent to Russia to 
 inquire into ' the black disease,' and this gentleman reported that the 
 disease was not infectious, so that it did come und^r the motion of the hon. 
 member. It was true that in the other House, Earl Granville said a great 
 many persons had died from it ; but this was a mistake. Earl Granville 
 was alluding to another disease which also existed in Russia, and which was 
 highly infectious. This disease broke out among cattle, and was communi- 
 cated to human beings ; and, according to the last reports, upwards of 
 70,000 cattle were killed by it during the year and 30,000 men. As to 
 the cattle plague, this was not the time for a cattle plague debate, the 
 proper occasion for which would be when a Bill was introduced on the 
 subject. He was sorry to say, however, that there had been recently a 
 fresh outbreak of cattle plague in London. The existence of the disease 
 here was suspected for some little time owing to the removal of cattle from 
 some dairies. At last it was discovered that the disease existed in one 
 London dairy where there were 39 cows, which all had the disease, and all 
 of which were killed. This happened in the preceding week, and he 
 trusted that the slaughter of these cattle had prevented the further spread 
 of the disease. With regard to contagious and infectious diseases, the
 
 8 
 
 two terms were treated pretty much as convertible ; but iufection was the 
 term, being, in fact, the genus, while contagion was the species. Infectious 
 diseases witc tliosc which were cuniiuunicatcd from man to man, or were 
 generated in the air, or by means external to man. Yellow fever was not 
 Contagious, though it was infectious ; and what pos.siblc harm, therefore, 
 ■was tliere in Dr. .Seaton's visit to the ship at the Mutherbank ? The disease 
 was communicated by the air and not by contact witli persons. Perhaps 
 the hon. member would say, ' Why. then, impose any quarantine?' The 
 answer was, that it was not a medical but a commercial quarantine ; it 
 was imposed, not through fear of the s))read of yellow fever, but in order 
 that our ships and merchandise should not be exposed to quarantine 
 abroad, and subjected to the loss which that would entail. The laws con- 
 nected with the comnmnication of diseases were pretty well known by 
 this time. There might be some few special disea.scs upon which addi- 
 tional knowledge was required. But surely the Health Ofhco, in which 
 there were two or three medical men of great scientific attainments, aflordod 
 a better means of investigation tlian that proposed by the hon. member — a 
 Commission composed of a chemist and a lawyer. (A laugh), lie did not 
 know wliat would be the business of the lawyer, except, he supposed, to 
 impose the restrictions of law upon the spread of di.«;case. But the hon. 
 gentleman would sec that with men who had spent all their lives in the 
 investigation of the subject, and with all the appliances at their command, 
 the Privy Council had means at their disposal much better than the com- 
 mission which the hon. baronet recommended. The hon. baronet had 
 alluded to cholera. He was happy to say that upon this important subject 
 most careful and accurate investigations had been carried on, the results 
 had been tabulated, and in a few days a voluminous report would appear, 
 which, he trusted, would be satisfactory to the hon. baronet. There Avcrc 
 other points to which the hon. baronet had called attention, but, as he had 
 considerable difhculty in hearing the hon. gentlemen's remarks, he trusted 
 that would be sufficient excuse if he desisted from pursuing the subject 
 further." — Times, Mmj -ilh, 1SG7. 
 
 The motion for an address was then withdrawn. 
 
 AVliatcvcr notice might be taken of the motion, it was 
 certain to be productive of some gain. 
 
 A fact or a fallacy mtist needs be drawn forth, and, by 
 tlie process of " quod erat clemonstramhan,^^ or by that of 
 '^ quod est absurdum,^^ the cause of trutli must be a gainer. 
 In tlie question of the commnnicability of disorders, politics 
 do not enter. ]5oth parties have born either right or very 
 wrong in tlicir legislation and administration. It may be 
 presumption in nic to think I am right, but it is not im- 
 possible, For a long time it was considered that '' Nature 
 abhorred a vacuum," and, although I may not aspire to the 
 position of a Torricelli, I may to that of the sceptic, who, 
 while the Royal K5oeiety were puzzling over the problem
 
 propounded by the Merry Monarch, '* JVJiy a carp of a given 
 " weight does not cause the huchet of xoaler into which it is thrown 
 '' to weigh heavier? " suggested that the experiment sliould be 
 tried. I sliall, I am confident, be pardoned, if I am not 
 altogether acquitted, for having brought the subject, however 
 imperfectly, before Parliament and the country. 
 
 I have, from time to time, asked Questions in the House 
 of Commons'^ on the subject of the communication of disease 
 by the process of infection^ and I had intended to use the 
 Questions as landmarks to guide mc on my road, but speak- 
 ing without notes, the first reference I made to these 
 documents showed me that I could not read what a few 
 hours before, in the daylight, had been legible enough. 
 But I will not compromise by naming one who seconded 
 me (unasked) in the daring heresy of supposing that the 
 statement in the Sixth Report of the Medical Officer of 
 the Privy Council — " And though the present and other 
 " illustrations cannot increase knowledge (which has long 
 " been conclusive) with respect to the causation of disease " 
 — is not to be accepted as a dogma, or of suggesting that a 
 chemist and a lawyer might bo as good a tribunal to inquire 
 into the nature of the so-called infectious diseases of man 
 and beast, and to judge of the value of the evidence adduced, 
 as the two or three gentlemen connected loith the Board of 
 Healthy of great scientific attainments ^ loho had j)rettg well 
 ascertained the nature of cdl diseases, whether contagious or 
 infectious. 
 
 Availing myself of the subject of the preceding motion 
 to suggest the shocking idea of confining prisoners in a gaol 
 affected, by what is deemed an infectious disease, I had 
 in memory Avhat occurred the previous year in Mountjoy 
 Prison. I am happy to have preserved this extract in 
 refutation of the thought. 
 
 * Mr. Gladstone, "They (Questions) have now become a very serious, and I am 
 hound to add, a very important part of the business, and therefore not frivolous or 
 trifling" (hear, hear). — "Times," July 2nd, 1881.
 
 10 
 
 "Dr. F. R. CuuiSE, writing in the ' British >fcdical Journal,' gives 
 details of the recent outbreak nf cholera in ^luuntjoy Prison. They will 
 serve to correct various erroneous statements that have been made on the 
 subject. There has been no new case since December 27. The attack 
 commenced on Sunday, December 23, the health of the establishment 
 having been previously quite satisf;\ctory. The epidemic lasted live days, 
 during which time nine cases of Asiatic cholera, with collapse, oecured, and 
 four terminated fatally. The inhabitants of the prison are convicts, 
 together with about 140 untried prisoners, now confined under the Habeas 
 Corpus Suspension Act. Most of the cases of cholera occurred among the 
 convicts. The outbreak was immediately notilied to the Government, and 
 the most active sanitary measures were at once put into force, under tlie 
 direction of the medical olhcer of the ])risou, Dr. Itobert M'Donnell. To 
 the i)romptitude and energy with which these measures Avere carried out 
 undoubtedly may fairly be attributed the rapid subjection of the attack. 
 Perhajjs the most interesting point in connection with this particular 
 visitation is the difliculty in tracing its origin. A'o case of cholera has taken 
 place among the oflicers of the establishment or their families. The 
 prisoners in the various divisions of the prison do not communicate with 
 each other, nor with the same oflicers ; nevertheless, cases arose simul- 
 taneously in these divisions. The water supply is derived from the 
 reservoirs of the north side of the city. It is received in a supply-tank, 
 from which it is pumped by a steam-engine to cisterns on the top of the 
 building. This supply-tank is pumped empty every 24 hours. From its 
 situation it is absolutely secure from all risk of contamination from sewage, 
 etc. The adjoining Female Convict Prison is supplied from the same tank. 
 But no case of cholera occurred in the Female Prison. The food recently 
 supplied has, on examination, been reported of unexceptionable quality. 
 The different divisions of the prison are not on the same diet, neither is the 
 food for them cooked in the sanio vessels. ]S'evertheless the disease 
 a])peared in all the divisions. The disease could not be ascribed to 
 atmospheric influences, for the prison is on one of the healthiest situations 
 in Dublin." — I'iincs, Jdnuanj Slli, 1867, 
 
 Since I brought tlic subject bctbre the House some 
 progress, as f consider, has been made in the road which 
 I travelled over, as Avill be seen by the follinving from the 
 '^ Pall Mall Gazette " of May 22nd,"^18C.7 :— 
 
 OCCASIOXAL NOTES. 
 
 "Mr. Cave explained to the House of Commons last night that our 
 quarantine establishments are kept up for no useful ]iurpose whatever, but 
 wholly and solely to satisfy the proju<liccs of other nations. The Mediter- 
 ranean countries would ])ut us into quarantine at once if we did not keep 
 up a quarantine ourselves. In 182") Mr. Iluskisson tt^ok upon himself to 
 issue free ))ratique to ships in Portsmouth, Southampton, and London ; 
 and tlir" result Avas that the whole of the United Kingdom was i)Ut into 
 quarantine at all the Meiliterranean ports. This, and not any anticipated 
 danger from the importation of yellow fever, is the real reason why we 
 relegates the unhaiipy passengers in om- West India steamers to the Mother- 
 bank, Avhenever, during the homeward pa.ssage, a stoker dies of yellow 
 fever engendered by r\im, over-Avork, and miasma, Avhilst coaling at 
 St. Thomas's."'
 
 11 
 
 The argument in favour of infection, deduced from the 
 number of victims, is disposed of by tlie accounts of a 
 terrible outbreak of yellov7 fever at Mauritius, in the 
 journals of May 23rd, 1867, from February 10th to 
 April 17th — total, 13,56-1. " Quinine advanced to the 
 enormous price of £12 per ounce." 
 
 On Marcli 28th, on the occasion of the second reading of 
 the Artisans' and Labourers' Dwellings Bill, I gave the follow- 
 ing definition (not original), which was allowed by a very 
 influential Member (who has taken an active part in sanitary 
 questions), and not disputed at the time, to be correct : — * 
 
 Contagion is the communication of disease from an unhealthy 
 to a healthy snTjject at an inaj^jy^^ciahle distance. 
 
 Infection is the communication of disease from an unhealthy 
 to a healthy subject at an appreciable distance. 
 
 I learnt, from the reply to my motion on jMay 3rd, that 
 the two terms were treated pretty much as convertible ; but 
 infection was the large term, being, in fact, the genus, while 
 contagion was the species. 
 
 If this be the decision of the " two or three gentlemen 
 of the Board of Health, of great scientific attainments," there 
 is nothing in common between us. We are at cross purposes, 
 and the question falls. 
 
 In the definition given by me there is no convertibility ot 
 terms. In every case of communication, however, something 
 in the shape of a medium is required ; in contagion it is touch, 
 in infection it is generally supposed to be a germ or a mole- 
 cule passing tlirougli tlie air which serves the purpose. Even 
 in spirit-rapping, a medium, and sometimes a stout one, is 
 requisite for purposes of communication, "j" 
 
 In vaccination, the '■^ i^oint.'^ or the virus on the lancet 
 performs the duties, but I have never heard that it was a 
 matter of indifference whether this disease was to be con- 
 veyed at an appreciable^ or at an inappreciahle distance. 
 
 * Henry Austin Bruce. 
 
 f Alluding to a vory f ortly c!aiivo\ ant of the day.
 
 12 
 
 Danger from infection during the operation is not contem- 
 plated. 
 
 The Turk who taught us inoculation did not trust to ex- 
 posure to the small pox at an appreciable distance for the com- 
 parative safety he obtained by inoculation, and I have never 
 heard it admitted as an excuse for the victim of one of the 
 most contagious diseases known, that he had caught it in a 
 visit to a hospital devoted to the cure of sijecific disease ; 
 tliough in past centuries this was believed to be possible. 
 There is also authority for stating, that in the 17th or ISth 
 century, the gout was believed to be infectious. I am not 
 called on to prove a negative. All I requested was inquiry, 
 and I now repeat Avith a little amplification what I then said, 
 in order to show that something might still be learnt on the 
 subject of Infection, and even if it turned out that 
 
 '' All that we know is, nothing can be known," 
 
 it would still be of use in saving us from '■'- loss, alarm, and 
 injustice," the consequence of action unguided |jy demon- 
 strable evidence. In bringing forward my motion on May 
 3rd, 1867, I am reported to have alkuled to the importance 
 of the subject of the communication of disorders by some 
 muster ions agcncjj, and to have illustrated the remark by 
 reference to the beautiful talc of the " Leprcux dc la cite 
 d'Aoste." It contains a moral tliat may be considered as com- 
 prising the Avholc question. I ask every one wlio has not 
 read tliat story to do so. It will be found in the " Voyage 
 autour dc ma Chambre," by Xavicr De Maistre. But as I 
 quoted froni it in English and from memory, may I be par- 
 doned for making a ])araphrase Avitli the book before mo V * 
 
 In the war of the Alps, 1797, a military ofhcer iinds him- 
 self in the i)rcsence of a le])or confined, with his sister, to the 
 precincts of an ancient tower resting on a wall of the town of 
 Aosta, called the " Tower of Fear." The leper is astonished 
 at the boldness of the olheer approaching one Avho is deemed, 
 
 * I hate caused tliis beautiful story to be translated with a preface and appendix.
 
 13 
 
 and vvlio deems liimself an object of danger and dread to all 
 the world. He and his sister (made so hideous by disease 
 that they dare not behold each other's face) fix tlieir affections 
 on the only living thing with which they are allowed toassociate, 
 a little dog which, on account of its ugliness, had been turned 
 out from other quarters, and had been forced to the leper's 
 lodgings for refuge. The leper encourages the officer to pick 
 some flowers which he cultivates, " as he will run no risk in 
 touching them," for although the leper loves to sow and water 
 the flowers, he never touches, for fear of contaminating 
 them. When the children come to rifle his little garden, he 
 withdraws into the old tower, " lest he might frighten or 
 injure them/' and when they depart they look up towards 
 him and say, '' Good day, leper, laughingly," and that 
 rejoices him a little. The sister dies, and the leper stands 
 alone in the world, with no living thing to console him but 
 the little cur dog. The medical authorities, however, of the 
 town of Aosta, see danger in the dog, and considering it might 
 carry the "(/erws" of the disease among the inhabitants of 
 the town, the dog is stoned to death in sight of the leper, 
 whose grief at the moment only permitted him to see cruelty, 
 in what he avows was a just, though severe, order. He 
 meditates a crime, not revenge, but self destruction, for he 
 had contaminated the earth long enough, and wishes that it 
 may swallow him up and " leave no trace of his detestable 
 existence.'^ This story is a fiction founded on the facts of 
 that day, but they are also the facts of the present day, as 
 may be seen by the extract. 
 
 "LEPROSY. 
 
 "A report on leprosy by the Royal College of Physicians has been 
 prepared for Her Majesty's Secretary of State for the Colonies. . It is a very 
 bulky, very elaborate, and very valuable contribution to our knowledge of 
 this intricate subject. The College have performed this great labour at the 
 request of the Government. The suggestion arose out of a letter from the 
 Governor of Barbadoes to the Duke of Newcastle, stating that this fearful 
 malady is on the increase in that colony, and suggesting that, hopeless as 
 the case of the unhappy leper may be, the collection of reports from all the 
 colonies on the character and progress of the disease, the treatment and 
 dietary observed, and the general regulation of leper-houses, might be
 
 14 
 
 attended with some possible advantages, and tend to ameliorate the 
 condition of these unhapjiy suflcrers. The College assured the Duke of 
 Is'ewcastle of their willingness to co-operate in this humane work. On the 
 nomination of the president, Dr. Biuld, senior censor, Dr. (.)\ven llees, 
 Dr. A. Farre, Dr. Gull, Dr. Milroy, and Dr. Greenhow were appointed a 
 committee to frame interrogatories and report on the disease. These 
 were dispatched to all the colonies, and a considerable muss of evidence has 
 thus been obtained, and is here elaborately digested and filiated. One most 
 important conclusion at which they Tiavc arrived discredits entirely the 
 belief that leprosy is contagious or communicable by proximity or contact 
 with the diseased. The evidence derived from the ex])erience of the 
 attendants in leper asylums is especially conclusive un this point. Thus 
 there is not in this great mass of reports from all parts of the world ' any- 
 thing which justifies measures for the compulsory segregation of lepers.' 
 In India no such segregation is attempted ; but in many countries, including 
 some British colonies, the slightest ascertained taint of the malady carries 
 with it a seclusion tantamount to banishment from the rest of the com- 
 munity, or even to perjx'tual detention in a lazaret. Enactments fur the 
 arrest and imprisonment of lepers have been proposed or passed even 
 within the last few years in some of our Indian colonics. In the villages 
 of Syria lepers are required to go to Damascus, or some other town where 
 there may be a public asylum ; and if they will not conform to this rule, 
 'they are made to live in a cave or hut outside the village, where they 
 remain in perpetual quarantine.' All such enactments or regulations 
 should be'abolished." — Tiinrs, December 29th, 18G0. 
 
 I may here say that tlic report in question is not distri- 
 buted to Parliament, "because it regards tlie Colonies only. 
 
 If the belief in the infectious nature of yellow fever and 
 the '' old faith " in k'pro.sy have thus succumbed to truth, is 
 it unfair to expect that some other disordcr.s may still falla- 
 ciously be considered infectious? But is the name of Lazar- 
 liouse, and Pest-house, and Leper-house so clean passed away 
 as to render fiction stranger than truth '? 
 
 Is there no guarantine, no isolation, no seclusion enjoined"? 
 
 No germs, said to carry disease among the inhabitants of a 
 
 town ? No dogs slaughtered, in order to stamp these germs 
 
 out? Is there no wretchedness endured, and no cruelty 
 
 perpetrated under the watchword of " seciu-ity" for the public 
 
 health ? Is there nothing lamentable in the following caution, 
 
 and no moral to be deduced from these remarks, about 
 
 infection ? 
 
 "DEATH FEES IX FOREIGN HOTELS. 
 
 " Our contemporary, the ' Builder,' remarks that ' it may be an essential 
 service to those whom the fear or the presence of pulmonary disease drives to 
 seek an Italian winter, to call their attention to one of the modes in which
 
 15 
 
 Italian housekeepers often cft'ectually slaughter the gold-dropping bird,' the 
 type of xEsop's goose who laid the golden eggs. It seems that the Italians 
 have most couveuiently imbibed the notion that consumption is contagious ; 
 and should unhappily a phthisical patient die in an hotel, the bill but 
 too often contains the singular item — 'Indemnite pour refraction des meubles 
 et de la chambre occupee par le defunt, £100 sterling.' As the 'Builder' 
 very justly observes, the most curious part of the affair is that a con- 
 sumptive patient may have lingered for months in a suite of rooms, may 
 have left even but an hour before death, and no charge will be made ; 
 but should he chance to die there tranquilly in his bed, the necessity for 
 burning the furniture, for scraping, lime-whiting, and papering the walls, 
 arises from that sad and simple fact. The ground upon which such a 
 charge, the most exorbitant of any that has been manufactured for many a 
 long day, rests, is utterly untenable, and, of course, the demand should be 
 at once repudiated. At the same time a little care is needed to prevent 
 surprise, for in those cases in which a house or an apartment is taken by 
 agreement for any length of time, the legal document which binds the 
 contract may contain a clause to the effect that the tenant is expected to 
 pay the extortionate sum which we have named in case of death occurring 
 from consumption, and we notice the matter that the profession may put 
 clients on their guard." — The Lancet, 
 
 The leper's dog was believed to carry ih.Q germs of disease. 
 What are these germs, for they are said to be the cause of 
 <;ommunication of disorder both in man and beast? Is the 
 language figurative only ? Then let me quote what was said 
 by Liebig twenty-seven years ago. He was a chemist ! 
 '' T\\Q?,Q, figurative expressions^ with which we are so willingly 
 " and easily satisfied in all sciences, are the foes of all 
 " inquiries into the mysteries of nature ; they are like the 
 " ^fata morgana,' which show us deceitful views of seas, 
 '' fertile fields, and luscious fruits, but leave us languishing 
 " when we have most need of what they promise."* 
 
 But it is said there is no figure of speech in the matter. 
 These germs are vital, wganic, and organised. It is true 
 that in looking after them. Dr. Beale^ with a lens which 
 magnified upwards of 2,500 diameters, and which was said 
 to make a child of three years old as big as Mont Blanc, 
 could see nothing of them. Dr. Angus Smith, '' pretending 
 " to no knowledge, such as is required of a man who treats 
 
 • Chemistry in its applications to Agriculture and Physiology. Edited from the 
 
 Manuscript of the Author by Lyon Playfair, Ph. D.F.G.S., 1843. R. Hon. 
 
 C.B., F.R.S., LL.D., (Edinburgh and St. Andrew's Universities), Chairman of 
 Ways and Means, and Deputy Speaker of the House of Commons, &c., &c., &c.
 
 16 
 
 " disease, but who .speaks as a clieminf,'^ found himself 
 " unable to proceed because of otlicr duties, and requested the 
 *• Commission ("Cattle Plague Third Report") to seek the 
 " aid of Dr. Crooks, F.R.S.," and he has decided that 
 " the prodigious procreative power of tlie original particle 
 " (of infectious disease) belongs only to the nature of an 
 " organised germ, capable of producing multiples of itself by 
 a process of nutrition and subdivision ;" and Dr. Letheby 
 informs us, that the germs or molecules are 100,000 part of an 
 inch in diameter. 
 
 Now, as for the microscopic examination, it was made 
 without result by Liebig, as I have already stated, twenty- 
 seven years ago. and it seems with no better luck now by Dr. 
 Beale and others. As for the vital germs : — 
 
 " The best definition of life involves something more 
 " tlian mere reproduction, namely, the idea of an active 
 " power exercised hy virtue of a definite form and production^ 
 ^'' and generation in a definite form. By chemical agency, we 
 " can produce the constituents of muscular fibre, skin and 
 " hair, but we cannot form by their means an organised 
 '' tissue, or an organic celV^ — Liebig. 
 
 To generate life, life must precede it. 
 
 Nature works hy uniform laios, anil the laAV of disease and 
 its communication as laid down by the medical officer, and 
 promulgated by the Privy Council, is that each disease had 
 originally its parent from which it has descended as regularly as 
 dog from dog, and cat from cat. A dog cannot breed a cat, nor 
 a cat a dog. '^ To talk of testing spontaneous generation, is as 
 if one talked of sp)ontaneous combustion amid a co7itinuous dis- 
 charge of fireworks.''^ Tliis illustration is not very ]ia])py. 
 Spontaneous ignition constantly takes place under circum- 
 stances apparently adverse. Hay-ricks take fire by moisture, 
 and recently a house was set on fire by water. Some lime 
 was placed in the attics for rojiairs to tlie roof, rain entered, 
 slaked the lime, and spontaneous ignition followed. 
 
 But what liave "tlie two or three gentlemen connected
 
 17 
 
 " with tlie Boanl of Health, of great scientific attainments, 
 " who have pretty well ascertained the nature of all diseases, 
 '' whetlier contagious or infectious/' been about, to allow sucli 
 a theory as that of vital germs proceeding from putrid matter, 
 to remain uncontradicted? It is making corruption put on 
 incorruption and for an unworthy object. What have the 
 bench of bishops been about, what have the clergy of Great 
 Britain and Ireland been about, in their learned leisure or 
 active duties, that they do not protest against this mode of 
 dispensing with the necessity of a Creator? It is scarcely 
 necessary to state, that the wonder of creation does not consist 
 in the size of the animal. There is no more difficulty in 
 making a whale or an elephant, than one of those minute 
 creatures of which it is said : — 
 
 " Great fleas liave little fleas upon their backs to bite 'em, 
 " And they again have other fleas, and so ad infinitum.'' 
 
 In the Assyrian bas reliefs, the Warrior is the biggest 
 man. The biggest man is not always the best man in 
 these days. 
 
 The seclusion, isolation, &c., in the story of the Leper of 
 Aosta, to avoid danger to the public health, is recommended 
 strongly by the Medical Officer of the Privy Council, at the 
 end of a Report " On Diseases prevailing, or said to be 
 prevailing, in the North of Europe," but which had, in f\ict, 
 nothing communicable about them. 
 
 " The very alarming rumour which excited his Lordship's 
 (President of the Council) vigilance," caused two gentlemen 
 to be employed, at a cost of £396 15s., on a mission to 
 Russia, for the purpose of investigating certain diseases, 
 Meningitis spino-cerebralis for one. The conclusion, how- 
 ever, arrived at, was that, because no danger Avas to be 
 apprehended, therefore a system of inland quarantine would he 
 very desirable. 
 
 " Such reasoning falls like an inverted cone, 
 AVanting its proper base to stand upon." 
 
 " Have you a strawberry mark on your arm ? No ! Then 
 
 B
 
 18 
 
 come to my arms, my long-lost child I" This is ^Yhat is 
 meant by being, "■ on the safe side ; " and how many follies and 
 cruelties are committed on this side? It was tlie safe side 
 on which the Priest and the Levitc passed. It is the safe 
 side that is advocated in a letter signed, rather equivocally, 
 J. 0. 11, in the ^' Pall Mall Gazette," August 18th, 18G6, 
 during the cholera visitation. Lludcr the head of " Village 
 dangers," the writer says they have everything they can wish 
 for in the way of medical attendance in his village — nurses, 
 comforts, &c., hut the poor people will visit each other in 
 affliction, and say, " I am not afeared, and I like to be 
 neighbourly." Job is "afeared" of a sickly child in a peram- 
 bulator, and anticipates that disease and death will follow in its 
 wake. He hf.s kindly spared us the recital of what followed. 
 
 Many travellers may recollect our Consul (Mr. Cartwright) 
 at Constantinople some forty years ago. He had the ijlague^ 
 and underwent the ''lodgment and seclusion" advocated by 
 the Privy Council. But of all the horrors of his experience, 
 when his friends died around him, and Avhen passing his 
 hand over his body he felt the fatal lump under his arm, 
 there was one trial greater still reserved for Iiim, and that 
 was when he returned into the town, convalescent, and per- 
 fectly free from taint of disease, longing for the society of 
 which he had so long been deprived, and to which he con- 
 tributed so much ; as he walked down the streets, he saw his 
 friends passing on the safe side. AVhat has become of the 
 ])lague? Eothen was in the midst of it. lie survived, but 
 the plague is defunct, or, at least, it terrors are.* 
 
 But let me give a fact or two illustrative of the action of 
 quarantine. Supposing that the Vice-President of the Com- 
 mittee of Council on Education was not entirely correct in 
 saying, " Quarantine was instituted on commercial grounds 
 alone/' 
 
 • I revoke this statement. Its terrors are not defunct. The so-called Astrachan 
 Pl;i"uc has had its commercial as well as political t.^rrors and '^anic fears to suit 
 Russian diplomacy and a British nobleman.
 
 19 
 
 Take the case of 
 
 A CHOLERA SHIP OFF SYRA. 
 
 " A few (lays, very few, before the steamer's time had expired, a ship 
 arrived from Alexandria which actually had the cholera on board. Twenty 
 or more had died and were thrown overboard on the voyage, as we after- 
 wards learned, and several more were sick. As she came into the quaran- 
 tine anchoring-ground and cast anchor she dragged some distance, and 
 seemed in a fair way to drift against the armed cutter which was doing 
 duty as ijiKO'da-costa and capo-ijuardiano. The brave fellow (I hope he 
 wasn't a sailor) ran out his guns, and prepared to sink the ship and all on 
 board, lest she should come into contact with him. That scene is one I 
 can never forget and hardly ever forgive : the huddled passengers driven 
 on deck by the pestilence and heat, and, doubtless, already in a frenzy of 
 fear from the perils within, found themselves met on the threshold of 
 deliverance from their awful fellow- voyager by the open mouths of Greek 
 carronades. Women shrieked and men howled with fright ; all prayed, 
 supplicating the gods and the captain ; the i/uanla-costd people were in a 
 worse panic, if possible — shouted orders and counter orders, ran out a gun 
 and ran it in again, threatened, prayed, and cursed, as though doom was on 
 them. This horror of the cholera seemed to have become a madness in the 
 Greek mind. Our sailors gave the wretches the benefit of much good and 
 strong English, which, I fear, was sadly wasted, and would have been equally 
 so had it been equally good Greek, but I noticed that our guanliann was 
 stricken with fear at the bare idea of the vicinity of the infected ship. 
 What the extent of the contagion was we knew not, of course ; but the 
 hurrying and trepidation of the people on board and in the boat which 
 came alongside made it evident that something unusual was going on. 
 The boat lay far off, and the officers shouted very loudly ; and we heard 
 afterwards from the quarantine boat that there were four or five dead of 
 cholera on board, whom they wanted to send on shore to be buried, but 
 this was refused as dangerous ; then to be permitted to sink them in the 
 sea — this was still less to be allowed. They begged for a doctor — no one 
 would go ; (juardiani even would not go on board, for any compensation, 
 and they rowed away, leaving her to her fate. We shortly after received 
 an intimation that by reason of this new arrival all ships in quarantine at 
 
 that time must stay fourteen days more Here was the ship of the 
 
 ancient mariner, in sooth — anchored only, but with anchors almost useless 
 on that tranquil sea, the fiery sun above, and the glassy water below, and 
 nothing to'l)reak that awful monotony but the merciless quarantine-boat 
 coming to ask and refuse. We could see the people on the ship gather on 
 the forecastle and in the rigging, looking out to the land, which, brown 
 and dry as it was, was to them a refuge. The second and the third day 
 came, and the dead multiplied, until ten or a dozen corpses were on board. 
 Still no physician, no landing, no burial even ; and the plague stricken 
 ship and its dying cargo lay still under the August sun. The third day the 
 crew received permission to put the bodies overboard, tied with ropes, that 
 they might not drift away and carry to some accursed Greek community 
 the plague it merited. I may be unjust, but those days have made me 
 detest and al)hor the vei'y name of Syra and its people. We saw the dead 
 lowered overboard, one by one, and with glasses could see them floating 
 alongside, horrible to sight and fixncY.'"--C'ornhill Maijaz'uie for February, 
 1800. 
 
 B 2
 
 20 
 
 But they rather ovcrtlo the thing in Greece, while they 
 are too lax in Turkey. We shall find common sense in 
 America ; and this is how they perform 
 
 QUARANTINE AT NEW YORK. 
 
 " We have already called attention, with some warmth, to the manner 
 ill which tlie sick were removed from the Virginia to the hospital ship 
 Falcon. The furmal report on this matter rendered yesterday by Dr. Daltun 
 to the Board of Health will, if we are not mistaken, cause pufilic indi<,'na- 
 tion to turn iiercely against whoever is to blame for this stujtid and cruel 
 proceeding. Nothing in heartlessness, laziness, indifference, and want of 
 contrivance in the history of Turkish and Oriental (juarantines ever sur- 
 passed this. Here, as I)r' Stone remark.s, comes into port, ' a poor devil of 
 a captain, with a pest-house under his command, and he dare not move 
 here or there lest he should violate some law, and nobody is there to tell 
 him what course to pursue. So a thousand human beings are imprisoned 
 many hours longer than they need be, in the midst of death in its most 
 fearful forms.' For thirty-six hours this floating pest-house lay without 
 succour or message fmm the shore; the steerage was crowded with the 
 sick and the dying, and the dead towed in boats at the stern. These hundreds 
 of poor men and women, thus f >rced to cling to what they considered a 
 charnel-house, without proper medical aid, are constantly on the verge of 
 riot and mutiny, in order to force their way out from the poisonous ship. 
 The first supplies that came from the shore, we are assured by a passenger, 
 were three barrels of saw-dust ! When at length the sick are to be removed, 
 there is no steamtug or proper means of transference. The poor dying 
 emigrants are tied into a rude seat made from a hogshead and lowered 
 front the yardarm, under the hot sun, after much difliculty, into one row- 
 boat, and then again hoisted into the Falcon. Tliree persons on an average 
 are thus transferred in three-quarters of an hour. One poor woman died 
 during the process, and no doubt the majority of the others died afterwards. 
 It forcibly occurs to the quarantine i>flicials that this is a very slow and 
 cruel process, and on the urgent representation of the sanitary superin- 
 tendent of the city, they condescended to request the captain to assist them 
 with tlie shii)'s boats. W'a cannot wonder that after this performance the 
 cholera raged fearfully in the hospital ship. . . There ought to be some 
 place where, after the weary voyage, the quarantine jiatient can step on 
 shore, and where the poor steerage passengers can escape the effluvia and 
 ])oison generated in those close holds after a long crowding of human beings 
 together." — Xcir York Tiincf, Mai/, 18G6. 
 
 Here, however, is the true balm of Gilead : — 
 
 " The Custom-house officials of New York are furnished with small 
 vials, containing each an ounce of some greyish cholera mixture, with 
 which they immediately dose each person, sick or well, who arrives in that 
 port."— /^a// Mall Gazette, August ith, 1866. 
 
 This is acting on the safe side. 
 
 But, how do wc act in England with regard to the 
 cholera? In his 8th Report, the Medical Officer of the Privy
 
 21 
 
 Council saySj '• I have no hesitation in asserting that England 
 ought to resist cholera by Quarantine." The infect iveness of 
 the disease belongs to the dejecta of cholera patients, " which 
 acquire tlieir maximum of infective power, while undergoing 
 decomposition." The ''Pall Mall Gazette," writing in May, 
 1866, has this article, anticipating by two or three months 
 the Report. 
 
 QUARANTINE FOR CHOLERA. 
 
 " The ' Post' trusts that the Order in Council for placing the ' Helvetia' 
 in quarantine at Liverpool may not be, and may not he construed to be, an 
 indication of any disposition to return to the system on the part of this 
 country. In truth, the time of quarantine has passed away. It is now 
 recognized that of all methods of preventing the spread of infection none can 
 he more unwise — as undoubtedly none can be more ungenerous — than to 
 intensify the disease where it already exists by keeping the victims shut 
 up together in the narrow walls wherein it hrst appeared, debarred from 
 all the chances of recovery that the succour of the rest of the world can 
 give, and at the same time to condemn those of them not yet infected to 
 the peril of a forced contact with those — and those only — who are already 
 suffering from the infection. The mental torture of such a situation might 
 well be enough to induce disease even where there was no predisposition to 
 it. Quarantine regulations have been and are disappearing, one by one, 
 from the statute books of all enlightened European nations. The public 
 mind is apt to take very sudden and somewhat unreasoning alarm on 
 matters of this sort, and there does not appear to be ground for indulging 
 in panic at present ; but at any rate, if it should hereafter appear that the 
 cholera is to be expected — of which we shall certainly have good warning 
 from the Continent — it would be the wisest plan to render compulsory the 
 erection in every considerable seaport town of hospitals such as that at 
 Liverpool, where the sick can be properly attended, and have at least all 
 those chances of recovery which human skill and care can give, instead of 
 seeking to resort to the barliarous system of cutting oft' from them all 
 chance of recovery by keeping them cooped up together, and cut off" from 
 proper succour, in the narrow limits of their vessel. As regards the 
 'Helvetia,' the ' Tost' thinks the Privy Council have acted with prudence 
 and discretion, and trusts that they will not be induced to do more than 
 that, at any rate, in order to meet the fears which are so easily excited 
 upon slender grounds, and with so much difhculty allayed." — Pall Mall 
 Gazette, May, 186<J. 
 
 The '• safe side,''' however, was taken at Liverpool. 
 
 " The National Steam Navigation Company have resolved to burn all 
 the fittings and the beds on board the ' Helvetia ' at once, and also those 
 on the ' War Cloud ' and ' Jesse ]\Iunn,' as soon as their occupants are 
 removed. The emigrants' luggage has been landed and handed over to 
 them. All the vessels will be thoroughly fumigated." — Times, May \7th, 
 1866.
 
 22 
 
 Wliy was this pestilent young woman allowed to go at 
 large, " not afearcl and liking to be neighbourly?"' 
 
 " Among the emigrants at Birkenhead there is a young woman, about 
 twenty-live or twenty-six years of age (a German), who can speak the 
 English language. This young person, without hesitation, oftered her 
 services nut only to interpret, but as a nurse, and in both these capacities 
 she acted until the appuintmont cf a regular interpreter and a staff' of 
 nurses. Her noble and disinterested services on behalf of her suffering 
 countrymen having become known in Birkenhead, a number of benevolent 
 persons raised a subscription, and on Tuesday Dr. Robertson, the Medical 
 Officer of Health, as their medium, presented her with about £10, and 
 informed her that it was also intended to give her a gold watch, bearing a 
 suitable inscription, as a reward for her exertions to alleviate the sufferings 
 of her fellow passengers in a strange land." — Times, Mmj 11 th, 186(>. 
 
 I recollect an analogous case occurring (with different 
 results) during a cholera visitation in Rome. A young 
 surgeon went about doing what he could to benefit his 
 townsfolk. The report spread that he was disseminating 
 the disease. The people rose, and tore him to pieces in 
 the ])ublic streets, to he on the safe side. 
 
 But here is another case for condemnation (?) : The Cottage 
 Hospital, North Ormesby, Middlesbrough. 
 
 "REGULATIONS FOR PROBATIONERS AND NURSES. 
 
 " 10. To attend the sick, both poor and rich, at hospitals or private 
 houses, by night or by day. After eight weeks" attendance upon int'ccliutis 
 cases the nurse must return, or be exchanged for another." 
 
 In the " Pall Mall Gazette" of August 25th, 18()G, will 
 be found a letter, signed Forbes Wiuslow, M.D., '' On the 
 Depressing Passions in Relation to Cholera," 
 
 I will take the liberty of adding, that it is a common 
 tradition, in the Iionio of the King Cholera., that he was met 
 coming out of a village in which a number of deaths had 
 occurred, and was accused of being the cause. He stoutly 
 denied the charge, adding, that lie had only killed one, while 
 fear had killed tlie rest. 
 
 It has been said, too, with some truth, as I venture to 
 submit, that King Dirt and King Drunkenness have often as 
 much to do with di.-^ease at home as the arrival of the parent 
 disease from abroad. At any rate, the stiggcstion is worthy
 
 23 
 
 of consideration. At Mauritius " the most stringent qiiaran- 
 " tine regulations are in force, but sanitary regulations in the 
 " town are overlooked. The Coolie population is dirty in 
 " the extreme." 
 
 But as I do not affect originality, I shall do best by giving 
 the following extract from a Southampton paper of December 
 15th, 1866. I have refrained from mentioning names, or I 
 could have adduced the authority of men of great practical 
 knowledge (at Southampton and elsewhere), who have written, 
 conclusively, as I think, on the non-infectious nature of the 
 cholera and yellow fever. The latter is now admitted at 
 head-quarters. 
 
 " CHOLERA AND YELLOW FEVER. 
 
 "As the question of the contagiousuess and possible importation of 
 such diseases as the above has recently formed the subject of discussion in 
 our columns, our readers will doubtless be interested in the perusal of the 
 following extracts from a very able work recently published by Dr.Shrimpton, 
 of Paris, upon ' Cholera ; its Seat, Nature, and Treatment.' Having quoted 
 the opinions of several eminent physicians of the Indian Army, together 
 with a number of irresistible facts adduced by them to show the non- 
 contagious character of cholera, Dr. Shrimpton says : — 
 
 " When we see the disease breaking out on the same day, September 19th, 
 1865, at Cette, Aries, Aix, and Courbevoie ; on October 1st, at Nancy and 
 St. Cloud ; the 5th, at j\Ielun ; the 6th, at Caen and St. Germain ; appearing 
 simultaneously at distances so great from each other, how is it possible to 
 prove that contagion spreads ' gradually frum commune to commune, from 
 house to house, from individual to individual V No, the disease is not 
 propagated in this way. Not only does the disease appear suddenly in 
 persons the most distant from each other, but one or more persons may be 
 attacked at the same time in a family, in a house, or in a public establish- 
 ment. No one has ever seen cholera transmitted fron one individual to 
 another. Cases are well known of children that had bee :i suckled by their 
 mothers affected with cholera until the last moments of their existence, 
 without having taken the disease; Again children at the breast that have 
 died of cholera have not given the disease to their mothers {de la Berge et 
 Monnerct CoiujU'iidiuiu, page 272). 
 
 "If we were now asked what was our personal opinion on the manner 
 in which cholera is propagated we would answer as follows : the disease is 
 not propagated by contagion, by infection, by poison, or by any emanation 
 from the bodies of cholera patients. 
 
 " Everything in cholera seems to preclude the idea of contagion ; there 
 is no period of incubation, no virus, no miasma ; even the nature of the 
 disease itself, its seat, and its mode of propagation are quite opposed to all 
 the principles of action of contagion. 
 
 " A^o infection. — Where are the ferments, the effluvia, the miasmata of 
 cholera'? No one has ever discovered the least trace of these mephitic
 
 24 
 
 gasos, of those iiiicrozo:iii\'S, of which there has been so much talk. The 
 atmosphero has not the least been infected with antiscjttics and preparations 
 <it chlururcs, A'c, under the pretext uf destroying these supposed microzoaires, 
 and neutralising the supposed gases, of which there never has been the 
 least trace discovered. Finally, have we not seen, and do we not every day 
 see, that cholera respects the most unhealthy jdaces, and devastates others 
 which are in the most perfect sanitary condition '. 
 
 " -Vo poison. — We cannot help saying that in the embarrassment of 
 finding a means of propagation for cholera, and being determined that 
 there should be one, the contagionists have been obliged to declare that 
 there is poison, but the presence of this jioison has never been shown, nor 
 its nature explained. 
 
 '' \o ciinnift/ion. — There is no emanation from the bodies of cholera 
 patients ; this would be equally impossible during life and after death. 
 
 '' ])uring life the bodies are dried up and are coM, even below the 
 temperature of tlie surrounding atmosphere ; the laws of chemistry as well 
 as the laws of life are suspended, the very breath is cold — icy cold. Under 
 such circumstances it is very evident that there never could be any 
 emanation. 
 
 " After death the bodies of cholera patients do not immediately enter 
 into decomposition, for after the cessation of the disease by death, the 
 animal heat which could not be obtained during life, returns to the body 
 for a short time, and thus prevents immediate decomposition. It is evident 
 then thut the bodies cannot produce tliose fetid emanations so much dreaded 
 from deaths from zymotic causes. 
 
 '''Mode of jirojiit'jtitio)! and ctiuliK/i/. — If cholera Avore a contagious 
 disease, we should be able easily to follow its course from jilace to place, 
 from date to date, to show how it was imported ' by Arab jdlgrims.' and 
 even that it •came by the fresh water canal from Fell-el-Keber by the 
 iiiarket-W()men.' But as such is not the ease, our task is much more 
 diflicult ; we shall have to follow it in all its meanderings, its erratic 
 course, without any guide, in the liope of discovering something of its mode 
 of ])ri)pagation and its etiology. 
 
 "The disease always makes its api)earance in diflerent distant parts of 
 a country at the same moment, frequently even before it has visited the 
 neighbouring countries. It is impossible to trace out its direct mute. It 
 leajis fmm north to south, from east to west, in every direction, and often 
 to immense distances without to\u'hiiig the intermediate country. 
 
 " It is impossible to establish the filiation of the disease when it declares 
 itself suddenly in a city, in the centre of a country, where there has not 
 been one single case of cholera. Ca«es occur at the same instant in jilaees 
 not only the most distant from each other, but also without any possible 
 connnunication between the ])atients ; in the cells of jirisons, in convents, 
 in hospitals, il'c, »V'c., in the most healthy as well as in the most unliealthy 
 places ; amongst all classes of society, the rich and jioor ; the valid and the 
 invalid. Thus this terrible disease apjjcars to us to break through all the 
 laws tliat contagious diseases are subject to. 
 
 "Is it not then most unreasonaliie to inflict the rigours of quarantine 
 laws on nations, to interrupt the intercourse between people, and to create 
 terror, which never fails to s])read the disease / 
 
 '' Then as to the suj)posed ellicacy of disinfectants. Dr. Shrimpton thus 
 expresses himself : — 
 
 " With regard to disinfectants, as a preventive measure, we reject them 
 altogether. All the cxpcrimeuts which Lave bccu abuudautly tried have
 
 25 
 
 sufficiently proved their tliorougli iiicfficacy. The fumigations of chlorine 
 would appear to be not only inefficacious, but really injurious, ' all the men 
 employed in some laboratories in the preparation of this substance (chloride 
 of lime) died.' {Cholera Morhu.^, Fabre, p. 222}. The enormous quantity 
 of chlorate of lime which is found in every corner of the streets of Paris, 
 serves only to infect the atmosphere and frighten the people. There is 
 nothing in cholera to disinfect, and under all circumstances, there is but 
 one absolute disinfectant, and this is cleanliness. 
 
 Dr. Shapter, of Exeter, had ]n-eviously given ])ublicity to very similar 
 opinions with respect to yellow fever, in one of the original dissertations 
 contributed by him to 'The System of Practical j\Iedicine.' Therein he 
 expresses himself in favour of the theory of non-contagion, and says : — 
 ' From what has just been said upon the causes of this fever it may be well 
 understood that we should not be inclined to estimate among its preven- 
 tives the system of separation entailed by the quarantine laws, with their 
 train of hardships and inconveniences. * * '■' * Experience has 
 shown that very little reliance is to be placed upon the disinfecting mix- 
 tures that have been proposed with the view of altering the constitution of 
 the atmosphere, and by this means destroying the malaria which may exist 
 in it.' 
 
 "We commend these opinions to the attention of the authorities who 
 have recently enforced quarantine regulations at this port to an almost 
 unprecedented extent ; and at the same time we would respectfully suggest 
 that they might be combated, if possible, by those who proclaim their 
 belief in contagion and disinfectants." 
 
 '' The water cholera theory of the Pvegistrar-General is not yet accepted 
 by scientific men as proved, for a good many reasons, of which we shall 
 probably hear more as the more deliberately worked out reports of the 
 medical officers of health and the special commissioners of the Privy 
 Council are completed and published. ^Meantime it has been a matter of 
 difficulty to merely practical and unscientific persons to understand how, 
 amongst a pojiulation of whom a very small proportion ever drink unboiled 
 water, the cholera should be so widely si)read by that agent. "Will the 
 jtrevalence of adulteration help to solve the difficulty ? Beer, we all know- 
 to be largely adulterated with unboiled water, and London milk equally or 
 more so. Even country milk, it appears from a statement in a medical 
 contemporary, is not free from admixture with water drawn from surface- 
 Avells suspiciously near to cesspools, and dungheaps, and drains. "We have 
 no hope of stopping tliis sophistication ; but may we appeal to the con- 
 sciences of the adulterators — or such remnants of conscience as may be 
 presumed to be in their possession — to boil the water before they adulterate 
 our beer and our milk ? It would, perhaps, be too great a stretch of indul- 
 gence to expect that it should be filtered through charcoal." — Pall Mall 
 Gazette, December, 1866. 
 
 And the Ecport of the Elvers' Commission, May Gth, 1867, 
 
 gives very poor encouragement to the water-poisoning theory. 
 
 But, interesting as is the subject of cholera, I must leave
 
 26 
 
 it for another Question in the House on scarlet fever, June 
 IStli, ISGG* 
 
 "SCARLET FEVER. 
 
 "Sir J. C. Jervoise asked the Vice-President of the Committee of 
 Council on lilducation whetlier his attention had been directed to the state- 
 ment of the medical officer of the Privy Council (First Report, Cattle 
 Plapne Commission, p. 46) — 'AVe constantly see in our practice that the 
 physician carries home scarlet fever to his children without taking it him- 
 self, carrying the infection in his dress or about his person;' and what 
 measures were contemplated to arrest this source of danger to the public health? 
 
 " Mr. Bruce said that the Government did not sec their way to any 
 eflective legislation on this subject at present." 
 
 The Question implies such carelessness on the part of a 
 profession " that has pretty well a.gccrtained the nature of 
 all diseases," that we can only hope the statement is in- 
 correct. That it is so, we may conclude from the " Report 
 '' of the late Epidemic of Scarlet Fever among Children at 
 " Aldershot Camp, April 20, 1866," from which the follow- 
 ing is an extract, given to the Vice-President of the Council 
 on Education, on notice of the following Question, ]\Iarch 
 26th, 1867 :— 
 
 " INFECTIOUS DISEASES. 
 
 " Sir J. C. Jervoise inquired of the Vice-President of Council on 
 
 Education whether his attention had been called to the report of the com- 
 mission on yellow fever at liiTmuda, 18.5(5 ; report of committee on yellow 
 fever at Bermuda, LsG4 ; report df the late epidemic of scarlet fever among 
 children at Aldershot, ISGG ; and what conclusion was to bo draAvn from 
 these reports as to the infectious nature of the disea.ses referred to I 
 
 " Lord R. ^IoNT.\(;u said that he did not think that these reports led 
 to any novel conclusions as to the infectious character of diseases." 
 
 " No nurse nor mother was aftected. 
 
 " Dr. Barry can give no information as to the manner of 
 " the introduction of the di.^casc into his family. 
 
 " lias no reason to suppose he conveyed the infection 
 " into any other family he attended. ^Mothers and other 
 " relatives Averc admitted to see patient.'', and to go back- 
 " wards and forward.^, yet in no instance was disease known 
 " to be conununlcatcd in this way." 
 
 * When the Jews were ]H'rs(.'ciit(l, vill.ngcs plundered, old and yoiing drrnvned in 
 tho Danube, a represenUition was made by Lord Stanley to M. Br.itiano, at the time 
 Minister to Prince Charles of Uoumania. His reply was that thev were vagabonds 
 who spread Cholera.
 
 27 
 
 How comes it that medical men, not named, carry scarlet 
 fever in tlieir clothes while they themselves are unaffected, 
 and yet that a medical man, whose name is given, v/ho had 
 the disease before him, " with an opportmiity rarely occurring 
 '' of attempting to trace the history of scarlet fever in its 
 "■ progress tln-ough a given population," could not, by any 
 possible means, detect its infectious qualities ?* 
 
 We already are informed that the infectious nature of 
 yellow fever is negatived, but the reports, such as that of 
 which I gave the extract above, did not lead the Privy 
 Council " to any novel conclusions as to the infectious cha- 
 racter of diseases." TJic profession have decided that their 
 members, knowingly, are constantly carrying home to their 
 children scarlet fever. To how many of their patients, then, 
 must they have communicated the disorder before doing so 
 to their own families ? The number is only limited by the 
 daily arrangement of their visits. The country practitioner 
 can make no such arrangement. " First come first served:" 
 he carries on for the rest of the day a hodge podge of disease, 
 escaping miraculously himself. In reply to my Question on 
 this subject, in 1866, the Vice-President of Council on 
 Education did not see any way to legislation on this subject. 
 
 Leprosy, consumption, yellow fever, have ceased to be 
 considered infectious^ unless bad air is meant by the term ; 
 but a foul well, a sewer, will kill those who enter it, and so 
 did the Black Hole at Calcutta. A long course of breathing 
 foul air is admitted to be the cause of typhus, or typhoid 
 fever. No germs are required for this. If disease originates 
 spontaneously in one case, it may in all, and no proof 
 can be found of its subsequent spread by infection, sup- 
 posing always that the definition, as given by me, be 
 correct. Quarantine will be useless if this proposition be 
 true. That it is kept up for other than sanitary purposes is 
 admitted. Commercial interests are- involved in its main- 
 
 * A review at Aldershot was put off in consequence of Her Majesty the Queen 
 being advised of the danger.
 
 28 
 
 tenance, perhaps political aldo ; at least I interred so wlien I 
 saw the anomalous conduct of the French authorities, referred 
 to below. 
 
 THE CHOLERA. 
 
 "SiK J. C. jEiivoifB asked the Vice-President of the Committee of 
 Council on Educutiou whether the attention of the medical olhccr of the 
 Privy Council had been directed to a statement in the ' Morning Star ' of 
 the 25th of Octuher, 1865, that the Emperur and Eni]iress of the French 
 had visited the cholera hospitals at Paris, and that M. Gustavc Uirard had 
 made experiments in demonstration of the non-infectious nature of the 
 cholera. 
 
 "Mr. r)RrcE said that the medical officer of the Privy Council was 
 cognizant of the conduct of the illustrious personages in question, whuse 
 courage and humanity on that occasion had excited such general admiration. 
 He was also aware of the daring experiments made by M. Girard, who 
 had placed upon his tongue the moisture of the brow and the fur from the 
 tongue of a man who had died of Cholera. 13ut, in the first place, such an 
 experiment only proved the insusceptibility to that disease of M. Girard, 
 and by no means proved that the experiment might be tried with equal 
 safety by other persons. Even, if held conclusive on that point, it did not 
 in the slightest measure invalidate the position taken by the medical 
 officer of the Privy Council with respect to the infectiousness of that 
 disease. The hon. baronet had, moreover, overlooked the fact that, as the 
 French Government Avas at present strongly advocating quarantine pre- 
 cautions against cholera in the East, it might be presumed that their 
 medical advisers entertained the same opinion as the medical adviser of the 
 English Government on the subject of M. Girard's experiments." — I'iiitcs, 
 April 20/h, 1866. 
 
 In tlic paper quoted, and on the same side of the sheet, 
 was the account referred to, in an article headed " Paris," 
 in which it was stated that M. Drouyn dc L'Huy.-^ had pro- 
 posed a Cholera Congres.sat Constantinople. The first notice 
 of this Congress informed us that the French had suggested 
 an energetic, course — namelv, armed ships in the Ked Sea, to 
 watch tlie Egyptian and Arabian coast ; and what is still 
 more extraordinary, England was one of the first nations to 
 object to this hopeful precaution I I have asked this year the 
 Foreign Secretary^^ when the Report of the Congress woidd be 
 distributed ; but though the Congress concluded its labours in 
 October, 18(;('), and though the public journals have talked 
 of its Report, it has not '' reported." The English Commis- 
 sioners have '^ reported," but the Congress has not " reported ;" 
 
 • Lord Staniev. afterwards Lord Derbv.
 
 29 
 
 when tlie "Congress" does "report," then the "Report" Avill 
 be distributed. I confess, from the first time I read about this 
 Congress — and it was in a column of the " Star," alongside of 
 the one which mentioned the Emperor's visit to the Cholera 
 Hospitals — I have not believed in the sincerity of the pro- 
 ceeding ; it struck me as very improbable that the Emperor 
 of the French would risk his valuable life by exposing him- 
 self to cholera infection, if he thought it communicable at an 
 appreciahle distance. Nor would M. Girard have placed on 
 his tongue matter taken from cholera patients, if he thought 
 it communicable at an inappreciahle distance. The anomaly 
 of tlie suggestion for a Cholera Congress did not strike me as 
 extraordinary, but my suspicions, as to watching the Egyptian 
 and Arabian coasts, are probably as unworthy as those of 
 which France complained in 1820-1. A large force was col- 
 lected on the frontiers of Spain, on the ground of sanitary 
 precautions. Spain remonstrated ; France said they were 
 unworthy suspicions, and in 1822 invaded Spain with that 
 cordon sanitaire ? to the cry of " God and St. Louis," there 
 having been (in Spain) an infectious disorder of a political 
 character, from the germs of which France was anxious to be 
 protected, and so " stamped them out." But I am antici- 
 pating what it is unfair to suppose — namely, that the Cholera 
 Congress are not anxious to report. So far as we are per- 
 mitted to know, the English Commissioners have reported, 
 and their report is openly characterised as " unpractical and 
 irrational." 
 
 The history of small pox in the Small Pox Hospital is 
 not much known. It is not a Government institution. No 
 one is likely to volunteer inspection. 
 
 " For over all there hung a cloud of fear ; 
 A sense of loneliness the spirit daunted ; 
 And said, as plain as whisper to the ear, 
 The place is haunted." 
 
 It will be some consolation, however, to know that for 
 thirty years no case occurred among the attendants. Vacci- 
 nation will not secure this, nor inoculation either.
 
 30 
 
 Besides, tliere are other places — barracks, camps, s]iips,&c., 
 where only a very lax system of quarantine can Le kept up. 
 
 We must hope that direful consequences do not always 
 follow the breach of these observances, that they have not 
 been found necessary in the case below, on which I will not 
 comment further than to add that I suggested the possibility 
 of such an occurrence when the Public Health Bill of 186G 
 was going into Committee of the House. 
 
 "THE SANITARY ACT OF 18GC. 
 
 "The Linslade Bench of Magistrates have just made the /Irs I conviction, 
 under the 38th section of this Act, which enacts that ' any ])erson suH'eriiig 
 from any (Idiujrroiis iiifectidtis disorder who wilfully exposes himself, without 
 proper precaution against spreading the said disorder, in any street, public 
 place, or public conveyance, shall, on conviction of such oftcnce before any 
 justice, be liable to Ajwiuil/y not exceeding £.3.' It appears the case was 
 taken up at the instance of the Aylcslntry Board uf (juardmns, who 
 proceeded under the above clause, against Emanuel Cook, of Wingrave, 
 under these circumstances : — Cook had been for some time an inmate of 
 the ' roH(a</io>is uard,' or 'jusl-h-tiise,' attached to the Aylesbury Union 
 Workhouse, and was under treatment for small pox by Mr. linlnrl Ceili/, 
 the medical officer of that establishment. The man had expressed a desire 
 to go out and see his friends, but Mr. Ceely, being a/ <ijiiitiuu that such an 
 act would ueitlur /'arilil/ite the patient's recovery nor he conducive to the 
 public health, strictly forbade his leaving the premises. Regardless of this 
 veto, however. Cook managed to elude the observation of the parties in 
 charge of the pest-house, and escaped, proceeding while iu that condition 
 along the high road, through several populous villages, as far as Wingrave, 
 where he incauliotishi called at jjcople's houses, and, as they were aware 
 of his state, set the whole population in a terrible fritjht. lie was taken 
 back to the workhouse, but rejn'ated his ollence, which led the Guardians, 
 in the interest of the jiiiblic health, to institute the present prosecution. 
 The Bench severely commented on Cook's conduct, and as this Avas the first 
 hnown ease of the\ind wliich had come under the magisterial observation, 
 he was fiued in the mitigated penalty of 5s., and 12s. Gd. costs. The Bench 
 intimated their intention on the recurrence of any similar case to impose a 
 much heavier penalty." — Times. Mttij 11//;, 18(57. 
 
 And I now hope all the parties, and the country with them, 
 are not " compromised." 
 
 It will be found that public health and public wealth arc 
 more properly " interchangeable terms " than infection and 
 contagion; and to seek security from precautions of quarantine 
 tends only to mislead, and sometimes to generate the very 
 malady against which it ))rofesses to guard. T avow myself, 
 then, to be a disbeliever iu infection, and I will siiortly state
 
 31 
 
 the reasons for the want of faith that is in me. Communica- 
 tion of disease by inoculation is capable of demonstration, 
 logically and practically ; it is founded on a rock. 
 
 Infection and Contagion^ meaning- by the former the com- 
 munication of disease at an appreciable, and by the latter at 
 an inappreciable, distance, by mysterious protoplasms or 
 germs, which have never been proved to exist, are alike 
 untenable. Credo quia increddjile is the only foundation I 
 can 'find for these hypotheses. 
 
 It is certain that there were, during the late outbreak in 
 London and at Southainpton, audacious men who doubted 
 the infectious nature of the cholera. At a meeting at the 
 Mansion House a reverend gentleman suggested a mutton 
 chop and a glass of brandy and water as a remedy, while the 
 authorities elsewhere were pointing out poisoned water as the 
 cause, and (as a preventive) boiling every drop that was 
 drunk by a population that had scarcely a stick to burn in 
 the depth of winter to warm themselves with. At Preston 
 lime-wash and brushes were supplied, instead of the mutton 
 chop ; and the streets of London were watered with an 
 infusion of carbolic acid to kill the germs. 
 
 An evening paper confesses that to hint at cholera existing 
 in a provincial town is ruin to it, but adds, that Southampton 
 should have published the fact, instead of causing danger to 
 the public by not proclaiming its visitation. It did, however, 
 mention a clear case of "Asiatic Cholera." 
 
 The mate of a ship died tlie day after landing in perfect 
 health. He had only eaten eighteen eggs and two pounds of 
 cherries for supper. 
 
 To revert to the cholera poisoning the water of a com- 
 munity. This is an old belief of the Middle Ages, and the 
 remedy was to burn a few Jews, which gave great comfort 
 to those of another creed, and generally the disease was 
 ^^ stamped out ^^ by these means, in a longer or shorter time. 
 But these were superstitious times. Science works on solid 
 ground. Science is that which may be taught as well as learnt.
 
 32 
 
 We are taught, and wc ieavn by the statements referred to in 
 my questions of March 7th, here given. — Question 1, to 
 Secretary of State for Home Department, and answer. — 
 Question 2, to Vice-President of Committee of Council on 
 Education, and answer : — 
 
 INFECTIOUS DISEASES. 
 
 " Sir J. C. Jervoise asked the Secretary of State for the Home 
 Department Avhether the statement in the weekly report of the Registrar- 
 General, Novem])er 17, l^fifj, that Dr. Kranklaiid had investigated some of 
 the physical properties of cholera-stuft" (cholerine) was exactly true; and 
 •whether it was the intention of Iler Majesty's Government to introduce 
 any measure tending to obviate the loss, alarm and injustice consequent 
 on the theory of the infectious nature of certain diseases, when unsupported 
 by demonstration. 
 
 '■ Mr. Walpole said he would not undertake to say whether the report 
 was scientifically true ; but as soon as the notice of the question was put 
 upon the paper, he sent tn the Registrar-General to make inquiries respecting 
 it, and he (Mr. Walpole) had been infurmcil by him that the report of Dr. 
 Frankland. who was a very eminent cliemist, was, no doubt, in the appendi.v 
 to the Registrar-General's report of JS'ovember last, and that he considered 
 it a very valuable document. Perhaps he (Mr. Walpole) had better read 
 the paragraph of the Registrar-General's letter, which would be a more 
 complete answer to the lion, gentleman's question : — ' I consider such 
 publication tends to put the public on their guard, with a view to exercise 
 greater care in destroying what is sup])osed to increase the number of 
 cliolera cases.' I am ntit aware of any bill upon this subject which it may 
 be advisable for her Majesty's Government at present to offer to the con- 
 sideration of i^irliament."' 
 
 CHOLERA CONTAGION. 
 
 " Sir J. Jervoise asked the Vice-President of the Committee of Council 
 on Education whether his attention had been called to the report of the 
 medical oOiccr <>{ tlic Privy Council (18G(i}, in wliich he states, pp. :50-40, 
 the mode in which cludera-contagium isg(>nerated ; whether tiie discoverer 
 had (livulgcil his metliod of obtaining that deadly agent ; and. if not, why 
 not ; and whether the annual report of the medical otlicer, which was not 
 accessible to members till towards the end of July in the last, would be so 
 at an early period in this Session. 
 
 "Mr. CoHRY said the opinions expressed in the paragraph referred to 
 were not those of a single discoverer, but were the results of the investigation 
 of a number of scientilic men. With regard to the rei)ort, he could niit 
 hold out any hope that it would be laid ujion the table mucli earlier than 
 it was last year." 
 
 Dr Frankhand hud been trying experiments with eluilcrine, 
 and science informs us tliat by words ending in *' ine '' organic 
 bases are understood, ^'as morphine, quinine, nicotine, &e., ttc." 
 
 The Medical Officer of the Privy Council, too, has been 
 trying experiments with " Cholera Contagium," and science
 
 83 
 
 tells us that by words ending in '' urn '' metallic elements are 
 named, as potassimn, sodium, magnesium," &c., &c. 
 
 We have thus two great discoveries in chemistry. (The 
 latter was not that of a single discoverer.) 
 
 There is a story of an ingenious artist having discovered 
 the method of rendering glass malleable. On taking it to his 
 sovereign he was asked whether he had divulged his secret 
 to anyone else, and on his replying in the negative, the 
 despotic ruler ordered him off instantly to execution, for, 
 said he, such an invention would supersede the use of all 
 other materials and cause ruin to thousands. Fortunately we 
 live under a milder rule ; the former of these discoverers is 
 not in danger of his life ; nor is it probable that the number 
 of scientific men will be rewarded. But what becomes of the 
 answer of the Home Secretary to my question ? He would 
 not undertake to say whether it was true or not, but it was 
 published as a very valuable document tending to put the imhlic 
 on their guard in dealing with ivhat were supposed to be cholera 
 cases. 
 
 Am I wrong in classing this statement among the pious 
 frauds we have heard of, asserting what is not true, that good 
 may come of it ? 
 
 That the Report of the Medical Officer of the Privy Council 
 should be withheld so long, and at such a juncture as the 
 present, is unreasonable. No doubt the gentlemen at the 
 Board of Health " have pretty Avell ascertained the nature of 
 all diseases ; " but why should we be kept so long in igno- 
 rance of what is going on there. 
 
 Nature acts by uniform laws. " We must get by what 
 we know, to what we wish to know." Whether I have 
 picked up a pebble on the shore of the great ocean of science, 
 or only found a viare^s nest, I leave it for others to decide. 
 If only the nest, I shall not stand alone. One hundred years 
 ago Smollett was on the look-out for Halcyon's nests floating 
 on the sea off the coasts of Nice and Genoa, but he did not 
 succeed in finding one. He did, however, discover at j\Iont- 
 

 
 34 
 
 pellicr (a place ^vith the name of wliicli everything that is 
 salubrious is still associated, and at that time celebrated for 
 the most skilled practitioner in Europe), " a very treacherous 
 climate, and an ignorant and rapacious quack doctor.'' 
 
 If it be admitted that the spread of a number of diseases 
 in man has eiToneously been attributed to infection, may we 
 not infer that the diseases in cattle arc open to the same 
 mistake ? It is pretended that the diseases of cattle are best 
 understood (as they ought to be), by veterinarians, but not 
 to the exclusion of physicians. Such exclusive dealing would 
 repudiate the maxim of " Fiat exjjerimentuni in corpore vili,^^ 
 and make vivisection a piece of wanton cruelty. Vaccination 
 would be relegated to the care, and to the advantage of the 
 cow-leech. And this reminds me that (in the Third Report 
 of the Commissioners on Cattle Plague, celebrated for tlie 
 beauty of its chromographs), there is a portrait of ^Ir. 
 Hancock's hand, as it appeared after having been inoculated 
 with the virus of that most terrific disease. The result being 
 that it was a complete, but simple case of vaccination. 
 Keitlicr more nor less. 
 
 But to the pebble, or the mare's nest. 
 
 In the second part of the volume, on Fermentation, 
 Putrefaction, and Decay, by Lie big, he suggests that diseases 
 in the blood may originate by a similar chemical fermentation. 
 For example, in the process of malting, the sacharine fermen- 
 tation is set up in the insipid barley. The wort made from 
 this undergoes the alcoholic fermentation and becomes beer. 
 This will ao-ain run into the acetous fermentation and turn 
 to vinegar, and that again into the putrid fermentation ; and 
 so into decay and dissolution. I have omitted the use of yeast, 
 because", though it might represent the contagious clement, it 
 is not necessary for the fermentation of beer, wine, or cider. 
 
 These may be regarded as so many diseases occurring 
 spontaneously, which having passed off, the beer is less likely 
 to undergo them a second time. 
 
 Stmilia simih'bus cura7itur ; and this has been alleged as
 
 35 
 
 a ground for expecting security from smallpox by inoculation 
 and vaccination; but homoeopathy does not pretend that similia 
 promiscuously administered in infancy will secure immunity 
 from similibus in after life. Liebig mentions a terrible dis- 
 order caused by eating the sausages of Wurtemberg, which 
 from tlieir composite character, are very liable to ferment ; 
 putrefaction taking place in the centre of the sausage, and com- 
 municating itself to the person who cats it in this state. Tlie 
 victim is consumed by a fermentation brought about by chemi- 
 cal action, in which likewise the disease itself had its origin. 
 
 But the gas emitted in each of these examples of fermen- 
 tation, differing entirely from the matter in which it originated, 
 cannot produce a similar chemical fermentation or disease. 
 Each process produces its own specific results alone. 
 
 The gas which is generated during the fermentation of 
 beer will suffocate before it will inebriate. Although the 
 sausage, fermenting spontaneously (if the statement be true) 
 is the parent of a dreadful disease, it throws out no infectious 
 vapour or molecule ; no poisonous matter can be detected in 
 the sausage ; " boiling water and alcohol destroy it, without 
 acquiring similar properties.'^ There is no sausagine denoting- 
 its active principle. " It is equally impossible to obtain such 
 a principle from the virus of small pox or plague." 
 
 What then becomes of the illustration, and the argument 
 founded on it, by the Medical Officer of the Privy Council, 
 when he says that diseases descend as regularly from a 
 parent as dog from dog and cat from cat, and that it would 
 be as irrational to look for the spontaneous origin of any 
 disease, as it would be to look for spontaneous combustion 
 during a discharge of fire-works. According to this theory 
 we must look for the cause of the cold caught in a damp 
 bed to the damp person who has slept in it. " When a 
 " known cause produces the same action in all cases sub- 
 " mitted for examination, we must revert to the same cause 
 " in considering the same actions in cases not examined, for 
 " we have no right to assign to it a new cause, in order to save 
 
 c 2
 
 36 
 
 " us tlio trouLlc of a clo.^ov invcistigatlon."' — Lielig. But 
 " we must get, tlirough facts that we know, to tliose wc want 
 " to know."— .IM. 
 
 In the year 185G-57, papers relating to the history and 
 practice of vaccination were presented to both Houses of 
 Parliament. The writer (\\x. Simon) states that " lymph, 
 '' under the influence of air and moisture tends, like other 
 " dead organic matter, to putrid decomposition," &c., &c. 
 Used in this state, it produces the same effect as that which 
 occurs sometimes in the dissecting theatre to the surgeon 
 who wounds himself in the operation. The disease which 
 follows (dangerous though it he) is not communicable, 
 "unless it be by similar process." In the Appendix to 
 these Papers will be found the foUoAving evidence by 
 Dr. Jcnner : — 
 
 " Reflecting that the operations of nature are generally uniform, <tc., 
 I now discovered that the virus of cow pox was liable to undergo the 
 progressive changes from the same causes precisely as that of small pox, 
 &c., the specific quality being lost. 
 
 " Here the close analogy between the virus of small pux and of cow pox 
 becomes remarkably conspicuous ; since the former, when taken from a 
 recent pustule and immediately used, gives the perfect small pox to the 
 person on wh(»m it is inoculated ; but when taken in a far-advanced stage 
 of the disease, or when (although taken early) previously to its insertion, 
 it may be exposed to such agents as, according to the established laws of 
 nature, cause its decomposition, it can no longer be relied on as effectual." — 
 Evidence given before a Comudttee of the J/ouse of Conunnns, Miireli 22nd, 
 1802, //// Dr. .Tenner, pp. 1,2. 
 
 l*h-om these facts, we may safely infer that the gas 
 proceeding from Avhat is termed an infectious disease could not 
 resist the action of such agents as, according to the established 
 laws of nature, cause its decomposition. 
 
 Wc cannot suppose that the emanation from the virus of 
 small pox or other disease remains unchanged and unchange- 
 able tlirough all the phases of the disease thus enumerated — 
 invasion, incubation, eruption, desiccation, and desquamation. 
 
 It is difticult to imagine, for instance, how, when the dry 
 skin is peeling oft', in scarlet fever, ''desquamation" can be 
 "the most dangerous time;" whilst the virus of small pox 
 loses its activity as readily as is here represented by Jcnner. 
 AVc may fairly hope that, in the act of ventilating the sick
 
 37 
 
 room, the germs of disease are not sown broadcast over the 
 land ] for it is absurd to suppose that, with this transformation 
 of the substance, the shadow of infection woukl resist change. 
 
 Well, then, I '' go by the facts that we know, to those we 
 wish to know," alw^ays supposing the "vital organised germ" 
 theory to be a myth. 
 
 In the year 1857, the Customs' Report stated that (in 
 consequence of a contagious and infectious disease having 
 broken out among the cattle) an order from the Privy 
 Council prohibited their importation from the Baltic ports, 
 and ordered that all hides, horns, hoofs, and bones should be 
 destroyed. The upshot Avas, that a few hoofs were sacrificed 
 to the demands of a groundless alarm, at a small injury to 
 commerce, but at a great sacrifice of consistency; for only a 
 few hoofs Avere destroyed. A great principle Avas involved 
 in this transaction. Could it be true that the virus of 
 disease remained in activity amongst these hides, &c. 5 and 
 if so, why Avere they not all destroyed ? 
 
 Shortly afterAvards it Avas proposed to add a medical 
 officer to the staflJ" of the Privy Council. Mr. Simon Avas 
 named. I did not knoAv Mr. Simon, but I considered that 
 one who had written as he had, and quoted Avhat Dr. Jenner 
 had Avritten, viz., that " nature Avorks by uniform laAvs," and 
 that " virus exposed to the air will lose its specific quality," 
 could never encourage the belief that these hides, hoofs, horns 
 and bones, &c., Avere disobedient to the laws of nature. For 
 the future, I thought that, at least, law^s enacted during a panic, 
 as AA'as the case AAdth the 7th and 8th Victoria, cap. 112, Avill 
 no longer be enforced by arbitrary poAver unguided by science. 
 From time to time these laAvs Avere rencAved. At last the 
 matter Avas brought home to my OAvn door by the outbreak of 
 small pox in sheep, 1862. It appeared first in Wiltshire, and 
 our Hampshire house Avas next to the one on fire; but a 
 great authority in these matters (Mr. Gamgee), said that, like 
 the cattle plague, it came from Russia. The Customs' Report 
 of 1863, hoAvever, says " the rumour that prevailed in the 
 '• summer Avhen the variola ovina, or sheep pox, broke out
 
 38 
 
 " among the sliecp in Wiltshire, attributing it to the foreign 
 *' importations, was^ we arc satisfied, oitircly devoid of 
 " foundation." Mr. Gamgee states that " tlie disease broke 
 " out about shearing time, both in England and on the 
 " Continent." The summer was very wet, and one of tlie 
 eoldest ever known. The grass cut for hay Lay on the ground 
 soaked with water, but so cold was the weather, that the hay 
 received little injury. Fruits, if they ripened at all, had no 
 flavour ; the potato disease prevailed. Arc we then to look 
 to foreign origin for cause of such a disorder ; and is it 
 necessary to believe the statement in the appendix to the 
 Report of the medical officer of the Privy Council, namely, 
 " that small pox and sheep pox spread entirely through 
 contagion and infection ; that it is not safe for a healthy flock 
 to come within 500 yards of a diseased one; that human 
 '' beings carry the disease for miles, and shepherds have often 
 " communicated the malady to distant flocks ; " " that hares 
 '■^ and rabbits are subject to this disorder, and may be the 
 " carriers of the contagion ; sheep dogs certainly can be the 
 " means of transmitting the virus; " and that " every writer 
 " of merit in Europe attributes this disease to the introduction 
 " of diseased animals across the Russian frontier, into Poland, 
 '' Hungary, Prussia, Pomerania, c*v:c. ; " and that '' it is a 
 '' malady that never has, and never will originate spon- 
 " taneously in this country?" Is there no connection between 
 the outbreak and shearing time ; driving the sheep to the 
 wash, wetting them througli in running water, depriving 
 them of their fleece, and exposing them in this state to the 
 wet and cold of the summer 1 8G2 ? Is there nothing to be 
 learnt from the following extract ? — 
 
 CLErxKENWl'LL 
 
 " Mr. AVilliain AVinbey, cattle salesman and dealer, of the Metropolitan 
 Cattle Market, was sunuiiuned before Mr. Cooke, at the instance of the 
 secretary of the Ifoyal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, 
 charj^ed with cruelty to animals l>y cxiwsinpj sheep for sale at the Metro- 
 jKilitan Cattle Market without jiroper covering, they having been recently 
 shorn. 
 
 " Mr. Rickets, solicitor, of Frederick Street, Gray's Inn Road, instructed 
 by Mr. Love, prosecuted ; and Mr. Field, Solicitor, of Finchlcy, defended.
 
 39 
 
 " Last week it was proved that the sheep were exposed in the cattle 
 market on a bleak, cold, and wet day, the ground being covered with snow, 
 without any clothing on them, the sheep having been recently shorn. To 
 prove that the defendant had been guilty of cruelty, Professor Spooner, 
 of the Royal Yeterinaiy College, was called, and he deposed as follows : — 
 I consider the acts narrated are very cruel, and that the animals must have 
 suffered a great deal. I have examined meat from animals that have been 
 so exposed, and have found that it was very much deteriorated. The very 
 fact of the animals standing with their backs arched, their heads hanging 
 down, and shivering, would show that they were suffering great pain. 
 The skin of the sheep is highly sensitive and thin, and the removal of the 
 wool would expose the nerves. The present practice of shearing sheep in 
 cold weather is a most cruel one, and ought to be suppressed." — April llth, 
 1867. 
 
 And we must recollect that not only were the sheep 
 exposed to the wet and cold of the season 1862, but the 
 grass on which they fed was grown under circumstances 
 adverse to its wholesome properties. 
 
 Some ])ractical men do not hesitate to characterise the 
 disease as that well known (possibly in a milder form) by the 
 name of Scab, '' a disorder full of terrors to the flock 
 masters in Great Britain and the colonies." At the Peel 
 E-iver, in 1864, the Government having decided to suspend 
 the operation of the penal clauses of the Scab Act, rendering 
 the destruction of diseased sheep imperative, and to adopt a 
 modified course, allowing tlie use of curative measures instead, 
 " grave doubts are entertained by many flock owners as to 
 " the disease ever being thoroughly eradicated ;" but in 1865 
 it is stated, "■ the disease of the Scab, which at one time 
 " caused so much alarm to flock owners, has happily abated, 
 " and the Return of tlie Inspector-General exhibits a great 
 " diminution in the number of sheep affected throughout New 
 " South Wales." The remedial measure seems to have been 
 as beneficial in its operations as the punitive. The example, 
 however, set hj the mother country of stamping out a disease, 
 "■ the origin and nature of which is still unexplained," has 
 been lately followed by the colonists with all the energy of 
 youth, as Avill be seen by the following extract referring to 
 the cattle plague : —
 
 40 
 
 "llOCKHAMrTON. 
 " From our files of Rockhanipton papers, wc quote the following : — 
 " XovEL Imtort. — One of the new arrivals bv the fJrcat Pacific lirought 
 ashore on Friday a monster Tom cat without submitting him to the 
 formality of any uflicial inspection. Fortunately, however, fur the ])eace of 
 the town, !Mr. -Macpherson, the Sheep and Cattle Inspector, seeing Turn on 
 tlie wharf, and knowing that a late regulation forbids the introduction of 
 any quadrupeds from Europe, arrested him on the spot, to the intense 
 disgust of the owner and a large mob of sympathising admirers of Grimal- 
 kin. The Inspector marched oft' his prisoner at some risk to himself from 
 the claws of the brute. On returning from the races, on Friday, he found 
 the owner of the cat and about 50 men and women at his house. The cat 
 was demanded, and a good deal of threatening language used. The 
 Inspector, however, was firm, and showed his authority to the belligerents, 
 who thereupon subsided ami submitted to the fate destined for their 
 favourite. He was ]»ut into a bucket of water, from which he sprang on to 
 the inspector's sliouldcrs, ami after a good deal of trouble was finally 
 drowned in another bucket. He was then consigned to the earth by his 
 late owner and admirers." — Xorthcni Arijus. 
 
 In addition to the precaution earned out as above, avc 
 liave the fact of three canary bird.s being kept in quarantine 
 at Brisbane, for fear of the Rinderpest from England ! 
 
 But to return to the infectious nature of the small pox in 
 sheep ; the question was put in Committee on the Cattle 
 Plague Prevention Bill, at my suggestion, (for I had not the 
 honour of serving on that Committee), about the disease being 
 communicated at the long range of 500 yards. The answer was 
 that the fact was proved thus : — " I have had eases in my 
 '* experience abroad. You have stock going up to pasture, 
 " through one road, another stock going up to another pasture, 
 '' quite distinct from the other, by another road, and these two 
 " roads being, say, within 400 or 500 yards; and tlic disease 
 " has been propagated from farm to farm." It will be recol- 
 lected, that the Ijcap at llhodcs took place abroad. But why 
 not try an experiment at home? A circle with a radius of 
 1,000 yards from the centre of infection would allow of the 
 oOO yards range, and 500 beyond for the sake of security. 
 Plumstead Marshes would afford space enough, 
 
 Tlic disease being small pox, expcrinicuts in vacrinatinn 
 were ordered by the Lords of the Cuuncil ; the report on the 
 vaccination of sheep was sometime in preparation (the experi- 
 ments commencing in October, 1<SG:J, and concluding in
 
 41 
 
 Michaelmas, 1863), and was not delivered till July, 1864. In 
 Februaiy, 1864, in ans\Yer to my question, the Vice-President 
 of the Council on Education,* says : — 
 
 " The experiments in vaccinating sliccp conclnded last Michaelmas, and 
 I am sorry to say the result is exceedingly unsatisfactory. I am also sorry 
 to say the report is not yet ready to he laid before Parliament. The 
 framing of that report is in the hands of a gentleman who is not othcially 
 connected with the Government, and Avho, I think, has taken a great deal 
 more time than was necessary in its preparation. I am, assured, however, 
 that it will be ready by Easter. As I am not able to produce the report, I 
 may state its general eft'ect. The experiments that have been made are of two 
 kinds. One has consisted in vaccinating sheep with lymph taken from the 
 human subject, and this has succeeded in some measure. The sheep took 
 the disease, though in an irregular and abnormal form (laughter), but when 
 we came to test the value of that vaccination we found that the sheep took 
 the virus either by inoculation or in the natural manner from other sheep, 
 so that vaccination thus accomplished appears to be futile. The next plan 
 was to inoculate cows with matter taken from sheep, in order, if possible, 
 to produce a vaccine disease in cows which would stand in the same relation 
 to sheep as cuw-pox does to the human subject. Ihit we entirely failed in 
 producing that disease (laughter), and therefore the result of the experi- 
 ments was altogether unsatisfactory." — Times, FeJiruary -ZZrd, 1864. 
 
 The question is disposed of amidst " laughter.*' 
 
 The report, consisting of 27 pages, a greater portion of 
 which are occupied with the record of previous failures in 
 1848, concludes " that vaccination is useless, that segregation 
 " is almost impracticable, that slaughtering and burying of the 
 " infected animals is justifiable only in the very earliest 
 '' invasion of the Hock, and in those cases in which the disease 
 " assumes a confluent cliaractcr, &c." The disease being well 
 known in France, and all that related to it described by men 
 of the greatest eminence more than 150 years since. 
 
 That the only remaining conservative measure (recom- 
 mended by those who believe in infection) is " inoculation, 
 which if rightly carried out^ offers considercible advantages.'''' 
 And this for disorder communicable at 500 yards distance ? 
 
 In the case of pleuro-pneumonia, we have statements 
 equally terrible with those which characterise the small pox 
 or variola, and cattle plague ] the proof of its infectious nature 
 is demonstrated by the exhaustive argument of the writer to 
 
 * Mr. Robert Lowe, now Lord Shcrlrooke.
 
 42 
 
 the Editor of the ''Times," in this extraet on the foot and 
 mouth disease. May 5th, 1SG3. 
 
 I may state in proof of its infectious character, that a neighbour who 
 recently bought 30 l)easts in a fiiir had the whole of them diseased directly 
 they reached luime.* 
 
 If you think this worth insertion 1 shall feel obliged. I inclose my 
 card, and am, Sir, yours obediently, 
 
 Warwickshire. II. T. C. 
 
 A Bill was prepared by Her Majesty's Government, 
 February, 1864, for further provisions for prevention of 
 infectious diseases among cattle. It contains this definition : — 
 *' Contagious or infectious diseases shall be deemed to mean 
 '' the several diseases mentioned in schedule heretOj and such other 
 "diseases as may from time to time he declared to be contagious 
 '^ or infectious hj order of H. M. in Council;''^ a despotic 
 power to which tlie Privy Council is hardly entitled. 
 
 The claim to infallibility is again set up in a Bill pre- 
 sented by the Lord President to the House of Lords, l-itli 
 ]\Lay, 1867, in these words, " any disease shall he deemed to 
 " he contagious and infectious, which is from time to time 
 " declared to he such hy the Privy Council^ 
 
 The Bill. of 1864 went into committee of the House 
 before the report of the Select Committee was distributed ; 
 but it got so mauled there that the Vice-President of Council 
 on Education good humouredly remarked, " that although 
 " he was prepared for a stand-up fight, he Avas not prepared 
 " to be knocked down at every round/' the Bill was withdrawn 
 and tlic country deprived of a measure for the prevention of 
 cattle diseases. Wiiat that means will be learnt by referring 
 to the Appendix to the Fifth Report of the ]\Iedieal Ofhcer of 
 the Privy Council. " V^ery startling results are obtained by 
 " calculating the losses this country has sustained since the 
 " importation of cattle and of contagious diseases, c^'c." 
 
 " Thus the deaths among stock in the United Khigdom 
 "probably represent an annual amount of inore than si.v 
 " millions sterling^ 
 
 * This writer assorts the development of disease as the proof of infection. This 
 is merely begging the question.
 
 43 
 
 The Bill for the amendment of the law relating to 
 the importation of diseased cattle and nnwholesome meat 
 was at the same time Avitlidrawn with all its securities 
 " for the destruction and disinfection of any animals, or 
 " parts thereof, of any hay, straw, fodder, and of all meat, and 
 ' ' any article contact with which shall he calculated to produce 
 ^'■disease ;'''' but while the country was frightened by these 
 contemplated measures, the borough of Birmingham coolly 
 talks of pleuro-pncumonia as being caused in many instances 
 by animals being brought out of warm places, where they have 
 been fed, and exposed to cold draughts in severe weather in 
 markets and fairs, and particularly in railway-trucks, when 
 they are shunted on to sidings for many hours together. 
 Thus attributing the origin of the disease to spontaneous 
 origin. " The diseased meat seized is produced before the 
 "justices, and if ordered by them to be destroyed, it is carried 
 " to an appointed knacker's yard by a sanitary inspector, and 
 " boiled down in his presence with horse-flesh and other offal. 
 " The destruction is so effectual as to prevent its use as 
 " human food," Avithout regard to its infectious nature or the 
 consequences. 
 
 I may as well make a short extract on the subject of 
 pleuro-pneumonia, from the Second Report of the Cattle 
 Plamie Commissioners : — " 4426. The London dairies are 
 never free from pleuro-pneumonia for many weeks together.'' 
 " 4427. I think it is the result of unnatural feeding." And 
 this is the evidence of an experienced person on the subject 
 of a disease about the foreign importation, and the subtle 
 and infectious nature of which, together with the poisonous 
 quality of the meat, &c., nothing less exaggerated was 
 stated at the period of its prevalence, 1863-4, than in the case 
 of the Rinderpest, 1865-6-7. We cannot prove non-infection, 
 but we may show the necessity of sifting the evidence on 
 which the theory of infection is founded. 
 
 In 1865 the Cattle Plague Commissioners began to take 
 evidence and issued their first report, 31st October, 1865. It
 
 ■14 
 
 was not, liowevcr, distributed till after the meeting of Parlia- 
 ment. In looking into tlie evidence on the Steppe Murrain, 
 I cannot find any of tlie authorities have been in the Steppes. 
 Mr. ^Murray, our Consul at Odessa (setting aside the .story of 
 the black spider), says the disorder originates in the hard 
 usage and hard life the cattle arc subject to, .suggestive of 
 spontaneous origin ; and it would be much to be wondered at 
 (if the description of that country be correct) should the 
 cattle there escape disease. Tlie extremes of heat and cold, 
 dust and mud, wet and dry, repletion and starvation, con- 
 stantly succeed each other, but such natural causes are set 
 aside for the more wonderful origin of disease by descent, 
 the process of which is as regular as that by which "dog 
 breeds dog, and cat breeds cat,'^ as exclusive as that by 
 Avhich " dog never breeds cat, nor cat breeds dog ; '' and 
 " prospectively we arc able to predict certain results of 
 " exposure to contagion, as definitely as the results of any 
 " chemical experiments." 
 
 On the 5th February, 1866, the second Report was issued, 
 in which one of the witnesses states that " he has four or five 
 " neighbours, some Avithin 40 and 2u0 yards from him, 
 " who have escaped the plague altogether, whose cows have 
 '' been mixed with diseased and infected cows. A new stock 
 " of cows succeeded, within three weeks, the old stock dead 
 " of the plague, placed in the same pastures in which the 
 " diseased cows died, trod in their excrement, and were only 
 " parted from the infected herd by a low hedge." No disin- 
 fection, no precaution was used, and no evil consequences 
 followed. 
 
 '' That it is difticult to distinguish between plouro-pneu- 
 " monia and cattle plague ; that a professor was the inspector 
 '* who allowed lliem to treat the case when it first broke 
 " out, in spite of the Orders of Council, with the remark, 
 '• ' If you cure that cow, it is such a decided case of plague, 
 " we will give you a j)ension ; ' " and that cow was living at 
 the time the witnesss gave his evidence, which went to the 
 cft'ect that he had not got his pension !
 
 45 
 
 Oil the 31st May a Third Report appeared — '' The pre- 
 " paration of this Eeport has, from its nature, devolved 
 '' mainly on the medical men of the Commission ; and their 
 " colleagues necessarily rely on them for the soundness of 
 " the vicAvs expressed in it, on questions of medicine, chemistry, 
 and physiology." I have already referred to the ill-success 
 of these gentlemen, except in the case o'l organised germs. 
 
 Ireland escaped for a time, but in order to be prepared 
 for an emergency, in January, 1866, arrangements were 
 made for sending to England proper, qualified persons* to make 
 themselves acquainted with the symptoms, and to observe and 
 consider the most successful mode of treatment of the cattle 
 disease. Three professors in London attended the three 
 gentlemen from Ireland. On the 13th January their 
 experience commenced. On the 15th they examined 
 several bullocks, affected with foot and mouth disease, with 
 the Inspector of the Metropolitan Market. " Very many of 
 " the beasts in the market had reddened eyes, due probably 
 '' to injury, or to the irritating effects of the chloride of lime 
 " in the railway trucks." " We next examined the body of 
 " a cow which was stated to have died Avith the plague, and 
 " in so doing found, by the absence of characteristic appear- 
 " ances, that this was not the case, but that the beast had 
 '' accidentally perished from an accident to its neck." I 
 submit that this, though a strong, is not the only case of 
 mistake that has occurred during the time the Rinderpest 
 has lasted. 
 
 But, in spite of all precautions, the Rinderpest breaks out 
 in Ireland, in May 1866, and no one can account for its 
 introduction. Later in the month, " one of the cows pro- 
 " nounced by the medical inspector to have been affected 
 " with the Rinderpest was, Avithout doubt, found to have 
 " died from pleuro-pneumonia," 
 
 " Diseases not unfamiliar have, in consequence of the 
 " long severity of the season, assumed an aggravated form." 
 
 E. G., Dr. Mapother and others.
 
 46 
 
 In June it is announced tliat the cattle disease has broken 
 out again, " the farmers allege that the disease was conveyed 
 " by the inspectors themselves." 
 
 There is no excuse for this. In September, 1865, the 
 Lords of the Council directed a document to be prepared by 
 Dr. Thudiclium on the principles and practice of disinfection. 
 It Avill be found in the " Times," September 13th, and is 
 worth readinsr carefully. I want to know whether that 
 document concluded with the Doxology, and, if so. why was 
 it suppressed?* 
 
 That the cattle plague should break out in Ireland is 
 extraordinary after all the forewarning and forearming that 
 country received, and after all the precautions of quarantine, 
 isolation, segregation, lodgment and seclusion, enjoined or 
 practiced. I have no proofs that these were excessive, and 
 that they failed will be urged on the other side as a proof 
 of how subtle was the disease and how infectious. 
 
 But it is to Scotland and Aberdeenshire that we have to 
 look for the great authority of the infectious nature and method 
 of stamping out the disease. Aberdeenshire claims to be the 
 inventor of the principle of compensation. It is, however, in 
 the years from 1747 to 1749, at which period the cattle 
 plague invaded Staffordshire, Derbyshire and Cheshire, that 
 we find Aberdeenshire anticipated in its measures for stamping 
 out the disease and compensating those who agreed to the 
 sacrifice of their cattle, as we learn from the papers at 
 Arley Hall, Cheshire, printed for private circulation, but 
 kindly supplied to me by the owner. Aberdeenshire boasts 
 of the marked success attending the measures for the sup- 
 pression of the cattle plague, and they were recommended 
 for adoption in England by the highest authority; but after 
 two months' successful stamping out, on February 5tli, Aber- 
 deenshire was ?'cvisiled by the plague. ''No idea can be 
 formed how the disease reached I\lindurno." But shortly 
 
 * The Cutth Plapuc uwl Disinfection. See Appendix, p. 52.
 
 47 
 
 afterwards, the mode of its communication was announced 
 bj a veterinary surgeon, inspector for the county. It was 
 a " pack-sheet," which after being removed from the beef 
 rolled up in it, was thrown aside for some time, when " one 
 " of the servant girls took and used it (unwashed) as an 
 " apron, for a considerable ])eriod before the first cow got bad, 
 " and was carrying kale in it to the cow after it was taken 
 " bad." The pack-sheet we must suppose was destroyed, 
 after doing all the mischief, and so the plague was stayed, but 
 
 " Aberdeenshire, after a fortnight's freedom from rinderpest, has again 
 been visited by the phigue, a fresh case having been reported on Saturday 
 at Peterculter on Deeside, about live miles from the city. Immediate 
 measures were taken to stamp out the disease, and accordingly the stock 
 which had been in contact with the first animal attacked, numbering 
 16 head, have been slaughtered. It is presumed that the disease must 
 have been carried to the present farm, Oldford, by dung carted from 
 Aberdeen. — Times, Feb. loth, 1866. 
 
 Again, on February 22nd, the " Times " reports — 
 
 " The disease has again appeared in the parish of Foveran. It was 
 reported by the district constable, as fiir back as the 11th inst., that a cow 
 on the farm of Hill of Fiddes, occupied by Dr. Ruxton, was observed to be 
 ill, and was separated from the rest of the stock. On the 14th the animal 
 was killed ; and on the following day another cow showed similar symptoms. 
 Mr. Hay, the county inspector, was called on the 17th, and pronounced the 
 disease to be rinderpest. On tSaturday several of the other animals were 
 observed to be affected ; and on Tuesday the committee resolved to have all 
 the stock slaughtered, except the cows in the byres, which will be allowed 
 to remain until they show symptoms of the disease. The cause of the 
 outbreak on this farm, which is three miles west from Pitmillan, the last 
 centre of the disease in the parish of Foveran, is as yet unknown. — 
 Scuts)iian. 
 
 On February IGtli, 1866, the Honorary Secretary of the 
 Aberdeenshire Rinderpest Association, writes to the " Times," 
 that it is probable " that in the days of high winds and high 
 " temperature, with no rain, minute particles of infected matter 
 " were carried by the wind from the district of Fettercairn, 
 " scattered in the line of the wind, and took effect wherever 
 " they found a susceptible subject, which in every case was a 
 " cow or heifer in calf. 
 
 " If we are justified in tracing this outbreak to the infected 
 " centre of Fettercairn, we cannot resist the conclusions that 
 " we have in our midst, a disease so virulent that the germs
 
 48 
 
 *' retain their vitality, after being carried by the wind 30 or 
 " 40 miles, and so penetrating that it finds its way unaided, 
 " save by the wind; but in the Second Report of the Cattle 
 " Plague Commissioners, it is specially noticed that the 
 " disease has travelled commonly in a direction counter to 
 " that of the prevailing winds." 
 
 In the Report from the Veterinary Department of the Privy 
 Council, March 20th, 18(*)G, the Avritcr (speaking generally 
 of the unsatisfactory nature of the returns sent in by the 
 Inspectors) says : — " the diHiculty there has been in selecting 
 " anything useful from such a mass of conflicting evidence, 
 " consisting of more than 10,000 different papers.'' 
 
 " With reference to the ori(jm of the cattle plague in this 
 " country, we have not read any evidence of a satisfactory 
 " and conclusive character. Whether the disease is of spon- 
 " taneous origin, or whether it has been imported into 
 " this country, has been the subject of a large amount of 
 " correspondence, containing most conflicting statements." 
 
 As regards "Aberdeenshire," the Report says there had 
 been eight outbreaks of the disease. 
 
 '* The stamping out in this county can scarcely be said to 
 '' have been attended with that success which had been 
 " anticipated. Up to the 30th December the disease had 
 " existed for 24 weeks, and in that period 2(55 animals wer 
 " attacked, whilst in Hampshire, where the disease had 
 " existed for the same number of weeks, and tlie stamjnnff 
 " out had not been attempted, only 271! were attacked during 
 " that period ; and in Devon, where the disease had existed 
 " for 26 weeks, and where the jicroentage of /ciikd is even 
 " smaller tiiau in Hants, only 1")8 cases occurred during the 
 " period."— (Scotland). 
 
 In the meantime, the Inspector of Constabulary reports 
 that " the police force of this county (Aberdeen) has been 
 " very actively engaged, and with considerable success : 
 " several outbreaks of the plague having been immediately 
 '''stamped out.'" For'y-1\vo extra constables have been
 
 49 
 
 employed to assist the regular constables in carrying out 
 *' this duty." While, on the other hand, the Chief Constable 
 for Hants reports, April 2nd, 1866, " since the 14th January 
 " only 48 cases have been reported by the Inspectors, and I 
 " have good reason to believe that many of these were 
 " improperly classified as cattle plague." 
 
 With all its claims to prudence and generosity in 
 compensating the sufterers, I have from the very first 
 considered Aberdeenshire as an example of the great error in 
 supposing the disease originated in infection from without, or 
 that it could be *' stamped out " by any measures adopted 
 within the county. 
 
 In vain did we look for information in the House of 
 Commons on the second reading of the Cattle Plague 
 Bill. The cry was^ " don't discuss the disease, but pass 
 the Bill." One of the Commissioners, however, told us 
 that the infection was " a question of geography, and not of 
 traditional jurisdiction." Another, that " the contagion, as 
 " medical men call it, is not supposed to be anything in the 
 " nature of gas, but is propagated by very minute molecules 
 " which float in the air. These are capable of being carried 
 " by the wind and dro])ped, and picked up again." But the 
 same Commissioner signs his name to the Report which states 
 " the disease has travelled commonly in the direction contrary 
 to that of the prevailing winds;"* and then, having adopted 
 the theory of molecules, says {ciproj)os to flies), " de minimis 
 non curat fer." 
 
 If we look to the geography of the disease, we ought to 
 look to the chronology also, and we cannot stop short of the 
 Ark and i\.rarat. We find a concurrent evidence that wc are 
 justified in this supposition, in the fact that Mount Ararat is 
 in the Russian dominions. A cwdon sanitaire drawn round it 
 would have prevented all diseases. Nothing is too difficult of 
 belief during a panic. I am content, however, to think that 
 
 * Mr. Robert Lowe, now Lord Shcrbrooke.
 
 50 
 
 frosli meat and vegetables, tea, and potatoes liave done move 
 to stamp out disease, and tliat good air, good food, and good 
 habits, good lodgement, moderation, and cleanliness, which is 
 next to godliness, will do more to stamp out disease than 
 even if the Ark liad been placed in quarantine. 
 
 As for stopping the movement of cattle to prevent the 
 spread of disease, because " it is propagated by xery minute 
 molecules," and at the same time ignoring the danger of flies 
 acting as carriers of the virus, because the Jaio does not take 
 notice of trifes, I must observe, that Avhen Newton deduced 
 his great law of gravitation from the falling of an apple, he 
 did not say " de minimis non curat lex.^^ 
 
 There has been many a " grievous muiTain " in the land, 
 and many a "sore famine." Free Trade has mitigated the 
 latter visitation, and never aggravated the former. At a 
 frightful cost we have been " stamping out " the cattle plague, 
 for two years, without success. The medicine failed from 
 the first, and so the proposed remedy is to double the dose ! 
 I would suggest that this system should be discontinued, 
 and that the Noachian theory of the transmission of disease 
 by descent should receive further examination into its 
 ^Etiological pedigree. Finally, I will hope the day may not 
 be far distant when we may have something more definite as 
 to the term infectious disease than that of " any disease 
 '' which is from time to time declared to be such by the 
 " Privy Council."
 
 APPENDIX, 
 
 Tlie question is Avliether any disease is communicable from the 
 nick to the healthy at an appreciable distance? Is there such a thing 
 as contac/iuin, caused by organised atid specijic germs of disease ? 
 The preceding pages abundantly pro\'e that none but a negative 
 answer can be truthfully given. 
 
 The late Professor Lay cock, of the Univei-sity of Edinburgh, a 
 constituent of Dr. Lyon Playfair, suggested the inoculation of 
 swine and cattle with leprous ])]'oducts to prove infection I Pro- 
 fessor Owen of King's College, London, trusts that medicine will, 
 in time, reach the height of a real science. 
 
 Infection is a myth. Clrote says, the origin of myths arises out 
 of the readiness of mankind to accept plausible fclions as absolute 
 facts. The Royal College of Physicians declares that there is 
 nothing in the reports from all parts of the world to justify the 
 segregation of lepers. 
 
 "We liA^e," says The Times of October 8, 1874, ''in an age of 
 " Congresses. We are all interested in Public Health, and unfor- 
 '• tunately, are still in this matter too much at the mercy of 
 " ignorance, stupidity, greed and chicanery." 
 
 When ignorance, stupidity, greed and chicanery are removed 
 in any considerable degree from the highest stratum of the medical 
 profession, then the cruel superstitions of infection and contagion 
 by disease-germs, and the mischievous legislation affecting the 
 health and even the life of the child, the liberty of the father, the 
 rights of the citizen, and the sacredness of his home, based upon 
 these chimeras, shall have received their death-wound. 
 
 D 2
 
 52 
 
 THE CATTLE PLAGUE AND DISINFECTION. 
 
 fl'Vojii "The Times" of Septeynher IZth, l8G5.y 
 
 The following document has been prepared by direction of 
 the Lords of the Coimcil. It is lieaded, "Memorandum 
 on the Principles and Practice of Disinfection, as apjilicable 
 to the present Epidemic of Cattle Disease. By J. L. W. 
 Thudichum, M.D." 
 
 " I.— PRINCIPLES OF DISINFECTION. 
 
 " 1. — The term 'disinfection ' signifies the removal and destruction, 
 or destniction and subsequent removal of the products of destraction, 
 of all matters actually being or contaming 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 deodorization of places and 
 things not actually, mfected, but capable or suspected of being 
 infected, then these preventive measures are practically and pro- 
 perly included under the definition of disinfection. 
 
 " 3. — The reproducers of the infectious matter or contagion are 
 all kinds of cattle of the ox tribe, Avhich also are at present in this 
 country the only animals liable to its specific eflects. It is probable 
 that the contagion adheres with particular pertinacity to all secretions 
 and discharges from sick animals. For this reason, fjcces or droi)pings, 
 urine, ruminated food, all secretions from the mouth, nose and eyes, 
 iind any sore jmrts of the surfjxce of the diseased animals must be 
 considered as the principal and pi'imary 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 infectious, some because 
 they are primarily imbued with the contagion, othei-s 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 cannot be lost sight of. 
 
 " 4. — The cattle plague, although affecting every part of the
 
 5S 
 
 animal, shows its visible eftects most extensively in the intestinal 
 canal. It is believed, and apparently upon good gi'onnds, that the 
 intestinal discharges are the principal agents, upon the distribution 
 of which mainly depends the spread of the disoi'der. 
 
 " 5. — It follows from the above that all articles which have been 
 in contact with a diseased animal, or any of its discharges, particu- 
 larly its feeces, are capable of carrying the infection for an indefinite 
 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 wdiich 
 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 nrine ; 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, railings, 
 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 ii'on- 
 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 j^laces, ships and all parts of the platforms, stages, 
 stairs, and bridges, hoists and cranes used for enibarkuig and landing 
 the animals ; markets, and all sheds and pens and implements used 
 in contact with cattle ; slaughterhouses, and all persons and imple- 
 ments in them which have been employed ujoon sick cattle, as also 
 sundry parts or organs A^'hich come from sick animals killed in 
 slaughterhouses ; knackers' yards, trucks, or carts, horses, men, and 
 implements which have been emplo3''ed in the disposal of sick or 
 dead animals ; wells and ponds from which diseased animals have 
 been drinking, or into which any portion of theii" excreta has had 
 any opportunity of flowing directly or indirectly ; all fodder, grass, 
 hay, straw, clover, &c., and particularly remnants of fodder upon 
 Avlaich diseased cattle have been feeding ; and, in general, all persons, 
 animals, places, buildings, and movable things which have been in 
 contact with matters proceeding from diseased cattle, or with
 
 54 
 
 bucli clLseased cattle tliciDselves. To the abo\e-ii)eiitioiieil places and 
 tilings any of the processes and agents enumerated and described in 
 the following may have to be applied. 
 
 "II.— PRACTICE OF DISINFECTION. 
 
 "A. JJisinfvction hj Earth. — 1. Burying. — All mattfi-s that can 
 be buried, so iis to remain coveied with a thick layer of ground or 
 earth, are innocuous. The gi-ound chosen for such interment shoidd 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 drojijiings and all straw and other matters contaminated 
 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-truddon manure of cattle 
 yards, if they have become infected by even a small quantity of the 
 droppings of a diseased animal, should be carefully shifted to a 
 suitable 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 
 nibbish ; upon this another layer of manure may be placed, and then 
 again a layer of earth, and so foith, until the whole of the manure 
 is stacked ; it should be covered all 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 m.iy be covered on the spot 
 with a layer of dry earth, after which all jnimals are to be kept 
 away from it. 
 
 " 4. — If the floor of any shed ur stable in which diseased cattle 
 has been standing is not constiucted with si)ecial Avatertight and 
 imjicnetrablc matei'ial, it must be assumed to be infected to the 
 tlepth of at least six inches. This ground .should therefore be 
 removed, together with any stones, pavements, or woodwork M'hich 
 may have been in contact with it, carted to a piece of dry lanil and 
 buried. Half rotten wood is a particularly favourable carrier of 
 infection. Mortar, bricks, loam, or any other lining of the sides of a 
 pen in which a diseased animal h:is been st;inding should l)e bi-oken 
 Gilt and Ijuried. 
 
 " B. Disinfection hj Fire. — 1. JJurniug. — All infected articles of 
 a minor value, or made of imcombiistible materials, can be ilisinfected 
 by exj)osiiig them to a heat which will char organic matter, 'i'o 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, residues of fodder from which diseased cattle 
 Ixiwo eaten ; and all such small articles of little value which can easily 
 be replaced by new ones. Chains may be exj'oscd to a dull red heat.
 
 55 
 
 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 galvanized 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 ii'on articles which have 
 been disinfected by heat as above should afterwards be either gal- 
 vanized or, at least, Avhile hot, be treated with resin, to cover them 
 with a durable varnish, or should be varnished or painted. 
 
 " C Disinfection by Chloride of Lime. — Chloride of lime, or 
 bleaching jiOAvder, 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 sufficient for every purpose. It 
 should as much as possible be ap]:)lied in solution, of a strength 
 vaiying somewhat with the jjarticular 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 prodiicts of decomposition. As chloride of lime 
 does not destroy only the infectious matter in a mixture, but destroys 
 all organic matter without distinction, it is not ajiplicable to large 
 quantities of matter, such as the manure of cattle, dung-heaps, &c., 
 inasmuch as twice or three times the weight of these matters of 
 chloride of lime would be required for their etfectual destruction and 
 disinfection. It is further inapplicable to all matters rich in ammonia, 
 particulai'ly 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 
 lime is at present known to science. 
 
 " D. Special Directions for the Disinfection of Stables, Sheds, 
 Vans, Railway Trucks, and Cattle Ships, and of Persons and Things 
 connected icith them. — 1. After such a place has been cleaned by 
 mechanical mBans, 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 lime in poAvder. The powder 
 shoiild be worked about with a broom until equally distributed. It 
 is intended to disinfect the water to be used in the washing ]n-ocess 
 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-pots, or water-cans, or peured freely from buckets, 
 should now be applied to the entire surface by one person, while 
 another at the same time scrul)s the entire sui'face, 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 watercourses. No washing Avat(a- from 
 any infected place or thing should ever be allowed to flow into 
 any cesspool, iirine-hold, dung-hcaj), pond, sewer, or nat^iral water-
 
 56 
 
 coun;c without havincc previously been mixed and stirred with a liberal 
 amount of chloride of lime. When the place has thus 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 gallon of water, is 
 made. For the lair of one animal from six to ten gallons of such 
 fluid should be ])reparod. This fluid is now distributed over the 
 whole surface, to be disinfected gradually by squirting from a syringe, 
 or by pumping through a force-pump, gai'den-engine, or by ^^■ate^ing 
 from a watering-pot or can with a linely-i)ierced rose. All woodwork, 
 stones, bricks, cement, mortar, all fixtures of whatever material, 
 should be well wettetl 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 ])roducts of its decompos- 
 ing action upon infectious matter 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 a})i)ly the clean water always to the higliest 
 parts, so as to cause it to flow thence to the lower parts, and to wash 
 away the waste from the 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 ])arts 
 into and through the gutters and drains before apjdying it again to 
 the clean upper parts. Care should also be taken that the working 
 persons should not step fi'om the dirty or i)ai'tially-clf'aned places on 
 to the clean ones, as this may suffice to bring infection back to the 
 disinfected place. 
 
 " 5. — Lastly, all persons em|)loye(l in this work, having swept 
 and flushed the gutters with the same care as the laii's, are collected, 
 together with all the engines and tools which they used, as near as 
 possible to the sink or place of final egress of water from the premises, 
 and there disinfected as Avill be described. 
 
 " The tools, such as hooks, forks, spades, hoes, barrows, SiC, arc 
 scrubbed with the above solution of chloride of linio, and subse- 
 quently water, until clean; they ai-e then repeatedly wetted with the 
 solution, and after it has had time to disinfect the entire surface of 
 thom they arc washed clean and laid up or hung up to dry. 
 
 " The workmen then, having fiuislied tlie disinfection and flushing 
 of all objects and surfaces, eflect their own disinfection in the 
 following manner: — They wash their boots most carefully with 
 chloride of lime and water, scraping the soles and scrubbing the 
 scams where the soles join the upper leather. They Avash theii- 
 hands and arms, and by means of ?lean rags or sponges they remove
 
 57 
 
 any splashes from their clothes. After this they go indoors, I'emove 
 all clothes from head to foot, wash their bodies, and 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 tliey 
 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. — l.--Live cattle may carry 
 infection in two ways: first, by being themselves infected with the 
 plague and rejiroducing the poison; and, secondly, by accidently 
 carrying the poison from other animals in a dormant state upon some 
 part of their sui-face, tlieir hair, and particularly their feet. These 
 latter animals may therefore infect others without being or becoming 
 themselves 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 maybe disinfected con- 
 sists in washing them with disinfectant solutions of such strength as 
 will desti'oy 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 washing 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 ])roper disinfectant solution. For 
 full-sized coAvs and bullocks, t^-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 quarantine 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 straAV 
 and hay. 
 
 "/''. The Quarantine Shed. — 1. — The quarantine shed is intended 
 to keep the new and suspected cattle separate for a jieriod of at least 
 ten days, in order to afford the security, to be obtained by obser- 
 vation 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 circum- 
 scribed or penned in, and this is done by the quarantine shed. But 
 the keeping of cattle in the quarantine shed would not disinfect its
 
 58 
 
 surface with certainty even during a mucli longer period than ten 
 days ; disinfection of the siu'face, therefore, cannot supply the pre- 
 caution of the quarantine shed, and a rigorous quarantine cannot 
 supply the effect of suiface dLsinfection, Both jjrecautions are neces- 
 sary for perfect security, although either of them, without the other, 
 obviates a particular kind and a certain 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 distant from the common 
 dung-heap, and be buried daily. 
 
 " The utmost cleanliness should be observed in the shed. All 
 tools, jiails, currycombs, &c., \ised in this shed shoiild bo used in it 
 exclusively and nowhere else. The person attending the quarantine 
 shed should not be allowed to go into the shed Avhere healthy stock is 
 kept, or permitted to approach healthy stock. No person attending 
 healthy stock should be permitted to a]i})roach 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-di'css 
 immediately described. 
 
 " G. The Safety Dress. — 1. — This consists of strong water boots 
 reaching up to the knees, well greased all over ; of a waterproof 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 wliich takes 
 the hair well in. 
 
 " 2. — Every pei'son having occasion to visit sheds in which there 
 is diseased cattle, or suspected cattle, or ipiarantine cattle, should be 
 provided with the above dress, })ut it on when entering the place, 
 take it off when leaving the place, and have it disinfected imme- 
 diately. This precaution should be sti'ictly observed by all inspectors, 
 all veterinarians, or others called in to attend sick cattle, by all 
 dealers and Ijutchers entering sheds, yards, or meadows for the 
 purpose of sale or purchase, and by all other persons coming un the 
 premises on business in connection with cattle. 
 
 " 3. — The owners of stock shoidd not allow any sti-ansjers to 
 enter their sheds, yards, or meadows, exce})t in disinfected safety- 
 dresses ; and in case this should give rise to difliculties, 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 then* own boots behind, and put on the long boots, water- 
 proof coat, and si)ecial cap. Only thus can they hope to exclude all 
 ordinary and oVjvious chances of infection from their ])reviouslv 
 healthy sheds, yju-ds, and meadows. 
 
 " J[. Measures to he Tahn un Prc7nisrs irlicrc Plague has Actualli/ 
 Ajyprarcd. — 1. When the ]>lague has actually appeared in any shcij, 
 yard, or jdace, the sick animal should at once be removed with all 
 due precautious. It is certainly the safest and best to poleaxe the
 
 59 
 
 animal at once, and to buiy 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 the apparatus, also all the animals, aiul 
 only to let the animals enter the shed, &c., again after it is completely 
 sweet and dry. 
 
 " 2. — If, however, a proprietor is desirious of keeping a sick 
 animal because its illness does not appear sevei-e 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 distant from all healthy animals, and so 
 situated that the prevailing wind does not blow from this hospital shed 
 to-\\-ards the healthy or quarantine shed. The water should also not 
 flow from this hospital shed towards the others, or the yard, or any 
 meadow, but should be carefully drained a^\'ay and sent off the 
 premises by a special sink. 
 
 " 3. — To prevent the scattering of fteces by infected animals (and 
 also by suspected animals and all animals suftering from diarrhoea), 
 their tails should be so tied to one or other of their horns as to ])ro- 
 tect 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 fteces should be 
 prevented by a copius supply of rough straw, with some sand, saw- 
 dust, 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 diarrhoja should not be led along the streets, 
 highroads, and paths, as they would be certain to drop infectious 
 faeces, which would then be distributed OA'er the entire leng-th of 
 these roads by the feet of men and animals, and the wheels of 
 vehiciles. 
 
 " 4. — The sick animals should be disinfected repeatedly; their 
 pens shoiild be cleaned and disinfected repeatedly during the coui-se 
 of the illness. This should 1)6 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 ilever to be used with healthy, or quarantine, 
 or only suspected cattle. 
 
 " 5. — If the proprietor of any dead piece of cattle, whether it has 
 died naturally or been killed, should decide upon dismembering it 
 instead of burying it entire, and upon iitilizing the hide, horns, 
 tallow, and bones, he should disinfect the skin, horns, and hoofs, by 
 steeping them for one hour in a strong solution of chloride of lime, 
 containing lib. of the powder in each gallon of water, and afterwards 
 washing them. The tallow .should be thickly })0wdered 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 circimi- 
 stances, it is advisable to let this dismemberment of dead and fallen 
 cattle be performed at the knacker's yard.
 
 60 
 
 '< 6. — Flesh, l)lood, guts, lungs, and the bones of the head of 
 infected animals should not be tralficked witli, tvs they cannot easily 
 be disinfected. They should always bo buried. 
 
 " /. Disinfection of Mcadous, Fields, liocids, S^-c. — 1. — Meadows 
 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 sliould then be cut and burned. It should 
 then be left without any cattle for at lca.st a month, including at 
 least two wet days. 
 
 " 2. — All roails, paths, streets of towns, or villages should be 
 carefully and frequently scavenged. All carts, vans, or waggons used 
 for carrying manure should be watertight, 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 disinfected, as a precautionary measure, by the pro- 
 ceedings above desci'ibed. 
 
 " III.— GENERAL RECOMMENDATIONS.* 
 
 " In conclusion, it must be pointed out to farmers, dairymen, and 
 all persons having charge of cattle — 
 
 "That the same great measures which are known to laaiutain 
 and restore the health of human beings ^vill also maintain and 
 restore the health of cattle. 
 
 " Pure ail- : dry, spacious, well- ventilated and well-drained clean 
 sheds, cleaii and dry meadows : jilenty of pure water : fiequent curry- 
 in^ and washing : the prevention -of the development, by the destruction 
 of the germs, of internal and external parasites, particularly entozoa : 
 proper food in suitable (quantities, and at projjcr times : protection 
 from inclement weather : the utmost cleanliness in the removal of 
 manure : the storing of the manm-e at a great distance from the 
 cattle shed, and, in addition, the most conscientious oljservance of the 
 precautionary and disinfecting mcivsures above described. All these 
 measures and agents together Avill secure the utmost possible health 
 of stock, and the prosperity of the agriculturist and dairyman. But 
 the neglect of any one of them will make the stock lialjle to become 
 infected, and the more so the more several or all callateral conditions 
 of the lundthy existence of animals are neglected. The negligent 
 man is therefore certain to lose, to injure his neighbour by defeating 
 his precautions, and to damage society ; but the watchful and i)ains- 
 takiuf man will be rewarded, not only by the preservation of his 
 property, but particularly by the consciousness that it has been pre- 
 served by his own care and attention, and that thereby he has also 
 benefited the State." 
 
 * In '• Rtiid and Tliink," .Tune 4tli, 1878, I siiirpi'Sted tliat Dr. Thudichiiiu and 
 other physicians sliould comply witli the directions as to the " Safety Dress" in cases of 
 " Infectious Disease," in which, however, a lighter material might be permitted. J. C. J.
 
 REMARKS 
 
 BY 
 
 MISS NIGHTINGALE, 
 
 ON A PAMPHLET ENTITLED 
 
 i6 
 
 INFECTION." 
 
 Anon, 
 
 1867.
 
 62 
 
 REMAEKS. 
 
 This Pamphlet is ably written. It reminds one very much 
 of the arguments which in the middle ages might liavc been 
 brouglit by an enlightened man against witchcraft, as a cause 
 of disease. 
 
 The disease-germ-fetisli, and the witehcvaft-feti.-h are tlie 
 produce of the same mental condition ; both of tliem considered 
 simply as superstitions, or harmless theories ; both of them 
 spring from the same source, a desire to group together a 
 number of detached phenomena, so as to make a kind of raft 
 on which weak minds can float. This view can easily be 
 confirmed, by reading any of the trials for Avitchcraft, and 
 comparing the facts and inductions, in the Cattle Plague 
 Report, and in other medical treatises on so called Contagious 
 Diseases. But when either the witchcraft hypothesis, or the 
 disease-germ hypothesis is made the basis of legislation on tlie 
 assumption that any public good can follow from any Acts of 
 Parliament, then the matter becomes very serious indeed ; and 
 the fact of such legislation being possible can only be con- 
 sidered as a striking proof iiow rapidly the (so called) scientific 
 mind of iMigland, is sinking into a condition of abject 
 superstition. 
 
 This is not the only evil ; commerce will inevitably suffer to 
 a greater extent than heretofore from these absurdities unless 
 a check is put on tliem.
 
 63 
 
 It cannot be otherwise, because the germ hypotliesis, if 
 logically followed out, must stop all human intercourse what- 
 ever, on pain or risk of disease or death. 
 
 The germ hypothesis, moreover, is directly at variance in 
 its results with ascertained sanitary experience, and to adopt 
 it as a basis of legislation is, in strict logic, to declare that the 
 Public Health Act, the Local Government Act, and all other 
 Local Acts for improving the public health, have been founded 
 on error. 
 
 This Pamphlet is the first protest made publicly against 
 this downward course. 
 
 The Author deserves great credit for his audacity, and 
 one can only hope that it will open the eyes of other 
 members of the House of Commons to the course on which 
 they have entered.