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plague of ourselves. Its proper home is in the
grassy steppes of Central Asia, where it is a common
endemic disease; but so contagious is its
nature, that it freely passes to the neighbouring
steppes of European Russia, where it becomes still
more virulent. From Russia it is ever following
the movements of cattle across the frontiers of
Poland and Hungary; and if it were not for the
restrictions of Austria and Prussia, it would be a
frequent visitor to the states of Western Europe.
Hitherto when it has appeared in Europe its course
has been in the tract of Northern armies, when,
from the disturbance of all authority, the barriers
erected against its progress have been broken down,
and infected cattle have travelled without hindrance
for the service of the troops. In this way the
disease has frequently visited Prussia, Austria,
Germany, Holland, Belgium, and France; more
rarely it has passed into Italy, Spain, and Portugal,
and still more rarely into England; for our insular
position was, in the old days of restricted commerce,
a nearly perfect protection. It has saved us
from the disease for more than a hundred years,
notwithstanding that the herds of Western Europe
have often been ravaged by it. But this is no
longer a safeguard, for the energies and freedom of
trade have placed us within easy reach of all parts
of the Continent, and for some time past we have
been in great danger of importing the disease: in
fact, our only protection has been in the vigilance