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they were inspected officially no less than seven
times, and they were constantly under the observation
of salesmen and butchers, who are skilled in
the discovery of disease. There is, therefore, not
merely no evidence that they were infected, but
abundant proof that they were sound and healthy.
On the 27th of June, that is twenty-six days
after the sale and slaughter of the last of the Revel
cargo, the disease was first seen in the cow-shed of
Mrs. Nichols, at Islington, and on the following
day it was noticed by the same surgeon in the dairy
of Mr. Baldwin, at Hackney. On the 1st of July,
it was observed at Mr. Dewson's, in Whitechapel,
and by the 3rd of July, it had attacked 40 cows in
various places, and had killed half of them. Mr.
Priestman, the veterinary surgeon who saw these
cases, was much puzzled by the novelty of the
symptoms, and the suddenness of the attack. At
first he attributed them to poison; but on the 4th
of July he took the viscera of one of the diseased
animals to Professor Simonds, who saw at once that
it was not poison, but a new disorder that had been
so fatal. For six days he pursued the inquiry, and
then he was convinced that it was the rinderpest
of Russia. No time was lost in communicating
his opinion to the Privy Council; but a fortnight
elapsed before anything was done to arrest the
progress of the disease, and by that time it had
spread in all directions: in fact, on the 14th of