to reimburse the
owners for their losses, and the splendid herds of the county were
preserved. Forfar, on the other hand, set herself to cure the plague,
with the result of a universal infection, the loss of many thousands
of cattle, and the ruin of hundreds of farmers. Finally the malady was
crushed out in the entire island by the method adopted by Aberdeen and
other well advised counties at the outset."

And again, "Cattle have been inoculated by the tens of thousands in
Belgium and Holland, and of all Europe these are the countries now
most extensively infected. France, Prussia, Italy, Austria, and
England have each practiced it on a large scale, and each remains a
home of the plague. Australia has followed the practice, and is now
and must continue an infected country. Our own infected States have
inoculated, and the disease has survived and spread in spite of it,
and even by its aid. Whatever country has definitively exterminated
the plague (Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Holstein, Mecklenburg,
Switzerland, Massachusetts, and Connecticut), that country has
prohibited inoculation and all other methods that prevail on the
principle of preserving the sick, and has relied on the slaughter of
the infected and the thorough disinfection of their surroundings. So
will it be with us. If any State adopts or allows any of these
temporizing measures, that State will only repeat the experience of
the past alike in the Old World and the New, will perpetuate the
disease in the country, will entail great losses on its citizens, will
keep up the need for constant watchfulness and great expense by the
adjoining States for their own protection, and will indefinitely
postpone the resumption of the foreign live stock trade, which, a few
months ago, promised to be one of the most valuable branches of our
international commerce."

We are persuaded that the position taken by Professor Law, and other
similar-minded veterinary surgeons, is the only safe one. The disease
can be stamped out now with comparatively small loss. If trifled with,
and tolerated, it cannot but result in a great national calamity.

* * * * *

SPAIN A FIELD FOR MACHINERY AND PATENTS.

From a too lengthy communication to admit in full to our columns, a
resident of Madrid communicates to the SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN some facts
relative to the fertility of the soil of Spain, her necessity for
improved agricultural and other implements, a