Genre:

News-Commentary

Subjects:

Animal Husbandry, Nutrition, Disease, Vaccination, Veterinary Science, Religion

    Upholding the national importance of mutton, discusses the alarming news that Dorsetshire and Wiltshire sheep are infected with small-pox. Denies that Mr Punch wishes to make fun of this story, but wishes to 'deprecate the madness of attempting to arrest [the disease] by inoculation', a move suggested by John A Symonds. The author stresses that his position is shared by John T Tyrell who stated in The Times that he advises destroying infected animals rather than inoculating them. Insists that since the inoculation of Christians has been 'abandoned and condemned', it should be stopped for sheep. Argues that this is the same argument as stopping the spread of disease by such agents as bluebottles and birds. Warns that inoculation would help spread small-pox over the country.