The Wairarapa Daily. MONDAY, JANUARY 9, 1888. A MODERN MAGICIAN.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume IX, Issue 2792, 9 January 1888, Page 2

The Wairarapa Daily. MONDAY, JANUARY 9, 1888. A MODERN MAGICIAN.

A cable message from Paris states that, "M. Pasteur has conducted a successful experiment demonstrating the method of exterminating rabbits by means of inoculation. Apiece of land eight hectares (19 acres) in extent was enclosed and populated with rabbits, In the middle of the warren a number of rabbits, inoculated with a virulent disease were liberated, and within a few hours the whole of the animals within the enclosure were dead." Of course, as yet, the details of M. Pasteur's experiment eaiinot reach us, nor hava we any clue as to the nature of the'-virus which apparently has produced so speedy and fatal an effect. This news, however, gives the Australian colonies a chance of a prompt suppression of the rabbit difficulty. It takes some 'millions of pounds worth of grass every year to feed the rabbits of Australasia and if by any. means they can be extirpated, the Colonies in which we are mteres. ted will be able to largely increase their export of wooi, tallow, and meat. The indirect loss of a million a year by rabbits in New Zealand may not appear to some as a serious affair, but as a matter of fact it _ almost paralyses pastoral enterprises in many districts. Had we no rabbits to feed, money would be available for paying the wages of forty or fifty thousand more hands than are now employed. New Zealand depends more than any other country in the world upon its grass, and when rabbits eat top much of it, the Colony must suffer. Of course, as yet it is a matter of wild conjecture whether' M. Pasteur's rabbit inoculation is speciallydesigned for vermin, or whether it is. applicable to other animals. - We may assume from the reputation of the preparatov, that it has a practical value, though ajl mpt view with some alarm the. resort to a |e.aifu) pd mysterious weapon of destrupfipn of this kind. If M.Pasteur can exterminate rabbits in the manner indicated, he may, perhaps.in due course,, extend his researches to fhe discovery of the best means of extirpating some of the gigantic armies'which are eating up Europe, much the same as rabbits are eaiinp up. New; Zealand. Think of the thousands and thousands

of pounds of gunpowder which have been blazed away at rabbits in thia Colony, and all less effective than perhaps a single drop of M. Pasteur's I virus. If chemical discoveries progress I on the lines laid down by M, Pasteur.. the generals and field-marshals of the future-will bethemenof science who are prepared to wage war with disease germs. In the sixteenth century, under the patronage of the Borgias, •poisoning was raised to the dignity of a fine art, but in more modern days this- special scientific study .m its : application to every day affairs has been neglected; A new poisoning era would appear to be dawning, of whioh the illustrious M. Pasteur is the bright morning star. The germ business, when properly developed, will, no doubt, enable anyone or anybody to be innooulated at, the will of the operator. A Pasteur pilule no bigger than a pin's head may possibly be broken in an apartment, to the sure and speedy annihilation of its inmates. We can almost imagine a few years hence, that when a wretohed debtor calls a private meeting of his creditors he will slyly inoculate them with an atmospheric germ of thia description, and have the melancholy satisfaction of hearing on the following morning that one and all of them were in immediate need of either coffins or cremation, However, much as we may admire the genius of M. Pasteur, we feel a prejudice against hisinethod. No doubt the Australian governments will ascertain exactly what his project for exterminating rabbbits will accomplish, and sanction its adoption here if it is not accompanied by danger to other animals. There will, however, be some apprehension lest some private settler who is losing one or two thousand pounds per year through rabbits makes the experiment, and to save himself, perchance, from ruin, introduces a plague into the Colony which may never be stayed. We trust this may not ocour, but so far the discovery of M. Pasteur suggests a possible misfortune as well as a possible advantage.