CATTLE DISEASE.

Otago Witness, Issue 654, 11 June 1864, Page 18

CATTLE DISEASE.

(From the •• Times.") CATTLE DISEASES PREVENTION BILL, CATTLE, &0., IMPORTATION BILL

Mr Bruce, in rising to move the second reaJing of these Bills, said that the subject had been considered with that c&re and attention due to its importance. The question was an extremely difficult one to deaf with, because it was no easy matter to iuterfere effectually to prevent the spread of infectious diseases among cattle, without at the fame time interfering unduly with the operations of the agriculturist. There were now four Acts relating to this subject in existence and instead of encumbering tite Statute- book by adding to their number it was proposed to repeal those Acts and pass two others m their place, at once consolidating and amending the present law. As far as could be ascertained, there were in the United Kingdom nearly 8,000,000 head of cattle, thus distributed :—ln: — In England there were something over 3,500,000 : in Ireland wraething over 3,250,000 ; and in Scotland about 1,000 000 The total number of sheep was about 40,000,000 ; and the total number of pigs 4 300,000. The aggregate value of that property, reckoning the cattle at worth LlOa head, the sheep at LI each) and the pigs also at LI, was no less than L121,800,000< These figures indicated the magnitude and importance of the interests in volved in this question. Disease among cattle bad broken out with peculiar virulence during the last 20 years. In 1844 the first insurance office for cattle was founded, when it was estimated that premiums of from 3 to 81 per cent, ■would cover the risks of lofa. Several iosuranc? offioen were started, but although the premiums were increased from 3 gradually up ti 7 per cent.. and although after a time the insurance offices refused to admit Irish cattle as -being more afflicted with disease than othc cattle, the largest offices came to a stand. In 1861 Mr M'Minn (Superintendent for Scotland of the Agricultural Cattle Insurance Company, one of the most ira- . portant of these establishments), published statistical tables which showed that in the six years from 1855 to 1800 inclusive, the average annual mortality among 30,000 cattle insured was 1474 or nearly 5 per cut., their average value being taken at LU 9* 8d a head. That was in Scotland. Applying these figures to the United Kingdom, the average loss from disease in six years would be 2,235,000 head, or 875.000 head a year. The total value of the loss for cix years wae 126,000,000. or L 4,820000 per annum. The Manual death-rate tor sheep was estimated at 4 per cent, or in value L 1,600,000 a year. In regard to pigs, the estimated lots in Ireland was 10 per cent ; in England and Scotland it was much less : the total value of the loss of pigs in the United Kingdom averaging 14,200,000 ayear. The aggregate annual value of the cattle, sheep, and pigs. lost by disease in the United Kingdom was, therefore, L6.120.C00. The most fatal of those diseases was pleuro!pneumonit, from which at least half of the cattle died. In 1848 the annual report of the Agricultural Insurance Company said tbat in some districts thousands were can fed off by this disease. 8o great, indeed, were its ravages that nearly three-fourths of the losses for which claims, were made on the company were the results oi that incurable malady. It appeared to be generally admitted that at least one-balf of tbe cattle died of this disease. With reaped to the cause* of this disease doctors differed among themselves. Borne said it was oontagioui, others that it was not contagious, but propagated by epidemic. It was not for hint to decide, bnt be believed the preponderance of argument in favour of it* being contagions. It might also occasionally arise spontaneously in some districts, lint facts, he thought, proved that it was contagious. Th« disease, however it arose, was no doubt propagated in transmission of cattle by ship from foreign countries. They were, per naps, driven 8 considerable way to the port of •xnWcation, huddled into ships, taken across the seas, exposed to great heat and suffering on board •hip ; they were taken ashore, put into trucks in which cattle had recently travelled infected with the same disease (hear, hear), and thus, both on shipboard and in these trucks, at fairs and other places of sals, the disease was necessarily propagated. It therefore seemed neeessarv to consider what provisions could be made to diminish the propagation of the disease from these mums. He«ieed not go into details as to other diseases- the foot and mouth disease, the; scab in sheep, and measles in pigs. He had stated the number of deaths arising from disease, but that did aot represent the whole extent of the mischief. There was another point of great 1 social importance connected with this subject. and that was the question of meat. "Within the last few Tears, the price of beei and matton had very considerably increased. Whether tbat was owing in any considerable extent to the amount of disease which prevailed among cattle, or whether it arose from tbe greater demand for batcher's meat in consequence of the increasing prosperity and wealth of the people, he could not undertake to decide; Probab y the rise in price was attributable to both causes. An enormous mass of diseased meat, in various stages of disease, was annually gold. What the precise quantity was it would of course be difficult to estimate. Professor Gamgee estimated it at one-fifth. There was no conclusive evidence oa the subject, although then was ample evidence that the quantities were very large, not only of meat killed while oatt'e were diseased, but of " cat tie which had died without the aid of the butcher He took the case where the figures were beyond dispute. The death* in dairies were most numaroui In Edinburgh, Professor Gamgee gave returns from 88 dairies, for ths year ending 1862. Out of 1839 cow* kept 1075 were sold diseased, of which 791 were sold to botchers, and 284 to be consumed by pigs. In sine dairies in Dublin, on an average of 90 years, out of 315 cowb 161 were sold diseased. - la Dublin it was observable thftt the cows, being turned out to grass, the greatest part of the year, were healthier than in the great itowns. The lost in London, Manchester, fee., was equally great. These diseased sows were sold in Dublin fairs at from £2 to £5 each. In London and Edinburgh, where the facilities for sale were greater, at from £10 to £20. In London the seiaures of diseased meat were very large, representing probably, bnt a snail part of those killed in a diseased state. He would, on this subject, read to the House an extract from Professor Gamgee. He aays:— "In London I have seen batchers in private slaughter houses dress extremely diseased carcases and polish the meat. This filthy practice consists in killing & good fat ox at the same* time that a number of lean and diseased animals are being killed. Boiling water it at hand, and when the leas animals hare been skinned their

flesh is rubbed over with fat from the healthy ox, and hot cloths are used to keep the fat warm and to distribute it over the carcass, that it may acquire an artificial gloss and an appearance of not being totally deprived of fat. In Edinburgh I have sien siokly lambs without aparticleof fat upon them dressed up with the fat of bealtiiy sheep much in the same way. Prom the private slaughter-houses in London i have known even tbe diseased organs themselves seat to the saußage-maker. In company with another membsr of my profession, I Lava seen a carcass dressed and portions of it prepared for eale aa sau3age-meat, and otherwise, although thoracic disease had gone to such an extent that gallons of fetid fluid were removed from the pleural sacs, and tbat large abscesses existed in the lungs." (Hear, hear.) In Edinburgh there were between 100 and 200 diseased cattle sold weekly in the meat-ma) ket; and as to Dunlin, he would read an extract from " The Times," dated December 17, 1862 :- "The Moyal Dublin Society met on Saturday evening to hear a lecture lrcm Professor Gamgee on disease and mortality among cattle. When he had concluded, Mr Ganlej, salesmnster, made an extracrdinu-r statement. He said that, unless some means were devised to give the farmer some compensation for diseased cottie, it was impossible to prevent him from selling them, or the butcher from killing and selling them. Unless gome society were formed to have diseased meat paid for, it would be killed and eaten. There was no use in mincing ths matter, tvery one of the salesmen sold diseased cattie. The farmer could not otherwise pay his rent. The disease is so prevalent tbat he could not live were he to submit his cattle to destruction. Did the sale of this diseased meat lead to disease in tbe human frame ? Of course, disease existed in yery different proportions. To many, in most cases, it probably aid no positive harm. The heat and process of cooking purified, and what Mr Simon called " tbe strong disinfectant chyraistry of digestion " deprived it of much of its danger. Still, tuo positive existence of disease communicated by diseased meat was very strong. He would read one or two extraota bearing on thi< point : — *' Professor Madagan, of the University of Edinburgh, stated at a public meeting held in RHaburgh on the 29th of January, 1868. that in his practice, both as a physiciau and a toxlcoiogisthe had met with instances in which several persona had been attacked simultaneously with irri, tant symptoms after having in common partaken of meat which on being examined was found to contain no poison, nor to be in that state of putrescence whioh, as is well known, occasionally confers upon animal matters actively poisonous properties." Or. Alfred 8. Taylor, F.R.&, in a letter of the 12th of January, 1863, said :— " As a general principle, 1 think diseased meat noxious and unfit for human food.*' He moreover adds :<— " In the course of my practice I have met with several cases of poisoning which appeared to be attributable to diseased or decomposed meat— wore frequently the latter. I can at present re call to ray recollection only two fatal ease» — one Irom diseased mutton, the sheep having had the stasrgers, and one from German sausages. Animal food has been frequently sent to me with a view to the detection of poisom, the persons sending it having the impression that, from the vomiting and purging produced, poison must have been mixed with it, No poison has, however, been found to justify this suspicion," Dr. Letheby stated :— "Hv opinion of the injurious effects of diseased meat on the health of those who make use of it is very decided. I have seen to much mischief from » that I do not hesitate for one moment t» say that some legislative measuie is most pressingly wanted to prevent, not only the raffic in diseased meat, but also to prevent the laughterinsr of diseweii animals. Buch regulations are now In operation everywhere on the Continent, and they are mush needed here. In the city markets alone my officers seize from one to two tons of diseased meat every week. Last ye^r we seised 110.0461b. of meat, of which 78,0971b. were diseased, and 13,0441b. from animals that had died. We often pursue the offenders into a court of juitiee, and have them fined or imprisoned; bat I feel that the mischief should be stopped before it reaches the markets. Officers arc wanted to examine the cattle before they are slaughtered. As to the effects of such meat on the human subject, 1 have ssen ! many cases of illness from it One of these is sufficiently important to bring tinder your notice. In the month of November, 1860, a part of ft deceased cow was bought in Newgat » market. It came from one of the cowhouses in London. It was bought by a sausaeemaker of Kingaland, and, as is commonly the case with very bad meat, it waa mule up into sausages. Sixty six persons partook of the sausages, and 64 of them were made very ill. They were purged, became sick, giddy, and the vital powers were seriously prostrated, and they lay in many cases for hours in a case of collapse, like people with cholera. One man died, and I was requested by the coroner to inquire into the matter. I obtained some of the sausages, thinkcould discover none ; and the whale hbtorv of tbe case showed that it was diseased meat which had done the work. Again, Dr. Livingstone tells us that whenever the natives of Africa eat the flish of an animal tbat has died from pleuropuenmi'nia, no matter how the fleoh is cooked, they suffer from carbunole. Now, it is a very remarkable fast that boils and carbuncles have been most prevalent in thia country for several years put. The Registrar-Gfoneral for Scotland has drawn attention to this faot." And Professor Gamgee said :—

" My own observations confirm the opinions of the eminent authorities just quoted. I have ■ known in many instances where meat supplied to j students in lodging-houses in this city has led to j vcraiting, a purging, and severe soils. In the ma- I joritv of instances 'such meat was cooked in the form of beefsteak. Three of my own students were aff;eted simultaneously one day in December last. Within a couple of hours after dinner they experienced colicky pains, purging, vomiting, and these symptoms lasted several hours. Bread, potatoes, and water were the only other materials they had partaken of at dinner. ' n another, occasion two were affected, bnt did aot attribute ' the injury to the steak until the next day, when the servant ate what had been left of the meat, and suffered severely," Bat whether or no diseased meat was poisonous, lie thought there could hardly be a question that it must be of an innutritions character. On whom, then, did that evil chieflj fall ? Not on '

the rich, but on the poor, who bed the greatest need of nutritious food. Last Tear he had the honor of passing a bill for the regulation of bakehouses; and in reading up the evidence on that subject he foand that in many large towns bread was baked which contained twothirds of matter that wa* not nutritious ; and so it was with meat. He need not us '■ another argument to show the necessity of very urgent inquiry upon this subject. His next duty was to inform the House what had been the legislation on this subject. The importation of cattle commenced in 1842, and he thought there could be no doubt a good deal of disease had been due to the importation of diseased cattle. — (Hear, hear.) At this* moment he believed that foreign cattle arrived at our port 3in better condition than cattle from parts of the United Kingdom ; and there was a greater necessity for guarding against the introduction of diseased cattle from Ireland atd Scotland than from foreign countries. It so happened, however, that legislation had provided tho means for checking the importation of diseased cattle frcm foreign sources, but not from parts of the United Kingdom. The existing- Acts tee • latin g this subject were the 11th and 12th at Victoria, cap 105, and the Customs Consolidation Act, 1853 (16th. and 17th ef Victoria, cap. 107, sec. 44 ) The 11th anxUl2th of Victoria, rap 105, by its preamble, authorised ths issue of Orders in Ceuncil for preventing or regulating the importation of animals from parts beyond (he seas ' where infectious or contagious diseases prevail. The expression M parts beyond the seas'' had been held to refer to foreign countries, and therefore we had no power to interfere with cattie imported from Scotland c Ireland, or from any ports in England. The 'only change made was to authorise the tissue of general regulations with respect to the importation of cattle, whether from parts beyond the seas, or from one part of the United Kingdom to the other. The Act waa strictly con*, fined to tho importation of live animals. The 16th and 17th Victoria, cap. 107 sec. 4A, included ''infected cattle, sheep or other animals, and hides, skins, horns, and hoofs or any other part of cattle or other animals which her Majesty may by Order in Council prohibit in order to prevent any contagious distemper." The two Act* taken together would appear large enough to enable her Majesty in Council to make any restrictions whatever with respect to animals or parts of animals. It had, however, been considered that " Order in Council" meant an Order in Council passed not under the Customs' Act, but under the 11th and 12th Victoria, cap. 165, and did 'not extend to cattle imported from one part of the United Kingdom to the other. The object of this Bill, therefore, was to make it clear that her Majesty might rezulate the importation of cattle from one part of the United Kingdom to the other, as well as from foreign parts. Provision waa also made for the purification of ships bringing cattle to this country. This could b« done at little cost or inconvenience; and in this way,' no doubt, tbey would get rid of a fruitful cause of diseaw. It had been suggested that the great objeot should he to stop the evil at the port of shipment. They could not send agents to Rotterdam «r Hamburg for this purpose, but it was said they might »end them to Leith, Glasgow, Belfast, and stop the diseased cattle there. On that subject he hail consulted the best practical authorities, and he was informed that tho inconveniencs would be very great if that were resorted to. In the first place, the disease usually showed itself after the cattle had landed in this rountry, not before. In the next place it would be necessary to stop tho droves of cattle as they landed at the port of embarcation, often after arrangements had been concluded for their shipment. That would cause great inconvenience. He bad therefore abandoned that suggestion. It wae hi* intention to propose that this Bill should be referred to a select committee upstairs {hear, hear) ; and if after examining tha whole matter, more effectual methods could be suggested of arresting disease than those provided in the Bill, there would be no difficulty on the part of the Government iv accepting them. (Hear, hear.) He now came to the other Bill, with respect to diseased cattle. By common law the bringing a horse infected with g'andera oi cattle or sheep with any contagious disease into a public place was an indictable offence. But that was confined to public places, for in the ease of " Cooke v. Waring" Chief Justice Brie deoided that the selling a glsndered horse at a hone repository was not an indictable nuisance, although no notice of the disease was civen to the purabassr, whose horses were infected and died. At common law, therefore, the bringing of cattle suffering from contagious disease into a fair or market would be an offence punishable by indictment. The statute law relating to diseased animals was contained in the 11th and 12th of Victoria, cap. 107, and 16th and 17th of Victoria, cap. 62. These Acts were temporary, and continued to the Ist of Aug., 1864, or the end of the next ensuing session. The 11th and 12th of Victoria related chiefly to sheep-pox. It empowered local authorities to seize and detain any animal affected with that disease, and imposes a penalty of L2O on any person turning out any sheep or lambs infected with this disease on common land. By section 4 power was given to her Majesty in Council to prohibit the removal from specified places of any animals affected with a contagious disease, and of enforcing 1 the most stringent precautions with respect to the burial of diseased animals, and the destruction of articles likely to propagate infection. Th« 16th an 4 17th of Victoria, cap. 62, extended only to imporing a penalty on persons turning out glandered horses in common ' fields. The object of the pre«ent BUI was to consolidate and to extend the existing law. Tho Bill was divided into six parts. Part 1 made it *n offence —first, to tarn out in a common field any diseased cattle ; second, to expose for sale any diseased cattle ; thirdly, or to place them in a field insufficiently fenced, or to take , them along a highway without due precaution ; penalty for Bu.6k offences not to exceed L2O. It wm also provided tbat if the, owner of a diseased animal knowingly sell it to a oumhaeer, without no'.ico of disease, he shall, in addition to the penalty imposed, by the Act, be deemed guilty of fraud in nuking the sale, and be liable for damages to the extent of the injury inflicted upon the purchaser. The second park repeated and somewhat enlarged the 11th and 12th Victoria, cip. 107, enabling her Majesty to declare certain districts infected, and to make regulations with respect to the removal and mole of disposing of cattle in such districts. The third part was new, requiring every railway or canal company to cleanse the trucks and boats in which they carried cattle (hear, hear), and to water the cattle once in 12 hours. (Hear, haw.) He believed there would be no insuperable dim

culty in this, &n<i there can be no doubt of th* great cruelty and mischief of the existing practice in that respect. (Hear.) The fourth part was partly new. The 11th and 12th Victoria authorised the appointment of inspectors with powers to seize any sheep or lambs exposed for sale at any market or fair, and to destroy the pens, litter, &c. This act extended the authority of the inspector to all cattle at fairs or markets which be might examiue and exclude. This portion of the Bill also denned the local- authorities, and provided for their payment. The fifth part made nil penalties recoverable ia a summary manner. The sixth repealed existing Act 3, and declared all Orders in Council now in force not to be affected. He believed he had now stated the object and th» nature of the Bill. As he stated at the commencement, ha was fully aware of the great diineulty and delicacy of the task, but, being aware of the enormous evils -that existed, they ought not to rest satisfied until they took such means as were iv their power to check and remedy them. (Hear, hear.) He now moved the sec.md reading of these Bills, and, if the Houseagreed to that, he should move tbat they be referred to a select committee.