H.—37.

other purposes. The term of three years to date, in those places where adequate public slaughterhouses already exist, from the public announcement by the local authority that the use of such public slaughterhouse is obligatory, or, in those places where public slaughterhouses have not been erected, from the public announcement by the local authority that tenders for their erection have been accepted, (b.) That local authorities be empowered to require all meat slaughtered elsewhere than in a public slaughterhouse, and brought into the district for sale, to be taken to a place or places where such meat may be inspected; and that local authorities be empowered to make a charge to cover the reasonable expenses attendant on such inspection, (c.) That when a public slaughterhouse has been established inspectors shall be engaged to inspect all animals immediately after slaughter, and stamp the joints of all carcases passed as sound. 2. It appears desirable that in London the provision of public in substitution for private slaughterhouses should be considered in respect to the needs of London as a whole, and in determining their positions regard must be had for the convenient conveyance of animals by railways from the markets beyond the limits of London, as well as from the Islington market, to the public slaughterhouses which should be provided. At the present time no administrative authority has statutory power authorizing it to provide public slaughterhouses other than for the slaughter of foreign cattle at the port of debarkation. 3. With regard to slaughterhouses in rural districts, the case is not so easy to deal with. But the difficulty is one that must be faced, otherwise there will be a dangerous tendency to send unwholesome animals to be slaughtered and sold in small villages where they will escape inspection. We recommend, therefore, that in Great Britain the inspection of meat in rural districts be administered by County Councils. In Ireland the duty of carrying out inspection ought to devolve upon authorities corresponding as nearly as possible to those charged wifh that duty in England and Scotland. In view of the announced intention of the Government to introduce a new scheme of local government into Ireland we refrain from specifying the exact machinery which should be employed. 4. We recommend further that it shall not be lawful to offer for sale the meat of any animal which has not been killed in a duly licensed slaughterhouse. B. Qualifications of Meat Inspectors. —s. We recommend that in future no person be permitted to act as a meat inspector until he has passed a qualifying examination, before such authority as may be prescribed by the Local Government Board (or Board of Agriculture), on the following subjects:— (a.) The law of meat inspection, and such by-laws, regulations, &c, as may be in force at the time he presents himself for examination, (b.) The names and situations of the organs of the body, (c.) Signs of health and disease in animals destined for food, both when alive and after slaughter, (d.) The appearance and character of fresh meat, organs, fat, and blood, and the conditions rendering them, or preparations from them, fit or unfit for human food. C. Tuberculosis in Animals Intended for Food. —6. We recommend that the Local Government Board be empowered to issue instructions from time to time for the guidance of meat inspectors, describing the degree of tubercular disease which, in the opinion of the Board, should cause a carcase, or part thereof, to be seized. ... In view of the greater tendency to generalisation of tuberculosis in the pig, we consider that the presence of tubercular deposit in any degree should involve the seizure of the whole carcase and of the organs. In respect of foreign dead meat, seizure shall ensue in every case where the pleura have been ' stripped.' Milk.— D. Diseases in the Udders of Cows. —7. We recommend that notification of every disease in the udder shall b§ made compulsory, under penalty, on the owners of all cows, whether in private dairies, or those of which the milk is offered for sale. 8. We recommend that for the purpose of excluding from their districts the milk affected with turberculosis of the udder, or exhibiting clinical symptoms of the disease, local authorities should be given powers somewhat similar to those of sections 24-27 of the Glasgow Police (Amendment) Act, with power to slaughter such cows, subject to compensation under the conditions named in the Eeport. 9. We also recommend that powers shall be given to local authorities to take samples and make analyses from time to time of the milk produced or sold in their districts, and that milk-vendors shall be required to supply sufficient information as to the sources from which their milk is derived. At ports where milk and milk products are received from foreign countries, any costs that may be thus incurred in their examination shall be borne by the importers. E. Cowsheds, Byres, &c. —lo. We recommend that the Local Government Board be empowered to require local authorities to adopt regulations as to dairies, cowsheds, &0., where that shall be found not to have been done already. 11. That in future no cowshed, byre, or shippon, other than those already registered, shall be permitted or registered in urban districts within 100 ft. of any dwelling-house ; and that the discontinance of any one already existino- shall be ordered on the certificate, either of the medical officer of health that it is injurious to the health of human beings residing near it, or of the veterinary inspector that it is not a place wherein cows ought to be kept for the purpose of milk-supply, and that it is incapable of being made so. 12. That the conditions of the attached cowsheds that shall warrant the registering of a dairy in a populous place, whether technically urban or rural, in the future shall include the following: (1) An impervious floor; (2) a sufficient water-supply for flushing; (3) proper drainage ; (4) a depot for the manure at a sufficient distance from the byres; (5) a minimum cubic contents as regards such districts of from 600 ft. to 800 ft. for each adult beast, varying according to-the average weight of the animals ; (6) a minimum floor-space of 50 ft. to each adult beast; (7) sufficient light and ventilation. While we have prescribed a minimum cubic contents and floor-space without mentioning definite dimensions affecting ventilation and lighting, we are distinctly of opinion that these are by far the most important, and that requirements as to cubic and floor space are mainly of value as tending to facilitate adequate movement of air. Existing cowsheds should be obliged to conform to the prescribed regulations within a period of twelve months from the time of the regulations coining into force. 13. The same conditions as those recommended for populous places should apply to cowsheds in sparsely-populated places, except in so far as cubic contents per cow are concerned; as regards these cubic contents, such space per cow should be provided as

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