CONTAGIOUS DISEASES.—In this article the diseases of animals only will be dealt with ; those of mankind will be the subject of the article entitled INFECTIOUS DISEASES. The law and regulations on this subject are now contained in the Diseases of Animals Act, 1894, and in the orders of the Board of Agriculture and of the local authorities made thereunder. The object of the Act is the prevention of the spread of contagious diseases amongst animals, and its operation extends to Scotland, as also to Ireland. Persons who have charge of diseased animals must keep them separate, and give notice a the fact. Any cow shed, field, or other place may be declared by the Board of Agriculture to be a place infected with cattle plague, as also may any area of the country containing such an infected place. If the case of disease is one of pleuro-pneumonia, or foot and mouth disease, the place may be declared by a local authority, such as a town council, as well as by the board, to be an infected place ; and in respect to diseases other than these three, the power of such a declaration lies solely with the board. Ex cept under certain prescribed conditions, cattle are not allowed to be moved into, within, or out of a place or area infected with pleuro-pneumonia or foot and mouth disease; and strangers may be excluded from the infected place or area by the person in charge of the animals. A stranger, or person not having by law a right of entry or way, is thereupon prevented from entering the place. Provision may be made by the board for the slaughter of animals suffering, or suspected to be suffering, from diseases such as plague, pleuro pneumonia, foot and mouth disease, and swine fever, and for payment of com pensation, and regulating the exposure for sale and the transit of such animals, and requiring due cleansing and disinfection, and prohibiting or regulating the importation of animals from abroad, and their movements in Lo, within, and out of specified ports. The local police are empowered to enforce the execution of the provisions of the Act, and inspectors are appointed there under in order to see that persons in charge of animals comply with all the regulations for the time being in force. The police have full authority to do all things necessary to enforce the law ; they may freely enter suspected premises ; arrest offenders or suspected offenders without warrant ; and stop, examine, and deal with, as may seem proper, any suspected animals, or con veyance in which they may be.
i-eriarties are imposed by- the Act in respect of any contravention of its and those penaKies, which in some cases amount to so much as .e20 for each offence, are recoverable in Summary proceedings before magis trates, and in default of their payment, and in case of an insufficient yield by a distress therefor, the offencier may be imprisoned without hard labour. On a second or subsequent conviction, within twelve months, the offender may be iMprisbned for one month with hard labour in lieu of a fine. In respect of some offences the imprisonment may be for two•months. Beyond the above short enumeration of some of the requirements of the Act, the limits of this work prevent a complete list and description of the various possible offences. They are seventeen in number. Persons,' therefore, who have to deal with animals, and in whose charge they ever conic, would be wise if they provided themselves with a copy of the Act and of the orders and regulations made thereunder. These may all be obtained from the King's printers for a few pence, and information as to the provisions on the subject made by the local authorities can always be obtained from the local police. The local authority is not alone entitled to take proceedings under the Act; any private person who becomes aware of an offence being committed may initiate proceedings. It is not necessary to prove that the owner or person in charge of the animals had a knowledge of their suffering from a contagious disease; the presumption is that lie had such a knowledge, and his only defence on this ground would be conclusive evidence that he had not that knowledge, and could not with reasonable diligence have o4Oned it. In the same way, if the offence charged is that of not duly cleansing or disin fecting, it w ill lie upon the person charged to rebut the accusation by himself proving the due cleansing and disinfectiim. The certificate of a veterinary inspector will also be conclusive evidence against him of the matter certified. If, however, any person is dissatisfied with the decision of the magistrates, he may appeal to Quarter Sessions. See ANIMALS.