APPENDIX. 445 



Statute Relative to Contagious Diseases. 



The portions of this act deemed most appropriate in the case of 

 foot and mouth disease are here appended : 



Sect. 1. The selectmen of towns and the mayor and aldermen of cities in 

 case of the existence in this state of******* 

 * * any * contagious disease among cattle, shall cause the cattle in 

 their respective towns and cities wliich are infected, or which have been ex- 

 posed to infection, to be secured * * in some suitable place or places, 

 within such city or town, and kept isolated; and when taken from the posses- 

 sion of their owners, to be maintained, one-fifth of the expense thereof to be 

 paid by the town or city wherein the animal is kept, and four-fifths at the ex- 

 pense of the state, such isolation to continue so long as the existence of such 

 disease or other circumstance renders the same necessary ; or they may, at 

 their discretion, direct the owners thereof to isolate such cattle upon their 

 own* premises, and any damage or loss sustained thereby shall be paid as 

 aforesaid. 



(Sect. 2 provides for slaughter and burial when necessary. Sect. 3 provides 

 for appraisal of any so killed.) 



Sect. i. Said selectmen and mayor and aldermen are hereby authorized to 

 prohibit the departure of cattle from any enclosure, or to exclude cattle there- 

 from. 



Sect. 5. Said selectmen and mayor and aldermen may make such regula- 

 tions in writing to regulate or prohibit the passage from, to or through their 

 respective towns or cities, or from place to place within the same, of any neat 

 cattle, and may arrest and detain, at the cost of the owners thereof, all cattle 

 found passing in violation of such regulations, and may take all other neces- 

 sary measures for the enforcement of such prohibition, and also for preventing 

 the spread of any such disease among the cattle in their respective towns and 

 cities, and the immediate vicinity thereof. 



Sect. 6. The regulations made by selectmen and mayor and aldermen in 

 pursuance of the foregoing section shall be recorded upon the records of their 

 towns and cities respectively, and shall be published in such towns and cities 

 in such manner as may be provided in such regulations. 



Sect. 7. Any person who shall sell or dispose of any animal which is in- 

 fected or known to have been exposed to infection within one year after such 

 exposure, without the knowledge and consent of said selectmen or mayor and 

 aldermen, shall be punished by fine not exceeding five hundred dollars, or by 

 imprisonment not exceeding one year. 



Sect. 8. Any person disobeying the orders of the selectmen or mayor and 

 aldermen, made in conformity with the fourth section of this act, or driving 

 or transporting any neat cattle contrary to the regulations made, recorded and 

 published as aforesaid, shall be punished by fine not exceeding five hundred 

 dollars, or by imprisonment not exceeding one year. 



Sect. 9. Whoever knows or has reason to suspect the existence of any 

 fatal, contagious disease ameng the cattle in his possession or under his care, 



* This method is deemed much the preferable one in case of Foot and Mouth disease. 



