1921.] 



FOOT-AND-MOUTH DlSEASE . 



1007 



feeding stuffs and manures, and that the outbreaks follow the 

 lines of distribution, sparing no parts of the part of the country 

 in which they are used, Scotland for example, being as heavily 

 hit in proportion as England. 



If, then, the usual communications between the animals of the 

 farm and the outer world do not account for the conveyance of 

 something — virus of foot-and-mouth disease in this case — which 

 arrives on farms with a certain amount of frequency, other 

 possible methods of communication must be considered, even' if 

 they appear at first sight fanciful. 



Distribution of Disease in Great Britain during the last 20 

 Years. — It has been previously stated in this article that certain 

 parts of the country were hit, as it were, initially with much 

 greater frequency than others, and that some habitually escaped 

 altogether. The outbreaks have been examined over a period of 

 20 years, and a list of the initial ones, together with the exact 

 dates and localities, has been compiled. 



The counties in which two or more initial outbreaks have 

 arisen in that period are as follows : — Bedford 3, Devon 2, 

 Dorset 2, Durham 3, Essex 3, Hants 2, Kent 8, Lancaster 2, 

 Lincoln 2, Northumberland 2, Somerset 5, Suffolk 2, Surrey 3, 

 Sussex 5. Warwick 2, Wilts 3, Yorks (West Riding only) 4, 

 Denbigh 2. 



In the following counties initial outbreaks arose once in the 

 same period : — Cambridge, Chester, Cumberland, Gloucester, 

 Isle of Wight, Hertford, Leicester. Norfolk. Oxford. Stafford, 

 Pembroke, Flint and Midlothian. 



Xo initial outbreaks have arisen in : — Berkshire. Buckingham- 

 shire. Cornwall. Derby, Herefordshire. Huntingdon, London, 

 Middlesex, Monmouth. Northampton. Nottingham. Rutland, 

 Shropshire. Westmorland. Worcester. Ridings of Yorkshire 

 (except the West), or Isles of Scilly. None have arisen in Welsh 

 counties except Pembroke and Flint, and none have arisen in 

 Scotch counties except Midlothian. 



From the above it will be seen that in the last 20 years about 

 one -fifth of the counties of Great Britain were hit twice or 

 oftener, the highest records being for Kent and the neighbouring 

 county of Sussex, Somerset and the West Riding of Yorkshire; 

 that in about one -eighth of the counties only one outbreak arose, 

 and in the remainder there were no initial outbreaks. If, how- 

 ever, the counties are grouped according to locality, taking for 

 example the area represented on the east and south by Sussex, 

 Surrey. Hertfordshire. Bedford, Cambridge. Norfolk, Essex and 



b 2 



