Report on the Trade in Animals. 
The inspector being hampered in these respects, and no special 
regulations having been made with regard to the inspection of 
British or Irish animals landed there,* he does not take upon him- 
self the thankless and somewhat invidious task of laying in- 
formation against consignees of diseased animals unless they send 
them on the market. It is, indeed, difficult to see how, under the 
present Act, the consignees of cattle imported from Ireland 
could be prosecuted, if the cattle on landing were affected with 
a contagious or infectious disease. The Act was passed " to 
prevent the introduction into Great Britain of contagious or 
infectious diseases among cattle, sheep, and other animals, by 
prohibiting or regulating the importation of foreign animals" 
and, further, " to provide against the spreading of such dis- 
eases in Great Britain." As it does not extend to Ireland, it 
may also be considered doubtful whether the term " coasting 
vessel " in § 57 includes a steamboat engaged in the cross- 
channel trade between England and Ireland. Whether or no, 
the consignee could easily prove " that he did not know of the 
-same [the diseased animal] being so affected, and that he could 
not with reasonable diligence have obtained such knowledge" 
(§ 57). Another consideration should not be lost sight of: the 
inspector of the local authority at the port is generally a vete- 
rinary surgeon in practice in the district, and his income often 
consists chiefly of the fees which he legitimately receives as a 
practitioner from the salesmen on whose stock he has, as in- 
spector, most frequently to pronounce a judgment. When, there- 
fore, it is urged that inspection at the port is impossible ; or 
that, if it were possible, it would be useless, because the in- 
spectors would be bribed, it is assumed that the existing system 
jnust necessarily continue. 
But there appears no reason why so important an office as 
inspector at a port should not occupy the whole of the time of a 
duly qualified veterinary surgeon, who should receive a salary 
commensurate with the amount of knowledge required to per- 
form the duties of his office and with the magnitude of the 
interests entrusted to his supervision. It may be that the 
appointment of such an inspector at some of the smaller ports 
would not be warranted by the number of animals that would 
pass through his hands. In such a case it would surely be a 
smaller evil to strike that port out of the list of those at which 
animals may be imported, than to leave open a single doorway 
for the entrance of disease. At the present time, however, it is 
not a question of doorways, because Irish animals are landed in 
England without inspection, and are driven off by their owners 
* Foreign aBimals are dealt with according to the Act by the Governmeut 
inspector. 
