8 Foot-and-Mouth Disease : its History and Teachings. 
dence of contagious diseases ; but this theory may be at once 
dismissed, inasmuch as it is founded simply upon hypothesis, 
and does not rest upon any ascertained facts. 
Astounding as it may seem, it is a fact that no attempt at 
legislation upon foot-and-mouth disease was made until five- 
and-twenty years after its introduction. In 1864, Mr. Bruce 
(the present Lord Aberdare) and the late Sir George Grey 
brought in a Bill " to make further provisions for the preven- 
tion of contagious disease among cattle." This well-conceived 
measure, which, had it been passed, would probably have saved 
the country from the loss of scores of millions, met with the 
strongest opposition from cattle-dealers, salesmen, butchers, and 
those engaged in the Irish cattle-trade, who, forsooth, stood for- 
ward, as they have often done since, as the champions of cheap 
meat. Singularly enough, this opposition was backed by leading 
agriculturists, and was strongly supported by many influential 
county members of Parliament ; indeed the opposition was so 
strong that the measure had to be abandoned. 
The experience gained by the operation of the measures put 
in force against rinderpest in 1866 and 1867, led to the con- 
viction that the milder, but more mischievous foot-and-mouth 
disease might be exterminated by similar stringent means ; 
an agitation forthwith set in for legislation, the first result of 
which was the Contagious Diseases (Animals) Act of 1869, 
brought in by Mr. Forster. The Act provided against the 
movement and exposure of animals affected with the malady; 
duties and obligations were also placed upon Local Authorities 
in relation thereto. Orders in Council for the isolation of 
animals, in the case of certain outbreaks of foot-and-mouth 
disease, were also provided for. The results, however, of 
such action proved so unsatisfactory that the Select Committee 
of the House of Commons, which took evidence in 1873, 
agreed to a recommendation that the Privy Council should 
cease to issue orders for the check of the disease. Yet it \»ras 
plainly felt every time the kingdom came under the mastery 
of the contagion, that it would never do to submit helplessly in 
this matter ; the outcry was for something to be done at head- 
quarters, while head-quarters considered that farmers were not 
prepared to submit to measures elaborate and stringent enough 
to be effectual. 
Under the Animals Order of 1875, Local Authorities had 
power to prohibit or regulate the removal of infected animals, 
or such as were in contact ; and when an animal fell with the 
complaint during exposure in a public place, or while being 
moved, a Local Authority might arrange for its slaughter, or 
for its feeding and watering, or its being dealt with for ordinary 
