14 Foot-and-Mouth Disease : its History and Teachings. 
when one of the hay-racks was brought to the healthy farm, and 
very soon the cattle which fed out of this rack fell with the 
complaint." Here was a distinct preservation of the seeds of 
the disease during five months, for in the meantime " there was 
no traffic in the locality, nor yet disease, until the tainted rack 
was carried down." 
An outbreak occurred at Ampthill Park, Bedfordshire, on 
July 9th, 1885, the origin of which was wrapped in mystery, 
until it was discovered that the animals had had access to some 
hay and straw which had been brought from Berlin with the fur- 
niture of the late Baron Ampthill (Lord Odo Russell). Although 
the packages had been despatched from Berlin in the previous 
October (they remained unpacked until the spring), and the 
cattle did not have access to the hay and straw until the follow- 
ing summer, it was difficult to account for the outbreak except 
upon the hypothesis that the germs of foot-and-mouth disease 
had been brought from Germany with the furniture. The only 
other solution of the mystery is, that an outbreak of foot-and- 
mouth disease had occurred in the same portion of the park in 
September 1883, and that on June 22nd, 1885, a divisional fence 
had been taken down, along the line of which a mass of long,, 
coarse grass had existed, and in which the germs of the disease 
might possibly have been preserved. Looking, however, to the 
fact that nearly two years had elapsed, this hypothesis has little to 
recommend it. From my place in the House of Commons, I put 
certain questions to the Government relative to the origin of the 
outbreak at Ampthill. The answer 1 received having attracted 
the attention of a well-known Scotch farmer, settled in Ireland, he 
sent me the following particulars. A few years ago, during the 
hay season, when the grass was up in large " cocks," his sheep 
suffering from foot-and-mouth disease were turned into the field, 
and they were observed to be fond of lying around the " cocks." 
In due course the hay was stacked, and in the following summer 
some young cattle were fed upon it : to the great surprise^ of 
their owner, the animals were soon attacked with foot-and-mouth 
disease — he had brought no fresh animals on to the farm, and 
no disease had existed in the district for months, so that the 
only conclusion he could arrive at was that the seeds of the 
disease had been deposited at the foot of the " cocks," and 
carried to the hay-stack, in which their vitality had been pre- 
served until served out to the cattle. 
About twenty years ago, on one pasture-field of my own, three 
successive lots of fresh cattle brought on to the farm were 
mysteriously attacked with pleuro-pneumonia, and being at that 
time a believer in tlie germ theory, I had tlu; hedges sheared, and 
the gates painted, and no cattle turned in for months, since which 
period no outbreak of that malady has occurred. 
