252 
NOCARD AND ROSSIGNOL. 
sale shall be null and void only when it shall relate to an animal 
previously condemned by competent authorities.” 
The object of this amendment was evidently to place tuber¬ 
cular animals beyond the provisions of the law of July 31, 1895 > 
for the sale of a condemned animal will seldom take place, owing 
to the fact that such a sale is a criminal offense, its author being 
amenable to the law. 
Soon after the Darbot bill took effect lawsuits were numerous, 
some favorable to Mr. Cledon’s theory, others to Mr. Darbot’s 
interpretation, which was more in conformity with the princi¬ 
ples of equity ; this interpretation is, in fact, the follow¬ 
ing: 
“ Every purchaser of an animal suspected to be tubercular 
must, before he can resort to an action in nullity, fulfill the re¬ 
quisite formalities as regards the administrative authority ; such 
interpretation has been adopted by several Courts of Appeal and 
affirmed by the Court of Cassation. 
There still remained a chance for evasion and for that reason 
the Society of Practical Veterinary Medicine at its meeting 
February 12, 1896, proposed the following resolution, which 
was submitted to the Minister of Agriculture: 
“Whereas, the act of July 31, 1895, amending certain 
articles of the act of August 2, 1884, relative to redhibitory 
causes and of the act of July 21, 1881, relative to sanitary 
measures, has through obscurity and ambiguity the effect to 
multiply lawsuits, instead of reducing their number, as it was 
intended ; 
“ Whereas, the Cledon amendment aimed at tuberculosis 
and passed by Parliament, has resulted in the majority of cases 
to deprive the purchaser of the redhibitory remedy which he 
had under the former laws ; be it 
“ Resolved , That the act of July 31, 1895, should be revised 
in the interest of agriculture and that the Minister be requested 
on behalf of the Government to present such a bill.” 
M. Darbot, appreciating the necessity for such a revision as 
requested by the Society of Practical Veterinary Medicine, pre- 
