§ MR. HUMEsaid, in the absence of his hon. Friend (Mr. R. Long) he would beg to ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, Whether his attention has been called to certain statements respecting the importation of diseased sheep and cattle, made by Professor Gamgee in his inaugural 1054 address to the members of the New Veterinary College, Edinburgh, in November 1862—namely, "that pleuro-pneumonia and epizootic aphtha never appeared in Ireland till foreign cattle were imported there;" that "the maladies peculiar to British soil, though often very fatal, never arose above one or one and a half per cent loss, and usually much less; five, six, and ten per cent ate a common yearly average now, and that last year we did not lose in England alone less than three times the amount of cattle we imported; and if we calculate the loss over the three kingdoms, it will be found that for every animal we purchased from foreign dealers we did not lose less than six or seven of our own:" Whether the above statements are well founded, and, if so, what steps the Government propose to take to prevent such evils for the future; and whether the Reports of Professor Gamgee, made to the Government on his return from the Continent last autumn, will be laid upon the table of the House this Session?
§ SIR GEORGE GREYsaid, in reply, that he had not seen the inaugural address of Professor Gamgee, therefore he could not say whether the statements alleged to have been made by him in that address were well founded. Professor Gamgee's Report was contained in the appendix to the Report of the Board of Health, which would be presented in the course of the nest few days.