§ DR. FARQUHARSON (Aberdeenshire, W.)asked the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, Whether it is true, as reported in The Standard, of the 21st instant, that 1,500 cattle have been condemned, and are now in process of slaughter in Dublin, for being in contact with others suffering from pleuro-pneumonia; whether careful note has been preserved of the date and period of the contact; and, whether the Veterinary Department of the Privy Council have taken steps to have an official examination made of the slaughtered animals, so as to obtain reliable 569 information as to how many were actually affected with the disease, and in how many lung mischief had begun to appear without the veterinary surgeon being able to detect it during life?
§ THE CHIEF SECRETARY (Mr. A. J. BALFOUR) (Manchester, E.)It is the case that between 1,400 and 1,500 cattle are in process of slaughter in Dublin as having been in contact with cattle affected with pleuro-pneumonia. A note is kept of the date and period of contact. The lungs of the slaughtered cattle are examined in every instance by Government Veterinary Inspectors, so as to ascertain how many were actually affected with disease, and whether they were old or recent cases which had not been detected during life.
§ DR. FARQUHARSONIs the same examination made in other parts of the United Kingdom?
§ THE FIRST LORD OF THE TREASURY (Mr. W. H. SMITH) (Strand, Westminster)Yes; it is.