§ 15. Sir ROBERT SMITHasked the Secretary of State for Scotland whether his attention has been called to the heavy mortality among horses in Aberdeenshire from grass sickness; if he can give the number of horses that have died of the disease or been slaughtered during the last two months in that county; if there have been outbreaks of the disease in any other county; and if he proposes to take any steps to find out, if possible, the cause of the disease and whether it is infectious or contagious or not?
§ The SECRETARY of STATE for SCOTLAND (Sir Godfrey Collins)The reply to the first part of the question is in the affirmative. I regret that I am not in a position to give figures showing the mortality in horses in Aberdeenshire occasioned by grass sickness during the last two months. The disease has occurred in other counties in Scotland, particularly in the north-eastern district. It has been for many years and still is the subject of intensive research by the Animal Diseases Research Association in collaboration with other scientific authorities and veterinary practitioners but up to the present it has not been found possible to elucidate the cause of the disease. There is no evidence at present to indicate that the disease is contagious or infectious.