New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1896-02-15

,.,i,,, oil coses of the disease without injury
or risl, 70 sound animals Nevertheless. all AMI
mails found TO be tuberculous In any degree mus
he killed and their bodies destroyed In no othel
way. according TO present knowledge, can 'hc
disease he got rid Of According TO the present
theory and practice, moreover, the owners Oh
c,ttle must be compensated for those thus de
strovcd Are we to understand that $1,OOo,O0O
will cover the value Of all tuberculous cattle in
tho state besides the cost Of detecting and de-
strovinc thcm? If So the disease Is not rs wide
snrcad rs has been supposed. 1t is, indeed, graf
ifvinp TO have the Board Of Health, after serious
investigation. make so moderate an estimate for
Il indicates that the evil grave and menacing
rs # f. may be abolished at an expense which
would be 4 mere tric to the Empire State.
More modest still does the estimate seem when
compared with the actual and potential magni-
tudc Of the evil. More than 10 per cent or the
deaths of people in this State are caused by
tuberculosis. How large Il proportion OF these
NAV be ascribcd to infection from meat and milk
II is impossible to say, but there are strong rea-
sons for believing it Is considerable and stead
ly increasing Scarcely any fact in medical SCI
once is better established than that the disease
Is thus conveyed. Or. Sidney Martin recently
Investigating for and reporting to the Royal
british, Commission on tuberculosis declares
that the milk Of tuberculous cows possesses
yir,irnce which must be described as extraor-
binary" Moreover, the butter obtained from
IT. and the buttermilk and skinned milk, are
also noxlous. 1T Is certain" he adds, that the
"cyclu>ion Of this class of milk from use rs food
would lead to a great diminutOn in the large
number of cases Of tuberculosis that occur In
"children" And in cOnclusOn THE matter
admits Of no compromise whatever The milk
under consideration Is SO virulent an infcctvc
agent that the removal Of the cows giving it
from diaries IS absolutely necessary
That this is ii correct view of the case cannot
Ia. seriously questioned. Considering the free
Use Of raw milk as food among all classes Of the
pcoplc and considering the extensive prevalence
Of the disease among mich cows. it does not
seem cNtravagant to estimate. some careful
authorities have done. that from one-thlrd to
onn.ha,f the cases OF tuberculosis among human
beings may be attributed directly TO bovine in
lection. That means from to per cent OF the
total dcithro OF the State, or from 5000 to
.OOO persons a year. suppose that cholera or
yellow fever or any such plague should invade
NcW-York and claim several thousand victims
each year Would there not be a universal out
cry for such quarantine measures, al whatever
cost. rs should shut it OUT Well. here Is
dcadllcr disease which from being cpizoOtic has
Income endemic Science points out way by
which we can get rid Of II, and Keep rid or II.
The cost viii be- S1.On,ooO to start with. and
few thousands a year thereafter The question
* Shall the State 20 to such an expense TO save
from 5000 to 5000 lives ycarI IT ought not to
tlkc long to decide upon an answer.