The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1896-06-07
BOVINE TUBERCULOSIS.
DIR. GORDON ON ITS RELATION TO
PUBLIC HEALTH.
He Believes That the Disease Has Proven
TO BE Both Contagious and Infectious.
Interesting Argument.

|
milk that the doctor was very glsd 10
have been able 10 obtain Or. W. 5. Cor
don's consent 10 publish his paper on
! Bovine tuberculosis: Its Relation 10
! Public Health" read before the Academy
| OF Medicine and Surgery at It's last meet
| ingJ 10 lay IL before those readers OF
| The Times who have eyinced SO inuch
| interest In the notes on health ana ny
| giene that have appeared from time 10
time. BY giving this paper 10 the pubic
Il is hoped that all doubts on the sub
| ject may be allayed and that Or. Cor
| dOn's suggestion contained IN the conclu-
sion OF the discussion (Which was par
| tlcipated IN by several learned members
OF the profession), may ripen ana bear
fruit, for We need legislation on NE SUD,
| 1ect need Il now, and need II BABY ana
| IL does seem somewhat unjust hat dairy
men should DO obliged to have thelr cat
tic killed without being compensated
For the benea. Of the uniformed. I
here give deAnitlons OF few terms en-
ployed In the paper 4, 3D..
system by decay-calied also animal al
Tyrotoxican-The poison producing siek.
| ness and death, following sometimes the
drinking OF milk, or the eauHs Oh i0'
cream. - ...
Calcined Observation-Disclosures that mad
assumed q cheesy appearance interhaNy
| and then. chalky.
BoVIXE TUBERCULOSIS: IT'S RELA'
TION TO PUBLIC HEALTH.
In having this subject before you for
consideration have divided II TOT oiea'
ness and convenience into seven heuos,,
First. Do cows. etc, have teDel Cu'E
sis? There can he no oogD' % 49,, 80,
tho mind Of any person who mas a'tsAe,
| cd a post-mOrtem. The question hoet
not be discussed from q local point OF
| view but from world-wlde o"si ~
Affirmative Il would hardly he worth
| Second Is Il transmitted TO snlnla.s
| Sooner or later. animals when are ~,
| fected with Juice OF infected meat nave
| he disease. In only one instance, -
an observer reported that he was unable
~ nroduce the disease by Injection. An
| italian experimenter states IL cannot 70
| communicated 10 bros Sncep eli ,s1arE,
| particularly the latter sho" "e'-i-''A
Ell quot quote the rules and regulations OF
| tho Copenhagen MIX supply 60, u
shows how It Is sought 70 p soeeNS ~ cor-
| GENITAL tuberculosis IN calves but q
calf of a tuberculosis COW be req VIZ
uninfected milk It may DO reared Ia
healthy condition.
Third. Can It be detectedl - go.
/, Is not absolutely determined that
| tuberculln is an infallible oiasno5uo
agent but the MASSACHUSETTS sue sace
Board OF Eealth says tAal !" 90
tlon with physical signs II never IAIIs
10 diagnose, that implicit conndeuce .t"y
be placed in II, and that the Ieac1lon
MT always In proportion 70 the stage
disease. \ French observer sta'cs IN a.
incubation IS the ono method SapaD.o
of giving results free from aihDlsuity
II Is a wcll-known fact that times pa
TENTS may be dying OF pthisis anu !0'
tho system does not reveal y.
TO show the value or tupeIcsNh' ~
tistics prove that out OF hfty-thIee AM
mails Injected. forty-on9 gave lNo &c
action. and OF these, thriy-elght prov
cd TO be well-marked cases. Many glHc'
instances may be qu .s,r,s W." mo ,oons,d
Grafton we see that tuberculln diagnoses
almost infallibly. ,o ~.
Fourth. How are herds infected9 IT
Harbaugh states tnat lnles INA, ma ,bot
of the glands or lungs. Inc ahllnal
has diarrhooa, the discharge ores
mikes with dust IS stirred up, prealHeu,
and taken in Win the 100 io4u, of igfecfion.
The bacilli are not always lOunl ~
milk, but, by means OF me Cctl1tlae7i
they have been demonstrated. As"lii--r
has shown that killing OF the tupetcutoLs
arineis and keeping children from taelF
milk mas increased the longevity OF ll4e
and caused a decrease or tuueIc-los.s.
Ii is claimed that milk - not Olly
dangerous because or bacllA N ~, Dut
-
them. Armstrong holds that milk is
more apt to infect than meat. Brush
says the chronic forms OF tlpercu.o9i5
are not easily recognized anu lAat we
necessity for more practical knoW!elss
is evident. Exine thinks II si.nlAca"t
that a coincidence exists hei~ee ll-
berculous milk and meat ana human
pthlsis ,. ,. >,
ings through infectious milk ana AesA
Concerning milk, observers quoted ana
others. say 81 does. The Juice OF inject
ed meat, Injected produce4 tho disease
as cited Ia the foregoing. Law, OF Nol
nell, says the cooked meat and milk Oh
infected animals are dangerous because
of the ptomaines IN them; clllhs eases
to that effect. Calves sucking tubtl-N-
lous cows did not thrive and Ia those
who survived calcined tubercules were
found. Another observer states thele u
but little danger but the animals used
in experimentation were those not ea-l-
ly affected. II Is the cOnccnsus OF opih-
lon OF the College OF Physicians ana sur
eeOns, OF Philadelphia, that chI4ieh are
apt 10 be affected by intestinal lupeIcq-
losis when fed with infected mix. AR
says the germs are not kiiled py polilis'
protective coat OF coagulated a'Dul"'"
being formed around them.
Seventh Does tuberculin harm healthy
cows? This s. an important question
and not only from hysienic olt also
a monetary point OF view. i am not now
prepared 10 discuss u.
Dr. Gordon, IN closing the discussion,
which followed the reading or his paper,
remarked that he Offered Win some
O., the gentlemen as 70 the contagious
ness ana infecuousness OF tuberculosis.
believing that the disease has been
proven 20 be both contagious and inief-
ticus The prepOndergnce OF tesumny is
on this side Of the question aud II is
impossible not 10 accept the numerous
and convincing operations and expert
ments made by the leading medical minds
OF tho world 10 uphold thelr position. IL
is not contagious because heredlty ire
qucntly has some influence In It's pro
duction. IL IS misleading 10 state that
tuberculosis is not conveyed by mix ana
meat because all who drink the milk or
eat the meat OF tubcTculous animals do
equally a. logical 10 conclude that al
the inhabitants Of given section should
present manifestations or malarial polls
Oning because d few persons ala not sur
fer from breathing the infected air. The
fact that tho bacilli may not be detect
ed IN every examination OF sputum
does not in any way inyaudate the views
held of tho infectious nature Of tuber-
culOsis, WHETHER the bacilli bs the cause
or the result OF the disease. II must be
remembered that the bacilli are found
IN the vast majority OF cases, their aD-
sence from any given sample OF sputum
does not imply that they are not present
somewhere In the respiratory tract, and
that II none at all were found, 1t would
not follow that the spec!hc cause or tu-
berculOsis was the germ perse, ana tnat
the poison. whatever II IS, might not De
conveyed by infected milk.
He could pot state from personal eN-
perence whether tubercuiin ever had
deleterious influence upon healthy cows.
The experiments made by veterinarians,