The Hawaiian star. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu]) 1893-1912, 1897-06-30
LIGHT ON TUBERCULOSIS
Continued from Page Six.)

who does not take tuberculosis ba
cilli into his or her system more or
less frequently. As of the seeds that |
fall on stony ground and fail to de- |
velop, so of the tuberculosis bacill; |
unless the individual supplies suit
able soil, they pass on harmless, or
die in the jucies of the digestive act. |
is so important as the power of the !
strong and rugged organism, and the |
many conditions urfavorable to the
development of the bacilli. 1t is i'm
portant to remember that the infec-
ton of man by bovine tubercle is not
proven. nor is the absolute identity of
the bacill of man and cattle. Efforts
to transmit human tuberculosis 10
cattle have signally failed in produc
ing such a thing as general tubercu
loss in cattle.
state cannot continue the introduction
of absolutely tuberculosis free cattle
from other states, even if tested, for
the repletion of our dairies, and that
under existing conditions, the driving
of cattle from one state to another is
comparatively easy matter. On this
account, the state paying the most for
reacting cattle, is sure to have the
most to pay for.
Finally: So long as cows have o pc
treated as mere machines; so long as
they have to be confined for practi-
cally six months i'm the year and often
for the entire twelve months, in order
to get all that is possible out of them:
so long as no attention is paid to the
exclusion of suspicious stock from
breeding; so long as this whole sys-
TEN continues, the state may proceed
on its present plan, but it will find in
the end that it is trying to bail out
the Atlantic with tin dipper, paying
a terrible price for the experience, but
doing little to lessen the disease.
Thanking you for the confidence
you have honored me with, and trust
ing to have merited the distinction,
remain, your obedient servant,
FRANK S. BILLINGS, NJ. D.
To the Honorable Committee of the
Senate and House of Representatives
Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
Tn, t,rr
port of the examination of the cows
killed by your order at the Brighton
abattoir, will say that of the number
killed, large percentage of them
were so slightly affected with tuber-
culosis. as to give one the impression
that such wanton destruction of meat
was little less than farcial.
! Any animal exhibiting tuberculosis
to any marked extent should be des-
troyed without any question what
ever, and the meat condemned as an
age of tuberculous matter is so small
as to require the assistance of a power
full microscope for discernment, the
percentage of poisonous matter must
necessarily be very small and the LA
bility of transmission to human beings
when such beef is taken as an article
: of food, must be very mythical.
However, from the standpoint of
scientists, it requires only the develop.
ment of very small module of tuber.
culous matter to impregnate the whole
system. Be that as it may, meat has
been eaten for great many years
impregnated with just such a poison
GUS element, without great amount
of danger being done in regard to the
: health of the people. On general prin
ciples no one cares to partake of the
meat of DISEASED cows when such car
be avoided, and no doubt very strin
gent measures are taken to proven
this. We have ample evidence of this
OF the 100 cows killed that were con
1 demned as tuberculous and subject
ed to a rigid examination on post NOR
tenn, not a single case of disease in thu
udder was found, excepting few
garget eases. Although the deposits
of tuberculous matter in the other or
gans were quite large, the udders were
free, showing that the danger from
; partaking of the milk from thes,
cows was comparatively small.
4 OF the twenty cows killed and eN
amined, that had not reacted to tht
A tuberculn test, seven were found more
or less diseased, showing beyond a pos
2 sible doubt that the tuberculin ties
is not an infallible one and that i
2 does not always detect the presence
of the tubercle bacilli. If by the us'
of tuberculin the percentage of tuber
culous matter could be ascertained ant