The Portland daily press., 1897-06-16

Next we cite the report of II. A. De
Schweinitz, Phi. D., to the Secretary of
| Agriculture:
The careful use of tuberculin upon man
| has demonstrated that it has, when ad.
ministered by skilful hands and with the
due observance of proper sanitary regula-
lions, decided curative properties; not so
pronounced and rapid as indicated by the
extravaganza claims and expectations in
dulged when it was first introduced, but
sufficient to make it a valuable addition
to the physicians list of remedies. Upon
animals, also, tuberculin has some cura-
tive effects. the extent of which has not
as yet been fully determined. The use of
| tuberculin in repeated tests of herds has,
therefore, tendency to arrest the develop
ment of incipient cases rather than to as
sist the progress of the disease, as some
writer's have suggested. Attempts to effect
cure in this way are not recommended,
as the expense would be considerable and
the result doubtful. 1t is far better to
remove the source Of danger by killing
the animals. Any regulations, however,
which look to an extinction of the disease
must be coupled with rigid sanitary regu-
lations for the destruction of the carcass
and disinfection of the stalls, buckets and
the like which could have been contami.
mated by the diseased animals.
|
| The experiments which have been con-
Quoted by the Bureau are confirmatory of
those made abroad where Koch's lymph
has been used. The injection causes no
rise in temperature in healthy animals,
while tuberculous animals show rise of
temperature of from twenty degrees to
fifty degrees F. For purposes of compari-
son both Koch's tuberculin and that pre-
pared here have been used upon the same
animals, or in the same herd, with the
production of almost identical results.
| Where the rise of temperature indicated
diseased conditions of the animal they
have been killed, and the autopsies proved
the correctness of the diagnosis In
several instances, where the ordinary
physical examination of the animal would
have indicated perfect health, the post
mortem examination made in virtue of
| the reaction obtained from the lymph has
demonstrated the presence of the insidious
| tubercle bacillus.
DR.. Theobald Smith, chief of the
Division Of Animal Pathology, in report
to the National Secretary of Agriculture
says:
Where the tuberculin test cannot be
made, all unthrifty animals, all that
cough or have enlarged glands in any part
~ N~AS SNAJ oiAOAANe w eeo OhSC IOJAOfSu
and destroyed, and this wedding out
should be practiced promptly whenever
the above symptoms appear.
Again we cite the following letter from
DR.. ID. E. Salmon, chief of the Bureau of
Animal Industry of the National Depart
ment of Agriculture:
U. S. Department of Agriculture,
Bureau of Animal Industry
Wash. d. c., June z, 1897.
Dear Sir:-In reply to your letter to the
first instant, addressed to the Secretary of
Agriculture, L would say that the expert
ments made by DIR. de Schweinitz of this
bureau, as well as by others in this
country, and abroad, show that cows are
not injured in the slightest degree by the
injection of tuberculin, so long as the
material has been carefully and properly
made. Experiment. with reference to the
quantity of milk given by animals before
and after the injection show that the
variation in amount is practically not
worthy of consideration, unless the
animal gives reaction for tuberculosis
50 far as the effect of tuberculin on
healthy animals is concerned, there is not
the slightest ground for fearing any bad
results If the tuberculin used is reliable.