The enterprise. [volume] (Wellington, Ohio) 188?-1899, 1897-04-07

butter and beef is the chief source of
wealth and prosperity, and in this
country nearly 10 per cent of the cat
tie have been found to be tuberculous
The larger the herd the more extend
ed has been the disease. The longer
the disease exists in herd the wider
will be its distribution. OF one herd
of POS animals so percent of the milch
cows reacted to a tuberculin test. One
dairy herd tested by myself in Ohio
showed 32 percent to be affected.
The germ of consumption does not
seem to be everywhere. tuberculosis
is then not a necessary evil Two
herds of the Red Danish race, that
were fine specimens of their type, of
3S and 80 head respectively, were
found to be absolutely free from the
disease. In these herds in-and-in
breeding had been extensively prac-
ticed. A large number of the animals
had descended from one COW, ,purchas-
ed as far back as 1862. Though the
seem to favor the development of tu-
berculosis this has always been free
from tubercular taint. In the dis
trict of Argenmuende, Germany,
among 10000 head of cattle slaughter
ed, none were found to be tubercu-
lous, and in the district, of Teltow
among 10000 head killed, only Is
cases appeared. On the other hand,
in the German Empire, on an average,
Is to 25 percent of all the cattle
killed at slaughter houses have been
found to be consumptive.
Although ] do not wish to maintain
that in the United States the condi-
ton of affairs in regard to bovine tu-
berculosis is as bad as in the older
countries, it is my impression that
the time has come when something
should be done to control this plague
that is always threat to man and a
foe to the cattle industry. | will not
touch at this time upon the relation
ship of animal to human tuberculosis.
Suffice it to say that the consumption
of man and beast is one and the same
disease, caused by one and the same
bacterium and that it is transmissible
mutually from beast to man and from
man to beast Although the natural
infection of man from the animal in
!, tuberculosis has been somewhat en-
aggerated of late, that such trans
mission does occur and is always
probable, no man who has given this
vast subject thought can honestly
deny. Though from the flesh of tu-
berculous animals, if the disease be
generalized, an infection can take
place, from the internal organs wis
cera) and milk is the disease most
commonly Transmitted.
1t has been demonstrated that in
the milk the germs of consumption
have been found, even if the udder be
apparently intact; and though the
bacilli do not multiply in milk, they
can nevertheless use this fluid as a
convenient means of transportation
and to infect susceptible individuals
Calves and hogs are most commonly
infected through bovine milk, and in
Denmark where the milk of cows is
used to fatten colts, tuberculosis in
horses is not a rare disease. In other
countries equine consumption is al
In, ii
Danish horses the disease appears
usually as feeding tuberculosis" of
the bowel and mesenteric glands
with secondary noduIes in the lungs
1t would seem then TO be indicated
that these sources of consumption
should be controlled. Against tuber-
culous organs and milk a sanitary
war should be waged. To eradicate
these sources of contagion we should
have first and before all things a
thorough system of meat and milk in
spection in every municipality in this
broad land. Not the mere espionage
of an antiquated ignorant butcher OF
of some one possessed of a political
pull but a well-equipped and estab
lished slaughter house where trained
men would devote their lives and en-
ergies to the inspection of all animals
killed and the products thereof-eX
perts who were trained in the path
ology of our meat-producing animals
whose one aim should be to protect
the citizens of their city from the
chance of becoming poisoned or dis
eased by the ingestion of nocuou'
flesh. The dairies of the environine
country should also be under the rig
id control of skilled men well verset
in the infectious and contagious dis
eases of animals. The milkmaI
should be made not only to guaran
tee his patrons a certain percentage
of solid constituents and butter fat
but should also be compelled to hav'
his cattle herd subjected to thor
ough searching examination at stat
ed periods, that they may be able tx
assure his customers that the mill
that he leaves at their door is fret
from the taints of disease, especially
of the death-dealing tuberculosis
This latter is only now possible il
that we have in that grand discovery
of Koch, an agent, though not alway'
infallible, upon which great reliance
can be placed to unearth bovinetub
culosis in its latent or incipienr