The progressive farmer. [volume] (Winston, N.C.) 1886-1904, 1897-05-04
WEEKLY DIGEST
Of Experiment Station Bulletins.
MORE ABOUT CONSUMPTION

1A5G "O6A "0SaNO q N4SOSN VI ~"
Jersey bulletin on tuberculosis; Bulle-
tin SO, of the Indiana Station, treats OF
the same subject, and from it we ex-
tract some points of interest not gwen
in the New Jersey bulletin.
The mortuary statistics of Indiana
show that consumption kills "a times
as many people as smallpox, 20 times
as many as scarlet fever, 6 times as
many as lsgrippe, 4 times as many as
d~iphtherie, 8 times as many as acct
dents, 8 times as many as typhoid fever,
and more than twice as many as pneu-
NINA. DR.. Law says that all the deaths
caused By war, famine, cholera, plague,
yellow fever, and smallpox are iHsig-
cant in number when compared with
those caused by consumption. It kills
more than three millions OF the worlds
people each year-enOugh to populate
a larger State than Indiana. No other
disease is known to affect 80 many
species. Even wild animals confined
in shows are often attacked by it. 1t
is not confined to any n latitude or
CLINE, but is universal, but varies with
conditions OF living, even in the same
country. There are 5 deaths from it
in Paris to where there is 2 IN other
parts OF France In North Dakota
comparatively few white people have
consumption, but E very large per
centage Of the Indians Of that State
have it.
1t is so highly contagious, that it
was but a few months after a tubercu-
lous Gov was introduced into the herd
at the Indiana Station, till 8 animals
had it. Dairy COWS seem to be much
more largely affected than any ether
class of cattle.
The germ, or tubeTcle bacillus, is a
rod-like plant so short ten thousand of
them may be placed end to end on q
line an inch long, and they are ten
times as long as they are thick. Tney
grow very slowly, but have great vital
ity; it cannot be killed by free zing,
thaWing, drowning, or drying, 1t
fourishes in ~putrifaction, and is not
affected by the digestive action Of the
stomach. 1t has no power of motion.
Heating to 100 degrees kills 1t IN a few
minutes. Direct sunlight kills it in a few
hours. Dsfused sunlight (the light Of
an ordinary room) kills it in a week.
But in a damp, dark place it will live
indefinitely.
Very few calves have ever been
found affected with tuberculosis, and
the disease in these few is nearly always
confined to the lntestines, showing that
the germs entered the stomach with
the milk. While it is now we'll settled
that the disease is not hereditary, it is
a well know principle that i~n-breeding
tends to perpetuate and increase con-
stitutionaI weaknesses; hence, the eff
spring Of t~uberculous parents is likely
to be easily in%oculated.
Dark, damp, close, crowded stables
favor the spread of this disease, It hRs
been found on the open range in Iowa
and in Florida, but IN all such cases it
was caught from diseased animals in
troduced into the herds.
Wherever the germ locates in the
body it produces irritation and In time
cause fever. AS they multiply they
break down and consume the tissue on
which they feed, hence the name con
sumption. The partially consumed
tissue dies and sloughs eff, forming
puss, or matter" Often mineral
matter is deposited in the ~tubercIes,
producing a gritty feeling and increas-
ing the irritation. The resulting in
hRmmation causes the secretion of
mucus, and this, with the puss, causes
coughing.
There are two types Of the dis ese,
acute and chronic. The acute type,
often called ''gallopiDg consumption, 5"
requires but a few weeks to run it's
fatal course, while victims of the chronic
form often linger for years.
The first noticeable symptom of pull
monary consumption is a slight, short,
deep cough, which gradually grows
harsher and more painful. Exercise
or a sudden change of temperature
brings on attacks of coughing. Mean
time, the animal appears all right, eats
heartily, lays On flesh or gives milk
right along, and nc serious trouble is
suspected But as time runs on the
symptoms increase, the hair looks
rough, the neck gets lean, and the chest
begins to shrink. In the last stages
there is a white discharge from the
nose, digestive troubles arise, milk
ceases, and often lameness ensues.