The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1898-01-25
Toe Fight Against
tuberculosis.

Cn Address by a Danish Authority.)
1he following condensed translation
If a report in "Ugeskrift for Land
nand' Of an address delivered by Prof.
r. Bang, should have considerable in
tcrest for the careful students Of this
question:
There has been 50 much written on
this question during the past years that
it may seem s~upertiuOus To take it mp
again. in spite Of its great Importance
to the farmers. Experience has never
thelesS shown Us that We have not yer
succeeded i'll conqnering pld-fa@hioned
notions as to tn" character and cause OF
tuberculosis. and we who fight for the
new ideas must not get tired, Dut ip-
Dear afre>h oh tiIe battlefield as II II
were Il new fight.
tuberculosis IS an old disease in man,
and surely in cattle also. bat III the
ScanGina Wan countries 1t dld not pay
any role until the last fifty years. IT
seems the old breeds of cattle have been
nearly free from it and that, IN the
main, Il has been imported with foreign
breeds. These imrDrtat.ons have mostly
Lccn made to the large estates, and rs
even now tuberculosis is wider spread
;h. re. the carly and rather natural bd:
mistaken iucl gained ground, that it was
he strong development OF milking ca
pacity. winch was to blame for the m
crease of this disease. 1t was accepted
rs a necessary evil connected with a
forced milk production. Happily, this
is Il mistaken conclusion; the cow may
be developed to the highest dairy capa-
city without Il trace of tuberculosis.
I -- 4ni$ %. mann M rs of fhn
highest Importance to find his strong
and his weak points. and hence in dis
cussing tuberculosis it is adj important tc
remember that it is contagious which
is lis marin weapon. Tuberculosis does
not come from debility or eold or what
not. which used to be considered IT.
caf!se; it comes from the little plant
which we call the tubercie bacillus. Cold.
debility. etc. may promote the reception
Of this germ and favor its further de-
-~Ve.opnlent, tbut it is just as impossible to
get tuberculosis without absorbing its
bacillus AS 70 harvest wheat where none
is Gown.
NEXT We must remember that the
c0ntagion-thc tubercle Lacilli-are not
found everywEere; they are only found
where tuberculous people or animals
have been. as in their bodies only can
they develop and increase. The only
exception to this is in laboratories under
special conditoES. 1t is true these bacilf
may live Il certain time outside, and lie
in wait for SOME new body to act as host
for them, but 1t is chiefly in closed, dark
ptaceS-Stable> or = they
may live for a long time; in the free
air, especially in sunlight. they O per
ish. This fact should always be kept
in mind. 1t is living in stables with
tuhtrculous animals, or where they have
lately been. that makes the danger OF
contagion great; and the darker. dirtiel
and more poorly ventilated the stable
is. the greater the danger.
"Ihat It really is a fact that the tuber-
Gle baC:ni are not everywhere tlS some
people think is clearly demonstrated by
the tUGerculin tests. These have shown
that in Denmark Il per cent of the
herds tested 12I4D were perfectly free
from tuberculosis. ! have also proved
that such freedom may be found in
herds of very heavy mixers. But this
has nearly always ueen in herds which
We're kept clean. and We're maintained
by their own increaSe-not by bought