The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1898-03-03
THE TUBERCULIN TEST.
DIR. w. b. CIarke's Attack on the Board
of Health.

The Marion County Homeopathic So
ciety, at its regular weekly meeting at the
Denison Hotel last night, listened to pa
per by DR.. w. B. Clarke in regard to the
tuberculin test of cattle and in general to
all forms of innoculation by animal virus
for the prevention of disease. There were
about a dozen physicians present, and the
discussion that followed the reading of the
paper was 81 lively one. Dr.. Clarke's paper
was a severe arraignment of boards of
health in general, and of the City Board
of Health in particular, on account of what
he termed despotic exercise of power in
ccndemning cattle that were supposed to be
affected with tuberculosis. The following is
example of the character of his paper:
Where shall we find words with which
to characterize the Inconsistency of q
health board that will condemn the use OF
milk from a COW, kill the cow and condemn
children in the city to receive into their
arms, by direct injection, poisonous and de-
cayed matter taken from sores on the I'D
der of this same cow or one in similar
condition? Who can estimate the havoc
even now wrought along the inoculation
line by Pasteur alone, to say nothing OF the
DR.. Clarke closed by saying that the
health boards have too much arbitrary
power. He claimed that there was more
danger TO health in making the tests thus
injecting disease into an animal where none
previously existed, than there was in leav-
ing the animals alone.
The paper was discussed by Dr. G. Il. Nc
Culloch, who opposed the ideas advanced
by DR.. Clarke in several important partlc-
ulars For one thing, he believed that
there was causative relation between tu-
bercular bacil and the disease. DR.. o. 5.
Runnels said that the only reason why he
did not believe that woman afflicted with
consumption should nurse a child, was be-
cause the milk was of d poor quality, and
not because a child might acquire consump-
col hat has ~
is keeping the vital tone of the man up to
the highest point thus enabling him to
withstand all attacks of disease In the bat,
tie Of life. DIR. Rebecca w. Rogers said
she was believer in anti-toxine. and also
in the tuberoulin test for cows. Dr. w. r.
Curryer thought that the he most 9 impod5an n
Health had the right to destroy property
without the owner having any recourse. Dr
Clark was q ou ~ not b proSed that
tubercular bacilli were the cause or con-
sumption any more than 1t could be proved a
that buzzards or green flies or maggots were
the cause of the death of animals found in
the decompOSing state.
Dr. Biting of Purdue University. was
present at the meeting, and was called upon
to give his views on the subject. The, doc
tor began by saying that the knowledge
possessed by the previous speakers regard
ing animals was not large, to say the least.
He said: To-day / condemned forty-one
animals, out of reports received from 400;
Last month we examined 200 animals OF
which per cent were condemned. At the
experimental station itself, seven animals,
valued at $500, have had to be killed, by rea-
son of their having acquired tuberculosis
from COW purchased in the East Expe-
rience has shown that tuberculosis is not
hereditary, but contagious. The only place
in the country where tuberculosis Is de-
creasing among cattle is in the Eastern
States, where the system of testing has
been employed for some time. The tuber-
culin test is not infallible but it Is the most
reliable test known, In beginning the max
ing of the test. mistakes will occur; but
this is to be expected. The city should en-
ploy qualified men to perform this work,
not policemen or butchers or politicians.