The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1901-08-03

Importance. Cure was looked upon as prac-
tically impossible. unless undertaken al the
very beginning. and in regard 10 prevention
the entire world OF hygiene was IN the
dark. Laennec had shown that the disease
could probably be ~inOculatcd, and De VILE
main proved this. In three years after be-
ginning his work i'm lSS2 pr Koch an
nounced the discovery, isolation. and what
was more important still, oetermlnatlNe
tests OF "A bacillus which Invariably at
tended consumption. Whether this is IL
cause remains still in dispute. IL Is stil not
impossible that IL may in the end prove
that consumption Is really a result OF the
lowering OF the vital faculties. whether or
the nervous system or or any other group
Of organs which bring the tissues into a
condition where the floating spores or THIS
bacillus cause first decay and then death.
But whether this is all true or not, Dr.
kOchs discovery established the TACT tnat
this bacillus was always present In every
case of that il increased with
the increase of the disease, and that the
disease could be transmitted 10 other AMI
mails by incubation or, as has been Iater
proved by an Italian physician IN the case
OF a guinea pig, by breathing the dry dust
which contained this bacillus. No speclhc
has yet been discovered. no serum has yet
been devised which is an efhcacious cure
and opinions still differ as 10 the injection
or the disease, as 10 its hereditary char-
acter and as TO the means OF prevention.
Thanks 10 his discovery, IL is. however.
possible 10 detect the disease at its first
appearance, and at its first appearance the
experiment Of twenty years has demon
strated that. If the ~natient can be placed
80 ~
under the right conditions. a cure can be
hopefully expected, a complete revolution
in the attitude of medicine 10 the maiady.
TUBERCULIN DISCOVERED.
The tubercule bacillis once discovered. the
next step. not yet bridged. was TO discover
some remedy by which it could be destroyed
in the human system or the system rem
dered immune against its attacks. There
was probably not a pathological laboratory
l., fha u-O~lJ % tIa h.,,Iro1c Uao4tar.1 to
day in which some man has not been put
at work on this problem during all the
time since DR.. Koch read his first paper on
the subject in 1852. In November, 1890. DR..
Koch announced that he had discovered in
tuberculin. which later proved TO be an at
tenuated culture of the bacillus, a remedy
well calculated to destroy lupus, a con-
sumption in the skin and which had its
effect on the disease when in the ungs.
DR.. Koch is a great biologist. the first bac-
teriolOgiSt of his day and a scienJinc man
of eminence. He is not a physician and he
does not practice, in the ordinary sense or
the term. In dealing with remedies neither
his head nor his hand has been steadied by
the daily experience OF a doctor with pa
tients. His publication and application OF
his discovery was accompanied py a series
or plumbers which seriously impaired con-
fdence not in his ability, integrity or re-
search, but in his judgment anc. common
sense. He published the facts OF his dis
covery before he was ready TO make the
method of its manufacture known. He
placed it on sale through his agents, ana
not even Lord Listers Endorsements or his
beautiful character" prevented the London
College of Physicians and Surgeons from
prohibiting its use as a secret remedy.
Expectations were aroused which were
never realized by the conduct rather tnan
by the utterance of DR.. kochs medical
agents who placed it on sale. Ii became
clear at once that tuberculin could deter
mine the existence of tubercle. IL did not
cure it. Its use began in the hospitals or
the world in November and December. 1890
DR.. Koch announced July %, 1891, that he
had ceased its use as a curative agent. IL
has remained only for the purpose OF dis
covering the existence of the disease, and
this in the case of human beings was al
tended with too much danger to render its
use either prudent or frequent
CATTLE AND THE DISEASE.
While this discovery had no effect upon
the treatment of consumption. it came in
stantly into use in aiding a growing cru
SADIE against the use of meat or of milk
from cattle with bovine tuberculosis. Very
soon after his first discovery DIR. Koch
announced, and a wide array of his expert
ment confirms the fact, that cattle were
afflicted with consumption almost as much
as men. On the average from one-iifth TO
one-fourth of the cattle in any given range
have more or less consumption. 1t was
also discovered that the disease in men and
in cattle was diffe; ent. but that cattle could
be infected with the disease which man
had. Whether the reverse was true no one
knew, but the Inference was direct and
immediate. In addition, the prevalence or
intestinal consumption among children Nv
ing on milk, whose death rate has not de-
creased from this cause as has the tuDer-
cular death rate Of adults, deepened the
conviction that one source OF consumption
comes from the meat and milk of infected
cattle. This was not certain. II was only
an inference, though an experiment with
-. 49, ~ III. Italian nhacfafan Dp
Lemma, reported at the international Con-
gress of tuberculosis, in April, 1900, indi-
Gated that at least as far as guinea pigs
were concerned milk infected with the
tuberculosis bacillus would produce the
disease. There was and is no question That
cattle with tuberculosis are diseased. II Is
possible, and on many accounts probable
that this disease can be transmitted by
meat or milk. Whether ii can or not, this
meat or milk is undoubtedly unhealthy,
and contains in the latter. though not often
I'm the first instance, the bacillus OF con-
sumption, which is not always killed by
boiling. AS a result, from 1885 10 1890 prac-
ticallv all civilized nations adopted meas
ures to destroy cattle with tuberculosis
diseases. This mas only been made possible
by DR.. Koch discovering tubercuiln, its test
enabling the fact that an animal has, the
disease TO be known. In this state about
5000 infected cattle have been killed, ana
the number now averages about Loo a
year.
DIR. KOCHS NEW DISCOVERY.
Again at an interval of ten years Or.
Koch has made another announcement
upon the disease 70 which he has given
his life. declaring that the bacillus cannot
be transmitted into the human system by
either meat or milk which comes from dis
eased cattle. The general consensus OF
opinion during the last three years has
been in this direction. and il was very ably
summed up one year and a half ago b. DR..
J. George Adami in d paper in which he
reached the conclusion that il was probable
that the bacillus IN men and in cattle were
different; that they might not be mutually
infections, but that the number Of cattle
infected, particularly Canada and i'm this
country. was sufficiently small and the
chance OF injury 10 human beings. either
character of the meat. was sufficiently
great TO render 1t wise 10 stamp out the
disease even at a considerable cost. This
for one reason il for no Other-if this policy
Is adopted all furnishing milk to our large
cities are forced TO keep their animals IN
healthy surroundings or have them de-
strOyed for tuberculosis, which is sure 10
sufficiently provided with exercise and air.
accompanied with forced food intended 10
increase the supply Of milk. DR.. kOch's
declaration. which Is not a discovery but
an inference, attacks the chief evidence In
regard 10 infection. 10 wit: intestinal tuber-
cuiosis in infants by a long series OF au-
topsies. in which IL was uniformly found
OF digestion and therefore could not have
been begun by infected milk. The subject,
therefore. remains where IL was. still "A
matter OF inference. only DR.. koch's in