New-York tribune., 1901-08-05
TUBERCULOSIS.
british ATTEMPTS TO REFUTE DR..
KOCH'S NEW THESIS-ARGUMENTS
WHICH PROVE TOO MUCH.


ear full weeks work, has been of signal SER
ice 10 medical and sanitary science On the
hianthropic side it has opened the way for two
ononvrnous benefactions-a gift Of. f120 600 for a
--eun1rtion sanatorium and a contribution Of
,,o0oo0 TO the North London Hospital for Con-
srrrtves It has enlarged the facilities for cura-
,,re treatment Of the poor. among whom tuber-
,,l,eis remains = terrible scourge although the
-eu 10 do classes are escaping from its ravages
7, bas also served the supreme end of public in
,r,lction by directing attention the infectious
ness Of tuberculosis and 10 the necessity for pro-
,acting families, working people and travellers
sgainst the germs Of the disease. DR.. Koch, by
challenging a generally accepted theory respect
,nr the danger Of infection from the milk. butter
and meat OF tubercular cattle, has started a
,roversy which places several royal commits
sions and two administrative departments Of the
government on their defence. He may have
heen premature in his declarations but he has
adopted the most effective method of command
ing public attention and imparting interest to a
srbisct of momentous importance. The sanitary
reformers and veterinary experts who have
been conducting for many years a systematic
agitation against tuberculous cattle and milk,
have not been silenced. The controversy will
% Oh and it will serve to intensity public inter
est in the systematized campaign against tuber-
ruesis now in progress throughout Christendom.
Professor John McFadyean, who was DR..
Koch's chief antagonist in the congress- sought
10 hold him responsible for the generally re-
ceived opinion that human and bovine tuber-
culosis were identical diseases. one parasitic in
man and the other in cattle but intercom-
-runica bic by the transferrence of bacilu from
one species 10 the other. DR.. Koch himself de-
rlared that in his first publication the etol-
ogv Of these diseases he had expressed himself
with reserve regarding the identity of human
tuberculosis and bovine tuberculosis. and had
left it an open question. While cattle and milk
inspectors have been assuming for eighteen
years that in consequence of reciprocal infection
tuberculosis can be transmitted from animals
20 man. he has been conducting experiments
and Investigations with German thoroughness
and patience. So long he working with
rabbits and guinea pigs he could only obtain a
general indication that the two forms of tuber-
culosis were essentially different, but when he
was enabled 10 experiment in the Veterinary
College in Berlin for two years upon cattle he
secured cumulative evidence that animals were
susceptible TO infection from the bovine germs
but not from the human germs Similar expert
ments were subsequently tried upon swine Six
young swine which were fed daily for three
months with the tubercular sputum of
sumptive patients remained healthy and grew
Justify. whereas six which were fed with the
bacilH Of bovine tuberculosis soon became sickly
and stunted In their growth. The pigs
fed with human sputum when killed disclosed
no trace Of tuberculosis except here and there
little nodules in the lymphatic glands of the
neck. and in one case a few gray spots in the
lungs. whereas those which had been infected
with bovine germs without exception had Sc
we're tubercular disease. The difference between
human and bovine tuberculosis was disclosed
by similar experiments with asses. sheep and
goats. The German Government has appointed
a commission 10 continue these Investigations
which are conducted in the most painstakng
way. with the avoidance Of everything con
nected with the stalling, feeding and tending Of
the animals which might have a disturbing
effect on the experiments.
The susceptibility Of man to bovine tubercu-
loss could not be proved or disproved by similar
experiments. Dr.. Koch could only approach the
question indirectly from single point of at
tack. He could safely assume that milk and
butter consumed in large cities often contain
large quantities Of the baciIH of bovine
tuberculosis. as is shown by infection expert
ments with such dairy products on animals He
could affirm that the bulk Of the population in
such cities daily consuming living and
viruent bacli of bovine tuberculosis and un-
consciously carrying out the experiments which
scientific investigators were constrained to re-
serve for pigs, cattle and rabbits. He could also
infer that If these bacli consumed in milk. but
Ter and meat. were able to infect human beings,
many cases Of tuberculosis caused by the con-
sumption of food containing these tuberculous
germs could not fail to occur. especially among
children. Such cases. he asserted. with primary
Intestinal tuberculosis were extremely rare. He
had himself seen only twice post mortem evil
oehce Of this primary tuberculosis. In the
occurred in FIVE years. In the Emperor and En-
press Fredericks Hospital for Children, Biedert
observed only sixteen cases of primary intestinal
tuberculosis in the course Of 3, 104 post mortem
examinations; and in these exceptional instances
there was simultaneous disease of the lungs and
bronchial glands, with inherent probability
that the bacilli Of human tuberculosis got into
me digestive canal through the swallowing Of
saliva. DR.. Kochs conclusion was that the in
lection Of human beings through milk. butter
meat OF diseased animals was very
Professor John McFadyean in contending that
there was strong prina facie case against ami
mai tuberculosis possible source Of human
tuberculosis depended mainly upon the records
!" post mortem examinations in two hospitals
ior children in London and Edinburgh, which
disclosed from 2S 10 % per of primary in
lection through the alimentary canal. Whether
uhese results We're obtained by scientific
processes as thorough and as scientific as those
employed in Berlin, he could not state, but he
ADDED that the evidence that the ingestion Of
'uoerculous milk one Of the causes OF htl-
man tuberculosis included a number OF recorded
eses IN which the relationship Of cause and
enect appeared 10 be obvious. DR.. Koch. how
ever had stated that il could be determined with
certainty whether tuberculosis of the alimentary
.Shai was OF human or of animal origin. All
0hst was necessary was to cultivate in pure