Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-03-27


In further support of the position that
] have taken in opposition to the COM
missioners' avowed intention to make the
tuberculin test a condition precedent 10
shipping milk into the city, I submit the
following clipping from a letter written
BY Prof c. d. Smead, V. S.
c. THOMPSON.
DOES TJ-BERCULIN. WHEN INJECT
ED INTO THE SYSTEMS or MEN
OR ANIMALS. AGGRANATE ANY
EXISTING LATENT GERMS?
c. d SMEAD. V. s., LOGAN, y. y.
am In receipt of three letters-one
from a physician one from a veterinarian
and one from a farmer-alsO a clipping
from agricultural paper. The phy-
stefan. veterinarian and farmer all desire
to know by what authority assert that
when tuberCulin is injected into the sys-
tenn of A tlIberculOuS person or animal II
causes temporary aggravat1on of the
tubercles. The newspaper clipping states
that any man who makes such an aSser-
ton should be made to prove 1t. So
here goes.
The great and renowned DR.. Robert
Koch. who discovered the true cause OF
tuberculosis and who created the culture
known as tuberculn as cure for tuber-
culosis. based his whole theory of Its
value upon the fact stated by him that
tuberculin injected into the blood increas-
ed the activity of the disease process III
the man or animal this so affecting the
disease tubercle that in the whole amman
body a rise of temperature was notice.
able Thus it Is that tuberculin alone
becomes valuable as a diagnoStic agent.
Upon other theory that Will mold
water can the rise of temperature In a
tuberculous person animal he account
ed for. when there is no rise OF tempera-
ture in a Neutrality-suspicious. person or ami
NAL. Were 1t a toxic effect alone that
tuberculin produces. then the non-tuber-
cuous animal would show a rise of tenn
perature equally with the one that Is
tuberculous.
/ am aware that a few-very few-far
lesser lights in the study of bacteriology
than DIR. Koch are for some reasons
striving to make the cattle owners be-
1ieve that tuberculin does not aggravate
any latent existing tubercles; but. hold
ing to this theory, they fail to account
for the rise of temperature that is be-
lieved to take place in the tuberculous
patient and not in the Neutrality-suspicious.
ment to belittle DR.. Koch as regards his
discovery on the one hand and then to
blow hot for legislative enactments and
blow cold to quiet the farmer who owns
cattle
We have no better synopsis of a sub
5ect than Prof James Law gives us in
bulletin 65. issued by Cornell University.
In this he says on page 80: TO sum up.
IAo tuDeTCullH test dSSTdNdteS tAiStlHS
tuberculosis and is therefore unwarrant-
able for use on man or on cattle that are
to be kept alive" For the same reasons.
on page 100. DR.. Law says: las means
of testing the existence of tuberculosis in
man. it (tuberculin) cannot be too strong
ly condemned. since no man has the right
TO seal the fate of his fellow for the sake
of finding out If he has tuberculosis
Yet l am sorry to say that there are
those who would, if they could, seal the
fatn of i'm
or nothing for his loss. 1t ill becomes
those who seek to be leaders and teach
ers to be now preaching that the use OF
tubercuin does not aggravate existing
tubercules. when the discoverer of the
culture himself bases his whole theory of
its value upon the claim that 1t does,
and at least 30 per cent of the leading
psychologists entertain the same belief.
based upon their experiments. Negative
symptoms count for just as much as posi-
tive symptoms. Therefore, in conclusion
] will ask. If tuberculin does not cause
the rise of temperature by aggravating
existing tuberculosis what effect does 1t
have on a tubercuOus patient other than
It has on Neutrality-suspicious. one2
I may add that Prof. Gocard of France
says on page 80 in his book on animal
tuberculosis: The action of the injection
of tuberculin on tubercules is remarka BILE.
1t is followed in the immediate neighbor-
hood of the tubercle by an intense in
dammation, with oxidation, and then
abundant infiltration of leuococytes" Drs.
Bang. Leydtin, Johne and Seidamgrotzki
all agree with DR. Gocard by saying that
tuberculin produces an indisputable
SPECIFIC action on existing tubercules in
cattle. With these facts before me.
can conceive of no other motive for the
stat ement that tubercuin does not agra
vate existing tubercules in cattle than a
desire to befog legislators and deceive
cattle owners into the belief that all cat
tie should be tested with tuberculin
hope / have furnished enough testimony
If have not, cali again. please-C ID
Smead, V. S.