TUBERCUI.OSIS. 145 



examinations by a veterinarian, the "tuberculin" test was ap- 

 plied and 50 per cent, of the herd demonstrated to be tuberculous. 

 Without the "tuberculin " test there is no guarantee possible for 

 the products of the dairy, and the sanitary officers who will affect 

 to deal with this disease in herds without the aid of "tuberculin " 

 are at best but pruning the tips of the branches of the evil tree. 

 Public money ought not to be thrown away on such fruitless and 

 ineffective work. The purification of a herd must be followed in 

 every case by a thorough disinfection of contaminated buildings 

 and places, and by a careful seclusion of the herd from new sources 

 of infection. It is evident therefore that the nontuberculous herd 

 must be secured against the addition of fresh animals from any 

 herd that has not been similarly attested sound, and that any 

 necessary addition from another source must be tested by ' ' tuber- 

 culin " before it is added to the herd. Equally important is it to 

 test all farm animals of whatever species which live on the place 

 and cohabit with the herd, and to see to it that no human being 

 suffering from tuberculosis is allowed to attend to the animals or 

 to prepare their food. It is difficult to see how anything short of 

 such a system can afford a guarantee of the absence of the soluble 

 tubercle poisons from our milk, butter and cheese. 



In the case of butcher meats a professional examination when 

 slaughtered, covering all of the viscera as well as the carcass, 

 will be essential, and the current doctrine of sound meat with 

 localized tuberculosis must be abandoned. Every municipality 

 must have its own public abattoir in which alone its meat supplies 

 should be butchered and where every carcass should be systemati- 

 cally examined as it is opened. Private slaughter-houses con- 

 trolled by individual owners afford endless opportunities for the 

 evasion of sanitary statutes, and ought to be abandoned as relics 

 of an age when modern sanitary science was unknown. 



The question of dressed, canned and salted meats is one that 

 must be carefully considered. It is quite evident that such pro- 

 ducts must come to us with a sufficient guarantee if allowed to 

 compete with our home meats which have passed the municipal 

 inspection. It is equally evident that no inspector paid by the 

 packer or canner can furnish a certificate which will command 

 public confidence. The inspector must be a government official who 



