Vol. X. No. 246. 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



315 



HUMAN AND ANIMAL TUBERCULOSIS. 



The Royal Commission appointed to enquire into the 

 relations of human and animal tul>erculDsTs have recently 

 issued their final Report (Cd. 5761, Price Qd.) which contains 

 an account of the investigations carried out, and sets forth 

 certain conclusions based on the results of the Commission's 

 researches. 



In regard to the question whether tuberculosis in animals 

 and in man is one and the same disease, it is considered that 

 on certain points there is room for difference of opinion, but 

 that whether one prefers to regard bovine tuberculosis and 

 the cases of tuberculosis in man, which are caused by the 

 human type of bacilli, as varieties of the same disease, or as 

 independent diseases, there can be no question that human 

 tuberculosis is in part identical with bovine tuberculosis. The 

 researches of the Commission have proved that, in a consi- 

 derable proportion of cases of the human disease, the lesions 

 contain, and are caused by, bacilli which are in every respect 

 indistinguishable from the bacilli which are the cause of 

 tuberculosis in cattle. In all such cases the disease, there- 

 fore, is the same disease as bovine tuberculosis. 



They further conclude that mammals and man can be 

 reciprocally infected with tuberculosis, and that a consider- 

 able amount of the tuberculosis of childhood is to be ascribed 

 to infection with bacilli of the bovine type, transmitted to 

 children in cow's milk. The danger to the adult human 

 subject appears to be .substantially less. 



In the interests therefore of infants and children, and 

 for the reasonable safeguarding of the public health generally , 

 the Commissioners urge that existing regulations and super- 

 vision of milk production and meat preparation should not 

 be relaxed, that on the contrary Government should cause to 

 be enforced throughout the kingdom food regulations planned 

 to afford better security against the infection of human 

 beings through the medium of articles of diet derived from 

 tuberculous animals. 



More particularly, action in this sense is urged in order 

 to avert or minimize the present danger arising from the con- 

 sumption of infected milk. And in this connexion it is 

 pointed out that bovine tubercle bacilli are apt to be abun- 

 dantly present in milk as sold to the public when there is 

 tuberculous disease of the udder of the cow from which it 

 was obtained. This fact is generally recognized though not 

 adequately guarded against. But these bacilli may also be 

 present in the milk of tuberculous cows presenting no 

 evidence whatever of disea.se of the udder, even when 

 examined post mortem. Further, the milk of tuberculous 

 cows not containing bacilli as it leaves the udder may, and 

 frequently does, become infective by being contaminated with 

 the faeces or uterine discharges of such diseased animal. 

 Measures for securing the prevention of ingestion of living 

 bovine tubercle bacilli with milk would greatly reduce the 

 number of cases of abdominal and cervical tuberculosis in 

 children, and such measures should include the exclusion 

 from the food supply of the milk of the recognisably tuber- 

 culous cow, irrespective of the site of the disease, whether in 

 the udder or in the internal organs. (The Journal of 

 the Board o_f Agriculture, Vol. XVIII, p. 405.) 



PALAY RUBBER IN MEXICO. 



Palay rubber is obtained from the plant Cryptostt<jia 

 •jrandiflora, which is commonly known in Jlexico under the 

 names Clavel Aleman and Clavel de Espaua; it is a native of 

 India, and was introduced into Mexico a few years ago as an 

 ornamental plant. 



An interesting article in the India-Rahber Journal for 

 May 20, 191 1, deals with the plant, and it is from this that most 

 of the following information is taken. The most striking mat- 

 ters in regard to Cryptost&jia grandiflora, which it may be 

 said has been introduced into several of the West Indian 

 Islands, are the ease with which it is propagated, its rapidity 

 of growth (3 to 6 yards in a year), its power to resist drought, 

 and lastly its ability to grow again even when it has been cut 

 back severely. Anyone who has broken off a leaf or twig 

 of C'ryptostegia grandiflora has lieen made aware of the 

 presence of an abundant white latex; this is stated to contain 

 a quantity of rubber which amounts to 2 per cent, on the 

 weight of the fresh plant. It is considered by some author- 

 ities that the most economical method of extracting the latex 

 would 1)6 to submit the whole plant to pressure; this method 

 is not practicable at pre-sent, on account of the fact that the 

 sap of the plant becomes mixed with the latex and prevent.s 

 the rubber from coagulating. A simple of the stems and 

 leaves from Mexico, examined in California, is reported to 

 have afforded a rubber of the best quality. 



The author of the article quotes Wright as stating that 

 the rubber is of fair quality, containing about 80 per cent, of 

 caoutchouc. He also gives a quotation from Sir George 

 Watts (in The Dictionary of the Economic Products of India, 

 p. 561) to the effect that the plant is: 'an extensive climber, 

 fairly common on the western and southern tracts of India, 

 and is stated to have been repeatedly cultivated with a view 

 to the utilization of both its milky sap and beautiful fibre; 

 so long ago as 1893 the rubber prepared from it was repor- 

 ted on in England as "hardly equal to Ceara rubber from 

 Brazil, although its general qualities are very encouraging".' 



Particulars are given of three samples of Palay rubber 

 that were examined at the Imperial Institute; these came 

 from Madras, Jalaun and Bombay, and gave the following 

 percentage analy.ses: — 



Madras. Jalaun. Bombay. 



Moisture 24'7 5-5 36 



Caoutchouc 67-4 79-9 64-3 



Resin 59 85 101 



Insoluble impurity 2'0 6'1 — • 



Albuminoid matter — — 7 '9 



Insoluble matter.(including ash) — — 14'1 



Ash — ■ — 8 2 



In regard to plants grown in Mexico, an examination 

 made by the writer showed that the dry leaves contained 

 3'4 per cent, of caoutchouc and 15 per cent, of resins The 

 percentage of caoutchouc in the dry stems was 4'0, that in 

 the latex 37 0. The crude rubber from the coagulum gave: 

 caoutchouc 85'0 per cent., resins 88 per cent. Reference is 

 made to the fact that, besides rubber, the plants yield a strong 

 fibre. It is of interest also that the latex is emetic and the 

 leaves very poisonous, although the special alkaloid is 

 unknown. 



In concluding this information it may be mentioned 

 that another Cryptostegia has also been introduced into the 

 West Indies, namely C. madagascariensis. This, like the 

 former, possesses a vine-like habit; it is the source of the 

 rubber known as Lombiro. 



