TRANSMISSION OF BOVINE TUBERCULOSIS. 213 



dangerous article of food. Much will depend, however, upon the 

 severity of the case and extent of the morbid changes that have 

 taken place. Thus, from what is known in relation to the path- 

 olo";v of this virulent maladv, we should at once interdict the sale 

 of consumptive beef and milk, especially in the advanced stages of 

 the disease, when the glandular tissues have become involved. 



The relation of bovine tuberculosis to public hygiene was probably 

 first suggested b}' Prof. Chauveau, who nineteen years ago had already 

 indicated the real source of danger from the use of consumptive beef 

 and milk. But no one has done more to promulgate these investiga- 

 tions, or has contributed more to the advancement of sanitary science 

 in this direction, than George Fleming, F. R. C. V. S., Veterinary 

 Inspector to the British army, and the accomplished editor of the Lon- 

 don Veterinary Journal^ who, by his encyclopaedic writings, is an 

 acknowledged authority on the sul)ject. Thus, in a recent editorial, he 

 says, "That the tuberculosis of cattle is a transmissible disease, and 

 can be conveyed not only to animals of the same but also to those 

 of other species in various ways, is now an established fact, upon the 

 recognition of which we have lor many years insisted ; and, since 

 we first called attention to it, some of the best pathologists in Europe 

 have furnished additional testimon}' as to the readiness with which 

 this transmission takes place, not onh' by inoculation or ingestion^ 

 but also, it would appear, by cohabitation of diseased with healthy 

 animals. 



Eight 3'ears ago Prof. Colin, of the Albert Veterinary College, con- 

 tributed a series of observations on the communicability of tubercu- 

 losis, which were very conclusive, and threw a flood of light on this 

 important sanitary question in relation to diseased meat, though the 

 bacillus tuberculosis had not been discovered. Several prominent 

 German and Italian authorities have also published their clinical ex- 

 perience in this direction ; and lastly we have the celebrated Pro- 

 fessor Orth of Gottingen, furnishing the results of his researches and 

 experiments. All of these are only confirmatory, however, of what 

 has now been stated, but this confirmation is not without its value, 

 especially in this emergenc}', when public opinion needs educating on 

 the sanitar}' conditions of our meat supplies. 



In his experiments, fifteen animals were fed with tuberculous mat- 

 ter from a diseased cow, and nine of those were infected, of which 

 four died. The remaining five, becoming extreme}}' emaciated, were 

 killed. On examination nearly all the organs of the body were found 



