102 ANNUAL REPORT OF THE Off. Doc. 



Inter-State Association of State Live Stock Sanitary Boards, at Buf- 

 falo, October 8th, 1901: 



''Wtien a scientilic or an economic question is at issue it can be 

 settled so tliat it will stay settled only by careful, painstaking study 

 of the facts and by their truthful presentation. What this person 

 or that person supposes or guesses or thinks, or what the prejudiced, 

 bombastic, self-advertising speaker or writer may say, contributes 

 nothing to the solution. Facts are what are wanted, not theories; 

 knowledge is what is needed, not empty belief. Moreover, it is well 

 to apply to the study of controversial questions the logical and or- 

 derly method that is applied to the solution of a scientific problem, 

 and not depend upon a helter-skelter accumulation of disordered evi- 

 dence and rush at any cost to what is believed to be a popular verdict, 

 after the manner of the yellow press. 



"All of this is patent, but unfortunately, it appears to have been 

 lost sight of in certain quarters in connection with the discussion of 

 tuberculosis of cattle. The atmosphere has been so filled with the 

 smoke of controversy that in order to present the case clearly it ap- 

 pears to be necessary to go back to the elements of the subject and 

 endeavor in an unbiased way to gain from first sources our own infor- 

 mation upon which to base our opinions. 



"Let us consider some actual occurrences. Truth is sometimes 

 stronger than fiction, and facts may be more startling, and are always 

 more impressive, than theories. 



"(1) A farmer in Delaware county, Pennsylvania, had a herd of 

 native cows that had belonged to his father, and wishing to improve 

 them, purchased two pure bred cows and a bull at a public sale. In 

 time, these cattle sickened and after a lingering illness characterized 

 by wasting, they died, but not until some of their progeny had been 

 added to the herd. The breeding of the new strain and its fusion 

 with the old herd continued and, from time to time, a bull or a cow of 

 the adopted breed was purchased. But every winter, in spite of good 

 feed and care, a few of the cattle became poor and after a variable 

 time would die of a disease that was finally recognized as tubercu- 

 losis. 



"Every effort was made to check the spread of the disease by in- 

 creased food, by out-door life, by stable care and by medical treat- 

 ment, but without avail. One winter 6 cows died in the herd of 

 thirty. Eventually the Avhole herd perished of tuberculosis. A rare 

 case, some one may say. Yes, a rare case, because it is not customary 

 for cows to be held after it is known or feared that they have tuber- 

 culosis; they are usually sold to the bologna butcher. 



"(2) The owners of a famous dairy herd of pure bred cattle in a 

 neighboring State once consulted me in regard to tuberculosis in their 

 Herd. They were constantly losing good cows, and could never feel 



