No. 6. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 44'! 



A REPORT ON THE PROCEEDINGS OF THE 

 BRITISH CONGRESS ON TUBERCULOSIS, HELD 

 IN LONDON, JULY, 1901. 



BY M. P. RAVENEL, M. D., Delegate of Ike State Lire Stock Sanitary Board. 



The British Congress on Tuberculosis was held in Loudon, July 

 22 to 20, 1901, Almost every nation was represented not only by 

 official appointees, but also by delegates from universities, societies, 

 etc. The total registration reached the large «uimber of 2,500, of 

 whom more than 1,000 were actually present. Many notable scien- 

 tific men were among the number. 



The Congress was ofticially opened by the Duke of Cambridge as 

 the representative of the King, on Monday afternoon, July 22, in St. 

 James' Hall, and on the following morning the scientific meetings 

 of the sections were begun. The plan w^as to have the meetings of the 

 sections, four in number, in the mornings, and the general meetings 

 attended by all the members of the various sections in the after- 

 noons, these general meetings being addressed by men of distinc- 

 tion. 



The sections were as follows : 



1. State and Municipal. President, Et. Hon. Sir Herbert Maxwell, 



2. Medical (including Climatology and Sanatoria). President, Sir 

 Richard Douglass Powell, 



3. Pathology (including Bacteriology). President, Prof. (1. Sims 

 Woodhead. 



4. \'et(Minary. Tuberculosis in Animals. President, Sir George 

 Brown. 



Many discussions of interest took place in each of these sections. 

 In the veterinary section the value of tuberculin as a diagnostic 

 agent was discussed at sonu' length, the general opinion being 

 highly favorable to it. I'rof. Dewar, principal of the Koyal \'eterin- 

 ary College, after considering other methods of diagnosis at some 

 length, concludes that in tuberculin we have the most efficient, relia- 

 ble and practical means of diagnosing tuberculosis. For its full 

 and successful use it is necessary: (1) To have a reliable tuberculin 

 prepared by a competent pathologist or pathological chemist; (2) to 

 keep the herd to be tested quiet and undisturbed, and with no marked 



