﻿C0MMISSI0^"ER 
  OF 
  AGRICULTURE. 
  519 
  

  

  days, 
  were 
  held 
  to 
  be 
  incompatible 
  with 
  tuberculosis, 
  but 
  since 
  the 
  

   adA-ent 
  of 
  the 
  white 
  man 
  and 
  his 
  stabled 
  Irerds 
  they 
  have 
  largely 
  

   lost 
  their 
  sanitary 
  reputation. 
  The 
  highest 
  known 
  mortality 
  from 
  

   tuberculosis 
  to-day 
  is 
  that 
  of 
  the 
  resei-i^ation 
  Indians 
  of 
  these 
  States, 
  

   who 
  feed 
  on 
  raw, 
  diseased 
  beef. 
  In 
  the 
  Kirghiz 
  steppes 
  the 
  Tartars 
  

   subsist 
  on 
  the 
  flesh 
  and 
  milk 
  of 
  their 
  solipeds, 
  and 
  largely 
  escape 
  

   consumption. 
  In 
  Japan, 
  Dr. 
  Ashmead 
  tells 
  us 
  that 
  the 
  common 
  

   people 
  escape 
  tuberculosis, 
  while 
  the 
  aristocracy 
  suffer 
  severely. 
  

   He 
  attributes 
  this 
  mainly 
  to 
  the 
  debauch'ery 
  of 
  the 
  ruling 
  class; 
  

   but 
  it 
  must 
  not 
  be 
  overlooked 
  that 
  they 
  eat 
  freely 
  of 
  beef 
  and 
  

   dairy 
  products, 
  which 
  the 
  rice-eating 
  poorer 
  population 
  do 
  not. 
  

   The 
  same 
  remarks 
  apply 
  in 
  measure 
  to 
  the 
  mandarin 
  and 
  plebeian 
  

   classes 
  in 
  China. 
  Holden 
  tells 
  us 
  that 
  tuberculosis 
  is 
  rare 
  in 
  Colum- 
  

   bia, 
  Ecuador 
  and 
  on 
  thie 
  eastern 
  slopes 
  of 
  the 
  Andes, 
  where 
  little 
  

   or 
  no 
  milk 
  or 
  butter 
  is 
  used. 
  It 
  must 
  be 
  further 
  borne 
  in 
  mind 
  

   that 
  in 
  these 
  countries 
  all 
  herds 
  live 
  in 
  the 
  open 
  air, 
  and 
  practically 
  

   escape 
  infection. 
  

  

  These 
  examples 
  must 
  be 
  contrasted 
  with 
  the 
  consumers 
  of 
  beef 
  

   and 
  milk 
  in 
  civilized 
  temperate 
  countries, 
  where 
  the 
  stock 
  are 
  

   largely 
  kept 
  indoors. 
  A 
  general 
  average 
  mortality 
  of 
  seven 
  or 
  eight 
  

   per 
  cent, 
  from 
  tuberculosis, 
  and 
  th-e 
  post-mortem 
  evidence 
  in 
  Euro- 
  

   pean 
  and 
  American 
  hospitals 
  of 
  33 
  to 
  50 
  i)er 
  cent, 
  which 
  show 
  

   tubercular 
  lesions, 
  recent 
  or 
  remote, 
  cannot 
  be 
  lightly 
  passed 
  over. 
  

   The 
  contrast 
  with 
  our 
  reservation 
  Indians 
  is 
  still 
  more 
  striking. 
  

   Holden 
  and 
  Treon 
  testify 
  that 
  the 
  meat 
  furnished 
  to 
  the 
  Indians 
  

   is 
  always 
  iX)or 
  and 
  often 
  diseased, 
  and 
  th'at 
  when 
  the 
  stock 
  arrives 
  

   our 
  hungry 
  wards 
  devour 
  the 
  internal 
  organs 
  raw, 
  or, 
  later, 
  the 
  

   flesh 
  as 
  pounded 
  preserved 
  meat, 
  and 
  still 
  uncooked. 
  The 
  deaths 
  

   of 
  these 
  Indians 
  from 
  tuberculosis 
  is 
  50 
  per 
  cent, 
  of 
  the 
  total 
  mor- 
  

   tality.* 
  Dr. 
  Washington 
  Matthews, 
  who 
  spent 
  twenty-one 
  years 
  

   among 
  the 
  Indians, 
  gives 
  their 
  food 
  as 
  the 
  main 
  cause 
  of 
  the 
  dis- 
  

   ease, 
  and 
  states 
  that 
  when 
  the 
  supply 
  of 
  fresh 
  meat 
  is 
  liberal 
  the 
  

   death-rate 
  from 
  tuberculosis 
  is 
  highest 
  (Census 
  of 
  1880). 
  

  

  4 
  Medical 
  Record, 
  August 
  13, 
  1883. 
  

  

  