221 



about two and a half years ago I penned the following sentence 

 in Bird Notes, and have never since amended or altered it. " Of 

 " all diseases however with which vSepticseuiia is confonnded, 

 " Tuberculosis is the most frequent, and this too in spite of 

 " the fact that even if the latter exists at all outside the 

 " Gallinacese, ivhich is doubtful, it is exceedingly rare." So as 

 regards the necessity for my being convinced that " Avian 

 Tuberculosis does exist amongst birds," it would seem that our 

 instructor either spoke too soon or said too much. Besides, 

 what he said is quite outside my challenge. 



Let lis now see where Nocard needs to " convince " me. 

 In this medical man's July letter he quotes the Professor as 

 follows — words, and punctuation marks and all. " Tuberculosis 

 " is a common disease among birds : the bacilli are a little 

 " longer than those met with in Tuberculosis Mammalia, 

 " otherwise they have the same characteristics, react in the 

 " same way to the same stains, and flourish on the same culture 

 " media, but they are more vigorous and grow more quickly 

 " and abundantly." 



Nocard never ivrote that sentence. It is one manufactured 

 by my unscrupulous opponent himself out of fragments — and 

 garbled ones at that — of four different sentences on two 

 different pages out of the seven devoted by Nocard in his little 

 book to our subject ! Nocard never said, and never even 

 implied that "Tuberculosis is a common disease among birds :" 

 This is what he said, and I italicize the essential words 

 deliberately left out by my opponent in his search after truth. 

 "Tuberculosis is a common disease among t/ie birds o/ the 

 '^ poultry yard, ..." Then in the next sentence Nocard 

 goes on to say " It ;;^attacks poultry, pigeons, turkeys, pea 

 " fowl, guinea fowl, etc. ; and even the small birds take it 

 " experimentally." 



It will therefore be seen that, when I challenged this 

 fellow medical man of mine to demonstrate tuberculosis in 

 a cage bird not especially inoculated Jor the purpose, I was 

 absolutely at one with Prof Nocard, although by deliberate 

 misrepresentation of both of us in opposite directions, it is now 

 sought to make me appear a hopeless outsider steeped in the 

 darkest ignorance, and requiring to be convinced of a fact I have 

 always admitted. After this exposition of the method of 

 conducting a scientific discussion adopted by the latest 

 champion of the obscurantist party, we need not feel surprised 

 to find further on in the manufactured " quotation " that 

 Nocards words "generally seem " are twice over boldly altered 

 into " are." 



