.')60 Ainuial Report for 1911 of Roi/al Veterinary College. 



In five cases of tuberculosis involving the glands (bronchial 

 glands) thi'ee contained human tubercle bacilli, and two others 

 contained a mixture of human and bovine tubercle bacilli. 



Thirteen cases of joint and bone tuberculosis were investi- 

 gated, and in all of these the lesions contained the human 

 tubercle bacilli only. 



In one case each of tuberculosis of the testicle, kidney, and 

 suprarenal gland only human tubercle bacilli were found to be 

 present. 



It is well known that the disease of the human skin to 

 which the term " lupus " has long been applied is in reality 

 a form of tuberculosis. Twenty cases of this kind were 

 examined by the Royal Commission, and although in the 

 majority of these cases the bacilli exhilrited slight variations 

 from the characters proper either to the human or the liovine 

 type, in at least eight of the cases the bacilli appeared to be 

 bovine. In one case the bacilli present in the lesions had 

 all the special characters of the bovine type. 



In view of the facts above mentioned it is no longer possible 

 to doubt that a by no means negligible proportion of the cases 

 diagnosed as tubercvxlosis in human beings have had their 

 origin in bacilli derived either directly from cattle or from 

 other animals, such as pigs, which have themselves been 

 infected with bovine tubercle bacilli. Probably if Professor 

 Koch had now been alive he would himself have admitted 

 the propriety of putting in operation such reasonable measures 

 as are calculated to prevent the infection of human beings in 

 this way, and the only question now remaining is to determine 

 what measures having this for their object are reasonable and 

 practicable. 



There is a general consensus of opinion that, in the great 

 majority of cases in which human beings become infected with 

 bovine tubercle bacilli, milk is the medium of infection. One 

 cannot deny that there is a conceivable risk of human infection 

 through the flesh, and more particularly the actually diseased 

 organs, of tuberculous cattle and pigs ; but, having regard to 

 the fact that such articles of food in the process of cooking 

 are generally raised to a temperature sufficient to destroy the 

 bacilli, one cannot suppose that in this country any consider- 

 able proportion of human beings are thus infected with 

 tuberculosis. On the other hand numerous investigations 

 conducted both in this country and abroad have shown that 

 tubercle bacilli are quite frequently present in milk as it 

 reaches the consumer, and with a view to devising measures to 

 keep it free from tubercle bacilli it is important to know what 

 are the principal sources of tvibercle bacilli found in milk. 

 The opinion of the Roj^al Commission with regard to this 



