84 SCIENCE AND THE STATE, ETC. 



bovine, and he expressed the opinion that it could not be 

 transmitted to cattle ; and further, that if man is susceptible 

 to bovine tuberculosis, infection from this source must be 

 extremely rare. He believed that the extent of infection by 

 milk and meat of tubercular cattle (if it existed at all) was so 

 trifling that he did not deem it advisable to take any measures 

 against it. I entirely agree with Dr. Koch, that if infection 

 of mankind occurs from cattle, it is extremely rare, but the 

 statefnent that human tuberculosis cannot under any circum- 

 stances be transuiitted to cattle, is erroneous ; and I feel very 

 strongly that his statement with regard to the inadvisability of 

 taking any preventive measures is calculated to do a great deal 

 of harm. It creates the impression that dairymen and milk 

 sellers are justified in selling tubercular milk. 



CALVES ARE SUSCEPTIBLE TO HUMAN TUBER- 

 CULOSIS. 

 I feel justified in so far disagreeing with Dr. Koch, be- 

 cause in an inquiry undertaken for the Board of Agriculture, 

 I had the occasion to make the following experiment : — A 

 perfectly healthy calf was inoculated intra-peritoneally with 

 virulent human tubercular sputum. So far from the result 

 being negative, there was extensive deposit at the seat of inocu- 

 lation with numerous tubercles extending from it. The in- 

 oculation produced concurrently blood poisoning, and death 

 occurred forty-two days afterwards. On microscopical ex- 

 amination minute tubercles were found throughout the lungs 

 and liver, containing long and beaded bacilli of the human 

 type. I did not extend the experiment in this direction, as 

 I was deputed at once to make an exhaustive inquiry into 

 another disease, which is sometimes mistaken for tuberculosis. 

 However, other investigators m England and America have 

 since confirmed ray results. Dr. Sydney Martin, on behalf of 

 the Royal Commissioi on tuberculosis, also experimented on 

 calves with tubercular sputum. Four calves were given sputum 

 with food. One calf, killed in four weeks, had developed 53 

 nodules ; the second, killed in eight weeks, showed 63 ; the 

 third, killed in twelve weeks, showed 13 ; and in the fourth, 

 there wire no nodules at all. The results, however, 

 were somewhat puzziing. In calf three, the nodules in the 

 intestine contained tubercle bacilli, but they were totally 

 absent in the microscopical specimens of the nodules produced 

 in calves one and two. In another experiment, two calves 



