38 SCIENCE AND THE STATE, ETC. 



of a few stray bacilli. Plenty of milk, good nourishing food, 



better hygienic surroundings, will, with certainty, diminish 



the number of tubercular children in England. As the slums 



are removed from our over-crowded cities, and when the problem 



of the better housing of the poor has been solved, we may 



confidently expect to see a steady diminution of consumption. 



In Brisbane, and other growing towns in Queensland, it 



should be the care of the Government, of Municipal Authorities, 



and the public that the insanitary conditions which we have 



inherited in the old country, should never be allowed to 



arise. 



FLESH OF TUBERCULAR ANIMALS. 



As regards any danger from consuming the flesh of 

 animals with tuberculosis, I believe it is practically nil. There 

 has not been a single case recorded of tuberculosis contracted 

 by eating tuberculous meat. Jews have a very thorough system 

 of meat inspection, and yet they are by no means free from 

 tuberculosis. In the course of my travels in the West 

 Indies I found that the negroes were very liable to consump- 

 tion, and Dr. Williams, of Demerara, pointed out to the Royal 

 Commission that the Hindoo Coolies also suffered very 

 severely. Yet Hindoos eat very little meat of any kind, and 

 the negroes eat meat in very small quantities, and then it is 

 beef or salt pork imported from America, and well cooked 

 before it is eaten. They, however, take very little care to 

 protect themselves from chills, and they live for the most part 

 in small and badly ventilated buildings. We are justified in 

 concluding that if the carcase is well-nourished, the meat is 

 perfectly wholesome, in spite of the existence of local deposits 

 of turbercle in the viscera and glands, which should, of course,, 

 be condemned. The views of extremists cannot be carried into 

 eft'ect. It is sometimes argued that though an animal 

 may be in prime condition, if there is a single tuberculous 

 nodule, the carcase ought to be destroyed. In my opinion, 

 there would be no justification for the wholesale destruction of 

 such valuable food. Compulsory destruction of every 

 animal with the slightest indication of tuberculosis would 

 ruin the farming industry. No Government would face the 

 question of compensation for every case of tuberculosis, however 

 slight the lesion. Such a course would mvolve the destruction 

 of an enormous proportion of the cattle of the United 

 Kino-dom, and create a meat and milk famine. To secure 

 perfectly healthy cows, thus saving much loss, and ensuring the 



