1056 PROCEEDINGS OF SECTION I. 
Thorough cleanliness of dairy premises, workers, cows, and 
vessels should be rigidly enforced. All cattle should be tested 
with tuberculin, and strict isolation of those reacting to the test 
should be enforced. The public should demand from dairymen a 
certificate from an expert that the dairy contains no tuberculous 
animals. No cattle should be admitted to a dairy until they 
have passed the test. Tuberculosis in man should be declared an 
infectious disease under section 12 of the Dairies Supervision Act 
of 1886. No consumptive should be allowed access to dairies or 
to take part in milk-selling. All milk should be sterilised by 
boiling, or it should be Pasteurised. No cattle should be allowed 
to enter the Colony until they have passed the tuberculin test. 
The danger from tuberculous meat is not so great as that from 
the milk of infected cows. Meat being cooked before it is eaten 
is more likely to have the bacilli it contains destroyed, except in 
the case of large joints, or when imperfectly cooked. It has been 
shown that no matter how high the temperature may be raised 
near the surface of a joint, the heat rarely exceeds 140 degrees 
Fahrenheit in the centre, except when the joint is under 6 Ib. in 
weight. Ordinary cooking may destroy any tubercle bacilli on 
the sur face, but 1t cannot be relied upon in the slightest degree to 
destroy those in the centre. The least reliable method of cooking 
for this purpose is roasting before the fire, next comes roasting in 
an oven, and then boiling. In the present state of our knowledge 
regarding tuberculous meat it is advisable to condemn the w hole 
carcase of any animal slaughtered for food in which even localised 
tubercular lesions are found. This is now the practice in Sydney, 
and there appears to be no reason for alteving it. 
On the general subject of prevention of the disease, the followi ing 
rules may “be laid down :— 
Overcrowding should be prevented. This overcrowding may be 
of two kinds. "A district may consist of a large number “of small 
houses, built back to back, and without yard space. The streets 
may be narrow, or may end in blind alleys; or, in the poorer 
quarters of towns, a large number of persons may live in small 
FR onihGe = son einies even whole families, consisting of perhaps 
seven or eight persons, may inhabit one or two rooms. 
Sunlight and fresh air should be allowed free access to all 
habitations. Sunlight alone is a valuable germicide. The houses 
should be well ventilated. A broken pane of glass in a badly- 
ventilated house often does more good than harm. The subsoil 
should be well drained. 
All rooms should be well swept while the windows are open. 
The old-fashioned plan of sprinkling tea-leaves on the floor is to 
be recommended, as it serves to prevent the dust from rising and 
afterwards settling down in the room. All houses intended for 
habitation should ‘be inspected by public officers before they are 
