754 PROCEEDINGS OF SECTION H. 



four or five months after the g-entleman had departed again, 

 to die shortly after his arrival in England, his cousin hegan to 

 lose flesh, to cough, and the expectoration exhibited tubercle 

 bacilli on examination. Fortunately in this case, the evil being 

 early discovered, could 1)0 arrested after a few months of 

 treatment. The patient has gained flesh again, his congh has 

 almost entirely disappeared, and he is doing generally very 

 well. I should like also to mention the following interesting 

 case that came nnder my observation : — Being directed by 

 the Queensland Government to carry ont experiments in order 

 to inquire into the diagnostic value of Koch's lymph in cattle, 

 I received for my experiments two bullocks which had been 

 the leaders of a team. Both showed signs of evident 

 tuberculosis ; but when being killed it was found on post 

 mortem examination that the disease of one bullock was of 

 very old standing, as the extensions of the tubercular lesions 

 and as the numerous deposits of lime salts proved, while the 

 tuberculosis of the other bullock showed signs of comparatively 

 more recent origin. The explanation is quite simple. These 

 two bullocks had been together leaders of the team side by 

 side for several years. One of the two bullocks either had 

 had previously tuberculosis or contracted it afterwards. After 

 some time also the other bullock got infected from the first 

 one, being always close together with liim. That he contracted 

 it later than the first bullock the post mortem examination 

 proved. I think that this case observed by me is the first 

 instance of direct communication of the disease in cattle by 

 breathing that has been noticed. 



NoAv, the question naturally arises, why the contagion 

 being present almost everywhere, not everyone gets infected 

 with tuberculosis. The answer to this question is that healthy 

 persons do not get infected as a rule by the tubercle bacilli, 

 because the healthy organism has sufficient power of resis- 

 tance. But wherever there is a weakened and impaired 

 condition, either of the whole organism or of the organ that 

 is being invaded by the tubercle bacilH, the latter have more 

 chance of settling definitively in this organ. Very interesting 

 experiments have been carried out by Cerhnheim. He 

 inoculated the tuberculous virus to two rabbits, on one of 

 whom he had previously made a venaesection. The animal 

 which had suffered this loss of blood died soon of very fast- 

 advancing phthisis, while the other one was still compara- 

 tively healthy, as the -post mortem examination revealed. 

 Further on, unsuitable nutrition and manner of living, over- 



