06 THE DISEASES OF DOMESTIC ANIMALS. 



" Two cats — two negative results. 



" Fourteen rabbits — two positive, six negative results ; the other 

 six were fed upon the milk when boiled, and consequently were 

 unaffected." 



The excitement which exists with reference to this disease among 

 hygienists, makes it imperative for us to gain all the knowledge we 

 can as to the manner of its extension among animals. The follow- 

 ing remarks, bearing as they do immediately upon this point, will, 

 therefore, not be without interest and benefit to the general 

 reader. 



That the sputa from people afflicted with tubercular consump- 

 tion contains elements capable of infection, has been placed beyond 

 all doubt by means of numerous experiments with dogs where the 

 sputa was dispersed by means of a spray-distributor into the air of 

 a small room in which the animals were confined for a time each 

 day, the balance of the time being allowed freedom in the open air. 

 Too many sad cases of death from tubercular consumption have 

 been unquestionably traced to the influence of expired air from 

 persons having the disease, upon nurses and others around them, 

 even in cases where any inherited disposition to the disease could 

 be excluded beyond all question. 



Most strikingly, yes, shockingly, illustrating this point, viz., the 

 infectiousness of the hreath of persons afflicted with tuberculosis, are 

 the cases given by Dr. Reich in the " Berliner klinische "Wochen- 

 schrift," No. 37, 1878 — "Die Tuberculosis eine Infectionskrank- 

 heit." In these cases the disease was transmitted to ten children 

 by a nurse who had the habit of sucking at, and blowing into the 

 mouths of such little ones as were born asphyctic. Dr. Reich sums 

 up his observations as follows : 



" 1. In the time which elapsed from the summer of 1875 to the 

 fall of 1876 (July 11th to September 29th), there died at Neuen- 

 burg, of meningitis tuberculosa, ten children that were born between 

 April 4, 1875, and May 10, 1876. 



" 2. There was no ascertainable disposition to tuberculosis in 

 any of the ten children. 



" 3. All these ten children were brought into the w r orld by the 

 nurse Sanger. 



"4. In the practice of the nurse Regisser (in the same town), 

 not one single child died or sickened of tubercular meningitis dur- 

 ing the same time. 



" 5. The nurse Sanger suffered from tubercular consumption at 

 the time. In July, 1875, an examination of her lungs revealed 



