172 ADMINISTRATIVE SECTION 



Every bacteriologist of repute will agree with me 

 when I say that administration can only be success- 

 ful if based on complete and accurate diagnosis, that 

 accurate diagnosis can only be obtained in many 

 cases, especially in the early stages of the disease, 

 by the discovery of B. tiiberculosis in the milk, and 

 that the only sure way to detect these bacilli is by the 

 inoculation method. If this is the case, then it is, I 

 think, obvious that any instruction which can be used 

 as a means of utilizing microscopical examination as a 

 substitute for the inoculation method, even if the 

 microscopical examination were left in the hands of 

 trained and expert bacteriologists, as it has not been 

 by the Tuberculosis Order, is a retrograde step in 

 fact retrograde is a very mild term with which to 

 characterize it. The only serious objection which has 

 been brought against the inoculation method is the 

 necessary delay in getting a final diagnosis four to 

 five weeks. During that time, however, in all those 

 cases where suspicious bacilli are discovered by the 

 microscope, the milk would not be used for ordinary 

 purposes, for the suspected cow would be isolated and 

 cared for by the Local Authority. Isolation at the 

 dairy or farm of the owner of the cow would be 

 very unsatisfactory, for there would always be the 

 temptation to use the milk when the inspector was 

 absent. 



No sane person suggests that we should not 

 isolate cases of scarlet fever or diphtheria, or that 

 we should not provide at the public expense hos- 

 pitals for such cases and sanatoria for consumptives ; 

 surely, then, it is not unreasonable to suggest the 

 establishment of suitable hospitals, if you like so to 

 designate them, where doubtfully infected cattle can 

 be isolated and properly cared for until such time as 

 a definite diagnosis is arrived at. If the animal turns 

 out to be non-tuberculous, then the dairyman should 

 \JL- paid the value of the milk supply which he has 



