DR. J. M. BEATTIE'S PAPER 173 



lost during those weeks of isolation, but if the animal 

 proves tuberculous he has no claim other than he is 

 allowed at present. . If the bacilli are not discovered 

 by microscopical methods the tuberculous milk supply 

 may be continued indefinitely, or, at any rate, till the 

 next periodic inspection if inoculation methods are 

 dispensed with, whereas, at the worst, it can only be 

 continued for a few weeks if inoculation methods are 

 used. 



The new Milk and Dairies Bill aims at the proper 

 inspection of cattle, and in many of its features it is a 

 decidedly progressive measure ; but like so much 

 of the present-day legislation, it only attacks the 

 problem from one side. It does not make any pro- 

 vision for efficient veterinary inspection, for it is very 

 obvious that many small local authorities cannot 

 employ efficient full-time officers, and unless efficient 

 inspection is carried on systematically over the whole 

 country, the sources of difficulty which arise to-day 

 as a result of unequal control will persist. 



To sum up I would advocate : 



(1) That the systematic inspection of cattle should 

 be placed in the hands of full-time veterinary in- 

 spectors, who are experienced in the diagnosis of 

 tuberculosis in animals. 



(2) That isolation farms should be established 

 by Local Authorities where suspected animals may 

 be kept until a positive or negative diagnosis is 

 established. 



' (3) That the farmer or dairyman should be paid 

 for the milk supply which he necessarily loses during 

 the four or five weeks of isolation, if the cow is proved 

 to be non -tuberculous. 



(4) That the bacteriological and experimental 

 testing of the milk and other secretions should be 

 entrusted to experienced bacteriologists who have at 

 their disposal laboratories in which all the best means 

 of carrying out the examinations are available, and 



