748 Tuberculosis 



terested in tuberculosis, and, though exceedingly slow and 

 conservative in their movements, are disseminating litera- 

 ture with the hope of achieving by volition that which might 

 otherwise be regarded as cruel compulsion. 



So long as tuberculosis exists among men or cattle, it 

 shows that existing hygienic precautions are insufficient. 

 While condemning any unreasonable isolation of patients, 

 we should favor the registration of tuberculous cases as a 

 means of collecting accurate data concerning their origin ; in- 

 sist upon the careful domestic sterilization and disinfection 

 of all articles used by the patients; recommend public disin- 

 fection of the houses they cease to occupy; and approve of 

 special hospitals for as many (especially of the poorer classes, 

 among whom hygienic measures are almost always opposed) 

 as can be persuaded to occupy them. 



BOVINE TUBERCULOSIS. 

 BACILLUS TUBERCULOSIS Bovis. 



The tuberculous diseases of the lower animals and espe- 

 cially cattle have lesions closely resembling those of human 

 tuberculosis, and containing bacilli similar both in morphol- 

 ogy and in staining reaction to those found in human tuber- 

 culosis. The conclusion that they are identical seems in- 

 evitable, but in his monograph upon tuberculosis Koch 

 called attention to certain morphologic and cultural differ- 

 ences that exist between bacilli obtained from human and 

 from animal tuberculosis. Unfortunately, very little atten- 

 tion was paid to the subject until Theobald Smith* care- 

 fully compared a series of bacilli obtained from human 

 sputum with another series obtained from cattle, horses, 

 hogs, cats, dogs, and other animals. 



His observations form the foundation of the following 

 description of the bovine tubercle bacillus: 



Morphology. The size of the bovine bacillus is quite 

 constant, the individuals being quite short (1-2 ^). They 

 are straight, not very regular in outline, and sometimes 

 of a spindle, sometimes a barrel, and sometimes an oval 

 shape. The human bacilli, on the other hand, are prone to 

 take an elongate form under artificial cultivation. 



* ''Trans. Assoc. Amer. Phys.," 1896, xi, p. 75, and 1898, xm, p. 417; 

 "Jour, of Experimental Medicine," 1898, in, 495. 



