The Cause and Prevention of Tuberculosis 323 



Children in such families should be brought up with the 

 utmost care, and should be given the greatest amount of 

 fresh air and sunlight. 



503. Tuberculosis in Animals. Tuberculosis is not only 

 the most widely spread of all diseases affecting human beings, 

 producing a greater mortality than any other, but there is 

 probably no disease which affects domestic animals so widely. 

 The disease is most common in cattle ; it is quite common 

 in pigs, but rare in sheep. 



Tuberculosis in fowls is a common and very infectious 

 disease. Frequently nearly all the birds in a poultry yard are 

 affected. It is now held to be an established fact by many 

 scientific men that tuberculosis is transmissible from cattle to 

 human beings, and that the milk of tuberculous cows is a 

 common vehicle of transmission. 



504. The Crusade against Consumption. The battle against 

 consumption is now being fought at a lively pace throughout 

 the civilized world. No disease is receiving such general 

 attention at the present time as is the "great white plague." 

 Nations, states, cities, and towns are all actively lending a 

 hand in the crusade. The campaign is directed not only 

 against the germ of consumption but quite as much against 

 the numberless conditions which produce the favorable soil 

 in the individual. 



* In the crusade against consumption numerous agencies, 

 both public and private, are now at work in the effort to con- 

 trol and prevent the disease. There is not a state nor territory 

 in the United States which has not considered or taken action 

 on the subject of tuberculosis. 



In the year 1908, of 43 legislatures in session, 36 debated 

 on matters pertaining to tuberculosis. A total of more than 

 $4,000,000 has been appropriated for the conduct of state 

 campaigns against this disease, and millions more have been 



