THE TUBERCLE BACILLUS 



599 



of the poorer farm districts of the country the cattle tuberculosis situa- 

 tion is actually appalling. The question of how frequently infection 

 with bovine tubercle bacilli through the intestinal tract .may occur 

 is still a matter of some controversy. 



V. Behring expressed the belief that a large percentage of all cases 

 of tuberculosis originated in childhood from infection through the in- 

 testinal tract. He determined that tubercle bacilli may penetrate the 

 intestinal mucosa without causing lesions. Behring's contention caused 

 a great deal of discussion, and the question he raised is intimately 

 bound up with the problem of the virulence of bovine tubercle bacilli 

 for human beings, as he assumes that the infection is due to the use of 

 infected milk, 



COMBINED TABULATION, CASES REPORTED AND OWN SERIES OF 



CASES 



(From Park and Krumwiede, loc. cit.) 



Mixed or double infections, 4 cases. 



