No. 4.] CATTLE COMMISSIONERS. 479 



geons, lield in Baden-Baden, Aug. 7 to 12, 1899, to which 

 the chairman of this Board was a delegate, although he was 

 unable to attend, and at which Dr. Frothingham, who does 

 the bacteriological work of this Board, was present, a num- 

 ber of papers were presented by the leading veterinary 

 officials of many of the European countries upon the control 

 of bovine tuberculosis. All are agreed upon the importance 

 of the work and the necessity of taking measures for the 

 suppression of this disease, because of its possible danger to 

 the public health, as well as on account of the losses it 

 imposes upon cattle owners. It is also generally con- 

 ceded that, because of its infectious character and wide- 

 spread prevalence, it is a matter of veterinary, sanitary 

 police, that should be taken charge of by the State just 

 as much as glanders, rabies or contagious pleuro-pneumo- 

 nia. Among those presenting reports upon the preven- 

 tion of tuberculosis among domestic animals were Prof. B. 

 Bang, of the Veterinary School of Copenhagen, represent- 

 ing Denmark; Dr. O. Malm, director of the Civil Vet- 

 erinary Department, Norway ; Mr. G. Regner, military 

 veterinary surgeon, attached to the Board of Agriculture, 

 Stockholm, Sweden ; Dr. R. Rudovsky, State veterinarian 

 at Brunn, Austria; Dr. Siedamgrotsky, chief veterinary 

 officer in Saxony ; and Dr. L. Stubbe of Brussels, veterinary 

 inspector of the Board of Agriculture in Belgium. 



The prevalence of tuberculosis varies in different localities. 

 In Austria, Rudovsky thinks that only between 1 and 2 per 

 cent, of the cattle are diseased; in Sweden, Regner thinks 

 20 per cent, may l)e infected ; and in Norway, Malm gives it 

 as his opinion that it exists on 25 per '^nt. of the farms, and 

 that between 8 and 9 per cent, of all the cattle are infected. 



In eastern Massachusetts, judging from the experience of 

 this commission with veterinarians making private tests for 

 owners in the spring of 1897, it is not unfair to assume that 

 a condition of affairs exists quite as bad as in the more popu- 

 lous dairy districts of northern Europe. While less has 

 been done towards State control of tuberculosis in England 

 and Germany than in France and some of the smaller 

 European countries, like Sweden, Norway, Denmark and 

 Belgium, it is not because the importance of the trouble is 

 not realized, but because the best means for undertaking the 



