522 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. 



any of the lower animals. Milk is more to be dreaded than 

 meat, because it is taken raw, and the udder is so often the 

 seat of tuberculosis. Even in the absence of tuberculosis of 

 the udder, the milk is sometimes infectious. It is routine 

 practice to place patients upon milk diet during the course of 

 and convalescence from nearly all acute diseases, when, by 

 reason of lowered vitality, they are temporarily predisposed 

 to tuberculosis, thus combining the most favorable conditions 

 for the implantation of the active germ. This fact seems to 

 offer practical explanation of the frequent supervention of 

 tuberculosis upon other diseases. 



. Tuberculous meat is not liable to infect, if it is thoroughly 

 cooked, because of the sterilizing effect of heat ; but the in- 

 terior of rare steaks and roasts are not sufficiently heated to 

 destroy the tubercule bacilli occurring in the several lymphatic 

 glands included, and in tuberculous pork the bacilli are even 

 found in the muscle proper. The livers of both cattle and 

 hogs, so commonly eaten, are tuberculous in a very large num- 

 ber of cases. 



While there is a pretence at inspection in our great packing 

 centres, there is little if any elsewhere in this country. Our 

 home-dressed beef consists principally of old, worn-out cows, 

 an alarmingly large percentage of which are tuberculous. The 

 hind quarters will usually pass detection, which, together with 

 such fore quarters as can be trimmed up and made passable, 

 are sold in our markets. Some parts that will not bear pass- 

 ing scrutiny in the market are converted into corned beef, 

 sausage, or are canned ; while such as are too far gone for this 

 are, together with all diseased viscera and other slaughter-house 

 refuse, fed to a drove of hogs kept for that purpose, which in 

 turn contract tuberculosis, are slaughtered and sold in our 

 markets, and thus little of the infection fails to reach some 

 home. The importance of the subject is shown by the mor- 

 tality statistics, from which it is seen that three million human 

 beings die of the disease every year. 



At the close of the meeting the members present passed the 

 following resolution : — 



Resolved, That the members of this association are of the opinion, 

 which is based upon personal knowledge and observation, that there 



