No. 4.] CATTLE COMMISSIONERS' REPORT. 541 



sembled at Berne, Switzerland, in September, the following 

 resolutions were passed : — 



Tuberculin is a very valuable diaguostic agent, and cau yield the 

 greatest assistance in combating tuberculosis. There is no reason 

 for objecting to its general application on the ground that it may 

 aggravate pre-existing tuberculous lesions. 



The congress expresses the desire that governments shall order the 

 employment of tuberculin in herds in which the existence of tubercu- 

 losis has been established. 



Tuberculin is a reliable diagnostic agent. 



There need be no fear that tuberculin, properly used, will cause 

 generalization of pre-existing disease. 



All tuberculous herds should be tested with tuberculin, and the 

 tuberculous and healthy animals separated. 



The last International Congress of Hygiene, held in Septem- 

 ber, at Budapest, after hearing the report of the committee 

 appointed two years before for the consideration of this ques- 

 tion, reached the following conclusion, which was given out by 

 the presiding officer : — 



The committee are agreed that tuberculin is a very valuable assist- 

 ant in the discovery of tuberculosis. The occasional failures in diag- 

 nosis for which it is responsible are without practical significance. 



In Dieckerhoff's " Lehrbuch der speciellen Pathologie und 

 Terapie fur Thierarzte," published in 1894, and generally 

 recognized as the most reliable work on veterinary practice, 

 this statement occurs : — 



It is for the owner's interest to have his herd tested with tuber- 

 culin, in order to discover the suspicious animals, so that they may 

 be separated and placed in another stable, and slaughtered as soon as 

 possible. 



A law is now pending in France which will make the use of 

 tuberculin compulsory in all herds in which tuberculosis has 

 been discovered. 



Under the provisions of this law, every beast presenting 

 clinical signs of disease is to be slaughtered; any suspicious 

 beast showing tuberculosis is to be subjected to the tuberculin 

 test, and slaughtered if diseased ; all cattle that have cohabited 

 with an animal found to be tuberculous are to be subjected to 



