1889.] PUBLIC DOCUMENT — No. 4. 405 



malady equal in infectiousness to glanders and contagious 

 pleuro-pueumonia, and contagion plays a more active part in 

 its propagation than heredity. 



It has been accepted, that: 1. Tuberculosis has been 

 observed in all warm-blooded animals submitted to domes- 

 ticity or deprived of their liberty. 2. Tuberculosis presents 

 analogous manifestations in man and animals in life and death, 

 and the course and terminations are the same. 3. There are 

 clinical observations which prove the transmission of tuber- 

 culosis from animals to man by the consumption of the milk 

 of tuberculous animals. That it is not necessary to have 

 the udder tuberculous in order to have the milk contain the 

 bacilli of tuberculosis, has been demonstrated by Dr. Austin 

 Peters of Boston, he having found the bacilli in milk from a 

 tuberculous cow where the udder was in an apparently nor- 

 mal condition. Fleming cites a case where two young girls 

 were fed upofi milk from tuberculous cows, and died from 

 tuberculosis ; while their brothers, more fond ot whiskey than 

 milk, were hale and hearty. In order to control this malady 

 the diseased animals should be killed ; everything that has 

 been in contact with them thoroughly disinfected. Isolate 

 all animals that are at all suspicious until positive symptoms 

 manifest themselves. Never breed from an animal whose 

 history is tainted, or about whom there is the least suspicion. 

 As regards treatment, this disease has taxed the energies and 

 defied the efforts of physicians for generations ; and of what 

 practical benefit could it be, since these animals are useless 

 for breeding, dangerous for dairy purposes and as compan- 

 ions, and unfit for food. Our energies, therefore, should be 

 directed towards prevention and eradication. 



Having stated a few facts as to what the disease is, its 

 cause, some of the prominent symptoms and the means neces- 

 sary to combat it, it may be of interest to some to know to 

 what extent tuberculosis was the cause of death in the human 

 family in this State during the year 1886. 



According to the Eegistration Eeport for that year, there 

 were 39,040 deaths in this State, and of that number 7,329 

 died from tuberculosis, or 18.37 per cent. 



From the twelve prominent causes of death, numbering 

 23,872, tuberculosis claims 30.7 per cent. 



