270 TUBERCULOSIS. 



to keep animals warm, they have been too closely shut up in badly 

 ventilated rooms, and they breathe the warm air over and over again. 

 Such a condition, wholly independent of the tubercle bacilli which 

 might be present, has a debilitating effect upon cattle, just as it 

 does on men. Too frequently, even on the better farms, the cattle 

 are shut up in the stalls early in the fall, are not allowed to go out 

 during the long months of the winter, and never get a breath of 

 fresh air. Sometimes the case is even worse than this, for many cows 

 are thus shut up as soon as they begin to produce milk, and, winter 

 and summer alike, remain in close, poorly ventilated rooms. To 

 protect his cattle from cold the farmer makes his cow barn too warm 

 and allows it too little air. To save trouble he keeps the cows housed 

 all the time, with no out-of-door air; and to save expense he crowds 

 them together in the smallest amount of space. These facts 

 show why so many animals yield to tuberculosis in the colder coun- 

 tries. Warm rooms and a close crowding of the animals may 

 result in a saving of food, but it invites the spread of tuberculosis 

 if it once gains access to a single animal. In the human race it is 

 well known that the best protection against the disease, and the 

 best remedy for it after it has once started, is out-of-door life. 

 Doubtless the same is true of cattle, but this fact has been almost 

 forgotten in the attempt to produce the most milk possible at the 

 smallest expense. The farmer may perhaps insist that such crowded 

 conditions are necessary and unavoidable in the modern farm, but 

 he must also remember that, whether necessary or not, they are 

 certainly inviting tuberculosis and bringing his animals into a 

 condition where they are sure to yield to the infection the first time 

 that chance brings the bacillus in their vicinity. More outdoor 

 life and more air are the prerequisites for a healthy herd. 



Anything which will induce a vigorous life will decrease the 

 tendency to the disease. Proper food is an important factor in 

 determining health. It may be difficult under the conditions of 

 modern farming to allow the cattle to have proper exercise in the 

 winter, but the lack of it is certainly one of the factors tending to 

 increase the liability to tuberculosis. Too great attention paid 

 to the increase in the yield of milk lessens the resisting power of 



