344 Tuberculosis 



the human bacillus infects cattle with difficulty, the bovine 

 bacillus infects animals with great readiness. 



At the International Congress on Tuberculosis, held in 

 London, 1901, Koch expressed the opinion that bovine 

 tuberculosis was not communicable to man. The matter 

 is of the utmost importance to the medical profession and 

 of far-reaching influence upon many important sanitary 

 measures that bear directly upon the public health. 



Koch's opinion, being opposed to all that had been believed 

 before, received almost universal disapproval. The papers 

 by Arloing,* Ravenel,f and Salmon i contain evidence show- 

 ing that under certain conditions bovine tuberculosis can 

 be communicated to man, so that Koch's statement cannot 

 be accepted without hesitation. 



Ravenel has reported three cases of accidental cutaneous 

 inoculation of bovine tuberculosis in man. All were veter- 

 inary surgeons who became infected through wounds 

 accidentally inflicted during the performance of necropsies 

 upon tuberculous cattle. The tubercle bacilli were demon- 

 strated in some of the excised cutaneous nodules. 



Theobald Smith || in studying three cases of supposed food 

 infection found what corresponded biologically with the 

 human rather than the bovine bacillus. 



In a later paper Koch ** analyzes the cases usually selec- 

 ted from the literature to prove the communicability of bo- 

 vine tuberculosis to man, and seems to show that not one of 

 the cases really proves what is claimed for it, and that the 

 subject requires further careful investigation and demon- 

 stration before it wall be possible to express any positive 

 opinion in regard to it. The matter must, therefore, at 

 present remain "not proven." 



*"Lyon Med.," Dec. 1, 1901. 



f'Univ. of Pa. Bulletin," xiv, p. 238, 1901; "Lancet," Aug. 17 

 and 19, 1901 ; "Medicine," July and Aug., 1902, vol. vm. 



J Bull. No. 33, Bureau of Animal Industry, U. S. Dept. of Agricul- 

 ture, 1901. 



"Phila. Med. Jour.," July 21, 1900. 



||"Amer. Jour. Med. Sciences," Aug., 1904, vol. cxxvm, No. 389, p. 

 216. 



** Eleventh International Congress for Tuberculosis, Berlin, 1902. 



