35 



its highest perfection ; since there arc certain ways in which the farm 

 occasionally, and through sonic neglect of due precautions, becomes a 

 source of danger. 



The diseases to which man is subject arc several in number, but those 

 which are of the greatest interest to us in this connection are very few. 

 Some of them arc common both to man and to animals, and some arc 

 not. Those which are of peculiar interest to the farmer, and which 

 occasionally eause him more or less anxiety, as well as pecuniary loss, 

 arc tuberculosis or consumption, typhoid fever, trichinosis, glanders, 

 rabies, and anthrax, or malignant pustule. Of these diseases the cow 

 is subject to one or more, the horse to another, the hog to another, the 

 sheep and horse and cow to another, the dog to another, and man to all 

 of them. But all except the first two which I have named are of such 

 rare occurrence in man in this State as to be scarcely worthy of mention 

 as causing any serious harm to our living population. All told they 

 produced only one-thousandth part of the number of deaths which were 

 caused by consumption in the last fifty years in Massachusetts. 



The question whether tuberculosis in the cow is the cause of the same 

 disease among men, in consequence of the eating of meat and the drink- 

 ing of milk from such animals, has been a live issue for several years 

 past, but definite and decisive evidence as to the exact relation of the 

 disease in the cow to that in man still appears to be wanting. 



So long, however, as there appears to be a doubt in the matter, it is 

 assuredly the safer course to use only such meat and milk, and especially 

 milk, as comes from healthy animals. 



In the case of typhoid fever a very different question arises. Here we 

 find a disease which never occurs in the cow, but is peculiar to man only. 

 Unfortunately it is of too common occurrence in the farming districts, 

 and is due most commonly to a polluted water supply. When it occurs 

 upon a dairy farm, it occasionally causes serious disturbance on account 

 of its liability to infect the milk supply. Hence it should be laid down 

 as a rule that no person who is ill xoith any disease whatever, and espe- 

 cially with any infectious disease, should be allowed to have any part in 

 the work of a dairy. Another important point is the care which should 

 be taken in disposing of the discharges of persons who are ill with 

 typhoid fever. Thorough disinfection of such discharges should be 

 made with chloride of lime. A man who is only slightly ill with typhoid 

 fever, and able to attend to farm work (and such cases are quite com- 

 mon), is far more dangerous than one who is sick in bed, since the latter 

 can have no direct connection with the milk supply. 



In order to consider the operation of such cases, let us suppose a case. 

 An epidemic of typhoid fever is found to exist in a city of twenty-five 

 thousand people. Twenty cases or more of typhoid fever are reported 

 to the city board of health. There are fifty milkmen who supply the 

 city with milk from the neighboring towns. All of these cases of 

 typhoid fever, or nearly all, are customers of one milkman. This cir- 

 cumstance directs the attention of the board of health to this milk route, 

 and, on further investigation, a case of typhoid fever is found to exist at 

 the dairy where the milk is produced, and a careless method of handling 



