486 BOARD OF AGIilCULTURE. [Pub. Doc. 



special arrangements were made with Dr. Langdon Froth- 

 ingham, at the Harvard Medical School, to do such micro- 

 scopical work as was found to be necessary. (For Dr. 

 Frothingham's report, see page 557.) 



The Board was also anxious to have some original re- 

 search work done. They felt that it would be well to take 

 up some of the questions in relation to tuberculosis that 

 were still unsettled, and endeavor to throw some further 

 light on them. In this matter the Board had the good fort- 

 une to secure the co-operation of Prof. Theobold Smith, 

 and they desire to thank him at this time for his generosity 

 in placing his services at their disposal. The cost of buying 

 and keeping the cattle has been defrayed by the Board, the 

 remainder of the work having been done by him free of 

 charge. 



For some time there has been a feeling in certain quarters 

 that it was a serious question whether human and bovine 

 tuberculosis were really identical. There was a dearth of 

 information on this matter, and it was felt that further work 

 should be done in this direction. Consequently Dr. Smith's 

 promise of co-operation was received with a great deal of 

 satisfaction. (For the full report of Dr. Smith's work, see 

 page 564.) 



The final results and conclusions drawn by Dr. Smith 

 from his work make it by far the most important work of 

 the year. The report is summed up as follows : — 



Leaving these aside, the remaining parts of the te'st appear to 

 me to be of sufficient uniformity and accuracy to justify us in 

 drawing certain preliminary inferences. We may now maintain 

 that bovine tubercle bacilli and human bacilli as found in sputum 

 are not identical. The difference in their action upon cattle is 

 reinforced by certain differences in the bacilli themselves and 

 their effect upon rabbits, as will be detailed in a fuller report. 



What the significance of these divergencies is, what influence 

 they have upon the transmissibility of the disease from cattle to 

 man, we are unable at present to state with any degree of cer- 

 tainty. That they do have some effect must be admitted, in view 

 of results of studies upon other species of pathogenic bacteria. 

 Their precise bearing needs careful investigation. 



These studies will, I think, warrant one inference, however ; 

 that is, that human sputum cannot be regarded as specially 



