402 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. 



make different sounds, and to otherwise exercise the functions 

 of his hmo-s and vocal cliords. In addition to this, it is a 

 simple matter for the practitioner to obtain specimens of the 

 sputum, which may then be easily subjected to a laljoratory 

 examination, that the presence of the bacillus may be deter- 

 mined ; in other words, every facility is given to the practitioner 

 to assist him in properly arriving at a conclusion. If, however, 

 the seat of the disease is in other portions of the body, as, for 

 instance, in some of the organs contained within the abdominal 

 cavity, it is oftentimes very much more difficult to arrive at a 

 positive diagnosis ; in fact, cases have gone on for years, and 

 have been treated l>y skilled practitioners for dyspepsia and 

 other intestinal disorders, and not until after a post-mortem 

 examination has it been known that the origin of the trouble 

 was tuberculosis. 



When, however, the examiner turns from the human being 

 to the animal, an entirely different problem is presented. Here 

 affain actual experience has shown that it is only in a portion 

 of the cases that the disease takes the form of pulmonary tuber- 

 culosis. Even in this case the examiner is met with a multi- 

 tude of obstacles. He has not an intelligent voluntary agent 

 to deal with, wdio can assist him in his examination by any of 

 the methods before described. The examination of the lungs 

 is made much more difficult because these organs are deeply 

 seated, covered by large masses of flesh, and the whole body is 

 closely covered with hair. 



In addition to this, experience has shown that, while in a 

 very large number of cases the disease is firmly estal^lished, 

 yet the evidence of it in the lungs may be so slight as to make 

 it impossible for the examiner, under the conditions presented, 

 to detect its existence. In fact, the lungs of a neat creature 

 must be very considerably diseased before the fact can be ascer- 

 tained by physical examination. 



The commission has found, upon post-mortem examination, 

 animals with well-marked lesions of tul)erculosis in various 

 parts of the body, while the lungs were entirely free. An 

 extremely instructive case of this sort was met with recently. 

 An animal responded to the tuberculin test, and was condemned. 

 Upon post-mortem examination the only lesion of the disease 

 which could be detected was situated underneath the skin, 



