BACTERIA IN MILK 707 



epidemic, two hundred and five individuals were affected with vesic- 

 lar eruptions of the throat, with tonsillitis and swellings of the cervical 

 lymph nodes. Similar cases have been reported by Pott. 1 



Although anthrax has never been definitely shown to have been 

 conveyed by milk, Boschetti 2 succeeded in isolating living anthrax 

 bacilli from a sample of milk two weeks after its withdrawal from the cow. 



Milk and Tuberculosis. The question of the conveyance of tuber- 

 culosis by means of milk is a subject which, because of its great im- 

 portance, has been extensively investigated by bacteriologists. A 

 large number of observers have succeeded in proving the presence of 

 tubercle bacilli in the milk of tuberculous cows by intraperitoneal in- 

 oculation of rabbits and guinea-pigs with samples of milk. Such posi- 

 tive results have been obtained by Bang, 3 Hirschberger, 4 Ernst, 5 and 

 many others. A number of these observers, notably Ernst, have shown 

 that tubercle bacilli may be present in the milk without tuberculous dis- 

 ease of the udders. In an examination of the milk supply of Washington, 

 D. C., 6 6.72 per cent of the samples contained tubercle bacilli. 



The path of entrance of the bacilli from the cow into the milk has 

 long been a subject of controversy. That the bacilli may easily enter 

 the milk, when tuberculous disease of the udder is present, stands to 

 reason and is universally conceded. It is now believed also, on the 

 basis of much experimentation, that in systemically infected cows 

 tubercle bacilli may pass through the mammary glands into the milk, 

 without evidence of local disease in the secreting gland. An experi- 

 ment performed by the Royal British Tuberculosis Commission 7 illus- 

 trates this point. A cow, injected subcutaneously with tubercle bacilli 

 behind the shoulder, began to discharge tubercle bacilli in the milk 

 within seven days after inoculation and continued to do so until death 

 from generalized tuberculosis. 



Milk may become indirectly contaminated, furthermore, with 

 tubercle bacilli emanating from the feces of cows. It has been shown 

 that tubercle bacilli are present in the feces of cattle so early in the 

 disease that diagnosis can be made only by a tuberculin test. 8 



Whether or not contaminated milk is common as an etiological 



1 Pott, Munch, med. Woch., 1899. 2 Boschetti, Giorn. med. vet., 1891. 



3 Bang, Deut. Zeit. f. Tierchem., xi, 1884. 



4 Hirschberger, Deut. Arch. f. klin. Med., xliv, 1889. 



5 Ernst, H. C., Amer. Jour. Med. Sci., xcviii, 1890. 



6 Anderson, Bull. No. 41, U. S. Pub. Health and Mar. Hosp. Serv., Wash., 1908. 



7 Quoted from Mohler, P. H., and Mar. Hosp. Serv. Bull. 41, 1908. 



8 Schroeder and Cotton, Bull. Bureau Animal Industry, Wash., 1907. 



