MARTIN'S EXPERIMENTS 229 



One of the most interesting points brought out by the recent 

 experiments of Hamilton has relation to the absence of intestinal 

 tuberculosis in the animals fed on tubercular sputum, although the 

 mesenteric and other glands showed abundant signs of tuberculosis. 

 Koch had maintained that it can only be assumed with certainty 

 that a case of tuberculosis has been caused by alimenta when the 

 intestine suffers first, and in a general way it may be said that 

 wherever a discharge containing the tubercle bacillus passes over 

 a surface provided with absorbents like the mucous membrane of 

 the intestine, there is liability of the surface becoming secondarily 

 tubercular. Such auto-infection is not, however, necessary, unless 

 it can be proved that the tubercle bacillus cannot pass through the 

 intestinal mucous membrane to the abdominal glands without 

 causing an intestinal lesion. According to Hamilton, such passage 

 may occur. Whether that be so or not, his experiments show. that 

 tuberculosis may be set up in calves by feeding on human tubercular 

 sputum, and yet the intestine remain unaffected. He concludes 

 that " when administered by the mouth tubercular sputum induces 

 an abdominal lymph-gland tuberculosis without necessarily the 

 intestine being in any way involved." ^ 



This point is one of considerable importance and so closely 

 related to the transmission of tuberculosis by milk that it may be 

 desirable to make reference to the researches of Sidney Martin 

 for the Royal Commission on Tuberculosis.- 



I. Four /i'Vj- were fed upon bovine tuberculous material (meat 

 and milk) and contracted tuberculosis. In commenting upon the 

 post-mortem signs Dr Martin says : — " In the tuberculosis resulting 

 from feeding pigs with the meat and milk of tuberculous cows, 

 the absence of any lesion (abrasion, nodule, or other mark of disease) 

 in the alimentary tract is very noticeable^ so that the disease is first 

 shown in its course from the alimentary tract by an affection of 

 the lymph-glands in connection with the different parts of that 

 tract." And again : — " The chief points to be noticed in these 

 results as they bear on tuberculosis in the human being is that by 

 feeding with tuberculous material there may be no lesio?i in the 

 alimentary tract ; that there may be absorption only through the 

 pharynx and tonsil, producing tuberculosis of the connected lymph- 

 gland, so that this condition of things exactly tallies with the 



^ Trans, of the Highland atid Agricultural Society of Scotland, 1903, p. 47. 



2 Report of the Royal Commission appointed to inquire into the Effect of Food 

 derived from Tuberculous Animals on Human Health, 1896, part iii., Appendix 

 pp. 18 and 19. 



