TUBERCULOSIS. 407 



chief of section at the ministry of agriculture, Argentina, who has 

 investigated tuberculosis in that country and who says that " 30 or 

 40 years ago tuberculoses was unknown in Argentine cattle, and it is 

 still unknown among the native (criollo) cattle. Its appearance 

 dates from the introduction of pure breeding animals. Statistics 

 prove that tuberculosis is observed among the grades — above all 

 ranong those of the Durham and less among the Hereford." 



Moreover, the reports of the royal commission of Victoria, Aus- 

 tralia, and of the Xew Zealand department of Agriculture show a 

 large proportion of tuberculous cattle in those colonies, where the 

 disease was almost certainly carried by British cattle. 



In the same manner that tuberculosis has been carried from Great 

 Britain.to Denmark, Sweden, Xorway, Argentina, and Australia, it 

 has also been taken to Canada. In one herd of imported cattle 

 slaughtered in the Canadian quarantine station, 13 of the 14 animals 

 were found tuberculous. One of the largest Shorthorn herds in 

 Canada was sometime ago tested because an animal from it was 

 condemned when offered for shipment to the United States. This 

 herd was found to be very badly affected, and an effort is being made 

 to eradicate the disease by the Bang method. A Canadian official 

 publication says of another Shorthorn herd, which at one time had a 

 very high reputation, that when an investigation in regard to tuber- 

 culosis was recently made the disease was found among ordinary 

 cattle wherever animals from this herd had been introduced, and that 

 this herd, which had been looked upon as one of the greatest benefits 

 to the farming community, was really a danger, because it dissemi- 

 nated tuberculosis among the farmers' herds. Still another well- 

 known herd recently attracted attention because four animals from 

 it offered for export to the United States were all tuberculous. 



From December 23, 1900, to February 19, 1901, the period that the 

 department inspector tested all Canadian cattle intended for ship- 

 ment to the United States. 140 purebred Shorthorns and 3 Shorthorn 

 grades were tested, and of the total number 26, or 18 per cent 

 reacted. During the first month that this inspection was enforced, 

 and when it may be assumed that the condition of the cattle most 

 nearly represented what it had previously been, 74 cattle were offered 

 for importation, and IS, or 24.3 per cent, were found tuberculous. 



In justice to Shorthorn cattle it should be said in this connection 

 that they are probably no more susceptible to tuberculosis than are 

 other breeds, but the disease has been allowed to spread in certain 

 herds and families to such an extent as to give a wrong impression 

 concerning the breed as a whole. 



The slaughterhouse statistics of Prussia show 14.6 per cent of the 

 cattle and 2.14 per cent of the hogs to be tuberculous. In Saxony 

 the percentage is 29.13 with cattle and 3.10 with hogs. In the city 



