Ttiberculosis. 423 



responding districts devoted to dairying interests in the west. It 

 is the natural order of things, that, everywhere, the new acces- 

 sions of infection, coming in the lines of trade, into large dairy 

 herds, kept to a great extent indoors for months at a time, must 

 hasten the general infection of such herds. When, therefore, no 

 intelligent measures are interposed to check the evil, we must 

 expect that the marked increase in the prevalence of tuberculosis, 

 which we have witnessed of late years, shall become more and 

 more evident year by year. Journals have claimed credit for be- 

 friending the stockman, in opposing all control of the cattle traffic, 

 dealers have denounced all control as ruinously oppressive and 

 injurious, and legislators have turned a deaf ear to the warn- 

 ings of science and experience, but time, in this as in all 

 other plagues, will justify the demand for an intelligent control, 

 and the increasing losses will one day open the eyes of the stock- 

 owners to the fact that their truest friends are those that would 

 exclude the baneful seed, and kill it ere it has had time to germi- 

 nate and bring forth its ever increasing harvests. 



In the absence of any systematic and efficient government pro- 

 tection in this line, the stock owner can only protect his sound 

 herd by the rigid exclusion of all animals that are not of his own 

 breeding, or in case of purchase, by an exhaustive inquiry as to 

 the occurrence of sickness or deaths in the herd from which he 

 buys, and by the professional examination and test of every ani- 

 mal to be bought. Even then he must promptly separate, test, 

 and, if necessary destroy any animal that proves unthrifty, or 

 which by cough, diarrhoea, wheezing or other sign gives evidence 

 of probable tuberculosis. 



Unregulated Traffic in Tuberculous Atiimals from Other States. 

 The danger of buying animals untested is in no degree lessened 

 when they are sent in from other states. While some make a busi- 

 ness of supplying the store market with what they believe to be 

 good stock, there is always the temptation to turn off animals that 

 are unthrifty or poor milkers and which have proved less profit- 

 able than the others. Some even have the herd tested and sell 

 off those that show evidence of tuberculosis. Unless, therefore, 

 it is held in check by the tuberculin test, the traffic is made to the 

 extent of such sales a direct means of disseminating tuberculosis. 



