728 Tuberculosis 



Boards of health are now becoming more and more interested in 

 tuberculosis, and, though exceedingly slow and conservative in their 

 movements, are disseminating literature with the hope of achieving 

 by voHtion that which might otherwise be regarded as cruel 

 compulsion. 



So long as tuberculosis exists among men or cattle, it shows that 

 existing hygienic precautions are insufEcient. While condemning 

 any unreasonable isolation of patients, we should favor the registra- 

 tion of tuberculous cases as a means of collecting accurate data con- 

 cerning their origin; insist upon the careful domestic sterihzation 

 and disinfection of all articles used by the patients; recommend pub- 

 lic disinfection of the houses they cease to occupy; and approve of 

 special hospitals for as many (especially of the poorer classes, 

 among whom hygienic measures are almost always opposed) as can 

 be persuaded to occupy them. 



BOVINE TUBERCULOSIS 



Bacillus Tuberculosis Bovis 



The tuberculous diseases of the lower animals and especially cattle 

 have lesions closely resembling those of human tuberculosis, and 

 containing bacilli similar both in morphology and in staining reac- 

 tion to those found in human tuberculosis. The conclusion that 

 they are identical seems inevitable, but in his monograph upon 

 tuberculosis Koch called attention to certain morphologic and cul- 

 tural differences that obtain between bacilli obtained from human 

 and from animal tuberculosis. Unfortunately, very little attention 

 was paid to the subject until Theobald Smith* carefully compared 

 a series of bacilli obtained from human sputum with another series 

 obtained from cattle, horses, hogs, cats, dogs, and other animals. 



His observations form the foundation of the following description 

 of the bovine tubercle bacillus : 



Morphology. — The size of the bovine bacillus is quite constant, 

 the individuals being quite short (1-2 fj.). They are straight, not 

 very regular in outline, and sometimes of a spindle, sometimes a 

 barrel, and sometimes an oval shape. The human bacilh, on the 

 other hand, are prone to take an elongate form under artificial 

 cultivation. 



Staining. — ^The bovine bacillus usually stains homogeneously; the 

 human bacillus commonly shows the so-called "beaded appearance.'' 



Vegetation. — The human bacillus grows upon dogs' serum much 

 more luxuriantly and rapidly than the bovine bacillus. 



Metabolic Products.— Smithf observed that cultures of the two 

 organisms in glycerin bouillon differ in the induced reaction of the 



* "Trans. Assoc. Amer. Phys.," 1896, xi, p. 75, and 1898, xm, p. 417; "Jour, 

 of Experimental Medicine," 1898, ra, 495. 



t" Trans. Assoc. Amer. Phys.," 1903, vol. xvni, p. 109. 



