Pseudo- Tuberculosis from Strepto- Bacillus. 545 



bacillus is an invitation to such mortality whenever the suscepti- 

 bility and environment become specially favorable. 



Again tuberculosis occurring casually does not naturally in- 

 duce a marked encrease of immunity in the animal attacked. In 

 an animal system that does not succumb readily and perish, the 

 bacillus does not usually die, but in such tolerant system it may 

 live for a long lifetime. It cannot, therefore, be hoped that a 

 constant, satisfactory and lasting immunity can be educed by 

 artificial injections of the pathogenic product. In this, tubercu- 

 losis differs widely from all acute, self-limiting diseases (lung 

 plague, rinderpest, anthrax, blackleg, measles, scarlatina, variola, 

 etc. ) which are followed by a striking immunity, and thus offer 

 themselves for artificial immunization. 



To secure even the uncertain and imperfect immunization of 

 cattle from tuberculosis, at $2 per head would demand $120,000,- 

 000 for our 60,000,000 cattle, and b5' the repetition of this at short 

 intervals, for each crop of calves, or to replace cows that die, or 

 are removed from the dairy, it would impose a grinding tax, with 

 no prospect of abatement. I^arge as would be the outlay for a 

 complete extinction of the bacillus of cattle by rational means, it 

 would be but a trifle compared with a perpetual tax like this. 



But if the people and their legislators decide to preserve tuber-' 

 culosis in their herds indefinitely, then the owner of a valuable 

 herd may reduce his losses by applying the confessedly imperfect 

 immunization to the calves of his tuberculous herd. But this is 

 a mere make shift, with no hopeful promise of complete extinc- 

 tion of the infection, or of the absolute protection of the human 

 family from infected meat and dairy products. 



PSEUDO-TUBERCUI.OSIS FROM STREPTO-BACILIvUS. 



As early as 1885 Malassez and Vignal recorded a form of 

 tubercle in the Guineapig by inoculation from a subcutaneous 

 .gland of an infant which died of supposed tubercular meningitis. 

 The microbe appearing in pure cultures was a very short bacillus 



35 



