FLESH AND MILK FROM TUBERCULOUS ANIMALS 301 
susceptible animals. The number of bacilli which a person will 
swallow with a drink of milk will commonly be rather small, and 
the human individual has a considerable power of resistance 
against the disease. It is a further fact that, although bovine 
tuberculosis has been increasing, human tuberculosis has been 
constantly declining in recent years, and the decline has been 
equally great in those countries that use milk raw and in those 
countries that sterilize the milk before drinking it. This decrease 
in tuberculosis does not apply to intestinal tuberculosis among 
young children, indicating, possibly, that milk is a more common 
source of infection for children than for adults. For these various 
reasons it is a fair inference that the danger of tuberculosis from 
milk is not very great for adults, though it may be considerable 
for young children. It is quite certain that for young children 
it is unsafe to resort to the use of milk from miscellaneous cows 
without the precaution of pasteurization. 
Certainly the logical method of dealing with milk) would be 
to exclude from the milk-supply all milk from tuberculous animals 
or to allow it to be used only after pasteurization. Only thus 
could absolute safety be assured. But this is quite impractical, 
if, indeed, possible. A farmer who takes pride in his dairy and in 
furnishing a special quality of milk will protect his customers by 
periodic testing of his cattle and by the exclusion of all reacting 
animals. But to enforce any regulations looking in this direction 
in regard to the public milk-supply is simply impossible at the 
present time and will remain so for some time to come. ‘The end 
could be reached through the milk supply companies, by the 
adoption of the simple and inexpensive process of pasteurizing 
all milk before distribution, and quite possibly such may be the 
ultimate solution of the problem. Meantime the only feasible 
method of treating the matter is to insist that the farmer shall 
rigidly exclude from the animals furnishing the milk-supply all 
cows with diseased udders, and to suggest to all who have a fear of 
using the milk because of tne slight danger existing in this food- 
supply, that the danger may be wholly avoided by pasteurization. 
