356 Annual Report for 1913 of Royal Veterinary College. 
Tuberculosis of the udder . — In the first place it may be 
pointed out that there is no occasion to suspect as being tuber- 
culous, and, under the Order, no obligation to report, any case 
of acute udder disease. Thus, this common form of inflammation 
of the udder which within the course of a day or two leads to 
considerable swelling of the quarter, accompanied by heat, 
tenderness, and marked alteration in the appearance of the milk, 
can by these characters be immediately recognised as not 
tuberculous. 
Tuberculosis of the udder is a chronic inflammation of the 
gland which progresses slowly but steadily. In the majority of 
cases the disease commences in the upper part of one of the hind 
quarters, and when it first attains such a size that it is likely to 
attract attention, the diseased quarter will be found to be larger 
than it ought to be, and also very distinctly firmer than normal. 
Although the disease usually begins in a hind quarter, it must 
be remembered that it may begin in a fore quarter. It is a rule 
that has few or no exceptions that when once the disease has 
started in any one of the quarters it continues to extend until, 
if the animal survives long enough, the whole of the tissue of 
the quarter has been attacked. If the animal is left alive, the 
disease may spread to one or more of the remaining quarters, 
and in the end the entire udder, or at least the diseased quarters, 
may have a size far in excess of what is normal. 
The character of the milk yielded by the diseased quarter or 
quarters is of some value for recognising tuberculosis of the 
udder. At the outset, and even after the enlargement and 
induration of the quarter have become distinctly recognisable, 
the milk is often not diminished in amount and not sensibly 
altered in appearance, or at least its appearance in the milking 
pail may be quite normal. At this stage, however, if some of 
the milk from the diseased quarter is poured into a test tube 
and allowed to stand one may be able to detect an abnormal 
amount of sediment at the bottom of the tube. At a somewhat 
later stage the milk becomes visibly thinner than it ought to be, 
and on standing in a test tube it throws up only a small amount 
of cream, while an increased amount of deposit is found at the 
bottom of the tube. When the disease has become very 
extensive in a quarter the milk is always much reduced in 
quantity and markedly altered in quality, and eventually all 
that can be obtained from the quarter is a thin, somewhat 
whey-like liquid, which on standing throAVS down a large 
amount of deposit. As a negative character of some value for 
diagnosis, it may be mentioned that the enlarged quarter 
practically never bursts at any place or discharges matter and 
that the skin over the indurated part generally remains quite 
normal and freely movable with the hand. 
