TUBERCULOSIS. 
327 
animals are eaten though they have died of tuberculosis, and 
50 per cent, of the deaths in the Reservation are from tuber¬ 
culosis. Dr. Peters reports a number of positive cases of direct 
infection and death from tuberculosis during - the performance of 
his duties as chief inspector of cattle for the New York Board 
of Health. 
Have not these tests given satisfactory proof that the cases 
were directly traceable to the consumption of meat and milk ? 
The consumption of a great amount of milk from many dairy 
herds means the consumption of many millions of germs. Rook 
at the ordinary milker with his head against the cow’s flank and 
notice the dropping of all kinds of filth into the milk bucket 
and y 011 can readily see how the milk becomes contaminated 
with all kinds of germ life, to say nothing of the germs that 
come from a tuberculous udder, of which there are many. 
I11 the excellent article by Dr. Parker in the April Journal ', 
he quotes the following experiment from Dr. Potts : u The cows 
were thoroughly cleansed with a solution of bichloride, the 
milkers being dressed in clean suits and the milk received into 
sterilized tubes. Before taking these precautions, in all of the 
four cows used in the experiment the very first milk drawn 
showed the following respective number of colonies of bacteria : 
A * b. c. d. . 
I 4 I 167 19 53 
In the remaining milk, drawn after these precautions were 
taken, there was no trace of bacteria. Thus, it would seem, that 
as a matter of practical importance, it would be well to strip the 
teat once or twice before milking into a sterilized pail. In this 
way the micro-organisms which evidently find their way into 
the milk duct would be washed out. It also emphasizes the 
importance of cleanly surroundings for cattle.” 
Where cattle are few, or absent, consumption is relatively 
less m man. “ In Norway, Sweden, Lapland, and Finland, 
where reindeer constitute the chief farm stock ; about Hudson 
Bay and in the islands of the Pacific, where no cattle exist; and 
in the Scottish Hebrides, Iceland and Newfoundland, where 
