TUBERCULOSIS. 
215 
ecommendcd to a consumptive patient, it is, nevertheless, 
are to see the disease in a native. Doctor Webster would not 
lave been astonished at this condition of affairs, had he real- 
zed the truth, that phthisis is a disease acquired from the 
Dovine race; for it is a fact that the only people on the face 
)f the globe who enjoy absolute immunity from phthisis are 
hose who are not in possession of the domestic cow. Take 
or instance the Kirghiz, on the steppes of Russia. These 
>eople consume large quantities of mare’s milk, and eat the 
lesh of horses and sheep, but they have no cows. According 
o Doctor Neftel, a case of phthisis among these people was 
lever known. The Esquimaux also enjoy immunity, because 
hey have domesticated the reindeer—not the cow. 
Let us look at a locality which once enjoyed immunity, 
)ut is now notoriously a place of consumption. Wallace tells 
is that Australia was the poorest zoological region on the 
^lobe. The only animals that existed on this island before its 
nvasion by Europeans were a few marsupials. Previous to 
[780 no ruminants existed there. In 1821, the Government 
Decoming convinced of the great advantages of Australia as a 
grazing country, immigrants were allowed a grant of from 
;oo to 2,000 acres of grazing land, and rations from the king's 
Stores were allowed to each settler; a certain number of 
:onvict servants were alike apportioned to them. They were 
ilso allowed a certain number of cattle from the Government 
lerd, and'a loan of money to be repaid in seven years. This 
was the beginning of the cattle raising, and it proved so suc¬ 
cessful that in 1826 the Australian Agricultural Company com- 
nenced its operations, which was the origin of the sheep and 
:attle mania. A drouth, beginning in 1827 and lasting for 
Tree years, cured the mania. But within a year after the 
drouth, cattle became so plentiful that meat of the best quality 
was sold for i|- cents a pound. In 1833, good cattle could be 
bought for $4 and $5 a head. At the present time there are 
3,000,000 inhabitants, and 8,000,000 cattle. Australia enjoyed 
1 reputation for immunity from consumption, but, as Hirsch 
says, this has of late been shown to be a mistake. In New 
Zealand, phthisis has made terrible ravages among the Maoris, 
