Vol. LVI. No. 2500. 
NEW YORK, DECEMBER 25, 1897. 
* 1.00 PER YEAR. 
NEW THOUGHTS ABOUT TUBERCULOSIS. 
OUTDOOR ANIMALS ARE GENERALLY FREE. 
An Interview with Dr. James Law. 
Dr. Law, who is the head of the New York Veteri¬ 
nary College, consented cheerfully to answer some 
questions regarding tuberculosis. Knowing that he 
has had the widest of experience with this disease, I 
thought the readers of The R. N.-Y. would like to 
hear what he says : 
“ Are any domestic animals immune to tubercu¬ 
losis ? ” I inquired. 
Dr. Law replied, “ All will take it by inoculation, 
though it is rarely acquired 
by some. The horse, donkey, 
sheep, goat, and dog in 
lesser degree, show a power 
of resistance to the disease 
far greater than that pos¬ 
sessed by the pig and the 
ox.” 
‘ ‘These animals of special 
resistance, save the sheep, 
take vigorous exercise.” 
“Yes, they are out-of- 
door animals, but the 
sheep, too, is generally al¬ 
lowed to run out to open 
yards in winter. Cows and 
pigs, on the contrary, are 
housed and suffer in con¬ 
sequence. Contagion, if 
present, is concentrated; 
the air becomes charged 
with infected dust, the 
light and air are kept out, 
and the muscular systems 
of the quiet animals be¬ 
come relaxed.” 
“Then a good muscular 
tone is important ? ” 
“Yes, it is associated 
with the supply of blood 
corpuscles, which are, in a 
sense, scavengers—police 
in the thoroughfares of the 
body. The circulatory sys¬ 
tem feeds tissues, also 
washes the wastes away. 
The animals in close, un¬ 
ventilated quarters, 
breathe vitiated air, be¬ 
come lowered in vital tone, 
and if the germs of tuber¬ 
culosis are present, fall 
easy victims. This holds 
true, also, in the human 
family. The hospital rec¬ 
ords show that one-third of 
all autopsies in the city re¬ 
veal lesions of tuberculosis; 
for the whole country, the 
ratio is as one to seven. In 
many cases, the sufferers 
have been unwell for a 
time, and made recovery.” 
“ Might not the disease 
behave similarly in cattle?” 
“ Certainly. In a case 
which came under our ob¬ 
servation, a cow was found 
suffering badly from tuber¬ 
culosis. It was her last 
summer, and she had been 
suckling the calf of an¬ 
other cow. The calf be¬ 
came ill, but made recovery 
when given other milk. It 
grew to be a cow, apparently sound, and took a place 
in the herd. When three years old, this cow received 
an injury; soon after, she became generally tuber¬ 
culous, and was killed. The autopsy showed a large, 
calcified portion of gland at the entry to the liver. 
Evidently, the disease had colonized there and be¬ 
come encysted, being thereby held passive till the 
vitality of the animal ran down by reason of the hurt. 
Thus we see that the disease may break out again, 
even though seemingly complete recovery has taken 
place. 
“ This week, I tested a cow and her calf, and found 
both suffering from tuberculosis. A post-mortem ex¬ 
amination showed that there was a gritty condition 
in the gland at the entrance to the liver, though the 
calf was but a month old. Some time since, two cows 
and their calves were given me. We found the calves 
affected, like those previously mentioned. This 
proved the milk unfit for use, and some present were 
much stirred that such animals should have been 
milked at all. That recalls an incident two days 
siijce. I was present at the autopsy of a chimpanzee 
which was found tuberculous. One present observed, 
‘ Came from drinking tuberculous milk.’ 1 Farmers 
should Pasteurize their milk,’ said another. 1 Farm¬ 
ers believe their milk good,’ said I, 1 and will not 
Pasteurize it till the mar¬ 
ket demands it.’ True, 
farmers that have tuber¬ 
culous herds are innocent 
generally, and simply un¬ 
fortunate.” 
“ What can be done ? ” 
“ It is a delicate question 
to answer. If we go to 
test a herd, and find one- 
half or two-thirds diseased, 
the owner may be ruined 
by their slaughter, yet 
their milk and their flesh 
alike are unfit for food. 
“ May sanitary herds be 
encouraged? Would it do 
to allow men to put certain 
labels on their wagons 
under municipal regula¬ 
tions ? ” 
“ Yes, by having proper 
regulations, a label ‘ Milk 
from Inspected Herd,’ 
would be useful. There 
are many who would will¬ 
ingly—like m y s e 1 f—pay 
more for the article that 
is backed by a guaran¬ 
tee.” 
“What regulations 
should there be ? ” 
“First, the herd must be 
carefully tested, any sus¬ 
pected animals removed for 
subsequent tests and possi¬ 
ble destruction. Careful 
sanitation must be prac¬ 
ticed. If bad herds are in 
the neighborhood—and un¬ 
tested herds may be bad— 
the cattle should never 
come into contact with 
such, over line fences or 
elsewhere. Then the owner 
should give bonds never to 
introduce untested ani¬ 
mals, or to employ people 
who are suspected of tuber¬ 
culosis. There should be 
periodic inspection by 
trained men. The milk 
should be bottled on the 
farm.” 
“The handling of city 
milk by monopolies, it ap¬ 
pears, is likely to be gen¬ 
eral soon; how will this 
affect matters ? ” 
“ Probably for the bet¬ 
ter ; the management will 
want herds inspected to 
be sure of getting safe 
milk.” 
;! What per cent of the 
.... . ; mm 
jibMsl 
CARMAN No( 3 POTATOES AS GROWN IN WISCONSIN. Fig. 353. 
