TUBERCULOSIS. 
535 
had been frequent or long-continued. The experiments of Ville- 
min in 1864 caused him to come to the conclusion that tubercu¬ 
losis was an infectious and specific malady, capable of being 
transmitted from, one animal to another. From clinical observa¬ 
tions tubercular phthisis is a contagious'malady equal in infectious¬ 
ness to glanders and contagious pleuro-pneumonia, and contagion 
plays a more active part in its propagation than heredity. 
It has been accepted, that: 1. Tuberculosis has been observed 
in all warm-blooded animals submitted to domesticity or deprived 
of their liberty. 2. Tuberculosis presents analogous manifesta¬ 
tions in man and animals in life and death, and the course and 
terminations are the same. 3. There are clinical observations 
which prove the transmission of tuberculosis from animals to man 
by the consumption of the milk of tuberculous animals. That it 
is not necessary to have the udder tuberculous in order to have 
the milk contain the bacilli of tuberculosis, has been demonstrated 
by Dr. Austin Peters of Boston, he having found the bacilli in 
milk from a tuberculous cow where the udder was in an appar¬ 
ently normal condition. Fleming cites a case where two young 
girls were fed upon milk from tuberculous cows, and died from 
tuberculosis; while their brothers, more fond of whiskey than 
milk were hale and hearty. In order to control this malady the 
diseased animals should be killed; everything that has been in 
contact with them thoroughly disinfected. Isolate all animals 
that are at all suspicious until positive symptoms manifest them¬ 
selves. Never breed from an animal whose history is tainted, or 
about whom there is the least suspicion. As regards treatment, 
this disease has taxed the energies and defied the efforts of physi¬ 
cians for generations; and of what practical benefit could it be, 
since these animals are useless for breeding, dangerous for dairy 
purposes and as companions, and unfit for food. Our energies, 
therefore, should be directed towards prevention and eradication. 
Having stated a few facts as to what the disease is, its cause, 
some of the prominent symptoms and the means necessary to 
combat it, it may be of interest to some to know to what extent 
tuberculosis was the cause of death in the human family in this 
State during the year 1886. 
