TUBERCULOSIS. 
559 
ject. They recognize that the disease exists in the beef sup¬ 
ply, and they consider a rigid inspection of meat a matter of 
necessity, but they seldom think of the dangers lurking in 
one of the most universal articles of diet. Even in intelli¬ 
gent families too little attention is paid to the source of the 
milk supply for children. It may be that the fear of infec¬ 
tion by milk is exaggerated, but one can hardly think so 
when we hear of the frequency of tuberculosis of the mesen¬ 
teric glands in the young. It is obvious then that a great 
responsibility rests upon those who have the supervision of 
the health of children. 
There are other methods by which infection may take 
place and which may simulate hereditary transmission. A 
diseased progenitor may contaminate the stables or utensils 
and impart the disease to the young, and the less space al¬ 
lowed to animals, and the closer they are confined, increases 
the danger. 
While we cannot believe in hereditary transmission, ex¬ 
perience shows that the offspring of tuberculous progenitors 
sooner or later manifest the disease when exposed to the ex¬ 
citing cause, and we also know that nurses and attendants in 
consumptive hospitals, while exposed continually to the danger 
of infection, very infrequently contract the disease. We are 
thus compelled to acknowledge that a healthy body can re¬ 
sist the attack of the bacillus, and that the bacillus in order 
to flourish must have a suitable pabulum. Vigorous parents 
will bestow upon their offspring a vigorous constitution, and 
weakly parents bestow upon their offspring their habits of 
body. In this bestowal of a weakly habit of body to the off¬ 
spring we may find an explanation of the theory of heredity. 
But it matters not if we do have this weakly constitution, 
the bacillus is an absolute necessity to the propagation of the 
disease. The bacillus of tuberculosis is not ubiquitous. It 
exists only in the immediate vicinity of a tuberculous patient, 
hence it must exist plentifully in the popular resorts for con¬ 
sumptives, and we must conclude that when the resorts are 
well patronized by tubercular people, they are dangerous 
places for delicate persons. 
