688 
A. F. BRUSH. 
cular has a certain beauty that distinguishes her from her 
more robust sisters. 
1 know a famous animal painter who will always uncon¬ 
sciously select from a herd of cows the scrofulous one for his 
study whenever he makes a study of a single animal from 
a herd. 
This is not the only strange feature of the disease. No 
one seems to be afraid of it. For years men of undoubted 
scientific ability have been proclaiming to the world the still 
hardly recognized fact that bacillary phthisis is contagious, 
but the human family take little heed. Furthermore, the in¬ 
dividual, sorely afflicted, beyond human aid and shortly to 
die, is not convinced of the fact, but, with the same strange 
fatality that surrounds the disease in all its phases, the con¬ 
sumptive is still hopeful and imagines he is getting better even 
while he is dying. 
This insidious and delusive disease is not the result of civ¬ 
ilization, as many suppose. Barbarous and uncivilized races 
are affficted as severely as many of the most advanced civil¬ 
ized races. 
Neither geographical position nor climatic conditions are 
a factor in the distribution of pulmonary phthisis, notwith¬ 
standing that our best workers in the study of the disease at¬ 
tempt at times to account for its prevalence in certain locali¬ 
ties by reason of temperature or other climatic conditions. 
Nevertheless, every known part of the globe, with a few iso¬ 
lated areas excluded, is a habitat of the disease. 
After several years of close study of the affection, and con¬ 
sulting all accessible statistics and the habits of the people 
where the disease prevails, the only constant associated factor 
is found, in my opinion, in the inbred bovine species, without 
any regard to the social position of a community, its geo¬ 
graphical habitation, terrestrial or atmospheric condition. If 
a community is closely associated with inbred dairy cattle, 
tuberculosis prevails. 
This position which I take is susceptible of strong proof. 
In establishing my proof I will first draw your attention to 
some barbarous races of Africa. Speaking of th$ natives of 
