396 
M. ARLOitfGk 
is hardly reassuring- from the point of view of practice. In 
the first place, it is generally within five days after slaughter 
that the flesh is retailed among the consumers, and within 
even a shorter period in summer. Again, the muscular tissue 
may very well destroy the non-sporulating bacilli, but does it 
destroy also the spores, such as are often present in the bacilli 
of tubercular organs ? The question may be put and almost 
answered negatively, for otherwise one could not compre¬ 
hend the development of some examples of tuberculosis of 
the muscles which science has recorded. 
Several persons have inquired whether the flesh of ani¬ 
mals that present some tubercular lesions, and are at the same 
time in a. thriving condition as regards fatness, are really 
dangerous. Our friend, M. Baillet, of Bordeaux, has insisted 
that these animals enjoy a sanitary immunity. 
M. Van Hertsen believes that such a tolerance would be 
followed by fatal consequences, for it is not in subjects of good 
appearance that the lesions are most discrete; he has seen in 
these animals the co existence of pulmonary phthisis and me¬ 
senteric phthisis of a very advanced degree. 
MM. Veyssiere and Humbert are not content with theo¬ 
retical considerations; they inoculated to two rabbits i centi¬ 
metre cube of juice of flesh from a cow in very good condition ; 
both animals became tuberculous. Consequently the bacilli 
of fat subjects would be no less dangerous than those of lean 
subjects. 
It may be added that the flesh of fat subjects would have 
less chance of being sterilized by cooking, for that is what 
the consumer eats underdone ( saignantes ) in preference to the 
lean meat. 
To sum up, the flesh of all tuberculous cattle, lean or fat, 
may conceal the germ of phthisis. 
Now, do we know in what circumstances it encloses it and 
becomes infective ? 
Gerlach believed that he knew this when he said that 
“ the flesh commences to be injurious when one can demon¬ 
strate by the traces that persist, that the tuberculous malady, 
starting from a limited tuberculous focus, has spread itself 
more or less generally throughout the organism.” 
