REPORT OF THE TUBERCULOSIS COMMITTEE. 
465 
Jamaica Plain, Mass., Aug. ioth, 1893. 
Dr. A . W. Clement , Chairman : 
Dear Doctor. —I propose in this brief report to you, to 
state the manner in which the work of eradicating tubercu¬ 
losis from cattle in New York State has been systematized, 
as it is, so far as I know, the first State Board of Health in 
this country to actually make a beginning at grappling with 
this subject in earnest. I think that a short account of the 
practical working of the law may prove of interest, together 
with a few words as to its benefit to the community, errors 
in diagnosis and the like. 
Granting that the New York State Board of Health ac¬ 
knowledges the work already done in investigating the 
danger to human life from the use of the milk from tubercu¬ 
lous cattle demonstrates it to be unfit as an article of food, 
there is no need of arguing the pros and cons of the question 
any further, or of giving details of experiments which have 
been printed over and over again, and repeatedly quoted. 
The law passed by the legislature of 1892 works admira- 
sheriffs for protection in case he is interfered with, and hav¬ 
ing a penalty attached for the punishment of any person who 
obstruc ts him In the discharge of his duties. The owners of 
cattle are also protected in their rights by being allowed a 
claim against the State for any animals destroyed, which is as 
it should be. It may be argued that a tuberculous cow is 
valueless, and therefore the owner is not entitled to compen¬ 
sation. This is a very small argument to make when a State 
kills cattle for the public good. The animals are killed for 
the benefit of the people, and the owner should be paid in 
full for the value which they represent to a non-professional 
eye before slaughter. 
The law also provides for the disinfection of stables, cars, 
boats and the like, a wise provision, especially for application 
tojniected stables. In the enforcement of such a law a sys¬ 
tem of procedure must in time elaborate itself, and finally, as 
the result of the combined judgment of Dr. Cooper Curtice, 
