IO 
BULLETIN 66. 
tion of a tuberculous cow. The wound healed badly, 
remained swollen and showed decided tendency to ulcerate. 
Removal of cicatricial mass was practiced the tissues sent 
to him for examination. They showed typical tubercular 
lesions with giant-cell formation. 
“ I am well acquainted with this case myself and believe 
it to be an undoubted case of direct transmission of tuber¬ 
culosis from cow to man by inoculation. This veterinarian 
told me that he did not become alarmed about the wound 
on his finger until he noticed a swelling and tenderness of 
the lymphatic glands on the muscle of the elbow.” 
The statistics gathered on this point are not many, but 
are exceedingly valuable as far as they go. 
BOVINE TUBERCLE MORE VIRULENT THAN THE HUMAN 
VARIETY. 
From the scattered records of inoculation experiments, 
both early and recent, relative to the degree of virulency of 
of the tubercle bacilli of man and the bovine species, the 
conclusion arrived at I can best express by the following 
quotation: “To sum up the matter in a few words, it may 
be said that bovine tubercle has been shown to be more virulent 
than the human variety for cattle, sheep, goats and rabbits, 
while no distinction has been shown in the case of horses, 
pigs, cats and dogs. 
DOMESTIC COW THE NATURAL HARBINGER OF THE 
BACILLUS TUBERCULOSIS. 
Dr. G. A. Johnson, in an article read before the Sioux 
Valley Medical Association, takes the position that in the 
bovine species we have the natural hosts of the bacillus 
tuberculosis. His argument is so fair and altogether unique 
that while it is entirely foreign to the prevailing idea of the 
medical fraternity, it is certaiuly worthy of serious consider¬ 
ation. He states his proposition in this way. “Tubercular 
lesions, wherever found,.are the direct results of the action 
of the tubercular bacillus; and further, that the domestic 
cow is the natural harbinger of this bacillus; or in other 
words, tuberculosis was primarily a disease of the bovine 
species and is found in man and other animals as a result of 
transmission brought about through the ability of the 
tubercular bacillus to adapt itself to the various conditions 
as found in the various animals. 
