



_ TUBERCULOUS COWS AND THE USE OF THEIR MILK eV 2A4 
TUBERCULOUS COWS AND THE USE OF THEIR 
MILK IN FEEDING CALVES. , 
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BY; Ge. bes. 
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Harly in the fall of 1896 arrangements were made with the 
Connecticut State Cattle Commission by which four condemned 
Devon cows were placed at the disposal of the Station. ‘whe herd 
from which the animals came was officially tested with tuber- 
culin by the Cattle Commissioners in March, 1896, and several 
of its number were condemned and slaughtered. At that time 
the four animals which were later taken for experiment failed 
to respond (see page 244). ‘These were officially tagged as free 
from the disease and were numbered 1337, 1341, 1343, and 1344. 
In October, 1896, the herd was again tested with tuberculin 
by the same Commissioners and the four cows just referred to 
responded to the test (see page 244), and shortly after were 
placed at the disposal of the Station. 
The appearance of the disease in animals which seven months 
before were pronounced sound may, perhaps, be accounted for 
in one of three ways. First: The disease may have been 
present at the time of the first test, and, through failure on the 
part of the tuberculin to react, its presence was not revealed. 
Second: At the time of the first test the germs may have but 
recently found lodgment in the animals. In this case the dis- 
ease might have been so little developed as not to cause a 
response to the test. Third: The disease germs may have 
-been acquired after the first test owing to insufficient care in 
disinfecting. "The owner had been accustomed to feed grain in 
movable boxes which were shifted from manger to manger with- 
out regard to cows. ‘Through an oversight these boxes were 
not destroyed nor disinfected, but their use was continued in 
the same indiscriminate manner as before. Boxes thus used 
would, with little doubt, afford a place for the lodgment of the 
germs and a means for their spread from one animal to another. 
These particular animals were chosen for experiment, because 
there was good reason to believe that the disease was present 
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