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Meanwhile, the Local Government Board, in a circular letter to the Metropolitan Borough
Councils and other sanitary authorities, advised that, pending the investigations and report of the
Royal Commission, there should be no relaxation on their part, or on that of their officers, in the
taking of proper measures for dealing with milk from tuberculous cows, and with tuberculous meat,
which might be intended for the food of man.
The inquiry by the Royal Commission, put in hand forthwith, is still in progress, but the
Commissioners, having arrived at certain conclusions of importance, deemed it right to issue an
interim report, in which they state that, having very carefully compared the disease experimentally
set up in the bovine animal by tuberculous material of human origin, with that set up by the bovine
animal by material of bovine origin, they have, so far, found the one, both in its broad general
features, and in its fine histological details, to be identical with the other. They have failed, moreover,
to discover any character by which they could distinguish the one from the other; their records
containing accounts of the post-mortem examinations of bovine animals infected with tuberculous
material of human origin, which might be used as typical descriptions of ordinary bovine tuberculosis.
Having come to the conclusion that "tubercle of human origin can give rise in the bovine
animal to tuberculosis identical with ordinary bovine tuberculosis," it seemed to the Commission
that it "would be most unwise to frame or modify legislative measures in accordance with the view
that human and bovine tubercle bacilli are specifically different from each other, and that the disease
caused by the one is a wholly different thing from the disease caused by the other." The evidence
on which the Commission arrived at these striking results will be published later.
NOTIFICATION OF CONSUMPTION, 1904.
Towards the close of 1901, the Council resolved, upon the recommendation of the Public
Health Committee, to make pulmonary phthisis (consumption) voluntarily notifiable by medical
practitioners as from the commencement of 1902; and, subsequently, with a view to the utilisation
of the information thus obtained, the Committee authorised me to employ the services of the lady
inspectors in an inquiry into the circumstances of the cases notified; and, generally, to give effect to
the recommendations of their Sub-Committee, whose report is printed in the Minutes of the Council's
proceedings for 13th November, 1901 (pages 19 and 20). The work thus inaugurated is still going
on, and in submitting the report of the lady inspectors for 1904, I desire to express my appreciation
of their services. I have only to add that to secure coherence to the inquiry, information was
obtained in each case notified under the subjoined headings.
Case of Phthisis.
Ward Sanitary District
Date of notification.
Date of death, if case not notified.
Patient's name.
Age.
Sex.
Occupation.
Present address and length of residence.
Previous residences—
Duration of illness.
Number in family.
Any other cases in family, now or formerly.
No. of Case
Probable source of infection.
Number of rooms occupied.
Room occupied by patient.
How many sleep in patient's bedroom.
Has or had patient a separate bed.
Sanitary condition of habitation.
Sanitary condition of room.
Light.
Ventilation.
Sputa, how treated.
Disinfection done by on
Cleansing done by on
Remarks:—
The Inspectors' report is as follows :—
"During the year 1904, we enquired into all cases of phthisis (consumption) voluntarily
notified by medical practitioners, 203 in number (compared with 221 in 1903, and 247 in 1902), of
which 67 proved fatal. We made enquiries also with regard to 14 deaths of persons whose cases
had been notified in 1903, to 11 deaths of persons whose cases had been notified in 1902, and to
143 deaths of persons whose illness had not been notified. The cases investigated during the year
were 371, of whom 212 were males and 159 were females.
"Thirty-seven of the cases notified were of persons who had resided at common lodginghouses,
with respect to whom little or no information could be obtained. These cases had been
notified from 18 houses; the largest numbers to a house being, respectively, 7 cases in one house,
and 5 cases in each of other two houses.