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It was shown before the Royal Commission on Tuberculosis (the
second Royal Commission in recent years on this subject) that during
the past 45 years, the mortality from Tubercular diseases of all kinds
had been reduced 39 per cent., and the mortality from Phthisis (that
form of the disease associated with tubercle in the lungs) had been
reduced 45 per cent. On the other hand, in deaths from Tabes
Mesenterica (the form of the disease associated with glandular swelling
in the abdomen), the reduction had only amounted to 8 per cent.,
while in infants under one year the deaths from this form of the
disease had actually increased. Having regard to the now wellestablished
fact of the susceptibility of domestic animals, and
especially milch cows, to Tubercle, and to the possibility of infection
being conveyed to the human subject by means of tuberculous meat
or milk, it may be fairly assumed that the phthisical reduction above
referred to, is due very largely to the general improvement in the
sanitary surroundings of the population, and the increased mortality
among infants is due chiefly to the growing practice of bringing
children up upon cows' milk, in association with, or to the exclusion
of the mother's breast.
The preventive measures calculated, to a Sanitary Authority, in
reducing the mortality from Phthisis may be considered under four
heads:—
1. Prevention of sale of Tuberculous milk and meat.
2. Notification, compulsory or voluntary.
3. Visitation, with the object of imparting practical knowledge,
and gaining information of defective conditions.
4. Disinfection after death, removal or recovery.
1.—Prohibition of Sale of Tuberculous Milk.—
Paragraph No. 14 of the Report of the Royal Commission on Tuberculosis
reads as follows:—
"14. We recommend that where cows housed in one district
supply milk to another district, the Local Authority of