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actually exists is well demonstrated by the work of the London County
Council. Under Part IV. of their General Powers Act, which came
into operation on July 1st, 1908, and up to a quite recent date, 4,126
samples of milk, taken by their Inspectors at the principal Railway
Termini, furnished results on examination which demonstrated that
10.5 per cent. of the samples contained the germ of tuberculosis; and
of 23,978 cows examined by the L.C.C. veterinary inspector,
practically 2 per cent. were found to be suffering from tuberculosis of
the udder. But this examination of milk in the course of its distribution
and the veterinary examination of the suspected herds several
weeks subsequently, is but a clumsy makeshift. What is required is
that better provision should be made to deal with these dangers at
"the fountain head," namely, the farm; and when the community
realises the necessity of guarding against the danger of tuberculosis in
milk and the necessity (from the infant standpoint) of a cleaner milk
supply, the demand will come for far better arrangements than those
which now exist in the country districts, from which almost the whole
of our milk supply is derived. To ensure pure milk at its source it is
important then to eradicate tuberculosis from the herds and to pay due
attention to the cleanly state of the cows, sheds, dairy hands, and
utensils used. To these ends the milk producer, generally speaking,
needs education and frequent supervision, and the best agent for this
purpose is the veterinary surgeon. The question of tuberculosis in
cattle becomes a serious one from every aspect in which we may regard
it. In Agriculture tuberculosis is a constant source of weakness and
of less to the herd and the destroyer of valuable animals. This
country is world-famous for superior breeds of cattle, but every Agricultural
State in either Hemisphere protects itself by the Tuberculin
test against the importation of our tuberculous stock. The problem
then is a grave one, demanding the consideration of the nation, and
more particularly of the agricultural industry and Public Health
Authorities. It is obviously unfair to the producer, and justly
resented, that the conditions in one district of the country
should be more rigorous than those in a neighbouring district, and
there is the further drawback that animals excluded from the dairies
of an inspected district may be sold and allowed to contribute to the
milk supply of another district, with the effect of intensifying the