The International Congress on Tuberculosis by W. A. R.

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Nov 12, 1908

The International Congress on Tuberculosis

By W. A. R.

THE department of pathology was one of the most interesting and striking of all the exhibits of this most instructive congress. It occupied almost half of the third floor of the new National Museum, and contained specimens from the largest medical schools and museums in the world. Most beautiful specimens, mounted in glass jars, were furnished by the McGill University. These included the natural tissues, color preserved, of individuals who had suffered with tuberculous pericarditis, tuberculosis of the larynx, tuberculosis of the lungs and pleura, tuberculosis of the digestive system, and, in fact, tuberculosis of every organ of the body.

One section was devoted to gross specimens, kept in cold storage, in glass. These were exhibited by the United States department for inspection of meats. One specimen showed the entire lung of a cow, crowded with tubercular nodules so close together that a penny could not be laid on the tissue anywhere without touching one or more diseased areas. Another specimen was the ribs of a cow, removed as a whole, showing the pleural cavity entirely covered with large, flat, tubercular masses. Another was the half of a hog, showing the same tubercular involvement of the pleural and peritoneal cavities.

Some very interesting and instructive exhibits from the experiment station were offered. One group of seven specimens showed the dangers of infection from tuberculosis from several common causes. No. 1 showed the organs of a guinea-pig, with tuberculosis caused by the subcutaneous inoculation of feces from a tuberculous cow. No. 3 consisted of the organs of a guinea-pig, showing tuberculous tissues caused by the inoculation of normal milk from a healthy cow, soiled with small masses of feces from a tuberculous cow. No. 5 consisted of the organs of a guinea-pig, showing tuberculous lesions caused by inoculation of butter made from normal milk from a healthy cow, soiled as in No. 3. These specimens illustrate the great importance of the strictest cleanliness in the care of milk and butter.

Another group of six specimens contained the following: (1) normal organs of a guinea-pig, inoculated with normal butter; (2) tuberculous organs of a guinea-pig, inoculated with ordinary salted butter in which tubercle bacilli had remained alive and virulent thirty days; (3) tuberculous intestines, omentum, and mesenteric glands of a guinea-pig inoculated with ordinary salted butter in which tubercle bacilli had remained alive and virulent one hundred days; (4), (5), (6), the same as (3), except that the bacilli had remained alive and virulent 113, 133, and 160 days respectively. Here is illustrated the danger of butter in conveying tuberculosis.

In a group of twelve specimens, one showed tuberculosis of the prescapular, mediastinal, and gastrohepatic glands of a hog, the animal having contracted the disease by eating the droppings from a tuberculous cow.

One group of nine specimens showed the action of light on tubercle bacilli in tuberculosis pus. Guinea-pigs were used, and their organs showed the following conditions: (1) healthy after inoculation with tuberculous pus exposed in a thin layer on glass to direct sunlight for thirty minutes; (2) tuberculous organs, after inoculation with tuberculous pus exposed on glass in thick clumps to direct sunlight for two hours; (3) healthy organs, as in No. 2 exposed for five hours; (4) tuberculous organs after inoculation with tuberculous pus exposed on glass in thin layers to electric light for four hours; (5) same as (4), exposed thirty-two hours, organs healthy; (6) same as (5), exposure sixty-four hours; (7) tuberculous organs after inoculation with tuberculous pus exposed in thin layers on glass to ordinary room light for fifteen days; (8) same as (7), only kept in dark room twenty days; (9) same as (8), only kept in dark room thirty-two days. This needs no comment to impress the necessity of the action of sunlight and air in fighting this disease.

In view of the advancement that is being made in combating tuberculosis, should not we as a people who have received great light on health subjects, manifest more enthusiasm over this question? There is not an institution among us where a tuberculous patient is received. Should not we arouse and take an active part in this good work?

W. A. R.