SPREAD OF CANCER AND CONSUMPTION.

Otago Witness, Issue 2173, 17 October 1895, Page 7

SPREAD OF CANCER AND CONSUMPTION.

At a meeting of the Dunediu Sanitary Institute held on Thursday last, The discussion on the papers read at the previous meeting on "The Abattoirs Question" and "The Spread of Cancer and- Consumption " was then continued. Dr Roberts said he understood that a good deal of stress had been laid on tbe widespread exihtence of tuberculosis and cancer in cattle, and, arguing from that, that there was a greater distribution of similar diseases in human brings. Where, he asked, had they got the evidence as to the existence, so largely, of diseases in oattle ? We had had do expert in New Zetland until very lately, and in consequence the information as to euch diseases in cattle was derived from umcientifio men, who probably put down the existence of any tumor in cattle to tuberculosis or cancer. In New Zealand one would' not expect to see much tuberculosis in cattle, for the cattle had large areas over which they roamed, thay were not confined and ftd wiih fodder, and they remained healthy, «nd, being healthy, were able to resist disease. Tho question of the existence of oancer was one for experts to decide, and microscope ttsts were often necessary before it could be decided whether such a disease existed, and he suggested therefore that there were possibly exaggerated ideas as to the presence of tuberculosis aad oancer. Actiuom}COßis, however, which was aleo communicable to man, was more common in New Zealand than was believed. Supposing that there was a large amount of tuberculosis or cancer, the question arore, Was it from these sources that the same diseases occurred in man ? Till they knew the true cause of cancer—for that had not been proved jfet — it was hard to say from what sources this disease arose. With regard to tuberculosis, the prinoipal source of contagion was probably not the drinking of tuberculous milk or the eating of meat. He wished to emphasise the point that, so far as could be told, tuberculosis was communicated from human beings who were affected with the

same disease. Th >ugh the State ■had recognised the danger of contagiou from leprosy it had uot yet recognised the danger of contagion from consumption. A conaumptive pationt was not isolated, the case was not repdrted, and it depended on the ii- junctions of the medical man in attendance whether steps were > taken to prevent the spread ol the disease. He maintained that the sourcei of tuberculosis in mau, to Jar as thftir knowledge enabled them to speak, wire m ro likely to be from imported phthisis jn the first instance. Tee Maoris, before the advent of the Europeans, never buffered from the disease, but they were now particularly uuwptiblß to it, and large numbers of them were carried eff by it. Dr Will thought that Dr Rohtrt" might have goue further, and said tLat disease might h%vo been communicated to me%t after slaughtering. Every day cartlo ids of meat, ov«r which there was no covering, were brought thtough the street*. Tuberculous people a civ, al waj s walking about the streets, and dogs wero depositing eggs of tapeworms in tbxm, find the morning bretze carried the .germs of disease all over the meat. It was the same with pta'ry. ■ He had noticed, the other day, a confectioner's tray being carried through the (-treats in a great cloud of dust — the worst condition it conld be in. It wai difficult to say how many tapeworms those who consumed the pastry were eating.— • (Langhter.) Several times he had been asked by farmers to examine their diseased o*ttto. He was not a veterinary surgeon, but tuberculous and cancerous people suffered a loss of flesh, and he had always argued from that that if a bullock was in good condition, whatever wai the matter with it was not of much account. Ho was surprised to find that the City Council, bad no by -taw providing for the protection of meat from clouds of duit, fo? as much good might be done to the community by a simple by-law like that as by all the talk about slaugb.terys.rds. Dr Roberts explained that, notwithstanding what he had said, he would be sorry to undertake the tupervis'on of meat. In correction of a (statement by Dr Will, he pointed out 'that sometimes cattle which were vary fat and welllooking might be covered with tuberculosis. Tbe direase did not emae'at« them in the same way as it emaciated human beings Mr Walks thought th*t the importation o! persons euffering from suoh diseases a* Dr Roberts mentioned should be considered by the oommunity and, if possible, prevented It might be taking an illiberal view to say that people should not be imported -if they were differing from disease, became they knew that many peoplo were advised to come here for the good of their health, and when they did. come these people frequently recovered and became useful citizens. The question was prububly a political question, but it was nevertheless a question for social consideration. He gathered from what Dr Roberts had said that infection was more likely to spread from consumptive people than from cattle, and he thought that strengthened the argument that it was necessary to prevent the importation of such people. It had, however, been proved that diseased mo&t — he was not in a position to say if it was cane trout or tuberculous— had been «old in the town, aud that brought about the initiation oi the movement for a public abattoir Mr S. 8. Cameron rose to make a few remarks in rapect of the papers read at the last mpeting. He stated that before doing so he wished to remove a misapprehension. It was announced that he was to read a paper that evening, but as a matter of fact he had not promised to do so, orli" would have been prepared with one. He was kindly introduced to tht institute by his Worship the Mayor, who asked him to deliver his views on the papers read, which he very readily conssutad to do, bat he did not promise to read a paper. He thought that the existence of suoh an institute, and the delivery of such excellent papers, and the public interest 4hat had been taken in them, was a credit to Dunedin. The statistics produced in one of them were exeeptionallv interesting and useful. He corn bated what no termed wasjt delusion— the belief that cancer was prevalent in cattle,— and stated that in bis whole experience be had only met with three oases of true cancer. ~ The lay mind associated with cancer a nasty-looking tumor, but the dUeaee known as cancer in cattle was hot the disease known as cancer in tho human being, aud eccasionally the term cancer used by medical men was sometimes used to indicate other malignant tumors called sarcoma. In regard to tbe prevalence of tuberculosis in cattle, however, be quoted tt&tistios to prove that this disease was quite common. An a'tampt was being made in Denmark to completely eradicate tuberculosis in their cattle. The Danish authorities had voted £5000 a year for five years to endeavour to ascertain if there was any possibility of the disease being eradicated, and it at the end of five years it was found that such a project was fe»sible they were prepared to vote a further sum to carry it out. Personally he hatdly thought their efforts in that direction would be attended with ouccess. Dr Roberts had' said that evening that he did not think there existed evidence of the prevalence of the diseaee in New Zealand. Unfortunately, owing to the brief space of time during whioh the speaker had been ia this colony, he could not speak as to New Zealand, but he asserted that elsewhere tuberculosis was universal, existing to a greater extent in large, populous centres than in scattered localities, he admitted. Again, he h&d recourse to figures to prove his contention, and showed that of cattle slaughtered in Great Britain about 18 per cent, was proved to have suffered from

tuberculosis. The proportion in Melbourne was 7 per cent.i while in Sydney 6 per cent, of iha cattle slaughtered was co^demn^d. He thought that wan sufficient to show tb^t the disease was universal. He did not know to wlifc-t extent it was prevalent in New Zealand, but ho did know that tho old yarn as to the fineness of pastures did not remove the danger. Cattle, whether they were confined cr allowed to go at large, wero equally liable to consumption. They always had pet camping, grounds wliPro they resorted for yean, and thus tho disease spread. One mtthod was responsible for the spread of the disease in Australia, and that was jncculation, which happily did not exist in New Zealand. Veterinary purgeoni were ofttn in a better position to trace crease than medical mcD, for the latter would havo difficulty in tracing its origin if, for inst\nco, it arose in the milk of a cow suffering from tuberculosis; and to overcome this difficulty he advocated the thorough registration of dairies, &o. If milk wan not responsible to m great ex! outs for tuberculosis in children, why wan it thab 49 per cent, cf the deaths of patients suffering that diceaf c was dne to the intestinal form. It was mentioned at the previous meeting that there was a danger of contamination owing to healthy moat coming into contact with the kuivea vied j in cutting the viscsra r.f duens:d ronat, and it would be well tb&t it fhuuld be known tb»t all danger from thii scu'c > would not exist in the abattoirs to be erected for Dunedin. Mr W. G. Jenkins quoted from an address by Dr M'Laurin, of Sydney, in support of the assertion that consumption whs spreading. Ho mentioned also that the Stock depaitcnent had, in reply to a question! stated tliat it; had no means of acqoiiicg in r ortnation as to the number of tuberoulous cattle in the coiooy. 'The discussion thus ended, and a veto of thanks to tho chairman brought the meeting to .» clo£e.