Not many years back the leading medical journal of this country challenged me to produce evidence as to the injuriousness of beef and mutton from Cysticerci. The writer stated in his article that I had “failed to produce a single specimen of beef or mutton measles” which had not resulted from experiments conducted “at the Royal Veterinary College;” and he said, further, “that butchers, fleshers, and veterinarians were practically right in refusing to adopt the opinion of Dr Cobbold, that measled beef or mutton is produced to any great extent” independently. How palpably I endured a species of unjust reproach for being somewhat in advance of the knowledge current at the time may be gathered from the voluminous evidence which has since cropped up from various parts of the world. It was, indeed, mainly through experiments conducted at the Royal Veterinary College, and reported in the ‘Lancet,’ that professional men in India first became acquainted with the possibility of finding Cysticerci in beef.
The statements of Dr Joseph Fleming, who was one of the foremost in discovering cystic disease in cattle, have since received abundant confirmation. The Indian Government Reports given in the February issue of the ‘Madras Monthly Journal of Medical Science’ for 1873 are especially instructive. Referring to the prevalence of Cysticercus in the ration beef at Jullundur, in the Punjab, the Inspector General (India Medical Department) reports as follows:
“Cysticercus was first noticed here in the beef tendered at the Royal Artillery ration stand in May, 1868. For some two years previous to this date condemnations of cyst-infected meat had been frequent at Peshawur, Rawul Pindee, Meean Meer and several other stations in the upper part of the Punjab, and here I had often detected the parasite in meat exposed for sale in the bazaars, but no trace of it had been observed in the Commissariat beef, either by myself or any other medical officer who had preceded me.
“From May, 1868, to November, 1869, ‘cyst’ was more or less frequently found both at the Artillery and 92nd Highlanders’ ration stands; but since the latter date it has almost entirely disappeared.
“The following table shows the quantity of meat destroyed on this account during 1868 and 1869:
“The whole of this meat was otherwise well fed and of excellent quality. The waste of so much good food led me to make inquiries; 1st, as to the sources from which the cattle obtained the Tænia ova, and the best means for preventing their infection; and 2ndly, as to whether or not any evil results followed the consumption of this meat when properly cooked.
“From information obtained from the Commissariat Officer I found—1st. That the infected cattle had been purchased by native dealers from various parts of the district, not from any particular locality. 2ndly. That when brought in they were lean, and on an average required from two to three months’ feeding at the Commissariat cattle yards before they were fit for the shambles. 3rdly. That their food consisted of the grass they could pick up on the grazing grounds of cantonments, supplemented by such an allowance of grain and bhoosâ as their condition required.
“They were supposed to be watered at a trough with water drawn from a well, but on closely inquiring as to this, it transpired that they very frequently were taken to a large dirty tank near the yard for their water. The question which occurred to me was, were the cattle infected before their purchase by the Commissariat, or was there anything in their feeding to account for it after purchase? I am inclined to the latter opinion for several reasons, thus:—In the large number of the diseased cattle, the Cysticerci were of remarkably small size; many of them having no capsules, except such as were formed by the surrounding structures, and not being more than 1/8 to 1/4 of an inch in diameter. Although the dry food given to the cattle was doubtless good, still much of the water they got during 1868 was probably filthy. The tank previously referred to was situated close to the huts of the camel drivers. These men are all Mussulmans from Cabul, Peshawur, or thereabouts, and many of them are infected with Tænia mediocanellata. Human filth was often to be seen on the banks of the tank, and microscopic examination of mud and stagnant water taken from the margin exhibited Tænia ova.
“The conditions above shown must have been eminently favorable to keeping up a constant supply of ova, and the fact that Cysticercus entirely disappeared from amongst the cattle a few months after means had been taken to secure them a good supply of well water, seems to confirm the view that this tank must have been the source of a large amount of, if not all, the infection.