V 
 
 New England Agricultural Society 
 
 ADDKESS \i\ 
 
 IIOX. GEORGE B. LORIXG, 
 
 AND KEl'OKT UK 
 
 COL. DANIEL XEEDIIA.M, 
 
 The Society's Commissioner to Mexico. 
 
 FEBRUARY 3, 1891 
 
 I i)\Vl II \i \ 
 i.uw I i.l VVEKKL1 JOURNAL \i\ui>i.\ a i:<>\vi;i,i.. i • i I : r . I - 1 1 1:1: 
 
 isyi. 
 
V 
 
New England Agricultural Society 
 
 A1U.KISS in 
 
 HON. GEORGE B. LORING, 
 
 AND HEI'ORl' OF 
 
 COL. DANIEL NEEDHAM, 
 
 The Society's Commissioner to Mexico. 
 
 FEBRUARY 3, 1891. 
 
 LOWELL, MASS.: 
 LOWELL WEEKLY JOURNAL: WARDEN & ROWELL, PUBLISHERS. 
 
 1891. 
 

 
HON, GEO, B. LORINGS ADDRESS. 
 
 TUBERCULOSIS. 
 
 Gentlemen of the Society : — It is an important part of our 
 duty to investigate the cpuestions upon which the value of agricul- 
 ture as an occupation depends. In no calling is more candid and 
 dispassionate inquiry necessary, whether in relation to our crops or 
 to the animal economy of the farm. And I have always been 
 inclined to call your attention to any absorbing subject, either of 
 cultivation or of health or disease, which has occupied the public 
 mind. We have witnessed the rise and fall of many agricultural 
 problems which have presented themselves to the community as of 
 vital importance to the industry which we represent. Many of these 
 problems have been solved by time and experience, and have van- 
 ished before the good sense of practical farmers. Some have proved 
 to be valuable, and some are still under investigation. 
 
 The most important matter to which the attention of the commu- 
 nity is now called is the existence, the contagiousness, and the extir- 
 pation of tuberculosis. This disease has long been known in the 
 human family ; and it has been accurately described from the earli- 
 est days of careful hygienic investigation, and its existence has been 
 attributed to injudicious breeding when found in animals, to bad 
 hygienic conditions, to direct infection, to unhealthy locality, and to 
 any debilitating causes. In the human subject it has long been 
 known that a crowded and ill-ventilated apartment, a damp and 
 marshy locality, scarcity of good, nutritious food, a depressing mode 
 of life, would often bring about a scrofulous condition in the form of 
 miliary tubercles, destined to destroy the texture of the parts in 
 which they accumulate, and to end in consumption. Among the 
 causes of tuberculosis breeding has been included. In animals this 
 may be a cause, i. e. : certain delicate breeds of animals, or certain 
 delicate families of any one breed, may be peculiarly liable to this 
 disease when exposed to the causes I have enumerated. In the 
 
human family the disease occurs in persons so differently constituted 
 that it is hardly safe to include breeding as a prominent cause. We 
 have seen men of great constitutional vigor, with strong frames, full 
 chests, vigorous physique, cut down, while the slender and delicate 
 have escaped. We have seen the parents succumb in early or mid- 
 dle life, and the progeny live on in good health and to a good old 
 age. The human constitution, as inherited, is governed by so many 
 subtle and undefined causes that, fortunately for the affections of 
 the race, man can defy the animal laws which would appear to con- 
 trol a judicious breeding of animals. We can therefore, with perfect 
 propriety, select vigorous, well-developed animals for the continuance 
 of the species ; but we cannot control the affections of the human 
 heart, and " forbid the banns " on account of what seems to us phy- 
 sical incongruity. Let us confine ourselves, therefore, to the animals 
 which are provided for food and labor, and are subjected to di verse 
 and discordant influences. 
 
 Tuberculosis in animals is evidently a self-generated disease. Its 
 existence depends on locality, food, and the condition of the stable 
 in which the animals are confined. It is not universal. All observ- 
 ers agree that it is found mostly in the older sections of the country 
 — in the eastern states, and in those regions in which cattle are con- 
 fined for dairy purposes. It prevails among the confined and well- 
 fed cows in states when there is no disease whatsoever among the 
 common and commonly-fed cattle of the country. It has not been 
 found among w r orking-oxen so far as we know. In Eastern Virginia, 
 where cows are fed for the milk they will yield, it prevails, and it is 
 so entirely confined to cows of this description, cows which are kept 
 in stables and are fed on concentrated food, that the farmers of that 
 section understand that cows subjected to this dairy treatment are 
 liable to have their lungs and digestive organs loaded with miliary 
 tubercles. The milk-producing breeds, such as Guernseys and Jer- 
 seys, with their delicate constitutions, are very apt to be tuberculous ; 
 Avhile the lighter milkers, the Herefords and Devons, are rarely dis- 
 eased. The facts now indicate that the abandonment of milk-farms 
 would remove the disease. 
 
 I do not care to discuss the pathology of the disease ; I leave that 
 to scientific experts, and to the application of the microscope. To 
 the veterinary surgeons who, for the last few years, have pursued 
 
their investigations with great diligence and care we owe the accepted 
 theory of infection, which has been confirmed by the skill and ingen- 
 uity of Kuch. They have ranged themselves along-side of the 
 most illustrious of that great scientific corps who have revealed the 
 secrets of the human organism, and have explored the mechanism of 
 the animal structure. To them it appears that tuberculous bacilli 
 cannot multiply outside of the animal structure, but can be intro- 
 duced into the bodies of various animals, and are productive of the 
 tuberculous disease, constituting the exciting cause. The infection 
 of these bacilli occurs when a definite predisposition exists, growing 
 out of a cold followed by consumption or attending a scrofulous 
 diathesis. It is supposed that the bacilli pass into the deep struc- 
 tures of the body and into the blood from the superficial tissues 
 where they have made a lodgment, and are thence borne by the 
 circulation into various parts of the body — the lungs, the mes- 
 enteric glands, the articulations. Consumption follows the inhala- 
 tion of the bacilli, which accumulate in particles of dust in rooms 
 where the sputa of phthisis have accumulated, and, retaining their 
 vitality for a long time, gather in small colonies or large, and pro- 
 duce a slow or rapid disintegration of the parts. It is said that "at 
 least twenty-five per cent, of adult human deaths are due to this 
 disease, and at least fifty per cent, of us have it and then recover;" 
 this is the opinion of one of the most eminent of our veterinary 
 surgeons. 
 
 Tuberculosis can be propagated in various ways. It can be con- 
 veyed to the lungs by the inhalation of bacilli which are floating in 
 the air of rooms in which consumptive patients have been confined, 
 and whose sputa are converted into dust. A severe cold on the 
 lungs furnishes a nidus for the fungi in large numbers or small, and 
 they do their work slowly or rapidly according to the surrounding 
 circumstances. Tuberculous patients can impart the disease to 
 cattle as well as persons by filling the air with the dusty particles. 
 And animals can affect human beings in a similar manner — on this 
 point authorities differ. The bacilli can be conveyed to the human 
 subject, as they say, by the use of meat or milk from tuberculous 
 animals. It is found that a cow diseased with tuberculosis can give 
 bacilli in the milk, and also in butter and cheese; and out of thirty- 
 six cows ten were found to have bacilli in the milk and cream. This 
 
milk has been fed to calves for a period of six months, and care has 
 been taken that the calves were from healthy mothers. Pigs have 
 been fed with the surplus milk. Twenty-five calves and twelve 
 pigs have been killed, and forty per cent, of each have been found 
 tuberculous: "the post-mortem examination showing very few morbid 
 changes, perhaps two or three little nodules, no larger than a very 
 big grape-seed, in the liver," which under the microscope "possessed 
 the usual appearance of tubercles; " and bacillus was found, "show- 
 ing that the disease was present, and would in most cases extend.'' 
 
 Rabbits and guinea-pigs have been inoculated with milk or cream 
 containing bacilli and have died in the course of a few weeks ; and 
 " in a few instances these little animals had tuberculosis after having 
 been inoculated when no bacilli were found in the milk." The dan- 
 ger from the use of tuberculous meat has not been studied as has 
 that from milk, but it is undoubtedly true that the heat applied in 
 cooking is sufficient to destroy the germs. Infection by inocu- 
 lation may be accidental or intentional, and results in a nodule at 
 the point of entrance — as is the case in the introduction of any 
 morbid matter. 
 
 The diagnosis of tuberculosis in animals is very difficult, either in 
 its early stages or later. We accept the following advice from an 
 accomplished veterinarian, Dr. Peters, who spoke not long ago in 
 this hall, on this subject : — 
 
 " In examining a cow, then, besides examining the lungs and 
 noticing whether there is a persistent cough, note also whether the 
 external lymphatics are enlarged and hard, observe whether she is 
 free from lameness, find out whether she is constipated, and at other 
 times affected with diarrhoea, learn if possible whether she is a 
 nymphomaniac, commonly called a butter, ascertain if abortion is a 
 frequent occurrence in the herd, and examine the udder, and see if it 
 is nodulated or if it is what is commonly called gargcty." 
 
 The remedies for tuberculosis, recommended by veterinary sur- 
 geons, are, in short : — 
 
 1. Protect the animals against consumptive keepers; and be sure 
 that consumptive keepers do not conceal their disease. 
 
 2. Collect the sputum in pieces of woolen cloth or in little boxes 
 which can be burned after use ; or in spittoons wet with carbolic acid. 
 
 3. Destroy the diseased meat, and sterilize the milk. 
 
4. Isolate all suspected animals. 
 
 5. Slaughter all actually infected animals. 
 
 6. Use no infected animal in breeding. 
 
 I may add : feed well, keep the stable clean and well ventilated, 
 protect against cold, remove all depressing influences. 
 
 How far these six remedies are practicable I leave you to judge ; 
 the view I have given thus far has the sanction of present veterinary 
 authority. 
 
 I now submit the views on tuberculosis presented in 1881* at a 
 meeting of the Academy of Medicine in Paris by the most learned 
 of this scientific body — views which I submitted to the Board of 
 Agriculture in this state at the time. The debate arose on a report 
 on tuberculosis, during which M. Lancereaux said : — 
 
 ' : I agree with the Commission of the Congress of Tuberculosis 
 in a large part of the opinions it has given. Meanwhile, I believe 
 it is too much controlled by experiment, and not by clinics. I 
 believe that contagion plays a secondary part in the pathology of 
 tuberculosis ; that this disease is due to many causes, among which 
 are the density of population and dwellings and living in confined 
 air, both of which play the principal part. Among predisposing 
 causes, which are of equally great importance in the spreading of 
 consumption, alcoholism should be placed in the front rank. These 
 considerations lead me to believe that various elements contribute to 
 the development and extension of tuberculosis, and that contagion is 
 not one of these elements. I should advise, therefore, a modification 
 of the conclusion of the commission. 
 
 " Two factors causing the disease and controlling the creation of 
 tuberculosis are: predisposition in the organic structure and flic 
 introduction into that structure of a sjiecial parasitic agent. 
 
 II The sputa, above all, when they are dry are a great cause of 
 contagion. The same may be true with regard to the milk of an 
 animal whose udder is diseased, and also in some cases the meat of 
 an animal having tuberculosis." 
 
 "There is one point," said M. Yillemin, (; on which nearly all of 
 us are agreed, and that is the danger from the expectoration of con- 
 sumptives. We agree also on the proper prophylactic measures. For 
 a long time experiment has shown the virulent activity of the sputa 
 of persons afflicted with pulmonary tuberculosis. The discovery of 
 
8 
 
 the bacilli of tuberculosis has only confirmed the opinion I then 
 advanced. 
 
 "I agree with M. Lee in rejecting the idea that the air breathed 
 is susceptible of contamination. He will agree with me in what I 
 have said upon the immunity of physicians and servants in the 
 rooms and hospitals of tuberculous patients is true. It follows that 
 if we speak of atmospheric infection it is from the dust of expecto- 
 rated matter, and not from the presence of tuberculous virus in the 
 air. 
 
 " I come now," says M. Villemin, " to the transmission of tuber- 
 culosis by alimentary causes. This sort of contagion is less frequent 
 than that caused by expectorated matter. Milk may be poisonous, it 
 is true, when it is furnished by a cow affected with mammary tuber- 
 culosis. It may happen when a diseased cow in licking herself 
 shall have impregnated her teats with her contagious discharge. 
 
 " Personally, I am inclined to accept the opinion of M. Lee with 
 regard to pneumonia and bronchitis. But if the commission has con- 
 sidered inflammations of the bronchial tubes and lungs as favorable 
 to the implanting of tuberculous bacilli in those organs they have 
 based their opinions on the assertions of Koch alone, and not on 
 facts." 
 
 It is evident that M. Villemin does not agree with some of our 
 veterinarians that a " little ulcer " in the lungs caused by a cold will 
 furnish a bed for the bacilli. Nor do the French academicians agree 
 with some of our own scientists. 
 
 The inhalation of the dust of dried tuberculous sputa and the 
 introduction of the bacilli into the skin are two recognized means of 
 imparting the disease. Beyond this we have not progressed far. Of 
 twenty-five calves and twelve pigs which had been fed on the milk of 
 diseased cows " about forty per cent, were found to be tuberculous. 
 They were, most of them, in good health to all external appearance, 
 and the post-mortem examination showed very few morbid changes; " 
 " under the microscope the nodules possessed the usual appearance 
 of nodules." The rabbits and guinea-pigs were inoculated, we learn 
 from an observer. 
 
 While authorities differ with regard to the clanger and the trans- 
 mission of tuberculosis, and while the results of examinations are not 
 very positive, we are warned against " the ravages of a most destruct- 
 
ive malady among the human rare, and against a dangerous and 
 destructive infectious disease among our animals.'" It is said that 
 consumption is largely on the increase throughout the country ■ — in 
 fact, throughout the world — on account of the prevalence of the 
 bacilli. Let us see. 
 
 The population of England and 'Wales in 188] was 25,97 I. 139 : 
 in 1889, 29,015.013; the number of deaths from consumption in 
 18®5 was 58,724; in 1889, 44,738, being a reduction of 13,986. 
 This reduction ought to be considered. 
 
 In the United States the number of deaths by consumption in 
 1880 was 91,270—40,512 males, 50,758 females. The death- 
 rates from consumption are in each 1,000,000 deatlis: males, 242,- 
 842, females, 302,016 ; for colored, males. 248.17'J. females, 320,- 
 973; for those of Irish parentage, males. o09,507, females. 375,636 ; 
 and for those of German parentage, males. 249,498, females, 254,- 
 948. From these figures it would seem that the proportion of deaths 
 from this cause in the colored race is but slightly greater than in the 
 white, and that it is greatest of all in the Irish. The disease pre- 
 vails most in New England and the Middle States, the Middle 
 Atlantic Coast, the Ohio Valley, the western part of Kentucky, the 
 central part of Tennessee, and on the coast of California. The pro- 
 portion of deaths is greater in the interior of Michigan and Ohio 
 than on the lake coast, and on the gulf coast of Texas than in the 
 interior of that state. The regions showing the least proportion of 
 deaths are in southern and western Georgia, central Alabama. 
 Arkansas, Kansas, and the western territories. The Appalachian 
 region also shows a low proportion as compared with the country 
 lying on either side. It seems that the existence of the disease in 
 the United States is controlled by locality and climate. As we have 
 no returns prior to 1880. and the census of 1890 will not lie com- 
 pleted under a year, we can make no comparisons for this country. 
 In Massachusetts, however, the record has been kept since l v 
 and the comparisons are most interesting. The percentage of deaths 
 by consumption of the total mortality was, in L880, 15.56, and in 
 1889, 13.35, a marked diminution. The number of deaths from 
 consumption registered in 1SSS was ">,o81. of which number i' 666 
 were of males and 2,915 females. The actual number of deaths 
 from this cause was 147 less than that of 1888, 290 less than L887, 
 
10 
 
 and 816 less than that of 1886 The large number of deaths from 
 consumption, numbering 5.581, nearly equal to the number of deaths 
 from all other causes, demands an accurate and comparative investi- 
 gation into such mortality. In the five western counties, Worcester, 
 Berkshire, Franklin, Hampden, and Hampshire, the number of 
 deaths in 1880 was 1,240; in Essex, Suffolk, Middlesex, and Nor- 
 folk, 3,600; in Barnstable, Bristol, Dukes, Nantucket, and Ply- 
 mouth, 741. We have been told that while 10 to 25 per cent, of 
 the milch cows in Eastern Massachusetts are tuberculous, the disease 
 is much more rare in the western part of the state ; and yet the 
 proportion of consumption to the population is greater in the west- 
 ern counties than in the eastern. The amount of milk consumed in 
 1880 was valued at a little more than $5,000,000 ; the amount 
 consumed in 1889 was 72.528,628 gallons, valued at $10,312,762. 
 The disease does not increase in proportion to the milk consumed ; on 
 the contrary, the more milk, apparently the less consumption. 
 
 It seems that the bacilli of tuberculosis are a vegetable growth, a 
 fungus of most minute proportions, found not only in diseased but in 
 apparently healthy tissues. They have been found, on post-mortem 
 examinations, in healthy organs which have not been exposed to the 
 influence of disease ; and also in diseased organs, where they find a 
 nidus for their accumulation and destruction. Dr. Nuttall of Johns 
 Hopkins University informs me he has found 3.000,000,000 in a 
 consumptive's autopsy ; and he also states that they collect in the 
 lymphatic glands along the bronchi and lie dormant indefinitely. 
 When tuberculous disease in any form is superinduced by a marshy 
 locality, or bad food, or by scanty clothing, or an unhealthy climate, 
 or an enfeebled constitution, then the bacilli accumulate in great 
 numbers, and destroy the vitality of the parts in the animal economy 
 as larger fungi destroy the plants and crops of the field. Undoubt- 
 edly the remedy consists in the removal of the cause, whether that 
 cause is found in the influences of nature or in the habits of life. 
 The use of a specific to arrest the progress of tuberculosis in its 
 incipient stages promises great artificial aid to sanitary processes ; 
 and pure air and good food, joined with Dr. Koch's lymph, may go 
 far to remove the disease which has been and is so destructive to the 
 generations of men. 
 
 In the Report of the Consulting Committee of Public Hygiene in 
 
11 
 
 France I find some important statements. M. Gcrlach and M. 
 Toussaint succeeded in conveying tuberculosis unquestionably to 
 animals which had been inoculated. Gcrlach's experiments repeated 
 by Johne did not succeed. In the Congress of Copenhagen M. 
 Cheauveau declared that he had been unsuccessful in inoculating 
 tuberculosis. In the same congress M. Yalin, a most careful and 
 intelligent investigator, declared that he had failed to impart tuber- 
 culosis to twelve guinea-pigs which had been inoculated with the 
 juice of a tuberculous guinea-pig. Every one of the twelve escaped. 
 The experiments of M. Nocard seem to be equally unsuccessful, his 
 trial having been on fifteen guinea-pigs, inoculated with juice from a 
 tuberculous cow. All escaped. Multiplied researches in the opin- 
 ion of the Board of Health rendered the problem of infection more 
 difficult. 
 
 Now a word with regard to the danger of beef as an article of food. 
 In the muscle of the animal the tuberculous germs, when they exist, 
 are not abundant. If, indeed, you inject the virus directly into the 
 blood it seems that it does not remain long in the muscles. The 
 statement of M. Nocard proves this. He injected the tuberculous 
 germ, not under the skin, nor into the peritoneum, nor into the 
 digestive organs, but into the blood, and fifteen hours afterwards he 
 could not succeed in imparting tuberculosis by using the juice of the 
 muscle; while the juice of the viscera continued to furnish positive 
 results. Considering this fact, M. Cheauveau, who had also discov- 
 ered it, has declared that tuberculosis does not attack the muscles, 
 and that " fillets of beef come always from superior animals, whose 
 health can be considered excellent." In the present state of scien- 
 tific investigation the use of beef may be considered perfectly safe 
 and innocuous. Beef can be eaten with impunity, according to the 
 most skilful of French scientists. 
 
 The question of milk is as yet undecided — so I learn from some 
 of the most skilful and diligent of our scientific observers. The 
 possibility of infection by bacilli through the alimentary canal is yet 
 to be considered. In making this inquiry the power of the digestive 
 juices in destroying infectious germs, as a germicide, should be taken 
 into the account, there being no doubt that this power exists. Exper- 
 iments carefully made show this to be the case. A quantity of 
 solid or liquid food taken into the stomach is submitted to a process 
 
12 
 
 of digestion which reduces the most obstinate substances to a uni- 
 form consistency, in order that they may pass into the circulation, 
 and there is no evidence whatever that bacilli can resist its influence. 
 The evidence thus far proves that they cannot. In this opinion Dr. 
 Nuttall agrees with me entirely. 
 
 The observations of German scientists have supplied us with 
 many interesting facts relating to this fatal disease. In Frankfort 
 in 1889 sixteen per cent, of the cows were tuberculous, thirteen per 
 cent, of the bulls, six per cent, of the oxen, and eight thousandths of 
 one per cent, of the calves. 
 
 Stallocek says : " Twenty per cent, of cattle fed with rubbish, i. 
 e., the remains of sugar factories or of breweries, die of tuberculosis : 
 one per cent, of cattle in the pastures/" 
 
 Finkelnberg says: ' L In the west and south of Germany, where 
 moorland exists to a large extent, tuberculosis is largely found and 
 is fatal." 
 
 He also says, ;: Phthisis mortality is very small on the sea-coast. In 
 those mountain regions where the natural draining of the water and 
 its outflow are well-regulated, mortality is smaller than in other 
 mountain regions."' 
 
 Brush thinks the reason of so much tuberculosis in cows is that 
 they are weakened thvovyli milking. They suffer from the weak- 
 ness of lactation. Our observations in Virginia are that where the 
 cows are forced by high feeding in their dairy work they have miliary 
 tuberculosis ; the ordinarily-fed pasture cows never. 
 
 Rubner says : ' : The air which people infected with tuberculosis 
 exhale has no bacilli; they are thrown up only by coughing up the 
 solid infected matter." 
 
 The problem of tuberculosis is still open for exact scientific 
 exploration. We know, however : — 
 
 1. That this fungoid growth is found in tuberculous cases of 
 men and animals. 
 
 2. "That the inoculation of bacilli is fatal to the lower order of 
 animals. 
 
 3. That the inhalation of bacilli is fatal to the diseased human 
 system ; and to the healthy when introduced in sufficient quantity. 
 
 4. That the introduction of bacilli into the system by alimenta- 
 tion is not necessarily attended with fatal consecpuences. 
 
13 
 
 5. That phthisis decreases in England and the United States. 
 I). That we do not find phthisis without bacilli : but we do find 
 bacilli without phthisis. 
 
 7. That bacilli are sometimes found in apparently healthy bodies. 
 We do not know : — 
 
 1. How many generations of men and animal- were affected by 
 bacilli before the microscope revealed them. 
 
 2. What relations exist between microscopic fungi and the 
 animal economy in which they are found, and between the fungi of 
 the field and the crops they infest. 
 
 3. Whether or not the removal of the well-known causes of con- 
 sumption would also remove bacilli. 
 
 4. That ' ; tuberculosis is principally in those regions where cattle 
 are raised,"' as is asserted by Brush. 
 
 When we remember the dependence of man on the animals of his 
 farm, and the vast amounts invested in them, together with the con- 
 sequences of extirpation and the difficulty of drawing the limits of 
 diseased districts, we can realize the importance of scientific certainty 
 and caution in arriving at conclusions on this subject to which the 
 farmer is entitled, and which he has a right to expect from his scien- 
 tific allies and friends. 
 
 Mr. Harold C. Ernst, who is employed at Mattapan in the work 
 of investigating tuberculosis, and has been for three years, avails 
 himself of the columns of the Massachusetts Ploughman to reply 
 to my address on this subject, which I delivered before the Com- 
 mittee on Agriculture, and before the New England Agricultural 
 Society in February last. I have no desire to obstruct or interfere 
 with any scientific investigation into the causes of disease or the 
 means of preserving health in men or animals: but [ am anxious 
 that both sides of a disputed question shall lie beard, and that an 
 investigation should be employed in ascertaining the truth, and not 
 in substantiating a theory. 
 
 Dr. Ernst objects to my view of tuberculosis, and says : — 
 1. "No one who had even a slight knowledge of cryptogamic 
 botany or bacteriology would confound the bacillus of tuberculosis 
 with a fungoid growth." 
 
14 
 
 In reply, let me say it is universally recognized that the bacillus 
 of tuberculosis is a fungus, a vegetable growth, a cryptogam, and not 
 an animal structure. It belongs to the lowest orders of fungi, in 
 which are included molds and mildews, and on this account may be 
 called a " fungoid growth." Bacillus is defined as "a microscopic 
 rod-shaped vegetable organism." And fungus ranges from mush- 
 rooms to microscopic forms. 
 
 2. Dr. Ernst objects to my use of the term " lower order of ani- 
 mals," and says : " The scientific statement would be, that the inocu- 
 lation of the bacilli may be fatal to animals susceptible to the disease, 
 tuberculosis." I have no doubt of that; but I have found that the 
 guinea-pig is a favorite subject for the inoculation ; and I will leave 
 the classification of the guinea-pig to Dr. Ernst, and will confine my 
 own remark to those animals which are " susceptible," including all 
 warm-blooded animals, all of which, according to Koch, are more or 
 less susceptible. 
 
 3. Dr. Ernst accepts my view that "the introduction of bacilli 
 into the system by alimentation is not necessarily attended with fatal 
 consequences," and remarks that nobody ever claimed that it was. 
 
 In his argument before the committee of the Legislature he 
 remarked, however: "The third method of infection is by eating 
 the germ when contained in food, either meat or milk of animals 
 diseased." And again he says : " Rarely-done roast beef or rare beef- 
 steak from a tuberculous cow would not be safe food to eat." And 
 he cites the statistics of the Jews to prove that "a portion of the 
 tuberculosis of mankind is traceable to the use of tuberculous beef 
 and milk." He adds that, '' in reply to a circular letter addressed 
 to over two thousand physicians, between twelve hundred and thir- 
 teen hundred answers were received, of which two disbelieved in the 
 danger of using the milk of a tuberculous cow or woman as food; a 
 large number said the matter was difficult to prove, while several 
 stated that they had distinctly traced the infection of children to a 
 diseased cow or a diseased wet-nurse." This is hardly science. We 
 ought to know how many tuberculous wet-nurses are employed. 
 
 4. In reply to my statement that phthisis decreases in England 
 and the United States, Dr. Ernst suggests that this is no "reason 
 for even suggesting an opposition to further steps in the same 
 direction " of investigation. I have never suggested such opposition; 
 
15 
 
 on the contrary, I replied to a question of the committee that I 
 thought the investigation ought to go on. 
 
 5. Dr. Ernst objects to my use of the term a phthisis" in con- 
 nection with the bacilli in the lungs, and says: "The presence of 
 the bacilli of tuberculosis in the lungs or other organs proves the 
 presence of tuberculosis" — no more. But in his argument before 
 the committee of the Legislature he says : " When this disease is 
 located in the lungs it is commonly called consumption." And he 
 also remarks that ''the most frequent method of infection is by 
 breathing into the lungs the dried dust from expectorations of men 
 or animals afflicted with consumption." 
 
 Dr. Ernst agrees with me " that bacilli are sometimes found 
 in apparently healthy bodies," but concludes that "the bodies are 
 only apparently healthy," and that the bacilli will produce "the 
 usual pathological changes'" if we will only give them time enough. 
 His colleague, Dr. Peters, thinks there are many recoveries in men 
 and animals. 
 
 6. When we inquire " what relations exist between microscopic 
 fungi and the animal economy in which they are found, and between 
 the fungi of the field and the crops they infest," we are reminded 
 by Dr. Ernst that " we are not dealing with fungi," but scientific 
 authority says we are. 
 
 7. I asked in conclusion " whether the removal of the well- 
 known causes of consumption would also remove bacilli." [ am told 
 that "there is but one cause of tuberculosis — the bacilli of that 
 name." But every pathologist knows that phthisis and consumption 
 and tuberculosis are synonymous terms, and all are generally used 
 for the one dread disease, as Dr. Ernst himself uses them. When 
 Koch administers his lymph with hopes of success he gives it to a 
 patient who has a deposit of tubercle at the apex of the left lung, 
 and has incipient consumption. When the "bacilli of tuberculosis" 
 are paraded as a specific disease, one of the phenomena of an old 
 and prevalent disease is placed in the rank of maladies which the 
 immortal Louis investigated, and whose characteristics the modern 
 microscope has only revealed. The causes of consumption to which 
 bacilli seem to flock are, according to M. Lancereaux, whom Dr. 
 Ernst considers no "authority whatever, competent to judge," 
 "density of population and dwellings and living in confined air," 
 
16 
 
 and '-alcoholism." and a bad climate and depressing influences and 
 hereditary taint. And we have the authority of an associate of Dr. 
 Ernst that "a little ulcer" in the lungs, caused by a cold, will 
 furnish a bed for bacilli. When a consumptive patient abandons a 
 cold and damp climate for a warm and genial one he withdraws from 
 the causes of consumption, and if the investigators will insist that 
 he is beset by bacilli and has no consumption he simply invites his 
 fungi to uncongenial influences, and to a climate in which the fungi 
 will not flourish — as he hopes. If he recovers he is cured of con- 
 sumption, by whatever other name veterinary science may have 
 classified it. 
 
 Dr. Prudden in an exhaustive article on bacteria in Harper's 
 Monthly, for April, 1891, speaks of ''consumption or tuberculosis" 
 as synonymous terms. 
 
 GEO. B. LORING. 
 
COL. DANIEL NEEDHAM'S REPORT. 
 
 One year ago to-day at the annual meeting of the New England 
 Agricultural Society, held in this hall, you were pleased by a unani- 
 mous vote to commend me as your representative to the official rul- 
 ers of the neighboring Republic of Mexico. 
 
 Having made my visit among the people of Mexico, having studied 
 the institutions of the country, and having enjoyed far more than 
 the average opportunity of meeting and conversing with the Presi- 
 dent of that Republic, and governors of several of the states, and 
 other official personages, it has seemed to me fit that at this first 
 opportunity after my return I should make to you some report 
 embracing the result of my observations and the many privileges 
 afforded me by courtesy of officials and leading citizens of the Mexi- 
 can Republic. 
 
 On Thursday, March 6, 1890. having received through the Amer- 
 ican Minister, Mr. Ryan, an invitation from President Diaz to meet 
 him at the palace, and to take with me as many of my friends as 
 would be agreeable, I visited the President at four o'clock in the 
 afternoon, this being the hour fixed in the letter of invitation, and 
 took with me sixty ladies and gentlemen, all residents of the United 
 States of America. Minister Ryan volunteered his services to give 
 me a formal introduction. 
 
 As President Diaz entered from a rear door in the great audience- 
 chamber, and walked the entire length of the room to reach the 
 assembled visitors, we had a most excellent opportunity to observe 
 his manly features and his firm, elastic movement. A man of about 
 sixty-two years, slightly gray, medium size, and dark complexion. 
 His movement and gestures were very graceful, and his voice clear 
 and musical. As he approached the head of the room, Minister 
 Ryan stepped forward and introduced me as a citizen of the United 
 States, interested in the trade relations of the two republics, and as 
 the accredited representative of the New England Agricultural 
 Society. More than a cpuarter of a century has passed since it was 
 
18 
 
 my good fortune to represent the Vermont State Agricultural Soci- 
 ety and the state of Vermont in a foreign country. But I never 
 felt more proud of a constituency than I did of you, gentlemen of 
 the New England Agricultural Society, when I spoke in your 
 behalf in the palace of the President, in that ancient city of Mexico, 
 now redeemed from the thraldom of kings, emperors, and revolutions, 
 and standing as the capital of a sister republic, on the continent of 
 our own America, reaching out for the things that make for peace, 
 and the purifying of government, and the ennobling and building up 
 of a true, enterprising, and intelligent manhood. 
 
 I will read to you from the only daily paper printed in the Eng- 
 lish language and published in the City of Mexico, The Tvjo 
 Republics, the account of my meeting President Diaz, and the 
 addresses connected therewith. 
 
 Minister Ryan accompanied the party to the palace and presented 
 Col. Daniel Needham to the President as the spokesman of the 
 excursionists, who numbered more than sixty persons. Col. Need- 
 ham delivered the following address in English : — 
 
 " Mr. President: I have the honor to present to you my friends 
 and associates from the United States of America, who have come 
 to this Republic and this grand and ancient city of Mexico with the 
 view of securing a better understanding and a more satisfactory 
 knowledge than can be obtained by histories and books of travel. 
 
 " To say that we are deeply impressed with the grandeur of this 
 ancient city, with its colossal and artistically-wrought statuary, with 
 its magnificent parks, with its broad, regularly-laid-out and cleanly 
 streets, with its stately and dome-crowned cathedrals, its noble pal' 
 ace, and magnificent castle of Chapultepec, and its other public as 
 well as private buildings, doing credit to the architectural skill and 
 taste of your people, is but feebly expressing emotions which lan- 
 guage is inadequate to communicate. 
 
 " We shall bear to homes in our native land recollections which 
 will enable us to give to citizens and friends graphic accounts of 
 well-conducted industries based upon advancing science, and to tell 
 of an established interest by schools and seminaries of learning in 
 universal education organized under the government and supported 
 and appreciated by the people ; as well as of the wonderful site of 
 your ancient city, happily fashioned by nature, and so adorned 
 
19 
 
 by the hand of skill in its construction and artistic arrangement. 
 u For myself, representative as I am of the New England Agri- 
 cultural Society, an organization which represents the agricultural, 
 commercial, and industrial wealth of the six most northerly and east- 
 erly of the United States of America, including as its great com- 
 mercial centre the city of Boston, I bring you the good will of our 
 people and an expression of the hope that the most intimate trade 
 relations shall be firmly established, that it may forever appear that 
 on the continent of America Ave have a common interest — the inter- 
 est of the people — and that the one and only great Columbus, to 
 whom you have erected a colossal and beautiful monument, belongs 
 in part to us of the United States of America, as well as to you of 
 the United States of Mexico. 
 
 " Mr. President, thanking you for the honor of this reception in 
 behalf of the association which I represent, and of my associates 
 here gathered together, and for myself, personally, and with earnest 
 wishes for your continued health and the rapid growth of your pros- 
 perous republic, I bring this brief address to a close." 
 
 Senor P. de la Sota, one of the official interpreters of the party, 
 translated the above address for the President. 
 
 Through the medium of Mr. E. C. Butler, of the American Lega- 
 tion, President Diaz made the following reply : — 
 
 " Colonel Needham, I am very much gratified to meet you and 
 the party who accompany you. It is always a pleasure for me to 
 meet distinguished sons and daughters of our sister republic. For a 
 long period Mexico has emulated the United States, that oldest, 
 greatest, most populous and progressive republic of the American 
 continent. We have taken your country for our model honestly and 
 earnestly. Though at times we have not lived up to your bright 
 example in everything, our wish, our desire has been to emulate all 
 that is great and noble in your great and noble country. 1 am 
 always glad to meet, in this social, friendly way, representative and 
 distinguished and cultured gentlemen and accomplished ladies from 
 the United States, for I believe the best way of cultivating neigh- 
 borly relations and good feeling is by this interchange of reciprocal 
 intercourse, bringing us closer together, till we become better 
 accpiainted : and it is a pleasure to me that the study of Mexico and 
 of her interests, her present and her future possibilities, lies in the 
 
20 
 
 hands of such accomplished ladies and gentlemen as yourselves. 
 The best form of education, I take it, is objective ; to see things for 
 ourselves, rather than only read them. Thus your visit to Mexico 
 will, I trust, aid you better in understanding our country, in appre- 
 ciating our situation, in studying our interests, than any other 
 method of instruction. Let me say right here, please, what I have 
 so often said before to your countrymen who have thus honored me in 
 visiting me, that I hope for closer relations between your people and 
 the people of my country. Mexico wants to see you come here ; 
 she welcomes you ; she throws open the doors to every honorable 
 enterprise born on your soil, every great movement conceived in your 
 great country. We want you to come without faltering, to place 
 your magnificent industrial resources, your capital, your genius, on 
 our soil, become partners in our enterprises and sharers in our future 
 prosperity. 
 
 " In closing allow me to say that it has been a positive pleasure to 
 me to thus have met you and the party you represent. I hope your 
 stay in Mexico will be agreeable and profitable ; and that to such a 
 degree that some, if not all, of you may find it to your interest to 
 return here some time." 
 
 Having been thus welcomed and received, I was commended to 
 the other officials of the government for such statistics as I might 
 need to aid me in forming an opinion of the growth of the industries 
 of the people and the progress of the various educational and char- 
 itable institutions. 
 
 The interest everywhere manifested by President Diaz in his peo- 
 ple, and the responsive devotion manifested by the people in this 
 great progressive leader of the Republic of Mexico, is constantly 
 apparent. Every morning the President may be seen between ten 
 and eleven o'clock, riding on horseback through the principal streets 
 of the city, dressed in plain citizen's attire and without an attendant, 
 bowing to the multitude on the right and left, as they move through 
 the great thoroughfares or stop with uncovered heads to receive his 
 salutations. 
 
 This fearless manifestation of confidence in the people has 
 undoubtedly been a means of securing from the masses obedience to 
 government and inspiring love and respect for the great ruler. 
 
 The City of Mexico is laid out in squares, like the city of Phila- 
 
21 
 
 delphia, and in this regular form of skilful civil engineering was it 
 found by Cortez, a hundred years before the Puritans landed on the 
 shores of Massachusetts Bay. The city is built of white marble, 
 and has a population of four hundred thousand. It is located in a 
 plateau, seven thousand five hundred feet above the level of the 
 ocean, fifteen hundred feet higher than the top of Mt Washington, 
 and yet in its plazas and outlying grounds grow the orange, lemon, 
 and other semi-tropical fruit trees in great luxuriance and abundance. 
 
 Says the historian, "With the progress of Aztec culture, Mexico 
 (the city) rapidly improved, and about 1450 the old mud and rush 
 houses were replaced by solid stone structures, erected partly on 
 piles amid the islets of Lake Tezcuco and grouped around the central 
 enclosure of the great Teocalli." The city had reached its highest 
 splendor on the arrival of the Spaniards in 1519, when it comprised 
 from fifty to sixty thousand houses, with perhaps 500.000 inhabitants, 
 and seemed to Cortez, in the language of Prescott, " like a thing of 
 fairy creation rather than the work of mortal hands. ' ; It was at 
 that time, as is well established, about twelve miles in circumference, 
 everywhere intersected with canals, and connected with the mainland 
 by six long and solidly-constructed causeways. 
 
 Whoever goes to Mexico and visits its capital city, expecting to 
 find anything but grandeur and magnificence, combined with skilful 
 engineering and architecture, and lavish expenditure of money, will 
 be greatly disappointed. For without question it is certainly one of 
 the most cleanly, imposing, and beautiful of American cities. 
 
 The area of the Republic of Mexico embraces twenty-seven states, 
 one territory, and the Federal District, which includes the City of 
 Mexico, the capital of the Republic. These several states comprise 
 nearly eight hundred thousand scpiare miles, and contain twelve 
 millions of inhabitants. Among the leading cities of the several 
 states might be mentioned Guadalajara, containing one hundred thou- 
 sand ; Guanajato, seventy thousand ; Puebla, seventy thousand ; 
 and thirty other prosperous cities, ranging from five to thirty-five 
 thousand people each. 
 
 All the European domestic animals are to be found in abundance, 
 and in some of the Mexican states are to be found immense herds 
 of oxen, numbering twenty and even thirty thousand, the property 
 of a single owner. Maize, beans, coffee, tobacco, sugar, and in fact 
 
99 
 
 every variety of agricultural product known to the civilized world, 
 can be found growing in this wonderful country : and the native forests 
 produce rose-wood, mahogany, oak, pine, lignum vitse. and every 
 other variety of wood used in cabinet and architectural manufacture. 
 The food and agricultural crops are estimated at two hundred 
 millions of dollars annually, and for purposes of taxation the landed 
 property is appraised at more than three hundred and fifty millions 
 of dollars. 
 
 The precious metals constitute a large item in the exports, and 
 these in 1882 amounted to eighteen millions of dollars. The 
 currency is silver and copper, no gold being used in either govern- 
 ment or mercantile transactions. 
 
 The people are large purchasers of English and American goods, 
 and the fostering care of England has given her manufacturers great 
 advantages in the Mexican markets. Thus far American manu- 
 facturers have had but limited opportunity to take advantage of the 
 liberal purchases made by Mexican merchants in foreign lands; but 
 there is no reason why a large portion of the goods now obtained in 
 England should not be supplied by the United States. Minister 
 Ryan is outspoken on this matter, and feels that our government has 
 embarrassed rather than fostered our trade relations with the people 
 of this neighboring republic. 
 
 Traversed by five great lines of railroad: its eastern shore Avashed 
 by the Gulf of Mexico and its western by the Pacific Ocean: 
 almost ready to open one of the most magnificent harbors of the 
 world on its eastern coast, at Tampico, where the navies and 
 merchantmen of the world will find ample protection against the 
 most terrific Northers, which have up to the present time been a 
 terror to sailors frequenting the Mexican coast: with public schools 
 established and maintained in all the states of the Republic ; with 
 a government prudent, enterprising, and popular, inviting and secur- 
 ing immense capital from England, the United States, Germany, and 
 France, there can be no doubt but that the days of bloody revolution 
 have made their last pages in its history, and the combined influences 
 of advancing wealth, civilization, and native soil and climate will 
 place this republic second only in its development to our own United 
 States of America. 
 
 DANIEL NEEDHAM, 
 Feb. 3rd, 1891. Commissioner. 
 
HISTORICAL APPENDIX. 
 
 It has been thought well, in connection with the publication of the 
 address of the Hon. Geo. B. Loring and the report of the Hon. 
 Daniel Needham, commissioner of the society to the City of Mexico, 
 to give a brief history of the New England Agricultural Society 
 and its annual fairs, held in different localities, to the present time. 
 
 In January, 1864, a report and resolutions were adopted by the 
 State Board of Agriculture of Massachusetts setting forth the 
 importance of a New England Agricultural Association. A call 
 was therefore issued to the various agricultural societies organized in 
 the different states of New England to send delegates to a convention 
 to be held in Worcester, Mass., on the second day of March, 186-1, 
 to organize such an institution. Every New England state responded 
 and there were pi^esent at the meeting thus called many of the most 
 active and intelligent promoters of the art of agriculture. The 
 meeting was called to order by the Hon. Geo. B. Loring of Salem ? 
 Mass., and the following named gentlemen were elected the first 
 board of officers : — 
 
 President. — Geo. B. Loring. Salem, Mass. 
 
 Vice-presidents. — Ezekiel Holmes, Winthrop, Me.; Frederick 
 Smyth, Manchester, N. II. ; Daniel Kimball, Rutland, Vt. ; T. S. 
 Gold, West Cornwall, Conn. ; Amasa Sprague, Cranston, R. I. : 
 Wm. H. Prince, Northampton, Mass. 
 
 Secretaries. — Charles L. Flint. Boston, Mass.: Henry Clark, 
 Poultney, Vt. 
 
 Treasurer. — Thomas Sanders. Brookfield. Vt. 
 
 Maine. 
 
 Trustees. — Samuel F. Perlcy, Naples; John F. Anderson, So. 
 Windham; Calvin Chamberlain. Foxcroft: Dr. N. T. True. Bethel: 
 Wm. I). Dana. North Perry. 
 
 New Hampshire. 
 
 Jos. B. Walker, Concord: Moses Humphrey, Concord; S. \\ 
 
24 
 
 Buffum, Winchester : N. Hubbard, Tamworth ; Nicholas V. White- 
 house, Rochester. 
 
 Vermont. 
 
 Daniel Needham, Queechy ; George Campbell, West Westminster; 
 Edwin Hammond. Middlebury; Ebenezer Bridge, Pomfret; A. M. 
 Clark, St. Albans. 
 
 Massachusetts. 
 
 C. 0. Perkins, Becket; Paoli Lathrop, South Hadley Falls; 
 
 Leverett Saltonstall, Newton; S. B. Phinney, Barnstable; A. W. 
 
 Dodge, Hamilton. 
 
 Rhode Island. 
 
 E. D. Pearce, Providence: David Pike. River Point; A. B. 
 Chadsey, Wick ford ; J. De Wolf Perry, Bristol: Thomas B. 
 Buffum, Newport. 
 
 Connecticut. 
 
 J. G. Webb, New Haven: Benj. Sumner, Woodstock; R. Battell, 
 Norfolk ; P. M. Auger, Middletown ; C M. Pond, Hartford. 
 
 At a meeting of the trustees, subsequently held, it was voted to 
 hold the first fair at Springfield, Mass. In accordance with this 
 decision, the first fair was held at Springfield, Mass., September 
 6th, 7th, 8th, and 9th, 1864. It was attended by an immense con- 
 course of people, and the exhibition was pronounced by the press as 
 far superior to anything of the kind ever held previously in the 
 country. 
 
 Governor John A. Andrew delivered the opening address, his first 
 words being, "I hail this becoming and beneficent gathering of the 
 yeomanry of New England."' The address occupied an hour, and 
 was published by the press, not only of New England, but of all 
 the Middle and Western States. 
 
 Prof. Agassiz. Dr. Loring, and many other gentlemen, took part 
 in the discussions of the meeting. The weather throughout the fair 
 was clear and beautiful. 
 
 The second fair of the society was held at Concord, N. H., Sep- 
 tember, 1865. Governor Frederick Smyth delivered the address. 
 The weather was cloudless, and the immense crowds that gathered at 
 the exhibition more than met the anticipation of the resident popu- 
 
lation, -who had made great preparation for their accommodation. 
 
 The third fair was held at Brattleboro', Vermont, September, 
 186G. Ex-Governor John A. Andrew, of Massachusetts, delivered 
 the address. The weather was beautiful and clear during the four 
 days of the exhibition. 
 
 The fourth fair was held at Cranston, R. I., September, 18G7. 
 Addresses were delivered by Ex-Governor Andrew, Hon. Salmon P. 
 Chase, Major-General Howard. General A. G. Burnside, and many 
 other gentlemen. The weather was perfect during the four days of 
 the exhibition. 
 
 The fifth exhibition was held at New Haven. Conn., September, 
 18G8. At this exhibition the society had the first discomfort from 
 bad weather, the third day of the fair being a heavy rain-storm. 
 Governor English delivered the address. 
 
 The sixth exhibition was at Portland, Maine, September, 18G9. 
 Addresses by Senator Hamlin, Major Putnam, of Portland, Colonel 
 George F. Shepley, Governor Padelford, Hon. Sidney II. Perham, 
 Ex-Governor Coburn, Dr. Loring, and a large number of other 
 gentlemen. On the evening of the second day there was a terrific 
 storm, which did much damage to the tents and fences. But at an 
 early hour of the third day repairs were fully made, and the 
 weather of the four days was otherwise delightful. 
 
 The seventh exhibition was at Manchester. N. II., September, 
 
 1870. The address was given by Senator Patterson. The four 
 days of the fair were pleasant. 
 
 The eighth exhibition was given at Lowell, Mass., September. 
 
 1871. The four days were pleasant. Governor Claliin, Ex- 
 Governor Boutwell, Governor Perham, of Maine, and many other 
 gentlemen addressed the people. 
 
 The ninth exhibition was at Lowell, September, 1872. Four 
 days of beautiful weather. At this exhibition on the third day it 
 was computed that no less than sixty thousand people were in 
 attendance. 
 
 The tenth exhibition was held at Mystic Park, Medford, Septem- 
 ber, 1873. Address by Rev. W. II. H. Murray. The third day 
 was rainy, and the fair was continued into Saturday on that account. 
 All the other days of the fair were pleasant. 
 
 The eleventh exhibition was held at Narragansett Park, Provi- 
 
26 
 
 deuce, September, 1874. Addresses by Governor Howard and 
 Mayor Doyle, of Providence. The weather of the four days was 
 perfect. 
 
 The twelfth exhibition was at Manchester, N. H., September, 
 1875. Address by Henry Ward Beecher. The afternoon of the 
 third day was rainy ; all the other days were pleasant, and the fair 
 was continued over Saturday. 
 
 The thirteenth exhibition was in connection with the Centennial 
 at Philadelphia, and known as New England at the Centennial, 
 September, 187G. Addresses were given by Colonel Daniel Need- 
 ham and Hon. S. D. Harris, and poems were read by Mrs. Helen 
 Barron Bostwick and Mrs. Ophelia Forman. The attendance at the 
 Massachusetts Building, where the exercises were held, was very 
 large, and the entire four days given to their meetings were pleasant. 
 
 The fourteenth exhibition was at Portland, Maine, September, 
 1877. The weather of the four days was cloudless. Addresses 
 were made by Governor Connor, General J. Marshall Brown, and 
 other gentlemen. 
 
 The fifteenth exhibition was given at Worcester, Mass . Septem- 
 ber, 1878. Addresses by Governor Rice and Dr. George B. Lor- 
 ing, Mayor C. B. Pratt, Governor Prescott, Hon. W. W. Rice, and 
 Col. Daniel Needham. One of the four days of the fair was rainy. 
 
 The sixteenth exhibition was given at Worcester, September, 
 
 1879. Addresses by Governor Long, Dr. Loring, Governor Head, 
 Attorney-General Devens, Ex-Governor Boutwell. and Hon. A. W. 
 Beard. The four days of the fair were pleasant. 
 
 The seventeenth exhibition was held at Worcester in September, 
 
 1880. Gen. Wm. T. Sherman was present, and addressed the 
 people. The school children of Worcester were massed on the main 
 street in front of the Court House, and as the great procession passed 
 it halted while the children sang "Marching through Georgia." 
 The bands and the multitude joined in the chorus. On this occa- 
 sion there was a military display, in which all the companies of 
 Worcester took part. 
 
 The eighteenth exhibition was held at Worcester in September, 
 
 1881. The weather was pleasant with the exception of the third 
 day. which constantly threatened rain, and undoubtedly affected the 
 attendance at the fair. 
 
The nineteenth exhibition was at Worcester, September, 1882. 
 The weather was fair; and among the many distinguished guests 
 was Vice-President Wheeler, who delivered a most acceptable address 
 to the people. 
 
 The twentieth exhibition was at Manchester, N. II., September, 
 
 1883. The weather was fair during the entire four days. 
 
 The twenty-first exhibition was at Manchester, N. II., September, 
 
 1884. The weather was fair during the entire exhibition. 
 
 The twenty-second was at Bangor, Maine, September, 188-5. A 
 large number of the leading men of Maine were present and 
 addressed the people from the grand stand. Four days of perfectly 
 fair weather. Hon. James G. Blaine was present. 
 
 The twenty-third exhibition was held at Bangor, Maine, Septem- 
 ber, 1886. On the second and third days, in the morning, there 
 was threatened rain. The afternoon of the third day there was a 
 successful balloon ascension, in addition to addresses by leading 
 public men who honored the occasion. 
 
 The twenty-fourth exhibition was held at Worcester, Mass., Sep- 
 tember, 1887. With the exception of the second day, which was 
 lowery, the weather was beautiful. 
 
 The twenty-fifth exhibition was held at Worcester, Mass., Septem- 
 ber, 1888. The weather was fine during the fair. 
 
 The twenty-sixth exhibition was held at Worcester, Mass., Sep- 
 tember, 1889. The weather was fair. Address by Hon. Daniel 
 Needham. 
 
 The twenty-seventh exhibition was held at Worcester, Mass., 
 September, 1890. The mornings of the second and third days 
 threatened rain and undoubtedly affected the general attendance. 
 
 At the first annual meeting, in 180-4, Geo. B. Loring was elected 
 president, and has continued in office to the present time. 
 
 Charles L. Flint and Henry Clark were elected secretaries at the 
 first annual meeting, but resigned after holding the first fair at 
 Springfield in 1*64. Daniel Needham was then elected secretary, 
 and has held the office continually up to the present time, 18'J1. 
 
 Thomas Sanders was elected the first treasurer and continued in 
 office one year; he was succeeded by Isaac K. Gage, who continued 
 treasurer five consecutive years, and was followed by the election of 
 Geo. W. Riddle, who has held the office to the present time, 1891. 
 
28 
 
 Summary of the receipts of the New England fairs from twenty 
 exhibitions from the seventh to the twenty-seventh, inclusive, taken 
 from the books of Geo. W. Riddle, treasurer : 
 
 7th Annual Fair held at Manchester, 1S70 
 
 Mh " •' " •' Lowell, 1871 
 
 9th " " " " Lowell, 1872 
 
 10th " " " " Mystic Park, 1873 
 
 11th ' " Providence, R. I., 1871 
 
 12th " " " " Manchester, 1875 
 
 13th " " " " Centennial, Phil., 1870 
 
 14th " " " " Portland, Me., 1877 
 
 15th " " " " Worcester, 1878 
 
 10th " " " " Worcester, 18711 
 
 17th " " " " Worcester. 1880 
 
 18th " " " " Worcester, 1*81 
 
 19th " " " " Worcester, 1882 
 
 '.'Oth " " " " Manchester, 188:; 
 
 21st " " " " Manchester, 1884 
 
 22d '• " " " Bangor, 1885 
 
 23d '• " " " Bangor, 1880 
 
 24th " " " " Worcester, 1887 
 
 25th " " " " Worcester, 1888 
 
 20th " " " " Worcester, 1889 
 
 27th " " " " Worcester, 1890 
 
 Totals 
 
 Receipts. 
 
 Prolits. 
 $2554.07 
 
 Loss. 
 
 $27,560.00 
 
 
 25,743.00 
 
 5000.00 
 
 
 31,250.00 
 
 0001.44 
 
 
 24,014.00 
 
 
 $2,915.20 
 
 22,305.(10 
 
 973.74 
 
 
 20,300.00 
 
 1200.00 
 
 
 
 
 20,000.00 
 
 
 
 10,550.59 
 
 2053.27 
 
 
 21,701.09 
 
 4470.54 
 
 
 23,090.00 
 
 3771.84 
 
 
 20.047.89 
 
 1040.07 
 
 
 21,954.09 
 
 3009.9:', 
 
 
 15,887.58 
 
 896.67 
 
 
 12,804.73 
 
 
 086.85 
 
 27,178.79 
 
 2223.30 
 
 
 23,751.00 
 
 
 
 22,070 0(1 
 
 
 
 23,667.62 
 
 2141.43 
 
 
 24,271 58 
 
 2231.05 
 
 
 21,725.02 
 
 2100.00 
 
 
 $449,655.38 
 
 $41,594.91 
 
 $3,602.05 
 
 RECAPITULATION. 
 
 Fifteen fairs, profit 
 Three fairs, no profit 
 Two fairs, loss 
 
 $41,594.91 
 
 |3 ; G02.05 
 
 Note. — No financial record of the six exhibitions held prior to 
 the year 1870 is at hand. 
 
 The eighth and ninth exhibitions, held at Lowell in 1871 and 
 1872, the admission fee was only 35 cents. At all other fairs the 
 admission has been 50 cents. 
 
OFFICERS OF THE NEW ENGLAND AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY, 
 
 For the Year 1891. 
 
 PRESIDENT. 
 
 GEORGE B. LORING, Salem, Mass. 
 
 VICE-PRESIDENTS. 
 
 John Hall, North Berwick, Me. S. It. Phinney, Barnstable, Ma-«. 
 
 Frederick Smtthe, Manchester, X. II. William K. Barrett, Providence, K. I. 
 .1. D. Wheat, Putney, Vt. K. H. Hyde, Stafford, Conn. 
 
 SECRETARY. TREASURER. 
 
 DANIEL NEEDHAM, Boston, Mass. GEO. W. KIDDLE, Manchester, N. H. 
 
 TRl 'S7EES. 
 
 MAINE. 
 
 Z. A. Gilbert, Greene. Fred Atwood, Winterport. 
 
 Samuel Briogs, So. Paris. Frank Briggs, Auburn. 
 
 F. O. Beal, Bangor. B. F. Pease, Cornish. 
 
 Moses II. Hussey, North Berwick. S. S. Marble, Marlboro. 
 
 CHAS. P. Mattocks, Portland. Wm. Robie, Gorhani. 
 
 J. C. Nichols, Searsport. John M. Adams, Portland. 
 
 NEW HAMPSHIRE. 
 
 D. H. Goodell, Antrim. Chester Pike, Cornish. 
 
 Warren Brown, Hampton Falls. Thomas J. Jameson, Great Fall*. 
 
 ("has. Williams, Manchester. E. C. Shirley, Goffstown. 
 
 Wm. T. Head, Hooksett. .Iohn W. Wheeler, Salem. 
 
 s. c. Fisher, Dover. Nathaniel H. Clark, Plaistow. 
 
 C. C. Shaw, Milford. C. Hiram Haves, Portsmouth. 
 
 VERMONT. 
 
 A. E. Ferkins, Pomfret. Henry C. Cleveland, Coventry. 
 
 L. S. Drew, Burlington. Geo. W. Hooker, Brattleboro'. 
 
 Geo. Hammond, Middlebury. A. C. Finlky, Bellow.-: Falls, 
 
 J. K. Dinsmore, Westminster. D. s. Pratt, Brattleboro'. 
 
 John Crampton, Rutland. Elmer C. Trask, Waitsfield. 
 F. L. HOOGHTON, Putney. 
 
 MASSACHUSETTS. 
 John Johnson, Framingham. Benj. P. Ware, Marblehead. 
 
 C. B. PRATT, Worcester. E. T. ROWELL, Lowell. 
 
 J. A. HARWOOD, Littleton. W. W. RAWSON, Boston. 
 
 Francis H. APPLETON, Peabody. Thomas s wdkks, Haverhill. 
 
 Herbert Merriam, Weston. Philander Williams. Taunton. 
 
 O. B. HADWEN, Worcester. Lints DARLING, Boston. 
 
 RHODE ISLAND. 
 
 Samuel L. Blaisdell, Warwick. Isaac h vzard, Providence. 
 
 Thomas Buffum, Newport. s. s. Atwell, Cranston. 
 
 Wm. P. Vaughn, Providence. T. w. Kound, Providence, 
 
 11. E. Smith, Smithfield. Edgar A. Hopkins, Providence. 
 
 Charles W. Smith, Providence. Clifton A. Hall, Providence. 
 Obadiah Brown, Providence. 
 
 CONNECTICUT. 
 
 ,1. p. Barstow, Norwich. Albert Day, Brooklvn. 
 
 Jas. a Bill, Bill Hill. Wm. C Osgood, Nbrw Ich. 
 
 Wm. i>. Holm in, West Willington. J. s. Kirkham, Kewin 
 
 w. F. Hurd, Forestville. Wm. K. Hurd, Bristol. 
 
 J. S. LARNKD, Putnam. HARVEY N. WEED, Stamford. 
 
 T. s. Hold. Wesl Cornwall. Alexander Warner, Pomfret. 
 
 MORGA5 (.. BULKLEY, Hartford. 
 
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 
 
 002 880 615 2 
 
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