THE ETHICS OF FOOD 543 



of the diet are required, and it is frequently several months 

 before the infant fully recovers. 



In the worst cases, when the infant has received considerable 

 amounts of preservatives, such as boric acid, over a consider- 

 able period, the atrophy of the digestive glands may be quite 

 incurable and death ensues after a lingering illness characterised 

 by much pain and suffering. 



Such a practice requires to be dealt with by the legislature 

 in no uncertain manner. In the opinion of the writer all such 

 deliberate offences should come under the criminal law. They 

 are offences of commission, not of omission, so that they need 

 to be dealt with in a manner which shall leave offenders in no 

 doubt as to the public view of the nature of their offence. That 

 physicians should be hampered in their treatment of infants and 

 young children because the " fresh " milk, recommended by them 

 and ordered by the parents, contains boric acid is an altogether 

 intolerable state of affairs and should be dealt with accordingly. 



Great harm has been done by the persistent advocacy of 

 " boiled " milk. The boiling of milk is quite ineffectual as a 

 means of protection ; the advocacy of the practice has done 

 more than anything else to mislead the public and to encourage 

 all sorts of wild expedients which leave the essential problems 

 untouched. There is only one way in which clean milk can 

 be obtained, namely by ensuring cleanliness and sanitation 

 from its production to its delivery and giving special attention 

 to the peculiar hygienic precautions indicated by the peculiar 

 qualities and properties of milk. 



The Infants Hospital, Westminster, obtains its milk from 

 a farm directly under the control of the hospital authorities ; 

 as the procedures adopted at this farm afford a complete and 

 practical illustration of sanitary milk-production, they may be 

 described in some detail. The milking sheds have been arranged 

 so as to allow of thorough ventilation, ample light, rapid and 

 efficient cleaning. The sheds are provided with hydrants and 

 are thoroughly flushed out twice a day, immediately prior to the 

 cows entering the shed for milking. This flushing ensures that 

 the floor and stalls are wet when the cows enter, so that the 

 raising of dust in the shed at and about the time of milking is 

 reduced to a minimum. No drains are allowed to enter the 

 sheds. The floors are of solid concrete and all excremental and 

 other material is flushed by water along open channels into a 



