Commissioner of Agriculture. 43 



tors of the statute, and that they are paying more respect to it 

 as time goes on. 



The milk question is one of great concern to everybody, as 

 nearly everybody is a purchaser or consumer of the same. One 

 of the particular methods of adulterating milk has been, dur- 

 ing the extreme warm months to add to it preservaline. 

 Some of these preservalines are made from formaldehyde, a 

 chemical substance that is said to be poisonous and may 

 be injurious even in small quantities to the human system. 

 Many apparently well meaning milkmen and men with rep- 

 utations for integrity have used it under representations 

 made to them that its use was not only harmless, but ben- 

 eficial. The following fallacious argument has been used, viz: 

 That it could not harm any commodity to put something into it 

 that simply preserved it in its original state; that everybody 

 preserved fruit so as to have it as near as possible in its original 

 state at the time of the year when it could not be grown. This 

 argument has convinced a great many and they have used the 

 commodity only to find themselves in trouble thereafter for 

 using it. I am informed by those competent to speak upon the 

 subject that the preservaline hinders, if it does not stop, that 

 decomposition which is necessary to rapid and complete diges- 

 tion. The fact that these statements and arguments have been 

 used as they have been to many of the dealers accounts for 

 many of the violations of the milk law which have been reported 

 to the Attorney-General. At the present time some of the 

 cities of the State are seriously considering the effect upon the 

 human system of milk containing too many bacteria of a given 

 kind. This question is not only an intensely interesting one, 

 but a very complicated one. It might well be termed, " A small 

 question on a large scale." It is with much difficulty that we 

 can procure assistance that is competent to pass upon this ques- 

 tion, but in view of the fact it is the coming question and one 

 that is being strongly agitated in some of the cities in the State 

 of New York of milk containing more than a given number of 

 bacteria to the cubic centimeter, I have been doing what I could 



