630 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



been definitely traced to milk have been in small communities, and 

 none traced to the milk of large dealers. It is true that it would be 

 difficult or impossible to trace to the milk a typhoid epidemic which 

 might occur in a large city, l^o one is likely to receive the milk 

 from the same source for two days in succession, and the mixing 

 which the milk receives in the receiving station entirely obliterates 

 the individual source. If there should be some milk brought to the 

 city which contained typhoid bacteria it would be impossible to 

 determine the fact, for such milk, after mixing, would be thor- 

 oughly scattered beyond any possibility of following it. We may, 

 then, question somewhat the significance of the fact, but it certainly 

 is true that while serious epidemics have been caused by milk in 

 smaller cities no such instance has occurred in the large cities, or 

 been traced to the milk furnished by companies that handle it in 

 considerable amounts. It would seem that if milk has ever been 

 the cause of such diseases in large cities there ought to have been 

 some evidence of the fact obtained. 



It is probable, therefore, that the small community can hardly 

 feel itself any better off in regard to the milk supply than the larger 

 city. It is, of course, easier to trace responsibility for bad milk if 

 we know where it comes from, but it is less likely to be very bad if it 

 comes from a large number of sources and is thoroughly mixed. 

 The milk in the large city is perhaps forty-eight hours old when it 

 is received by the consumer. But it has been kept on ice, has per- 

 haps been filtered, and many of its bacteria may have been killed 

 by the long-continued cold temperature. So far as concerns the 

 bacteria question, our milk which is thus two days old, appears to 

 be actually superior to milk delivered in European cities, which is 

 only a few hours old. The free use of ice in our milk car produces 

 a more favorable result than the more rapid handling which the 

 milk receives in Europe. The milk company controlling a large 

 territory, with great resources at its command, can put into prac- 

 tice rules which even public statute can not enforce, and which 

 the individual farmer will rarely do by himself. One who is ac- 

 quainted with the methods of handling milk in our cities finds that 

 the companies are each year improving their methods, and that the 

 milk is in most places becoming more reliable. The proper solu- 

 tion of the milk supply for our communities is in the formation of 

 large companies, provided they are managed partly for the benefit 

 of the public and not wholly for money-making. 



There is little question that the public has become somewhat 

 suspieipus of milk, and that many hesitate to drink it as freely as 

 in earlier years. This suspicion is more pronounced in Europe 

 than in the United States. Upon the continent of Europe the 



