114 PROCEEDINGS COTTESWOLD CLUB 1913 



The Ham Hill Stone belongs to the Upper Lias, and to the Moorei-Zone 

 of that Stage. It is therefore contemporaneous with a portion of the Cepha- 

 lopod-Bed in the neighbourhood of Stroud, and with clay with limestone- 

 masses at Bredon Hill. 



The top of Ham Hill has been very much disturbed by quarrying opera- 

 tions. Fortunately the great ramparts and ditches of the ancient camp have 

 not been interfered with much, and are very well preserved at the northern end 

 of the hill. They are three miles in circumference and enclose 210 acres. 

 The camp dates from pre-Roman times, but was occupied by the Romans, for 

 many Roman remains have been found, and at the northern end is a hollow — 

 probably once a Roman amphitheatre. 



A very fine view was obtained from the hill-top — Pilsdon Hill, the 

 Quantock Hills, Glastonbury Tor, Cranmore Tower on the Mendips, and Cad- 

 bury Castle near Sparkford, being plainly visible. 



At 5.30 p.m., after tea at the Fleur-de-lis, in Stoke-sub-Hamdon, the 

 drive was commenced for Yeovil. En route, as time permitted, a stop was 

 made to see the church at East Stoke (Plate XIII. , fig. 2). It is built 

 entirely of Ham Hill Stone, possesses a very interesting tympanum, and a 

 richly-ornate Norman arch between the chancel and nave. 



The Members caught the 6.7 p.m. train from Yeovil, and arrived at 

 Sherborne at 6.50. 



Mr W. N. Skillicorne was elected a Member of the Club, and Mr St. Clair 

 Baddeley and Mr C. O. Hanson were proposed for membership. 



FRIDAY 



On Friday morning the first item on the agenda was a visit to the milk 

 factory of the West Surrey Central Dairy Co. Ltd., at Sherborne. Mr Alfred 

 Gates, the manager, very kindly conducted the Members round the Works. 



In this factory, milk, direct from the cows, is converted into a powder, 

 " drymilk," of which there are three grades — with cream, with half-cream, and 

 without cream. The milk is delivered by a pipe into the hollow between two 

 highly-heated cylinders, set " iron to iron." The milk is almost instantane- 

 ously deprived of its water. The solid matter passes between the cylinders, 

 and is rolled out into very thin paper-like sheets. This substance is put 

 through a machine, consisting of a perforated cylinder in which revolves a 

 brush, which works the powdered matter through the holes into a bin. The 

 greater quantity of the powder is sold in this form, principally for infants' 

 food, but some is mixed with cocoa. All that is necessary to convert the 

 substance into a milk, or cocoa and milk, is to add boiling water. Above 

 five tons of the powder are manufactured each week. 



The advantage of the " dry milk " is that its process of manufacture 

 destroys all germs and spores but does not alter the milk constituents. Vari- 

 ous other methods have been practised for reducing the number of germs, for 

 retarding their development, and for destroying them — the principal of which 

 are ; — 



1. The exercise of greater cleanliness in dairying. This has done much 

 to reduce the number of germs, but, unfortunately, the reduced number pre- 

 sent multiply so rapidly in the course of a few hours that at the end of that 

 time the milk is thoroughly infected. 



2. Refrigeration, or the cooling of milk down to a low temperature- 

 This only retards the development of the bacteria present, and does not de- 

 prive them of their vitality. 



3. Pasteurisation. This consists in slowly heating milk to a temperature 

 of about 70 degrees C, in an ineffectual attempt to preserve its digestibility 

 while killing many of the less-resistent germs. 



