272 Original Articles. [ April, 
allowed to remain for some hours on the glass. At a there are five 
of them, and others will be seen among the milk globules. Some of 
the blood discs have assumed a stellate form, but the dark centre is 
equally apparent in each. 
On the subject of the Adulteration of Milk, and the means of Detection, 
nearly every writer mentions a number of materials said to be used 
in London, and other large towns, for the purpose of so improving the 
colour and consistency of milk that the water added to increase the 
bulk may not be so readily discovered. Whatever skill the milkman 
of the olden time may have possessed in this departinent of his trade, 
it seems to us that he of the present day is deficient in the modesty 
which afflicted his predecessor. We find now, at any rate, the 
*cerulean fluid” poured unblushingly into our jugs without an effort 
to disguise the sophistication, which, however harmless, not the less 
defrauds us of our due percentage of the coveted cream. So honestly, 
indeed, is the practice indulged in that we know more than one dairy- 
man of tender conscience who professes to supply milk of undoubted 
quality for the consumption of invalids and babies, while the robust 
are treated to an attenuation of the most unsubstantial kind. 
The prevalent system of adulteration, we are convinced, consists 
in the admixture of water. Where the demand at certain seasons par- 
ticularly exceeds the supply, the cow with the iron tail never fails 
to meet all demands however, unreasonable, and doubtless deserves 
the reputation, so long ago acquired, of being the milkman’s best 
friend. 
Besides the intentional dilution of milk, there is a natural dilution 
dependent upon the derangement of the secretive function by the food, 
as is the case when such matters are supplied as distillery waste, 
bran mashes, grass from irrigated meadows, mangold tops, and acid 
slops, obtained by allowing barley meal, cabbage leaves, and other 
vegetable matters mixed with a great deal of water to pass through 
the lactic acid fermentation. The effect of such food is to induce the 
secretion of a large amount of water, and thus of necessity a poor 
quality of milk. 
Whether the dilution of milk be intentional, or the result of 
certain influences acting upon the system, is to the consumer a matter 
of secondary importance, the great question being with him whether 
the milk is of good or bad quality. - 
My own experience leads me to conclude that a specimen of milk 
is rich when it contains 12 per cent. of solid matters, and about 3 
per cent. of pure fat ; anything above this is of extra rich quality. 
Good average milk contains 10 to 11 per cent. of dry matter, and 
about 22 per cent. of pure fat. It yields 9 to 10 per cent. of cream. 
Poor milk, whether naturally or artificially diluted, contains 90 
per cent. of water, and less than 2 per cent. of pure fat, ana yields 
only 4 to 8 per cent. of cream. 
For the purpose of determining the quality of milk, numerous 
instruments have been at various times invented ; some of them are of 
doubtful utility, and nearly all require great tact on the part of the 
manipulator. 
