1896.] MICROSCOPICAL JOURNAL. 185 



animals were not groomed, the cowsheds were not flushed 

 with water soof tenas they oug-ht to be ; the hands and clothing- 

 of the milkers were not properly attended to, nor were the 

 teats of the udder cleaned. In November, 1894, experi- 

 ments were beg-un in Edinburgh, and continued until now. 

 More than 300 samples of milk were examined from 50 

 dairies, widely scattered over the city. It was found that 

 at three hours after milking there were, on an averag-e per 

 cubic centimetre, in winter 24,700 bacteria, in spring- and 

 early summer 44,000, and in late summer and autumn 173,- 

 000. It was found that in dairies supplied by milk from 

 the country the averag-e number of micro-org-anisms five 

 hours after milking was 41,000 per cubic centimetre, while 

 in dairies supplied by milk from town daries the averag-e 

 was 352,000 per cubic centimetre. This fact illustrated 

 the importance of having- cowsheds outside of the city. In 

 discussing- the various methods of sterilising- milk, it was 

 pointed out that the great objection to the use of sterilised 

 milk was the chang-e of its flavor and, according- to many, 

 its decreased dig-estibility. The conclusions were that 

 milk kept for one hour at 212 deg-rees, in bottles hermet- 

 ically sealed remained sterile for more than a month, and 

 was quite sweet and palatable, thoug-h it had a boiled taste; 

 that milk heated by means of Dr. Cathcart's apparatus re- 

 mained quite sterile for forty-eight hours, thoug-h the 

 boiled taste was marked; that milk kept for thirty minutes 

 at 158 deg-rees, Fahr., was quite sterileatthe end of twenty- 

 four hours, aud contained very few microbes at the end of 

 forty-eight hours. In all these three methods the micro- 

 org-anisms of tubercle and diphtheria were certainly killed. 

 Scalding- at 176 deg-rees, Fahr., with every precaution, kept 

 the milk sterile for twenty-four hours; but in carrying- out 

 this process on a larg-e scale, there was considerable risk 

 of post-scalding contamination, so that there was no g-uar- 

 antee that the bacillus of tubercle and diphtheria, if pre- 

 sent, was destroyed. — Eng-lish Mechanic. 



The Fate of Micro-organisms in Inspired Air. — Thomp- 

 son and Hewlett (British Medical Journal, Jan. 18, 1896) 



