1899] MICROSCOPICAL JOURNAL. 21 



learn from the more practical medical microscopy of the 

 schools. 



The efforts being made in favor of pure food must ne- 

 cessarily bring the scientific physician into this field of 

 research and his services will be required to assist the 

 proper authorities in their regulation of this matter. He 

 should be able to detect adulterations in nearly all forms 

 of food products. The public regards him as the guardian 

 of its health ; to merit the confidence reposed in him he 

 must of necessity know something of these questions and 

 how to investigate them. A special microscopist or chemist 

 cannot reside in every country village, and the simple 

 forms of this work must be done by the physician. He 

 should be able, by modern methods, to detect a tubercu- 

 lous cow and to analyze and examine infected milk. At 

 present an overwhelming weight of evidence points to 

 the presence of bacilli in the milk of infected cows. It 

 is not necessary that tuberculous ulcers should be 

 present on the udders. Bacilli have been demonstrated 

 in the milk from udders without tuberculous lesions dis- 

 coverable to the naked eye. One should be able to care- 

 fully make the tuberculine test, and, if necessary, to 

 verify it after death by a microscopical examination. 



The physician should be able to inspect meat, and to 

 detect impurities in lard, spices, starches, and various 

 other food products. In the great pork packing estab- 

 lishments of Chicago, female microscopists are constantly 

 employed and from each slaughtered hog, a small piece of 

 the diaphragm is extracted and placed under the micro- 

 scope in order to detect the trichina spiralis if present. 

 This was made necessary by discrimination abroad 

 against our meat products. It is high time we at home 

 took some steps to protect ourselves, and demand an of- 

 ficial inspection of all meat sold to the public, by a com- 

 petent officer. The physician must prove the best quali- 

 fied person for this work, if he is well informed in mi- 



