176 ADMINISTRATIVE SECTION 



discovery of the cause of the disease, and in 1821 

 Tennessee passed a law <c to prevent animals from 

 eating an unknown vegetable, thereby imparting to 

 their milk and flesh qualities highly deleterious." 



These were measures wholly in the interest of 

 the public health, but when the country became 

 cleared and settled the disease largely disappeared 

 and they were no longer operative. 



Many years passed without further milk legis- 

 lation, but eventually the dilution and skimming of 

 public supplies became so notorious as to give rise 

 to additional laws. The first of these laws was 

 enacted in Massachusetts in 1856, and later in many 

 other States. 



Although the original laws have mostly been 

 amended or superseded by more extensive measures, 

 their provisions to prohibit the sophistication of milk 

 have been continued. The primary object, however, 

 was to prevent fraud, and they were thus almost 

 wholly of economic import. In fact their passage 

 was brought about in some States at least by dairy- 

 men whose business was being jeopardized by 

 unscrupulous competitors. 



The chief official emphasis was placed on chemical 

 analyses to detect evidences of dilution or skimming. 

 A great amount of work was performed to perfect 

 standards and methods of examination, and as a 

 result some of them were incorporated in laws or 

 regulations. The total solids required were variously 

 fixed for whole milk at 12, 12 '50 and 13 per cent., 

 and the specific gravity at 1029. The 12 per cent, 

 total solids for whole milk remains the standard of 

 the Federal Government to-day. As a result of these 

 measures, the practice of diluting milk, which had 

 been general, was largely stopped. 



Practically coincident with the beginning of the 

 efforts to prevent adulteration of milk supplies was 

 the movement to prevent the feeding of milk cows. 



