DR. J. W. KERR'S PAPER 177 



on distillery slops and garbage. In New York 

 this movement was begun in 1841 and continued 

 until a State law was passed. By 1867 " the swill 

 milk nuisance " had been practically abated in the 

 city of New York, but it persisted to some extent 

 for many years thereafter in other places, certainly 

 up to 1907, when I saw distillery slop being fed to 

 cows of a so-called certified dairy. 



Frequently associated with "the swill milk 

 nuisance " was the practice in large cities of keeping 

 considerable numbers of cows constantly in over- 

 crowded, badly-ventilated and poorly-lighted stables. 

 This practice was undoubtedly encouraged by the 

 availability of distillery waste and household slops, 

 also by the lack of adequate transportation facilities 

 prevailing forty years ago, and was responsible in 

 part for beginning the appointment of milk inspectors 

 who would control nuisances in cities where such 

 conditions then existed. 



There is little evidence, however, of any great 

 activity on the part of States and municipalities to 

 control milk supplies prior to i 880, and all legislation 

 enacted had been aimed almost entirely at the 

 prevention of the dilution and skimming of milk, 

 the feeding of distillery wastes and the overcrowding 

 of town cow stables. The first epoch in the history 

 of milk control may be said, therefore, to have 

 covered the quarter of a century prior to 1880, and 

 related essentially to the prevention of fraud. 



During all this time, however, the medical pro- 

 fession attributed the high infant mortality in cities in 

 part at least to impoverished milk supplies. While 

 the heat of summer was regarded generally as the 

 great factor in the production of infant morbidity, the 

 fact that the heat was practically as high in the 

 adjoining country, where children did well, made it 

 apparent that defective milk supplies were also a 

 factor, and in the seventies the health officer of one 



