2l8 AGRICULTURAL BACTERIOLOGY. 



1. The bacteria spores arc not destroyed, and such milk will 

 subsequently undergo a fermentation even more surely than if 

 treated by superheated steam. This is, however, of little im- 

 portance, since the milk which is simply boiled will not be kept 

 for weeks, as will the " sterilized " milk put up in bottles, and 

 if it is used within a day or two these spores will not have had 

 opportunity to do any injury before the milk is consumed. 



2. The milk acquires the well-known taste of boiled milk 

 which is, to most people, unpleasant. People are willing to 

 take boiled milk upon an emergency as an invalid diet, but 

 few will continue its use. The taste is not enjoyed, and rather 

 than drink boiled milk the majority of people will give up 

 drinking milk altogether. This is certainly not desirable since 

 milk forms one of the best and cheapest foods. Any treat- 

 ment which greatly reduces the amount used is in itself unde- 

 sirable, and the practice of boiling milk certainly does greatly 

 reduce the amount used. 



3. Milk treated to a temperature as high as boiling becomes 

 somewhat less easy of digestion and assimilation. The heat 

 produces several important changes which result in its being 

 less easily handled by the digestive organs. The difference is 

 not very great and a strong individual is able to handle such 

 milk well enough ; but delicate children and invalids are not so 

 well nourished upon boiled milk as upon raw milk. 



4. Boiling milk is a treatment which has not proved practi- 

 cal to adopt on a large scale at a central source of supply. It 

 offers, therefore, no assistance either to the producer or to the 

 distributer in enabling him to furnish milk which, since it keeps 

 longer, gives greater satisfaction. 



For these various reasons the practice of treating milk with 

 a boiling temperature has not increased in recent years as it 

 was at first believed it would. It is certainly very extensively 

 used in private families, and is still widely recommended as a 

 means of guarding against disease distribution through milk. 



