COPENHAGEN MILK-SUPPLY COMPANY 89 



to be scientifically tested, and of course any milk that 

 falls under suspicion, which it does but rarely, is set 

 aside. This milk when it arrives cannot be described 

 as "warm from the cow,'* as I was told that owing 

 to its preliminary treatment on the farms, its tempera- 

 ture is generally about 40 Fahrenheit. 



After testing, the cans are emptied through a sieve 

 into vats. Near to these is another great vat filled 

 with a mixture of two parts of ice to one of salt and 

 water. This stuff is pumped into what are called 

 Laurence coolers that stand about twelve feet high, 

 over which coolers the milk is also pumped, leaving 

 them at a temperature of 40 Fahrenheit. Next it 

 runs into an enamelled tank, whence it is forced 

 through a filter of cloths and fine gravel, which gravel 

 is sterilised every day after use. Thence it travels 

 into large tanks, whence it is drawn about three in the 

 morning for distribution amongst the customers of 

 the company, by means of special carts, which I will 

 describe later. It is not "pasteurised" in any way. 



Mr. Busck emphatically disapproves of all such 

 sterilising or pasteurisation, which, he said, kills 

 everything that is good in the milk, including the 

 lactic-acid bacteria, and makes it unwholesome for 

 children. He told me, moreover, that whereas ordi- 

 nary sour milk can be detected by its taste, sterilised 

 milk will go rotten without advertising the fact in 

 this way, and therefore is particularly dangerous. 



I suggested to him that notwithstanding all his 

 multifarious precautions, disease germs, such as those 

 of typhoid or scarlet fever, might creep into his milk 

 and remain unscotched by any treatment that it re- 

 ceives. He answered that this was so ; that risk 

 must be taken. Still I did not gather that anything 



