80 Dairy Bacteriology. 



may sometimes serve as a means of disseminating such 

 troubles. Infection of the milk doubtless comes in the 

 case of this disease from direct contact with a person 

 suffering from the malady. 



Cholera. "While this disease is of no practical impor- 

 tance in America, owing to its relative infrequency, yet 

 outbreaks of cholera have been traced to milk, in spite 

 of the fact that the causal organism is more sensitive 

 to the action of acids than most disease-producing bac- 

 teria. In several outbreaks in India, milk has been the 

 medium through which the disease was spread. Gen- 

 erally, infection of the milk has been traced to the use 

 of polluted water. 



Children's diseases. An exceedingly high mortality 

 exists among infants and young children in the more 

 congested centers, especially during the summer 

 months. In the main, the cause of these troubles is due 

 to intestinal disturbances, and unquestionably, the 

 character of the food enters largely into the problem. 

 As milk constitutes such a large proportion of the diet 

 of the young, and is so susceptible to bacterial invasion, 

 it would appear probable that much of the trouble of 

 this character is due to the condition of this food sup- 

 ply. This is rendered more probable when it is remem- 

 bered that bottle-fed infants suffer a much higher mor- 

 tality than breast-fed children, due probably to the 

 fact that the lengthened period between the time the 

 milk is drawn and consumed permits of abundant bac- 

 terial growth. Much carelessness also prevails among 

 the poor in cities, relative to the care of utensils used 

 in feeding children. Nursing bottles often serve to 

 infect the milk. Where milk is pasteurized, or prop- 



