36 Dairy Bacteriology. 



able him to obtain a firmer grasp, a pinch of vaseline may 

 be used. Any scales or dirt rubbed from the teat would 

 be held by the vaseline and its effect on sore or chapped 

 teats is healing. 



Freudenreich * reports some experiments in which the 

 germ content of milk was reduced from several thousand 

 to 200 where the hands were well rubbed with vaseline 

 before milking. Where a stringent control is exercised, it 

 is worth while to have the milker clothed in a suit kept 

 for this purpose, especially the upper portion of the body. 

 An outer garment could easily be slipped over the regular 

 working clothes. This garment should be white so as to 

 necessitate frequent washing. 



Use Of milking machines. Numerous attempts have 

 been made to reduce the process of milking to a mechan- 

 ical basis by the introduction of a milking machine and 

 with some of these devices a bacteriological examination 

 has been made. Harrison 8 found that milk drawn from 

 the animal with the Thistle machine was much richer in 

 bacteria than hand-drawn milk. This was due to the 

 suction applied to the external surface of the teat and 

 udder, which caused the introduction of dust particles. In 

 the Murchland machine, 3 the keeping quality of the milk 

 was fully equal to that drawn in the usual way. 



Exclusion Of dirt. Scrupulous care will greatly mini- 

 mize the extent of infection from dirt and dust, carding 

 and brushing the udder and flanks will remove loose hairs 

 and considerable adherent dirt, but so long as the coat is 

 dry, dust particles and bacteria are readily dislodged. It 

 is generally thought that if these visible evidences of dirt 



1 Freudenreich, Die Bakteriologie, p. 80. 



a Harrison, Cent. f. Bakt., II Abt. 1809, 5:183. 



Dyrsdale, Trans. High. & Agr. Soc. Scotland, 5 Sen, 1898, 10:166. 



