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nicated to the himian system ; there is au alTunclance of authority 

 for the assertion that, under conditions which sometimes exist, 

 milk may be, and probably is, a medium for conveying tubercu- 

 losis. This cannot be denied or disproved. There is an element 

 of danger in the use of milk. 



This danger, owing to circumstances hinted at above, but which 

 there is not space to amplify, has not been treated like the dan- 

 gers incident to railroad travel or the use of electricity ; but it has 

 been popularly discussed by extremists, — those who have exag- 

 gerated the real relative danger, and those who have belittled it. 

 The trouble with some who have discussed the possibility of germ 

 contamination of milk is that they have lost sight of the true rela- 

 tive position of affairs. While with one eye they have looked 

 through the microscope at the bacillus and seen it greatly enlarged, 

 they have looked at remaining qualities of milk with the other eye 

 unaided; hence they see the microscopic germ out of proportion to 

 the rest of the world. This has caused them to tell truth, but in 

 some instances to present it out of a proper relation to other 

 things. In attempting to refute this error, other persons have 

 carelessly but honestly gone to the other extreme of denying the 

 statements of the scientific observers, declaring the whole germ 

 theory to be a hoax and a humbug. They have pointed out the 

 well-known fact that people have used milk in large quantities ever 

 since history began ; that the population of the world has steadily 

 grown, and that the average life of man has been increasing ; that 

 tuberculosis is decreasing. This kind of talk has gone so far that 

 in one case we have read of a man offering to take daily potions 

 of milk impregnated with the bacilli of tuberculosis, as an object 

 lesson proving their harmlessness. 



I am familiar with a town through which a railroad has run for 

 many years. One of the principal streets crosses the track at 

 grade, and hundreds of people pass and repass every day. I have 

 frequently crossed the rails at that point myself, without any 

 apparent risk. But one day an omnibus with some of the most 

 promising and best-known young men in town was being driven 

 over the crossing. In some way the driver failed to be aware of 

 au approaching train, which crashed into the vehicle, killing and 

 maiming some six or eight persons. A thrill of horror ran through 

 the community, and a prompt recognition of the danger of the 

 crossing was on every one's tongue. Immediately it was decided 

 that something must be done, and the corporation was compelled 

 to station a flagman there. At that time, would an offer from me 

 to walk to and fro over that crossing every day for a year, as 



