Streptococcic Mastitis. 87 



quantities of mastitis streptococci are sufficient for the production 

 of severe intestinal affections. 



V. On December 17, 1907, a sample of boiled milk was brought to the official 

 milk control station of Munich; about a half hour after the drinking of this milk the 

 man who delivered the milk, and his family, as well as a neighboring family using milk 

 of the same origin, became sick. The milk contained 1.5:1000 streptococcic pus. It orig- 

 inated from a large dairy. Three producers and one distributor were suspected. In 

 tracing down the cause of the trouble two producers were found whose herds contained 

 six animals with affected udders, their milk being mixed with the whole milk. 



The affection was marked by chills, diarrhea, headaches, and lasted not quite an 

 entire day. The milk constituted the only common food partaken by all, and there- 

 fore could be considered, although not with absolute certainty, as the probable cause. 



From the examples cited it may be seen that the drinking of 

 milk which contains the secretion of streptococcic infected udders 

 is capable, under certain conditions, of producing injurious 

 effects upon the health of human beings. Considering the fre- 

 quency of the disease, and the numerous cases where the prohi- 

 bition of milking affected udders into the whole milk is disre- 

 garded, it is to be wondered at that affections which could be 

 traced to the drinking of such milk are not observed with greater 

 frequency. 



This may be due to the fact that the secretion of affected 

 'quarters is usually very greatly diluted with the milk of healthy 

 quarters, showing that the harmful actions are not necessarily 

 induced by the predomination of the injurious material, and fur- 

 ther it may also be due to the fact that the milk is mostly used 

 after being boiled (Trommsdorff, Jensen). That the boiling of 

 the milk is not always sufficient to destroy the injurious properties 

 may be seen from the cases of Hoist and Lameris and van Har- 

 reveld; the milk of course is marketed in a raw state, and must 

 therefore be judged in the condition in which it is sold. 



The factors which induce the harmfulness of the milk from 

 streptococcic animals are not known. Whether the injurious 

 factors are due to the toxin produced by the streptococci of 

 mastitis, or to the products of the disease, as for instance pus 

 (Jensen), or to streptococci which are pathogenic to man as such, 

 cannot at the present time be definitely determined. This, how- 

 ever, is of little importance from a practical standpoint. Some 

 authors, such as Petruschky and Kriebel, consider that infected 

 cows are the sources of milk streptococci, and that these are the 

 principal cause of the summer mortality of children. Seiffert 

 considers the streptococci originating from affected udders as 

 more dangerous than the saprophytic streptococci which contam- 

 inate the milk as a result of unclean milking. This view was also 

 expressed by the author in May, 1908, and was confirmed by 

 Trommsdorff. 



Neither studies nor animal experiments have succeeded up to 

 the present time in proving the harmfulness of the streptococci 

 by themselves, or the relationship of the mastitis streptococci to 

 human pathogenic strains of streptococci, the animal experiments 



