Drugs affecting Milk. ^39 



Landsberg failed to detect morphine in the blood, urine or in 

 the organs, either after subcutaneous or intravenous injections, 

 and Stumpf and Pinzoni do not believe that after therapeutical 

 administration of morphine it will pass into the milk in demon- 

 strable quantities. This was found by Ittalie to be the case with 

 opium. 



Oil of turpentine is not eliminated with the milk (Ittalie), 

 and the same is true of santonin (Coronedi). 



Stumpf undertook experiments with pilocarpin without how- 

 ever being able to find the pilocarpin in the milk, although his 

 methods were unsatisfactory. 



Atropin and fluorescin administered subcutaneously, accord- 

 ing to Fugin and Bonanni, and Ittalie, may be demonstrated in 

 the milk. 



It shcmld also be mentioned here that according to Ostertag meat of poisoned 

 animals may be eaten without harm to the health. He established the fact that meat 

 from animals which have received medicinal agents for therapeutic purposes may be 

 consumed without any possibility of danger. The harmlessness of the meat of poisoned 

 animals has been established by Frohner and Knudsen for strychnia, eserin, piloearpin 

 and veratrin; by Harms for nux vomica and tartar emetic; by Feser for strychnine and 

 eserin; by Spallanzini and Zappa and Sonnenschein for arsenic; by Gautier for cotton- 

 seed cake ; by Feser for apomorphine ; by Peschel for colchicum ; by Warnke for morphine ; 

 and Albrecht for litharge. 



Of course milk may contain certain quantities of poison since the udder has a 

 special function as an excretory organ. The question of elimination of medicinal remedies, 

 however, is not of practical importance since the medicinal doses are relatively small 

 and their elimination occurs only in traces. 



In this entire question milk inspection is powerless. Through 

 educational advice by the consulting veterinarian the producers 

 may be reminded of their duty corresponding to the prohibitive 

 measures, not to include with milk for the market that produced 

 by animals which are under treatment with certain drugs. From 

 a hygienic standpoint only those remedies deserve mention which 

 are eliminated for a long period after their administration, as for 

 instance lead and medicines whose prolonged ingestion may pro- 

 duce disturbances of health even in the smallest doses. 



Considering the fact that in normal feeding with good feeds 

 of any kind the individual influence is paramount in milk produc- 

 tion, it becomes evident that in establishing regulations for pro- 

 curing children's milk more stress should be laid on the health of 

 the animals, on good attendance and care by healthy milkers, and 

 on thorough cleanliness of the stable, and cleanliness in procuring 

 and handling the milk, than on rigorous regulations for feeding 

 which cannot be satisfactorily carried out by the owner on economic 

 grounds, since he must utilize the by-products or refuse of any 

 industry of his vicinity. 



There is no reason why pasture milk, or milk obtained after 

 feeding green food should be excluded from the market as certified 

 or children's milk, especially if from a dietetical standpoint the 

 advantages of green feeds for cattle are considered, and the favora- 



