136 THE DISEASES AND DISORDERS OF THE OX. 



milk by means of the contact of that fluid with the exhalations 

 of patients, or they may be communicated to it by the addition 

 of water into which some infective excretion has been acci- 

 dentally introduced in consequence of faulty drainage or 

 other hygienic defects or shortcomings. The chief part of the 

 danger is owing to the fact that milk is a liquid most admirably 

 suited to the growth and multiplication of germs, so much so, in 

 fact, that if only a few gain entrance into it, they very readily 

 multiply, and this is, we may suppose, one of the chief reasons 

 why milk is so liable to become a means of infection. Moreover, 

 the source of the danger may be of a more direct kind even 

 than this. It is true that in the case of tuberculosis we cannot 

 be quite certain that human beings become infected with this 

 disease as a result of the consumption of either the flesh or the 

 milk of tuberculous oxen. However, with reference to the trans- 

 missibility of scarlet fever from oxen to human beings, the recent 

 evidence supplied by Mr. Power and Drs. Klein and Cameron is 

 well-nigh conclusive, and we may almost feel quite certain that 

 one of the most fruitful sources of the dissemination of scarlet 

 fever in our midst is the drinking of that most nutritious but yet 

 at times most dangerous article of diet — milk. It has been 

 proved that bovine animals may be affected with a disease 

 apparently so mild in nature that it may merely be noticed as a 

 slight eruption, but at the same time capable of spreading scarlet 

 fever far and wide amongst unsuspecting families. Hence we 

 cannot be too careful in regard to the selection of the milk we 

 use, and it is in all cases a very wise precaution to raise the 

 temperature of that fluid to just below boiling point; and to keep 

 it at that temperature for some little time, since this is said to 

 be sufficient to kill the streptococci of scarlet fever, if they be 

 present therein. Moreover, the milk of one infected cow is 

 sufficient to vitiate all the milk of a dairy, if it be mixed with 

 that of others, for these vegetal germs will thrive and multiply 

 rapidly, and a very few of them will soon lead to almost 

 incredible swarms. 



In reference to this most important topic we here insert the 

 following hints culled from an able leader in The Times of 

 December 6th, 1888 : — 



A Report, by Professor Brown, C.B., on Eruptive Diseases of the Teats and 

 Udders in Cows, in Relation to Scarlet Fever in Man, has recently been issued 



