SOURCES OF INFECTION IN THE STABLE. 41 



matter how many the milkers and cows are, the same, and 

 often scant supply of water has to do service for all through- 

 out the milking. It is natural that bacteria in this way 

 will accumulate in the wa-ter, and that the washing will do 

 more harm than good. The practice which some persons 

 have of dipping their fingers into the milk during the 

 milking, in order to give them the desired degree of moist- 

 ure, is nothing short of horrid. 



Milking with Wet Hands. The milking ought in no 

 case to be done with wet hands a custom so common that 

 we even sometimes hear it asserted that it is impossible to 

 milk with dry hands. This is, however, not only possible, 

 but far more, an absolute necessity. Milking with wet hands 

 cannot be a clean operation, a Danish author says, and 

 correctly ; for even if the teats are wiped dry and cleaned 

 in the most careful manner they are not so clean but that 

 the hands of the milker, if wet, may be soiled by touching 

 them. 



Manner of Milking. The milking is with us usually 

 done in the way that two fingers, or at best the whole hand, 

 is made to press along the teats, and the milk is thus 

 driven out of them. This method is, however, to be re- 

 jected. The strong pulling on the teats is not agreeable 

 to the cows, and may even give rise to cracking and dis- 

 eases of the udder. The milk is not formed in the teats, 

 and the elaboration of the milk is not therefore forwarded 

 by stretching them. Only by a deliberate and quiet press- 

 ure of the milk out of the teats and an irritation of the 

 lower part of the udder can a complete clean-milking be 

 obtained, and at the same time the secretion of milk will be 

 promoted. The method of milking common with us ought 

 to be rejected for the further reason that it contributes 



