58 THE MILK QUESTION 



complaints, and opens the door to many infections. In 

 fact, the ordinary common bacteria found in dirt may, in 

 themselves, be harmful for babies, especially in the summer- 

 time. 



How can dirt hurt babies? Ordinary dirt may contain 

 yeast. Now yeast is one of the beneficial microbes. It is the 

 leaven which raises our bread and produces many fermented 

 beverages and delicacies prized since great antiquity. It is 

 scarcely possible to believe that ordinary yeast could hurt 

 anyone. Nevertheless, when a baby takes dirty milk con- 

 taining yeast, fermentation is apt to occur, the intestines 

 become enormously distended with gas, paralysis of the 

 bowels ensues, and death may result from this cause 

 alone. 



One of the humblest bacteria known is the hay bacillus, 

 called Bacillus subtilis, in scientific parlance. This microbe 

 is found almost everywhere, but especially in dirt. It very 

 frequently gets into the milk. It is usually regarded as an 

 entirely harmless and innocent citizen. But in unusual 

 numbers the hay bacillus may cause serious havoc in the 

 intestinal tract, especially of babies. It is capable of 

 causing putrefaction, with the production of poisonous 

 substances. When putrefaction occurs in the intestinal 

 tract, "auto-intoxication" may take place. It has been 

 shown that many a case of gastro-intestinal disturbance 

 in children is associated with excessive numbers of the 

 hay bacillus. 



Another microbe ordinarily found in common dirt is the 

 gas bacillus. Welch, who described this microbe, gave it 

 the technical name of B. oerogenes capsulatus. This organ- 

 ism may cause fatal diarrhoea in babies, and is the cause 

 of abnormal fermentation and a source of irritation and 

 dysentery even in the intestinal tracts of adults. 



We now know that some of the tubercle bacilli get into 

 milk with the cow dung. Therefore, keeping out dirt will 

 keep out a certain amount of this danger. Further, there 



