THE MILK QUESTION 



out of the state it is fairly within the discretion confided with 

 boards of health to exclude also milk, the produce of cattle, which 

 it has proved at times may convey disease. 



Great as is the power confided in boards of health, it must stop 

 short of arbitrary action and the means must bear some reason- 

 able relation to the protection of public health. The Montclair 

 Board of Health has been careful to avoid arbitrary action. 



It gave the Borden Company ample time so that the 

 farmers from whom it derives its milk might comply with 

 the regulation, and further, the board was fair to the pro- 

 ducers in that it provided an alternative, namely, pasteur- 

 ization. The court concluded that the ordinance in question 

 is valid. 



The conclusion is inevitable. Raw milk from cows hav- 

 ing tuberculosis should not be sold. 



Tuberculosis in hogs. The question of tuberculosis in 

 hogs is exceedingly interesting in its relation to tuber- 

 culosis in cattle. Hogs are very susceptible to tuberculosis 

 and are apt to contract the infection either by drinking 

 milk containing tubercle bacilli or by being permitted to 

 feed upon cow faeces containing the same. In recent years 

 the custom has grown for certain dairies to use skim milk 

 and for cheese factories to use the whey, by feeding it to 

 hogs. This practice has resulted in a marked increase in 

 the amount of tuberculosis in hogs so fed. To such a 

 marked degree has this become that buyers have learned 

 to avoid certain districts on this account. In any event, 

 the price paid is lower in anticipation of losses from con- 

 demned carcasses or parts. In the corn belt, pigs are raised 

 by allowing them in the fields with cattle. There they feed 

 upon the droppings which, as we know, frequently contain 

 tubercle bacilli. Such swine have an unusually large per- 

 Jcentage of tuberculosis. All this tuberculosis in swine is 

 ingestion tuberculosis; that is, affects especially the glands 

 I and internal organs draining from the digestive tract. 



