276 THE MILK QUESTION 



source of irritation and trouble and a considerable item on 

 the wrong column of the ledger. 



The liability of the milk bottle to convey infection is its 

 most serious disadvantage. The bottle may become in- 

 fected in the household in a great variety of ways. To cite 

 instances: A person with diphtheria may drink from the 

 bottle, or it may be taken into a sick-room occupied by a 

 child with scarlet fever, or it may be wiped with cloths that 

 have been infected from a case of typhoid fever, or it may 

 be rinsed with infected water. Milk bottles are sometimes 

 used to hold urine, tuberculous sputum, and other discharges 

 from the body. If such a bottle is again filled with milk 

 without proper disinfection grave consequences may ensue. 



The milk bottles are occasionally infected from the 

 hands of the driver, the cook, or other person. A case in 

 point illustrates this danger. A driver of one of the milk 

 wagons in Washington had an open sore on his finger fol- 

 lowing scarlet fever. We now know that these running 

 sores after scarlet fever frequently contain the germs of 

 that disease. This particular driver left a trail of scarlet 

 fever along his route. The cases stopped abruptly when 

 the fact was discovered and the driver was removed. Milk 

 bottles may also become infected in the dairy if not prop- 

 erly cared for; also during transportation. 



The manner in which milk bottles are cleaned at the 

 dairy before they are again filled would not meet with the 

 approval of a careful housewife. In fact, the cleaning of 

 milk bottles is a custom more honored in the breach than 

 in the observance. 



In the dairy the bottles are usually cleaned during the 

 daytime and then allowed to stand overnight in order to 

 dry and cool. Not infrequently the bottles are left in an 

 exposed place to collect dust and attract flies and 

 roaches. Flies are the bane of a dairy, and unless the bot- 

 tles are inverted and carefully protected they are apt to 

 become soiled. During the still hours of the night mice 



