278 THE MILK QUESTION 



that the bottles are disinfected and dry quickly when re- 

 moved. If the disinfection of the bottle depends upon hot 

 water in the washing-machine the greatest care must be 

 exercised to see that it is really steaming hot (automatic 

 registering thermometers should be used), and that the 

 exposure is sufficiently long. I have found in several in- 

 stances, especially in the older types of machine, that the 

 water was not hot enough to destroy infection, and a false 

 sense of security is thus engendered. 



Brewers, who have had a long experience in the washing 

 of bottles, have machines for this purpose which, as a rule, 

 are superior to the machines used in dairies. It is not 

 pleasant to visit the bottling- and pasteurizing-plant of 

 a modern brewery after inspecting a dairy. The contrast 

 is painfully in favor of the beer, which is another organic 

 beverage that spoils readily and must be handled with 

 many of the precautions necessary in the case of milk. 



No bottle should be filled with milk unless it has first 

 been disinfected. Practically the only efficient and reliable 

 manner to accomplish this is to flood the bottle inside and 

 out with scalding hot water or to subject it to live steam. 

 It only requires a few moments at the boiling temperature 

 for water or steam to kill all the harmful bacteria that con- 

 cern us in this connection. It may be a surprise to know 

 that many of the milk bottles in current use are filled and 

 again sent into the trade with no pretense of disinfection. 

 This is a real potential danger, and may well be given the 

 serious attention of the health officer. The law should re- 

 quire all milk containers to be disinfected after each use 

 or before they are again filled. 



Milk bottles should always be thoroughly cleansed by 

 the householder before they are returned. Boston, New 

 York, Chicago, and other cities have a law requiring this 

 to be done. Milk bottles should not be removed from a 

 house in which there is a communicable disease, such as 

 typhoid fever, scarlet fever, diphtheria, etc. In such cases 



