10 THE MODERN MILK PROBLEM 



THE "INVISIBLE CLOAK" OF 

 CONTAMINATION 



Dirt and Milk 



Though it is not fanciful to speak of milk as a symbol 

 of beneficence, it must not be forgotten that its veil 

 of innocence may hide possible dangers. Most white 

 things readily show soiling; milk, as someone has re- 

 marked, stands almost alone in absorbing without ob- 

 vious sign all but the grossest contamination. The 

 amount of dirt to use the mildest term which can 

 be added to a bottle of milk without visibly affecting 

 its virgin whiteness is almost unbelievable. Of each 

 dose of such contamination some is dissolved, some half- 

 floats in suspension among multitudinous obscuring 

 fat-globules, and some settles to the bottom, where least 

 likely to be observed: only a fraction remains on the 

 top or otherwise visible. The ordinary milk bottle 

 tells no tales. 



That the opportunities for such contamination under 

 present-day conditions in the dairy industry are many 

 is well recognized by all who are familiar with milk 

 sanitation. In Fig. 3 is shown the long and broken 

 route which may be required for country milk to reach 

 the city consumer. At each stage of the journey is the 

 possibility of contamination or deterioration of the 

 product. Dirt and manure particles from the flanks 

 and udder of the cow, l\air and dandruff from her hide, 

 the manurial dust of the stable, the questionable hands 

 of the milker, the unclean milk pail contaminated with 

 the decomposed dregs of the previous milking, or rinsed 



