NEW YORK MILK COMMITTEE 153 



quent so that these animals could be taken out of the herds before 

 their infection had progressed to a point where there was any dan- 

 ger to the milk produced by the animals. There is a distinct dif- 

 ference between having lesions of tuberculosis in an animal, and 

 having milk from the animal containing tubercle bacilli. The ar- 

 rangement of the rules governing certified milk endeavors, by 

 means of the frequent tests, to catch the animals before there is 

 any danger of infection taking place from the animal infected. 

 So the fact that there are occasionally reactions in the herd does 

 not necessarily mean that the milk contains the bacilli of the dis- 

 ease. 



I believe that the motion is a sensible one and a sane one, stating, 

 as it does, that the certified milk is a reasonably safe milk. We 

 must not lose our sense of proportion and balance in discussing 

 these fine points, or we shall simply make ourselves ridiculous to 

 the men with whom we are trying to work. 



DR. GREEN: No one has come to the question at issue, Mr. 

 Chairman, at all. 



MR. DANA: To a layman, it seems rather peculiar that it would 

 be better to take 100,000 bacteria and kill them and feed them to 

 children, than to feed them milk with only 10,000 live bacteria in 

 it. I would rather eat a thousand live bacteria than make my 

 stomach a graveyard. 



MR. PHILLIPS: We are talking about questions of technique, 

 and we are forgetting that the lives of babies are at stake. Many 

 of the mothers of the present time do not know what constitutes a 

 safe milk for their babies, and it is essential for us, at this meet- 

 ing, to forget some of the little details and do all we can towards 

 giving these mothers a milk label which is endorsed by the Health 

 Department, and which will enable every mother in this city to 

 know that the milk which she purchases is reasonably safe for her 

 baby. I do not think Dr. Green would say that a milk from a 

 farm scoring seventy-five per cent and pasteurized in the manner 

 that has been described here, is ideal. None of these conditions 

 are ideal, but those first two classifications are reasonable. The 

 poor cannot afford to buy certified milk, and some other grade of 

 milk must be established for the poor, which is reasonably safe 

 for babies. 



I sincerely hope, speaking from a personal standpoint, that these 

 resolutions can be adopted. 



A VOICE: Mr. Chairman, I think the whole thing is misunder- 

 stood. There isn't anybody in this room who would attempt to 

 say that certified milk is not reasonably safe. 



THE CHAIRMAN: Yes, Dr. Green does so. 



