THE MILK SITUATION IN THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA. 323 



fever, or diphtheria, and filled by the dealer, contrary to law, without being 

 thoroughly cleansed and properly sterilized, they are a source of danger. The 

 constant presence of many mild cases of disease so mild that a correct diagnosis 

 is not made by the physician makes it imperative that no bottles or cans be 

 refilled until they are thoroughly cleansed and sterilized. Every licensed dealer 

 in this city distributing milk in cans and bottles has the proper equipment to 

 do this work, and any epidemic of contagious diseases from improperly sterilized 

 cans and bottles will be due to willful negligence. Milk producers must not 

 be allowed to use sterile cans intended for our city milk supply as pails to bring 

 water for cattle, or for any other purpose on the farm. 



Milk cans must be kept covered to prevent dust and flies from contaminating 

 the milk; milk utensils and cans must not be left to air by the dusty roadside, 

 near the sink-drain outlet, the pigsty, or the open privy vault. Milk cans 

 should be covered with a clean canvas or blanket, used only for that purpose, 

 when they are being carted over the road, that the dirt and manure dust in 

 the highway may not settle upon them and get into the milk can and contami- 

 nate the milk when the wooden stoppers and covers are removed. 



No good reason can be given why milk should remain in the barn unneces- 

 sarily exposed to contamination with the foul odors and manure dust of the 

 stable for any material period of time. On nearly every farm there are enough 

 old boards which could be nailed together to make a suitable milk room into 

 which the milk should be carried immediately after it is drawn from the cow. 

 The reason for such a building must be evident. 



Insects play a large part as mechanical carriers of disease germs, the greatest 

 menace to our daily life being 'the common house fly known to scientists as the 

 typhoid fly. It breeds in manure and it feeds on it; it feeds on the sputum 

 of diseased throats and on typhoid dejecta, and by means of its hairy feet and 

 legs it carries about and distributes particles of these vile feasts, which fre- 

 quently contain living germs capable of producing a new case of disease. In 

 still another way does the fly spread disease germs taken into its body in food 

 are known to remain alive in the intestines, and also for days after they are 

 ejected in the " specks," i. e. in the fly excrement. Recent experiments with 

 animals have proved this to be true of both tuberculosis and typhoid, the germs 

 in the " speck " having actually given the disease from 9 to 15 days after being 

 voided by the fly. 



Flies were the principal carriers of the typhoid fever which attacked 20 per 

 cent of the United States soldiers in the Cuban War and furnished 86 per. cent 

 of the deaths. It is not possible to prevent flies from visiting the dairy or 

 farm, but the stable manure need not be allowed to accumulate and furnish 

 breeding places for them. It will be found far more valuable if used to increase 

 the fertility of the soil. It is certainly not necessary to allow flies to infect 

 the milk pail and milk utensils and swim in the milk. There certainly can 

 be no reason why they should be allowed to dine in the open privy vault or 

 drink at the sink drain ; the vault can be covered and a covered cesspool can be 

 provided. Would not these precautions deprive them of their vile feasts and 

 help to prevent the spread of disease? They can be easily kept out of the 

 milk utensils by the use of screens for the dairy windows. 



All milk must be rapidly cooled and continuously maintained at a temperature 

 below 50 F. 



Milk is quickly decomposed by bacteria unless it is kept cold. Bacteria, like 

 other forms of plant life, can not grow in cold weather, so these minute germ 

 plants are prevented from multiplication by keeping the milk cold. If everyone 

 had his own cow and used the milk as soon as it was drawn there would be 

 no great need of cooling the milk. Milk for all large cities must be held at the 

 farm, shipped over country roads, transported by train, and kept in the city 

 bottling plant before it is delivered at the home of the consumer. For this 

 reason it is absolutely necessary that the greatest care be taken to quickly 

 cool the milk at the farm immediately after it is drawn from the cow and keep 

 it cold, in order that it may not contain dangerous numbers of bacteria. The 

 law makes it a crime to sell adulterated milk, but it would seem to be a still 

 greater fraud to sell milk which can not be used at all when delivered to the 

 customer, due to the slovenly methods of handling and improper cooling. Few. 

 wells and springs are cold enough in the summer to cool milk to 50 F. For 

 this reason ice must be used in hot weather, and a liberal supply should be 

 provided. 



The work of Nathan Straus in New York City in dispensing pasteurized milk 

 for infants in general proves that the bacteria which are always found in 



