THE MILK SITUATION IN THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA. 417 



" Fifth. Udders should be carefully and thoroughly washed with pure water 

 immediately before milking and dried with clean towels. 



" Sixth. Milk, as soon as collected from a cow, should be rapidly cooled to a 

 point but little above that of freezing water. In summer ice or refrigerating 

 apparatus must be used. In winter running cold water, in pipes or the like, can 

 be employed for the purpose. 



" Seventh. Milk must be kept at this low temperature during transportation 

 and until delivered to consumers, who then become responsible for the continu- 

 ance of the conditions described until the liquid is required as an article of 

 food." 



The address closed with a forcible plea for the installation on all railways 

 of refrigerator cars, first, to meet the needs of the milk traffic, and, second, to 

 facilitate the transportation of fresh meats, fish, fruits, flowers, etc. In con- 

 nection with this brief summary of Dr. Hempel's strong presentation of the 

 present status of the milk problem in Germany a few comments may be made. 



PEOBLEMS TO BE SOLVED. 



The question of the satisfactory transportation of milk by rail for long dis- 

 tances has been fairly well solved in the United States, wherever milk cars, 

 constructed after the model of those used by the well-known Walker-Gordon Co., 

 have been introduced. Greater distances have necessarily stimulated American 

 ingenuity to a more prompt solution of existing problems in all the phases of 

 transportation than has been the case in Europe. 



From a personal examination of urban dairy management in Germany I am 

 convinced that but little remains to be done there in the matter of cleanliness, 

 although probably the Danish practice in this respect could serve even still 

 better as a model. It is undeniable, however, that much missionary work must 

 be done in the United States to bring about adequate recognition on the part of 

 the public and its representatives of the tremendous importance of carrying out 

 fully the new fundamental rules so clearly and succinctly enunciated by the 

 famous German chemist. 



Legislative action in the United States can probably not go beyond prescribing 

 regulations for the manner in which milk shall be collected, transported, and 

 delivered. There still remains a serious question as to the conditions under 

 which milk is kept before being used in households too poor to buy ice or too 

 ignorant to use it intelligently. Especially is it important in cities and during 

 the heated term. Philanthropic effort has endeavored to lessen dangers in this 

 connection by furnishing sterilized milk at cost price. It is now generally 

 recognized that other and more serious dangers may be incurred in resorting 

 to sterilization by heat. 



ADVANTAGES OF FROZEN MILK. 



Can not Dr. Hempel's thesis be carried a step further? Why not transport 

 and deliver milk in the frozen condition? Exhaustive experiments have shown 

 conclusively that pure milk, when frozen, preserves its original, properties un- 

 changed for weeks. Frozen specimens kept for over a month in a refrigerating 

 room showed on thawing absolutely no alteration in taste, while the fact of a 

 considerable diminution in the number of bacteria present was clearly estab- 

 lished. Important also is the circumstance that while frozen the cream re- 

 mains evenly diffused throughout the solidified mass, which is not the case 

 when milk ib kept at a low temperature in the liquid state. To attain such 

 results it is essential that pure, fresh milk, as soon as collected from an animal, 

 should rapidly be cooled to the freezing point. Dirty and contaminated milk, 

 as well as milk in which the lactic fermentation has begun, after being frozen 

 curdles upon melting. 



To effectively meet the prevalent conditions in the tenement districts of cities 

 or the needs of infants when carried on journeys, or even the requirements of 

 a ship's commissariat, fresh milk could be frozen in the proper containers by 

 submerging them in brine chilled far below the melting point of ice. When the 

 milk has not only been frozen, but cooled still further to the temperature of 

 the surrounding liquid, the flasks or other containers can be removed, inclosed 

 in felt protectors, and conveyed to the consumers. Frozen milk prepared under 

 such conditions will remain in the solid form for a day or more before the 

 temperature of the entire mass can rise to the melting point. An analogous 

 state is that of ice harvested and housed during a very cold season. As is 

 82444 S. Doc. 863, 61-3 27 



