356 MILK AND THE PUBLIC HEALTH CHAP. 



siderable impetus by the publication by McCleary of his 

 valuable book on Infants' Milk Depots. 



The British milk depots are not all conducted in the same 

 way, but the usual plan is for them to be financed and 

 controlled by the Municipality. Special premises are provided 

 where milk of good quality is received and distributed. 

 Before being distributed it is modified chemically and 

 sterilised or partially sterilised. It is distributed in sealed 

 bottles and sold to the poor at prices which do not pay for 

 the cost of provision and preparation. In other words, they 

 are usually rate-subsidised agencies for the provision of purified 

 and modified milk as an aid to the prevention of infantile 

 mortality. Their very existence is a striking condemnation 

 of the conditions under which milk is produced and vended in 

 crowded urban areas. 



As an illustration of the nature and methods of working 

 of a milk depot managed on proper lines, and for which the 

 records have been most admirably compiled, the following 

 particulars of the Woolwich Milk Depot may be given. 1 The 

 Depot was opened November 5th, 1906, and closed at the 

 end of July 1910. It was thus in active working for only 

 three years nine months. The reasons for its closure were 

 essentially financial. 



Method of Payment. The milk was not sold by the pint, 

 but payment was made according to the age of the infants, 

 viz. Is. 6d. per week to children under six months old ; 2s. 

 to 'those six to twelve months; and 2s. 6d. to those over 

 twelve months. 



Character of the Milk. The milk was modified, using 

 various proportions of milk, cream, sugar, and water. Three 

 different qualities were prepared. The milk was bottled and 

 either pasteurised at 1*70 F. for fifteen minutes or, in hot 

 weather, heated to 212 F. for twenty minutes. The milk 

 was obtained from a single farm upon which satisfactory 

 hygienic conditions prevailed. The cows were frequently 

 examined by veterinary surgeons, and the milk periodically 

 chemically analysed, but apparently no bacteriological ex- 

 aminations were made. 



Selection of Babies. Only admitted if provided with a 

 1 Dr. Davies, Annual Reports, Woolwich, 1907, 1908, 1909. 



