468 THE CONTROL OF THE MHK SUPPLY 



into whenever a customer requires serving with milk. Commonly, 

 such pans will contain from 2-4 gallons of milk, and this is the 

 store which will last, more or less, throughout the day. As 

 a rule, these pans and the other utensils used in milk-shops are 

 fairly clean ; but as the day goes by it is found that dirt collects 

 in the pan and on the milk, owing to the fact that, as a rule, the 

 pans are not covered. About 73 per cent, of the milk sellers do 

 not take this most simple and elementary precaution to keep their 

 milk from being polluted. It cannot be too strongly emphasised 

 that milk becomes contaminated in milk-shops because it is not 

 sufficiently protected. Such contamination arises from three 

 sources : — ia) Constant dipping and manipulation ; {U) Dust from 

 the air ; and {c) Flies. If a pan of milk is exposed to the dusty 

 air of a small general provision shop, for from two to twelve hours, 

 it gains an almost incredible amount of dust and dirt. A frequent 

 use of the dipper must inevitably convey some small quantity of 

 dust to the milk. Dust also falls from the vendor's clothes, etc. 

 Exposure to dusty atmosphere for a number of hours carries with 

 the milk much more, and flies are responsible for a fourth dose 

 of filth. Indeed, flies are responsible for a great deal of the pollution 

 of milk. They pass from putrefying animal and vegetable matter 

 in the street to the nearest milk-pan, and deposit in the milk 

 the filth attaching to their bodies, mandibles, wings, and legs. 

 When it is considered that a very large number of milk 

 vessels and utensils are in daily use in the management of the 

 milk trade, and that these vessels are handled by a large number 

 of persons before the milk reaches the consumer, it will be evident 

 that cleanliness is the great desideratum. 



The Local Authority which would exercise its lawful control of 

 the milk trade, and be prepared rapidly to investigate milk-borne 

 disease should therefore {a) obtain accurate information of the 

 milk sources of its district, and {b) maintain a strict supervision 

 over the storage and sale of milk in its district. Legislation for 

 the control of the former is perhaps needed, although if every 

 Local Authority in the country was doing its duty this would 

 not be necessary.^ Legislation for the control of the latter practi- 

 cally exists in the Dairies Order, and the regulations under it. 



^ Dr Barwise, the Medical Officer of Health for Derbyshire, considers that 

 the cost of the supervision of dairy farms in the country which send milk to 

 London and other cities should not fall on the local rates. "The cost of admini- 

 strating these Orders," he writes, " should come from Imperial taxation." — Report 

 on Health of Derbyshire^ i9oi> P- 19^ 



