472 THE CONTROL OF THE MILK SUPPLY 



sanitary authorities, and not to County Councils, which have no powers either in 

 regard to dairies and cowsheds or in reference to tuberculosis. Again, the Local 

 Government Board, the confirming authority under the Dairies Order, cannot 

 require a Local Authority to make any particular regulation under Article 13. 

 The Board can only disallow a bye-law which they consider to be unsatisfactory. 

 Nor can they insist on a minimum cubic space, nor on a certain area of floor 

 space, of a cowshed. Further, the Order only prohibits the sale of milk from a 

 given tuberculous cow, it still leaves the animal in the possession of the cow- 

 keeper. It is not impossible for him to remove it to another district. As a 

 matter of fact this has been frequently done, and a cow considered in one 

 district as tuberculous has been sold in the open market and conveyed elsewhere. 

 Another example is the Infectious Diseases (Prevention) Act, 1890, Section 4 of 

 which gives the Medical Officer of Health powers of inspection of dairies in his 

 district and of the animals therein, only if there is evidence that any person is 

 suffering from disease attributable to the milk therefrom. Similar inspection of 

 outside dairies may be made on a justice's order. This measure primarily pro- 

 tects tho consumer, and, secondarily, tends to improve the condition of cow- 

 sheds and cows. Unfortunately, however, the word "disease" is limited 

 here to "notifiable infectious disease," which does not include tuberculosis. 



Again, the elimination of tuberculosis from herds by means of tuberculin 

 testing is a matter which has now reached a stage which calls for some legisla- 

 tion. The successful experience of Denmark led the Royal Commission to 

 recommend that the Board of Agriculture be empowered to provide gratuitous 

 testing of stock whose owners will undertake to keep them under satisfactory 

 conditions and to isolate re-acting animals. If, in addition, the calves of tuber- 

 culous cows be fed on boiled milk, if healthy animals be re-tested once or 

 twice a year, and if purchased animals be only such as have withstood this 

 tuberculin test. Professor Bang believes that a markedly affected herd may be 

 replaced by a healthy one. The writer ventures to think County Councils and 

 County Borough Councils, who already have to provide a veterinary staff for 

 the purposes of the Contagious Diseases (Animals) Act, might, with advantage 

 in suitable cases, have the power of providing gratuitous tuberculin tests 

 delegated to them by the Board of Agriculture. 



Bacteriological standards of quality. — Many authorities consider that the 

 time has come to judge the quality of milk by bacteriological standards. If a 

 bacteriologist can show the milk to be highly contaminated with bacteria and 

 capable, on inoculation, of killing experimental animals, it is held that such milk 

 should be condemned. We are not satisfied that our knowledge of the bacterio- 

 logy of milk is sufficiently established to justify penalties. It is to be hoped, 

 however, that it may soon be so. In which case, fresh legislation will be re- 

 quired, as it would appear that such contamination could not be dealt with 

 under the Public Health Act or the Sale of Food and Drugs Acts. Doubtless if 

 legislation could be made for this purpose, and a bacteriological standard 

 adopted, farmers, railway companies, and milk vendors would speedily see the 

 necessity of reform in their management of the trade. 



Powers of compensation are needed. When local authorities prevail on a milk 

 vendor to cease the sale of suspected milk, compensation should be allowed if 

 it is subsequently proved that the milk was not infective. 



Information as to sources of milk and its destination. — Legislation is required 

 in England upon this point. Scotland possesses powers to obtain such infor- 



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