MANAGEMENT OF COWS IN THE STABLE. 177 



stables. But the dairyman who would excel in his busi- 

 ness and stand at the top, must practice this thorough 

 cleanliness in every detail. Pure, fragrant milk, sound, 

 well-flavored cheese, and the finest and sweetest butter 

 are procured only under these conditions. The cows 

 themselves, too, are as absorbent of impurities as the 

 milk. Tlie air breathed into the lungs, and carried 

 through all the intricate cellular passages and chambers 

 of the lung tissue, is brought into contact with an infinite 

 number of capillary blood vessels, which absorb the air and 

 discharge the load of impurities brought from every part 

 of the animal's body. If tlie air is not pure the offen- 

 sive matter is taken into the blood, and some of the im- 

 purities in this fluid are retained, thus poisoning the 

 very source from which the whole animal system is 

 nourished. A stream is never purer than its source, and 

 thus the animal is polluted by this absorbed impurity 

 which is forced to escape in some way. As the milk is a 

 direct product from the blood, the blood discharges its 

 offensive load in part with this secretion, and impure 

 blood cannot make pure milk. Besides, the self-preserv- 

 ing instincts, or rather laws, of animal life tend to force 

 the blood to throw off impure matter in the easiest way, 

 and as a large quantity of milk is secreted daily and the 

 milk glands are exceedingly active, any impure matter in 

 the blood is rapidly discharged through the milk glands. , 

 An instance of this was afforded when a quantity of 

 frozen turnip leaves left in the stable, which was filled 

 with the odor of them, caused the milk to smell disa- 

 greeably by the absorption of the odor through the cows. 

 Physicians are well acquainted with the fact that the 

 perspiration and urine of painters who use turpentine 

 always have an odor, more or less, of the turpentine. 

 Disease is most prevalent where impure air prevails, and 

 if disease and death are produced by the absorption of 

 impurities we cannot expect pure milk from foul stables. 



