MICROORGANISMS AND HUMAN WELFARE 39 



the surface of the body of the cow, especially about the 

 flanks and udder, are brushed and wiped with a moist cloth, 

 and that the hands and clothing of those who milk are kept 

 clean; otherwise enormous numbers of microbes will fall 

 into the milk. No one who has any infectious disease should 

 be allowed to have anything to do with the care of cows or 

 of milk until he has completely recovered. Over and 

 over again epidemics of diphtheria, scarlet fever, typhoid, 1 

 and tuberculosis in infants have been traced along the routes 

 of careless milkmen. 



Those who live in cities, however, are wholly dependent 

 for milk upon sources they know nothing about. The milk 

 that is consumed in New York City, for instance, comes from 

 over 40,000 dairies scattered through six different states. 

 It is, of course, impossible to make any proper inspection in 

 such a wide field. The New York Board of Health is doing 

 all it can in this respect, and so far as possible it prevents 

 dirty and dangerous milk from coming to the city. The 

 only path of safety, however, lies in the careful Pasteuriza- 

 tion of milk and cream that are used for drinking purposes, 

 especially by young children. In communities where Pas- 

 teurization has been tried at all generally, there has been a 

 surprising decrease in the percentage of sickness and death 

 from intestinal diseases, especially in the summer time and 

 among young children. The instruction given by boards 

 of health to mothers and to older children as to the care of 

 the young during the hot months has also helped to save the 

 lives of a large number of infants. 



1 A sudden increase in the number of cases of typhoid fever in 

 New York City in 1909 was found to be entirely due to milk fur- 

 nished by a dairyman in a town in New York State. He had re- 

 covered from typhoid fever in 1864, but still carried infection in 

 his body and passed an enormous number of the germs of the dis- 

 ease. 



