50 MILK HYGIENE 



milk in such large quantities as to be dangerous to chil- 

 dren. Other substances which can easily be excreted 

 with milk are salicylic acid, carbolic acid, aloes, croton 

 oil and senna, also the active principles of colchicum, 

 hyoscyamus and euphorbium. This is also supposed to 

 be the case with mustard; still there is good reason to 

 believe that it is true only if mustard is taken with the 

 food in large quantities. 



It has often been observed that diarrhoea occurs in 

 people who have used the milk of cows fed upon food 

 that is moulded, or that has undergone putrefactive 

 fermentation. It is presumed, therefore, that some of 

 the substances which are formed under these conditions 

 in the food materials of the cow may be excreted with 

 the milk. But it is possible that in such cases there is 

 contamination of the milk from the food during milking 

 and so, in this way, bacterial changes may occur ; these 

 have not been entirely excluded. 



It was stated above that aromatic substances in for- 

 age plants are apparently excreted in slight quantity 

 and may give a ' ' taste ' ' to the milk. [The garlicky taste 

 that is so common in milk in the Spring in the Eastern 

 United States is due to garlic in the pastures.] We find, 

 too, that strongly smelling medicines (asafcetida, ether, 

 certain volatile oils, but not all) that are given to the 

 cows may impart a taste to the milk. 



It is highly probable that toxic substances which are 

 formed in the organism during disease, and also such 

 substances that, for example, are reabsorbed from the 

 uterus, may sometimes be excreted in the milk, but there 

 is no definite information on this subject. On the other 

 hand, we know that antitoxins are in part eliminated 

 from the blood of the mother animal through the udder 

 and, through this channel, they may be used by the young 

 to its benefit. 



