1909 



MILK COMMISSION. 



29 



failure. No tuberculin tests have been made. The cattle seem all perfectly healthy. 

 There seems to be no sign of tuberculosis. We try to impress upon the vendors that 

 they are responsible for the lives' of hundreds of children." 



ST. THOMAS. 



With the exception of Ottawa, St. Thomas is the only city in Ontario making 

 bacteriological tests of its milk supply. Last year the local Board of Health adopted 

 a standard of 3.5 butter fat, 12 per cent total solids and 8.5 solids not fat. They 

 also equipped a laboratory and appointed Mr. A. F. McLachlin analyst. Although 

 the analyst was appointed chiefly to watch the water supply, Mr. McLachlin has 

 devoted considerable attention to the matter of milk. The city has no system of 

 regular or special inspection of the dairy farms, but W. J. Shaw, the city's energetic 

 sanitary inspector, keeps a supervision in the city. The reports of the analyst, how- 

 ever, are published regularly in the papers and this is claimed to have a very salutary 

 stimulating effect, and, moreover, the analyst occasionally goes' out to the farms to 

 make suggestions. In July the milk of one dealer showed 121,000 bacteria per cc. 

 and the publication of this fact seriously affected the business of the dealer. He 

 made some improvements, and in August the milk showed only 9,000. The follow- 

 ing figures from recent tests tell their own story : 



CHATHAM. 



Two inspections are made each year by the sanitary inspector of the cattle and 

 dairies supplying Chatham. All milk vendors must secure a license. Each month 

 examinations are made of the milk for food value. The results of these analyses 

 and of the inspections are published in the local daily papers. When cattle look 

 badly run down, they are subjected to the tuberculin test. Two were so treated 

 last year and both reacted and were destroyed. Dr. Wm. E. Hall, Health Officer, 

 however, believes bovine tuberculosis rare in that district. 



In answer to questions, Dr. Hall said : " We considered commercial pasteuri- 

 zation and the establishment of a municipal plant, but decide'd against it (1) be- 

 cause we believe a clean raw milk is better suited to the requirements of infants 

 than is a pasteurized milk, and there is nothing gained by pasteurizing a clean milk ; 

 (2) because contaminated milk and milk that is unclean cannot be made fit for use 

 by pasteurization, and the knowledge that it is to be pasteurized before use would 

 in many cases lead to carelessness in its handling by the producer, and would 

 materially interfere with our efforts to obtain improvements in the handling of 

 milk by the producer; American Medicine, 1907, truly states 'pasteurization is a 

 method which merely enables the dirty dairyman to keep his milk from souring 



