19O9 MILK COMMISSION. 61 



PROF. HEINEMANN'S VIEWS. 



One of the eminent authorities of Chicago on the question is Prof. P. G. Heine- 

 mann, Ph.D., of the Bacteriological Laboratory of the Chicago University, and your 

 Commission had the great advantage of an interview with him. He believes the 

 advantages of pasteurization, when properly performed, outweigh the disadvantages. 

 He said : "In my opinion, continuous pasteurization at 165 degrees is of little use, 

 as the disease germs are not killed and the lactic acid producing germs, which are 

 useful in keeping down the putrefactive bacteria, are killed. As the lactic acid 

 bacteria are destroyed, in that degree the development of the putrefactive bacteria 

 increases. For infants I would prefer to use clean milk not pasteurized, as our 

 knowledge up to the present does not permit us to express a definite opinion in 

 regard to the exact changes through pasteurization. Figures also prove that some 

 cases of scurvy and rickets were developed through pasteurized milk." 



Prof. Heinemann further referred to an address recently delivered on the ques- 

 tion of sanitary milk, in which he spoke of treating milk by heat, and expressed 

 this view: 



"From a bacteriological point of view, however, the disadvantages of treating 

 milk by heat are more pronounced after pasteurization than they are after sterili- 

 zation. The vegetative forms of bacteria escape destruction to a larger degree 

 and spores are probably not influenced at all, so that putrefaction sets in very read- 

 ily. I should, therefore, not consider pasteurized milk fit for consumption after 

 a lapse of twenty-four hours. The products of these spores after germination, as 

 established by Flugge, are more or less poisonous to animals. 



I do not wish to depreciate the value of pasteurization if properly executed. 

 The one great advantage remains, and that is the security from pathogenic bac- 

 teria. But in how many cases do we obtain pasteurized milk which is properly 

 treated ? I have seen a pasteurizer at work in a large dairy, the milk of which es- 

 caped at a temperature of slightly above 120 degrees F., and when asked for an ex- 

 planation the proprietor informed me that the proper temperature of 165 degrees 

 would be reached in a few minutes. Admitting, then, that the bulk of the milk has 

 been pasteurized still a small part of it has not been pasteurized, and this con- 

 tains nearly the original number of bacteria, which, since milk is an excellent cul- 

 ture medium for bacteria, will multiply at an extra ordinaiy rate. ISTot only this, 

 but, as stated before, the lactic acid bacteria, being very sensitive to heat, have un- 

 doubtedly been largely destroyed, giving the putrefactive bacteria full sway. Such 

 milk may retain its sweet taste and clean, good appearance for a number of days, 

 but may harbour deadly poisons, which are especially harmful to the delicate diges- 

 tive tract of the infant. These disadvantages of pasteurized milk were readily re- 

 cognized among scientists and substitutes' were devised, among which I may only 

 mention the co-called formalinized milk of Behring, the peroxide milk of Much 

 and Eomer, and others, the application of which, however, has been by no means 

 satisfactory." 



A QUESTION IN POLITICS. 



It has already been stated that the question was still in the experimental and 

 still in politics. Something of the practical side of the experiment has been set 

 forth, and as to the political side it may be said that it is in* both municipal and 

 state politics. More strictly speaking, the pasteurization is in municipal politics, 

 and the tuberculin testing is in state politics. A milk dealers' association, said to 



