MARCH 



2 39 



remedy on the mere ground of " taste." And what is still 

 more striking and reprehensible is the fact that in many 

 of our hospitals, established for the cure of disease, no 

 effort is made to avoid the chance of imparting disease, 

 merely because effort would cause some inconvenience. 

 The avoidance of all that is septic in connection with 

 surgical operations stands in striking contrast with the 

 courting of infection in the wards by the use of uncooked 

 milk. But even the taste which attaches to boiled milk, 

 and to which infants become at once habituated, may 

 be largely avoided if the milk boiled after the morning 

 delivery be stored in the cool for use in the afternoon, 

 and if the afternoon milk be similarly set aside until next 

 morning. 



' But some allege another objection. It is maintained 

 that cooked milk is less nutritious than raw milk. I 

 admit that there is an element of truth in this. Milk is 

 a fluid having a biological character; it is living fluid, 

 and this character is destroyed by boiling or sterilisation. 

 From the purely scientific point of view it is most desir- 

 able to bear this in mind, but in its practical aspect it is 

 well to remember that the slight diminution in nutritive 

 value which cooking brings about in milk cannot be 

 named side by side with the immense gain in freedom 

 from the risk of infectious disease and death which is 

 thus insured. . . .' He ends by saying : 



( The need for educating the public of this country as 

 to the risks involved in the use of raw cows' milk, and as 

 to the simple methods by which these risks can be 

 effectually avoided, is a pressing one, and it can only be 

 met by enlisting the active services of my own profession. 

 Our influence in such matters is necessarily considerable ; 

 our responsibility is correspondingly a heavy one.' 



I should like to know the opinion of the Faculty on the 

 dangers of butter, cream, and eese, which I have never 



