a® \, a ni Bd) >. 
|AN VARY 27, ae 
mortal ality in the present century in this and in 
countries has been associated with marked 
mprovement in the cleanliness of milk, commercially 
d domestically. At each step scientific investiga- 
s have been important means to this end. The 
nination of the thermal death-point of pathogenic 
ia has shown the possibility of heating milk to 
r point than boiling, which, while removing the 
sibility of infection, leaves milk with its natural 
aste almost unimpared. The bacterial Counting of 
k, Epiboning the close association between cleanly 
cing followed by immediate cooling of milk and a 
bacterial count has given a great impetus to the 
of clean and cool milk, especially in America. 
tuberculin test has been largely utilised as a means 
discovering clinically undiagnosable tuberculosis in 
e, and of its elimination from herds. It is a con- 










































uction of “‘ Grade A (Tuberculin Tested)” Milk, in 
accordance with a recent Order of the Ministry of 
ith. The discovery in 1890 of Babcock’s simple 
‘method of fat determination has had far-reaching 
equences in securing high standards of food value 
in milk supplies, and in enabling the public when they 
ike ire to buy milk of known value. The list of items 
of indebtedness of the public and.of milk purveyors to 
“scientific laboratory workers might easily be extended. 
In England there is a large excess of infant 
‘deaths in the three hottest months of the summer, 
“and these are due in the main to diarrhcea. 
“To discuss adequately the factors of heat, of 
“impurity of food, of impurities apart from food 
(e.g. exceptionally in breast-fed babies) which are 
responsible for this devastating disease would require 
“much space ; but the following determined facts can 
be stated. Diarrhcea is rare in breast-fed infants ; 
it is exceptional among the infants of the well-to-do, 
ho can take adequate precautions in respect of food ; 
it is common in the infants of the poor, and has 
been found to be more common in infants fed on 
ondensed milk than in infants fed on fresh cows’ milk. 
is does not apply to dried or desiccated milk, infants 
cons ming which appear to suffer much less from 
 diarrhcea than infants artificially fed with other foods. 
explanation of these facts is not far to seek. 
Domestic contaminations of milk are even more 
important than contaminations at the farm, in trans- 
‘port, or in the local shop, though these also are 
serious. Condensed milk is difficult to manipulate in 
~ a cleanly manner, dried milk is not so. Fresh milk 
_ can be more easily provided and, when domestically 
_ pasteurised, has been shown to be less liable to cause 
_ gastro-intestinal trouble in the summer months than 
_ diluted condensed milk. The details showing the 
NO. 2778, VoL. 111] 
4 
fea 
NATURE 
107 
need for aseptic precautions in milk preparation, all 
based on the science founded by Pasteur and applied 
by Lister, can easily be understood. In the last 
seventeen years active steps have been taken to 
instruct and guide mothers in the right feeding of their 
infants, and there can be little hesitation in ascribing 
the lowered infant mortality in large measure to this 
cause, and to the collateral general improvement in 
the milk as delivered at the home. This improvement 
has consisted largely in the increasing practice of 
commercial pasteurisation. Prior to 1900 the rate of 
infant mortality averaged 140 to 160; in the last 
quinquennium it was only’85 per 1000 births. 
The above consideration of evils and of possible 
channels of improvements naturally leads to a con- 
sideration of the administrative aspect of the problem. 
This in the main consists in the application of scientific 
methods to the milk industry, which will be discussed 
in our next issue. 

Progressive Meteorology. 
Board of Education. Catalogue of the Collections in the 
Science Museum, South Kensington, with Descriptive 
and Historical Notes and Illustrations : Meteorology. 
Pp. 107+6 plates. (London: H.M. Stationery 
Office, 1922.) 1s. 6d. net. 
Air Ministry ; Meteorological Office, London. A Short 
Course in Elementary Meteorology. By W. H. Pick. 
(M.O. 247.) Pp. 118. 1s. 6d. net. The Observer's 
Handbook. Approved for the use of meteorological 
observers by the Meteorological Office, and the Royal 
Meteorological Society. 1921 edition. (M.O. 191.) 
Pp. xxx + 140+ 18 plates+10+17 plates+5. 7s. 6d. 
net. Cloud Forms according to the International 
Classification ; The Definitions and Descriptions ap- 
proved by the International Meteorological Committee 
in rgro. With an atlas of photographs of Clouds 
selected from the Collection of Mr. G. A. Clarke of 
the Observatory, Aberdeen. (M.O, 233, 2nd edition.) 
Pp. 10+ 17 plates+5. 1s. 6d.net. Notes on Meteor- 
ological Corrections for the use of Gunners. By D. 
Brunt and J. Durward. Pp. 18. 3d.net. Forecast 
Code for the Abbreviation of Weather Forecasts trans- 
mitted by Telegraphy or Radiography. Pp. 18. ts. 
net. The New International Code for Meteorological 
Messages, 1922. Pp. 20. 4d. net. Weather Fore- 
casting in the North Atlantic and Home Waters for 
Seamen. By Com. L. A. Brooke-Smith. Pp. 24. 
6d. net. The Wireless Weather Manual. Pp. 24. 9d. 
net. (London: H.M. Stationery Office, 1921-1922.) 
N turning over this packet of the latest official 
( publications on meteorology I feel disposed to 
survey them in a contemplative rather than in a critical 
