550 



8CIBNCE. 



[Vol. IX., No. 227 



our city health officer, Dr. Thomas Mcllraine, who 

 says, that, having never examined the subject, he 

 has no definite opinion to give ; and the same 

 answer is made by several of our leading phy- 

 sicians whom I have consulted. Of course, all 

 our physicians, when treating infants who are 

 fed from the bottle, advise the use of pure coun- 

 try milk from cows not fed upon slops, which is 

 easily obtainable here ; and in consequence our 

 experience of the ill or good effects of slop-feed- 

 ing is very limited. 



[NOKMAN S. Bridge, M.D., Chicago, 111.] 

 No special opportunities for observing the effect 

 on the cows ; the opportunities of a physician in 

 general practice for observing the effect on the 

 milk. Repeated declarations of families who 

 have had the opportunity of using alternately and 

 at various times milk from country dairies, and 

 from such distillery-fed cows ; which declarations 

 are somewhat as follows : that the milk in ques- 

 tion sours quicker than other milk ; that it has an 

 odor at times that is peculiar to it, which odor 

 is, to some persons, very disagreeable ; that the 

 milk disagrees with and makes sick both adults 

 and children. I have observed sick children who 

 were, I had good reason to believe, made sick in 

 this way. The sickness consisted chiefly in dis- 

 turbances of the alimentary canal and other de- 

 rangements depending on these. 



[L. McLean, M.E.C.V.S., Brooklyn, N.Y.] 

 I have frequently made post-mortem examina- 

 tions on the carcasses of such animals. The 

 digestive organs of cows so fed are, as a rule, in 

 an anaemic and atrophied condition. 



[D. W. Hand, M.D., St. Paul, Minu., member of state board 

 of healtlL.] 



Very limited. Many cows in this vicinity are fed 

 partially on the distillery waste from numerous 

 distilleries, but I have known of no cows fed ex- 

 clusively on it. I have not been able to notice 

 any detrimental effect on the milk. 



[William Oldwbight, M.D., Toronto, Can.] 

 Toronto has, I believe, the largest distillery on 

 this continent, and one would suppose we here 

 should have no difficulty in determining the result 

 of feeding distillery swill ; but there are so many 

 other associated circumstances, such as uncleanly 

 surroundings, etc., that it is hard to speak posi- 

 tively. My opinion is, however, that milk ob- 

 tained from cows so fed is bad. 



[E. H. Baetlet, M.D., Brooklyn, N.Y., chief chemist of 

 board of health.] 



Five years as milk-inspector and chemist for 



Brooklyn health department. Have seen swill 



fed, and have examined the milk. Have been in 



active practice, largely among children, during 

 that time, and have watched children fed upon 

 such milk. Have seen two cases of sudden death 

 from swill-milk, which have, I believe, been re- 

 ferred to in articles that appeared in Science of 

 May 13. Have seen other cases of indigestion 

 from such milk, which have been cured by change 

 of milk, without medicine. 



[William K. Newton, M.D., Paterson, N.J., state dairy 

 commissioner.] 



I have had no persona! experience with the 

 feeding of distillery swill, but have always held 

 that it is not only an improper food, but produces 

 unhealthful milk. The fact that the health of 

 cows fed on this substance is soon undermined, 

 and that they become diseased, seems to prove 

 that the milk produced by them must be dis- 

 eased. 



[J. Blake White, M.D., New York, N.Y.] 



From 1876 to 1886 was chief inspector of milk 

 for the New York board of health. Have paid 

 particular attention to the subject. Have seen 

 hundreds of cows fed on distillery swill, and have 

 noted the effects of such food on the animals' 

 physical condition, as well as on the milk fur- 

 nished by them. Have made analyses of the 

 milk of swill-fed cows, and also microscopic ex- 

 aminations of same. The milk of swill-fed cows 

 is always of an acid reaction ; bluish, watery 

 appearance ; sourish, insipid taste ; spoils quickly ; 

 and has an odor similar to that of the swiL. The 

 caseine is very prone to coagulate, and children 

 are very apt to vomit it in large coagulated masses 

 soon after the milk is taken. Analysis shows ex- 

 cess of aqueous element, and great deficiency in 

 the fatty constituent. The globules of fat under 

 the microscope have a great tendency to aggre- 

 gation, instead of b3ing individually distributed 

 throughout the caseine investment, as in good 

 wholesome milk. The fat-globules are also di- 

 minutive and scanty. The cows depreciate in 

 health, are prone to consumption, become emaci- 

 ated, and ulceration of the mouth, stomach, and 

 bowels occurs ; also abscesses of the liver and 

 lungs sometimes occur. 



Swill- food hyperstimulates the secretory and 

 excretory organs, causing excessive urination, 

 and consequent disease of the kidneys, diarrhoea 

 and dysentery, and not infrequently degeneration 

 of the mammary gland. Pus is sometimes found 

 in the milk. The natural conditions of the ani- 

 mal's life are in every respect grossly violated by 

 this sort of food, and the necessary consequences 

 are deranged health, loathsome and fatal diseases, 

 which render the secretions diseased, and the 

 milk, especially, unfit for human sustenance. The 



