580 



SCIJEWCU. 



[Vol. IX., No. 228 



Willis G. TtrOKEB, M.D., professor of inorganic and an- 

 alytical chemistry, Albany medical college.] 



I am opposed to the use of such waste as a chief 

 or exclusive diet for milch-cattle, though I do 

 not believe that the feed is the sole cause of 

 disease among cattle in swill- stables, or of the 

 poor milk furnished by them. 



[B. H. Baktlet, M.D.] 

 Unwholesome both to cows, and to the children 

 fed upon the milk. 



[William K. Newton, M.D.] 



I am of the opinion that it is an unwholesome 

 food, and that the milk produced by cows using 

 it is not healthful. 



There has been a great deal on this subject pub- 

 lished, and all the German authorities agree that 

 stall-fed cows give as good milk as those allowed 

 to graze, due attention being paid to the sanitary 

 condition. In many German cities the milk- 

 supply is obtained from cattle thus cared for. In 

 the last two reports of the Wisconsin experiment- 

 station, very interesting accounts are given about 

 soiling cows ; and the results, as to yield and 

 quality of the milk, are nearly the same as from 

 cows allowed to feed in the pasture. In the soiling 

 method the food is all given to the cows in the 

 stalls, and they are only allowed in the barnyard 

 for exercise, and on clear days. The cows are 

 turned into milk-making machines. 



In the case of distillery swill, the cattle are not 

 only fed on an unnatural food, but are at the same 

 time subjected to very unsanitary conditions ; 

 and both combined cause disease, and hence the 

 product must, of necessity, be unhealthful. I am 

 pretty certain that those scientific men who are 

 willing to indorse this business are either not ac- 

 quainted with the subject, or confound proper 

 soiling with the methods in vogue at Blissville. 

 The two systems are separate and distinct. 



[J. Blake White, M.D.] 



Positively unwholesome. 



[Gborge H. ROHfe, M.D.] 



I have no hesitation in saying that distillery 

 swill is not only unhurtful, but desirable as food 

 for dairy cattle. I have seen no trustworthy 

 evidence that the bad results of stall-feeding in 

 dairies are due to this food. I would desire to 

 express my opinion as emphatically as possible 

 upon this point. 



[Prop. William H. Bkeweb.] 

 I have an opinion, founded on reading rather 

 than observation, that milk from cows fed prin- 

 cipally or largely on distillery swill is decidedly 

 unwholesome, but that distillery swill may be used 



in small quantities, along with other food, with- 

 out seriously or demonstrably deteriorating the 

 wholesomeness of milk ; that the evil effect is 

 largely a matter of relative quantity of swill to 

 other food. Moreover, the surroundings of the 

 cows in swill-milk stables as usually kept, and 

 also the health of the cows as usually found in 

 those stables, is, or are, factors causing much of 

 the alleged unwholesomeness. Milk is an easy 

 carrier of smells and disease. 



[Henry Hartshornb, M.D.] 

 My supposition is, that it is very likely to con- 

 tain a remnant of alcohol, and that this must in- 

 terfere with its suitableness for cattle-food. If 

 this be so, it is also possible that a small portion 

 of alcohol may pass through the cow's blood into 

 the milk, to the injury of infants fed upon it. 

 But such possibilities are only svifficient to justify 

 careful investigation. At the best, however, such 

 material is obviously very far removed from the 

 condition of natural food for cows. 



[E. M. Nelson, M.D.] 



I think it is not a wholesome food, and that 

 the milk from swill-fed cows is excessively acid, 

 decomposes early, and predisposes to disturbances 

 of digestion. 



[W. Simon, Ph.D.] 



My opinion, based on my examination in 1883 

 and numerous observations made in various lo- 

 calities since that time, is that ' swill,' when used 

 in moderate quantities alongside of plenty of hay, 

 grass, or other similar food, is a highly valuable 

 article for feeding cattle. On the other side, swill 

 becomes dangerous when fed in too large quanti- 

 ties, most likely on account of its high percentage 

 of nitrogenous matter. 



[Charles Ambrook, M.D., Boulder, Col.] 

 If made an exclusive diet, unwholesome ; if not 

 exceeding one-quarter of whole diet, and good 

 pasturage always at hand, nothing very detri- 

 mental in distillery food that I have seen. 



[A. J. Howe, M.D., Cincinnati, O.] 

 Distillery slop blackens the teeth of kine, — 

 cows or oxen, — makes their breath offensive, 

 gives them diarrhoea, and weakens the muscular 

 system to a degree that, though fat, the creatures 

 can hardly walk. The above I know from ob- 

 servation. 



[NORMAN S. Bridge, M.D.] 

 That it is an unnatural food ; almost sure, 

 sooner or later, to cause some disease in the cows, 

 unless it is freely mixed with a large quantity of 

 other and more natural food. Doubtless the com- 

 plaints referred to under No. 2 were mainly in 



