SCIENCE 



FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 30, 1887. 



In a recent number of Science (x. No. 240) we had occasion 

 to refer to the beneficent law now existing in several of the States, 

 prohibiting the employment of color-blind persons on the railroads 

 •of those States, and instanced Massachusetts as the first one to 

 enact such a law. At a meeting of the Brotherhood of Locomotive 

 Engineers, just held in Boston, at which three thousand railroad- 

 engineers were said to be present, one of the speakers who ad- 

 dressed the audience was received with great applause, because, as 

 the chairman said in introducing him, " he secured the repeal of the 

 obnoxious color-blind law," — a questionable honor, if true ; but, from 

 the best information which we are able to obtain, the law still exists, 

 although it has been modified in a manner which in no wise weak- 

 ens, but, on the contrary, rather strengthens, its practical working. 

 It is not to be wondered at that railroad employees object to a test 

 of their qualifications which may result in the loss of their positions, 

 but we imagine that any attempt to repeal the law would meet with 

 the determined opposition of the entire travelling public. The single 

 instance which occurred in Connecticut, where twenty-one railroad 

 employees were found wholly color-blind, is sufficient proof of the 

 necessity of such a law, and, instead of endeavoring to repeal exist- 

 ing laws, a strong and continuous effort should be made to extend 

 their provisions to other States. 



DISTILLERY-MILK REPORT. — V. 



The attempt which Science has made to obtain facts and opinions 

 in reference to the effect of distillery-swill upon the animals to 

 which it was fed, both as to their health and the wholesome- 

 ness of the milk secreted by them, has been measurably successful. 

 As was to have been anticipated, the opinions greatly outnumber 

 the facts. To any one who has had experience in similar inquiries 

 this will be a matter of no surprise. The difficulties surrounding a 

 mathematical demonstration of a problem so intricate as this 

 are well-nigh insurmountable, unless a thorough investigation is 

 made by skilful and competent men with all the necessary means 

 at their disposal. The fact that such an inquiry into the matter 

 under consideration has never been made, is very evident from a 

 perusal of the replies which Science has received from its corre- 

 spondents. These replies show that medical and other professional 

 men are divided as to the effect of swill-milk upon human beings, 

 although those who regard it as unwholesome food, and as injuri- 

 ous to those who consume it, greatly preponderate. The evidence 

 seems also to point to the conclusion that when distillery-swill is 

 fed to cows in connection with other food, and the cows kept in 

 properly ventilated and clean stables, with a sufficient amount of 

 exercise in the open air, it is not injurious to these animals. But, 

 on the other hand, it likewise appears, that as ordinarily fed to ani- 

 mals that are confined continuously in close and filthy stables, with- 

 out admixture with other food, the consequences, both to the ani- 

 mals themselves and to their secretion, are most pernicious. 



The lack of definite knowledge on a subject of such vital interest 

 is greatly deplored by those who have expressed themselves on this 

 point, and it would seem that the time has come for a thorough in- 

 vestigation into the question at issue. Until within a few years, 

 such an inquiry could only have been made by individuals or by 

 societies, in much the same manner as was undertaken by the New 

 York Academy of Medicine in 1858. It is manifest that the results 

 to be obtained in this way, valuable as they are for some purposes, 

 cannot definitely settle the question so as to satisfy the minds of 

 all. If the experimental stations established by both the national 

 and State governments cannot take up an issue of such general im- 



portance as this, it is very much to be regretted. Believing, how- 

 ever, that such is their legitimate work, we shall endeavor, by every 

 means in our power, to bring about this desirable action on the part 

 of the stations, and would solicit the assistance, in the accomplish- 

 ment of this end, of all who have the necessary influence. We 

 shall also take the liberty of suggesting the general plan upon 

 which such an investigation should be carried out. This we do with 

 the greater assurance, because we have received most valuable sug- 

 gestions from Professors Law and Brewer, and Drs. Sturtevant, 

 Newton, Salmon, and other authorities, with whom we are in per- 

 fect accord. 



One suggestion made by Professor Brewer, would, if carried into 

 practice, be a crucial experiment. He says, " If you can convince a 

 few orphan-asylums and foundling-hospitals that it would be an 

 innocent and harmless experiment to feed half of their children on 

 distillery-swill milk, and the other on grass-and-grain milk, and 

 continue this experiment for several years, on different races of 

 children, in different localities, some of the swill-milk stables to be 

 kept as clean as other stables may be, by some process not yet an- 

 nounced, and carefully record and collate all the results, the question 

 would then be settled, in the usual acceptance of that term." The 

 impracticability of such a plan no one appreciates better than Pro- 

 fessor Brewer. He therefore adds, " Until some such plan for 

 ' positive evidence ' be secured, I suggest that you work at the 

 method of cumulative evidence, which has been so rich in conclu- 

 sions and beneficent in its results in other departments of sanitary 

 science." 



There appears to be some difference of opinion as to the exact 

 chemical composition of distillery-swill, under different circum- 

 stances ; so that in carrying out any experiments the following 

 points, as suggested by Professor Law, should be ascertained and 

 recorded : (i) Is the swill fresh ? (2) Has it undergone any other 

 than the alcoholic fermentation ? (3) Is it uniform in quality as 

 supplied from day to day ? (4) At what heat is it fed ? (5) Does 

 it contain the simple original grain-products, — gluten, salts, etc., 

 — or has there been added any chemical agent used in the manu- 

 facture of the alcoholic liquid .? These inquiries are necessary, be- 

 cause the effect of swill when fresh may be entirely different from 

 swill in an acid or decomposed state, and the allegation has also 

 been made that injurious chemical agents are added. The tempera- 

 ture of the stables in which the experimental animals are housed 

 should also be recorded. In short, every condition which is liable 

 to enter as a factor into the problem should be intelligently re- 

 garded. Dr. Salmon advises that biological analyses of the milk 

 should be made, in order to determine the relative number of germs 

 as compared with milk from country pastures. 



Hitherto chemical analysis has been mainly relied on in deter- 

 mining the quality of the milk ; but, as Dr. Sturtevant remarks, 

 " while this is of assistance, it cannot alone determine the questions 

 relative to healthfulness. The question should be investigated 

 from the chemico-physiological standpoint : determine whether 

 substances not met with in ordinary foods can be traced through 

 the animal to the milk ; whether bacterial germs exist in the food, 

 and whether such can be traced through the animal to the milk ; 

 whether animals of a delicate nature will succumb, or show indica- 

 tion of disease, when fed with suspected milk, while other individu- 

 als thrive upon a milk considered of a fine quality. The develop- 

 ment of ptomaines in feeding substances through neglect of proper 

 precaution should also receive investigation, as a food otherwise 

 useful may at times become dangerous on the neglect of ordinary 

 precaution." 



Dr. Salmon does not regard the studying of milk from healthy 

 cattle, fed upon swill under favorable hygienic conditions, as of 

 much value towards elucidating the practical questions involved. 

 " The question," he says, "is not, whether a small quantity of cool 



