MILK. 683 



There are many sources and causes qf impurity in milk. One is 

 the dampness and mustiness of; dark and foul cellars, which produce 

 what is sometimes called bitter milk, showing in dirty gray spots in 

 the cream, and in a bad taste to the butter. Another is wounds in 

 the teats, not properly cared for, and sometimes internal wounds or 

 injuries. Watery milk comes from foul, frozen, or watery food. Per-- 

 haps the most prevalent cause of impure milk is uncleanness in the 

 use of vessels and utensils employed in the dairy. Milk set in sour 

 pans, or skimmed with sour ladles, Will never yield sweet butter or' 

 fine-tasting cheese. The hands, the cloths, the heating apparatus, 

 the walls, the floors, and every other object and appurtenance of the i 

 dairy-house should be kept scrupulously clean and neat. 



In addition to the different kinds of impure milk mentioned 

 hitherto, may be mentioned granular rrvilk, containing small grains 

 oflime (animals suffering from which should be killed); blue milk 

 (from the color on the surface), which assumes a very bad taste, and 

 which by proper feeding can be remedied ; and slimy milk, which is'i 

 probably caused by a certain plant called pinguicola vulgaris, and! 

 possibly by unclean milk-pails. 



The celebrated Dr. Lehmann, of Munich, has given three very 

 concise reasons for difficulty in churning : first, uncleanness of the, 

 skimmer or churn ; secondly, a prolonged rest of the milk or crearn 

 before churning ; thirdly, sickly properties of the -milk ; and fourthly,, 

 partial decomposition of the caseine or other component parts. It is 

 a notable point that he places uncleanness firs^t in the list. 



To illustrate the importance of perfect health in the cow, we 

 insert the following communication,, which appeared in the Free 

 Press, of Detroit, Mich., on the 9th of June, 1886 :— 



"To the Editor: The British Medical Journal, which is, very conservative, 

 very able, and opposed to everything sensational, which is the official organ of the 

 British Medical Association, in the last number which comes to my table, contains 

 the following startling information : — 



" ' No more important report has been issued by, the local Government board for 

 many years than that presented by Mr. 1 W. H. Power on March 31, and recently 

 published. The conclusion at which he has arrived is of such -far-reaching import- 

 ance, so unexpected, until within the last few months, in its nature, and so disquiet- 

 ing, that the reader is fain to hope that it must be incorrect. Mr. Power, however,; 

 leads us on from point to point, until the conviction is forced upon the unwilling 

 reader that it has been proved, as clearly as circumstantial evidence can prove any- 

 thing, that scarlet fever can be produced by the milk of cows suffering from a dis- 

 ease so slight in its local manifestation as almost to escape attention, and producing 

 so little disturbance of the general health of the cows that their appetite is not 

 impaired, nor the quantity of milk which they yield diminished.' ^ 



