POISONOUS MILK. 65 



the farms was at fault. The cows on this farm were found 

 to be in good health, and, besides being at pasture, were 

 well fed with bran, middlings, and corn-meal. 



" So far we had been able to eliminate as causes diseased 

 cattle and improper feeding, and we were then compelled 

 to consider the other possible sources of the toxic material. 



" While the inspection of the farms was being made, the 

 analysis of the milk was in progress. The results of this 

 showed that no chemical substance had been added to the 

 milk, that it was of average composition, that no polluted 

 water had been used as a diluent, and that no poisonous 

 metals were present. This result left us nothing to con- 

 sider but two probable causes : improper care of the milk, 

 and the presence of a ferment. 



"As to the former, we soon learned much. The cows 

 were milked at the unusual and abnormal hours of mid- 

 night and noon, and the noon's milking — that which alone 

 was followed by illness — was placed, while hot, in the cans, 

 and then, without any attempt at cooling, carted eight miles 

 during the warmest part of the day in a very hot month. 



"This practice seemed to us sufficient to make the milk 

 unpalatable, if not injurious, for it is well known that when 

 fresh milk is closed up in a tight vessel and tiien deposited 

 in a warm place, a very disagreeable odor and taste are 

 developed. Old dairymen speak of the animal heat as an 

 entity, the removal of which is necessary in order that the 

 milk shall keep well and have a pleasant taste. While we 

 do not give this thing a name, we are fully convinced that 

 milk should be thoroughly cured by proper chilling and 

 aeration before it is transported any distance or sold for 

 consumption in towns or cities. 



" This opinion is based on a study of the methods prev- 

 alent among experienced dairymen, who ship large quanti- 

 ties of milk to our great cities. The usual practice is to 

 allow the milk to stand in open vessels, surrounded by ice 

 or cold water, for from eight to twelve hours before trans- 

 portation, and when placed on the cars it has a temperature 

 of from 60° to 00° F., and is delivered to consumers in a 

 perfectly sweet condition. The city of New York receives 



